Dave Harris

Almost-mirrored from vgmusic. I reckon you should write up some more production techniques. From what I can tell, it's easily your strong point, and it's a large blind-spot for me. Also, I think arrangement/interpretation are more personal things that are harder to teach in such an objective way. You could try, but what I expect would happen is lengthy volleys between people arguing over things they disagree on. Plus I suppose I can only speak for myself, but I'd personally find it a lot less useful. Actually, that is a good point - it is cool to hear about other peoples outlooks, though it raises the argument of why is Andrew's creative view any more omnipotent than anyone else's? I'm all for sharing compositional viewpoints, but I think it's a very hard thing to take authority over.

Fair doins. As it happens, so I am =P. Unemployed Dave is unemployed.

Yes I was bothered about that too. What's considered "medium" or "average" in America is likely somewhat larger than it is in Europe too. lolomg. But yeah I'd op for medium in most cases because it's the happy.. err, medium. Being around 164-168lbs I presume a medium would be my deal, though it's a moot point now since they're sold out apparently. That makes me want to go dropkick an orphan.

Hmhmhm... if they ship to ze UK I'm tempted to pick one up myself... a medium hoodie that is, got enough black clothes already! I guess I could do with another sweater/hoodie anyway, I've only a couple. Any other OCR merchandise planned in future I wonder?

Joe rocks the house! Another one I've been waiting patiently for; glad to see it's finally arrived, and glad to see Jormungand finally winding up on OCR. First, I'll get my criticisms out of the way - I'm not too keen on the production, and figured that'd be the aspect that would let this mix down when it came to being judged. Fortunately (and surprisingly) it only recieved the one NO, so I guess it can't be too much of a concern, but yeah, I'd definitely have preferred something a little more convincing in that department, though I'm aware that such tools were not available to him at the time of this piece's writing. Even better would be printing a score and getting someone to play/recording it. Maybe somewhere down the line we'll (or at least I'll ) be able to hear this with a more convincing sample bank. Either that or I'll ask for a MIDI sequence! Another small criticism I had was similar to that which Larry mentioned; in places the texture is more sparse than I think it could do with being, almost as if it needs some strings to back it up. I think the pluses far outweigh that small gripe though. The arrangement here is very mature; clearly Joe knows what it's all about, putting his own flair into the piece, be it rhythmic, structural, harmonic, whatever - and no small amount of it. There's a lot of subtle details put into this which make this both an interesting and enjoyable development. I love the real precise attention to dynamics/note velocities, so it doesn't surprise me that people would think this was recorded in realtime. Better still, not only is it steprecorded/sequenced, but he's no pianist, so to create a solid piano arrangement such as this has surely taken some good measure of skill. It goes to show that not being able to play an instrument isn't always a good excuse for not being able to write for it! Joe clearly knows his way around a piano, even if not in realtime. I have to say though, I didn't really grasp the Hamauzu aspects, which is a surprise since I would have thought I'd been schooled enough on this man to pick up on such things by now. It may just be the mixing and sharp thin piano sample that throws me off. Definitely want to hear more remixes from this man in future. THUMBS UP!

Haha, he thought you might've died .

Ahhhh, finally! This was submitted in like... February =P. 4 months... jebus. Oh well, at least it got there in the end. Well played Sam! I really enjoy this, which of course goes without saying, and I'm glad it's finally got the chance to be exposed to the populace of OCR. It's one of the most entertaining vgremixes I've listened to. One of the most amusing and intriguing mix concepts too, haha. It's one of those things where you just think "bah! I wish I'd thought of that". Though even if I had, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to pull it off so well. Indeed, it's hard to believe someone could concentrate so intensively, filling a composition with so many intricacies for 5 and a half minutes, constantly chopping and changing, modulating, never repeating (at least not verbatim, if at all) for the whole deal, throwing in dynamic use of effect processing and god alone knows what else. I wonder how many hours actually went into this exactly. I shall have to ask for an approximation. It's things like this that make my mental image of Sam, UNTIL HE CORRECTS IT, some old eccentric mad scientist with swirly glasses and huge toothy grin, going mad on his Sonar and midi controller. Really, what a frickin' nutcase. I was happy to be an inspiration for this, that's for sure. I know I probably harped on about remixing Danger! (or other SoM material) at him for too bloody long but hey I suppose nagging pays off, evidently. I thought about remixing this track myself too, though haven't bothered starting for aforementioned lack of confidence fears. You can get that whole "oh bloody hell this looks like one huge chore" feeling and it's offputting. And since tracks like this are somewhat close to the standards I set for myself, I don't settle for what I make being too inferior. Maybe my own standards need to be lowered in order for me to get something DONE. But anyway, enough of being self-centered here. It's sadly rare that a boss battle BGM will match the intensity of Danger!, and it's great to hear this mix keeping the intensity high. Though if anything, for the most part, I think this mix is LESS intense than the original. If I were to approach remixing it, that'd be something I'd do differently. I'd want to make it even more ominous and intense, personally. But yes, I enjoy Mr. Kikuta's music muchly, aswell as Mr. Ascher-Weiss's, so put them together and I'm a hapston chapston. I notice the judges criticised the chaoticness mostly. I don't see that as a concern, and I think such a thing is largely subjective. There are some concerns with sounds coliding and the mixing suffering as a result, though compositionally I don't believe there's anything fallable about that. It's not going to be to everyone's tastes, largely due to the intensity and dissonance of it all, but I think OCReMix listeners need a nice challenge now and again! Maybe it's one of those mixes which tends to be appreciated more by music makers than music listeners? Just a thought... although Gray and Larry are also musicians, so maybe that's not quite the best avenue to go down. OH WELL, there's probably an explanation here somewhere. But yeah... chaoticness isn't inherently bad, just often hard to digest and enjoy unless you're 'into' it I suppose. I've said enough. *teleport*

Yes, very engaging piece here. I am surprised it got accepted actually, what with the whole "retro sounds - GTFO our OCR" deal that has been quite present in the last year or so. I'm glad that it did though, and personally I'd love to hear more pieces like this pushing the envelope of what's acceptable on this site. This is quite a sparse track, doesn't tend to do a lot, it has to be said, though the things it does do seem to grab my attention. It ties in well with the quirkyness of the original soundtrack (much of which's material is also quite sparse and atmospheric). As do I. It's important to realise that technical prowess, in whatever field, isn't necessarily proportional to what the goal of this site is, which is providing enjoyable remixed game audio. I think Shnab submitted it, from what I remember. It'sa-comin' hopefully! And it'll be ridiculously controversial if/when it does - moreso than the FF6 Figaro Chiptune, for sure. I said to him at the time, if they reject that one they may aswell put a great big "we don't accept chip mixes" badge on the site somewhere. Anyway, should be great fun! Hmm, I wonder how djp figured this was Suzuki and not Tanaka? Is this some sign that there's some hope in finding comprehensive track credits for this game? I'd jump for joy if that's indeed the case.

Damn how did I miss this. Shame that I've only just got around to listening to it. Yes, this is a lot different to what I've come to expect from OCR. Big, big kudos to the arrangers here for doing something a bit bold and different - I haven't heard much else quite like this on OCR. I love hearing the compositional traits of the musicians behind the remix. Not to say I don't like covers - quite the opposite (though you won't find many of those on this site it seems), though I do feel that having your own personal stamp and compositional voice is a great approach to arranging. Even when wishing to stick to a certain genre, it's still possible, and this mix proves that. Nice one! Good fun, I enjoyed it.

Gonna rant.

Zawinul . I'm sure you're delighted. Though I do hear it in the track now that it's mentioned. First heard this right back at the start of August, so long ago that I'd totally forgotten it hadn't been posted on the site already. So it came as a bit of a surprise to see it crop up all of a sudden. I'm unfamiliar with the game and its music, never even heard of it before I heard Red Spiders. Naturally that makes it hard to tell what's original and what's source material, though it's safe to say that the former is plentiful, as is usually the case. Contrary to DJP there, it's certainly not my favourite mix, though it's another cool direction away from the typical "shnab" sound, just as the previous two submissions have been. I wonder what's next on the agenda? Not really too critical here, just rambling for no real reason. I like it, particularly the percussion. Good stuff.

Another 'different' approach from his norm (his last submission was, too). Infact, I'd go as far as saying that if he didn't send it to me directly or hadn't known it was him beforehand I wouldn't have guessed... at least not until about 2:48 where it becomes more apparent. A man of many tricks it would seem. Piano solos, orchestral tracks, and any other varieties of weirdness =p.

I think this is one of the less-accessible tracks he's done personally. While there's not so much of the randomness and energy in this track as perhaps some of the other mixes on the site (some of the chaoticness in Hunter's Community Chest, for instance), I think it's the smooth and unnoticable transitions between the sections and general staticness of ideas (not so much musical progression as other mixes) throughout the whole track that might push peoples attention spans, especially when - as David has touched on - the ideas themselves are quite an acquired taste and tend to have a musical/theoretical leaning, rather than something that is written with the general audience in mind. Probably a hard one for people to grasp, here. I first heard this all the way back in early June, and I wouldn't say it was my favourite mix of his, probably because LESS happens than I am accustomed to, rather than more , though I appreciate this mix a lot, and I certainly can listen to it and enjoy it. I'm feeling that it's Sam's most unique OCR to date, at least. Much respect for keeping that enterprising creative voice at full throttle. Now to silently wait for the next one, whenever it comes around .

I'll go ahead and say that the reason I clicked this was because it was from Secret of Mana, primarily, as I have a strong affinity for Hiroki Kikuta's work [his recent two game scores aren't anything to shake a stick at either; I'd recommend anyone try and track them down]. It's worth noting that I generally don't comment on mixes unless I REALLY enjoy them, and I think this is one of those. I've not been reached by a mix here as much for many years... this one is truely moving. I saved it as soon as it finished. At first I wasn't sure what source was being used, though I really should have figured it out given the meter. I think the key change (using E minor) was part of what tricked me. Once I established what I was listening to an augmented version of, I really woke up and warmed to it. There's such a shedload of expansion on the source material, and it's done in such a perfect and honest way to the original track and composition style, making liberal use of syncopated 'kikuta' rhythms, and playful, creative performance, as well as some jazz harmony which was so common in the soundtrack. The traits in Secret of Mana's soundtrack that captured me to begin with have been taken, elaborated on and pulled off excellently. Also it goes without saying that the production is top notch here, and the instrumental/vocal deliveries are executed faultlessly. Definitely a mix worth anyone's time. I can tell there's been a lot of thought, care and work put into this. I'll go with the feeling of a larger, vaster Secret of Mana world.

I think this is a good, well executed mix, and I enjoyed it, even though I was not familiar with the source material. I thought the production and performance were solid and it fit the intention nicely - in short, it's a pop track, and that's all it tries to be and it does it well. Whether one considers that therefore "less worthy" of making it on the site is not an issue, and it seems bizarre to me that genre would be allowed to have much sway on its acceptance anyway. Also as DJP has mentioned, it does sound very natural. Listening to this, I could have easily presumed it was written from scratch as one of David's original tracks. Again this may be partly due to my unfamiliarity with the source, but taken on face value I feel it is very effective. The only small beef I had with this was the percussion sounded a little out of place, considering the other material in the track - it sounded rather synthetic in this context, though I'm sure that is to do with lack of resources, and it is only a small issue I feel as it's largely neglegible. In summary, it's a catchy, fun and accessible track which I don't feel is too hard to enjoy. I have to admit to humming to it . -- Also on a sidenote, I think it's a little unfair to poo-poo a track for what you feel it may socially represent [be it 13 year old girls or whatever zany assumptions you can come up with]. I don't see much logic in disliking music itself for whom else may enjoy it or what fanbase it may attract. The reasoning that "I don't like this music because these people listen to it" just amazes me, it really does.

I think this is where I say "firsst p0st 0m6sz!" I was first introduced to Shnabubula back early this year after a submission of mine was compared to his work. Since then, I've been very much a 'fan' [well, I prefer the term 'appreciator' ] of his tracks. There aren't many others that I've found at this community that really enterprise with their mixes to the same extent, so it's always inspiring to hear new material by the guy, and this is no exception. I totally dig the wacky and imaginative sounds - it's very refreshing to hear them. Makes me want to go away and fiddle around with effects! I noticed in the main review, the samples were mentioned as being sub-par, and perhaps in places they are, though due to the processing I think it really brings them out and makes them shine, and more just makes them "unique" as opposed to "bad". Compositionally the track is solid too. Strong, varied, and often complicated (jazz) harmony which does most likely set the track aside and make it rather unaccessible. Great syncopated rhythms; very funky - I always look out for time signature mutilation in these tracks. There's enough original compositional ideas in this to constitute being an original track as opposed to a remix. I've not played the game, but I have heard the original soundtrack and I've seen some screenshots [thanks kindly to him for that]. It's a really nice soundtrack in my humble opinion; one of my favourite genesis soundtracks now! Lots of jazzy moments on it. I'm almost tempted to pick up one of the tracks to try mixing myself sometime [probably one of the world map themes. Who knows?!] This doesn't fall short at all and I'm glad it was YES'd. Keep up the good stuff. I anticipate new material! -- Also Assface [*giggle*], I realise this sort of material isn't going to be appreciated by a substantial amount of the audience [no doubt due to the fact an amount of people are not, let's say 'adjusted' to listening to this sort of experimentation], though I do believe it's by no means "horrible". Try and listen with an open mind - I do not believe this is experimentation for experimentation's sake, nor do I believe that it's superfluous or excessive. I can think of much harder music to listen to than this. Okay out I go!