Liontamer

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I get the problem with the accordion, but it's not a dealbreaker at all for me, and the presentation's cohesively rocked out. Let's go! YES

I love the piece in a vacuum. It's jazzy, it's tightly performed, the treatment of the source tunes (which are variations of the same song) was creative, and I didn't have any problem with the mixing or levels. But I was coming up just a little source-light in terms of identifying where the source tunes were referenced in the arrangement. The track was 5:11-long, so I needed to identify references to the sources for at least 155.5 seconds of the arrangement for the source material to be dominant. :23-:58, 1:01-1:05.5, 1:07.25-1:38.5, 1:48-2:11, 3:36.5-3:59.5, 4:02.5-4:20, 4:26.25-4:44.75 = 152.75 seconds or 49.11% overt source usage. If another judge can point out some source usage I'm overlooking, then please let me know. Since my breakdown is so close, I'll leave it at not making a call yet, but I need >50% for the source material to be dominant in the arrangement, otherwise it's a NO from me. EDIT (10/24): I'll also count :19.25-:21.5 for the 4-notes having a different rhythm as the 4-note patterns in the melody (e.g. :06-:11 of "Ice Mountain"), and 1:41.5-1:43.5 having the final 2 notes from a 4-note pattern (e.g. :08-:11 of "Ice Mountain"). That pushes it up to 157 seconds or 50.48% overt source usage. OK, count me in. YES (borderline)

Hi OCR, I hope you guys are doing well! Nostalvania here with a new remix submission! - Remixer Name: Nostalvania - Name of game: Super Mario Galaxy - Name of arrangement: Where Hot and Cold Collide - Name of individual songs: Ice Mountain, Lava Path Sources: Ice Mountain - https://youtu.be/rvnaiyu2R0E Lava Path - https://youtu.be/tY3REzIfvuk Remix: Note: Since I'm not the best at mixing/mastering, the track came out relatively quiet. That is to say you would have to turn up your volume a bit to get the full experience. Not sure if that's gonna be a problem. - Comments: This remix was originally supposed to be my contribution to a Super Mario Galaxy album which unfortunately got cancelled. It's a shame, because I always thought that the track had a lot of potential. Now after several years, I finally had the time and patience to finish it. The result is an energetic jazz arrangement in 6/8 time, which alternates between organ and piano as the lead instrument. The more busy/energetic organ sections may be interpreted as hot/fire, whereas the calm/open piano parts are more reminiscent of coldness/ice. Hope you enjoy! -Markus

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Welcome back!

Nice opening SFX, but the intro notes at :04 were sparse, so we'll see where it goes. The English pronunciation's not good; the lisps and (I dunno the technical term) slurps affecting the delivery don't help either, but can't be helped to some extent. For me, it's not that criticism of the English pronunciation's not merited, but if this were a foreign language, it wouldn't stand out or inherently bother me. The more important thing to me is how the syllables are shoehorned into the melody's timing, which feels forced, but it's an earnest approach. The overall execution for the first 90 seconds was solid. Another minor thing, but there's some light hissing/warbling noises from 1:16-1:33 & 3:37-4:16 that seemed tied to a sample, or at least doesn't sound intentional but rather like an audio artifact; double-check if that can be removed. I wouldn't have brought back that anemic-sounding melodic line at 1:33; the sound is too bubbly, dry, and thin, and the timing too rigid, so it doesn't click with the other instruments at all. When the vocals come back at 2:13, the mixing's odd, IMO. The vocals are chorused but relatively dry, while other elements aren't, so there's another instance where parts don't mix well and thus don't have synergy. Nice effects on the vocals at 3:14 for the transition out of them though. I'd argue the arrangement was creatively approached but dragged on too long. There's dynamic contrast throughout the piece, though it's worth noting that the piece "peaks" with basically the same energy level and textures in the :50-1:13, 2:34-3:16, and 4:40-5:06 verses; some more obvious differences between these verses would be helpful. This piece has promise, bros, though I'd like to hear a version with a new take on the vocals -- preferably de-essed, not as dry, and with clearer pronunciation (not perfect, just clearer) -- more balanced mixing between the parts, and considering a change in the synth line first used at :04. NO (resubmit)

Right off the bat, the backing synths were very static-sounding. Everyone's given extensive feedback on how vanilla these sounds are, so I'll leave it there. Brief issue, but the drum fill from :25-:27 sounded very robotic and fake; I would have went with a different, non-faux-organic sound that didn't expose your samples. At :41, I would have done something different with the textures, because just changing the leads yet keeping the beat and backing so repetitive made this feel dynamically flat. Then at 1:44 with another iteration of the verse, the core backing beats just drone on ("BOOM...TSS...BOOM...TSS"). Just jump around to any point in the song and the energy level is basically the same no matter if the beats are there or not. The choruses at 1:09 and 2:19 had more personalization, and were the highlight of the arrangement for me. However, the textures feel very empty/hollow despite everything going on. Small thing, but I'm not sure what SFX that was from 2:46-2:54, but it sounded so muffled that it just added indistinct noise and clutter. The verses could have been more interpretive. The production also wasn't sophisticated either. Keep at it though, we've all gotta start somewhere, and this is a more promising start than most. NO

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

Short and sweet: A really fun take on a source tune I'd unfortunately never heard before now (Vectorman 2 is definitely a hidden gem compared to Vectorman 1). I've been around OCR quite a long time, and I felt this piece combines and old school kind of creativity & sound design along with sharp, modern production quality. I could easily envision something like this being posted back in OCR in 2000, yet if it were submitted then it wouldn't have sounded as clean (not antiseptic, just clean) as it does with today's higher production standards. Nice work, Michael! YES

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

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

A simple theme with a beautiful expansive approach. This could have easily been too repetitive and not justified the length, but Rebecca employed tons of variations with the instrumentation and ornamentations to get some legit mileage out of what could have easily just been a 90-second concept. Nice work! YES

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The DK64 source is referencing 1:12 of the original from :55-1:20 of the arrangement. The instrumentation's super fakey, yet that's clearly part of the track's charm, I agree. The core drums at :09 are definitely bothering me though; they're way louder than everything else and extremely plodding and static, which might not inherently be a big problem for the genre as prophetik pointed out, but once they arrive they just blare over the top of everything else for the rest of the track on cruise control. Both more humanization/round-robin of the core drums and pulling them back some would help the track sound less static and on auto-pilot. I see where Chimpa's coming from on the transposing of the sources making the connections difficult to make out, but I felt things were straightforward enough. The track was 2:19-long, so I needed to make out the source for at least 69.5 seconds of the arrangement for the source tunes to be dominant. :00-:06, :09-:30, :55.5-:1:07.5, 1:14.5-1:20, 1:24-1:46, 2:05.5-2:09 = 70 seconds There's likely much more I'm not counting, but I'm just timing this out to illustrate that I recognized the source tunes being invoked for more than half of the arrangement's duration. Fun stuff, let's just improve the drum production & mixing. NO (resubmit)

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Sorry for the delay in responding to this, Troisnyx, but I was on vacation last week and wanted to give this the attention it deserved. I've never interacted with you before, nor have I see your name or handle in our submissions inbox (which I've helped manage since 2006), so you'd have to give me the backstory as to when/how you were excluded over mixing issues despite others being included; not sure if that meant a standalone submission being rejected or you trying to join an album project and being turned down. As far as you or others creating VGM arrangements out of spite for OC ReMix, we'd rather you didn't, but spite can be a powerful, motivating force. Whatever spurs you to make great music, channel it while its available. Not that you need it, but if part of your issue with OCR is not getting direct validation from someone in our community, then please consider that over, because I see that you're extremely skilled & talented. I wish you'd been on my radar way back when, but you're certainly on it now (in a positive way). You in 2012 on our forums: *"I'm already deterred from submitting anything to the judges — as much as I want to [...] I know for sure they're going to turn round and say something is wrong."* Definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I can tell, you've never actually submitted an arrangement to our judges panel for consideration to OCR before. I would always encourage anyone to submit something and just see what the feedback is. We have another great female, UK-based arranger, Rexy (@freqrexy), who was rejected time and time again, yet eventually improved her skills enough to where she's now on the judges panel that helps evaluate and select the music that's posted on OCR. Lots of arrangers have different stories, but she can attest to the fact that we do our best to be constructive with the feedback, and we're not here to beat people down. You also mentioned being shy in a forum post in 2012; glad to see that's not the case now. You wouldn't be the only talented person that's unreasonably intimidated by our submissions process or (wrongly) feels they already know the negative outcome in advance. But Pixel Mixers and GameGrooves also do quality control on their albums and I'm sure have had their own run-ins with people disappointed to be told their work needs improvement before being included in a project, even if their bars aren't as stringent as ours. You posted an incredible LoZ:LA "Wind Fish" arrangement with French lyrics on our forums back in 2013; I'm sorry you didn't get a reply to it, because it definitely deserved the attention and affirmation. I thought it was amazing (i.e. a great creative concept, beautifully performed, and well-executed) and it's something I would strongly be in favor of posting, if it were submitted. Not sure what production limitations were involved in the track back then, but we don't consider how pricey someone's equipment is, just how effectively they use the tools they have (including predominantly free tools). I also enjoyed your recent "Face Shrine" arrangement that you linked; not sure if an Enya comparison would be taken positively or not, but it's meant as a genuine compliment. If you don't want to consider submitting it, or the older "Wind Fish" arrangement, that's unfortunate for the additional audience we reach that otherwise won't get to hear it, but it's OK, and there's no drama here; we can't force you to actually try going through the submissions process, and we can't house every great interpretive VGM arrangement in existence, but we do our best to evaluate and publish the ones that are actually submitted to us. Whether it's now or years from now, you're always sincerely welcome in our community and encouraged to submit music for consideration. If it isn't approved, we'll do our best to explain why, but from what I can tell, your work is (and already has been) strong enough to be included, as well as unique enough to attract a following. Lastly, I also mentioned Rexy because she's also a contributor to Pixel Mixers & GameGrooves recent charity album Heartwood. We don't look at being involved with OCR as being an either/or thing with other VGM communities. So I'd always encourage you or anyone else that's a part of Pixel Mixers, GameGrooves, Dwelling of Duels, Tiny Waves, GameLark, Materia Collective, Remix64, etc., to keep in mind that being part of OCR isn't at the expense of contributing to and supporting other creative VGM arrangement communities. It's all about "and", not "either/or." I'm not here trying to manufacture a kumbaya moment, but I'm glad that you voiced your criticism so that I could respond and clarify that we're a genuinely welcoming community, and you and your music are definitely still welcome in it. I'm not sure what event made you feel like you were unwelcome, but that's never actually been the case. If you have any questions about how the submissions process works, let me know. I hope you're willing to reconsider submitting music to be included on OCR; if not, that's OK, and there's no negativity from us about it. Keep up the great work! -Larry Oji (@LarryOji), community manager and submissions judge

A great creative concept, beautifully performed, and well-executed. Never a bad time to submit this!