Emunator

First off, really cool concept! You have a nice grasp of music theory that gives this remix a strong backbone. I think this arrangement has a lot of potential. Your track has very drastic dynamic changes, which makes your quiet sections hard to hear at a normal listening volume. For almost a minute from 1:09 - 2:00, everything is so quiet. I'm definitely not suggesting that you bring that breakdown up to the same volume level as the preceding sections, but I need to be able to hear that part much better. Same deal with the piano outro. Production-wise, the samples are okay but the strings are kind of a weak link. They sound somewhat dry and unrealistically-sequenced, especially on the tremelo parts and legato runs, which breaks the illusion of realism that you really need with such an exposed, minimalist arrangement like this. Sorry to say but the string quality just isn't quite cutting it for me - I would pay special attention to your articulations on the lead string parts... it won't solve all of the issues I'm seeing, but it's a good place to start. The arrangement is also rather short - I don't think it's a dealbreaker for me, but because almost a whole minute of the track is so quiet and subdued, it would be nice to hear a little more meat and substance to your arrangement - 2:00 - 2:15 seems like it leaves a lot up in the air and doesn't totally resolve. I would love to hear more to this arrangement. Great concept, but not totally there for me yet. NO (resubmit)

REMIXER NAME: JeffMatthews REAL NAME: Jeffrey Matthews EMAIL: WEBSITE: www.soundcloud.com/jeffmatthews USER ID: 52559 GAME ARRANGED: Super Mario Bros. NAME OF ARRANGEMENT: "The Mario Scissorhands Suite - Part 1" SONG ARRANGED: "Swimming BGM" COMPOSER: Koji Kondo COMMENTS: I made this remix in Logic Pro with mostly East West instruments. This music presented an interesting challenge in that it modulates into different keys several times, my favorite being the last loud section which is B lydian to A dorian to C minor (I think). I plan on making part 2 in the next couple weeks. I don't really know what else to say about this except that I haven't felt like this much of a happy little kid since I first played the game when I was 5 years old. Thank you for listening. Source:

(again, having trouble download Box links. Not sure why.) Contact Information Username: timaeus222 Name: Truong-Son Nguyen http://soundcloud.com/timaeus222 http://tproductions.comeze.com/ ID: 39971 Submission Information Game: Yu-Gi-Oh: Forbidden Memories ReMix Title: Not Just Elevator Music Consoles/Platforms: PlayStation OST Composers: Unsure; might be: Naoko Ishii, Waichiro Ozaki, Hiroshi Tanabe Sources: Password Menu (attached) ReMix: (VBR1) (WAV) This is for the Shonen Jump ReMix Album headed by Cosmic Sounds and SkyRiderX (with DarkeSword as the guy to run the mixes by). Comments: "Alright, more Yu-Gi-Oh! I've been telling myself that I should try remixing something super short at least once, kinda like how Rozovian's remixed a 4-note source tune and Chimpazilla's done it with a 6-note source tune. I was having a lot of fun getting the dynamic pads and deep bass to sound just right, but I especially enjoyed playing around with layered reverse delay effects in the breakdown section and outtro, as well as the glitch stuttering and stutter-esque sequencing. I also haven't written a solo in quite a while (over a year, actually), so it was refreshing to do two short ones in here with that square wave lead. Oh yeah, and I wrote this in three days: two consecutive days and a third day about 3 months later. :D" Extra Info: And of course, a source breakdown for you peeps. The gist of it is that notes #1-4 and #5-8 were each used to form a two-chord progression, either explicitly arpeggiated or rolled, or as actual chordal accompaniment. != : not really equal to = : basically equal to ~= : sorta equal to null: not counted 0:11.2 - 0:55.9 = Source (the note rolls and the entirety of the chord sustains incorporate all 10 notes) 0:55.9 - 1:17.5 ~= Source (the chords use notes #1-4, and the arpeggio resembles those four notes; not counting this) 1:18.2 - 1:29.3 = Source (notes #1-4 and #5-8 with altered rhythm and call/response-esque writing) 1:29.3 - 1:40.5 = Source (solo over arpeggiated notes #2-4 and #6-8 in the background, chords formed by notes similar to #1-4 and #5- 1:40.5 - 2:01.8 = Source (arpeggiated notes #1-4 and #5-8, chords formed by notes similar to #1-4 and #5- 2:02.8 - 2:14.0 = Source (notes #1-4 and #5-8 with altered rhythm and call/response-esque writing) 2:14.0 - 2:25.2 != Solo (solo over chords formed by notes similar to #1-4 and #5-8; not counting this) 2:25.2 - 2:47.5 = Dubstep Breakdown (glitched up sequencing of the 10 notes) 2:47.5 - 3:21.1 ~= Source (the chords use notes #1-4, and the arpeggio resembles those four notes; not counting this) 44.7 + null + 11.1 + 11.2 + 21.3 + 11.2 + null + 22.3 + null = 121.8 secs 121.8/201.1 = 60.6% source. Source:

Just paneling this because the source usage can get very noodly and even by T's count, it's pretty close. Otherwise I feel like this is direct-post quality. I will flesh this out more later.

OHHHH SNAP! https://twitter.com/DeucesWildMedia/status/556305766974767104 Contact Information Username: timaeus222 Name: Truong-Son Nguyen http://soundcloud.com/timaeus222 http://tproductions.comeze.com/ ID: 39971 Submission Information Primary Game: Kirby's Dreamland 3 ReMix Title: Kirbland Consoles/Platforms: SNES, Virtual Console OST Composers: Jun Ishikawa Sources: Grass Land 2, Ripple Field 3, Sand Canyon 3 (cameo), Flower Garden (Yoshi: Touch & Go cameo) [attached] ReMix: (VBR1) (WAV) Comments: "I gotta say, this is one of the most fun ReMixes I've worked on in a long time. This started off as me saying something of the meme kind at the 'wrong' time; funny story: it was when Liontamer on OCR Talkback #49 was talking about how he occasionally sees people calling OCR out, saying something like, "Hey, OC ReMix! You don't know how to remix this! It's too good to make better!". Being the guy that I am, I wrote, "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" in the YouTube comments as a fun 'reply' to that. Larry sees it, thinks it was directed towards @DeucesWildMedia on Twitter, and everyone's like, "OHHHHH DAMN!". So y'know what?! I went for it anyways. OHHHH SNAP! SHIT JUST GOT REAL! Over the course of 3 separate days, in about 20 hours, I ended up writing a Jazz Fusion-style track inspired by the band Weather Report---especially their song 'Birdland' (hence the title). My personal favorite part in here is definitely the solo portion at 1:47 - 2:39. Can't believe I came up with that. Essentially everything was played in 'live' (MIDI), with specifically the bass and drums being the hardest elements to really nail here in terms of the Weather Report vibe. Hope you enjoy! :D" Extra Info: Source Breakdown: 0:03.28 - 0:08.95, 0:09.77 - 0:13.84, 0:16.26 - 0:21.83 = Grass Land 2 (0:00.00 - 0:06.47) [bass and piano] 0:22.75 - 0:27.61 = Grass Land 2 (0:06.47 - 0:12.88) 0:29.24 - 0:38.96, 0:42.21 - 0:53.76 = Ripple Field 3 (0:00.00 - 0:25.36) 0:42.21 - 0:48.69 = Flower Garden (Yoshi) (0:00.00 - 0:26.70) 1:04.90 - 1:06.91 = Sand Canyon 3 (0:00.00 - 0:02.45) [Different "mood"] 1:08.15 - 1:15.58 = Grass Land 2 (0:00.00 - 0:06.47) 1:17.88 - 1:19.91 = Sand Canyon 3 (0:00.00 - 0:02.45) [Different "mood"; bass] 1:21.13 - 1:32.68, 1:34.10 - 1:45.04 = Ripple Field 3 (0:00.00 - 0:25.36) [Mostly retained bass, with solos + interpretation] 1:47.07 - 2:13.01 = Wild solos! 2:00.05 - 2:01.66, 2:06.52 - 2:13.01 = Grass Land 2 (0:00.00 - 0:06.47) 2:13.01 - 2:22.34 = Grass Land 2 (0:12.88 - 0:24.09) [bass solo] 2:25.99 - 2:31.87 = Grass Land 2 (0:12.88 - 0:24.09) 2:35.71 - 2:37.75 = Sand Canyon 3 (0:00.00 - 0:02.45) [Different "mood"] 2:42.21 - 2:47.07, 2:48.70 - 2:52.75, 2:55.17 - 3:00.74 = Grass Land 2 (0:00.00 - 0:06.47) [bass and piano] 3:01.66 - 3:06.50 = Grass Land 2 (0:00.00 - 0:06.47) 3:06.50 - 3:32.09 = Havona-style ending Grass Land 2: 5.67 + 4.07 + 5.57 + 4.86 + 7.43 + 1.61 + 6.49 + 9.33 + 5.88 + 4.86 + 4.05 + 5.57 + 4.84 = 70.23 70.23/212.09 = 33.11% Ripple Field 3: 9.72 + 11.55 + 11.55 + 10.94 = 43.76 43.76/212.09 = 20.63% Sand Canyon 3: 2.01 + 2.03 + 2.04 = 6.08 6.08/212.09 = 2.87% Flower Garden: = 6.48 6.48/212.09 = 3.06% Total (note the Flower Garden overlap): 120.07/212.09 = 56.61% Sources:

noxtherox Tiago Rio http://www.youtube.com/noxtherox 54575 Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 3 Battlefield theme remix [Metal] Battlefield Theme song Link to the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l44Yc-Xh0OU Source:

Really cool arrangement here, Jorrith. I always love your creative arrangements and how willing you are to branch out into unique styles. The production on this track, unfortunately, is falling short for me. The synth that comes in at :12 is extremely loud and dry. I could forgive the lo-fi sound for an intro, but at :26 I was hoping this would really blow wide open, and the drums/bass just didn't carry the energy that I was hoping for as a listener. I love the spastic, choppy drum writing, it's got a very original flavor that doesn't feel "typical D&B" at all. However, the drum production isn't doing it for me in this track - the kick is not giving your mix enough of a foundation and so the song structure doesn't flow naturally like it ought to. The break at 2:44 leaves me expecting the drums to come back in full force but they never do. The more I listen and write about this, the more I think that it may literally just be an issue with the kick drum in this track - perhaps if that had more body, it would be able to carry the track without needing any other substantial changes to the production. What does everyone else think? I feel like the core arrangement and writing of this track is solid but something feels VERY off about how the drums are mixed and I'm finding myself very confused. NO (resubmit???)

Hey there, Remixer name: Jorito Real Name: Jorrith Schaap Email: Website: http://www.jorito.net/ Userid: 3917 Drums performed by Erik Vreven Submission information: Name of Game(s) Remixed: Vampire Killer Additional Game information: System: MSX2 Developer: Konami Genre: Platforming Released: 1986 Composer: Kinuyo Yamashita, Satoe Terashima (Please note that though there are a lot of resemblances to the NES game Castlevania, this is actually a different game) Name of Arrangement: Wicked Chip Names of song arranged: Wicked Child (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rp19k4-Qlg) Comments about the mix: My drummer friend Erik wanted to create a Drum 'n Bass-ish groove for Vampire Killer's Wicked Child song by using the original game song and adding live drums and some sub bass to it. I thought we could do better and started remixing the song from scratch. As always things got out of hand and it turned into a groovy chiptune DnB combo with live drums and vocoded voices. This track took a looooong time to finish; we started it in July 2014 and it was finished only in March 2015. I guess that’s what happens when real life catches up with you and puts you out of composing business for 6 months. Still, the track benefited a lot from this seasoning and the helpful feedback in the workshop forums and for a first try at something chiptuney I’m rather proud of it. Cheers, Jorrith Source (first song in video):

I wanted to panel this one because I remember Nyx had this marked as Mod Review but never got any staff feedback, and some of the artist's comments in Workshop thread came across defensive to me, so I felt it appropriate to send this here to give some more feedback. To me, this feels highly conservative and doesn't introduce very much original writing or ideas to the melody, though the few harmonic variations and the overall mashup of the two sources does have some merit by OCR standards. Using the drum loop and the "birdcussion" as a sample is cool, though I feel like you mixed the metallic percussion kind of loud during the transitions - for example, the fill at :38 is startling and out of place, to me. The metallic loop sounds really nice when it's mixed lower and more in the background. The delay effects are well-used and help give the track more texture and movement, I like how you utilized that. Production-wise, the samples and synth design are not very exciting and introduce very little texture to the mix. Experiment with some more interesting synth sound and fills and effects - Skrypnyk and Timaeus gave some really good feedback in the Workshop thread. The arrangement sticks very close to the structure/feel of the original, and there are some sections where you have a lot of countermelodies playing but no lead where it just feels aimless. Sorry to say, this track just isn't working for me on a lot of levels My guess is that, by this point, you've moved onto other projects and I already know you've improved your craft with more recent remixes, but I wanted to make sure you received more validation on the feedback you received in the Workshop thread because I feel like they were very good critiques that still apply to the final submitted version. I'm excited to see what you submit to us in the future NO

Contact Information Nick: NyxTheShield Name: Felipe Montero Email address: Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/felipe95951 User ID: 53205 Submission Information Name of Game: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest Name of Arrangement: The Forest of Melancholy Name of individual song(s) arranged: Forest Interlude and Mining Melancholy Comments: David Wise has always been one of my major inspirations, as a child i had a SNES, by luck i was able to play most of the classics of the system (TLoZ ALttP, Mario All Stars, ISSD), but Donkey Kong Country was one of the few games where i would just pause it for a couple of minutes just to hear it's music. Consider this remix and mashup as a tribute, i hope you enjoy it. Download Link: If the link doesn't work by any chance, the song is attached as well, thanks in advance. Sources:

Haha, vaporwave! I never thought I'd see this on OCR. Kudos to you for submitting something totally unique and obscure. On first listen, my gut told me that this was a pretty cool piece that wasn't really working that well out of context... I checked out your Soundcloud and I think that confirms my suspicions. This works pretty well in the context of your SimCity album but on its own, the track doesn't really have enough length or development to work as a one-off track. Almost 2/3rds of the track is spent on the same ambient loop before you begin to progress anywhere. The track is very lo-fi and hazy, which is obviously an A E S T H E T I C choice that was entirely deliberate, but I can see how some judges might be turned off by that entirely. In my opinion, though, if you were to develop the arrangement a bit more and introduce more of a structure, you could actually be on the verge of something passable. Right now, there's just not enough substance for OCR standards with regards to the arrangement. No matter how this goes or whether or not you choose to resubmit, I enjoyed this! NO

Your ReMixer name - テクノ資本主義NOSTALGIA Name of game(s) arranged - SimCity (SNES) Name of arrangement - ytiCmiS Name of individual song(s) arranged - Title Info: This is part of a larger piece which aims to accurately portray what it sounds like to exist as a citizen inside the SimCity cartridge. My guess is that it is an agonizing life of purgatory, punctuated briefly by moments of bliss. The original title for this song, then, is 'Hope' because the cartridge has been engaged and our citizens' world will be brought to life on screen - but for how long? Source:

Rad! This shares some similarities to this remix by The Distortionist but I think your more relaxed, acoustic focus helps set it apart nicely. Your guitar skills are impeccable, and despite the fact that your mix feels somewhat conservative, the harmonic variations and fills are enhancing the original writing in subtle, but very important ways. And that solo is killer! Overall, this is really doing the trick for me, even though this source and this style have been done several times before by some very talented people. The acoustic guitar outro sounds a little rough to me, I can't tell if maybe something is a little out of tune or if you've got too many different guitar parts and things just aren't lining up quite perfectly... or maybe my ears are just going bad? It's tough for me to tell, anyone else have any insight on that? Also, that fadeout happens very quickly and doesn't sound great in my opinion. There's some significant distortion in the first 45 seconds, particularly starting at :30. I'm hearing it very noticeably on headphones. Tentatively, I'd be okay with signing off on the rest of the track but I feel that the distortion is distracting during that section and should hopefully be easy enough to fix. YES (conditional on distortion fix from :30-:45)

Hello! I recently had my tracked approved by the mods on the OCRemix forum so here is my submission! ReMixer name - ToxicxEternity Real name - Jack Fliegler Email address - Website - Facebook.com/ToxicxEternity Userid - 54468 Name of game arranged - Donkey Kong Country Name of arrangement - Aquatic Shrediance Name of individual song arranged - Aquatic Ambience / Coral Capers Original track - http://youtu.be/wAPpVplHiDE My Remix (also attached) - Comments - I've been doing metal remixes of video game songs for a while and they usually turn out pretty intense and heavy. With this track, I was looking to step out of my comfort zone a bit and calm things down using an acoustic guitar and a more ambient soundscape. I had a lot of fun recording these parts because it's very different than what I usually do.

Just to clarify, I wasn't implying that Zack was intentionally cribbing on another artist's work... this arrangement and style is very much his own! I just found a lot of the same qualities and emotions that I feel when listening to Joe Hisaishi's work also applied to this remix. I meant those comments with the highest order of praise in mind! I'm with Jeremy - it takes a lot to impress me with an orchestral arrangement these days, but this is one of my favorites. Extremely well done.

Easy call here. There's a huge potential for a remix in this style to fall back on a single gimmick without really fleshing out the bones of the track itself. I'm happy to say that's not even close to the situation here - you've done an incredible amount of work on the bass & synth programming and general sound design, so that even when you take the vocals out of the equation, you're still left with a rock-solid remix that stands on its own merits. It certainly helps that the vocals are also well-integrated and hilarious, even for someone who doesn't understand the context. This is oozing with personality, and I think the masses are going to enjoy this a lot! YES

Unfortunately I have to cosign with the above two judges - no disrespect intended to your concept or the quality of the execution, and thankfully I know that neither of you will be discouraged from contributing in the future because of this, but the arrangement structure just isn't what we're looking for. Looking forward to more collabs from you guys in the future, though! NO

Wow! Random Hero, it's been a while! I've always been a fan of how conceptual your tracks were in the past, this one is certainly no exception. Just a few quick thoughts, I'll come back and write up a vote later because I'm not sure how I feel... Strong concept, execution is more of a mixed bag. The hi-hats feel really loud. Source is there. Not a fan of the sequenced harpsichord/synth guitar, string sequencing is good in some places but the longer staccato melodies feel fake. Leaning towards resub, but I'll touch back on this later. ???

I can't get enough DS Castlevania action. Love these games so much. This mix is very solidly conceived, I'm digging the juxtaposition between the gothic-style bells and strings that have become a trademark of Castlevania soundtracks, and the grungy, distorted garage rock instrumentation. It's an unconventional blend on paper, but actually feels quite natural the way you executed it. The string sequencing was a highlight, it's actually pretty tricky to sequence orchestral lead instruments in with live instrumentation and still maintain the illusion of realism, but I think you struck a nice balance here. Nice work. I feel like you might have gone a bit overboard with crunching your drums, but I get the feeling it was done intentionally so I can look past that. Other than that, I can't find much fault with this arrangement. Pretty easy pass in my opinion! YES

This is definitely not a direction that I'd ever expect Dragon Roost Island to be taken in, but I guess it's inevitable that all Zelda music will be dubstepped at some point I'll admit that the melody actually translates reasonably well to dubstep, so props on the adaptation. Your mixing is solid enough - I'd say on a production level, this could definitely be passable. The sound design is the most problematic part of this remix, in my opinion. The textures of the track rarely change up, and you rely very heavily on a similar set of synth patches that sound very monotonous over the course of 4 minutes. There's very few changes in timbre throughout the track other than a few transitions. The arrangement is also heavily repetitive - the second half of the song is basically just a loop of the first 2 minutes with a few minor adjustments... past the first half of the song, there's no surprises and nothing to justify the length. The concept is alright at its core, but there's not enough here to justify the length of the track. Needs less repetition and more development. NO (resubmit)

This track is a match made in Duck Heaven!!! Everything about Will's signature 80's synth-rock sound gels just perfectly with this iconic source, and I'm honestly surprised it's taken him this long to remix this. It feels so natural - this entire arrangement is so triumphant and powerful. There's really nothing in here we haven't heard from Will before, but the natural synergy between the source tune and Will's typical style makes this remix feel completely justified and enjoyable, if not exactly groundbreaking. Love it, bro Good to see you submitting again! QUACK

Pretty cool cover, I can see this finding a lot of attention and praise on Youtube on its own merits. Your production and performance is very cool, but unfortunately, with regards to OCR standards this is pretty much just that - a cover. I'm not hearing a lot of interpretation or development over the source past the genre adaptation. The track is also very short - at 2 minutes, I really don't want to be hearing much repetition whatsoever and this track basically repeats itself a second time with a new set of rhythm guitars and drums. Need to hear more development and original interpretation/writing in order for this to be considered for OCRemix. No hate on your track meant, it's a great cover but unfortunately not really what we're looking for! NO

There is so much potential here, you clearly have some excellent production chops but the structure here isn't totally working. I personally am not a fan of how the "club mix" structure was applied here, it's jarring to have the song start off so loud and then break down into 30 seconds of ambient noise. I agree with Kris that this would work better if you sliced off the first 30 seconds of the track and saved that for an extended club mix. Just my two cents! The source is very minimalist, though I recognized it instantly because I've spent probably 300+ hours in SA2 in the Chao Garden, so it was actually a great surprise to see this remixed! You keep the main riff throughout your remix, and the tubular bell/chime hits also allude to the source, so no problems there. Your production is ace here, I love that big booming kick, and your synth design is well done. The ambiance is really cool, too. I'm not sure how you got those tones but it sounds very futuristic and interesting. The section at 2:15 was downright exceptional. It's almost jarring to me how much better that sounds - not that the rest of your track isn't good, but that section is far and away the best part of your remix, and unfortunately it kind of makes everything else sound worse by comparison. Some additional ear-candy during the rest of the track would help bridge that quality gap. You rely on the same dropout transition before every verse, too, which becomes noticeable on repeat listens. I would highly recommend changing those up at least a couple of times throughout the track. This is something I could see myself listening to and enjoying on a personal level but this would sound so much better with a less-random structure and more variation in your transitions. I don't think this is quite ready for primetime on OCR yet, good luck with the rest of the vote! (edited below)

Groovy! I like your sound choices here, very smooth and genre-appropriate. You've got a nice adaptation going here. Sound choices are great, your production is on point. The mixing sounds super clean on here... too clean, in fact. It sounds to me like I'm listening to an unmastered version of the track - a little master compression would help this track shimmer and really thump like it ought to. My biggest beef with this is the repetitive nature of the track - it seems like you go through 8 bars of the melody, have a drop-out transition, and then go right back into the same structure several times throughout the course of the remix. For a track that's only 3 and a half minutes long, there's an awful lot of repetition. To your credit, each pass through incorporates new solos and synths, so it's not repetitive in that sense, but the structure feels like it retreads the same territory over and over again, especially because you rely on similar transitions and chopped sound effects throughout the track. A more pronounced breakdown/buildup or solo section would help break things up. I could definitely see this passing with another round of revisions, it feels like this is about 75% there but I'm not quite sold on the arrangement or mastering at this point. NO (resubmit!)

Damn, those rhythm guitars! This is a pretty straightforward metal cover that rises above the crowd because of your awesome technical performances, well-chosen guitar & synth tones, and pristine production. We get a LOT of submissions in this style so it's easy to blend in with the crowd, but fortunately that's not the case here. Just enough variation and original writing sets this apart from the source and elevates it out of "cover" territory, but still leaves the best parts of the source intact and amplified to enjoy in all its glory. Nothing more to say, you guys nailed it! YES