Kanthos

Never heard of you guys until I looked around for Youtube videos. However, a video game band is still more deserving than other bands, so you got my vote anyway

Might your graphics card be overheating? I'd check that your fan is working properly and that there's no dust inside the case.

And it probably isn't. Got mine last night

Tritons will definitely have MIDI outputs. For recording, it just depends what you want. If you want to use built-in sounds on the Triton, record using your line out and maybe a DI box depending on your audio interface. If you want to use sounds from other VSTs on your computer, record the MIDI output into Cubase/Reason and have it trigger the appropriate VST instruments.

I agree with Malcos on all counts. The second track has some strong smooth jazz influences without being too cheesy (something the smooth jazz genre fails at often). Great work!

With a keyboard, consider what you want it for. Assuming you don't want an acoustic piano, you would get a keyboard either for sequencing on your computer, live performance, or both. Pretty much every keyboard and digital piano has MIDI output, as Suzumibachi says, but not all have audio output. I use an M-Audio Axiom 61 which only has MIDI output, so if I wanted to use it to play live somewhere, I'd have to bring my laptop along too, since the keyboard *only* outputs MIDI data (events saying when notes are pressed and released, how hard they're pressed, and a bunch of other things). That said, the laptop is becoming a vital piece of equipment for live performance for many keyboard players, so that's not necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, there's not much we can do to recommend anything specific unless you know whether you want a MIDI keyboard, keyboard with audio output, or digital piano.

I was going to say, that first one sounded a bit sparse, and I didn't pick up any Termina quotes. I like the concept. Obviously, the fiddle will sound much better done live. One thing you might want to play with is having the flute harmonize a third up from the melody when the fiddle comes in. Also, this song is screaming for a bodhran.

Still haven't got mine. I doubt it's a shipping problem as much as it is the fact that shipping to Canada takes longer. If I remember right, Wespip is farther west (i.e. closer to CD Baby's warehouse) than I am, so that's probably why he has his and I don't. I wouldn't worry about it; I'm sure it'll arrive. Besides, they put it in the finest gold-lined box that money can buy

Huge recommendation here for Etrian Odyssey. You have to like the old-school RPG format (it's turn-based, plus you make your own maps with the stylus, which is easier than it sounds). It's got good visuals, although the monsters and characters aren't 3D and the landscape confines you to a north/south/east/west grid. Haven't listened to sound much (it annoys people when you play with sound on the subway), but the bits I heard were good. The best part is party formation and customization. There are a lot of options. You start with 7 possible classes and pick up another 2 later, and most classes have more than one way to specialize them. All skills, including spells, are learned by using skill points, similar to talent builds in World of Warcraft. You can have a guild of up to 16 people (I have 12 right now), and can have 5 people in your party at a time. I have a party of 5 for clearing out dungeons, plus one each of the other main classes just to play around with (troubadours are great for buffing in boss fights). I also have a second warrior-type class (called a landsknecht); the main one specializes in swords and gets an attack that hits everyone, but the other one specializes in axes and will be good in boss fights. I also have 4 survivalists (ranger types) who I'll use mainly for farming materials. In the dungeon, there are spots where you can harvest plants, chop wood, or mine if you have skills for it. The higher your skill, the more attempts you get, so I use the 4 survivalists along with one other character to do farming runs to get money. You buy all your equipment and potions in town, besides what you get as treasure, but the list of items available to you depends on the monsters you kill. Monsters don't drop gold, they drop various monster parts (hides, shells, wings, etc). You take them to town and sell them to the shopkeeper, and as you do, she becomes able to make different and better weapons using the materials you've given her. There's no saving in the dungeon, but it's not a big deal, because after maybe 30 minutes of playing you unlock an item at the shop that lets you warp back to town, plus there are other ways to warp around the dungeon, so it's not like you have to run down 17 floors to get back to where you were. Overall, it's quite well designed and it's the best RPG I've played in a while.

The only thing I can see that might need changing is that the submission licence implies that mixes can be distributed by OC Remix without using the OC Remix name.

The format is flac, I think, and you will need iTunes or an iPod to play the tracks back because they'll be encoded with your iTunes store account name, so to play them back, you have to authorize your computer to play songs from your iTunes store account.

My name and photo is in the credits for MVP Baseball 2004. Not that one must be a designer or programmer to have an opinion. Heck, Liontamer couldn't really be a judge here if doing something was a prerequisite for having an opinion on it, and I don't think there's much question that he's a quality judge.

There doesn't even *need* to be anything explicitly in the policy stating that the remixer could be banned from submitting new work should they abuse the removal policy, since there's nothing compelling djp and the panel to accept a mix in the first place. The point of the policy is that it doesn't really *change* anything. It's just a formalization of the way things currently work so that no one has any excuse to do something like distribute someone else's mixes commercially and then claim they didn't know.

Any Canadians got theirs yet? Still waiting on mine

Came out on the 15th, I believe. I'm going to see if I can get it tomorrow.

Between the policy draft and the comments in this thread, the intent of the policy is that you, as an artist and submitter, retain all rights to the song for its use outside of OCRemix, so releasing elsewhere and remastering and marketing your music would be fine, as long as you have appropriate licensing from the original composers.

Just getting my comments on our IRC discussion down before I forget and the conference call starts up again. Yeah, I could probably find a better kit. This track was originally not going to be latin at all (for that matter, wasn't going to be a remix at all either; I was working on something for a friend and started playing around and realized I was pretty close to the Besaid theme, so I've tried two other very different rhythmic styles before settling on a latin pattern). The kit is a pop kit from Battery 3; while they don't exactly have a latin kit, I'm sure I can find something better. Also, I haven't applied any effects to the kit besides panning, so that'll affect the sound. I can see two things that make the drums sound "off". One is that the fill going into bar 8 is a little sloppy, particularly the first two notes. The other is that the 3-2 pattern I use on the claves at bars 1-8 and the snare at 9-12 and the last 4 bars is an authentic latin pattern that sounds a bit off because it's been americanized (the american version has the hits on beats 1, and of 2, 4, and then beats 2 and 3 in the second bar; the latin version has the last hit on the and of 3). I could easily go to the american version or use the opposite pattern (a 2-3; one is Brazilian and the other is Cuban, can't remember which). I agree with your comment about velocities, especially for bars 9-12 and the end: while all the drum parts have varying velocities, the rides can definitely be more varied than they are. Lastly, about melody: while marimba is perhaps a bit more authentic to the sound, vibes would probably go better with the piece because they'll ring out more. The melody is pretty sparse, even in the original version, and while there's definitely freedom to play around with it, the fact that vibes sustain longer than marimba will make a difference. Let me get more of the piece down, and we'll talk about what you could do and what kind of notation you'd want.

It's not quite the same. Your clause states that OC Remix will distribute using the OC Remix label; it doesn't state that OC Remix *won't* distribute using *any other* label. Just a suggestion anyway; I'm hardly a legal type

Much of the confusion here seems to be over the fact that it's implied, but never stated, that OC Remix only has the rights to distribute music for free under the OC Remix name. Perhaps one more clause or an overall rider should be added to clarify this.

Current Version: With synth lead Without synth lead

Sorry about mixing up tympani and a bass drum. You're right, of course. I still think that the drum has too much reverb. It needs to be a little drier and have a little more punch, although it should remain fairly subtle like it does now. I have a couple more comments. I like the harmony line for the most part; I'd just put it somewhere besides the last repetition of the theme. If you're only using it once, put it more in the middle of the piece to vary things a bit instead of having flute and guitar play melody together several times and using harmony at the end. I do like the doubled melody though, just as long as it's not the only thing you hear. The harmony sounds slightly off in places; I can't easily pick out any specific notes since for whatever reason, I can't scroll backwards in the song. For the most part it works, but I'd listen to it again and remember that the harmony part doesn't have to be an exact transposition of the melody. If you feel competent as a soloist, you might want to do a longer solo instead of one of the repetitions of the melody. I like the little 4-bar guitar riffs you have and would like to hear more. In terms of submitting here, you're not going to be penalized at all by deviating from the original version a bit, as long as you don't go overboard. I'd do the solo coming out of the string chorus; you build the drums back up nicely and going into a solo would give it a bit more punch than going back to the melody again. Lastly, the tambourine part at the beginning of the piece needs a bit of work. The sound itself is good, but it sounds like it's cutting off too soon. On a real tambourine, there's no way that I know of to choke the sound, and after a tambourine hit, you'll get a bit of a ring for a short period afterwards. That's missing in your version, either a result of the samples you're using or possibly the samples have the ring built in but need to be longer for it to happen. Good work again

Levelling isn't a pain in any of the PSX-generation Final Fantasy games. I agree that it's completely unnecessary, particularly in VIII, where the enemies level as you do and all you need to do is junction the right magic and you'll be fine. My recommendation is IX. VII is a great game too but is extremely easy (I did a no-materia game without dying once or having any trouble), and VIII is even easier. IX also has a story that you can actually follow in its entirety, and I like their ability system best. As for being short on cash, it's a non-issue if you either fight a bit more to level or make note of what you need and what you don't for synthesis, and pay attention when you sell stuff off.

The Cubase manual suggests setting your computer to favour background processes instead of foreground apps. I don't fully understand why, but music could be one reason to do so.

Dr. Rod: here are links to a few tracks from Morrowind and Oblivion from the developer's website. The one mixed here is the Morrowind title theme, although you might also want to check out the Oblivion title theme which uses the same phrase in a style similar to Sirgareth's arrangement. Agreed with Dafydd. There is also far too much reverb on your tympani at the start and end of the piece; either that or you're using some horrible samples. Tympani should sound a bit sharper and crisper than yours do. The strings also sound a little bit too fake for my tastes and need some EQ work and they come in fairly loud in what should be a quiet section. You sound like you want to use the strings as a break from the heavy guitar, which is a great idea; just lower their volume a bit more to make sure you achieve what you're going for. In terms of arrangement, there's not enough harmony on a non-chordal instrument (i.e. there are many places where you have the melody being played on both guitar and synth, as opposed to melody on one and a harmony line on the other). I've been a fan of Morrowind for years, and know its music well, and I have to say that this is the first Morrowind remix that I've liked, despite it still needing some work. The guitar work fits the piece well, and the drums are great.

Clearly one of us knows more about FL Studio than the other, Zircon. I should quit my day job and become a doomsday prophet or something. Sorry to mislead you, Mikuuu, hope the scroll lock works