Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

Super cheap-sounding vox at :23. The strings at :15 also sounded flimsy, though they have more of a Mario Kart 64 quality. In any case, it's not about the samples, it's how you use them, so once the texture filled in more at :30, I thought things sounded more borderline, but in the right direction. The steel drums at 1:02 should have been louder; they feel too quietly positioned compared to the beats; nothing that ruins the track. At 1:33, the lil' bass kicks cut through too much, and the (exposed) strings were too laggy and behind the beat. Good brief dropoff of the beats from 1:48-1:56 to give them a breather. When they come back, I'm just left focusing on how thin things feel despite a lot of activity going on. The boom-tss added in from 2:11 surprisingly helped fill things in well, but that only lasted until 2:26. Lots of textural changes throughout help keep the overall presentation from getting stale, but this should be mixed in a way to give the sounds more body and not let the fakeness of the samples be so exposed, whether that be applying some more delay or room ambiance, or adding some padding. The beat-writing does vary up, but the core patterns tended to feel bland. Melodically, this could also do more to vary things up somehow, but that's more about pointing out another available arrangement tactic. To me, it's just lots of little things adding up to hold this back rather than any huge problems. Good base here, Cameron; the arrangement's in the right direction in terms of personalizing the presentation, and you're squeezing juice out of these sounds. I'm hoping another pass at this with percussion and/or production improvements can further shape it up and move it solidly over the line. NO (resubmit)

Your ReMixer name: Ordonis Your real name: Cameron Bellini Your email address: Your website(s): https://soundcloud.com/ordonis Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 35966 Name of game(s) arranged: Mario Kart 64 Name of arrangement: Troppe Houseland Name of individual song(s) arranged: Frappe Snowland/Sherbet Land Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, how the source material was referenced in the arrangement, etc.: This is my first remix for OCR, so I wanted to do something that would be instantly recognizable. I've always loved Mario Kart 64 and specifically the Frappe Snowland music, but I always thought it would work better for a beach level. So I made it into a tropical house track featuring my man Toad on vox. I kept the arrangement fairly conservative in order to really emphasize the instrumental changes and reinforce the danciness of the track. Throw in a fun little bass solo, and you've got a head boppin' tune that'll keep the nerd dance floor pumping!

Being super late to the party since we're about to post it, but since I had to listen through and determine which primary game this would be assigned to, I also listened to the sources to then pick them out of the arrangement. Strong stuff from BKM and Manuel! YES

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I dig it, I just need some more substance/development. We did approve an 78-second track not too long ago, but it packed more in its shorter time due to the fast tempo, whereas this has a slower feel. This one's well in the right direction regardless, as the theme is well personalized. Nice to hear the bass register; it's such a basic texture (in a good way) and so nicely mixed that you can appreciate the part-writing and enjoy every individual instrument. Despite some occasional dropoffs, the core beat does plod for me after a while. There are so many ways to get 30-60 more seconds out of this and explore the source theme more or employ other forms of dynamic/textural contrast. Provided you were open to it, see what more you can do with this, Alexis; this is a great base. Maybe others will get behind it; if not, it wouldn't take much more to nudge it over the line. NO (resubmit)

Remixer: LXE Name: Alexis Gelinas Email: Website: instagram.com/lexadex_yo 38753 Megaman X Roll Up Armored Armadillo I was inspired by lofi hip hop and jazz reharmonizations. I used electric guitar with an octave pedal and electric piano. Alexis Gelinas

Insane sound upgrade of an already insane source. The instrumentation definitely opens sounding unsophisticated, but once the breakbeats arrive around :35, OK, I see the vision. Frankly, I didn't like moments like 1:33-1:52 where the sampled breakbeats come off sounding so much more lo-fi and lacking sharpness compared to the rest of the soundscape. Not a huge deal, just something that broke the immersion, even though this is still strong. After a few listens, I was no longer thrown off by the awkward drum timing during the 1:52-2:39 section; in order to stay centered, just don't focus on the drums, because they're not the anchor. If you focus on the lead and/or backing pad, you won't get disoriented or lose tracks of the measures. Strange stuff that initially didn't click for me, but did later on; I can respect the chaos. The dynamic contrast of a mellower (albeit busy) section here wasn't lost on me. (I also appreciated the voice sampling from "Maruyama Appears" from 2:48-3:07, both from a VGM fan perspective and from having heard that theme used in Botchamania. :-D) 3:46-4:41 was also too crowded. I'm not a fan of how the drums end up crowding out everything else, but it's at least a contrast point for this verse compared to others before it. The leads still cut through just fine, so I can still follow along with the track; this was an issue that was going on anytime the breakbeats were going wild, just moreso for the big finish. Hell of a way to expand the palette of this theme. I wouldn't call this mixing dodgy or wrong, just not ideal; that said, if the source files were kaput and this couldn't be revisited, there's absolutely no way I'd turn this away. It's mania in musical form, literally amplifying every bit of energy from the source and making it even more unorthodox. No idea what Dane may have up his sleeve in the future, but he's certainly on my radar now. DYNAMITE

Source tune's in play almost the entire way, so no need for any timestamping. Solid piano to open things up; obviously fake, but has some personality to it. I thought the claps starting at :42 were way too loud; maybe that's just one of trap's trappings, but they're louder than the lyrics. Same with the bass; balance doesn't really make sense. Such a little detail, but the vox line at :41 that padded the intro was a good piece of business, a subtle element that separates a dry track from one that's properly filled out. LOTS of good variation in the cadence, flow, and effects with the vocal delivery. Sometimes the lyrics followed the source and would double the instrumentation, oftentimes it was doing it's own thing; you can never peg what role the vocals would fill in the texture, which kept things interesting as the track unfolded. The arrangement as a whole does a great job of adapting the source to this genre; loud claps aside, this has good textural variations, creative & fitting lyrics, and strong energy throughout! I don't like the levels of the vocals being mixed this quietly relative to the instrumental, but that's my only gripe, and I can make out everything well enough. Great debut, Blujack, definitely keep 'em coming! YES

Contact Information Your ReMixer name: TonyRaccoon Your real name: Anthony Myre Your email address: Your website(s): https://youtube.com/c/tonylemur and/or https://theraccoon.me/ Your userid: 38795 Submission Information Link to MP3: Link to song on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRZeQdUxpuQ Name of game(s) arranged: Rayman Name of arrangement: Harmony in the Skies Name of individual song(s) arranged: Band Land - High Notes Additional information about game including composer, system, etc.: Playstation version of Rayman, as the PC version doesn't have music. Released in 1995. Original composer is Rémi Gazel. Link to the original soundtrack: Not sure if it was ever officially released, but here's a rip on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jkknMRk3LU Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, how the source material was referenced in the arrangement, etc: I originally started this project in 2011, worked on it sporadically for a few months, and completely forgot about it until about two weeks ago. I decided to go back and give it the love it deserved, finished it up, and released it. It's not the first song I've ever made (I have a couple others on YouTube that aren't really finished) but it's definitely the first one I'd consider complete and that I'm completely happy with. Surprised to see that Rayman doesn't even have a page on OCR, so it looks like this is the first remix for it, which is surprising as that game has such catchy music. Listening back to my arrangement, I think it's pretty clear that I've been heavily influenced by Animusic. The lead synth reminds me a lot of those laser synth instruments in those videos, especially with the vibrato. I kept maybe half of the original melodies/motifs from the original and accented them with original arrangements to fill in the gaps. I'd like to think it's a good balance between being recognizable while also being a fairly novel arrangement. One of my favorite tropes in music is when two or more instruments play off of each other, repeat each other's melodies, or otherwise sync up (like the repeated C#-B-A chord played by the backing organ, piano, and lead synth around 2:25), so I tried to do that as much as I could. Lastly, I don't think I'm a particularly talented musician, I think I'm just stubborn enough to spend long enough on one song to make it sound good enough that others might enjoy it Hopefully these comments aren't too long!

Hi! I would like to submit my song, a remix of Bloody Tears from Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, to OC Remix. My ReMixer name is Blujak. So far, this is actually the first VG theme remix I've done. I plan on doing more in the future... The name of my remix is "In My Mother's Name." I wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered this track. I imagine you already have it, but this is the version I based it off of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2oZtvjg5oA I've been a HUGE fan of Castlevania since I was a kid. Grew up playing the series, and decided to put together my own interpretation of the classic "Bloody Tears" theme from Simon's Quest after I watched the Netflix anime. In my version, however, I wanted to add a few more elements to the mix such as vocals / lyrics - I wanted to tell the story of Alucard from his perspective; delving into the duality of his persona of being the son of Dracula, who wished vengeance on humanity, but also being the son of Lisa who wished for him to protect humanity (as in SoTN), as he wrestles with his own identity. I've always thought his story arch is fascinating, which is essentially the nexus of my remix; in the animated series, Greta beseeches him to protect the people of Danesti in his "father's house," hence one of the lines in the song and as he swears to his father at the final confrontation at the end of SoTN, he will protect them "in his mother's name." My user name is "Blujak," although I'm not sure what my user ID number is...I'm assuming it's "38557-blujak" as that is what my profile URL ends in. I've attached the master file for my remix in this email. It's in a 16 bit wav format. Let me know if there is any additional information you need from me. Also, I've included the cover art for my song as well. Looking forward to hearing back from you! Best, Blujak

Opens up pretty close to the source's belltones, and with some karaoke drum machine-type stuff, very stiff. Jett comes in with vocals at :31, and the recording sounds like the high frequencies got cut (maybe to eliminate hiss). Flat note at :39 as well during "your". Not bad chorusing, but the vocals also sound like they don't have enough power behind them. EK arrives at 1:01 with some nicely doubled lines, and her parts sounds much smoother yet forceful, so there's a quality disparity with the strength and pitch control from Natalya compared to Nikki's earlier lines, e.g. Nikki's doubling 2:26 and 2:34, it's a lot more wavering. There may be some post-production techniques (not just Auto-Tune), that could mitigate some of the shakier aspects of the performance, or it could be worth more takes to see what's more comfortable in Nikki's range. EDIT (10/10): Forgot to also mention, which I'm glad prophetik did, about the chorused lines between Nikki and Natalya not quite lining up, which is definitely noticeable. The piano at :16 and especially 2:59 also sounds too bright and really blocky, especially when it's there pretty much out there on its own. I know the source itself has a sampled piano, but it's got a softer, warmer sound to it and the attacks feel more varied per segment. The arrangement concept's definitely fine with me, the bass guitar tone sounds fine, and I like the lyrics. I wonder what the music judges can offer to improve the sound of karaoke-like percussion; the pacing seems intentional, but it just doesn't feel cohesive like this. Maybe they can also explain why the source tune flows better and doesn't present as stiff compared to this. Others can correct me if this sounds off-base; IMO, the percussion timing being so rigid is never going to properly pair with the singing. Even trying to perform the guitar and piano (and synth at 1:38) to fit with this beat is nerfing everything and actually sapping the emotion out of the live parts. I'd mainly like the instrumental to have more flow to it, and for Jett's vocals to have more power and control. I like her going outside her comfort zone; taking risks is good and you've gotta walk before you run. This is too karaoke-like in its current form, Nikki, but could be enlivened. I'm not sure it could be quickly be tweaked; I'd say, even if it didn't pass in some form, giving this another pass to see how you could improve this further may be worth the learnings. NO (resubmit)

First 95 seconds is still too conservative of a treatment, IMO, even with the vocal accents, so we'll see where the rest goes. 1:36-3:11 remains tastefully and creatively arranged, so now it's up the ending section. More ties to the source in the last 40 seconds as well. A little dissonant, but alright. I wasn't looking for much here to tip it over the line. Since everything after 1:36 was more interpretive, I'm on board. YES

Contact Information Your ReMixer name: CJthemusicdude Your real name: Christopher Your email address: Your website(s): https://www.youtube.com/@CJTheMusicDude Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 1149 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Gunstar Heroes Name of arrangement: Pultas Name of individual song(s) Theme of Seven Force Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site) Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): https://youtu.be/RoUrQDlYCVQ Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, how the source material was referenced in the arrangement, etc: Haven't submitted a remix to this site in years. Doing my part to keep one of the greatest video game soundtracks alive.

Original Decision Link to the remix wav is below. Thanks for taking my one million recent subs! Contact Information Username: H36T UserID:37144 Website: https://www.youtube.com/@H36TRemasters Submission Information Arrangement Games: Xenogears Name of Arrangement: Back to the Sea, Black to the Fire Song Being Arranged: Bonds of Sea & Fire Another year, another resub! I've been pretty good so far at taking a second look at things and trying to correct errors and be more creative. Let's see if I can accomplish the same here. Funny story, in my original submission, I misspelled my own track. However, I actually liked the typo better! Something about blackening over the fire sounds cool. Anyway, though I thought I lost this track, it was sitting out in the open named something completely different. Unfortunately, that meant another track was lost LOL. Seeing as I don't know what track that was....I'm not too sad about it. As far as the update is concerned, I reworked the ending to be more related to the song at hand and added a bit more flavor in the middle. There are some technical mishaps here and there I'm sure but I'm not sweating them. Here is hoping you like this updated version! Until next time.

ReMixer name(s): Jett Swole, Earth Kid ReMixer userid(s): 36756 (Jett Swole), 33453 (Earth Kid) Game arranged: Fate/Stay Night (2004) Arrangement name: When the Morning Comes Source song: Kie nai Omoi (also commonly translated as "Unforgettable", "Unfading Thoughts" or "Ever-Present Feeling") Source song Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L1DEvzsftw Source OST info at: https://vgmdb.net/album/1575 Lyrics: (Jett Swole) I am calling to you Through the stream of time Your appearance in the moonlight So sublime I entrust you with my body Noble king of knights I will fight with you If you will stay the night (Earth Kid) And if you call upon my aid I will swear I will be your blade Always there (Both) When you need me I will stand beside you If you'll stand beside me When the morning comes (Earth Kid) In our darkest hour Under blackened skies I will not betray The kindness in your eyes I will be your sword And never let your spirit die Though I know that soon We'll have to say goodbye (Jett Swole) And if you wait for me to come I will swear I will follow you Anywhere (Both) When you need me I will stand beside you If you'll stand beside me When the morning comes Til the end of time I will be Waiting for you still Endlessly I will promise I will wait forever If you swear you'll be there When the morning comes Additional comments: This was one of my alternate entries for Dwelling of Duels September 2023, but the idea of a vocal version of this song had been brewing in my head for a while and DoD's 20th anniversary month seemed like as good an excuse as any to get on it. It was probably my favorite song on the original Fate/Stay Night visual novel OST. Just about every instance of its in-game use is accompanied by a moment that tugs at the heartstrings something fierce, and while I don't know if it would have quite the same effect on people out of context, I did my best to try to capture some of that feeling in this rendition. Without going hard into spoilers, the lyrics were very much inspired by the first route of the game (Saber's route, more often just referred to as the "Fate route") and I wrote them from the perspectives of Shirou and Saber respectively. As for the rest of the arrangement, I played the bass and piano parts live and sang the Shirou parts, while Earth Kid sang the Saber parts. I'm not too experienced at the piano, and this was only the second time I've felt remotely confident enough on the keys to record and release anything played live on a midi controller. It's also one of the rare times I've put out a guitar-less track at all. That's about it, I guess. All things considered, I really like how this arrangement turned out. Hope you do too!

What's with the vocal modulation at :18? OK, well that's odd, but we'll move forward. Still strong stuff, and the vocals sound more focused, but I'm also not the one needing to be convinced. YES

Original Decision Contact Information Cyril the Wolf Connor Pelkey https://cyrilthewolf.com 14582 Submission Information Chrono Cross Scar's Worn by Time CHRONO CROSS ~Scars Left By Time~ I've been wanting to do a version of this tune for awhile now, but there's so many takes on this song I just couldn't figure it out. Eventually though I was trying to figure out what songs I wanted to perform for a set at MAGFest when I realized you could do an acoustic arrangement fairly convincingly and cover *most* of the parts. I did perform it live in that manner since it was just me and a guitar at MAGFest, but I wanted to get BOMBASTIC to really measure up to the original for the recording. I elected to fore-go extra strings and things and keep it pretty simple so the parts that were there could shine. This was also submitted to the Dwelling of Duels contest for January/December as well and I'm proud of how well everything clicked. Additional: I learned a lot about vocal arranging from Brad (prophetik) who's detailed feedback helped a lot. We ended up connecting on some tuning assistance because while I'm not tone deaf - I think to an extent because it was my own voice and I was focused on different things like Timbre at the time that the pitch just didn't connect. The feedback about the mix was very pointed - this goes to show that you can iterate even if you feel like a project is mostly finished. I admit I was experimenting with a different method of drum mixing but ultimately decided that I'd go back to what gave me great results in the past. Please enjoy screaming vocals responsibly. Lyrics: The memories are flowing fast They're too fine for me Sands of time wearing away what walls that I had built So I let you in But Time was never meant for us It merely wanted our tears as we bear its scars... We pay the price of those who came before We pray that we won't be the same Devoured by the ones who sealed our fate Our world is just a frozen flame When all of the dew dries Ending the morning Do we condemn nature because nothing ever lasts? Cerulean our skies No sign of a warning We sighed at the future and just lived in our past When all of our dreams die Who is in mourning? We cry for the future but can't forgive our past

:00-1:55.5, 1:56.75-2:00, 2:08.75-2:12.25, 2:20.5-2:23.75, 3:01.75-3:07.5, 3:20.5-3:23.5, 3:32.75-3:34.25, 3:35.75-3:55, 3:56.75-4:19.75, 4:23.75-4:24.75, 4:26.75-4:36.5, 4:38.75-4:42.5 = 192.75 seconds or 64.25% overt source usage Loved the sound design from the start; opens with a booming presense, industrial overtones, and lots of impact. Soundscape gets cramped and crunchy, but I'm OK with it, as I can make out the part-wrtiting well enough. Guitar at 1:35 was also a nice touch. Bowed strings from 2:00-2:24 were way too exposed. A little earlier on, they also didn't sound good, but were more of a background player, so it wasn't nearly as noticable. Piano chords at 2:24 also felt kind of blocky. Cello from 2:38-2:43 was quiet, but also very fake/mechanical sounding. Those were all smaller things going on that weren't tanking this, just would have been nice to address. 2:23 did take a turn where the soundscape started getting crunchy and distorted until 2:48. Very subtle thing, but from 2:00-2:24, there was a subtle grinding noise in the background that I really appreciated; the way it was quietly placed and how it was positioned in the soundfield is something 99% of listeners wouldn't have noticed, but it caught my ear and was a nice touch. Nice energy from the guitar coming back at 2:47. The bell arpeggio at 3:34 was indeed "beautiful", as described. Thanks a lot for the source usage breakdown, which was helpful. Very clever and creative references to the three source tunes throughout, and a very dynamic arrangement. These NOs are the definition of lunacy. I could see complaining about some crunchiness (I pointed out the same thing), but it adds character and I can make out the individual parts well enough. None of the panning bothered me, and I'm usually someone that get fixated on that. Asking for another pass at the mixing misses the forest for the trees. This arrangement's strong, the sound design is creative, these production flaws are minor; I don't want to reject something like this where significantly more is right than wrong. YES EDIT (11/24): Just noting that I've heard the updated version and appreciate the revisions. Piano at 2:24's still too blocky. To me, getting rid of the crunch now makes it too squeaky clean. I was fine with the first version, so my vote remains the same.

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Cool SFX to kick the piece off, and I liked the delicate chromatic percussion first used at :27, which was a nice touch and great as part of the introductory segments. The arrangement's over the line, so I'll go into the issues. The bowed strings are way in the uncanny valley; extended sustains like the ones at 1:07 or "bow movements" like the ones at 2:05, 2:34, and especially 3:50 & 4:22 sound bad if you're focusing on them. Same with the rigid sound of this General MIDI-esque piano at :14 and 1:13, it's woefully thin and exposed enough where I'm thankful it's a backing part instead of being a lead anywhere in this. I wish I could say the same for the strings. Anything that could have raised the sound quality of the strings or piano beyond WIP/mock-up level would have been welcome. Good sound design otherwise. The electric guitar soloing at 3:18 sounded nice, followed by more aggressive electric guitar from 3:28-3:53 that was so well performed. The guitar and percussion writing sounds a lot stronger, so kudos to those parts really filling up the textures nicely. The bass writing was good, but often didn't cut through enough, so while the frequencies were nicely filled in by the bass, more distinct-sounding notes would have improved the texture, IMO. The piano and strings are disappointing, but the overall product is strong enough, so while I'd personally love another pass at this, I'm not going to hold it back; it's still a fun, dynamic arrangement, with quite the interpretive treatment! YES

Man oh man, this source tune is cool as fuck, I love it! I'm insanely glad I heard this theme. Yeehaw! Arrangement opens up super conservatively with some personalization, so we'll see if it branches off. Ah, here we go at :48, excellent. Great example of staying very melodically conservative, leaning into everything that makes the source tune fun, and seeing how different instrumentation and textures can help it stand apart from the original. EDIT (12/3): Listened to the revised mix, didn't notice anything different. (Sammich is still back!) McRIB is BACK!

Arrangement's handled in a clever and cerebral way, so I timed it out to make sure I wasn't just in love with the musicianship, since it's nailing the synthwave aesthetic. The track was 4:35-long, so I needed to identify the source tune in play for at least 137.5 seconds for the source tune to be considered dominant in the arrangement. :28.5-:37.5, :40.75-:51.25, :52.75-1:03, 1:05.5-1:08.5, 1:13-1:19, 1:21.5-1:25, 1:35.5-1:44.25, 1:47.75-1:58.75, 1:59.75-2:09.75, 2:12.25-2:14.75, 2:21.5-2:36, 2:38.5-2:52.75, 2:57-3:03, 3:05.75-3:09.5, 3:19.5-3:27.75, 3:32-3:42, 3:44-3:54.75, 3:56.75-3:59.75, 4:03.75-4:10.25, 4:12.5-4:15.75 = 154.25 seconds or 56.09% overt source usage Could be other connections I'm overlooking, but I just needed to satisfy finding more than 50%. Absolutely love Natalie's vocal performance, and Jorrith's instrumentation is just awesome. It's missing high-end sharpness, but it also sounds like it's off an 80s cassette on my old Walkman, so I can't find any fault with that. Nitpick Lucas's sax all y'all want, it sounds awesome; definitely channels the Midnight vibe very, very well. Truly inspired and tremendous! YES

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Soundscape sounds lossy, and I don't like the buzziness starting at :46 from one of the lines that's brought in. The core beat that takes over at 1:01 & 3:04 was boring to me, but it only lasted a few measures each time, so I'll move on. The synths do have that old school Euro flavor to them, so if you told me this was featured on Remix.Kwed.Org back in the day, I'd take it at face value. Just picking nits here; the overall interpretation and mixing both are solid, so there's no reason to hold it back. YES