Emunator   Judges ⚖️

We've got a new version of this track from Dustin this week. I've updated it in the first post - @MindWanderer@prophetik music please take another listen and see if this affects your votes!

Ryan got back to us with a fully revamped version of this track, and WOW! The new mix sounds fantastic and addresses my concerns fully. I know nearly everyone else was already down with the original mix, but this resubmission knocks it out of the park. What a beautiful remix. YES

Got a WAV from Alex that addresses the cutoff that @Liontamer brought up and updated the first post. It sounds good to me!

This was always a fantastic concept but the execution is now quite comfortably up-to-par in my book. The samples are utilized well and the timing issues appear to be fully mitigated. The drums sound particularly nice throughout. On the production side, it's amazing what a little remastering can do. It's incredibly evident when A/B'ing with the original version - now that the sub bass isn't hogging so much space in the mix, your mids/highs sound so much richer. The revamped master compression chain also helps your extended breakdowns have a little more volume without compromising the dynamic range, letting moments like 2:13 and 4:03 still sound impactful and full. This is a textbook example of a great resubmission in my opinion, I'm glad you came back around to this! YES

Original Decision Hi Emunator, Yeah the rejection stung quite a bit, but I was actually very thrilled to read that the panel really seemed to like my concept! I've extracted all of the feedback from the panel and tried to adhere to every bit, at least to some extent. (Except for Liontamers' note on the abrupt ending, sorry) Notes on what I mainly tweaked: The biggest aggressor, I think, was the mud in the low-end. After reading your feedback, I was able to hear it too and the balance was terrible! This should be cleaned up now for the most part. Furthermore, I've done my best to make better use of the samples I have. The timing should be much tighter, I've switched out some odd registers with instruments that better fit those and some timbres should sound better now as well. The master has less volume fluctuation between the loud and the quiet parts. It's also able to breathe more now as it's only compressed by about 2 Db on average. I couldn't quite understand what MindWanderer meant about the weird drum timing in the climax so I also haven't tweaked that. I'm assuming they're referring to the fact that the final climax is in 6/8 and they were still listening with a 4/4 mindset, maybe? I've attached the new version of the track and I really hope you guys like it a lot more now! Thank you and best regards, Vijay

Here was Michael's response to the feedback: "Thanks for asking. Apologies for making you guys slog through another odd one (but at least it's short this time). Those crackle sounds at around 1:20 are just some granular residue from a send effect, if I recall. I like them. Like gravel in a bird's gut that helps with digestion... The stuff starting at 1:38 is one of my favorite parts of any piece of music I've ever done (even though I put reverb on the low end and boosted it way up, which you're technically not *supposed* to do). I wouldn't want to change it. In fact, there is so much generative stuff in this track that's baked into the export, that I wouldn't want to change anything if the vote is mostly positive; if I re-did some things and tried to export again, I would never get the same thing (I exported 7-10 different times and picked the one I liked best - the one I submitted). This Low song is really interesting! I've never heard of them but it looks like they're pretty new, which is exciting. Will dive deeper in the coming days I hope. Anyhow, thanks again for judging this one. I don't think any changes are due, if I can get away with it! "

I've reached out to Michael about this track and shared our feedback, I'll keep everyone posted on his response!

(new version 3/2/2023) (old) ReMixer name: Zach Action Real name: Zach Herrmann Email: UserID: 30456 Remix link (16-bit wav): Game: Final Fantasy VI Name: "Jumped in the Serpent Trench" Source: The Serpent Trench (minor "Opening Theme" source) I've always loved The Serpent Trench theme. When Balance and Ruin came out, "River of Sine Waves" was one of the first tracks I skipped to. When I eventually sat down at the piano to learn the main chords, the song bore a striking resemblance to Radiohead's "Pyramid Song," and here we are. Both "The Serpent Trench" and "Pyramid Song" are incredibly repetitive. "Pyramid Song" gets away with it because its odd feeling of time (still debated on the internet to this day) keeps the listener interested, and of course, haunting lyrics don't hurt either. There's really not much to the original "The Serpent Trench", but those underlying maj7 chords somehow keep driving the track to infinity, never resolving. Likewise, my version keeps the repetition of both the source track and the inspirational track, but hopefully in a haunting, beautiful way that the listener wants to keep looping. I used the FFVI "Opening Theme" dissonant building chord for the end cacophony, which sounds lovely with the Serpent Trench string runs under it. I feel this is a good companion case to my previously accepted "Mario for Airports 1-1," and I'm hoping someday to get to work on a Chrono Trigger "Strains of Insanity" Nine Inch Nails-inspired remix. Thank you for taking the time to consider this submission! EDIT (3/2/23): List of judges' issues/fixes: Tape hiss removed I removed the resonant filter from the string runs at the beginning (and throughout) for clarity. Also removed Little Radiator from them which was adding the "crackle." A "warble" at 0:30 – I'm not sure what this is referring to, as I don't hear it and there's no inherent effect that would be causing such a thing. I think maybe it was just an interplay of the strings and the piano at that particular spot...? If so, perhaps the change mentioned above has fixed it. Low end – I retooled the bass, kick, and the master to clarify the low end. Drum clipping/crackle – Another one I'm not sure about, because as the judges say, there actually is not any clipping. I think cleaning up the low end may have done the trick, and I also scaled back the final limiter a little, though it wasn't doing a whole lot to begin with. Rebalanced all tracks to make the mix a little less busy and let both the guitar and the final vocal step forward. Last but not least, two judges note a high-frequency noise to the point of inducing nausea! I'm a bit baffled at this one, because while I'm not surprised that my ever-aging ears don't hear anything, a frequency graph doesn't SHOW anything like that. I did do a steep low-pass at 18k to get rid of anything truly ultra-sonic, and I notched out a bit of the master around 12.5k. Really about the only instrument or track hanging out in that region is the ride cymbal, so I notched it as well and also lowered the volume on it a little. If the sound is still perceived by MindWanderer or prophetik's wife, I would love for them to take the track into an editor and sweep through to find the offending frequency and please let me know! I think that addresses any and every issue pointed out by a judge. These were quick and easy changes and please let me know if any issue still persists and I will address it. Also, I mentioned in my original submission that I was working on a Chrono Trigger "Strains of Insanity" mix. That one is almost done, but it went a completely different non-NIN (lol) direction, so if this FFVI is published, please do not include that NIN blurb in the write-up. Thank you and I anxiously await further news!

ReMixer name: Neon X Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8NwzoUa9I9HD1YXRIXp3g UserID: 37046 Name of game: Mario Kart 64 Name of arrangement: Toad's Nightride Name of song: Toad's Turnpike Original composer: Kenta Nagata For clarification: Name of remix: Toad's Nightride Name of original song: Toad's Turnpike

I loved reading my fellow judges votes on this arrangement. @DarkSim made a very astute comparison to The Avalanches that I never would have gotten to on my own, but I completely hear it! My heart flutters a little whenever I see a submission from Paper Mario: TTYD, it's truly one of the most underappreciated and ahead-of-its-time soundtracks in existence, but it takes a special kind of vision to capture the essence of what makes it so memorable in a remix. This arrangement does exactly that - you dial up the insanity without anything feeling tacky, and you maintain the floating, cerebral feeling of the original throughout so it never strays too far from the Boggly Tree source. Regarding the distortion at 1:39 and onward, I would encourage the conditional votes to check out BJ Burton's intentionally-crushed production work with artists like Low. Nothing is actually clipping, it's just using extreme distortion to creative effect but it's absolutely intentional. The closing section of this arrangement takes a similar approach to production, though I will say I'm personally disappointed in the ending of this arrangement - without a retreat back to the quieter, more cerebral tones after the wall of distortion, it leaves things feeling unresolved. However, from a production standpoint, you can count me alongside the unconditional YES votes; in my book, any tweaks to mitigate the distortion would ultimately compromise the effect that Michael was going for. YES

Hey! I emailed you back but I have officially moved your song onto the evaluation phase. Totally my mistake, so sorry that this one slipped through the cracks!

Hi all, I've been encouraged by DarkFlameWolf to submit my track from Mizar Attacks! to be featured on the main OCR blog. I didn't realise this was a thing, so here it is: Remixer: GlacialSpoon (Rob Kemp) Websites: happysalad.net, https://soundcloud.com/robert-kemp-15 Social: https://www.facebook.com/GlacialMusic, @SaladGlacial Forum id: 30320 Game: Jet Force Gemini Original Track Name: Spawnship Remixed Track Name: Dance of the Ant Spawn This was made back in 2019 so my memory of what influenced it is a bit fuzzy now. I'd been listening to a bit of "trendy wine bar house" (the Klaus Veen tracks from Lethal League Blaze spring to mind) and was after a bit of chord practice. Chords are generally a bit of a weak point for me, mostly relying on painstakingly tweaking each note over knowing any good theory but I think it worked out here. The source is fairly sparse so there's loads of room to interpret and throw ideas around. Hope you enjoy and many thanks as always. Cheers GlacialSpoon Source:

Contact Information Your ReMixer Name: The Vodoú Queen Your Real Name: Angélique Vodoú Your Website: https://www.bandlab.com/vodouqueenxiii (the song is also on here and my SoundCloud profiles) Your User ID # on our forums: 37001 Submission Information Name of Game(s) Arranged: Bomberman Hero (N64) & Ape Escape (PS1) Name of Arrangement: "Re: Dial (But When the Phone Rings, Let the Monkey Answer)" Name of Individual Song(s) Arranged: 'Redial' (Bomberman Hero) & 'Oceana ~ Coral Cave' (Ape Escape) Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): BOMBERMAN HERO OST; Track 3 - Redial; Artist: Jun Chikuma; Release Date: 1 June 1998; Label: NTT Publishing APE ESCAPE OST; Track 19 - Coral Cave; Artist: Soichi Terada; Release Date: 18 November 2011; Label: Far East Recording Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): https://www.discogs.com/Jun-Chiki-Chikuma-Bomberman-Hero-Original-Soundtrack/release/5213495 https://apeescape.fandom.com/wiki/Ape_Escape_Originape_Soundtracks Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: "Curious George and his friends decide to have a lil' play around with human technology... :D" I don't have much to say about this, other than I hope people enjoy it and something good comes out of it. That, and I had a blast making this for PRC 429, as part of the monthly / bi-monthly People's ReMixing Competition on the Compoverse (https://compo.thasauce.net/). The inspiration was to give a legitimate song a bit of humour, akin to the work of Silva Gunner, and I am unsure just how I was able to go about it. Just trying to improve my craft, I suppose. Maybe I'll have more to say if I think about it more, but at the moment I'm so nervous from trying another attempt at this after the first time with my NieR remix...I'm at a loss for words. Apologies. Sources

It's sounding great! The soundscape is still very minimalist from an arrangement standpoint, but the mastering gives a lot more punch to the elements that are there, especially in the low frequencies. The vocal processing throughout the track is really fascinating, it reminds me a little of Porter Robinson at certain points. I found myself wanting this to arrangement really let loose and fly off the handle during the final chorus, but it's packing plenty of punch as it is. Great job on the resub! YES

I have to quickly cosign with my fellow judges who voted NO on this track - I don't have much particular to add, as many other judges have covered it in greater depth, but the stilted sequencing and drum grooves that don't really fit with the arrangement push this below the bar for me. NO

ReMixer name: Neon X EMail: Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8NwzoUa9I9HD1YXRIXp3g UserID: 37046 Name of game: Super Mario Sunshine Name of arrangement: Love On Noki Beach Name of song: Noki Depths theme Original composer: Koji Kondo Link to original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn0jIAJU-Es For clarification: Name of remix: Love On Noki Beack Name of original song: Noki Depths theme

Contact Information ReMixer name: Tab Newflax Real name: Tobias Nylin Email address: Website: https://www.tobiasnylin.com/ Userid: 2108 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Super Mario Bros. 2 Name of arrangement: Subcon on Mushrooms Name of individual song(s) arranged: “Underworld”, “Bonus Start”, “Success”, “Failure” Comments about the mix: Hello! This is mainly a remix of the “Underworld” theme from Super Mario Bros. 2. Some tiny parts of the remix are also from the “Bonus Start”, “Success” and “Failure” themes of the same game. As you might know, the original “Underworld” theme is very short, it’s only roughly 10 seconds! I always liked this song, although it’s a bit repetitive I never get tired of it. I got inspired to remix it and extend it for several minutes. The sound of the remix is mostly inspired by Infected Mushroom, and so is the name of the remix. The result ended up in a 5-minute long remix, I hope you like it! Timestamps: Links to source songs, I will refer to these names in the timestamps: Underworld Theme Part 1: 0:00-0:04 Underworld Theme Part 2: 0:04-0:10 Success Bonus Start Failure 0:00-0:17 Intro 0:00-0:02 Reverse lead and cymbal with sound effects from bonus game slot machine. 0:02-0:17 “Underworld Theme Part 1” both bass and lead. 0:17-0:47 Bass Section 1 0:17-0:32 “Underworld Theme Part 1 Bass”. 0:32-0:47 “Underworld Theme Part 1 Bass”, with some variation. 0:47-0:55 Break 1 0:47-0:55 “Underworld Theme Part 2 Lead”. 0:55-1:26 Bass Section 2 0:55-1:26 Here the bass plays a variation of the “Underworld Theme Part 1 Lead”. Also the drums from the “Underworld Theme” starts here. 1:08-1:10 “Success” 1:23-1:26 “Success” 1:26-1:56 Build Up 1 1:26-1:41 “Underworld Theme Part 2 Lead”. 1:41-1:56 This tropical-sounding instrument plays a faster variant of “Underworld Theme Part 2 Lead”. 1:56-2:34 Main Section 1 1:56-2:34 Same as above but with more instruments and percussion. 2:34-3:20 Break 2 2:34-2:49 Original bassline inspired by the source. 2:49-3:04 Strings play chords that I came up with that sounded nice together with “Underworld Theme Part 2 Lead”. An Arp plays a variation of these chords. 3:04-3:20 Pad plays a variation of “Underworld Theme Part 2 Lead”. The piano plays a counter-melody. 3:20-3:34 Build Up 2 3:20-3:34 Pad now plays chords that I came up with that sounded nice together with “Underworld Theme Part 2 Lead”. 3:34-4:12 Main Section 2 3:34-4:04 Mostly the same as “Main Section 1” except now it uses elements from “Break 2” and “Build Up 2. 4:04-4:12 Here I added some new chords, I thought they sounded familiar… turns out they sound like the "Course Clear Fanfare" from Super Mario Bros. 1. 4:12-4:26 Slowdown 4:12-4:26 Mostly the same as “Bass Section 1”. 4:26-5:16 Outro 4:26-5:04 Piano and Flute play variations of “Underworld Theme Part 2 Lead”. 5:04-5:16 “Bonus Start” and “Failure” theme morphing into a part of the “Overworld Theme” from Super Mario Bros. 1.

Contact Information Remixer: Akidna Real Name: Xrixa Axiaxa Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/akidna Your userid: 37854-akidna Submission Information Street Fighter 2 Chun Li: Lady Dragon (Akidna RMX) Name of individual song: Chun Li Theme Tribute to the “First Female Character of Fighting Games” with Street Fighter 2 being my first entry into the fighting game world as I can still remember that day in 1992 at the Gas Station down the road from where I had lived, they had gotten in a Arcade Machine of Street Fighter 2 and this would be the hang out spot for me and the friends on the block and we would find ourself from Sun up til Sun down and even Midnight hours as the Store stay open 24/7. Chun Li theme stuck out like a sore thumb to me as this was the character I found myself play as all the time and at first I though I was a Ryu fan, but was never able to get his move set down at that time and would always find myself using Chun Li to get through the game. I was learn to play Drums and Piano at that time as well and hated playing classic pieces so I find myself covering a lot of video game music to past the time during and this theme song just happen to be the one that I found myself rehearsing more often then not. So here I am 29 years ago from the time that I am writing this to final present my work of this wonderful memory of mine in this cover of Chun Li Stage Theme. Equipment Used: MPC X, Korg: Triton, Trinity and WaveStation, Emu Orbit 3,Roland: Fantom XR and TR8S, Logic Pro, ReFX: Nexus 3, Fabfilter Plugins, Waves Plugins, Yamaha: HS8 Monitors, Montage 8, Moog Voyager RME Rack, Audio Interface: UAD Apollo x8.

Hey OCRemix! I'm Chiptop (Remixer Name) and I've been listening to OCRemix since grade school, and never thought to submit one of my own remixes until now. Game: Dark Souls 2 Name of Arrangement: Majules Name of Individual Songs Remixed: Majula (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9hoAyx3-0I) Made in Reason shortly after Return to Drangleic, I just had to show my appreciation for the melancholic, relaxing vibes of Majula.

CONTACT INFORMATION REMIXERS: classic_gamer_76 / Tera C. Music / VelkkuEvilBastard / Dextastic / Pixel Tea REAL NAMES: Kevin Blondel / Tera Catallo / Veli Matti Suhonen / ??? / Duncan ??? E-MAIL ADRESSES: / / / / WEBSITES: https://soundcloud.com/k-vin-blondel-480441550 / https://teracmusic.com / https://linktr.ee/velkkuevilbastard / ??? / https://ko-fi.com/pixeltea USER ID: 33015 / None / 35294 / 34446 / 33998 SUBMISSION INFORMATION GAME: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night REMIX: A Lullaby ORIGINAL SOURCE: Nocturne (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txKc3yN1WLU) PLATFORM: Sony Playstation / SEGA Saturn COMPOSERS: Masanori Oouchi (Lyrics) / Michiru Yamane (Music) STAFF: Vocals: Tera C. Music Guitars & Bass: Veli Matti Suhonen Piano: Pixel Tea Drums: Dex Programming: Kevin Blondel Arranged and produced by Kevin Blondel Mixed and mastered by Veli Matti Suhonen LYRICS: Here a goddess of happiness cries An endless timeless lullaby Sings her song of the dream she has The sadness fills her eyes End of love, love is gone No more dreams to dream about so life is done If it's so, cut the thread It's time to let it go Tears they flow to the thirst of the gods The oceans roars drowned out by rain Blameless wolf carries on alone The silence now sorrounds him Sooner than dreaming ends Morning of the dawn will bring another day Turn around, you have found A different place to dream COMMENTS: Though originally composed for the PS1 title, I always thought the song would fit the ending of the third Game Boy game. I chose to re-arranged it in way that would both compliment the powerful fighting skills of Sonia as well as her gentle personality -- which seduced Alucard back then and made her such a loving mother to Trevor. A huge thank you to everyone involved in this project, who took the time to record and perform each of their respective instruments... but also had the patience to wait for so long to get it eventually done. You guys are the best !

ReMixer name: FreakyT Real name: Dan Tilden Website: https://soundcloud.com/freakified Userid (number, not name) on our forums: 28818 Name of game(s) arranged: Pokémon Sapphire Version Name of arrangement: Rainy Horizon Name of individual song(s) arranged: Route 118/119 Additional information about game including composer, system, etc: Composer: Go Ichinose, System: Game Boy Advance Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: The music of Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire has always been my favorite of the series, probably because at the time it felt like an amazing leap from the minimalist music of the original Game Boy games. In particular, Route 119 always stood out to me -- not just because of the song itself, but also of how it was presented in the game. The song's bombastic brass-heavy instrumentation was accompanied by a showcase of the game's new weather effects; exploring the detailed colorful surroundings in pouring rain and crashing thunder while triumphant music played really just struck my younger self as awe-inspiring. OCRemix was what got me into music composition & arrangement in the first place, so I've always hoped that one day I could have a mix worthy of inclusion on OCRemix! For this mix, I wanted to take things a bit slower than the fast-pace of the original and focus on a more chill piano-driven groove. (In particular, I would cite The Orichalcon's OCRemix classic "Person, Place, or Groove" as inspiration.) Originally, it was more piano-driven, but I felt like it was a bit repetitive, so I added the synth lead as a tribute to the brass-heavy nature of the original song. I made this track some time ago as a PRC bonus mix, and had always intended to submit it to OCR after "improvements". However, every time I made changes, they didn't necessarily seem better -- just different. Given that, I decided that it was finally time to just submit the current version, and hope that it was well-received! Thanks for your consideration! --FreakyT

ReMixer name: Neon X EMail: Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8NwzoUa9I9HD1YXRIXp3g UserID: 37046 Name of game: Castlevania Name of arrangement: Dracula's Tears Name of song: Bloody Tears Original composer: Kenichi Matsubara Link to original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjazC45Qkww For clarification: Name of remix: Dracula's Tears Name of original song: Bloody Tears Background story: Before I started producing this I read about Dracula and wanted to base the atmosphere and content of this song on that. I know Bloody Tears often refers to totally different scenarios in the games but... Well, this is my way right now. I pictured his castle, intimidating and terrifying, I can't imagine the feeling if I should stand outside its gates. I also pictured how lonely Dracula must be, and that he for almost an eternity has been a resident of that vast castle. Dracula himself says a lot about love and life of men in books and movies, how he envies the simple life of mankind and the short lifespan (Dracula has kind of eternal life) while he struggles against time and, most of all, against his own sanity. I sampled a sound (at 2:01) of night crickets, humming monks and finally a church bell sequentially to create a feeling of nightly calm, spirituality and Dracula's nocturnal life which I think plays a part in his nature connected to his sanity. The arrangement of this song has ups and downs, just like the sanity I picture within Dracula. It has hope and despair - what if Dracula just tries to live among us, with us and create a "normal" life, seek love and dedicate himself to whomever he loves. Oh, but he can't, the eternal life that he has been given just doesn't fit among us. And his knowledge of the past comes with deep prejudices and certain ways of how one should treat and behave. Can he adapt to the present? It has anxiety and harmony - who can he love? Will he be forced to curse his loved ones with eternal life to commit to love and dedication? What if his life is a gift just as it is? The extraordinary abilities, eternal life and knowledge absorbed from ages ago until today. They are with no doubt useful. Can he make himself available to mankind without consequences or misuse? It has denial and acceptance - Dracula always had two choices, he could shield himself off from the rest of the world, or he could accept who he is, and fight for himself to be a part of the world of mankind. But will mankind ever accept such a terrifying creature, so dangerous, but yet so polite and mature. His purpose and actions must be very clarified and transparent, but can he be trusted despite that? To get more serious on top of that: Dracula wants a Halloween party - every year, which my straight 4/4 beats in this song represents. The end of the song which is in half tempo represents how Dracula, despite all invitations sent, ends up dancing by himself in laser beams, smoke and lit up candelabras, high on drugs and wine, just floating through time within the walls of his castle in large halls.

RebeccaETripp Rebecca Tripp http://www.crystalechosound.com/ ID: 48262 Game(s): Celeste Song Title: Courage in the Dark Songs Remixed: Resurrections

ReMixer name: AlexRiordan Real name: Alex Riordan Email: Website: https://soundcloud.com/alexanderriordan UserID: 37814 Name of game arranged: Punch-Out!! Name of arrangement: The Good, the Bad, and the Punched in the Face Name of individual song arranged: Main Theme (aka Fight Theme) Composers: Akito Nakatsuka, Kenji Yamamoto, Yukio Kaneoka System: NES Comments: A spaghetti-western remix of the Punch-Out Fight Theme, commissioned by a friend Jack. The piece has three parts that blend into each other, which reflect different aspects of spaghetti-western atmosphere: isolation in the vast desert, beauty and purpose, and fight/horse chase. Each of these tempos corresponds to a horse gait: walk, trot, and gallop. Some original composed parts were added to the piece. _________________________________ Thanks very much for your consideration, Alex Riordan

RebeccaETripp Rebecca Tripp http://www.crystalechosound.com/ ID: 48262 Game(s): Skyward Sword Song Title: Songs of Spirit Songs Remixed: Silent Realm (pieces of all 4 of them!), Fi’s Theme (various versions) and brief allusions to a few other SS tracks at the end!