Emunator

ReMixer Name: Grant Supak (Real name is ReMixer name) Name of game: Metroid (NES) Name of Arrangement: Space Huntress Name of Individual Song: Norfair (Flame Stage) Hope you enjoy the remix! It's a track that sat unfinished for several years as I couldn't quite nail what I wanted to do with it. I picked this particular theme as it's not one I've heard done hundreds of times, and its dissonant, non-musical qualities presented a unique challenge. Ultimately, I decided on a dreamy intro with the main progression altered from the original minor key to major. I added horns, inspired by the militaristic, triumphant sound found in the Crateria surface theme from Super Metroid. The song is a "fever dream" of sorts; it starts out chill and hopeful, but subtly morphs into menacing as it progresses, underpinning the hidden dangers of the Zebes Norfair area. It becomes more chaotic and jarring with each new section, the chosen instruments edgier and harder as the threat level increases. An ethereal wind blows underneath that ties the entire dream sequence together. Thanks for your consideration!

Sounds pretty great at first listen, it hovers around a consistent rhythm and energy level and is over pretty quickly, ending without a lot of fanfare. Not sure if the source usage holds up under scrutiny, but this definitely has potential.

I didn't see what the subject line was supposed to be in the submission info and it's been a while since I submitted a mix so sorry if this is wrong! Remixer name: mikeHEARTu Real name: Michael Macasiano Email: Website: https://mikeheartu.com/ Userid: 31212 Game: Path of Exile Name of arrangement: Into The Unknowing Name of song arranged: Prophecy (Music from the trailer) The song I'm remixing is from the trailer but the trailer music usually made it's way into the game's soundtrack in some form. Since there isn't any Path of Exile listing on the website, I'll explain a bit. Path of Exile is a free to play game and every few months they release a new expansion with a new batch of content. That new bit of content includes new monsters, bosses, game mechanics, and, of course, music. The score for Path of Exile is mostly done by Kamil Orman-Janowski, to my knowledge and it's mostly available on Youtube. Grinding Gear Games, the developers, offer the soundtrack in some game packages but it's not on Spotify or anything like that, weirdly enough. https://www.youtube.com/user/KamilOrmanJanowski My mix references the music from the trailer for the Prophecy league which was released in 2016. As it's a trailer, the musical component was relatively small but it was evocative enough to inspire some riffs. The main point of inspiration comes about 53 seconds into the video. The little melody there sounded interesting and then I was, and still am, into death metal so I put some death metal flair on it. For the most part, music in Path of Exile is very cinematic or moody so pulling out elements to do remixes is a bit harder for me to execute on. I think I try to capture rhythmic and feeling elements the most when imagining what to do with the Path of Exile music and hoping it resembles the original in some way. Here's a link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsE_lMdUTd0

First impressions - there's a lot of cool textural expansion going on here but I worry that this is too conservative and lacking in structure and that the sonic additions aren't enough to keep it from feeling like an expansion on the original rather than a full-blown rearrangement. Will come back to this one.

Hoboka Remix Title: Industrial Overworld Game: Metroid Prime Source: Overworld 2 Composer: Kenji Yamomoto or Kouichi Kyuma Description: Did a faithful industrial-styled remix with damage drums and I used AIR Hybrid 3 for the whistle synth, whistle choir from Omnisphere and Poject Exodus for the Pads. Can't recall the other libraries I used. Hope you guys dig it!

Dear OverClocked ReMix judges, Seeing my submission from last summer pop up in the database was such a overwhelming surprise! Every single judges' analysis and comments meant a lot to me and were a great source of insight for me about how you encounter a completely unknown and -- compared to other submissions -- unconventional piece. This encouraged me to submit another impro from the Zelda series, which I consider to be one of my most "flawless" works of the recent past and "the dreamy cousin" of my last (OoT-related) submission. Have fun! Contact Information =================== - Remixer name: "Woody/mC" (alternatives: "WoodyofmC" or just "Woody") - OCR artist DB entry: https://ocremix.org/artist/18382/woodymc (you may add the "Born:" field with "1981" if you desire) - Real name: N/A - Email address: - Website/Discography: http://en.wpoa.de/ - Additional equipment info: http://en.wpoa.de/www/organ.en.php - Forum user ID: 37825 Submission Information ====================== - Name of game(s) arranged: "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" - Name of arrangement: "Koholint Serenade" - Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Ballad of the Wind Fish" - Link to OST: Download Links ============== - Submission audio (FLAC 2.0ch 16bit 44.1kHz): I - Original recording master (FLAC 7.1ch 16bit 48kHz): - VOD illustration: https://youtu.be/0GwhIAYvHOQ Other surround/stereo downmixes (MP3 etc.) can be exported on demand in a snap, if required -- please don't hesitate to contact me in that case. Additional Comments =================== This impro somehow developed by itself when I sat down at the organ bench for a nightly impro session. IIRC, I had finished a casual playthrough of the TLoZ:LA Switch remake a few days ago and was in a mood to relive a ten-year-old-me experience, where I had to cry heavily during the credits when Koholint island and all of its inhabitants that I got used to during gameplay just dissolved into a bunch of clear pixels. That's why my VOD illustration uses the Switch intro and outro cutscenes: If listeners can get emotional and/or nostalgic, I'm pretty sure they can feel the same despair; and with my "improvised ending version", things aren't as happy and heroic as the original end credits OST lets you get away with in contrast. Like my previous debut submission (OCR04349), "Koholint Serenade" is a completely improvised work, played on-spot without any sheets. Every aspect reproduced from the original tune was picked up solely by ear and arranged on-the-fly, which -- again -- makes it a unique creation that I cannot revise, replay, rearrange or otherwise "polish" in any way that keeps the overall mood setting intact. From a dynamics point of view, the piece is pretty quiet and serene (compared to the OoT one) and does not follow my "ramp up" pattern that I stress quite often; instead, there's a clear eight secs highlight at 1:31 spiking out to grab the listeners' attention for the upcoming drama that requires them to listen closely. Usage of a third in relation to the base note is one of my favorite patterns that I adapted from Bach music in particular, although I'm not playing very much (if not, at all) of Bach music on any pipe organ I encounter. However, this third-on-base pattern is so striking and tense to me that I used it somewhat instinctively here, I guess... Lots of 7th and 9th chords here and there in the soft "strings" stops section are meant to build up the "serene counterpart" in the quieter sections of the piece, while a constant "heart beat" in the pedals (= bass stops) provides a sometimes-changing pulse as a contrast to the long-drawn, breathing notes. Remember, a Wind Fish is just a giant flying organ bellow with lots of air in it... Interleaved lower- and higher-pitched flutes in the later sections of the piece make this sound almost like a conversation between the Wind Fish and the birds flying over the ocean to me. For the full emotional experience, I highly recommend to watch the VOD in order to let the combo of music and supporting visuals do their work and provide you with an "alternate end credits theme" for the game that initially drew me into the Zelda universe about 30 years ago. As a reminder, pipe organs are wide-dynamics instruments and the piece (like all of my other organ pieces) heavily depends on these dynamics, so compressors are an absolute no-go for this kind of music and recordings. All of my pieces are leveled to a -0.1dB peak for full organ (= all stops active), so they could stand side-by-side on a compilation where the dynamics need to be kept in sync across all pieces. However, my lesson learned from the last submission is that the "rendering intent" is different for the OCR audience (mostly stand-alone pieces), so the 2.0 stereo FLAC provided for this submission is an exception from that rule. This is one of the rare occasions where I normalized its peak up from -3.09dB (~70% full volume, since it doesn't use full dissonant organ) to -0.1db (~99%). The 7.1 surround version provided among the download links is still at the original 70% level, because a) it's part of two different albums (to name them, http://en.wpoa.de/WPOA-ADHOC and http://en.wpoa.de/WPOA-MOM4 in my discography) and b) it's an additional gimmick for you to listen and compare (rather than the stereo material that you'd need to publish the song on OCR). -- Greetz, Woody/mC

When I saw this many sources for a 3 minute long arrangement, I had a pretty good idea in my head about what issues might be present here. However, I actually feel like you did a great job weaving the songs together without feeling like a pasted-together medley. My actual gripe with this remix is simply the lack of textural variety in the sounds - even some of the stock sound effects are reused multiple times throughout the arrangement. The beats are static as well without a lot of nuance in terms of fills or progression. :47 feels like the melody skips a beat by accident, is this just an oversight? Also, the ending fadeout feels super lazy There's a fantastic melodic arrangement here, but the synth design and production details simply aren't there. NO

Your ReMixer name: Pixel Pirates Your real name: Tobaunta Torkelsson & Fredrik Vinterstjärna Your email address: Your website: pixelpirates.nu Your userid: 37469 Name of game(s) arranged: Megaman X2 Name of arrangement: Pixelman X2 Name of individual song(s) arranged: Zero's Theme - Flame Stag - X-Hunter Fortress - Dr. Cain's Lab - Opening Theme - Wire Sponge's - Ending Theme Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: Just like I did with Megaman X I did a medley style with my favorite songs from Megaman X2. This is more of a bonus song to the first song so it is a lot of re-used sounds from there. Its all up to personal preference if you like first or second more.

Oh, this is so delightfully weird and dissonant. I never would have thought about taking this source in a direction like this, but now that I've heard it, I can't imagine a more appropriate way to take on Southern Swamp. The rhodes performance invokes some of the more idiosyncratic tendencies of Kid A/Amnesiac-era Radiohead for me, and immediately sets the tone for the rest of the song, but this arrangement really hits its stride when the saxophone enters the mix. The more tranquil, melodic outro is such an inspired touch, too! Admittedly, some of the instruments here, on their own, are not perfect in terms of tone and expressiveness, and the drums and bass feel especially dry, so the more layers you bring in, the more it masks those imperfections and builds a fully-realized soundscape. I'd love to hear more gel and cohesion between the instruments, but this easily gets by on the strength of the arrangement and adaptation, in my opinion! YES

Remixer Contact Information Your ReMixer name: shieldeater Your real name: Chris McGee Your email address: Your website(s): https://shieldeater.bandcamp.com/ Your userid: 7727 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Name of arrangement: A Cursed Land Name of individual song(s) arranged: Southern Swamp Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: This is my take on the tune that plays in the troubled lands lying in the four cardinal directions from Clock Town. For me, this is the piece that best embodies the strange and desolate atmosphere that makes Majora's Mask one of the best games ever. I began with electric piano and gradually added instruments until it became something both sinister and funky. Hope you enjoy! —Chris

This OST is great! There's a lot of interpretation and energy in this adaptation, so from an arrangement standpoint, I really like what I'm hearing. The mix feels sort of hot and maybe unintentionally distorted at times. Haven't done a full source breakdown yet but overall sounds like good stuff to me.

ReMixer name: Treyt Name: Trevor Tuls Email: Websites: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6e8Tgh_0AZ9ixt7BPTWkA SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/traycermusic Userid: 38283 Game: Arrangement Name: Valorous Heart, Onward! Songs Arranged: Heroic - Micro Mages OST Composer: Julius Riecke Original Soundtrack: Version 1 youtu.be/2WSw1MX7G9s Version 2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssPwDUTZlEI Comments about the mix: I've never played the game or heard the track(s?) in context with their levels/ingame scenarios, but the original sources are absolute bangers of chiptune composition, and when someone posted them in the OCRemix discord the tracks literally begged me on bended knees to be remixed. I've never seen something without legs (or physical form for that matter) kneel, but it was something to behold. Anyway, it's miles beyond the first remix I sent you guys. Lemme know whatcha think eventually (judging panel woo) and I hope you like a motherflipping jam of a remix. Cheers

Off the jump, this definitely feels more ambitious in terms of sound design than Eric's earlier submissions, so this is moving in the right direction! There's more texture here from the distorted sound effects that give it a more modern feel, despite many of the synths still using very basic patches. There's a very wide quality to the mix that gives it a nice sense of space. There's a lot here that shows that you're moving in the right direction! The mixing is where this still falls short in my opinion; the balance is off. The growly bass is far louder than everything else, and many of the other instruments are mixed loud and abrasively. It still feels like all of your instruments are maxed out in volume and competing with each other for space. Another issue is that the arrangement is very short - at just over 2 and a half minutes, there's not a ton of time to fully develop your idea, and to be frank, the short coda at the end of the arrangement doesn't feel like it was integrated in a natural way at all. It comes so shortly after the main arrangement fades out and is gone just as quickly. I hate to keep sending your arrangements back, but it's promising to see you applying some of the feedback that we've been providing. I also feel like the arrangements that you've shown the most growth with are new submissions, where you're less tied to your previous ideas and more free to experiment. At this stage in your musical journey, there's diminishing returns in trying to polish your earliest ideas compared to working through as many ideas as you can muster the creative energy for. Eventually, everything is going to start falling into place as you settle into using your new DAW and develop a workflow, and although I don't think this submission is the one that's going to crack through our judges panel, I have so much admiration for the effort you're putting into your craft. Keep at it! NO

To Whom it may Concern, This is another attempt at this tune, and it's completely different than my last crack at it. I took a more atmospheric approach this time, and this was done on my desktop as well. Also, with the slower tempo, I wasn't able to make the middle section that was in my first try seem to fit in context, so I removed it. The name if the track is Rest&Relaxation, and it's a remix of the village theme from Dragon Warrior Three. MP3 is attached. Thanks! Respectfully, Eric Original below.

This was going to be a direct post candidate from me, but I know that the black metal production during the heavy parts could be contentious and it's a very long arrangement, so I'm paneling for second opinions. Will vote on this myself later with a more critical ear.

Hello OCRemix, After my last submission getting approved (A Scent of Lavender), I decided to submit another song from my album, because reading about the judge's opinion was really interesting for me. I think I'll submit my other songs as well (in two weeks, that's the rule !). Contact Information ReMixer name : Black SeeD Email : Website : https://blackseedbm.bandcamp.com/releases Userid : 37884 Submission Information Game arranged : Final Fantasy 9 Name of arrangement : Terranian Faith Song arranged : Pandemonium, The Castle Frozen In Time and Master Of Time/Garland's Theme Comments : Hello again everyone ! This is the first track of my album of remixed video game tracks in an atmospheric black metal way (you can find the whole album here : Black SeeD - Farplane of Memories (2021)). The goal of this track and the album in general was to work with songs on which I felt that I could emphasize melancholic themes with my favorite music genre. This time, my goal was to play around with the theme and the chords without giving in the full melody until the end, to enjoy it more when it's finally closing, while avoiding frustration by moving around the arrangement.I also threw in the Janitor of Time (this track has so many name) as a kind of bridge, again putting off the closing of the melody. As this song was first thought of as an album intro, the intro takes its sweet time before blasting, but I feel it makes sense for this song. In my album I simply named it Pandemonium, as it's the first song, giving the album theme. For the submission, I've named it "Terranian faith" I hope you'll like it ! Thanks a lot ! Black SeeD

I always love when Rebecca and Gamer of the Winds work together. Gregory's emotive, spritely performances fit PERFECTLY here and do a great job mitigating some of the issues we see on Rebecca's solo submissions in terms of unrealistically-sequenced leads. Everything really comes together well here, even the mastering sounds on-point! YES

RebeccaETripp Rebecca Tripp http://www.crystalechosound.com/ ID: 48262 Game(s): Chrono Trigger Song Title: Carnival of Life Songs Remixed: Leene Square This is my rendition of the Leene Square aka Millennial Fair theme from Chrono Trigger, originally composed by Yasunari Mitsuda. I tried to create a feeling of childlike wonder and joy in this arrangement. I wanted to re-capture the feeling I had as a kid playing this game for the first time, trying all the attractions, mini games, etc. Hopefully, it feels like some kind of platonic, timeless carnival bringing about feelings of togetherness, celebration, and a purely human mode of enthusiasm. I’ve kind of wanted to create another version of this song for some time now, but I kept putting it off because I've had so many other projects going on! I did the track earlier than expected, however, because it was nominated and voted for by my patrons on Subscribestar. If you would like to have some influence over what music I compose each month, you can subscribe to me here: www.subscribestar.com/rebeccaetripp

(note: I paneled the newer, remastered version. The old version was just a hair over 2 minutes long, so I thought the short length might hurt its chances here) -Remixer Name: B-laze (aka Fungist) -Real name: Kenneth Nordsveen -Email address: -Userid: 29885 Submission Information -Name of game(s) arranged: Super Mario World -Name of arrangement Fungist - Yoshi Dorifto -Name of individual song(s) arranged Athletic Theme -Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site) Koji Kondo [SuperNES] -Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhAkQuZvLQ -Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. I was listening to this "Eurobeat" phenomenon after learning some history about this genre, actually originated in Italy, but mostly sold to japan (for a japanese audience). Been knowing about the genre for a long time, but never read up on it. That got me extra interested. There is also this weird "meme" thing around this genre, i think it has something to do with anime series and racing, and therefore i picked this title "Yoshi Dorifto" i was hunting for my next Videogame remix, "athletic theme".. "Yes, that's eurobeat!" Did a google search and found that a eurobeat remix already existed, but i couldnt resist. So this is my very basic and "tryhard" attempt on doing a eurobeat remix of Athletic theme. However there are quite a few versions around already of this remix. This is because, well, nintendo being nintendo.... I wanted to upload my track to Spotify, so i did ofcourse have to remove some nintendo samples, and at the same time remastered the track a bit and made it a bit longer. Now, im not too sure which one to send to OCremix.. The short one with just randomly placed FX, or the extended one with no FX. As i just cant decide, i think i send both, and if OCremix likes my track, please pick one? Maybe the new on is best as it's the remastered longer version? Or maybe the OCremix community like some random FX in the short old version? Kenneth

Quick rubber stamp from me; Jordan was quick to address the oversight from the last submission and I think this new version checks all the boxes. The Castle arpeggio fits so well with this dirty house style, and the half-time beat change in the back half gives it enough variation to hold muster as a standalone arrangement. Nice work! YES

Previous Decision Hey Larry!! Thanks for the feedback. I didn't realize initially when I submitted, that this was my sketch track for my SNESterYears album (meaning, I never finished it). The feedback was a wake up call that I should listen more closely to what I submit LOL This arrangement has an actual variation at the 2nd drop and a little bit of trimming afterward. Hopefully that fixes the issues. (Also dropped more of the vocal loops/bits from the 2nd drop to not be too repetitive) Let me know if this does the trick. Jordan

*Project Mix - please don't post until the release of the Pixel Mixers Indie Games vol 3 compilation. It should be coming out soon, so maybe this could be scheduled as a tie-in when it drops?* Remixer: Emunator Name: Skipping Stones Down Sips River Game: Chicory: A Colorful Tale Source: Sips River Artist Comments: It's been a while since my last solo submission (which, coincidentally, was also a Lena Raine arrangement!) Since I was struggling to come up with any arrangement ideas on my own, I sought some external motivation by signing up for the Pixel Mixers Indie Games vol. 3 compilation project. I've always admired the level of friendliness and collaboration within the Pixel Mixers community, so I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to contribute to one of their albums! Creatively speaking, 2021 and 2022 were years marked by a deep-rooted writer's block and lack of inspiration, so it's no surprise that the themes of Chicory: A Colorful Tale were so resonant with me. The game touches on concepts such as imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and the inextricable link between mental health and creativity, and it speaks to these ideas with such a deep level of emotional intelligence and empathy. It's truly an amazing narrative that I think any artist can relate to in some way. During my period of writer's block, the time I did spend on music was characterized more by sound design and playing piano, so when I was ready to tackle this arrangement, I leaned into those two areas most heavily. The original Sips River source is absolute perfection, so aside from transposing it to a different key, I left Lena's composition pretty much intact, instead focusing on building up atmosphere with layered keys and bells and a soft percussion groove (which, believe it or not, was loosely inspired by the default Cisco hold music that I unfortunately heard way too much of during my years working in customer service! ) All in all, there's not really much to say about this from a technical standpoint. It's certainly not my most polished or ambitious remix, but the process of creating it reminded me that it's not reasonable to expect everything you create as an artist to exceed your previous attempts. That mentality will inevitably reach a breaking point where it's no longer sustainable and you end up paralyzed by your own unrealistic expectations. This year, I hope to cultivate a healthier relationship with creativity, focusing less on reaching an arbitrary level of perfection and more on enjoying the creative process and simply making anything at all. Source:

Oh yeah, I'm definitely on the side of "those harmonies sound intentional and in fact, I really like them." I do agree with Chimpazilla's assessment of the mixing and how it could be improved, but what you've already got is delightfully retro-sounding without sounding dated at all. The extended transition at 1:30 was executed especially well and did a perfect job adding some variety to the mix. You haven't lost your touch, 20 years later! YES

I find myself agreeing pretty firmly with the NO votes here, unfortunately. This feels like a really well-done first draft but without the polish and cohesion that a finished product requires. The low winds are too buzzy and don't always transition cleanly between notes in a realistic manner. The lack of an ending also feels unpolished. Arrangement is great, but this isn't ready for primetime. NO

I gushed extensively over the strengths of this track in the original submission, and all of the elements that made me fall in love initially - the lush chromatic percussion and vocal samples, clever interplay of your original writing with the source material, and the dynamics of the arrangement overall - are still very much present. Your resubmission cleans up a lot of the most notable issues from a technical side, and we're left with a much more polished package. I agree that the drums and guitar tone still don't quite have the synergy with the rest of the soundscape I was hoping for, and I think that this is one of those arrangements you'll come back to years from now and hear ways that you could improve it, but I'm happy to say that the resubmission did more than enough to put it over the bar for me. Good luck with the rest of the vote, hope to hear this on the front page soon! YES