Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

The lyrics are a cover but got Finglished, which is awesome - LT Remixer: ilp0 Real name: Ilari Nieminen Game: Conker's Bad Fur Day Song: Sloprano Original can be heard in http://sloprano.ytmnd.com/ Lyrics might be a "bit off", I just don't understand half of it --------------------------------------------------------------- Never played Conker's Bad Fur Day, so hearing the source was surprising to say the least. Never knew they ever acknowledged the word "shit" in video game music. In an orchestral/opera piece no less. Man, that last audio drama-style part at the end, you can't help but think they were laughing all the way to the bank at how they were getting paid to make something that ridiculous. Wow. Conker's Bad Fur Day Soundtrack - (07) "Sloprano" Seems too cover-ish to start, but that concern was quickly erased. Pretty substantive of a genre adaptation with the vocals being the thing that ties it to the source, as most of the music itself seems to be original. Same type of deal as the previous Metal Gear Solid 3 submission, only more interpretive going this route; the structure is intact, the tempo and instrumentation are what got the overhaul. Obvious thing I noticed are that the lyrics are mixed in really poorly. I don't know if it's because the recording quality wasn't good in the first place, but whatever the reason, the mixing on them needs to be worked on. Right now, the vocals combined with the music are too loud and at too similar levels. The music should be pulled back to give the vocals more space. Vocal harmonization worked pretty well, making the delivery seem a lot more solid than the last sub. The lyrics were only quirkier given a few of the words being changed or mispronounced, and I loved 'em. "How about some scat, you little twat." That's great. Some production issues, but not enough to hold this back. A great example of how to do a cover with a lot of interpretation and personal flair. Nice job, Ilari! Good luck with the rest of the vote. Here's hoping you resubmit that Metal Gear Solid 3 collab with tiiiu as well. YES

Don't mind the filesize, just hop to it - LT Ahoy there, deary! I'd like to submit a little somethin' somethin' here. ReMixer name: Brandon Strader (It's also my real name.) Email: oinknessx@hotmail.com Website: http://www.livejournal.com/~boostrader UserID: 15151 Game: Final Fantasy VI Song: Terra's Theme I created this song about 6 months ago, or around there. I was continuing my piano lessons, which I had to quit after about a year because I entered college and really did not have time for them anymore. I produced a couple straight-up recreations of Aeris's Theme, and To Zanarkand, which I learned with sheet music. With Terra's Theme, however, I learned it by ear. It's not a piano song, so naturally, I sort of conformed what I heard into piano... with a twist! I was also quite into Donnie Darko at the time, by which I mean the movie. I love the spooky soundtrack to that movie, and it is mostly piano as well. So, I took some influence from that, and combined it with what I knew of the Terra's Theme song, and created the perfect combination between the two. I record with Adobe Audition 1.5. As far as the process goes, there's really not too much to say. I learned and practiced the song on the family's piano located in the living room, yet I used my own keyboard to record this song into my laptop. That's it - it's a dark piano performance that should send a chill down your bone. I personally enjoy listening to the atmosphere behind a performance... the slow smear of reverb contrasted by the bright tap of a note. About me: I'm a college student. I spend most of my time listening to music, doing homework, or watching TV. My birthday is on September 28th, also known as this coming Friday, and I will be 20 years old. I have a baby named Zut who loves me, and that's that. I play guitar (electric and acoustic), bass (electric), keyboards, lap harp, and I sing clean and heavy vocals. I'm interested in acquiring a flute this year. If you need any more information, feel free to contact me. I'm also on myspace, http://www.myspace.com/oinkness I'm interested in collaborations and guest appearances. Thanks! Brandon

Evahn fungshway@hotmail.com www.myspace.com/evahnder The Legend of Zelda Title Theme Koji Kondo After listening to and playing the Zelda theme for many years and in many different keys, I eventually stumbled upon the opening of this song as I was fiddling around on my guitar. I really had to slow down the tempo of the original theme to go along with it, so I was unsure of how it would turn out. Fortunately, it ended up sounding great, and the open acoustic chords really sound amazing with the theme. ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.zophar.net/nsf/zelda.zip - Track 1 The multitracking sounds fairly good, but some of the melodic harmonies during the Zelda portion seemed odd, and I'm not sure why that was. Wish I could articulate the performance issues with the leads better, but one of the geetar-slingin' Js should be able to elaborate. Source didn't show up until 1:39. The backing rhythm during the Zelda portion starting feeling monotonous by the time you reached the end of the section, probably not helped by the sound balance, as the leads didn't really stand out in the foreground. The buzziness with the halting of the Zelda section at 2:59 didn't sound good at all. Moved back into the original writing from the beginning before integrating the source tune intro from 3:39-4:12. Even treating the end of the arrangement as 4:20 (rather than counting the extended fadeout of the last notes until 4:38), there wasn't enough usage of the Zelda material. This had about 1:53's worth of Zelda stuff in a 4:20-long arrangement, about 43.46% of the track. Like you said, the wholly original writing you added thematically pieces together very nicely with the Zelda title theme. But as far as my call goes, you need to make the Zelda material the dominant part of the equation and get it over 50% of the track. Anything less means the focus ultimately isn't on the video game music. This is nice, but the adjusting the sound balance of the leads vs. the rhythms would help, as well as tightening some of the performance, and bumping up the Zelda quotient a bit. Hope to see this one again, Evahn. NO (resubmit)

Use the project link below; the bitrate is too high, but we can get a new encoding if this passes - LT Thought I'd go ahead and submit the song on doom.ocremix.org and the ff7.ocremix.org song that are currently up. I know you guys only accept one at a time, but I've meant to submit these for a while and they're already in projects on the site. If you will only accept one at a time let me know, and I'll resubmit the other song when possible (not a problem ^^). If given the option, I'd rather have Infected Lab submitted before Sons of Chaos so they'll be submitted in the order that they were written. Thanks, Xaleph ----------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.doom2.net/~doomdepot/music/doom%201%20&%202%20midis.zip - Doom: E1M7 (Computer Station) As an arrangement, this felt underdeveloped. Not undeveloped, but definitely underdeveloped, as I felt interpretation could have been substantially improved and/or expanded with more variation, but that wasn't necessarily the goal here (which I stress is ok). Let's see what we've got. Well-produced on the whole. The intro until 1:01 seemed wholly original and unrelated to the source. Only a 2:39-long arrangement, so that definitely had me really, REALLY worried about how much of the track was going to actually be arranging the theme, as it was nearly halfway over. While I don't believe the section is anything from E1M7, I could be missing a reference to another source that I'm not familiar with, so I'd appreciate TO or someone else taking a look. Whatever it turns out to be, I can't argue that it pieced together very seamlessly into the bigger picture of the arrangement. 1:01-1:30 played it pretty straightforward with the melody, adapting it well to genre and using the synths in the background to support it and add another layer. 1:38-2:07 got more interpretive by rhythmically messing with the string part of the backing portion of the source (best heard from 1:22-1:35 of the source MIDI). Swanky changeup at 1:53; I was feeling that bassline. 2:07-2:36 covered the 4th part of the source, again playing it straightforward with the genre adaptation. It might be seen as entirely subjective, but when a source tune has a shortcoming, I don't think it shouldn't necessarily be carried over into an arrangement. In this case, it was the sudden ending with no real resolution. That's more of a nitpick. If the intro was indeed all original, then 1:27's worth of the 2:39-long track was arranging the source, just over 50%. A close call if I've ever seen one, but you get the job done on a prerequisite level. Aside from the intro, the arrangement holds pretty tight to the general structure of the source. Not in an entirely negative way mind you, but following the source with its melody #1/interlude/melody #2 sequence. Overall, I feel like the arrangement is good, but the melodic interpretation doesn't feel substantive enough. I really would have liked to have seen the theme taken further beyond the genre adaptation. I don't feel it's at that level yet. Likely can't get this worked on further, but in the event that that's possible, I know you could do something really strong with it with additional ideas. NO (resubmit)

Got pretty liberal in some ways, but the source was never far away here. Very creative arrangement. Some really impressive stuff, this was definitely one that caught me off guard with the project and really had me paying close attention. With the right subwoofers, those thumps would shake your house down. Excellent debut.

We usually have at least one story per day. Y'all better be readin'. Call me now for ya free readin'. Can someone link a brother up?

I'll corral that very soon. Did you ever have time to touch up the Equinox arrangement? It was sounding really good; would hate to not have it touched up and clicking on all cylinders. :'-(

I don't think it boils down to money as much as it boils down to being able to work within reasonable restrictions. In the same way as lack of time or personal expectations, money is one of those things that can cause pressure and impose deadlines, which merely fall under the umbrella of restrictions. And like anything, restrictions can inspire creativity in the right amount. But apply too many restrictions and you're handcuffed. Working for yourself may not make you the most productive in quantity OR quality. Neither does being creatively handcuffed. So basically a middle ground of what Dan and Derek are espousing. Middle ground, y'all.

Remixer name: Gorillamatic Real name: Maurice Taylor Email: always_into_action@yahoo.com Userid: Not sure Name of game remixed: Extreme-G Name of original song remixed: 06-acclaim-original-sound-track-2 Link to original: I enjoyed playing extreme-g a lot a long time ago. I always liked the soundtrack on there. I figured hey, why not remix it. So here it is. Hope it makes the cut. Its titled Extreme Velocity. Enjoy --------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the hosted source from the actual soundtrack promo, as it gets the meat of it quicker and is better sound quality than the USF. http://www.zophar.net/usf/xgusf.zip - Race 2 Extreme G Official Remixes - (06) Original Track Thanks for not naming the tracks, Acclaim! The source tune sounded a bit flimsy, but I can see how interesting it was. Good arrangement choice. The intro for this one definitely grabs you in. Once things kicked into the meat of the track, the beatwork felt relatively sparse and simplistic, leaving the overall texture not getting the job done, IMO. 1:33-2:13's section was another culprit on that level. Nothing wrong with keeping the source melody more in the background as an anchor for the rest of the piece; that was definitely an interesting approach and the melody was couched well within the rest of the music, something difficult for a lot of people to pull off correctly. Though some stuff like the claps patterns felt bland and could have been stronger, I'm not sure if this really needs much more in the way of processing; everything sounded fairly good on that level. There's just a fair amount of empty space that needs filling out, IMO. Some additional depth/complexity in the textures, through additional part writing, padding or percussion variation on the core patterns would put this one over the top. Man, you're my radar now, I'll tell you that. Definitely keep working on this one, Maurice. I wanna see this one go through the wringer, get spit polished and wind up on the front page. Good work so far. NO (refine/resubmit)

Hey Judges! Here is all of the pertinent info! ReMixer Name: siven7 Real Name: Kenley Kristofferson Email: kenleykristofferson@hotmail.com Website: http://www.intothescore.com Forum ID: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=16878 Name of Game ReMixed: Uncharted Waters: New Horizons Name of Individual Song: "Close to Home" Add. Info: The game was released in 1994 for the SNES console by Koei. The game is based in the 16th century and allows the player to assume six different roles where their destiny forces them to a life on the high seas of exploration and (often) piracy! The score is written by Yoko Kanno and is composed as though it were to be performed, having lots of effects (delay/reverb mostly) on instruments and scored in very playable ways (unlike an impossible mallet part from... say... "Main Theme" from FFIV... for example). I have a podcast called "Into the Score", which focuses on the academic study of video game music - studying Uematsu and Kondo like one would study Mahler and Beethoven! UW:NH is Episode 8 of the podcast, if you want to check it out! Right now there are some server issues, but I'm hoping that they get resolved in the next few days! Link to the OST: http://snesmusic.org/v2/profile.php?profile=set&selected=3146 Comments... This game is definitely a diamond in the rough... one of those soundtracks that has the best OST that you've never heard, you know? In which case, the ending theme of the game is a work called "Close to Home" and it is one of my favorite video game music tracks of all time. It was arranged for performers and recorded (as well as other UW:NH tracks) on a compilation called "Uncharted Waters: Special Edition," which is when the score hooked me. I submitted a remix of "Close to Home" earlier in the year called "Sunset on the Horizon" and it was for strings and woodwinds - it got 3 No's and 2 Resubmits. While different judges had different opinions about what was good and bad with it, I reflected on it some more and realized that it hadn't strayed far enough from the arrangement - I simply hadn't pushed the envelope far enough. With that, I re-imagined the potential of the work and started making something a bit darker with a stronger focus on ostinato and really filling out the texture, rather than having it really thin... almost like an impending storm. If was going to push myself compositionally, this was the time The first section establishes a foreboding and dark feel, setting a really strong groove right out of the gate (something my last arrangement was lacking) with cellos/double basses, acoustic bass and highhat. The groove is solidified with the marimba and congas setting the groove. The flute hints at the melody, as though trying to say a phrase in a crowd of talking people. The melody shows up in full with singing bowls and a santoor, in minor. There is a break in the darkness at 1:16 where harp and guitar are playing a repeating 3-note pattern (in major, which is also the first notes of the next section/the A section of the original melody), only to be discarded by the dark groove from before. The piece mounts in tension from 1:40-2:05 as though the clouds are dark and the storm is going to escalate to a hurricane, wanting to reach a climax. However, a ray of sun cuts through the clouds and the dark and endless stormy horizon is wounded at 2:05. The ray of sun is in the harp, repeating the 3-note pattern and setting up the B-section, which the flutes will start at 2:10. The key moves to the relative major with a melody in the flute and a new piano and string accompaniment. This section reaches its height at 2:35 with a modulation from F major to Ab major (I know, it's crazy) and a nice big open major chord. This section only gets bigger as it progresses, as thought the ray of sunshine is expanding and disbanding the intricate weaving of storm clouds. Again, the transition point is with that 3-note repeating pattern, this time in the harp and santoor. It sets up a return to the A section, but this time in a warm, major sound rather than a dark and ominous minor mode. This goes to show that the worst is over and the sky can reassure the land and the sea that everything is going to be okay... like a lullaby. The melody is in the flute (like the hopeful flute in the middle section) and the texture is full and rich until 2:38, where the instrumentation begins to thin out, allowing the work to have a natural feel of winding down. The work ends with a three-note motive, now seeming very comforting and supportive - the world will continue, the nightmare is over, and again... hope prevails. "Everything is always okay in the end; if it's not okay, then it's not the end." ============ Thank you for the consideration of my work! Most sincerely, Kenley Kristofferson, siven7 Kenley Kristofferson Into the Score http://www.intothescore.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=uw2 - "Close to Home" (uw2-24.spc) Arrangement-wise, you definitely did more to put your own spin on the source this time around. Why is this so quiet? I had to put on a litmus test track just to make sure the issue wasn't my fault. Nah, you gotta bump the overall levels up. You can't really hear the reverb on stuff like the mallet percussion without turning it way up. It looks like you didn't because the track may be peaking with some of the instrumentation, but other Js will be able to offer substantial analysis. Much like the previous sub of yours from this game, the samples aren't quite used to their best, perhaps less effectively here, though the low volume makes it sound worse than it is. Still, a lot of things sound pretty mechanical and exposed, most strikingly the higher bowed strings (worst offender 1:52-2:04), some of the woodwind attacks. The plucked strings at :52 probably could have been pushed up until 1:04 since nothing else was carrying the forefront briefly, but that could be more of a personal taste issue. I liked things such as the changeup in the percussion at 2:10. Was glad that core mallet percussion pattern at 2:52 finally changed, as it was getting annoying hearing the same thing from it every time it was in play. The dynamics are...subtle, but alright. The changes could probably be a little bit more defined. For example, 2:52 seems like the power should have been gradually increasing leading to a crescendo of sorts with 3:04's section, then making the dropoff at 3:28 more dramatic. I don't know if you feel that sounds cliche in practice, but it seemed like the writing implied that kind of structure but didn't actually follow through with it. More finesse with the sample usage is critical. Some of the more exposed areas of syntheticness hurt the piece significantly, IMO. If any other Js have their own observations on the dynamics here, that'd be appreciated. To me, everything feels like it's around 75% of the way there, but doesn't have the writing and production polish to put it over the top. Keep working on this one, Kenley, it's very promising so far. NO (refine/resubmit)

Hi. This is a slighlty dark, gothic mix of the Rainbow Road theme from Mario Kart 64, I realise there are quite a few mixes of this theme already, but, that doesnt matter What this mix offers is different from the submissions already on site, those submissions are calm... whereas this mix is compeltely the opposite, it starts with the actual theme, slighlty mixed, it then goes into an original melody, which then sneaks its way back into the theme. Its not perfect, but then nothing is, is it... I suppose the invention of soup... anyway yeah, enjoy Ps, I havent a clue what to write about it music wise, or what to name the song itself... I didnt put "OCreMix" at the end cause I didnt know if I should... But anyway yeah, please review and all that ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/usf/MarioKart64_usf.rar - 18 "Rainbow Road" Cool changes to the percussion to give it more of a breakbeat flavor, but that was about it in terms of effectively arranging the piece. I thought the original "dark, Gothic" section starting at :59 was completely out of place and didn't thematically connect with the "Rainbow Road" portion of the arrangement. Was it even in the same key? The stuff from 1:38 integrating SFX in the style of the original meshed better, but that was about it. Finally went back to the Rainbow Road stuff at 2:10. All of the usage of Rainbow Road kept the melody way too straight and uninterpretive. Melody dropped out, leaving the foundation of the original at 3:09, which, while a decent part of dynamic contrast, still sounds way too similar in structure and mood to the source tune. Would have been a perfect chance to integrate some original writing with the foundation of the source. So in short, the original sections don't piece together strongly enough, and the overall feel of the arrangement is the same as the source tune except different beats. Creatively, you need to make this a lot more unique and personalized. Decent first sub, and you seem to have the sound/production end of things going reasonably well. Keep at it. NO

Sounds great, but the string work seems so subtle, I just don't see how it would come out in an arena setting at all. That's more a byproduct of the arena setup than the composition, plus I'm sure you don't want the string section to be too prominent to the point of muddying up the soundscape, again keeping the arena sound system in mind. Hopefully it'll sound good. My blog post on it, already written, will go live tomorrow. Props, Greg. Congratulations!

I've already blogged about it. Y'all check it please. It's also got the trailer. Looks fun.

Hate to sound cliche, as it was the first stage, but I always thought Zone 0 was the best from that game. The game had some great music though. I'll have to fire up Zone J again and give it a listen, not that I make music.

Hmmmm. I dunno. I just don't see how Icecapella can go wrong.

God bless you Content Policy. Never have to type out an explanation on this again.

Does not compute...

Excellent. Great to see even more recognition for you. I'm definitely looking forward to the full album being completed with the original/new age material. Be sure to give the community a sample with a chill ReMix or we'll disown you!

Ha! Get out this thread, djp. You make it sound so mysterious. No, that was never on the site. To answer the original question, a friend referred me, so there wasn't one particular game. But prior to joining up, I was interested in the music from several games in the Street Fighter series. LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT>

Also, he's the Kingfish.

2 BLACK, 2 STRONG 2 OLD?

I think the enthusiasts around the VGM community have a tiny bit more of a chance given the niche VGM has, but even then the odds don't become much stronger. The networking that goes on around here is at least more tangible. Great read. Tons of facts of a figures regarding the industry, which put things into a lot of perspective for artists trying to break through. Hopefully the article will be of great help to them. It was a very thorough piece.

I think he overhyped the hype about hyping overhype.

Still bummed I couldn't go (and turn it into a trip/homecoming to Atlanta). Everyone say hey to Carlson for us!

Now this is hardly an A-level article or anything like that, but I've spent much of the past day significantly beefing up Follin's Wikipedia entry. I combed through just about every meaningful interview I could find with Follin - text, video and audio. What a difference a day makes. Hopefully others will continue to work on the article with more information, as well as tightening up the formatting.