Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

Remixer name: Guifrog Real name: Guilherme Arcoverde Website: www.myspace.com/guifrog Country: Brazil ----- Game arranged: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Song arranged: Oil Ocean Zone (source link: )Remix name: Egyptian Nights (mix link: ) Hey! One year ago, I'd sent an Oil Ocean remix for ya. It got rejected though, due to my lack of experience in what comes to music technical stuff, I assume... =P This time, I'm sending another Oil Ocean remix (hmm...). As I'd been practicing by creating my own original songs, I decided to take a risk and make a '50% original - 50% from source' thingy. Not sure if I succeed on that point for your judgements, but I'm all open for improvement tips. By the way, I really LOVED making the breakdown! Couldn't help but include some latin beat to it. And so you might tell what made me think of the "Nights" on the mix title, apart from the obvious electronica elements... 8D Thanks, ribbits, more to come! ---------------------------------------------------------------- The string tone sounded thin, and the articulations were a bit fakey, but serviceable. The beatwork was a little too loud compared to the other elements, so the balance needs to be adjusted. The quality of the brass samples was low, and most of the elements were pretty fake-sounding, but the articulations were generally decent enough and those issue were downplayed by relatively good composition, IMO. The new writing ideas are decent, though most of them went into pretty liberal territory, with overt, distinct parts from the original being sprinkled in every so often. Offhand, the arrangement seemed too liberal, but only by a small margin, and could easily be pulled back into being OK by using the source a little more often. All in all, this is a pretty good contender for a resub once some tweaks are made. Nice start, Guilherme. NO (resubmit)

Just want to mention, we're already underway with working to automate the submissions process, though it's a lower priority than other stuff we're working on. We will not embrace a system with votes, yet no required feedback for evaluating subs. There's much less benefit to having judge feedback come after voting. Generally, when we vote on a track, we're done with it; we have a lot more material to go through, so we don't bother revisiting the old. We also DON'T encourage voting a vacuum, which is why we can read and challenge other judges votes. We don't have to write books on our votes, but encouraging voting without explanations or being able to see what others said is foolish because it lacks accountability and encourages kneejerk reactions. Having to write out your reasons and the ability to challenge others to justify their reasoning benefits the process. Also, the # of votes needed wouldn't change. We don't require every judge to vote on everything, that would slow the process. We don't want user feedback intertwined with submissions evaluations. Users are not involved in that process. Users decide what they like based solely on what they hear, and they have different agendas than judges or even people attempting to give WIP feedback (who ALSO differ from the judges). All that needs to stay separate. I'd like to see the ability to stream audio from whatever outside URL you provide, to encourage more feedback in the WIP forums. Beyond automating the posting of submissions to the panel and embedded streaming of MP3 files, I think we're fine.

Not sure what the issue was, but I removed the image from his sig. Thanks for looking out for the community.

You all should know, MOON8 was made by Brad Smith. He's got 2 Super Mario Bros. ReMixes from back in the day. http://ocremix.org/artist/4477/brad-smith

I've said numerous times, we'll be doing this. For everything. Sit tight. It's not important either way.

Less smiley faces, but I'll co-sign on that. And that's keeping in mind that everything on the album was solid.

The latter. We are not changing the song title convention. We have never been open to changing the song title convention. We AIN'T changing the song title convention. In iTunes for me (and I use Windows), it automatically adds the artist in front of the title. e.g. posu yan - "Castlevania garlic OC ReMix" Thus, I can't sort by song title alone, which would sort game by default, since the game title is in every song title. There might be something in the default preferences I'd need to change. That also may be a problem kethinov is having; I wouldn't know. Rama's screenshot of the FF7 album with his tweaks shows just the song name in the title, at it should be. Regardless, in iTunes, you should be able to sort by game now via Grouping. The update took maybe 4 minutes. Not right this second, but eventually, yes. I've already done all the legwork to update old files. We just need album artwork from djp and his approval to update the existing mixes with my copies that have improved, consistent tagging.

I'll just mention that part of the reason we highlight artists is because people overlook them. If that weren't the case, kethinov, you wouldn't have called zircon "zicron" 287 times. It's bears mentioning that services like Last.fm catalog the listening habits of our community's fans and the standard is Artist in the Artist field (obviously). Making the artist field "Super Mario World", for example, doesn't help our community's artists. There is no compelling reason to change that, and your proposal really was encouraging bad metadata for our music, no matter the goal. You need to respect our desire to properly highlight Artist credits and stop challenging that. You're weren't trying to be antagonistic, but your attitude has been presumptuous. We're definitely not going to change the core tagging system. It demonstratively has worked for us for over 10 years. OC ReMix in the song title and http://www.ocremix.org as the album, those have helped us immensely in terms of building awareness of the community from both fans and ReMixers. We know because we've heard time and time again of fans discovering us this way. However, I DO appreciate the impetus to look into this issue with iTunes, because until now I didn't realize it apparently can't sort music by song name. To me, that's iTunes not providing ME the proper user experience. I primarily use Winamp. Looking at iTunes tonight, I just realized that we're not using a standard field in iTunes called "Grouping" (aka "Content Group" in other tagging programs). "Grouping" is a column that CAN be enabled in iTunes, and we'll fill THAT with the game title so that you can sort by game. You still can't sort by song title in iTunes, but this is definitely good enough to meet the basic need to sort by game. Thanks for bringing up your issue; it led to a very beneficial update to my tagging revisions. And I did it by using basic tagging features already available to me, not by needlessly disrupting our vetted, established system.

Boooooooooooooooooooooo. (We have fired OA from the panel.)

$25 from me! I made it rain!

Say wha?

Can't say enough how cool it is to get ReMixes with an entirely different feel than the original. It's so easy to do "Fear Factory" with an ominous or hard edge given the mood of the original. Taking it on in this style like Damon has just shows the versatility of the theme!

We didn't actually publish those. But you definitely missed the boat on Joshua Morse's Sonata of the Damned, including a recently posted mix. Where you been? Also, no fighting. Kanthos, kethinov is offering a suggestion that he feels helps the site, so that's at least something. Y'all both want what you think is best for the site, so there's no reason to get upset. That said, it's not even a matter of tenure or lack of tenure. I just don't find that kethinov's sorting ideas benefit us. I know a lot of people use iTunes, but I ALSO know that I use Winamp, and if I want every Streets of Rage OC ReMix, I can just sort by filename or song title with 0 problem. Also, I don't like not having ReMixer as the artist, for every conventional reason Kanthos mentioned. Putting artist in the song title field is not due credit to me, and the suggested shift implies that the artist is not as important as the game. Our role is also to spotlight and raise the profile of the musicians who submit their music here, and that's much more important to me than what game was mixed.

Coo. What's new with it?

No it wasn't. It was always perfect.

Yip. I'm checking with djp if we can use this occasion to update all of the individual ReMixes with my improved versions, but we'll see. I can't put an ETA on it on a torrent in whatever form, but I'm nudging, so we'll see.

1. "OC ReMix" in the title is how many, many people discover this site (just as the URL as the album does). There's no way we're getting rid of it, ever. The whole point is to broadcast that it's an OC ReMix. 2. The artist is not the game, the artist is the ReMixer. With our way, you can sort by ReMixer and game. With yours, you can no longer sort by ReMixer. I'm not in favor of anything that obscures credit to ReMixers. Pushing the ReMixer credit to after the title of the song is a disservice to them, IMO. 3. Way too many of the ReMixes have no easily classifiable genre. "Game" underscores that these are game arrangements. We're gradually tagging the ReMix Review threads (and will eventually carry over to the site database) genre, mood and instrumentation and other information that doesn't shoehorn music into one genre. Tagging with multiple genres in the actual MP3 is silly; it's not designed for that. 4. I've got copies of every ReMix with improved tagging that makes the game titles & song titles & filenames consistent, and also fills in missing data including ReMixer website & contact info, track #s and embedded lyrics (when we have them). The album artist field will be filled in as "OverClocked ReMix" to allow grouping on that level. The only thing we're waiting for is official album art from djpretzel. If you download any of the last, say, 100 ReMixes or so, that's the standard we have going forward. Keep doing your own personal system that works for you, and I appreciate the suggestions. But what we use for the most recent ReMixes works well, and the additions I've made will hopefully be applied to all of the older tracks soon. Read this for more. It's been underway: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20433

It's been brought up 6 or 7 years ago, and the case for it is less compelling now than it was back then. OGG doesn't have widespread support & acceptance as the de facto listening format. And no matter what the legalese says, MP3 is de facto free. Changing past files to OGG would require backups of lossless originals, which we definitely don't have and couldn't obtain. Until any of that changes, which it likely won't, there's no reason to consider OGG. Hate to slap it down, as it's not an inherently terrible idea, but there's just no compelling reason to switch to it.

I recently completed a new remix and seeing as how it's been forever since my last one was posted (though "conventional" calendars might say it's only been about 4 and a half years), I figured I'd submit it. All my artist info is still accurate, but I don't think Mega Man X5 is in the database. Name of ReMix: Moonlight Vibin' Name of game(s) arranged: Mega Man X5 Name of individual song(s) arranged: Credits Additional information about game including composer, system, etc.: According to wikipedia it was composed by Naoto Tanaka, Naoya Kamisaka, Takuya Miyawaki; released on PS1 Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. - I've never played any of the games in the Mega Man X series but always enjoyed the music. I was in a creative slump one day when the End Credits song for MMX5 showed up in the mp3 player. Creativity arose, and I put this arrangement together....then the slump returned. *sigh* Anyway, I hope it meets the OCR standards. Thanks for listening! -DCT ---------------------------------------------------------------- The tone of the strings brought in at :12 sounded fake; they should sound warmer to expose them less. Nothing terrible though, but they stick out, especially when brought back in a bigger role at 1:43, which exposed the unrealistic articulations more. That kind of string execution got the job done back in the day, but it sounds lacking now. The lower strings at 3:14 sounded so much better, though I can't tell if that was from just going with lower notes or additional layering. Otherwise, I was enjoying the subtle dynamics here, which paralleled the layout of the source while definitely personalizing it with this hip-hop instrumental take. Aside from the issue with the strings, all of the other instrumentation was on point and clicked together very well. Despite only having a few parts in play, the texture was always nicely fleshed out, with a full soundscape, and beats that coasted but weren't uncreative and repetitive. Solid stuff, and great to hear from Duane again with some very nice work. YES

Issues: Wasn't quite feeling the brushed drums at :42; didn't quite mesh, maybe pulling them back would have helped. The hats at 2:07 seemed to be too loud. The strings at 2:22 also sounded pretty unrealistic for those few seconds. At 2:56, the electrosynth was too shrill/piercing with the highs. Same with the synth brought in briefly at 4:02 & 4:19; too much treble But aside from that, very solid stuff. Very creative and full of expressive ideas with a badass groove. I'd love to see some production tweaks on this to get everything sounding its best, and I'd hate to not be able to get those tweaks. But if we can't get 'em, I'd rather have this on the site than not. Keep 'em coming, Nick, this is fun stuff. YES (conditional)

The brass still has issues, but they're positioned well as supporting instruments and aren't badly exposed like in the Hydrocity mix, thank the Lord Jesus with cherries on top. Agreed with Palp on the arrangement being conservative to start, but getting more interpretive; I'm cool with it. When it's a live performance where the parts need to be learned, I'm more OK with relatively conservative melodic arrangements as long as expressive performance and new supporting writing help make the track interpretive. The percussion work during the verses sounded pretty solid and really gave a lot of energy. The Mexican hat dance cameo should have been more smoothly integrated in the track, but it's not a big deal. Solid stuff from the Doc. YEEHAW!

Not really feeling that electrosynth in there; that along with the beats sounded generic, but we'll see where it goes. Thankfully, we got a changeup at :57, because the track was dragging. Once things picked up at :59, the lead sounded shrill and the soundscape was too crowded. The dropoff at 1:28 was pretty welcome. 0 complaints about the piano sequencing; that's purposeful and works for the genre. You can humanize that more if you think it'll improve the track, but I didn't mind the choice. Weird note at 1:41 though. Again at 1:58, when things got fuller again, you had a shrill sound upfront and the soundscape was very cramped & crowded. 2:58's section is even more of a problem when the thumping bass kick came in, and the melody sounds off-key with the piano countermelody. Arrangement-wise, this basically get the job done. This has potential, Fernando, but the production was way too messy. The track being so crowded hurt the dynamic contrast you were going for and made the track feel unfocused. You need to get these sounds balanced properly and work out the kinks with stuff being off-key in the last section. NO (resubmit)

Yep. Some of the opening string articulations sounded unrealistic. The brass could have sounded more natural as well, but was serviceable; the strings ended up sticking out more. Nice dropoff at :44. When the buildup climaxed at :56, the string lead was getting obscured, IMO. At 1:33, all you really heard was the rumbly drums; again, I'd change what was more upfront vs. in the background. The high string articulations at 2:34 again stuck out as unreliastic and not smooth enough. Arrangement-wise, the Magus theme was more of a cover, but even then the supporting writing has some new ideas to personalize the arrangement, so I was more OK with it than the other NOs. Melodically, there could have been more going on though, so do think about that level. As for the samples, what's there is perfectly fine and above the bar. They sound perfectly serviceable to me, you just need to refine the articulations so that they sound more natural in execution; you don't need to obtain higher-end samples, and I don't like the implication that you need to. CHz summarized where the other NOs are coming from, and that's ultimately where I'm at as well. However, this is better than most of the stuff we reject, so definitely don't be discouraged. See if you can polish this up, tweak the volume of some parts and I think this would be ready for prime-time. Keep at it on this one, Khalifa, this is a very solid track right now and just needs that extra push. NO (resubmit)

Submitter only provided a streaming link; we'll get a file if we need to - LT AmR - O.D. Alley (NRG Remix) (pop-up) SUBMISSION Info: Game: Donkey Kong Country (SNES) Track Title: Oil Drum Alley Comments: A hard Trance, dance hall remix of the oil drum alley theme from Donkey Kong Country (SNES). Found myself playing the game again one day and decided that this track would be a cool remix. Enjoy. CONTACT Info: Remixer Name: AmR Real Name: Aaron Rigby OCR Forum ID: 28922 Website(s): http://www.soundclick.com/amrus (Artist) http://www.soundclick.com/rig1015 (OCR Profile) -- Rig1015 AmR Aaron Rigby ---------------------------------------------------------------- Donkey Kong Country - "Fear Factory" Opened up with a slow build. Dunno if it's just the SoundClick player, but the volume was way over the top. The electrosynth lead at 1:26 was very generic and definitely dragged this down for me, but the rest of the sounds were still pretty solid. The arrangement obviously had some level of interpretation, but melodically and structurally it held pretty fast to the source tune. I would have loved more melodic and countermelodic interpretation, more like the stuff that briefly came into play at 5:04. 5:34 went back to more conservative stuff before the breakdown at 5:59. All in all, this was a pretty good genre adaptation and does a lot of things that go in the right direction in terms of personalizing the sound/mood. But the overall interpretation of the source tune didn't take enough risks or liberties with the melody or structure, so it still feels limited. Also, the sound of that lead synth should be changed for something less vanilla. I'd say this is about 75-80% of the way there and just needs some TLC by getting more melodically/structurally interpretive, but what's in place is promising, so we'll see how the rest of the vote goes. Hope we hear more from you, Aaron, you clearly have potential. NO (resubmit)

New version: OCRemix Song Submission: Links: Song name: The Mighty Mighty Pokemon This song is part of the Missingno Tracks project, so please hold off on posting if accepted until that project comes out. Contact Information: Your ReMixer name – Level 99 Your real name - Stephen Bortz Your email address – level99remixteam@gmail.com Your website – Your userid – 13318 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged – Pokemon Blue/Red (GB) Name of individual song(s) arranged – Title Composer: Junichi Masuda The OST is already on the site. Comments on the song: Sooner or later, I’ll make a public letter of apology for how much text I make you all read when receiving a remix of mine. All part of the job, ain’t it? I write it, you gotta read it. Okay, here we go: About three years ago, I stumbled onto/was invited to join/begged and pleaded to be on the Missingno Tracks project. I really enjoyed the title music of the Pokemon gameboy game, and that tune has always been present in other songs in the Pokemon series. It’s cheerful, upbeat, and telling of the adventure about to unfold. This one’s done in a style somewhat reminiscent of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Ska and Swing music are big favs of mine, though I did want to incorporate that alternative rock element that the Bosstones used so well. This went through a number of versions over the years, as I came and went through activity in the remixing community. Computer crashes, new software, lots of critiquing, and a whole bunch of other shit kept this thing from getting finalized. Thankfully, The Damned never lost hope or left me out in the cold. This latest version is still writing very close to my first version of it, but was completely redone from the ground up with my latest DAW setup. I’m fairly certain this is the first time I ever really dug into Addictive Drums to discover all the different presents, bundled beats, and features, so I tried out a lot of different combinations of beats and fills to get the multi-genre-influenced sound of Ska Punk drumming. The arrangement, while a little liberal in that it adds a new third section to the song, is still close enough to the source that I believe it should pass the OCR source usage requirements. There are times when the main melody is not played, but the basic chord structure is still there. It was impossible to keep that same lead line in there constantly without it getting boring or overplayed, so it rests a few times and comes back to reinforce the song. The song itself starts off with one iteration of the source through a slower rock-ish style, and then comes back to really kick off about 1/3 through the song. The most important thing about making Ska versions of remixes doing this song is that it is nearly impossible to get convincing brass in there outside of live brass players (an issue which will hopefully be remedied and easily seen once the Kirby Super Star remix I’m working on wraps up with live brass). Enjoy, and keep on skanin’. ~Stevo --------------------------------------------------------------- If you've played Smash Bros., you of course know this theme like the back of your hand. That'll help Vig with his Pokémon aversion. I wasn't feeling the tone of the drums here, and the brass brought in at 1:16 sounded awful. Thank God it wasn't any more exposed than it was, because they were so gimped, they dragged down the track every moment they were in play. The mixing wasn't where it needed to be. IMO, give the guitar lead more presence and/or more high frequencies, instead of giving all the volume to the drums, which exposes them. And please replace those awful brass sounds with something stronger and more expressive. Arrangement-wise, this was pretty solid, so just improve the mixing & production to fully realize the potential here. NO (resubmit)