Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

FYI, the submitter hasn't included linked YouTubes for the source tunes, so I'm providing those. Most of their links are to SoundCloud streaming links rather than downloadable files, FYI. They've submitted way beyond what we allow in such a short timeframe, but the panel's been doing well and it almost caught up, so we'll go through these. This sounds like AI, so including some conversation we had in the submission area with the artist for reference. Asked whether this was generative AI, the answer was: "So this is a yes and no answer. I wrote the lyrics, played the guitars and bass. I added in the drums using garageband, and used AI for the vocals. So not generative AI, with Ace Studio for the vocals yes. Much like all of my other submissions, I play as much as I can with guitar, bass, piano, mandolin or violin and let garageband fill out the rest of what I can't play, do not own, as well as Ace take care of singing for me."

Artist Name: Craig Jackson Chains of heroism and hidden sorrow collide in this post-grunge take on Zelda’s classic overworld theme. Crunchy guitars and driving drums channel the weight of unspoken struggles, transforming Hyrule’s adventure into an emotionally raw release. Games & Sources The Legend of Zelda (A Link To The Past) - Overworld

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Agreed with the others on more sophisticated production being a nice-to-have while also appreciating the interpretive arrangement and creative layering/texturing. The faux geetar sample at 1:23 deserved more humanization and heft, but we'll live. Referencing just supporting writing from the source from :15-:28 & 1:09-1:37 was a subtle but cool touch. Solid piece of business, Seth! YES

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Artist Name: Lucas Guimaraes OG Song: Melody A: 0:05-0:29 Melody B: 0:29-0:32 (I use literally the first bit and variate it) Track Breakdown: 0:00-0:48 (Original) 0:48-1:36 (A) 1:36-2:00 (Original, but building on A) 2:00-2:48 (B, with A in the background) 2:48-4:30 (A) - The first synth that comes in plays it a bit slowly at first, but we get another synth with it sped up at 3:16 Credits: Lucas Guimaraes - Arrangement, Production, Mix, Master jnWake said "I can see you're in your detuned chill synth era" and... yeah. Part of it is that I'm focusing more on the -wave genre (Chamber and Psych Rock are taking a backseat... for now) in order to improve my production efforts, part of it is that's the vibe of music I want to make, and lately I've been really wanting to remix some Kirby tracks. so here we are. What else is there to say? I've been following a lot of Synth Designer on YouTube and getting my butt in gear making chillwave. I've had a couple of times where I've tried to do this theme, but something just clicked. When I had that happy accident happen at 2:48 where I just decided "What if I play A again but at half time" that's where this track was made. I wanted something that's like, iunno, lounging with King Dedede instead of beating him up. I really like it when chillsynth both challenges me by being intense, but also gives me those moments that are just relaxing. I didn't use Unfound's Heaven as a hardcore reference track, but they're generally some of my vibe with making chillwave. The biggest moment of feeling proud was showing a WIP to Xaleph - He's definitely one of the people that's seen me really struggle to get better at production while my arrangement skills shine. On one of OCR's feedback sessions, he was like "Yeah this is clean as heck. Look at how clean it is. Do that." and it felt really nice giving new people more advice on their tracks. One thing I definitely want to do, going forward, is impart as much knowledge as I can to other creatives without overextending myself. There's so, so many things I wish I learned sooner, or had someone explain to me in the style that I learned. This track itself was a learning experience in a couple of things with regards to synthesizers: like how to make a synth distort buzz more/less (Filter cutoff and resonance are your keys), automating my synths more and syncing two different synth patches (agh) I don't have a whole lot to say beyond that. I just sort-of made it in 10 hours, got some feedback, and spent about 3 hours chasing down synthesizers. I know this one is not going to be for everyone with how the source plays out, but I'm hoping it's at least borderline enough, haha. Anyways, enjoy! And if it needs a resub, I'll be happy to take a break and cook it out some more. Games & Sources

Artist Name: timaeus222 If you know me, you know I love to use Zebra2, but for the past 6 months, I've been inspired to experiment with 2 new synth releases thanks to zircon mentioning them: Pigments 6 and Serum 2. I already knew Serum back when it was on version 1, so I got into Pigments first and was pleasantly surprised. I was drawn to the granular synthesis for a while, but what really got me was the comb filters, so I took this opportunity to learn how comb filters can create resonant instruments like bongos and flutes, and metallic instruments like sitars, cymbals, and drone textures. I decided that 'Ice Path' would be really cool to ReMix (hah, get it?) and give a harmony overhaul, along with plenty of comb filter sound design. My favorite part of 'Ice Path' was always the sick bass line, but it seemed to just play ALONGSIDE the melody instead of WITH it, if that makes sense, so my aim compositionally was to create a whole new life out of an old song. To do that, I brought back Metalstep, an old genre that I rarely explored in Video Game ReMixes outside of "Challenge Accepted!" in 2013 and "Mind Flip~" in 2015, and combined 'Ice Path' with 'Team Rocket Hideout', using Pigments and Serum for most of the basses, Pigments for the synthetic bongos, and Zebra2 for the first bass and the leads. This is about as balls-to-the-wall as it gets. It's metal, it's aggressive, and it's loud, but you know what's especially true? You're about to headbang. :-) - Timaeus Extra Info: Source Breakdown: 0:13:32 - 0:26.55 = Ice Path Bass (0:00.00 - 0:20.08) 0:28.19 - 0:41.42 = Ice Path Bass (0:00.00 - 0:20.08) 0:41.42 - 1:07.08 = Ice Path Melody (0:20.08 - 0:57.86) 1:14.12 - 1:15.36 = Team Rocket Hideout "Bridge" (0:17.52 - 0:21.14) 1:21.15 - 1:35.62 = Team Rocket Hideout Melody (0:01.71 - 0:16.18) 1:35.62 - 1:53.64 = Team Rocket Hideout "Bridge" (0:16.18 - 0:32.44) 1:54.26 - 2:00.87 = Ice Path Bass (0:00.00 - 0:20.08) 2:00.87 - 2:27.35 = Ice Path Melody (0:20.08 - 0:57.86) 2:27.35 - 2:40.59 = Ice Path Climax (0:57.86 - 1:10.71) 2:55.50 - 3:08.74 = Team Rocket Hideout Melody (0:01.71 - 0:16.18) 3:08.74 - 3:21.99 = Ice Path Climax (0:57.86 - 1:10.71) 13.23 + 13.23 + 25.66 + 6.61 + 26.48 + 13.24 + 13.25 = 111.70/210.18 = 53.14% Ice Path 1.24 + 14.47 + 18.02 + 13.24 = 46.97/210.18 = 22.35% Team Rocket Hideout = 75.49% Source Music video via FL Studio's ZGameEditor Visualizer :) Games & Sources Ice Path (Pokémon Crystal): Team Rocket Hideout (Pokémon Red):

Artist Name: Davtronics This track was an accidental inspiration for me a few months back. While playing around with sounds I was distracted by the bass sound I was utilizing and it reminded me of the full sound produced by the Cosmo Canyon theme from FF7. I was lucky enough through my music education to be exposed to a diverse set of instruments, percussion, and musical styles. I have always had a soft spot for Brazilian music including the parade style sounds that accompany festivals like Carnival. Once I laid down the percussion parts, the feel of the song started coming together. I thought the additional flare and layering of percussion parts to mimic the drums used in Samba style beats with the toms providing a marching beat similar to that produced by surdo drums. The ostinato rhythm of the underlying snare drum is meant to keep the pulse locked in and grooving. I opted to utilize a drumkit for the rest of the tracks percussion to make it more accessible than using all of the different sounds. Once the kit part was added, the bass line needed some support in the melodic and chord departments. Since I chose a kit, adding guitars to the mix seemed to make sense in terms of instrumentation. I went with one lower octave guitar to keep a rhythm and layered a more lead sounding guitar on top to give it that soaring melody feeling of the original. Additionally, I wanted a choppy pulse underneath to keep a syncopated and danceable feel to the song as sambas are meant for getting down to and moving one's body. The underlying synth inspired the middle section. Building up to the middle portion I wanted to add something unique to the arrangement that clashed in an interesting way. The synth sound gave me feelings of a rock opera style backing sound. So once I finalized the build up to the release after the main melody, largely built on percussive elements, it felt natural to have a drum fill lead into a half time feeling pulse that would open the space up. The bass line with the slower pulse behind it opened up in a way that reminded me of songs like Chewbacca by Dream Theater and thus, the guitar solo to add that heavy rock feel to the track came fluid and for me, created a fun experience as a listener once it was completed. Then the song rounds out again to reprise the main melodic section with a fade out that teases the middle section. This is my first time submitting to OC Remix, as I have been a long time fan that didn't follow my love for music for far too many years. I am hoping the judges can enjoy this track and that we can all be dancing and grooving together in the near future. Thank you for your time and the consideration. Have a great day, ~Davtronics Games & Sources The source for this inspiration was Nobuo Uematsu's Cosmo Canyon theme as featured in Final Fantasy 7. Final Fantasy tunes have been remixed since they came out and I recently got into sound production and this track made sense to based on it's arrangement by Nobuo Uematsu which left space for adding and manipulating the genre. Link Source:

The track was 2:40.5-long (music from :11.5-2:52), so I needed to hear the source in play for at least 80.25 seconds for the source material to be considered dominant in the arrangement. :22.5-:44.5, :47-1:08.5, 1:18.25-1:21, 1:40.5-1:54.25, 1:55.5-1:57.25, 1:58.75-2:02.25, 2:04.25-2:05.75, 2:17.25-2:23.75, 2:29.75-2:51.5 = 92.25 seconds or 57.47% overt source usage There was more that could be counted if I better recognized some of the rhythmic changes, but I was just sanity checking it for clearly identifiable source usage without (hopefully) needing to do a deeper dive and thankfully this was well over half the arrangement. Lovely stuff. Reminds me a LOT of Japanese arrange album material - Konami's MIDI Power albums come to mind - both the uncanny valley instrumentation and the liberal, transformative treatment. Turning Dark Souls, of all things, into chillaxing beach music was never in my Overton window of arrangement possibilities, yet here we are! Fantastic. :-) YES

Adding composer credits here for posterity: 0:00 "Sky Islands Low Gravity" (TotK) Masato Ohashi 1:40 "Skydiving" (TotK) Manaka Kataoka 2:55 "The Skies" (SS) Hajime Wakai 4:20 "Island in the Sky" (SS) Mahito Yokota 5:18 "Cucco Shack" (LA) Kazumi Totaka 6:11 "Flute Boy" (LttP) Koji Kondo

Adding composer credits here for posterity: 0:00 "Vah Medoh 2 Terminals" (BotW) Yasuaki Iwata 1:13 "Eagle's Tower" (LA) Minako Hamano 2:12 "City in the Sky" (TP) Toru Minegishi 3:27 "Astral Observatory" (MM) Koji Kondo 4:13 "Revali's Theme" (BotW) Yasuaki Iwata 5:12 "Rito Village" (BotW) Yasuaki Iwata 6:04 "Crimson Loftwing" (SS) Mahito Yokota

Adding composer credits here for posterity: 0:00 "Ballad of Gales" (WW) (WW individual credits unknown) 0:16 "Title" (WW) Kenta Nagata 1:54 "Wind's Requiem" (WW) [WW individual credits unknown] 2:03 "Sheikah Tower" (BotW) Manaka Kataoka 3:32 "Wind Temple (First Phase)" (TotK) Masato Ohashi 4:47 "Wind Temple" (WW) [WW individual credits unknown] 6:06 "Palace of Winds" (MC) Mitsuhiko Takano

Artist Name: iyonUK Shadow of the Beast, Amiga. The original theme remixed. When the title screen has finished rolling and the game is eager to get started. Games & Sources The main title theme to Shadow of the Beast from the glory days of the Amiga. Just given a classic trance feel, saws and squares For The Win...

Original Decision Artist Name: Azina *RESUBMISSION* https://ocremix.org/community/topic/59313 As far as arrangements go, this begins with only small shifts. Fae-like playful piano accents electric guitar performing the harmonic structure typically played on piano. This continues until the second loop where a heartbeat rhythm is established in the low end, and choir-esk vocals underpin the very prominent main melody. The piece ends with a demure "victory theme" of my own making. Extra notes: Care was taken towards preventing the -2dB hardclip and other conflicting lows. Significant time was put into trying to keep fullness of sound while also clearing all that up. Hopefully it comes through! Games & Sources The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toru_Minegishi Link to the composer; apparently he's the one who composed the gamecube startup sound.

The steady drumbeat plodded, IMO, but there’s more than enough solid arrangement going on elsewhere that I can look beyond the core perc pattern being underwhelming. The bassline also seemed the most in the uncanny valley, but has a solid enough tone that I recognize from other music. I enjoyed the interpretation overall; it definitely puts an unexpected genre transformation on it while also feeling like a very comfortable fit in this style. Cool stuff, Garrett! YES

Sax from 3:16-3:41 got lost with the timing and had some flat moments, but wasn’t a big deal to me, though some tweaks wouldn’t be a bad thing. I liked the soft piano comping in the start of the second half, a nice detour from just rehashing the main melody again. Overall, a strong lounge jazz cover, this was quaint, chill, intimate, and relaxing! :-) YES

Nice source tune choice, and an excellent rock expansion. There were moments where I felt the melodic lead should have been more upfront compared to the drums, but no big deal. Nice job varying up the instrumentation and textures to keep the presentation fresh, helpful for a relatively short source. The original soloing during the ending section was another highlight. Mauricio always does a great job fleshing out relatively brief themes and giving them a massive power upgrade. :-) YES

The piano sound’s in the uncanny valley, though it’s nothing I haven’t heard in something like To the Moon’s music, and the sample articulations are reasonably solid. Not sure why MkVaff hesitated on this one, but thankfully he didn’t overthink himself out of sending this in; it’s a lovely piano take on the source! :-) YES

Love the shift into the accompaniment’s notes being staggered at 1:41 for a different feel to the second iteration of the main melody. Excellent, intimate performances, with loads of original writing and natural performances dynamics to easily stand apart from the source. Nice work, Whispys! :-) YES

Love this source! The intro of it sounds like a lost Sonic CD (J) Good Future mix. :-) ad.mixx killing it as always with his arrangement ideas, lyrics, and vocals. Here’s hoping his musical hiatus is only temporary, as his unique vocal style and amazing lyrics always impress me, and it makes sense this was part of a judge-involved clean sweep of DoDs top 4 that month; not bad for folks from a teknomanga site! Chimpa’s production, mixing, and ear candy kept this sounding incredible throughout. Everything’s in its right place, relatively minimalist yet spacious and lush. If y’all are ever interested in actually arranging Sonic CD, you’d crush that too! YES

Impeccable stuff. I got literal chills on my arms during the final seconds. Top-tier goodness from Lucas, Zack, and the twins, unreal! :-) Y8S!

It’s a subtle thing, but I really loved the tone of the bass kicks here; perfect for this piece. Nice job extending the theme and letting the evolution of the textures as well as the lead & rhythmic variations provide the personalization. The wind down around 5:40 was awesome as well. Tons of fun to vibe out to. Sign me up for more like this, y’all. :-) YES