Liontamer

Brandon Strader www.bstrader.net 3123 Game: Super Mario 64 Source: Metallic Mario - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlF1t9jns6I Composer: Koji Kondo Remixname: Prog Mario Super Mario 64 Album Project Song Notes: I bet you were expecting metal... that's too obvious! I called this Prog Mario but it's inspired more by funk. I got the chance to do this song super late in the SM64 project timeline, unfortunately John Revoredo was moving away and couldn't find his session files for me to help out so I ended up taking the claim with his blessing. I am happy and thankful that it worked out and I was able to do the song for the album. I wanted a live feel, like if a band were sitting in a room jamming this. Lots of sweet wah pedal, even on the bass guitar. It amplifies the funk. The parts are pretty similar to the source but stretched to fit in 7/8 and eventually 6/4 time signatures. Had to add a couple synth solos so it wouldn't be boring and some 'harmonies' to the source lead in the chorus.

Nice work!

Well, that's said tongue in cheek, but I'd do it. That would be a legitimately sweet idea, since it would obviously boost awareness and get people primed to seed the torrents once they were out, a la Maverick Rising. We'd just be accused by a handful of people of hating the fans and holding the music hostage.

Incorrecto! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music

Yeah, the opening's going to sound competant, because it's just verbatim with the source tune. After a few seconds of what's basically a MIDI rip, then the source's foundation alone is basically copied, including much of the supporting writing. So much of the structure is merely ripped from the source tune, it's disappointing. When you tried to get interpretive with the melody at :21, the notes resolve decently, but they're just weird variations that don't really flow. From 2:07-on, you're just writing this solo-ing style stuff with the lead synth that noodles for a bit before resolving with a verbatim piece of the theme. I dunno, maybe one day you'll get that whole approach to click, but this isn't that day. There's so much in the arrangement where the structure and instrumentation aren't meaningfully different from the source, and those are basically the only parts that were melodious. On top of the other structure and production crits, this just isn't cohesive enough. As per previous subs, I know you have problems as far as an ear for melodious writing, and I don't mean that as a knock. But even if you wholesale copy some aspects of the source tune as a framework, you still need to present more substantial personalization of the sounds into something more unique, and then build from there with other interpretive ideas for the source tune itself. NO

Vig hates Pokemon music, but we don't ACTUALLY judge submissions based on whether we like the source or not (Vig included). We'll comment on sources fairly regularly, but it doesn't affect votes.

Stevo got submissions rejected from here plenty of times before he became as strong as he is now. Same with OA, Rozovian, WillRock, The Orichalcon, Nutritious. Way back when, the previous generation of guys like Danny Baranowsky, zircon, Fishy, halc, DCT, Mattias Häggström Gerdt, analoq, Navi, Big Giant Circles -- who all make diverse, amazing arrangements that seem effortless -- all got rejected a few times or a lot of times when they were less experienced. Aptitude is one component and diligence is the other. Been on staff approaching 8 years, a fan for over 10, and I've heard so many regularly posted mixers start off scrubby and grow into great musicians. Some hated the rejections and sometimes those people hated us. But they all weren't discouraged. Like Stevo was getting at, carve out time to work on your craft, don't just solicit feedback from here, and stay hungry.

Forgot to vote in Shoryuken Round 1 (thought it ended at midnight, not noon), but the right people won all the matchups, so it's OK.

What do you mean? It's not clear what you want to do, but DS is correct that we typically don't delete accounts.

- "Corridors of Time"The snare drum pattern at :50 was plodding and too loud, IMO. The couple of times you did some quick repeated snare shots (:49, 1:22, 2:45), it essentially sounded like you weren't varying the velocities well, kind of a slow machine gun effect. The background during the verses with the drumming was on the sparse side. The DarkeSax at :49 was decent, but still sounded pretty fake with the mechanical attacks/timing; it doesn't sound horrible, it's just noticeable it's fake, and the sample (while serviceable) is still dry and exposed. Mainly, the notes need to not sound as stiffly sequenced. You might be thinking "wait, 'Time Chill...!'" but that came out 8 years ago; that would be scrutinized more today. Interesting original Schala-esque rhythm introduced at 1:21. The piano brought in at 1:56 & 3:03 sounded decent, it's just not quite rich enough of a sound. The chords in particular (2:13) sounded mechanical, thin, and lacked body, while the sequencing of 3:03's section sounded noticeably more rigid. I like the overall arrangement concept, and this is going in the right direction. I think the drums need some further creativity with the core drum pattern and balance, the background during the main verses needs to be better filled out, and the sax and piano need some tweaks to sound stronger. The devil's in the details. NO (resubmit)

(ignore name of file, should be "Lost in Time") Remixer Name: urdailywater Real Name: Aaron Corbitt E-mail: urdailywater@hotmail.com User ID: 33000 Game arranged: Chrono Trigger Name of Arrangement: "Lost in Time" Name of song(s) arranged: Corridor of Time ( )Hey guys, I'm submitting again. This time a song that doesn't get enough attention on OCR in my honest opinion. (/sarcasm) This song was something different for me, and a challenge. Going into it, I had the plan to change up the soundscape drastically throughout the song, which is something I've never done before. It got me into a roadblock down the road in the writing process, but hopefully I've got an arrangement that works now. Inspiriation stuff.. well the first part, I'm not entirely sure where inspiration for that came from. I was just kind of messing around with the harp sample and started adding stuff. 1:23 and onward until the piano section was heavily inspired by the first part of the OP from the anime "Clannad". Then the piano section coming in was inspired by McVaffe's piano breakdown in "Celestial Winds From the East". This was also the first time I ever humanized a piano with both bass and lead parts, and was extremely fun to do. Production wise I think it's some of my best work. The soundscape stays filled out, even while changing up. Arrangement wise - if you don't count the harp thing (because it plays throughout the entire song) I counted up to about 1:21 of completely original material, and the rest I pretty much arranged from head (I didn't listen to the original much while doing this). So I think accurate stopwatching of original material goes along the lines of: 1:23 -1:56: no real connection to the source except the harp. 2:47 -3:44 (end): Just me doing stuff with the whistle/sax/piano. The rest is the source + arrangement stuff. Also the chord progression during those times is pretty much the same, except a little bit more simplified. So yeah, I hope that arrangement isn't really an issue with this one. I personally like it, but I'm not a judge Yup. I think I covered everything. A lot more than I expected to say, but whatever. Enjoy!

Donated, and I'll be getting the kit soon so I can just join the marrow donor registry.

Until a new torrent is out, have at the mirrors, hoss.

Not to seem blase about it, but I've already heard and loved this mix, so I'm keeping it short. The arrangement definitely keeps the structure of the original, but Brandon absolutely gives it his own unique style with the instrumentation, so it's not too cover-ish without interpretation. It's a bit long, but the original was the same way. Everything's sounding strong here. YES

Pretty low levels on this overall. Arrangement kicked in at :45. Don't really have much to say initially besides I like the arrangement. The realism of the the piano at 1:52 was nothing to write home about, and stuck out a lot given how relatively sparse the textures were. I would have definitely done something to make the tone sound more realistic given how exposed it was. The overall levels need to be louder; especially for the second half where you get lots of original writing on top of the quietly arranged source, it's important the source isn't pushed too far in the background. And the drums being on auto-pilot definitely could use some more variation. Again, with the relatively sparse soundscape, when any of the sequencing/realism is off, or an idea's beat into the ground like the drums, it stands out more. Just noting though, the percussion repetition issue bothered me significantly less because once the first pattern at :13 dropped off at 1:38, it didn't come back until 3:12 or repeat anywhere near as excessively. This is probably 85% of the way there, and the core arrangement itself doesn't need to be altered at all. But I'd make the overall levels louder, OR vary up the drum/cymbal pattern more from :13-1:38, OR get the piano to sound fuller and thereby less obviously fake and sequenced-sounding. halc had other valid points about the instrumentation, but overall it clicked and I don't think anything NEEDED to be tweaked there. Anyway, none of the criticism are MANDATORY to address, but the main takeaway is that there are some smaller issues that prevent this from better realizing the potential of the arrangement. Figure out what crits are valid for you, give this some additional tweaks and polish, and DEFINTELY resubmit this if this doesn't make it. Love the arrangement ideas, and we'd love another Ico mix, as well as more submissions from you, since you have great ideas. NO (resubmit)

I'm gonna disagree with OA about how cohesive this sounded, though I thought the arrangement was fine, it was the production that sounded too off. I didn't hear the first version, but I still thought the way the drumwork mixed didn't click with the rest of the soundscape and the timing/performance there also sounded stiff. I also felt the synth lead was kind of grating. The guitar work and what sounded like a harpsichord part (quietly in the background) were both really sweet. The mixing from 2:51 until the end just didn't sound clear or cohesive, with the organ and the guitar parts panned too widely apart and thus sounding very lossy and muddy. Actually, listening to the beginning again, the panning seems too wide most of the time, and I'm not sure why, but it's reducing the clarity of the piece. The 1:57 section, when things seemed to go back to normal for a time, was really needed. I had to throw on a few baseline tracks to listen to just to make sure my ears weren't plugged up and that my headphones were fully pugged in. I think the arrangement's there, but the mixing needs another pass to set things right with both the stereo balance and the overall separation of parts. NO (resub)

I also didn't hear the first version, so I'm coming at this fresh. Opens up with a decent fade in; pretty quiet. Interesting instrumentation approach with this theme. Once things picked up more at :37, the soundscape definitely felt very thin, with the percussion being a big reason for that. The lead synth at :50 and the doubling by the more saw-like synth wasn't bad, but it ended up sounding somewhat too loud. The theme was used a bit too quietly from 1:44-2:35, particularly with the belltones, and moreso when more elements were added in starting in at 2:10. Decent escalation of the energy level at 2:36, it just seems like much of the processing and sounds were pretty generic, and the mixing lacked polish and clarity. Not feeling the akward key change at 3:00, which was awkward and poorly executed. OA & halc are right that the arrangement is in the right direction, as it's creative and interpretive, but you've got to clean the mixing up and flesh out the instrumentation so that this sounds fuller. See what more you can do with it, if you're interested, but it seems like you're making progress. Even if you don't or can't get this one above the bar, Ivan, you seem to be going in the right direction overall, and you're continuing to develop your skills. Definitely don't be discouraged and keep at it. NO (resub)

Guile vs. Chun-Li Both good entries. Brandon's had clearer production overall than GLL's, though the textures when trying to combine Guile's theme with the Chun-Li background weren't really clicking. It would have sounded better w/o the Chun-Li stuff, which felt kind of shoehorned in. Brandon's interplay didn't lock together, while GLL developed both themes separately but didn't have much interplay that I picked up on. On sound quality, Brandon had it, but Ghetto Lee Lewis developed both themes more substantively in the end, so it narrowly goes to him. Blanka vs. C. Viper Both great, but personally feeling Jakesnke17's more. The main issue with Jake's was being way too quiet and tentative-sounding with the usage of the C. Viper, which made downplayed the otherwise creative tradeoffs with Blanka's theme. OA's was definitely more high energy but sounded like it needed more effects to flesh out the sound; the drums were too empty-sounding and the guitar tone needed to sound meatier. Ignoring that though, great energy and combining of the themes. I just liked Jake's arrangement direction more, personal taste. Would love to hear both polished up! Ryu vs. Eagle I thought Gario's had some pretty shrill synths in there that should have been traded for something softer. That said, a pretty cool arrangement that won some cool points for opening with the opponent's theme. Always a good strategy because it shows the arranger wasn't afraid to tackle the theme that they DIDN'T select for themselves. Cool stuff, and enjoyable overall. Oni vs. Yang Nice work by both. Neblix took what could also be viewed as a pretty gimmicky approach -- making it sound like a fight between the two opponents -- and pulled it off reasonably well for the intro without making it detract from the music. Your mileage may vary, and I could have done with less personally, but it was solid overall. Nice job interplaying the two themes very consistently. Not sure about whatever instrument was introduced at 1:34 (used until 2:00 and brought back for 2:47-3:10). Sounded a too syrupy sweet and upfront, and thus felt out of place given the mood and other instrumentation. Phonetic Hero's had good energy, though the beats were too tame and needed some more presence. That said, it had a bit more cohesive mixing and sound design, as well as flow between the two themes. I personally like Yang's theme as a base more, and think it allowed Neblix to go in some creative directions, but the overall polish of Phonetic Hero's entry as well as him ALSO weaving the two themes well barely won out.

Now someone said it.

Officialz!

Yeah, you know... 1 louder. [/Tap]

No worries, there's no blame game. I'm looking at it from another angle, I suppose. "Dueling Consoles" was basically SNES sounds + Genesis sounds, so nearly all chiptune sounds, as opposed to the TMNT mix being NES sounds + a live piano, like a half-and-half balance of chip and organic sounds. That's where I was inferring the confusion was, in the balance of instruments, but you're saying you're clarifying you though it would fail over the lack of added processing/effects for the NES sounds. But again, it's all a balance, and all the standards say right now is discouraging (not outlawing) nothing but basic tones, which clearly the TMNT mix doesn't do. That's why I'm stating it's not shocking at all that the TMNT approach was OK on our side. I'm not saying you're the one, you you right there!, spreading the word not to submit chiptunes here. I'm saying that some people are taking that perception though and running with it and telling others that as if that's written in the standards. That said, there are many chiptune artists out there who don't/didn't follow this thread or the decision 5+ years ago, and they're just either unaware of or uninterested in OCR to begin with, or not making VGM arrangements but only originals, and they're not showing up either now OR way back when. EDIT: Nabeel, respectfully, no frustration meant, but mouth shut, ears open. You don't have much context for what happened before, and you're jumping to too many conclusions. No hate, not mad, but hang back and listen to the convo and just observe for a bit.

Not sure when the conventional wisdom of this thread became "after Espergirl was rejected, all the chiptune artists got wary and stopped submitting," because that was never the case. At no point were "purer" chiptunes ever regularly submitted before "Espergirl," so it's not surprising they weren't regularly submitted afterward. All I recall are Sam's, and then RushJet mentioned he sent stuff; two submitters less than a handful of times. I would NOT state the "Espergirl" decision as the cause and effect of everything though. I'm not saying that at least some people that Sam knows around the scene didn't see the decision and chose not to send purer chiptunes as a result. But not everything revolves around this kind of minutia that only a tiny fraction of users and artists are even aware about or care about; there are tons of artists who don't follow these kind of discussions closely and wouldn't have been affected by or aware of an isolated decision from more than 5 years ago. I think a separate but more important misconception of what it says in the standards is leading some people to believe (and then emphatically tell other people) that there's bias against even using any chiptune sounds in any arrangement to begin with. We obviously have plenty of "9-bit" arrangements where people pair chiptune sounds with 1) other non-chiptune instrumentation and 2) production techniques that go beyond the technique limitations of old-school gaming computers and consoles. But even when submitting his TMNT mix from NES Jams that's obviously fine according to our standards, Sam was saying (paraphrasing) "I know it's got a lot of chiptune sounds in it, and you don't go for that, but it's got a lot of piano too, so PLEASE DON'T REJECT IT, PLZ!" We never would have rejected that; those kinds of instrument combinations with chiptunes have always (read: ALWAYS) been fine. I think that's an incorrect perception from a few people, Sam included, that's also causing some misunderstandings. That said, I've got nothing against more traditional-style chiptunes (as with my decision re: "Espergirl"), they've just never been submitted regularly, regardless of Sam's mixes. I'd love to see more, and (just my opinion) Ari basically spelled out how chiptunes could be judged analogous to other "limited" arrangement options like solo piano or solo acoustic guitar, i.e. when you limit production choices, a lot of other aspects really need to be on point. I didn't agree with him word for word then or now; the gist is OK, but, as Sam alluded to with his approach with "Espergirl," we ALSO don't want to create the perception that in order for a chiptune (or solo instrument) arrangement to pass, it has to be ZOMGcomposerarrangementwank to counter the limited production options. Anyway, it's mostly fun reading, so carry on.

Don't take it too seriously, Derr. Most of the sarcastic or trolling goodbyes are from folks just busting his chops, because it's just Nekofrog, a fellow busterchopbusterchopchop. As far as anyone legit annoyed at Neko's comment about the "nerd scene" or "geek poop" or "loser farm" or whatever, it's just our homey trying to keep his NeoGAF cred (very important) before droppin' the mic. Key Takeaways 1) He'll be back. 2) At least it's not Unmod Nekofrog. 3) He'll be back. So (seriously), no hate, we'll see you around, and whatever rare music you put out, we'll keep an eye out for it, because it'll probably be pretty badass. And yeah, the name of the topic looks pretty dumb with no capitalization or punctuation, so I'm also sick of seeing it on the front page, and it's run its course. We hardly knew ye. im retiring thread bye

Well, the FF7 project was also run the same way, plus an open call later, and turned out great. If you get value from being on sekretprojedtz, but butthurt if you're not on it, that's alright. But don't whine like your Zangief against my T. Hawk. Project directors should be able to develop something behind the scenes if they want. Looking forward to your future muzak though, as you'll be making some anyway. Don't whine again if you're not on the seekritz Dudebro 3: Revenge of the Revenge soundtrack either.