Liontamer

http://www.alpha-ii.com/snesmusic/spcsets/dkq.rsn - "Kannon's Klaim" (dkq-s-01.spc) I haven't listened to the source tune in a little while, but it really kicks ass. I also pimped this one back in early August for VG Frequency: With that said, yeah, the percussion wasn't particularly engaging, but like Ari said, the arrangement here was pretty good and really gave the original a new dimension, especially considering that Mike remixed a section of the original (:35-:55 / 1:24-1:45) more promimently, while subtlely altering/referencing others (the countermelodic synth support from :15-:25). Not my cup of tea, personally, but very solid work regardless. We might get into the same situation as Bladiator's recent rejection where others may feel not enough of the original is being used here to fulfill the submissions standards, so I encourage all of you to compare with the source material, but, as I felt with Bladiator's mix, Daragen did a good job of taking a small section from the original and simply working within the framework of that. As long as I'm able to make tangible, significant enough connections to the source material, I'm willing to approve fairly liberal ideas like that. YES

http://www.alpha-ii.com/snesmusic/spcsets/mo2.rsn - "The Tendas' Cave" (mo2-106.spc) Sorry, LAOS. The sounds aren't bad, and I enjoyed a lot of the choices that thickened things up compared to the original, but rips haven't faired awfully well in the People's Remix Competition, and they're obviously not gonna make it here. No offense, bro, but you've gotta get way more creative. A couple of different percussion patterns and some other stuff on top isn't enough. Really explore what can be done with this one. It's definitely a cool source tune selection. NO OVERRIDE

Hahaha. We definitely don't accept 256kbps files here at all. Nothin' particularly jazzy here at all, although I suppose maybe I have a narrow-minded view of jazz. Like Prot said, very repetitive, and it does nothing dynamic with the source material whatsoever. This is some really flat arrangement work here as well, so work or bringing some life to these sounds. Good luck on any future mixes though, and hit the ReMixing forum here for more advice on how to improve your stuff. Chock this one up as an exercise in some of the basics. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/garquest.zip - GBS Track 14 I pimped this one back in early August for VG Frequency: Now that I've heard the source material, I appreciate the conversion done here even more. Very good stuff, worthwhile imagery, a good change of pace from how Nicolas has usually structured his material, and an easy YES.

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FFX_psf2.rar - 119 "The Sight of Spira" Yeah, I'm no sample whore, but you've gotta hook it up with a reasonably better sounding piano sample at some point, Red. Though it's too short/underdeveloped so far, I'm absolutely feeling the arrangement as I'm a big fan of the source tune, but the execution is definitely too sloppy here, no matter what method you went about using. The ReMixing & WIP forums are the place to see what else you can do for yourself on this one. Beyond tightening up some of the timing and looking into different piano patches, I'd really love to hear where else you could take this arrangement-wise. Objectively speaking, the energy wasn't bad. NO

I'm sure some OMGKRonofanficzPEndium fansites would enjoy it. Anyway... NO

Little areas where you changed the notes like at 1:18 & 1:26 didn't really work, and almost seem to pay lip service to the concept of rearrangment. The sounds were pretty basic, but I really enjoyed the overall groove of this. If you're gonna go more of the cover route, you'd really gotta refine your stuff more and give things some power along with more unique textures/sounds. Otherwise (though you had some good layering of the melodies from 3:30 toward the end), you need to dramatically rearrange things more to make up for lacking sounds. Hit up the ReMixing 101 forum for advice on how to strengthen your percussion work in particular. Too bad you never submitted this 2 or 3 years ago instead, bro. NO

The lead really doesn't mesh well with slowly-modulating dealie going on in the background. Pretty generic sounds, and by 3:18 things were just way too repetitive I'm afraid. I heard more elements enter in, like at 3:39, but this was treading water from the start. No real development here at all until 4:32. Obviously not enough to really work with though. Not a bad idea for the piano to be involved near the very end, even though it didn't sound that good. Ah well, you live and learn. Spend a lot more time in the WIP forums and ReMixing 101. Good luck on future projects. NO

http://www.zophar.net/usf/sm64usf.zip - "Dire, Dire Docks" 1:30 in, and nothing but a MIDI-grade cover. Not bad, since I love the theme, it's hard for me to just hate this track, but this might as well be at VGMusic.com instead of being submitted here. 3:00 in, and still nothing beyond the original looped and with thin sounds. Pair of string instruments at 3:23. Meh. I'm glad you used those six weeks to learn things, but, sorry, it looks like you never read the guidelines here: NO OVERRIDE

Very nice attempt at something different. Like Vig said, try and make things a little more cohesive, go for a bit more on the rearrangement side (since I heard some promising things from :47-:59 & 2:41-2:52 with the guitar sounds), and rename the mix to something entirely different. The unorthodox style isn't a negative to me, but I need more done with the source material's rearrangment. NO (hope to see a resubmission)

Cute how NONE of the names of this track match up at all; Place of Return, The Place I'll Return, and The Day I Return. Pick something. Anyway, I see this is from Gman250. Is that the guy who made Zelda 'Epona'? Thanks for making me ROFL if it is. Really dry trance, plodding percussion, below average string usage, and the melody's pretty poorly positioned relative to the other sounds, especially when you hear the source directly at 2:03. Some stuff needs to be quantized too. I don't think that drumbeat changed even once. NO

Yeah, there really isn't too much going on arrangement-wise. Some pretty cool ideas just for some FL demo work, but you're gonna need to do more than slow the original down and reinstrumentate it. The change in the strings at 4:16 didn't work at all, BTW. Think of what else can be done with this style and create some unique ideas. NO

Never took the time to comment on how sweet this mix was. This was very chill and I always enjoy listening to it. Great work per the usual, Jouni. Looking forward to more!

Too bad, too. Pretty ROFLs and whatnot. Post this to VGMix though. Short and sweet, but like Vig said... NO

Was just checking this out again; played this on my show way, way back. Very phat stuff, and I love that funked-out lead during the first section. Nice work, changing up the flow throughout the track, Dan. Everything here was pretty solid, and I'm glad I heard this one again. Definitely deserves much more attention then it's getting, but I hope it's gotten a hot response from the European side, since they appreciate these mixes more.

We only have a few candidates for removal. Having gone through everything, here are our potential removals: Violations: 1. Die Hard Trilogy 'I Love The Airport' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01046 mv shitted on this one for essentially being a bad version of the source material; 2. Ys 'Beat of Terror' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01051 http://www.zophar.net/nsf/ys.zip - NSF Track 5; cover 3. Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun 'PharoTeknical' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01070 Gecko Yamori and plenty of others have crapped on this for not being different enough from the source, both structurally and instrumentally. 4. Streets of Rage 2 'Funkdreamer' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01090 Rip/cover; original section from 1:50-2:21, i.e. not much; 5. Donkey Kong Country 'Strolling The Mines' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01101 Samples original instruments with their notes verbatim from Life in the Mines (dkc-12.spc). A good trance song built AROUND the source material. 6. Usagi Yojimbo 'Homage to Amida Buddha' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01111 As much as I enjoyed this one, Subtune 1 :'-( ; original guitar work from 1:43-2:15 & over the top of the source tune from 3:21-end/4:22, so I'd love to say this is a good cover with VERY basic additions, especially since the SID sounds flimsy as hell; I'm in the minority though 7. F-Zero GX 'Dr. Stuard (Jeff & Toad Air Team Challengers)' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01193 Violation of current submissions standards; Relies on direct usage of the original; 8. Earthbound 'Dreaming on Distant Shores' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01234 Remixes essentially a 5-second source tune ("A Flash of Memory" - mo2-045.spc), but changes it around so much that this is more inspired by EB than a remix of it; most reviewers can only place vauge similarites with several others tunes, which I see as well; love the track but it might have to go; NEED ANY OTHER POSSIBLE SOURCE USE CONFIRMATION May be violations: 9. Final Fantasy 10 'The Final Summoning' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01017 Mostly-original composition + PS2 in-game vox; zykO basically admits as much in his review, as he was the original collab partner for the mix project; some support chords resemble the note progression of the source tune; one or more of us will receive death threats for this one getting cut; Notes King of Fighters 2000 'ReBirth' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01037 Gecko often goes for a cover style that we've approved in the past; may not even remotely be a violation, but I'd like to know what was done with this; NOT BEING CONSIDERED: Ari & Larry have now listened to the original and agreed that it's not a violation of any type; this was just an issue of needing the source tune to verify the mixing of a more recent game, and not necessarily an accusation of being a violation Xenogears 'Child of the Stars' http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01213 This recent mix does not meet judging standards as already explained NOT BEING CONSIDERED: This is not a case of simply being a rip/violation, but of being too straightforward/unoriginal of an genuine arrangement attempt to pass the judges' panel. This is being reconsidered as a judging issue and not as a lockdown/violation issue

Nah, these transitions are awesome; there aren't even that many abrupt points that I heard; maybe 2. Haven't heard this mix in a while, but it definitely kicks ass. Great job by the Marsland Bros. with this guitar work!

There's a bit too much overcompression here, but the industrial stuff was actually pretty interesting. The title's a little too abstract/artsy-fartsy for my taste ("Romantic Death's Auditory Hallucination") but whatever. Not totally my cup of tea, but I can see why people could like this mix. Certainly some cool ideas here with this thick drumwork, and the execution isn't bad relative to when it came out. Sure, give it a look; it's definitely a different take on the source material that you'd expect, and is a nice contrast to Star Salzman's "Pillar of Salt", covering the same source material.

Holy shit. Wait, what???

Checking this one one randomly; the groove here was pretty good; pretty cool stuff, Matt! Tales of Phantasia definitely had some good cuts on it, and Journey to Thor definitely works well with the source material. I'm sure this one's fairly unknown to most people, so don't pass it up. It's not "great" per se, but things certainly got more solid as they went along and I liked the end result.

Pretty chill stuff; definitely holds up pretty well nowadays. Considering that I can't stand hearing people remix Schala's theme much anymore, this was pretty cool. It's CT material, so it doesn't really need anyone's endorsement in order to gain downloads, but certainly throw your two cents in on this one, from one of OCR many one-hit wonder mixers, DJ Cyker.

The lyrics could have been louder, but this is still very cool, catchy work. Though I'm admittedly not really a fan of his other material, this is really excellent stuff from DJ Crono, and one you should absolutely check even if you don't care for or know the Wild ARMs soundtrack.

Larry: "My name is Binnie and I like Darkwing Duck and when I make a remix, it really SUCKS!" Binnie: "WHAT?!?" This is also the only place you can hear Fowl Jive LIVE 2K4, btw, so you have to get it.

Though I had nothing wrong with the repetitive structure of the buildup Alex used here for the 2-minute intro, I felt the delivery could have been a lot stronger as it relates to trance work. For example, the quiet clap that joins in at :41 sounded weak enough that it detracted from the overall package (while on the other hand the string-like ambiance worked very well). The other supporting elements are all pretty flat/unenergetic. Things at least got a better with the brief drum usage from 2:06-2:20, and I would have liked to have heard more sounds like the one used for the lead in that section within other areas of the mix. The piano sounded nice but was essentially a direct copy of the original (:30-1:21) from 2:43-3:25, only less emotive like DarkeSword pointed out. The rest of the arrangement makes up for that though, as Alex essentially surrounded that area with his own trance stuff, but I still don't like the fact that it doesn't take much effort to simply pull a MIDI and use it for that piano section. Small detail, but there's not much behind the cymbal that comes in near the end either; the tinny cymbal shots at 4:23 sounded exposed despite being so low in volume and came off as really amateur-ish. I feel like this is almost there as I really think the arrangement is there, but this sounds more like a late-stage WIP and thus I'm inclined to agree with Malcos in the "lack of energy" department. Just add a bit more meat to the trance work to give it some life, and I'd be down. It's a decent genre adaptation as is, and I'd hate to see this get dropped. NO (borderline)

Big thanks to Beatdrop, Flik & Mustin for their interviews along with this week's other call-ins, and our premiere material from Mustin, analoq & Rayza. The turnout was sweet, and Mustin's interview was full of stuff to dissect, so I'm sure we'll have some calls to respond to his views next week. Pick up this week's MP3 (3hrs50mins/159MB) over at my webspace, along with the chat transcript. Also, all of the VGF bumpers have been retagged with the new WMRE URL, so feel free to pick 'em up. Thanks a lot to everyone who stuck around for the after-show stuff, including Binnie & I chatting about all sorts of crud regarding the remix community, OCR and etc. No set format next week, so things should be pretty free. Hope to see y'all there, and feel free to leave comments. Larry Oji - WMRE (Emory University Student Radio; Atlanta, GA) Saturday, September 18, 2004 / 10:10 PM - 2 AM EST 1. Jared Hudson f/Liontamer - "After Dark" [VG Frequency] 2. Suzumebachi - VG Frequency "One More Time For The Vox" Bumper 3. Nobuo Uematsu - "Hey, Cid!" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 4. Neil Benjamin - Chrono Trigger "Far Away Memories" [OC ReMix to-be-posted] 5. Chad Seiter f/The LA Studio Orchestra - "There Will Come Soft Rains" [http://www.chadseiter.com] 6. trickwaters - Dragon Warrior 4 "Sea Breeze" [seven Fantasies for Piano / VGMix2 #2281] 7. Red Omen - "The Daedalus Engine" [http://www.redomen.com] 8. Destiny - "Inside" [http://destiny-hikari.net] 9. Nobuo Uematsu - "The Lunarians" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 10. Larry has won a place on the next OneUp Studios album! Ah, wait...no! :'-( 11. Infamous - "godknows" [breakbeat Paradise: Visitor Workz] 12. zircon - "Blue Light" [http://www.zirconstudios.com] 13. Beatdrop - "Everlast" [Everlast] 14. Beatdrop - "Syntax" [Everlast] 15. Flik & Beatdrop team up with a tandem call for mucho fun-o; Flik starts off with an interactive-style approach by playing some pre-recorded responses, before we get the live Dain; They discuss Flik's upcoming vocal contributions to Beat's in-progress album "Everlast", what kind of styles are influencing this album, Flik's tribulations on hauling his musical equipment around, the abandoning of the "Bit by Bit" remix project, and the naming of Video Audio Graphics Studios [http://www.vagstudios.com & http://www.beatdrop.tk] 16. Nobuo Uematsu - "Another Moon" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 17. Zeratul & Joecam - "Can't Let Go (A Gush of Exasperation)" [http://www.sarbatka.com & http://www.joecam.net] 18. OverCoat - "Submarine" [Music for the Ocean] 19. Big Giant Circles - Final Fantasy Adventure "Begin the End of the Beginning" [OC ReMix to-be-posted] 20. mv - "Onto the Light" [Epic Music Competition 2: How Far We've Traveled] 21. Joshua Morse - Megaman X2 "SigMatic" [VGMix2 #2272] 22. Nobuo Uematsu - "Land of Dwarves" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 23. Mustin provides info and opinions on a host of topics, including Protricity's stint as Cruton on the OneUp Studios messageboards, the nature of musical criticism listened to at OneUp, drumloops & vocal samples, the validity of commercially releasing remixes, potential piracy among OneUp members, how he forms relationships in the community and keep tabs on developments in the scene, criticism and praise for OC ReMix & VGMix, thoughts on virt, djpretzel & the OCR Judges Panel, views on his own remixing style along with Dale North & Kaijin, and some of the background of his newest (and technically oldest) mix "Racing Rainbow Road" [http://www.oneupstudios.com] 24. Mustin f/William Reyes - Super Mario Kart "Racing Rainbow Road" (Preliminary Mixdown) [http://www.oneupstudios.com] 25. Nobuo Uematsu - "Within the Giant" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 26. Mustin continues on with more commentary on "Racing Rainbow Road", his dealings with various video game music composers, the approach, results, and lessons learned from "The Very Best of SEGA", whether commercializing video game remixes attempts to deny what type of music they are, how OneUp's releases are meant to get people thinking about both remixes and original game music, how the original album idea of "Xenogears: Shake the Ivories" turned into the upcoming "Xenogears Light" project, the effects of the open submission approach of Xeno Light, the upcoming OUS Nintendo album floating in stasis, plans for "OneUp Mushrooms: Volume 1", the legendary Fake Mustin prank from the VGF April Fool's show, "One mo' time fo' da bass!", and the info on how to grab a pre-ordered copy of Xenogears Light [http://www.oneupstudios.com] 27. Star Salzman - VG Frequency "The Universe" Bumper 28. Jared Hudson - Chrono Trigger "The Frontier" [VGMix2 #2269] 29. Shnabubula - Secret of Evermore "Anachronism" [OC ReMix to-be-posted] 30. zykO - "agave dreaming" [bipolar me] 31. Nobuo Uematsu - "Red Wings" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 32. "E-Claire" reaches across oceans in order to plug their latest "live" remix along with the also-excellent "raw" version 33. Dennis Mott - Final Fantasy 4 "Crimson Over Imperial Skies" [VGMix2 #2277] 34. zykO - "downer" [bipolar me] 35. goat - CastleVania 3 "Stained Glass Filth [unchosen Paths / VGMix2 #1524 / OC ReMix #1240] 36. goat - CastleVania 3 "Pools of Rust" [unchosen Paths / VGMix2 #2262] 37. Nobuo Uematsu - "The Final Battle" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 38. D-Lux drops in to discuss his plans to host his own video game music radio show (including tests to see if he can handle prank calls!), plans to steal from the VGF formula, abandoning remixing in favor of radio hosting, his tentative start date of October, and the need to look around more game rearrangement sites in order to gain knowledge of the community and snag the latest material [http://rockbottomdlux.freewebspace.com] 39. Suzumebachi is aiming to get back in the remixing game, so (along with being adversarial with our innocent host) he let's us know about his three current works-in-progress from the Kirby's Adventure, Zelda: Link's Awakening & Doom remix projects, along with the intent to do original stuff with his band, having unfinished material for Kong in Concert, and needing source material picked out for him in order to get started with some ideas [http://www.liquidhive.tk] 40. analoq - "The Man-Machine" [http://apm.m2pc.com] 41. Rayza - Street Fighter 2 "Club Del Toro" [http://www.rayza.net] 42. tefnek - "lobby" [http://www.tefnek.com] 43. tefnek - "thinking of you" [http://www.tefnek.com] 44. Nobuo Uematsu - "Epilogue (Part 1)" [Final Fantasy IV OST] 45. Nobuo Uematsu - "Good Night" [Final Fantasy IV OST]