HoboKa   Members

So as this is MnP instead of PRC do we have to choose a single source and go with it or are you allowing mashups for this round?

Indeed, Mr. Steed :3
 
  Me too!!  

Here's another original metal mix for those who fight hard!

Some thoughts:
Vocals: To some extent silly on purpose but the performance and quality could be better, the recording situation (just my apartment) is a bottleneck though. I do feel this is my best attempt so far at mixing clean vocals at least so yay, progress. (Lyrics are very "in-joke" so feel free to ignore.) Guitars & Bass: Pretty happy with them (DI, amp sims), a lot going on at once sometimes but still sounds alright (IMO). Maybe the rhythm guitars could be a bit crunchier to cut through when it gets busy. Eternal struggle. Brass (Impact Soundworks) and strings (Kontakt's factory stuff + a tiny bit IS Furia): They do what I wanted them to do but could be clearer, still learning to mix stuff like that. Kick drum: I'm always pretty happy with it until I think someone from the VGM community is going to listen 'cause I know y'all like it way louder.  
 

2016 will be badass.

I wouldn't want people's mixes to have a review system, either, nor would OCR ever implement one (it kind of defeats the purpose of a judging system, if popular review ends up dictating whether or not people listen to the music, anyway). Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I was suggesting a sort of "likes-on-average" statistic to apply to a persons reviewing quality, not mix quality, so to encourage more thorough reviews than "Cool mix, bro!".

The Guidelines post is a big, intimidating mess for new users, and could probably be improved. A less formal "how do I review?" post might be more welcoming, and it could feature a checklist-like list of things you can say comment on, either as topics (creativity, sound quality...) and/or as a set or questions (did it remind you of anything, did it sound professional, would you dance to it) could make it easier for people who don't know what to say to say something. "Reviewing resources" might also work, with loads and loads of questions and checklists and ratings suggestions and things.
 
I agree about Avaris' point about community in particular. I've got some computer/time/priorities/music issues right now, but I'd like to get more community going in the workshop once I've sorted some other stuff out. If someone has the drive to do the same in reviews, that'd be awesome. Just not sure how that'd work, practically, since the workshop has plenty of places to talk about stuff, while reviews are more focused on... well, reviews. A set of subforums is an option, a subforum with subcommunity threads is an option, and gathering the community off-site is also an option (but maybe not the best for increasing forum activity).
 
I think one of the problems I have with reviewing is that the step from iTunes to the site is big. Can't check right now, but there should be a link conveniently from the tags straight to the song's page on ocr. If there isn't, there should be. If there is, it could be featured on the site as a way to more conveniently go from listening to reviewing. Searching by remix number (and consolidating search results from all search modes) would probably help, too, since it's currently a point and a click and a lot more letters to type to get from listening to reviewing that particular remix. Lowering the threshold by making the move from listening to reviewing faster and  more convenient should result in more reviews, assuming people got informed about it. That's what the front page is for, right?

Yes
 
First Prize: Two OCR discs
Second Prize: One OCR disc
Third prize: ReMix Request
 
The remaining top ten (because you've got to have a reward be far-reaching enough that people won't consider it a lost cause to even try)
 
Paid vacation including room and board to their local city's luxurious sewer system, complete with fold-out table, dollar general table cloth, and enough seating for 2 humans and several rats. That's a joke, but just imagine that in your head.. it's like a Disney movie. 

Well I think this thread has proved 1 thing, the lack of reviews isn't because OCR is dead or nobody's here, it's because you're all asses

Bored, had time; thread so far, summarized:
 
Problems/causes/observations:
  Will: you wait for about a year, and get a writeup from DJP and about 2 comments on the site.   BS: William Harby, who has not reviewed a mix in months.    ACO: OCR seems super dead in general compared to when I first came here a few years back.    ACO: I notice even in the workshop, it's not uncommon now for mixes to get over a hundred views but absolutely no response.   timaeus222: Maybe it's the idea that the 'classic' ReMixers are in high demand for moar moar moar STUFF, and people want stuff from Sixto, zircon, etc.   timaeus222: Maybe with the newer ReMixers coming in, people don't know what to expect because the person's brand new or rather new.   timaeus: Maybe it's because there have been ReMixes from "new" games that people aren't as familiar with, like Guild Wars 2, Beyond: Two Souls, and Fittest.   timaeus: Maybe people are more busy these days; I know I'm really busy these days.   Will: Seems like "classic" ReMixers are not exempt from lack of reviews so I doubt thats it.   Will:  I also doubt its due to games, since again, popular games are not exempt either.    Will: Lack of new members?   Garpocalypse: A significant part of OCR is the nostalgia factor. [...]  But the nostalgia wears off quickly when you have to live it everyday.  Psychologists call the decrease in response to a stimuli over time "habituation"   ACO: Lots of the newer games don't have music that is as simple and melodic as the older ones, so it's tough to remix or when remixes of it pop up on the site   timaeus222:  it looks to me like there's a lack of new members. [...] statistically, less people are joining the OCR forums per year, at least since 2010. :/   pu_freak:  I have much less time than a few years ago. When I look at the active people at the forums [...], I have a feeling that the average age is higher than when I first joined these forums   pu_freak: YouTube and Facebook. [...] I listen to the ones from there. That means I never visit the OCR homepage anymore   BS: it might be hard for a site that takes 6 months to a year for judgements to maintain an active member base.   BS: it's time that we get replaced with the new generation of remixers, but it's harder than ever for them to actually be a part of OCR   Patrick Burns: I think there are a lot more avenues to find and share nostalgia these days   Patrick Burns: our arrangements don't add nearly as much in the post-redbook audio era. [...] Appreciating arrangements of already well-produced material requires a listener who's much more fixated on the music than the average listener, imo.   Patrick Burns: We've just got so many other options to fulfill our music/digital/social/creative needs these days.   SystemsReady: Holy shit, it takes 6 months to a year for remixes to be judged now? [...] that does make me FAR less inclined to submit anything.   djp: I sense some defeatism, here, and I can see where it might stem from, but this is when we need people stepping up, not stepping back   Skryp: why are the number of reviews relevant?  Or even why are reviews themselves relevant?   Skryp: The forums themselves have gotten very slow, very boring, very dead and dying, and so the question should be "How do you suggest bring the overall forum activity back up again?".   Skryp: I don't think asking or having one person try and lead a march in improving reviews will have any long lasting effects around here.   k-wix: Don't have as many personal connections as i used to on the site.   k-wix: If you make it onto the site, the mix is probably awesome and worth listening to, so I don't feel like feedback is needed at that point.    Bowlerhat: it's actually really important to see as much reviews as possible to your remix [...] because it can be really motivational to see people like your music.   Garpocalypse: the environment where students and working professionals were nearly reduced to tears [...] I was initially attracted to OCR because it got me away from that into a more stress free environment.  Now, with all of this music out there, it's no longer a similar minded group of people who care enough about their art to want to help each other [...] and instead it's a lot of people who all want praise for their work [...] people should be encouraged more to speak their minds on the forums here as long as it has a constructive purpose to make the remix better.   Garpocalypse: The length of time it takes for a person to get judged and posted is an issue    Garpocalypse: I jumped if someone I knew such as Brandon Strader, Willrock, Darkesword, Avaris, Gario or other posted remixers whose work I enjoyed took time to comment on mine. Even if the comments were harsh they were much easier to take because I was familiar with who they were beyond their name just showing up in the forums.  Now we are at a time when most of the remixers from earlier days of OCR have all moved on   Garpocalypse: the panel is separating itself too much from the community it once created and it's having detrimental effects.    BS: I could comment more in workshop, [...] people usually reply and/or PM you with new versions always asking more more more   The Damned: sarcasm   Rozo: Back when I was active here, there were more of the big names around. When they posted, [...] it inspired us.   Rozo: I've had less energy for the wip board, and now just do my duties as a workshop mod, and not much else there.    Rozo: I think the wip board's current slow pace is because it's become less of a community. There's not the wip crew of the old days. [...] Everyone has their own circles now, whether Facebook or YouTube or SoundCloud or something else, so the comments are spread all over the place   Rozo:  I think the ability to drop a brief "nice work" comment on Facebook gives people a reason to not bother giving something more in-depth   Rozo: Now that I'm staff, I feel I have to get permission to do stuff, so that dampens my initiative. Not maybe for reviews or posting on the wip board, but for doing more overall.   zircon: a big part of it is the rise of social media and YouTube. Forums - in general - are way less popular than they used to be.   zircon: What has also changed is how people listen to music. There's been a dramatic shift away from downloading MP3s and having a music library, to just streaming your music.   Best Dude55: I don't feel I have enough experience to where I could give any helpful constructive feedback.   Best Dude55: Also as a new member I can agree with others that the time it takes for submissions to reach the panel also kind of deters me from being more active.    Jorito: I grew up with 8 bit home computers and a PSX, and that means a lot of the newer games don't mean anything to me. That also means I typically won't review and comment.   Jorito: I don't really care about the number of reviews (of my own tracks). I'd to like to see a more active community here, but I'm not convinced focusing on the number of reviews is the way to get there.   CelestialSonata: Looking at everyone's post count is like looking at an XP bar.  It's hard to tell myself that my critique or advice will be worth anything compared to someone whose posts are in the thousands (high XP).  In my mind, how can I give advice if I don't have any arrangements published?   --   Suggestions:   pu_freak: copy the write-up to YouTube as the first comment?   djp: We upgrade our forums to IPS 4.X   djp: We build the workshop out to integrate with the rest of the site   djp:  We thus allow content creation & promotion on two tracks - the instant gratification, "look what I made" track for anything posted on the workshop AND the featured, canonized track for accepted mixes   djp: We automate the submissions process via the forums   djp: All of these changes serve to reinforce the forums and the benefits of registering & participating   djp: We consider some form of trackable reputation points or awards or whatever for the most active/helpful members    djp: every review helps!   Will: All it takes is one person to start doing some reviews and it might kick things up a gear.    k-wix: When the song gets posted, it could be posted with all of the information that the judges talked about, might spark some conversation and debate. Would be great to actively discuss the track WITH the judges.   k-wix: Featured Comments [...] Could have its own section on the main page to encourage people to actively comment and get featured.   Bowlerhat:  I've never left a review myself [...] I think that after reading this topic I just might start doing it.   The Orichalcon: Is there a way to integrate comments on remixes posted to Youtube into the equivalent comment thread here? [...] Now the comments are split up amongst different media, thinning out the numbers.   Jorito: Include the Facebook comments and Twitter replies too, in that case. Effectively you'd centralize the discussion on the site.   Txai: I think the basic core of solving this is lifting listeners' tastes and opinions.    Txai:  I wonder if every poster could include their top 10 favourite ReMixes in their profile page. This was a feature in VGMix and OLR, too. And OLR turned into a barren ghost town after many user listening features were gone.   Rozo: We can encourage reviews. OA and DA had a reviews month back when, [...] maybe it'd create a feedback loop, where people can piggy-back on other people's reviews.   Rozo: Just start reviewing.   Rozo: I would also like to be able to read all comments an artist has received on their posted mixes.   Rozo: I'd also like to see the design of the forum posts get a trim so there's less whitespace, [...] That would make it feel more like a conversation than disparate posts.   Rozo: the no-favorites policy could be revised to allow for "here are my favorite collabs from the past 3 years, check them out, give them a review; what are your favorite collabs?"-type threads   Rozo: We could do a monthly podcast, talking about the remixes posted that month.   Rozo: We could make awesome music videos to get more YouTube presence and maybe draw people here.   Rozo: We could raise ocr's profile on reddit.   timaeus222: Another judge tryout to get more on the panel?   timaeus222: Tell your friends about OCR   Jorito: embracing all these platforms and combining them in stead of trying to force the audience (back) to the forums. The community is probably still there, just more scattered and, in today's society, also more fleeting.   evktalo: I wonder if reviews could be [...] not just posts count, but also review count, why not also "workshop comment" count.. [...] Not as much to reward people who do the reviews, but highlight the importance of the comments.   evktalo: I really like to read "readings" of pieces, what they say or seem to mean to a particular listener. You don't have to understand music in a technical/theory level to do this, which is nice (though you have to be able to write about what you think or feel)   evktalo: if you said something controversial perhaps, more people would hopefully join in on the discussion. It should only be a good thing, right?

Just one comment here: There's a lot of technical discussion here, but that's not all music is about. Maybe offering detailed advice on compression or decluttering a particular range of frequencies would be a technical suggestion out of your reach, but saying "this aspect doesn't seem to gel with this other aspect" or "this transition felt abrupt to me" are things that don't require a trained ear or a technical vocabulary.
Also, music is art. Different things appeal to different people. If there's something you really like or dislike, and no one here seems to agree with you, that's fine. In fact, that's good! A hive mind when it comes to art is a terrible thing, and puts expression and appreciation in boxes. That's especially true here at OCR, where, even though there's a panel of judges that disagrees on occasion, they're mostly looking for the same sorts of things, and are explicitly selected based on their agreement with other judges' decisions (that's part of the "test" to become a judge). Your opinions are no less valid when it comes to enjoyment and appreciation, as long as you're not hostile about it.

If I'm hearing this correctly, you're saying it's cool for folks like me to continue typing those huge ass dissertations with 47 paragraphs about how dat filter sweep had me feelin some type of way, yeah?
 
 
 
hoooly shit, the forums are upgraded as fuck.

Ditto

Can I get an extension please my dear HoboKa? I may have something! 
 
**EDIT** Nope, I lied; I've got nothing

Whelp, I'm thinking that my entry is just too darned pretty for this world. Every time I try to export it my DAW crashes and burns. If I have time I might try and export each track in it individually and see if that works, otherwise I'm afraid I shall be entry-less!

Done.  

You sir are are a gentleman and scholar for liking this game and track

Noice, we've got 3 entries and less than 2 days to go, looks like a good round already

:/ What did you do to it HoboKa?

Haha, oh dear. I've never broken anything, but I imagine it flippin' hurts. That's the thing with reinforced glass doors - they always get the last laugh.

Hopefully next time then mate. Hope you make a speedy recovery.

Oooooouch. Having broken several bones in my hands and arms over the years I feel your pain, brother. To be honest though; it might have been worse if the glass had broken. Picking bits of broken window out of your fist is not a pleasant pastime for anyone.
 
May your bones mend quickly and without incident!