Darkflamewolf

Guess what came in?

Oh, and I guess I can add a new point to this whole discussion, one that isn't discussed much: PHYSICAL COPIES of said album.
This isn't required for any album to have physical copies at all. In fact, this is more of a personal choice for the director of the album if they want a physical copy. There isn't going to be some big Kickstarter like there was for FF6: Balance and Ruin for your physical album prints. I think that was a one time thing and a legal quagmire that I feel OCRemix isn't wanting to delve into anytime soon. But can any album have a physical release? I believe so! However, there are some requirements first.
1) The director must be the one who impresses on everyone from the outset their intention to make physicals after album release. Everyone on the OCRemix admin staff and those remixers and contributors to the project need to be aware of this intention and be agreeable to pitching in for the final product.
2) You will not normally see a simultaneous physical and digital release of the album. The digital will always come first and the physicals months later due to logistics and timing, etc.
3) The director is responsible, with their art director, in securing all front/back cover art and disc art for the album. However that happens, either you draw it yourself or you pay a commission for an artist to do it for you, it must be something available and provided for the physical prints.
4) Split your discs up early into track lists where the run times are 74 mins or less per disc to properly fit on physical CDs come printing.
5) After digital release, you'll most likely be working with DJPretzel directly and once your request for physicals is approved on OCRemix admin, they will be covering HALF of the costs. The other half must come from you, the director. This isn't cheap, and the Arcadia Legends album limited print run went close to $2000. So about $1000 needed to come out of my pocket. You can either dump the change all yourself, or get as many folks from those who contributed to pitch in equal amounts of money to add up to your half. However you slice it, you need to provide it.
6) It is generally considered a good recommendation that you order enough for at least two physical copies per contributor to the album. However, not all contributors will be able to or willing to pitch in for the cost, nor will all contributors be willing to respond and provide you with their physical addresses to mail them. (which you'll have to do and pay additional for shipping out of pocket) So it is up to the director if those who neither paid nor provided address get physical copies at all - harsh truth, but needed to be said.
7) Once ordered, the shipment will be split, you'll get roughly half, and OCRemix will get half to give out at their fest panels. Once you receive your shipment, it'll be on you to make good on promises made to all those wanting physical copies. Once those are sent out and you have a bunch left over, the director can do whatever they want with them, raffles, prizes, etc. Just don't sell them!
With all that out of the way, physicals are a neat novelty piece and a great reward for all the hard work for everyone who put effort into the project! It isn't ideal for every album, but the option is there if you wish to pursue it. Just know that you, the director, will be the one who foots all the work on this and covering cost when others come up short. So be aware of this!
Now for those interested, Arcadia Legends physicals should be finishing up printing this week and hopefully shipping out by this weekend! So for all those waiting on their contributor copies, it won't be long now when I get them and repackage them up and send them out!

Oh, and I guess I can add a new point to this whole discussion, one that isn't discussed much: PHYSICAL COPIES of said album.
This isn't required for any album to have physical copies at all. In fact, this is more of a personal choice for the director of the album if they want a physical copy. There isn't going to be some big Kickstarter like there was for FF6: Balance and Ruin for your physical album prints. I think that was a one time thing and a legal quagmire that I feel OCRemix isn't wanting to delve into anytime soon. But can any album have a physical release? I believe so! However, there are some requirements first.
1) The director must be the one who impresses on everyone from the outset their intention to make physicals after album release. Everyone on the OCRemix admin staff and those remixers and contributors to the project need to be aware of this intention and be agreeable to pitching in for the final product.
2) You will not normally see a simultaneous physical and digital release of the album. The digital will always come first and the physicals months later due to logistics and timing, etc.
3) The director is responsible, with their art director, in securing all front/back cover art and disc art for the album. However that happens, either you draw it yourself or you pay a commission for an artist to do it for you, it must be something available and provided for the physical prints.
4) Split your discs up early into track lists where the run times are 74 mins or less per disc to properly fit on physical CDs come printing.
5) After digital release, you'll most likely be working with DJPretzel directly and once your request for physicals is approved on OCRemix admin, they will be covering HALF of the costs. The other half must come from you, the director. This isn't cheap, and the Arcadia Legends album limited print run went close to $2000. So about $1000 needed to come out of my pocket. You can either dump the change all yourself, or get as many folks from those who contributed to pitch in equal amounts of money to add up to your half. However you slice it, you need to provide it.
6) It is generally considered a good recommendation that you order enough for at least two physical copies per contributor to the album. However, not all contributors will be able to or willing to pitch in for the cost, nor will all contributors be willing to respond and provide you with their physical addresses to mail them. (which you'll have to do and pay additional for shipping out of pocket) So it is up to the director if those who neither paid nor provided address get physical copies at all - harsh truth, but needed to be said.
7) Once ordered, the shipment will be split, you'll get roughly half, and OCRemix will get half to give out at their fest panels. Once you receive your shipment, it'll be on you to make good on promises made to all those wanting physical copies. Once those are sent out and you have a bunch left over, the director can do whatever they want with them, raffles, prizes, etc. Just don't sell them!
With all that out of the way, physicals are a neat novelty piece and a great reward for all the hard work for everyone who put effort into the project! It isn't ideal for every album, but the option is there if you wish to pursue it. Just know that you, the director, will be the one who foots all the work on this and covering cost when others come up short. So be aware of this!
Now for those interested, Arcadia Legends physicals should be finishing up printing this week and hopefully shipping out by this weekend! So for all those waiting on their contributor copies, it won't be long now when I get them and repackage them up and send them out!

Oh, and I guess I can add a new point to this whole discussion, one that isn't discussed much: PHYSICAL COPIES of said album.
This isn't required for any album to have physical copies at all. In fact, this is more of a personal choice for the director of the album if they want a physical copy. There isn't going to be some big Kickstarter like there was for FF6: Balance and Ruin for your physical album prints. I think that was a one time thing and a legal quagmire that I feel OCRemix isn't wanting to delve into anytime soon. But can any album have a physical release? I believe so! However, there are some requirements first.
1) The director must be the one who impresses on everyone from the outset their intention to make physicals after album release. Everyone on the OCRemix admin staff and those remixers and contributors to the project need to be aware of this intention and be agreeable to pitching in for the final product.
2) You will not normally see a simultaneous physical and digital release of the album. The digital will always come first and the physicals months later due to logistics and timing, etc.
3) The director is responsible, with their art director, in securing all front/back cover art and disc art for the album. However that happens, either you draw it yourself or you pay a commission for an artist to do it for you, it must be something available and provided for the physical prints.
4) Split your discs up early into track lists where the run times are 74 mins or less per disc to properly fit on physical CDs come printing.
5) After digital release, you'll most likely be working with DJPretzel directly and once your request for physicals is approved on OCRemix admin, they will be covering HALF of the costs. The other half must come from you, the director. This isn't cheap, and the Arcadia Legends album limited print run went close to $2000. So about $1000 needed to come out of my pocket. You can either dump the change all yourself, or get as many folks from those who contributed to pitch in equal amounts of money to add up to your half. However you slice it, you need to provide it.
6) It is generally considered a good recommendation that you order enough for at least two physical copies per contributor to the album. However, not all contributors will be able to or willing to pitch in for the cost, nor will all contributors be willing to respond and provide you with their physical addresses to mail them. (which you'll have to do and pay additional for shipping out of pocket) So it is up to the director if those who neither paid nor provided address get physical copies at all - harsh truth, but needed to be said.
7) Once ordered, the shipment will be split, you'll get roughly half, and OCRemix will get half to give out at their fest panels. Once you receive your shipment, it'll be on you to make good on promises made to all those wanting physical copies. Once those are sent out and you have a bunch left over, the director can do whatever they want with them, raffles, prizes, etc. Just don't sell them!
With all that out of the way, physicals are a neat novelty piece and a great reward for all the hard work for everyone who put effort into the project! It isn't ideal for every album, but the option is there if you wish to pursue it. Just know that you, the director, will be the one who foots all the work on this and covering cost when others come up short. So be aware of this!
Now for those interested, Arcadia Legends physicals should be finishing up printing this week and hopefully shipping out by this weekend! So for all those waiting on their contributor copies, it won't be long now when I get them and repackage them up and send them out!

This song actually brings a lot of emotions out.  Skies of Arcadia has hands down been my number 1 favorite game for many years, even with all of the other amazing games I've ever played.  The story always kept me on my toes and kept me invested, the gameplay was fantastic for its time...and despite the graphics being dated, I still really enjoy looking at it to this day.  It's a game that for me had everything I wanted in a perfect game, again even though there are many great games still being made today.  It's always held a very special place in my heart that can never be replaced, and this song really captures the game very well.
I feel like I'm living through the game again when I hear this, experiencing it in a new way...imagining if it was made today.  It both makes me smile and tear up a little with the memories it brings, the moments it makes me look back to, and just...gah.  I'm just really in love with this song.
This was definitely a song handled with much care, as there's nothing out of place.  Everything fits perfectly, transitions perfectly, and this song just really embodies the body and spirit of what made Skies of Arcadia special.  Thank you for this beautiful gem...this is by far my favorite song I've heard in many years, and it's one that will hold an equally special place in my heart right alongside the game that inspired it.

Oh wow... thank you sir, I am humbled!

You mean this sort of soundtrack for Godzilla?
 

Pitch it then. Make it happen. Literally one of the first things I did after I had made the initial project thread and put out a recruitment call, I went down the list from A to Z of all my favorite remixers and painstakingly sent off DMs to each and every one of them (limit 5 per day for these forums) hoping to recruit them to the project. 80% never responded back or even read the DMs. 10% will politely say no for whatever reason. However, the remaining 10% will surprise you and be on board to creating tracks for the album. You just never know until you ask!

There is also nothing stopping you from becoming director and gathering together awesome talent and managing an entire album on your own. (granted, I had help in the way of @Modus, who was invaluable) But anyone can make an album become reality. Arcadia Legends is proof of that. However, it is a lot of work, keeping up to date on both remixers,, artists and more and making sure everything is flowing smoothly and on time. It takes a lot of organization and patience and definitely a lot of micro and macro managing. It will not be easy, but if you are passionate about the project, others will see that and hopefully will want to join and make it a reality too with you.

There is also nothing stopping you from becoming director and gathering together awesome talent and managing an entire album on your own. (granted, I had help in the way of @Modus, who was invaluable) But anyone can make an album become reality. Arcadia Legends is proof of that. However, it is a lot of work, keeping up to date on both remixers,, artists and more and making sure everything is flowing smoothly and on time. It takes a lot of organization and patience and definitely a lot of micro and macro managing. It will not be easy, but if you are passionate about the project, others will see that and hopefully will want to join and make it a reality too with you.

Chipping in, what DFW is saying is true. It's a lot of work managing an album, but I've personally found it very rewarding and satisfactory (hence doing my 3rd album gig, as the Terranigma co-director this time). There's something about working with artists, see and help their vision come to life bit by bit and unleashing the combined tracks unto the world that has a certain something to it. It can feel like cat herding at times, but for me it has been worth it. Having a manageable album vision and scope and clear deadlines (I prefer albums projects that can be finished within 1 year) definitely helps. Either way, it is typically a process that takes months at least (sometimes years, with large gaps of inactivity if you're unlucky), depending on the vision, scope, directing and that does involve a commitment of time and energy from the director(s). I've seen projects stall because the director(s) started enthusiastically but couldn't keep the time and energy committed to it to see things through to the end.
Maybe directing your own album is not something you want to do, but if it is something you're considering, I hope it helps to give you a sense of the things you might run into rather than going in blind.

There is also nothing stopping you from becoming director and gathering together awesome talent and managing an entire album on your own. (granted, I had help in the way of @Modus, who was invaluable) But anyone can make an album become reality. Arcadia Legends is proof of that. However, it is a lot of work, keeping up to date on both remixers,, artists and more and making sure everything is flowing smoothly and on time. It takes a lot of organization and patience and definitely a lot of micro and macro managing. It will not be easy, but if you are passionate about the project, others will see that and hopefully will want to join and make it a reality too with you.

Beyond. Epic. 
 
This song is so big and you transition between all the different sources so amazingly. This would be awesome performed live with a real orchestra

Gorgeous and thoughtful. If you want a remixer to imbue a piece with powerful emotion and a range of feeling, this is the remixer you want. Wow.

When I was listening to this album for the first time, I wasn't really looking at the tracklist, but when this track started playing, I immidiately recognized it as a djp's work To my mind, there's just a whole lot of similarities to some of his previous works for sure. The strings reminded of his excellent "Red Waltz" and "What the Ocean Taught the Forest", the funkier bits seem to come staight from "Love Hurts" and "Fortuna Favors the Funk", and the rock-ish parts certainly make me think of "Dark Storm". This is some solid atmospheric stuff, and while it's a relatively short piece, it definitely goes places, being a really cool sonic adventure  Mad props for this sweet track!

So this was a bit of an interesting track for me. I wasn't really sure how this song would be realized since the original melody was pretty rough to work with and interpret. So imagine my shock and surprise when @TSori came back to me with a trumpet heavy version of Drachma's theme which was a far cry from the more formal and somewhat steadfast mournful tune that one could describe Drachma as being. However, it was very sparse, light in the polish department and definitely in no stage to present as a final track. @TSori himself said he wished he had more skills to make it into the vision he wanted. I told him not to write himself off just yet, because I actually liked the direction he took the song. Knowing that @Deedubs had helped @Supercoolmike out on his track earlier on the album (Which @Supercoolmike should totally submit for eval and approval to OCR!), I took a chance and asked him again to see if he'd assist in helping @TSori out. @Deedubs was gracious yet again and found the challenge invigorating since it caused him to pare down his style rather than build it up, a unique remixing endeavor! What came out of this collaboration was a charming mix that can't help but bring a smile to my face. And the best compliment of all? Whenever it comes on the car stereo, my boys refuse to have us turn off the engine or get out of the car until the song finishes playing! You can't get better feedback than that!

@TSori, I will give you a nice, warm fuzzy. Out of all the tracks on the album, my two boys absolutely love and adore your 'Better Days' track. So much so that when it comes on, they instantly recognize it and forbid us to change the song or even stop the car and get out if we go anywhere until the song finishes. lol  

I actually like this better than the source. Military Facility Dungeon is one of those universally-popular tracks from the original OST, along with Ixa'Taka, but it's also one of the more quagmire-ish dungeons, so you hear this on loop for.. um, a while. This digests so smoothly, and it's really emotive and.. well, beautiful.
The viola front and center is courageous and pays off. It owns the stage and dances with the lead synth. I just love the expressiveness, and its tinge of melancholy.
And that's why I recommend The Milk-Fudge Donut.

So this was a bit of an interesting track for me. I wasn't really sure how this song would be realized since the original melody was pretty rough to work with and interpret. So imagine my shock and surprise when @TSori came back to me with a trumpet heavy version of Drachma's theme which was a far cry from the more formal and somewhat steadfast mournful tune that one could describe Drachma as being. However, it was very sparse, light in the polish department and definitely in no stage to present as a final track. @TSori himself said he wished he had more skills to make it into the vision he wanted. I told him not to write himself off just yet, because I actually liked the direction he took the song. Knowing that @Deedubs had helped @Supercoolmike out on his track earlier on the album (Which @Supercoolmike should totally submit for eval and approval to OCR!), I took a chance and asked him again to see if he'd assist in helping @TSori out. @Deedubs was gracious yet again and found the challenge invigorating since it caused him to pare down his style rather than build it up, a unique remixing endeavor! What came out of this collaboration was a charming mix that can't help but bring a smile to my face. And the best compliment of all? Whenever it comes on the car stereo, my boys refuse to have us turn off the engine or get out of the car until the song finishes playing! You can't get better feedback than that!

I always admired and loved the OCRemix albums that would get released every few months. I always dreamed of having one directed by myself one day too. (hey, look what happened!!) However, one thing I did notice that in almost every single one of the albums, @djpretzel always had a hand in it by contributing at least one track. It almost seemed like a tradition at this point - that the creator and owner of OCRemix involves himself at least once in every major project released. So, obviously I had to ask the man himself if he was willing to donate a track to the cause after it was approved for official album status. Imagine my surprise and excitement when he said yes!

However, true to form and to the advice other album directors gave me, they all mentioned that @djpretzel would take his time and most likely be the last track to be finished for the album....and boy did he not disappoint!  If it weren't for a last minute change for Fina's Theme involving @Deedubs at literally the 11th hour (no kidding, it was finished and sent in AFTER the album had been submitted for eval!), @djpretzel's track would have been the last completed for the album! You almost made it there, buddy, but your streak has been broken! haha!  

As for the track itself, not much to say except he nailed it on the first try, is awesome in every way and I loved it so much that it instantly became my top pick to be the opening track for disc 3. Thanks again to @djpretzel for being so great and easy to work with, you made the final stages of this album submission so much easier and friendly. I appreciate all the help you've given me and the help you'll continue to give as we progress forward in working out these physicals! Huzzah to all for a job well done!

I always admired and loved the OCRemix albums that would get released every few months. I always dreamed of having one directed by myself one day too. (hey, look what happened!!) However, one thing I did notice that in almost every single one of the albums, @djpretzel always had a hand in it by contributing at least one track. It almost seemed like a tradition at this point - that the creator and owner of OCRemix involves himself at least once in every major project released. So, obviously I had to ask the man himself if he was willing to donate a track to the cause after it was approved for official album status. Imagine my surprise and excitement when he said yes!

However, true to form and to the advice other album directors gave me, they all mentioned that @djpretzel would take his time and most likely be the last track to be finished for the album....and boy did he not disappoint!  If it weren't for a last minute change for Fina's Theme involving @Deedubs at literally the 11th hour (no kidding, it was finished and sent in AFTER the album had been submitted for eval!), @djpretzel's track would have been the last completed for the album! You almost made it there, buddy, but your streak has been broken! haha!  

As for the track itself, not much to say except he nailed it on the first try, is awesome in every way and I loved it so much that it instantly became my top pick to be the opening track for disc 3. Thanks again to @djpretzel for being so great and easy to work with, you made the final stages of this album submission so much easier and friendly. I appreciate all the help you've given me and the help you'll continue to give as we progress forward in working out these physicals! Huzzah to all for a job well done!

So this was a bit of an interesting track for me. I wasn't really sure how this song would be realized since the original melody was pretty rough to work with and interpret. So imagine my shock and surprise when @TSori came back to me with a trumpet heavy version of Drachma's theme which was a far cry from the more formal and somewhat steadfast mournful tune that one could describe Drachma as being. However, it was very sparse, light in the polish department and definitely in no stage to present as a final track. @TSori himself said he wished he had more skills to make it into the vision he wanted. I told him not to write himself off just yet, because I actually liked the direction he took the song. Knowing that @Deedubs had helped @Supercoolmike out on his track earlier on the album (Which @Supercoolmike should totally submit for eval and approval to OCR!), I took a chance and asked him again to see if he'd assist in helping @TSori out. @Deedubs was gracious yet again and found the challenge invigorating since it caused him to pare down his style rather than build it up, a unique remixing endeavor! What came out of this collaboration was a charming mix that can't help but bring a smile to my face. And the best compliment of all? Whenever it comes on the car stereo, my boys refuse to have us turn off the engine or get out of the car until the song finishes playing! You can't get better feedback than that!

The site domain from my limited experience with Arcadia Legends is something that DJPretzel will provide for you. He has all the details when it comes time to start building the website. They have a php toolkit and a format they strongly encourage you to follow for ease of transition when you hand over all the web assets for them to transfer to the primary address location.
Well, I won't lie, the bulk of 'human-like' artists can be found on DeviantArt, but being a... *ahem* furry myself, I got loads more options and there are other websites out there with artists who can do both furry art AND human art as well. You just have to look around and find them. It can be hard going at times for finding the one artist that truly meets your style and needs and is actually open for commissions. Some take a while to complete, so get started on finding one ASAP.

We had to hire out our artist and pay money out of pocket for our art. That may or may not be feasible for you.

This song has quite a history. This was always imagined to be the centerpiece to the entire album in my eyes. One of the key defining features of the Delphinus track was how it would subtly change as you flew near each of the major continents of the world, different instrumentation layering itself to give a different flavor as you travel through each section. That aspect of the track always stuck out to me and I was always hoping we could incorporate that somehow into the remixed version. Although the album already featured a few interesting combo tracks, where we mixed two similar or even dissimilar songs together to form an interesting blend, this was going to be on a whole different level.
So I started pitching the idea to many people, saying the Delphinus track, if they were interested in it, had a VERY special requirement request placed upon it. Most were intrigued by the source tune, but the moment they heard the additional requirements to add into the song, they immediately bowed out. I can't recall how many remixers I approached with this track, each one turning it down for various reasons. It was getting to be one of the last 4-5 tracks left on the album unclaimed. We were starting to despair that we would even get anyone at all for it and the original vision I had wanted. I was considering taking away the request and just having the plain source tune by itself be the only thing a remixer would have to do.
Help arrived in the form of @Jorito. At first, he wasn't keen on producing another track for the album, having since submitted one already in the form of il buono, il brutto, il pirata dell'aria. He was busy with various other projects and remix songs. So I moved on to pitch it to others. In the end, he came back around and asked about the album and I mentioned there were only a few tracks left. He was interested in the request for the Delphinus and I told him my vision. He said it was highly interesting and he would think on it. I think a week or two went by and he came back inspired, saying he had the perfect idea for it. Why just layer instrumentation over the original melody? Why not just take the listener directly into the culture of each moon, incorporating rather the Delphinus track INTO the separate musical elements rather than those cultural tracks into the Delphinus? Let Delphinus be the bridge to this big melody than the sole focus?
After many months of going back and forth and tons of feedback, he dropped what simply was one of the best and most impressive songs of the entire album. He even loved the title to our second disc that he asked if he could appropriate it for his own song. Given that it was a bridge between disc 2 and 3, I figured there was no better track name for this than that. The moment I heard it, I knew immediately it was going to be the showstopper to end the second disc and seque us into the third. It had elements of songs that had come before and previewed songs we had yet to hear. It was the perfect bridge to the perfect album for Skies of Arcadia. Thank you again, @Jorito for a job well done!