Palpable

It is a little source light, but moreover, I actually thought the source would have fulfilled a great role in the middle section! IMO it needed something else there, and even just snippets of the melody here and there would have been really cool. I loved what those heavy synths were doing anyway, so it wasn't that I was bored or anything. Overall, it was awesome to see Kris tackle this style so effectively. The vocal clips were used very well, and the production was excellent. I wouldn't have minded something else in the 3kHz range... well, I guess that gets back to my comment earlier about wanting more melody in the middle section. I heard enough source to satisfy me, and that was the only satisfaction in question. YES

Ooh, this is a pretty tough call for me. I really like the approach, and when this remix is grooving, man, is it grooving. It's a perfect source song for this kind of arrangement, and you explored the permutations pretty well. There are really just a few small things that add up to a NO for me. The kick seemed a little bass heavy to me, beyond personal taste. I would tone it down a little to get a more rounded sound. It started to eat into the other lower range instruments. I also think the song would be better as a song (rather than club mix) if you started with a filter on the kick to take out the sub bass freqs. It would have a stronger impact when you go full bore later. You used one type of transition too much, the other judges have mentioned it already. Try to very it up a little more. Finally, there's no ending at all, not even the standard club mix ending. Needs one. Please make some changes and send it back, I think this is great! NO (resubmit) EDIT (5/27): Changed to YES

Yow, that lead guitar is pretty indistinct. I love the energy and the new runs and chugs that you added, but the mixing is really not doing this justice. This would be a great song to take to our Workshop if you need more detailed feedback beyond what we've given you here. I also wasn't totally feeling the orchestration in the last minute (came out of nowhere) but could live with it if the execution was better. I think this is a cool take on the theme that would be enjoyed by many if you can fix it up. NO (resubmit)

I didn't think production was much a concern here, at least on my Sennheisers. The elements were pretty clear, and while I would have carved a bit out of that bass, in a track this sparse, it's fine. I liked the balance and the rest of the soundscape. Not to mention, it's a really creative take on the source. Totally different instrumentation and delivery, it's a total jam. My only complaint (besides the intro, which should be changed to jive with standards) is that the song ended before I wanted it to. I could have really gone for a bridge and an over-the-top chorus. A good problem to have when your audience wants more. YES (conditional on intro change)

Urgh. Try as I might, I'm just not hearing enough source here. When it is used it's very cool, but the song as a whole takes too many liberties with the melody, to the point where it's almost an original song. Really, I have nothing bad to say about this. The execution, writing - immaculate. Just not kosher with the standards, as far as I can tell. NO

I didn't hear a lot of connection after the intro and before the second half, when the themes are strong, but the string runs are straight from the original and it has enough connection. The cool instrumentation and great dynamics are the highlight here, and make up for the minor flaws with the sequencing. Alex's song painted a complete picture for me and I'm happy to give him (IIRC) my first YES on one of his tracks. It's great to see people progress as songwriters and Alex's determination to improve has carried him a long way from where he started. YES

Super restless, creative arrangement. I really love the juxtaposition of the chugs with the Blanka melodies. It's not always incredibly musical, but I think 90% of the time it sounds really cool and there's no end of ideas. My only qualm is production, but I think it's a dealbreaker for me. The stop-start chugs already sound a little too choppy, but the bright synths really don't sit well with the metal parts. Never gels for me. It bothers me that an issue like that is a dealbreaker, but I just can't see past it. Wouldn't be surprised if this got YESes from others. NO (resubmit)

Hi, I'd like to submit a metal remix I made a while ago of Isao Abe's theme for Blanka from Street Fighter 2. ReMixer name: shredd Real name: Matias Lehtoranta Email address: Website: www.soundcloud.com/shreddingdragon Userid: 54225 Name of game(s) arranged: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Name of arrangement: Because Eels Name of individual song(s) arranged: Theme of Blanka Additional information about game including composer, system, etc.: Composer: Isao Abe; System: Super Nintendo Entertainment System Link to the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaaAhI8E6gQ Comments about the mix: This arrangement was made as a birthday present to my good friend, whose main character is Blanka in Ultra Street Fighter IV, a game that we are both passionate about. I wanted to avoid making a total copy-paste of the original tune, since I knew my friend likes covers that deviate a little from the original. I even discarded altogether the iconic bassline that starts off Blanka's theme. This is a syncopated, modern metal approach, in the footsteps of Meshuggah and other 8-string metal acts. I changed the rhythmic mode from straight to a triplet feel. Low-chugging guitar riffs provide backing for Blanka's melodies, played on different synths. I spent time shaping and testing various synth sounds for lead and background layers, which are a big part of the whole arrangement and atmosphere. I did want to retain some of the naturalistic vibe of Blanka's character and his original theme music, reflected in the flute sounds on this arrangement. There is a fair amount of original content, but it's mostly to provide some framework for familiar Blanka material. There isn't really any traditional guitar shredding - this is first and foremost a new interpretation of Blanka's theme rhythmically and tone-wise in the context of metal. Somewhere in the mix there are small details, for example the semi-mechanical jungle beat of the intro section appears again during the mysterious quiet breakdown near the end. In Street Fighter lore, Blanka is supposed to have gained his shocking superpowers from electric eels in the Brazilian jungles. This arrangement's title originates from a night out, during which my friend was asked "Why is Blanka green?" He simply paused for bit, and said "...because eels!!" // The picture included is also original artwork by another friend, authorized for use as the cover art of this track! -------------------------------------

Close to DPing this, but thought the guitar section was a little crowded. This seems solidly above the line in spite of that. Very cool arrangement, great production for most of the song. YES

Hey there, Remixer name: Jorito Real Name: Jorrith Schaap Email: Website: http://www.jorito.net/ Userid: 3917 Additional lead guitar performed by Frederic Petitpas (http://ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=15381) Submission information: Name of Game(s) Remixed: Illusion City Additional Game information: System: MSX, FM Towns, PC-98, SEGA CD, Sharp X68000 Developer: Micro Cabin Corp. Genre: RPG Released: 1991 Composer: Tadahiro Nitta, Yasufumi Fukuda, Yukiharu Urita Name of Arrangement: Enter The Illusion Names of song arranged: Illusion Theme A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etqc9Si5Jyw) Link to the remix: Comments about the mix: This track was originally for PRC282, where one of the source tracks was Illusion City, a 1991 Cyberpunk RPG. I've known this game on the MSX for years and always wanted to cover the main title theme but somehow never got around to doing it. PRC282 was a good excuse to give it a go. I tried to do something different from my usual work and attempted to do something in the epic/hybrid style you hear in todays movies. Not sure if I succeeded completely, but it still turned out pretty well I think. After noodling around with a lead guitar plugin in the second part, I thought it’d be best to get a real guitar player to do it in stead of working for hours on a believable MIDI part. Since I hang around on #ocremix a lot, I just asked there and Frederic Petitpas (Metal Man on the forums) was kind enough to deliver me the part only 15 minutes later! Track breakdown: 00:00-00:32: original intro 00:32-00:50: string ostinato from source 00:50-01:05: original lead with ostinato from source 01:05-01:21: original break with synth arp from source 01:21-01:53: source track (almost integral) 01:53-02:02: outro, custom 02:02-02:14: original break 02:14-02:18: MGS game over theme 02:18-02:48: original bridge 02:48-02:50: trumpet from source 02:50-03:23: source track with variation lead guitar 03:23-03:33: ostinato from source 03:33-03:43: synth arp from source 03:43-03:48: MGS game over theme 03:48-03:55: outro And the occasional swirly sound effects from the original (e.g. 0:30, 0:44, 0:59, 1:15) that I had to recreate and mixed in at appropriate intervals. Cheers, Jorrith

Contact Information: Remixer Name: Thrace Real Name: Daniel Hubble Email : Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/Thraice UserID : 53497 Submission Information: Name of game arranged: Donkey Kong Country Name of song arranged: Gang-Plank Galleon Own comments: Favorite song of the soundtrack. I had always wanted to do a metal cover of this song, they're tons of covers out there for this song for sure, but I like to think I've given it a slightly unique twist, enjoy!

I will include a link to the hosted mp3, as well as an attachment of the mp3 in this email. If there is anything else needed, please don't hesitate to email me! Remixer: FlameingDaethFearies Real Name: Rusti Majere Email Address: Website: http://flameingdaethfearies.com UserID: http://ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=54211 Game: Silent Hill 3 Arrangement Name: Hometown (Sexy Nurse Mix) Original Song: Hometown Comments: This is my first submission to the site, but I've been a fan and a follower for many years. My band does event shows and this was a song I composed and recorded for our event, A Very Feary Halloween: Silent Hill! It was awesome! We always go all out with decorations, lighting, bubbles, and dancers. This show had references to Silent Hill, as well as Five Nights at Freddie's, so we had Heather Mason, Pyramid Head, Lisa Garland, a lovely nurse from Alchemilla Hospital, and many more staples of the Silent HIll series. This song was recorded and performed by Rusti Majere, and mixed/mastered/produced by Devin Castle. Thanks, Rusti Majere

I wasn't able to find the source song without sound effects, but the linked video contains most of the song and it's pretty easy to hear. Pretty tough decision, honestly. Nothing wrong with the production that I could hear. Smooth, clean, suits the simple arrangement. There's some added details, but it seems like most of the arrangement is in rearranging the pieces and giving it a slightly different feel. The only potential problem I have is that the song just isn't that interesting to me. It stays in one gear and never has any standout moments. Wondering how others feel about this before putting down a vote.

Attached is a remix of the soundtrack from the choice provisions game, Woah Dave! Here is a sample of the gameplay that features some of the original music loops. Edit: Found Source Tune:

Sometimes non-musical things can also inspire me to make music. I don't understand how the brain works.

Cool remix. I love hearing new combinations of instruments, and EP + vocoder + MPC drums is a pretty unique combo. There's a lot of creativity in the sound design and combinations of sounds. Nice groove too. I think my concern is the amount of repetition and how little expression the EP has. I hear a lot of patterns get reused, in spite of the drum change-ups and little fills. It just doesn't hold enough replay value for me. I'd love to see another revision of this. NO (resubmit)

Hi, Please find attached my remix of the Surfing theme from the Sega Genesis version of California Games. ReMixer name: DeekayGeee Real name: Dave Gillies Email: Web: https://soundcloud.com/original-soundtrack/ UserID: 53675 Name of game arranged: California Games Name of arrangement: California Surfing Name of individual song arranged: Surfing Additional information: Composed by András Magyari. Theme unique to the Sega Genesis version, I think. Released by Epyx in 1991. Link to original version: http://youtu.be/p12N6S5ClIc I wrote this for my electro soundtrack pop band to play. It was always my favourite theme from California Games, and I thought it needed brought into the 21st century. The remix has ad hoc lyrics - they're kind of brainless, really, but they make perfect sense in a way. Looking forward to hearing from you! Best, Dave. http://youtu.be/p12N6S5ClIc

Pretty simple source song - mostly chords with a three note pattern that could maybe be considered a melody, and a small part at the end to return to the beginning. Right off the bat, I like how Alex has changed the track and added some really pretty guitar lines and strums. Whoa, is the track half the speed of the original? Yeah, it sounds like it. I'm impressed with how Alex is able to maintain development and momentum doing so little. There's subtle rises and instrument additions to keep things flowing throughout. Overall, it's a great build and a very well-executed piece. Let's look at the source usage though: Chords and three-note pattern: 0:00-0:18, 0:36-1:10, 1:32-1:50, 2:07-2:25, 2:42-2:59, 3:17-3:34, 3:58-4:06, 4:15-4:23 Ending melody: 4:39-4:42 By timestamp, it's just about at 50%, a little low depending on how you count. There's a lot of places where Alex changes the chords but keeps the structure of the source song. He follows the same rhythm of the three-note pattern but changes the notes, which gives it a connectedness. OTOH, a lot of Alex's song is original. The source tune is very sparse and there's honestly not a lot there to ReMix. Is source dominant enough? I'm inclined to say it is in this case, but YMMV. The three-note pattern is so stretched out that a lot of the time it's not audible, and chords are the only thing connecting the arrangement to the source, but that was enough for me. The source song is heavily based on block string chords, and Alex uses instruments very similar to the original, which solidifies the chord connection for me. May change my vote based on what others think, but this tentatively gets the go-ahead from me. YES

ReMixer - RoeTaKa Name - Alex Roe Email - UserID - 9374 Games Arranged - Jared Emerson-Johnson Arrangement Name - Don't Go Songs Arranged - Clementine Suite (more specifically 'Alive Inside', I don't know where that name comes from but that song is part of the Clementine Suite and is what I focused on). Game info - The Walking Dead Composers - Jared Emerson-Johnson Systems - Android, iOS, Kindle Fire HDX, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Ouya, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One Comments: When I was thinking of a game to remix for Halloween (2014) this totally slipped my mind. I went through the notions of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, had an idea for Lords of Shadow 2, considered The Evil Within and teased the thought of Luigi's Mansion. Then my sister reminded me of The Walking Dead, seemed like a great reason to work on this. The Walking Dead has some good music, yknow it fits very well, if you heard it you know it would fit in that game. But it also has a really nice theme to it, something that tugs away at the heart when it needs to. I didn't want to stray far from the source because it's really good and has a great base to build on. So I thought of Season 1 with Lee and Clementine, thought about that journey. And that's it really, hope you enjoy!

Dear OC ReMix, I love your site and all the activity on it. The quality of the “remixes” is often very high and they’re really enjoyable beyond just being cool to recognize the tunes. Wanting to contribute to the site I started working on a remix of my own, from one of the games that inspired me to be a musician (I’m now a music teacher and director and compose all kinds of music). Contact Information MisterTheMan (I just signed up) Real name: Tim de Man timdeman.com (Dutch), soundcloud.com/timdeman userid: 54175 Submission Information from Final Fantasy VIII new title: An oath fulfilled original: The oath (Nobuo Uematsu) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr4eB0WOwN0 About the mix I’ve been interested in orchestral music for quite a while (ever since I played Heroes of Might and Magic III actually!) and have dabbled in it for quite a while. I’m now in the process of learning the skill of orchestration properly by listening to a lot of classical music and (mostly [orchestrated] game) soundtracks and reading literature on the subject. There is a populair orchestration of this particular tune on the net, but in my eyes it's a bit overly sentimental. I wanted to add more tension to the tune and make it tell more of a story. The original composer didn’t have the luxury of a song that could develop in the same way because the tracks in the game are looped so I had a chance to make the titulair oath “pay off” in the end which, I think, is a very satisfying moment =) . It was made in Logic X using exclusively sample libraries from East West. I hope you like it! Kind regards, MisterTheMan / Tim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr4eB0WOwN0

I was very skeptical that a ten minute remix of Secret of the Forest could work, but Zack gives it a good go here. Great sound design and mood and lots of ideas. It takes until 7:30 to get to the final section of the song, but I didn't think it ran out of ideas before then. What this does lack though, IMO, is direction. I could see YES votes on this, but I feel like the pace is a little too slow, without any major development once the main melody gets introduced. It sounds like the song is building up to something big for the first couple minutes, but it never moves out of that gear. There's also a fair amount of repetition of certain patterns despite the many ideas here; perhaps that's inevitable in a ten minute sub. This is closer to a pass than I thought it would be. I'm not sure it HAS TO be cut down in length, but that would be a good place to start to tackle the repetition issues. I also think it could use a more dramatic build-up and payoff. NO (resubmit)

Hey guys! Here is an ambient mix I just finished less than a week ago, after many hours of tweaking. Please note, I also submitted a wizards and warriors remix over a month ago and I never received any confirmation email and haven't heard back from anyone. I know you guys are backlogged, so I'm assuming that's why, but just wanted to check. If you did get that one, I didn't put a remixer name down, but you can use the one I've made for this song in that one too if it's accepted, thanks! I couldn't get my DAW to bump this down from 32 bit to 16 bit. I hope that is okay. Details below: Remixer Name: Zisotto Real Name: Zack Sottolano Email: Website: Youtube Account: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd3sHCKLl7A3Bpk7v2DaDQQ/videos SoundCloud Account: https://soundcloud.com/zack-sottolano UserId: Although I signed up a couple months ago, I never got an email with my userID. Please help! Name of Game Arranged: Chrono Trigger Name of Arrangement: The Depetrification of the Submerged Forest Name of Individual Song Arranged: Secret of the Forest Original Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Comments (Take what you need from here. It is my YouTube description): This is my remix of Chrono Trigger's "Secret of the Forest" theme. I have titled it "The Depetrification of the Submerged Forest." I think it has a very underwatery feel and I think it is the equivalent of taking a chill pill as well! Chrono Trigger is arguably one of the greatest RPG's of all time. Not only does it boast one of the best plotlines, but it also has one of the best soundtracks ever created, in my opinion. The score was mostly written by Yasunori Mitsuda, along with a few tracks being written by Nobuo Uematsu. The source material for this one (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_QxG...) is extremely well known and has been remixed hundreds, if not thousands, of times. It is a really relaxing, memorable, and soothing melody. I thought I'd brush up on my remixing chops and steer this into a more ambient mix. I wasn't planning on having this turn into a 10 minute piece, but the most important focus for this one was to create a soundscape that was very lush, and I quickly realized in order to fully explore my idea for this song, it'd take some time to develop the sound. I never really did a piece in this style before. It gets frantic early on and then mellows out about halfway through with some laid-back drums, and finally finishes off kind of edgy. The other issue I wanted to learn about and explore more was instrument development, and I tinkered for many hours to tweak the sounds, using effects such as delay, reverb, distortion, EQ, flangers, arpeggiators, envelope shapers, filters, compressors, panning, pitch adjusting, reverse processing, and quite a few more. I also developed sounds in Halion 5 from scratch and honed them to my liking using a zillion different knobs and automating controls such as volume and send effects. I cut down on my total instruments from my last video game remix from 205 down to only 64 for this one. I kind of realized my Wizards and Warriors mix was a bit chaotic and had too many different instruments and too much activity, ideas, and effects going on all at once, so I wanted to it be more cohesive this time around. I utilized virtual instrument plug-ins including pianos, an ocarina, orchestral harps, flamenco guitars, and mostly a ton of "world" and ethnic instruments to give it a more earthy feel. Some of those include a balalaika, pan flutes, a canapa, a balafon kalimba, a Celtic Harp, Himalayan Chimes, a Ney, and a few more. These were rounded off by more traditional instruments such as strings, but with surreal effects added so that they complimented the ethnic instruments, and also the inclusion of various pads for texture and character. I had a lot of fun making this one, it's probably a much different spin on the source material than what most are used to, but that was my intent, as I felt the song greatly lended itself to a subdued vibe that I wanted to experiment with, rather than just throw some beats and effects together. I'm pleased with the result and hope this song takes you away on a blissful reminiscience of the glory days of the SNES, traveling through time with Crono and Co!

There's a lot going on in this sub, and a lot to talk about. It's a free-flow jazz arrangement that combines four different sources, adding new structure and instrumentation, as well as original material. Clearly, there was a lot of effort put into this and I want to give as detailed an explanation for my vote as I can. Source usage is the easiest aspect to consider. There are changed chords and a totally new structure, but the melodies are kept mostly intact. I didn't timestamp it, but it seemed like it was over the 50% mark, considering chords and melody. I liked the balance of what pieces were carried over from the originals and what was added. Production was solid. It's maybe a little too clean, and the string articulations aren't always the best, but overall, it seemed to meet our standards. Some instruments could have been brought up in the mix, but that comes down to writing choices, somewhat. And let's get to that aspect. My biggest problem with the mix is that it's directionless. This is somewhat a personal preference, but to me there's not always a clear focus, and it's not the type of song that gets by on groove or mood alone. The song has pretty simple melodies and when played on the quite delicate piano instrument you've chosen, it barely registers as a lead. I would have chosen a fuller piano sound, maybe doubled in a lower octave, at which point it's possible the focus would be stronger. The violin lead had the same problem. When it plays at the same volume as the bg strings, you confuse the focus. But let's also talk about the musicality of the song. 0:15-0:30 has a strange new chord change that takes some getting used to IMO, with some bg notes that sound dissonant, especially the ones that linger into the chord change. 0:38-0:42 has some fills with the drums and bass, but the placement is really odd - it doesn't mark a chord change. That's very distracting to the listener and should be done sparingly. By contrast, at 0:45, there's no indication of a change, but the song introduces a new melody and chord change. Another example worth pointing out is how at 3:36-3:43, you've got a few different leads fighting for attention and they aren't complimenting each other. (3:28-3:35, 3:44-3:58 are examples where I thought you did it right - your lead writing there really works well.) I found strange musical choices like that peppered throughout the song. Sometimes I thought you added writing for the sake of having complex writing rather than deciding whether it served the song. I'm afraid it's a NO for me. There's just too much of the arrangement that doesn't work for me, even though I know you are going for something more on the abstract, dreamy side. I think you can keep the concept but deliver something with more focus and musicality. NO (resubmit)

Great adaptation of this source, and a pretty interesting hybrid style that I haven't heard before. No focus on leads, but it wasn't needed - the change-ups in instrumentation held my attention solidly. I wish the mixing was better, because I felt like the guitar really wasn't coming through at times, and what it plays is awesome. You've got it doing some lead lines, chugs, and then some flat-out drones at points. There was too much distance from the guitar, and the lo-fi instruments stepped on them too, so overall, not enough clarity. I tend to side with the YESes that this isn't a dealbreaker in this case. There's a lot of creativity stewing in this strange pot. YES

Fourthing the criticism that the track relies on the same components for too long, but it wasn't a major problem. It was a fun, spiffy little track to listen to and I really enjoyed the sound design. Obviously we've posted many chippy subs, but this had a different vibe in a way that I can't totally put my finger on, though I'll try. I liked how sparse and straight-ahead it was. Interesting work with the leads to keep them interesting while not taking too much attention from the groove. As mentioned, the combination of sources was well-chosen too. A pass for me. YES