DragonAvenger

Definitely not enough Needleman, although I can see why he'd be less mixed. I think you're approach here works very well with both sources, and I think the transitions between the themes are really well done. The intro and outro also work really well in my opinion, they set up the funk quite nicely. The arrangement itself is also good to me. Production is definitely on the right track, although there are some nits to pick. The bass itself is pretty expansive, and I think it's a little bit much for the rest of the soundscape you have going on here. Pulling it back a notch or two would work nicely. The synths themselves sound nice in combination, but they get a bit same-y after a while as well, although to be a bugger, I'm not at all a fan of the synth at 2:09 for a lead. Just doesn't handle the weight very well, IMO. I think more variation on your soundscape would keep things from getting to locked in, and can be really worked to your advantage with the arrangement. I think it's really close overall, but the finessing will definitely put it over the top for me. NO (resubmit)

Very cool that you're going for some less-honored games. As usual, your production is very nice, and while not live, has a lot of great quality and texture to it. I personally have never been a fan of the film-score approach to things as invariably you get sections that feel like they're not much going on, but I can appreciate your approach, and the arrangement itself is pretty straight-forward from the source. While it's not the most interesting of your mixes, I think it's definitely above the bar in terms of quality. YES

Suuuuper 80's feel on this one. It's a really fun soundscape, and you use the instruments and progression to your advantage. I think there are times where you could take it further, even, although it's a fine line to hit. Arrangement-wise I think there are some good personalized moments, but there are areas that feel copy-pasted. 1:45 in particular made me worried that I would hear the exact same as before. Adjusting some of those sections to have more variation would be a good idea. 2:44 to the end is excellent, and more of that earlier would definitely do the trick for me! Production is mixed. Personally the late attack on the synth strings is driving me nuts, but I could see why people would say it fits the style. Some areas feel very sparse in the soundscape, especially compared to my favorite 2:44 section. Aside from that, everything does feel super dated, but it also fits the style. I'm curious what the other judges think. There are some excellent areas here, and I'd love the rest of it to match those sections. Gonna send this one back to you, and I hope you hit it up! NO (Resubmit)

Can't say I'm super impressed with the sparseness of the source. That being said, I like your approach, which gives a lot more sounds and provides a lusher soundscape. All that being said, I do think there's some areas that feel a little too much like they're a holding pattern for the next section, and those combined with the a decent amount of repetition makes this track feel a little overlong. There's some fat that could be trimmed her to condense the arrangement. Definitely hearing some distortion/crackling around 1:20 and some areas later in the mix, so you'll want to check that out and clear it up regardless if this passes or not. Some of your overall sounds feel a little generic to me, but personally I don't think there's anything that really needs to be removed. Doing a quick skim-through, I am noticing the lead synth is used for a lot of the mix, and maybe changing that around at some points to something with a more legato feel would help add more variety to things. With some finessing, I think you've got a good shot here. See about adjusting the arrangement, and I'd like to hear this again. NO (resubmit)

Definitely an improvement on the arrangement side of things. Everything is a lot clearer, and there's still a lot of personalization going on. I think the drums sound a lot better as well, but to me they still feel very much on autopilot in terms of the writing. The lack of variation in the drums really stagnates the rest of the piece rather than augmenting the action already going on. I think it's well within your capabilities to add some fills and stuff to the drumwriting to improve it, so I am going to throw this one back at you again. NO (resubmit, please)

Touhou music is interesting to me. I like the overall epic feeling of the source tracks I've heard, but a lot of them sound very similar in the long run. Regardless, I'm liking this source. I think you have a good approach here, and I like the overall chip feel you've got going on. Production is also clear, and the drumwork is really nice. I'm liking the intro to 1:29 and from 2:06 to the end, even if the melody sections are a bit same-y between the two. I especially like 1:14, where you've got some nice countermelody stuff going on. From 1:29 to 2:06 I'm not really feeling it. The arpeggios and stuff are nice, but I feel like it's a placeholder part between the other two, and there isn't much direction to it. In a longer track it wouldn't be an issue, but as is it's a quarter of the overall length, and put square in the middle of things. To me it causes things to lose steam. I'm pretty on the fence on this one. It really comes down to that one middle section to me, and I could see this going either way in the votes. Personally, I think I'd like you to take a second look at that section and fix it up. Good luck on the rest of the vote! NO (resubmit, please)

My remixer name is: Shaan Sharma Real Name: Shaan Sharma www.shaansharma.com userID: cotter0 Song Info: Mass Effect 1 Uncharted Noveria Noveria & Uncharted Worlds Just really love the music and wanted to make my own version! Warmest Regards, Shaan Sharma ---------------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpu5cTk_qvI - chart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWW-hJbzhSU - noveria

Hello, I have made several remixes of original game soundtracks, this is my first submission to ocremix. i want to see if i qualify as a remixer for ocremix's high standards. Remixer name: TheMrkuul real name: Luuk Neele email: userid:49053 game: Sonic 3 name of arrangement: Polyhydro name of song arranged: Hydrocity zone act 2 original: info: i decided to make a dancy/trancy tune out of an already good one, use of many different instruments (for example a REAL modded NES ) all incorporated in the track. it retains the original, but different. my track(s) are hosted on soundcloud: Hope to hear from you again, Regards, Luuk Neele (TheMrkuul)

Contact Information: Remixer Name: Chris | Amaterasu, waltzforluma Real Name: Chris Woo, Aivi Tran Website: http://www.youtube.com/user/8Amaterasu8 http://www.youtube.com/user/waltzforluma User ID: 35078 Submission Information: Game: The legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 'Ballad of the Windfish' Name of Arrangement: 'Dreams of Home' Name of Song Arranged: ' Ballad of the Windfish' Link to Original: Comments: Hi there OCRemix, I have another violin/piano collab for judgement! Here is 'Ballad of the Wind Fish' from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, played by Aivi Tran/waltzforluma and myself whilst I was holidaying in SF. It is one of my favourite tracks from the game, and possibly out of all the Zelda games I've played. I've always wondered why there had not been a more classical approach to this tune, since it's style and structure really lends itself well to acoustic instruments. But anyway...this song uses intimate answer/call sections between the violin and piano with an emphasis on phrasing. It is also one of those songs that remind me when my music teachers always said that you had to 'play' a rest. But anyway, other elements I used for my part included harmonics/flautando. These techniques were used to convey more of a airy/dreamy quality to the song. In regards to Aivi's part, I really enjoyed the harmonies which she brought out, and her elegant legato phrasing really set the tone at the beginning of the piece. Even though we could have had a more technically sound recording (since decided to learn,play,record in about an hour) I think this recording captured a lot of the emotions I get when I listen to the original. Aivi thought of the name 'Dreams of Home', and we chose it because it is relevant to the game's storyline and she said that she thinks of home when she listens to this song. Anyway, here are some quotes from Aivi's YT description =) 'This is my favorite duet of ours, the sweet and haunting "Ballad of the Wind Fish" from Link's Awakening. We jammed it out by ear to figure out our arrangement before recording it.' 'I got really emotional while I was playing this - it all just felt very genuine.' Anyway, thanks for reading/listening/watching: Download Link(MP3 VBR): Video Link (of our collab): Thanks for your time, Chris

Contact Info ReMixer Name: The Joker Real Name: David L. Puga Email: Website: facebook.com/dlpmusic Submission Info Game Title: Kirby Super Star ReMix Title: The Last Dance (OCR Edit) Source Title: King Dedede Theme Original Link: ReMix Link: Comments: Finally decided to submit my track from BadAss. I originally wanted to make a trip hop song, & I wanted to make a song based on Dedede's theme, so that's how I came up with the idea to do the mix. The concept came much later, as I kept wanting to kinda make a song that would be the embodiment of what I thought Dedede's mind was like. Slowly starting to go crazy, becoming more warped even as the world around him became cuter & happier. There had to be a reason for him to become the villain after all. I wanted the song to be dark, gritty, & ominous. With a bit of sadness & despair thrown in, why not. Kept the trip Hop idea for the most part, but I'm not sure it would fall into that genre. Took it in a more industrial direction. Wanted this sort of contrast between bright twinkly sounds & a rough sound scape. Added the delay to the bells so it would sound like they were slowly getting drowned out by the noise of the distortion. Kinda like the goodness still fighting for room amidst the anger & hate, if I may indulge my pomposity for a bit (if not this entire comment... man, when'd I become the douche-y "artist type" ). One of he main problems I've been told this mix had was the amount of source used. Everything about this track is based on something from the original track. I'll try to break it down as simple as I can, as I've never really needed to go this in depth with my remixes. The intro amped cello in the mix that plays from the beginning to 1:15 is the bass that plays from :01-:03. Slowed it down a lot. The amped viola that plays during the same time is a simplified version of the trumpet melody from :29-:40. Slowed it down a whole bunch too. The twinkly bells that come in at :25-1:17 is :06-:11 from the source the main synth that comes in at 1:17-1:55 is also the main theme melody mentioned above. The reintroduced bells at 1:29-2:07 is the break from :40-:52 in the source. The piano from 2:08-2:20+ is the intro in the source again, :01-:03, with some of the main bassline thrown in to flesh it out. The bassline that starts at 2:34 is the bass from the source, albeit with a few modifications to give it a bit more of a progression. The main synth+twinkly bells from 2:47-4:03 play a more robust version of the main melody from the source. There are a few more things that are source, but I think that should be enough to hit the OCR source/original ratio.

I'm somewhere between all three of these votes. I like the JRPG feel, but I think the sequencing does need to be humanized a tad more for OCR's standards, and adding more in the way of dynamics would really help flesh it out. There's some great expansion on the theme itself, and it definitely would be nice to have it happen earlier in the track. In the end I think I'm going to lean towards Larry's side of things. Really hope you take a second run at it, there are fantastic ideas here! NO (resubmit, please)

Relistened, and the gentlemen have great crits on this that I'm hearing and agree with now. I'd rather get this back to you sooner than hold onto a vote so that you can fix it up and make it awesome. I was borderline, anyways, so making it better won't hurt! NO (resubmit, please!)

I was pretty borderline on my NO before, and if this can't be fixed up, I'm OK with this passing as-is. YES (borderline )

Loving the intro, sets a very good mood here. Overall the arrangement isn't too far from the original, but there is definitely a lot of personalization. In the end it might get a little repetitive with the chorus going over the same riff constantly, but I think there's enough going on elsewhere to keep things interesting. Production is a mixed bag. The opening sounds fine to me, but as things go on it sorta goes downhill. The strings that come in at :44 sound pretty stiff and lifeless. Adding some vibrato will help, and humanizing the parts a little will definitely make things better. Same can be said for humanizing the guitar at 1:18. And again at the strings at 1:35...you get the point. I'm not trying to be rude, but the mechanical sequencing is really making things feel unorganic. I'm going to suggest going through the whole track with a fine-toothed comb and see where you can add that human element in. The flute that comes in at 2:10 feels like it's in a completely different room setting than the rest of the instruments. Adjusting it to have it fit with the rest of the soundscape is definitely recommended. I'm definitely a fan of the arrangement overall, and think it's got a lot of promise, but the production aspects absolutely need to be aderessed before I can give this a pass. I really hope you send it back to us! NO (resubmit, please)

ReMixer Name: Fallen Seraph Real Name: Wina A. Kamlongera Userid: 10661 I usually sketch up my write-ups immediately after finishing the ReMix, but I sat on this one for a few weeks. So, forgive me if I leave something out. Um, where are my memories, of this one gone? Nothing comes to mind, but blood and bone... Been shedding these tears eternally Looking for Consent, I'm nothing more, than a Shinobi Lost in Chinatown, wayward on the Corner of Sunset and Keys Bad sushi within me, I can feel that factory funk...that produced these Yeah...couldn't come up with anything to say...so...throw it up on some speakers, crank it up, and let the beat knock. Hope you enjoy this one! ------------

Remixer Name: urdailywater Real name: Aaron Corbitt Userid: 33000 Game Arranged: Yume Nikki Song Arranged: Barracks Settlement/BGM 17: Additional Information about game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yume_nikki Yume Nikki is a pretty popular Japanese indie PC game made in RPG maker. Probably not something that would normally be arrangeable for OCR, but considering the popular reception of the game, the amount of remix albums already out and stuff, I guess it would be cool? Soundtrack: http://yumenikki.wikia.com/wiki/Soundtrack Inspiration/Information behind song stuff: So yeah, totally excited about submitting this mix. Yume Nikki is an absolutely awesome game. Not something that's for everyone honestly, but if you like dark, creepy, unsettling and ambient games, then. It's a game I find myself doing concept mixes to a lot, this is the first one I really felt was somewhat close to an arrangement hopefully somewhat acceptable to OCR. The source is only 6 seconds long, and the song itself is pretty minimalistic (which goes with the whole idea behind the concept EP I'll be putting this on, which is currently on hold at the time of submitting this mix), so this probably won't be mind blowing arrangement wise, but as of writing this is still what I consider my best work. It's ambient, but very fun and playful at the same time. I actually started this song way back in December (which seems like a long time), but dropped it. I decided to pick it up again because the idea fit so well on the aforementioned EP, and after about 6 or 7 hours I finished it out while upping the production (which sucked back then). The end result like mentioned before is pretty ambient. I was going for a windy desert feel, seeing as that's kind of where the source takes place (minus the windy part). Hopefully you can hear that in the song. I had more to say, but I'm kind of rushed atm so I'll let the music speak for itself. Enjoy

Resub 1 Original decision Name: Arceace Real name: Ben Clifton Email address: Game: Sonic 3D Blast (Sega Genesis version) Title: Enigmatic Melody Original track: Rusty Ruin Link: Comments: This song is becoming rather special to me. I first started working on it when I first started my remixing career last year. I have learned a lot since I first started the project, and as time has gone on, it keeps on improving. I have gone through about five different versions for the arrangement, but this is by far my favorite out of them all. I could go on and on about the background story for this remix, but I think it would be best to let the remix show what I have learned. It has been a long journey, but I feel that it was well worth it. I want to do what it takes to make this the best it can be. Please enjoy my work. -Arceace

link Contact Information CJthemusicdude@gmail.com CJthemusicdude.com Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Civilization II Name of individual song(s) arranged: Great Library Name of remix: Lost in Time Link to the original soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQlADVRZQs8 Your own comments about the mix: This is one of those sources that really fascinated me. It's less than an minute long, I have no idea who composed it, or if the piece goes on, but someday I hope I can hear the rest because it's really beautiful. But for now, I'll settle for remixing. If nothing else, I'll be glad I made some musically inclined people listen to the source.

As long as it's encoded to our new standards, 10 mb is fine

This guy hates OCR judges. NO ---------- Opening is really nice, and there use of the orchestral elements is tastefully done. Love the horn use at 1:06 is a great touch. Ethnic instruments are also used very well. At 1:13 the higher elements could come down a bit so as not to fight with the melody. The 1:26 transition is pretty awkward, gotta say, and the higher string elements are still a little too loud. I like the soundscape overall, just needs some level adjustments. The next transition is much better, and the flow works pretty well. Nice build up to the silence, and then back into the main theme. It's a little cliche, but it works. Not feeling the fade-out at all, and I really wish you'd put a more solid ending in there. As is, the fade's pretty quick, and doesn't feel natural. Curious what the other judges think, but I might want to call that conditional if they agree. The rest is done well, and while some minor adjustments would help, I think it's good to go as is (pending the ending). YES (maybe conditional)

Been thinking on this one for a while. First off, the opening strings had me worried. The sound there just isn't good when it's exposed like that. After that, though, production is completely fine to me. What it's coming down to is the arrangement. It is definitely a minimalist take on things, with not only a sparse soundscape for a lot of it, but also a lot of repetition of the main riff of Ballad of the Goddess. I'm on the fence in terms of the the fact that things are so repetitious, but on the good side, there is a lot of subtle differences, and overall everything is beautifully done. I think in the end the simplistic approach does offer a unique view of things, and while I personally wish there was more of an approach to changing the theme itself along with the elements of the sounds, it does a nice job of presenting the theme. To nitpick, the transition into Zelda's lullaby at 1:18 felt a little abrupt to me, and the transition to the harp at 1:35 could have held on just a tad longer. Just throwing that out there. YES

I can see what the NO's are getting at, but I don't think it's to a level that it is below the bar, and I think the arrangement is good enough to keep it firmly there. Definitely take their criticisms to heart for future mixes, though! YES

Interesting take on this theme. Not something I would have thought of myself, for sure. Arrangement-wise the first thing I notice is how repetitive it is overall. The source obviously is just a couple of verses, so there isn't as much to go with there, but to hear the same chord progression and melody from the opening of the mix up to 2:08 where your solo hits is pretty long. Variation would really help things out here; maybe adding a chorus, or an interlude between verses. You do more of that after the solo, so shifting things around might help. Production also has a few things needing work. The bass presence is pretty low, and could come up a little. Similarly, the guitar at times could come down just a little to help the balance out. The guitars also overall don't feel like they are in the same soundscape as the egg/bongos and the vocals. Adjusting your reverb and room presence will help there. The vocals also have an echo at times that feels somewhat strange compared to the relatively dry vocals at other times. The idea as a whole has promise, but I think it needs some work on both production and adjustments to the arrangement as well. Use our WIP forums to get some more feedback! NO (resubmit)

I'd say this is an improvement over the sub. There are still a couple things I'm noticing, mainly a couple of minor timing issues, and the piano loop feels a little mechanical and dry still. I'll still echo that your vocals are really working very well here, so I'm glad you kept at this one. YES