Liontamer

Got a quick letter from a fan: 目的=Mokuteki 目標=Mokuhyou, re: our Japanese version of the Mission: http://www.ocremix.org/info/Mokuhyou Can I get a referee's decision?

Yes, I have abandoned you all. I need to get the FTP info from djp so that I can continue upping new avatars, but I'm admittedly working on a billion other things, so it'll be difficult for me to prioritize it. But I'll try to pick it back up.

Hey guys, Yet another one dug out of our archives. This one we think stays pretty true to the original with the additional flair the comes standard with our mixes. Hope you enjoy. Love & Respect = D - theophany Song ReMixed: Zelda: Earthbound - Giygas Stirs, Pokey Means Business! ReMix Title: He is the Evil Power ReMixer: Theophany Real Names: Mike Grier, Jason Alexander Gallaty, Andrew Thompson, Sam Julien Featuring: Jeremy Gautier (Guitar) Email: theophanyremix@gmail.com Website: http://www.last.fm/music/Theophany Forum UserID: 7553 -------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=mo2 - "Giygas Stirs" (mo2-130.spc) & "Pokey Means Business!" (mo2-129.spc) Opening practically sounds like a direct sampling of "Giygas Stirs". :36 shifted over into "Pokey Means Business!" with some pretty simplistic textures with some Genesis style sounds. Not really getting much interpretation though. It basically followed the structure of Pokey until 1:46. More rock stuff at 2:02, but the lead guitar was way too far in the back, and the rest of the instrumentation was too flimsy. 2:38 moved over into another section of the theme, with some awkwardly used drumloops until 2:54. I liked the guitar work at 2:58, but again, the beats that accompanied it were flimsy. The parts that do invoke the source could use more interpretation, but it's the sparse, uncohesive textures that end up killing this. It shows its age. Hope we hear something new from you guys though. NO

Link: ReMixer name: The Vagrance Real name: Samuel Day Email address Samuel.Day@gmail.com Website: http://reccej.net Userid: 15461 Name of game arranged: Mega Man 9 Name of individual song(s) arranged: Plug Man Stage Remix Name: "March on Electric Children" Composers: Ippo Yamada, Yu Shimoda, Ryo Kawakami, Hiroki Isogai System: Xbox Live Arcade, PS3 Store, Whatever the Wii store is called Link to the original soundtrack: Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: I made this right after the Mega Man 9 project was announced to get into the project, but apparently the track was filled before it was even available so I just went ahead and finished it anyway. I've been wanting to try breakbeat again and this track happened to be the perfect one to do it. Really this was done over the course of maybe 4 or 5 days total (1 full day), mainly spread about a period of 3 or 4 weeks. Its not flashy or groundbreaking but rather a sweet to-the-point kick ass remix. The name is a direct reference to the Blood Brothers (who I adore) album of the same name (even though this remix sounds nothing like the Blood Brothers). Runner-up for the name was "Sing the Funk Electric" after the awesome Elektrik Funk - "On a Journey" house track. -------------------------------------------------------------- There's about 12 or 13 seconds of silence left at the end that would need to be trimmed off. - "Plug Electric (Plug Man Stage)"The texture should have been a bit fuller-sounding, but it was OK; just sounded like it was missing something. Dynamically, the first 1:40 felt like an extended intro. The energy level basically peaked somewhere between first and second gear at :21. The way the melody was handled also wasn't particularly engaging. It's not awful, it just sounded as if it were playing third fiddle to the drumwork and synthwork. 1:37 finally moved into a different part of the theme, and while the drum patterns did change, the overall energy level and rhythms felt too similar. Dynamically, it wasn't engaging enough. 2:09 had a dropoff, but nothing too dramatic. 2:42's section was a retread of 1:41's section; need something new there to keep things fresh. The dropoff at 3:11 finally felt a little different than the rest of the mix, with a some metallic percussion sounds that got a lot of room in the soundscape and sounded pretty cool as a result. The ending was pretty anticlimatic as well. I hate to sound like I'm against downbeat pieces, because I'm not. I'm also not saying this needs a big overhaul with bombastic parts added to create a bigger dynamic curve. There's stuff like The Orichalcon's Raptor/FF7 mix "PlectraSubCity" that pulls off subtle dynamics well. In terms of subtle but effective dynamic contrast, I'm just not hearing it quite click here. If the other Js agree and articulate something similar to my POV that I wasn't able to say, I'll be sure to provide more thoughts. This is a good base, but it's missing some things that would complete it and realize the potential here. NO (resubmit)

Definitely looking good! That's some fast work; thanks! Y'all feel free to debate any tweaks you'd wanna do, but it looks completely ready to go if you want to just add it right into the Wiki. I can do that if you want, but otherwise go for it!

You are a god among men, Polololo!

Thanks a lot for the response, guys, I appreciate it. I'm gonna have some more for you guys to do, but I just have a brief but I think fun one from an upcoming game. I'd like someone to write up a bio for the Tap Runner from Prope & Sega's Let's Tap, produced in part by Sonic creator Yuji Naka. It'll be the blue Tap Runner if you need to know. Obviously Tap Runner isn't rich with an in-universe narrative, but a summary of the various courses/obstacles he deals with and some insight as to how the character works with the game mechanics of Let's Tap will cover all bases we need. Thanks to whomever is brave enough to tackle this! Have fun! Potential Sources: http://www.sega.com/games/lets-tap/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Tap http://www.flickr.com/photos/segaamerica/3444646805/ (Figurine pic) Google Image search http://nintendo.joystiq.com/tag/lets-tap/ http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2009/04/16/lets-learn-about-lets-tap/ http://blogs.sega.com/usa/category/lets-tap/

I know that. I ALSO know the remix title is not presented with hate, the titling IS creative, and there's absolutely no point in pressuring the artist in this manner with political correctness gone overboard. LET IT GO!

Look, as long as it's not hate speech or patently offensive, we're gonna allow it. Didn't you see djp's response? VERDICT: ALLOWED

Sounds like a good idea. I also have a character bio request that I need someone to fulfill for the site within the next couple of days. It wouldn't be anything too intensive, but would be helpful. If you're a Mascots project contributor that would be willing to help, lemme know here in the thread, please. After that, I do have some other characters that would need to be written up, again, nothing too intensive, but I'm hoping to get a couple of mascots added related to some cool contests we're planning!

http://twitter.com/ocremix/status/1993993552

UPDATED: Meeting at 4:00pm at Houlihan's for late lunch/early dinner/long island iced teas. I need to get to the concert hall early at 6, but folks are welcome to arrive later & stay later since the doors open at 7. Also, WEAR YOUR OCR SHIRTS! They won't let us sell shirts at the event but if you need one, let me know size/color in advance and I'll bring it for you, $10. We'll find a convenient back alley in Baltimore, and if you give me the cash, I'll give you the stuff, etc. It'll be just like HBO's The Wire. - djpretzel Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY - June 27, BALTIMORE, MD, Doors open 7PM Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arnie Roth, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall Tickets: $30-60 range BSO/Distant Worlds ticket information The BSO around the web Alright, as far as I'm aware, this is Distant Worlds first trip to the MD/DC/VA area, so we've gotta represent! We've got OC ReMix, MAGFest, Firaxis Games, Big Huge Games and the Gamer Symphony Orchestra all in the general area, so clearly we're gonna do a meetup of some kind. The concert's gonna kick ass, AND both MAGFest and OC ReMix plan to be spreading the word to concert attendees in partnership with the BSO. So if you're in the area, please make sure you lock in your plans to attend the show with us! --------------------------------------------------------- CONFIRMED! binary1230 djpretzel (w/ Anna, Cara) Gamer Symphony Orchestra members Harmony Jimmy-Taru José the Bronx Rican justinj212 Level 99 lou Moguta Nick the Newbie TENTATIVE audio fidelity DrumUltimA IcedDevil q-pa Sengin

I'd definitely appreciate anyone taking a stab at this. Also, are there any other mixes where we have lyrics missing? I ask because I've since repopulated lyrics tabs for all mixes where we have them, as well as embedded them in the MP3s for my OCR retagging project (thanks to Doug for clueing me in on the existence of a lyrics field, since I didn't use iTunes). If anyone has any glaring lyrics omissions to point out other than Pac-Man 'Sinergia', SMB '8-bit Eighties' and FF8 'Eyes on Me (Obsession)', I need to know. Thanks!

I like the premise here myself, though I'd probably make the overall look darker. I know Dave wanted some sort of modifications, because he wasn't feeling this initial design, but I can't seem to get more info than that. Feel free to nag him, José, so we can move forward. Thanks a lot for coming up with a solid first cut; you did such a badass job with the YouTube video that I know official album art could be good in your hands.

My fault; I thought "Zelda Heineken" was being referred to, given SwordBreaker's original mention of it. That said, "Utopia" was very nice. And as I just said about it, I dunno if the arrangement concerns are that cut and dry, given the ideas in the second half, BUT I don't have my judging hat on. That said, I wouldn't write it off. Also, Doug's avoiding saying the obvious "I was wrong" about the judges always being meanie-faces to the submitters and implying all rejections were bad music; he STILL hasn't owned up. C'mon, I'm waiting. You didn't look at anything before you complained. He still thinks Prot's on the panel.

Worth noting that Zelda Heineken was an obvious pass, so that makes no sense to bring it up as an example of something that's not "OCR material"; it's posted with our current standards in mind, ergo it's "OCR material".

A remix of a ReMix is not going to pass if it's mainly directly sampling the audio of the first ReMix, which is the basically the source tune alongside whatever game theme was the original source. Basically you're doing a traditional remix, not a ReMix. There's no way this concept would be passed. Besides too much direct sampling of the source, you have sections like :36-1:25 that have nothing to do with any Super Metroid game theme just because it's sampling "Dirty Sam". Best example of arranging a previous ReMix it in a way we would pass: http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00763/ vs. http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01251/ Have fun making this remix though, and we'll see how it turns out, but just clarifying that it's outside the scope of what would be accepted. But like most ReMixes, most notably the Ziwtra example, you'd basically have to build your own ReMix from the ground up, even if it's inspired by another ReMix.

Give me moneyz. I mean, BIRFDAY!

1) Obviously there's some degree of subjectivity involved in applying the standards, because judges can have differing opinions on various mixes. No one's disputing that, and our process works that way by design, not by accident. Otherwise you wouldn't need judges, you could just use a checklist. The underlined second part of the definition is what we're concerned about eliminating on the panel. We want the first part in a sense because our ideology is our standards, and our standards are independent from our personal music preferences. Also, being fair to each track isn't just about having an earnest opinion. Look at SgtRama's & starla's quotes a couple of posts ago with their nonsense; you can be earnest and be 100% wrong. It's also about having a good grasp of the standards so that you're applying them in a reasonable, consistent way. Where you go wrong is implying we claim we don't or can't have opinions, and that having an opinion displays a "lack of control" in the context of being a critic. What I'm saying is that we aren't in the business of arbitrarily applying the standards with favoritism and bias, i.e. voting against our better judgement in spite of what we're listening to. 2) Your argument about our "bias" potentially in action is you giving negative hypotheticals on what we could say about that DoD track you linked, when a) there's no cut-and-dry arrangement call against it and the production is good, and no judge would say the production was messed up. It's a straw man argument, and I'd recommend not assuming that kind of stuff.

Clearly, they're "not part of the clique."

I don't count, but A.

Kind of letmegooglethatforyou, but how it works and what it's helping to research (in this case, protein folding): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home As far as what benefit it's provided to the scientific community, if you're willing to read those: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home#Results

Well, to be clear about most NOs, because that's what someone like Hoboka was complaining about, the fact is that most NOs are given the NO because they do need additional work on interpretation, composition and/or production to be above bar, and could use the work. Many are below average or bad pieces of music. And a decent amount of material is really promising and is narrowly rejected or rejected with lots of urges to resubmit. But that's a comparatively small amount of material. People can be upset about the quality bar all they want, but the community's reputation has grown positively on account of the raising of that bar, and the overall increase in consistency is objective not subjective. And then we get submissions of MIDIs, pure chiptunes, covers with little interpretation, traditional remixes heavily sampling original audio, mashups, mixes of game tracks not originally created for games or original songs ABOUT video games (which are all outside our scope) where rejections are independent of quality. But those are much more infrequent, probably less than 5% of all rejections. And, there is nothing inherently wrong with OCR having a focus that excludes those types of music, not because we dislike that music, but because back in 1999 OCR was created to offer something collectively different than preexisting concept websites that already offered those other types of music. Some of you are not understanding this. I also think the comment about OCR trying to institute a "facade of professionalism" is ignorant. Obviously, we like to have a high standard, and it does blur the line between fan and professional for some of our community members. How that's apparently a negative thing for a community of musicians who enjoy video game music, I have no idea. But we don't have high standards to pretend we're professionals, we do it to pay respect to the original work and encourage people to appreciate video game music more by presenting consistently creative material. And that raises the game for everyone because while standards aren't professional, they're unapologetically at a high level for a hobbyist, and it promotes musicians becoming GOOD at what they do, not just half-decent. Nah, I always do the math when there's a potential I could YES it. Not trying to pull a debate trick re: burden of proof, but you've gotta gimme some proof through linking decisions, because you're just talking out of your ass with that. No offense taken. But we don't have shadow conspiracies to pass stuff from friends and overlook the guidelines for them. If people did that, I'd want them kicked off. Of course. And that's OK, because we're not saying it is. But people with a chip on their shoulder complain AS IF we say it is. That isn't our problem. You, you're talking out of your ass too. You clearly don't read enough judges decisions. I'm not sure why you're framing it as "if they say NO, they're saying or implying it's bad music no matter the quality level", when we don't do that at all. There are enough people who have had a submission rejected who will vouch for that. Again, no offense taken, but the accusations are just silly. Maybe we can add your PC language elaborating on "it's not necessarily bad", BUT given your POV, I don't see how adding that would satisfy what you perceive as the judges being soul-crushing douches. But us offering positive feedback or saying something's good despite being outside the standards happens often when we hear promising submissions. You need to read through decisions and recognize you're wrong on that. Judges never say anything nice. And that's just page 1. I just linked all 36 NO threads on page 1 of Decisions without exception. WHEN you read through them, you will realize you're 100% wrong. Are we really having this discussion? Really? You bitch and moan about the judges being unsupportive and saying we're not clarifying to people that their work isn't necessarily bad, and YET you don't read a goddamn thing we say. You don't read shit.

I've actually never heard Phantasmagoria before, so I don't know what to expect. Some people have said they're underwhelmed by Uematsu's anime scores, so maybe he doesn't have the touch outside games, but who knows what that's based on. Either way, I'm obviously interested to hear something original by Uematsu, so let's get it going...

Since the thread's basically about the musical evolution of the site, I pretty much agree with what ZealPath said above. As far as Hoboka's complaints about my judging, "meh." Obviously, a few people would think that a non-musician's critique is invalid, but that's an ignorant POV that I don't take personally. The only complaint I ever take personally is accusations of bias or favoritism, which I've never done. Also, how would he know my taste in music at all? I didn't realize Tim Follin was so bad for me. Also to Epitaph, not that I'm mad about the inference at all, but I don't "lack the imagination to compose original melodies", I just lack the ability to implement any ideas I have. Also, while I'm sure we have some people who don't resubmit promising submissions because they're upset, I'd wager the majority of people unfamiliar with the submission system simply aren't aware of the status of their song. While I'd personally love to contact everyone on the status of their subs, that's only something that'll come with 1) me catching up on the submissions inbox and 2) having the additional free time to then mail everyone on whether their mix passed/didn't pass/was chosen for direct posted. That'll be a great perk that will increase communication with the artists, and we already have form letters for all those circumstances, so just cross your fingers I can catch up again. But it won't be for a while.