Liontamer

Pretty powerful beats to open up. Good stuff at :14. Not really getting any hint of some themes, but at least the song is gradually building with a good sounds. Solar Man's at :45 with a fairly generic-sounding lead. It sounds almost dissonant in places. I'd honestly change that up to something that isn't as harsh-sounding and also pull back the volume a bit, since right now it's almost overbearing compared to the other instruments. Reading Vig's comments after I wrote this, we're on the same page: Pretty much. I liked the crystalline counter-melody at 1:15 though; very nice choice there to add some new flavor to the soundscape. I had a hard time making the A-to-B connection of this chorus to "Spring Man." It seemed too liberal, but I'd appreciate some insight on the usage. Right now, I can't fully get behind the arrangement side as far as source usage, so I hope I'm just missing something obvious. I see where Jesse's coming from with the arrangement being straightforward, but I can't say it bothered me offhand. The dynamics being kind of flat was more of a problem for me when coupled with the lead. The dynamics were subtle, but overall it felt like the song was in basically 1 and half gears and the sonic palette lacked variation. The dynamics can work if the sound palette isn't an issue. Switching out the harsh lead for part or all of the song (you had chances at 2:01 and 2:34), and then also having some other subtle but noticeable instrumental variations could lend just the right changeups to keep this otherwise steady groove fresh. And now reading DragonAvenger's crits, she nailed it: I love when we're hitting the same points independent of one another. 3:02's change up was good as far as keeping the same tempo but changing the mood some, but again, needs some sonic variation with the lead if this beat and this groove are gonna coast on. Great stuff so far, Justin, this is clearly something you could refine and get passed with just a little extra TLC. Loving the results so far, this is some awesome potential that just needs some tweaks to get the balance among the instruments right and help this steady groove not get tired after the 4 1/2 minutes. You can definitely get it there. As long as the Spring Man stuff is overtly used, don't change the arrangement, just work on the levels and sound of the lead so it's not bland, too loud and too repetitive. NO (refine/resubmit)

It's in the torrent.

If he was talking about VGMix2, then yeah, he was doing it wrong, although the dropoff of reviewers in 2005-2006 lead to the tiers not being accurate due to too few scores. If he was talking about VGMix1 though, he would have been right. Back when I was brand new to the community, I remember hearing about VGMix on the OCR forums in early 2002, even before I registered an account. When I went VGMix1, I downloaded a ton of tracks, it turned out 95% (IMO) were garbage and I never went back. I wasn't angry about it or anything, I just thought it would be a waste of time to try to find the good stuff. Some people have the same complaint about OCR due to the lack of a scoring system. Those people would also either be closed-minded or deaf and wouldn't know what good music is.

And let's be clear, a huge failure on your part.

- Vs. Team England - "Get Back" - "A Hard Day's Night" I don't agree. I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this source is based off music not originally written for a game, not just one song, but two, and would be ineligible as a source for an OC ReMix. The source tune didn't just take from "Get Back" (:07-:16 of the source uses arranges the verse from :31-:45 of "Get Back" with some minor variation, but not enough to not sound like a pretty close take, IMO), it also took the chorus from "A Hard Day's Night" (:16-:28 of the source, arranging :44-:59 of "A Hard Day's Night"). The Team England theme does some minor variations on those Beatles songs, but it's practically (rough approx.) 3/4ths Beatles. It's literally the "Get Back" verses paired with the "Hard Day's Night" chorus. For the end of each usage of those songs, there's some brief original writing so that it doesn't quite end the same way as the mainstream songs, but the changes are fleeting. The source tune is basically a chiptune of two Beatles tracks. As much as I hate to deny Hoha, we need to be overriding this YES vote since this Beatles-based source material is ineligible. I need another J or djp to weigh in in order to confirm an override. NO Override

This isn't an official OCR album, it's just a quick side project organized by DarkeSword. We've already had 4 "EPs" as albums: Castlevania: Sonata of the Damned, Final Fantasy V: The Fabled Warriors ~I. WIND~, Teen Agent: The Root of All Evil, and Mega Man: The Robot Museum. Technically speaking though, none of those albums (nor the Concrete Man EP) are shorter than 25 minutes or less than 5 tracks like the classic definition of an EP, so we still haven't released a classically-defined EP yet, even though we've had some shorter albums.

Just mentioned to Dave that he should look at it for a potential tie-break, since it seems like no one else is re-evaluating this. Again, I also thought it might be too liberal, but stepped away from it; came back weeks later and checked the sections I wasn't sure about, and clearly heard the source in play with fresh ears. Obviously, we can collectively disagree on source usage/dominance, but I think the several NOs on arrangement for lack of source use were too kneejerk and didn't fully make out the source connections. I also thought the production issues here were complete nitpicks. The track is reasonably well-mixed. On arrangement, OA's was the only NO vote that at least clarified that while he heard the usage, he didn't feel it was a dominant enough when it was used to pass it. Pretty much everything I heard re: the source was pretty upfront, so I didn't agree with that either; and I've seen him give YESs to arrangements that overall referred to the source material less than this, but at least he's acknowledging the source was in use most of the time. Like I said, I may not be the ultimate stopwatch, but if I'm giving this a pass on source use and you're not, you're missing something.

If "Gate of Your Dream" were the only source, I'd agree with you. I forgot to also add "Dreams Dreams": "Gate of Your Dream" - 0:44-1:33, 3:33-3:58 = 72 seconds "Dreams Dreams" - 1:36.5-1:46 (liberal), 1:48-1:59 (liberal), 2:10-2:22, 2:23-2:34, 2:35-2:58, 3:01-3:08.5, 3:10-3:16 (too liberal noodling until 3:30), 3:59-4:08, 4:09.5-4:20.5 (liberal), 4:29-4:35, 4:36-4:45 (liberal), 5:33.5-5:43 = 124.5 seconds

Before 2011 is over, there will be updated torrents. I have no biases. I love stopwatches.

So even though we were both in the community by 2003, we actually didn't run into each other until I started doing VGF, so I need a refresher on this. Back in the day, before you had any OC ReMixes passed, you had a bad rep as someone who would complain about other mixes and the judging process despite being unproven. That said, I completely missed all of it. 100% of it. You've definitely mentioned years ago that you had too negative an attitude when you started posting (I think Shariq and other judges who knew you back then agreed you were too negative when y'all were reminiscing in the judges chat years later), so I'm kind of wondering what your mindset was as far as your own skills at the time and how you were perceiving other people's skills? Is there any advice or perspective you can give as to why your attitude was different in I guess 2002-early 2003 compared to when things really started clicking musically for you? I figured I'd ask here since it's along the lines of your POV of things here when you started, and it might be interesting to more people than just me.

On hold until Damon reworks some production issues he's hearing.

2027's the target date.

Hahaha! Love the pre-emptive "Don't be mad, stop flaming!" Nothing even happened yet. My lady actually called Madeline potentially winning it when we listened to all the entries, since she thought Madeline's had a good lullaby vibe to it. I thought her vocal control wasn't as strong as Jill or Laura, but no hate on her winning. Really interested to hear how a polished version of the vocals from Madeline ends up sounding.

Yeah, just want to point out that Dave's right in that I did the forum mailout around 1AM Japanese time before I crashed to sleep, so that's my fault for not coordinating anything first before sending it. The other brain fart is not realizing y'all would be awake, since it was around noon in the eastern US. Can someone link to other community people involved in the contest? I didn't even have time to look and heard katethegreat19 is also in it! You can vote your support for multiple people, so let's make sure we support everyone from OCR that submitted an entry!

Glad you know your compressed files! Your download must have corrupted somehow. When I DLed the MP3 pack here, it was all good.

Yep, always.

Correct! (But I'll nag djp.)

I think you're just n00b at ZIP files. Do like Rexy said: http://www.win-rar.com/download.html

I could argue either way on the source being eligible, but for the time being let's vote on it as if it were AND look into comparing Megadeth's "Hangar 18" with "Running from Evil."

OC ReMix Presents Mega Man 9: Back in Blue! September 7, 2011 Contact: press@ocremix.org FAIRFAX, VA...OverClocked ReMix today released its 27th arrangement album, Mega Man 9: Back in Blue. The album, directed by OC ReMixer and Cave Story 3D musician Dustin "k-wix" Kulwicki, features 14 artists producing 18 arrangements from Capcom's 8-bit revival for the Mega Man series, Mega Man 9. The album's release also features numerous pieces of visual artwork by a dedicated group of fans, intended to compliment the music. Back in Blue is available for free download at http://backinblue.ocremix.org. This album was produced to help promote the music of Mega Man 9, was made by fans, for fans, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Capcom or Inti Creates; all original compositions are copyright their respective owners. Released in 2008 on the WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network services, Mega Man 9 brought the series back to its NES roots with an artificial 8-bit side-scrolling style emulating the first six games of the series. Accompanying the retro visual style was a soundtrack to match, crafted by Inti Creates' III sound team of Yu Shimoda, Ryo Kawakami, Hiroki Isogai and Ippo Yamada to encapsulate the sound of the original Nintendo Entertainment System. "The goal of the Back in Blue project was to remix the Mega Man 9 soundtrack in a variety of styles and pay tribute to one of the greatest platforming series of all time," said album director Kulwicki, whose efforts have resulted in an album full of funk, rock, electronic, dance, spaghetti western, acoustic and fusion interpretations of the game's original music. "I am proud with not only the completion of this project, but the quality of the artists that shines through in every single track." Following the release of Joshua Morse's The Robot Musem, Back in Blue is OC ReMix's second Mega Man album, and the first dedicated to an individual Mega Man game. "Mega Man 9 was a true throwback to the earliest entries in the franchise and proved that retro games still had a spot in modern video games," said Kulwicki. "We want to say thanks to Capcom and Inti Creates for creating Mega Man 9, and I say thanks as well to the artists of Back in Blue for all of their hard work!" About OverClocked ReMix Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring thousands of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans. ### Preview it: Download it: http://backinblue.ocremix.org/ Torrent: http://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Mega_Man_9_-_Back_in_Blue.torrent Comments/Reviews: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36732

Awesome as usual, Kate! Can't wait to see a formal release and hear more.

GET EXCITE! (album imminent!)

Why's this at 160kbps? Let's get a higher encoding and a unique title that isn't just the name of the source tune itself. We also need the full lyrics. Production's lo-fi in a throwback way. Cool approach, though the singing sounded too distant the whole time. When the "oohs" came in at 1:29, the vocals got cluttered. Some better separation/EQing would have helped that, but it was a brief issue. Aside from those production crits, what else is there to say other than great job? I'm feeling the arrangement here, very creative guys! Definitely a hot debut from the Hot Freaks! Looking forward to hearing more, this was a very unique sonic style for the community! YES

Mirby's correct. We await with baited breath.