Liontamer

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

In the shadows, we stay busy. ;-) Joining us as a Sage, we now have @Treyt, who's shown off a lot of skills, enthusiasm, and potential since his fateful forum post nearly three years ago! We're proud to announce some staff promotions with the twin magic of Sages @pixelseph & @paradiddlesjosh stepping up to become two of our newest judges! We had some fun internally joking that they were a package deal, yet I'm happy to say they both independantly have done well and proven themselves capable to help us out in this new capacity on the panel! We've also honored to have another judges panel addition in @jnWake, who cut his teeth in OCR way back and has massively grown since becoming a Dwelling of Duels regular! All three of the new judges should help us NO every VGM arrangement submitted to us with more speed, politeness, and class. ;-D Be sure to use our resources in the Workshop forums and our #workshop Discord channel and you may just get some feedback from our new staffers!

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

The vote's already closed, so I'll just tack on some brief comments. Rux Ton's a high bar to compare to, so forgive me for sounding as if I'm saying you have to sound as polished as him; OCR's bar isn't that high, so at least you don't have to reach his standard. :-) Levels appear to be insanely loud right at :13; had to turn my volume pretty far down. At :57, the beat-writing's underwhelming, and the synth briefly handling the melody also sounds generic. Very weak claps at 1:51, zero power and a flimsy sound, so your builds aren't paying off in terms of then delivering intensity (e.g. shifts into 1:51 & 3:09. Claps were thin at 1:29 as well and the kicks at 1:40 seemed to be lightly distorting or at least too punchy yet lacking any body behind them. I agreed with Chimpazilla that the limited number of parts leads to a samey sound over time that's also dragging the track out. Good potential here though, Matt; explore how you can vary up but also intensify the tone of your instrumentation. It's not all about volume. NO (resubmit)

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Bah, I thought I voted on this thang! (Lazy./Busy./Not actually lazy.) Amazing source tune. Some pitchy slips, no doubt, yet well-performed on the whole and full of heart. PINK ENERGY, a.k.a. LOVE! :-) YES

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Every OC ReMix that we currently know of on Spotify has a embedded Spotify link on its ReMix page. Thanks to DarkeSword for creating the new feature! If anyone knows of other OC ReMixes the artists put on Spotify that aren't shown on the ReMix page, add them here. We'll eventually figure out how to make a playlist.

In a vacuum, this is definitely a strong Game Boy track. It could definitely use more going on with the stereo field, so I agree with Hemo saying it would be better as chiptune+. Right now, the potential dynamics of the track aren't fully realized. The intro's really spartan, and I realize there's a build; that said, this could start at :16 and not lose anything. The percussive crash-style sounds brought in at :47 are too sizzly, IMO; I'd pull the volume of those back. The CV source usage seems very limited as mainly a countermelody/call-and-response underneath the SM arrangement, but that's not inherently a problem, it just means it's not a huge focus. The :48-1:38 & 2:08-2:40 sections should be shortened. When the channels are so limited and you have long runs of writing where the dynamics don't change, it makes these sections feel overlong and dragging out. As prophetik noted, there's too much cut-and-paste and too many areas that don't feel dynamic because of retreading. Winddown into a transition at 2:59 and then arranging the Super Metroid theme again with different sounds. The faux-string stabs have pop sounds from 3:21-3:28 & 4:02-4:09 that should be eliminated. Cool stuff, but the structuring should be tightened up and more varied up. Well in the right direction, and the transformation to Game Boy chiptune's very creative. NO (resubmit)

Would suggest listening to the source theme more so that you're absolutely sure you've substantially invoking it enough instead of going for just vibes, but of course that's just keeping OCR's arrangement standards in mind rather than dictating what creative path you ultimately choose to go down, which can obviously be whatever you want it to be. At :25 it moved over into this bassline being the most prominent aspect, and it's not musical. Same with the electric guitar-like lead at :49, which is not melodious. There's the source melody at 1:04, and the notes have been changed in a way where this all sounds flat and isn't melodious. Another flat lead at 1:36 then back to that bassline. Agreed with proph that it's unfortunately all tedious and difficult to enjoy because it's not musical. There's definitely some creative SFX usage, but it's all pretty scattershot, and none of that could make up for an arrangement that isn't musical. Abrasive messiness at 4:47 that just comes off like randomness without direction. There's always latent potential, but you'll need to put the time in asking questions in music communities on where you're going wrong. In short, far from musically coherent, so you need to spend more time arranging or crafting something that sounds melodious and THEN working on all the sound design stuff would be worthwhile. NO

Listened in my car yesterday, but that's not my ideal set-up, so I didn't want to lay down a vote until I could hear it on headphones and better appreciate the soundscape. I'll firstly say though, fun source tune choice, which has a Mega Man X vibe for me in some ways with this sound palette. If this was old-school OCR, this would have been a shoo-in and looked back on fondly. As is, the breakbeats all feel very stapled in and some of the synths feel generic. But the energy's solid and the interpretation's creative; if it were 20 years ago, this would have likely made it (I was on the panel back then, so I'm pretty confident in saying so.) Good Game Boy sounds, then a nice synth at :10 and again at :21 as more elements came in for the build. Kind of murky, but no problem. More warbly at :43 with a changeup of sounds. Breakbeats start fading in around :54. Yeah, at 1:01, the breakbeats come in and the mixing choices definitely don't make any sense. The melody barely sounds out over the pad-like sounds and breakbeats until 1:22. The breakbeats sound very lo-fi like you grabbed a very low bitrate sample; the contrast between how lacking in highs & clarity the first set of breakbeats is compared to the next set at 1:42 feels very sloppy and disjointed; and I get that this is purposefully jumping around the place with different textures and big intensity, but there's ways to have other sounds and effects create logical transitions to where sudden major changes in the sound quality/clarity makes sense, but there shouldn't be quality disparities in the mixing (Speedball "Speedy Guitar" is a good example of pulling this off). The bassline from 1:22-1:33 has decent presence, but doesn't have a firm shape, so the notes it hits adds some textural body, but otherwise aren’t audible and don't register much, if that makes sense. I did like the brief chiptune transition at 2:02 before going back to the fuller texture at 2:12, which was better handled, even though again the full soundscape at 2:12's muddy until 2:34. Since I'm not a musician, and the musician Js have tried to hone in on how you can improve the production side of this, all I can say is that this has a ton of potential and doesn't need to be mucked with in terms of the writing and structure. Again, super creative approach, cosmo, and I'm fully on board with the arrangement side. To sum up the production side, look into reducing the overall muddiness and imbalance amongst the parts, ensuring you don't have such quality disparities from section to section. No more clean, then muddy, then clean, then muddy, at least not without more intentionality and transitions. Varying the breakbeat loops would be cool, and the way they don't vary much does undermine the dynamics of the piece some, but it wasn't a huge deal for me; that would be a nice-to-have, but just addressing the mixing would be enough to nudge it over the line for me. That's about it, and I hope you're willing to revisit this one! NO (resubmit)

Artist Name: dolphin92329 The source material must be identifiable and dominant. My response: my focus for this remix is the bass line from the OST. Then the downwards chromatic scale from the OST, then the slidey thing with the pitch bend from the OST. I started this remix very briefly in September, then working at it since mid-December. I really like the OST’s pitch shifter to E with the bass line pounding my mind. Nostalgic OST for me anyway. I listened to the 30-minute extended play of the OST three total times before completing this remix. I believe I have put enough of the source material in the song to justify putting the amount of “remix” in the remix. Mind you, I am not a sound engineer, but a composer. The solo at the ending is very difficult to deal with, and is either too loud or its low notes cannot really be heard. Otherwise, I think this remix turned out great. 0:00 – 0:02 = Nearly literal Intro 0:02 – 0:08 = Literal bass line only. This is more like a “progressive” complex remix before the literal full portions of the short OST. 0:08 – 0:28. = Remix on the solo bass with SFX. Note that my bass in this remix often is ascending in fashion, similar in theme to the OST bass line. 0:28 – 0:49. = Build up on the bass line near the same as the OST. Note that the bass line is kind of like the OST bass line “chopped in half” when the bass reaches the high E, down a semitone to Eb in the repeating 8th notes like the OST. 0:49 – 1:04. = 1st iteration of the descending chromatic scale portion. The OST does not reach the note B but mine does. Each iteration of these have variations of the arpeggios used in the OST as the break within these iterations used in the OST as well. I added flavor at the end of these iterations as I do not want too literal of remix. There are four more variations of these iterations in this remix. 1:04 – 1:15. =. A single repetition of the main theme with both bass and treble resembling literal OST. Future iterations of this theme include drums in this remix. 1:15 – 1:31. =. A spin-off of the treble theme which is revisited once later on. It appends in here both the bass and treble ascending in nature similar to the OST’s bass line I am hampering on. 1:31 – 1:36. = 5-second “dubstep” break! Deliberately does not play a note in key (D-natural from E harmonic minor). 1:36 – 1:50. = This is a ways off from the OST, but is fairly short. Feels kind of like jazz, then the treble resembles the ascending 8th note nature of the OST’s bass line. 1:50 – 2:05. = This section is a repetition of the bass line build up from earlier, but is ¾ in total length. This includes major introduction to the drum kit (wood block). 2:05 – 2:21. =. 2nd iteration of the descending chromatic portion. Additional elements and vibratos are added here similar to the OST. 2:21 – 2:41. =. 1st major introduction to the literal OST feel with full bass, treble, and drum kit playing almost exact from OST. Second round treble plays an octave lower. 2:41 – 2:57. = 3rd iteration of the OST’s descending chromatic portion. Basically the same as the 2ndand somewhat the 1st. 2:57 – 3:12 = I wanted to include rapid 16th notes in this section, so I began with variance on the odd-sounding snippet from earlier this remix. 16th notes begin for a bit. 3:12 – 3:30. = Then 4th iteration on the descending chromatic portion from OST until I look for harmony in not E harmonic minor but C# harmonic minor (related to E major on the circle of fifths.). Just to be sure, the OST all-in-all is in about E harmonic minor. 3:30 – 4:01 = 2nd major literal portion of the bass-treble-drums from OST. Smooth sailing here. Very literal from OST with more SFX. 4:01 – 4:24 = 5th and final iteration of the descending chromatic portion. Note the variance in the descending notes here and weight placed on the note E. 4:24 – 4:47. = One second of harsh dubstep. SFX break with bass line playing one variant repetition of the OST bass line. Bass does whatever it wants for a little bit next with more variant of the OST’s bass line. 4:47 – 5:07. = Left speaker solo is here. Right speaker plays one repetition of the main treble theme with solo and differing rhythm synth in background. Then center plays two repetitions of main treble theme but in differing octaves. Drums similar to OST but some are irregularly timed as intended. 5:07 – 5:19. = Left speaker. More of the main treble lead from OST in center as just before. Usage of small delay effects and modest pitch bending in remix of OST’s treble lead. 5:19 – 5:38 = Conclusion of song with electronic buzzing sound, tapering in gradual tempos. Cheers! dolphin92329 Games & Sources Mega Man 9 (2008). OST: Boss Theme. Composers: Ippo Yamda, Ryo Kawakami, Yu Shimoda, Hiroki Isogai.

Added the YouTube; best I can find with a quick look. If it passes or we absolutely need an individual file, we can always ask, but the YT should suffice for now.

Well I just waited in line for 6 hours with Ridley at the Sonic Speed Cafe, so I hope he's not like "Man, F him, WTF!", but the transformation here... is too transformational. Especially the 1-5-1 pattern, where was that here? 2-6-2? (Kidding.) I hear what proph's referencing to an extent, but I'll need to be educated on this source usage as well. Rather than NO, I'll read through Ridley's breakdown, but on first blush, I'd NO this. ? EDIT (3/23/25): I don't know any theory, so I appreciate Wake's thorough breakdown. Agreed that in a vacuum, this sounds cool and is a well-made piece of music, but the connections to "Aquas" are too scant and disconnected, even for someone like me that's approved liberally arranged tracks like this and this. If there's any appetite for playing this more melodically straightforward, I'm certainly open to it, though I assume Ridley's cool with the approach he took and understanding that he went off the beaten path enough to make this a stretch, based on his comments. All good, and looking forward to your future stuff! NO (resubmit)

Very mechanical organ sequencing to open it up. Moved over into some dense beats at :11. The synth design's pretty vanilla, but we'll see where it goes. Oh man, the lead at :27 is pretty brutal; too loud and the warbling like-effects on the lead are arguably obnoxious. A decent changeup at :43, but the balance of the parts doesn't make sense; leads were so bright. Very ugly, sluggish-sounding synths at :57 and the beats behind them are pretty plain, followed by a very awkward transition into some more generic synths around 1:08. At 1:23, the louder part of the doubled melody's OK in principle, but sounds like it has too much high end volume, so it's also not pleasant to listen to. Better stuff to an extent from 1:22-1:33, but the part-writing still sound very stilted and robotic. Cool transition at 2:01, though going back to the opening organ at 2:09 was a mistake given how behind the beat the attacks were. Right now, the sound design's very unsophisticated, but at least the efforts there to texturally expand on and broaden the energy of the source. It still needs a ton of TLC, though Audiomancer did eventually get his other Dragon Warrior arrangement passed after 8 or 9 tries, so the possibility is absolutely there to refine and retool this into a success, even if it takes numerous tries to get there. Keep at it! NO

Sounds like samples, but solid ones that get the job done. The arrangement was 3:59-long, so this needed at least 119.5 seconds of identifiable source usage to have he VGM source material be dominant: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) - "Sanctuary Dungeon" - :00-:03.5, :04.75-:08.75, :10.75-:19 Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) - "Ganon's Message" - :36.5-:53 (this wasn’t cited by the artist, but is a direct reference) Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) - "Dark World Dungeon" - 1:16-1:45, 3:47.75-3:59 Legend of Zelda (NES) - "Dungeon" - 2:02-2:26.5, 2:34.75-3:04.25, 3:06.5-3:11.75, 3:13-3:29.5 Adds up to about 148.25 seconds, well over the line in terms of the VGM source material being dominant in the arrangement. I didn’t mind the intro. I didn’t get it, but not everything is for me. :-) I love and appreciate how shodan shifted the themes around to being performed by the different “players”, which can make the arranging more difficult to follow, though I’d argue not by much, at least not enough to put the source usage in question. Rubber stamp for an interpretive, well done chamber concept! YES