Palpable

Man, I don't know what it is about Justin's production but the snare (and to a lesser extent, the lead) sound boosted in a frequency range that I find really irritating! It's frustrating because I really like the arrangement and the rest of the song, but I just find the song difficult to listen to. I feel like this might be some sort of personal thing that others aren't hearing or just not to the same extent - am I crazy?

What makes the 7/8 feel weird is the hi-hat, which doesn't follow a strict pattern. That actually threw me off the first time I was listening to this. Trying to ignore that makes this a little easier hehe. Now that Ad has given us his breakdown, I'm gonna throw a big old NO on this. Yep, seriously. I didn't hear the four-note melody used that often, and that was just about all I heard of the source. Definitely wasn't hearing the slower melody incorporated into the chords - if it was, that was too subtle for me. Towards the end, I hear the rhythm of the original melodies referenced a little, but not the notes. It felt far too loose, and the source was never dominant even if present, IMO. I did like the subtle, relaxy-ness of the arrangement a lot, actually. I just wanted to hear more of the source in there, something more obvious. Sorry! NO (resubmit)

I didn't vote on this upfront because I was ambivalent. I really like the arrangement and with Jimmy's helpful breakdown this seems fine enough to meet our dominant source usage criteria. More than half the song uses the source, and even the screamy part uses the chords from the source. The production has issues and the other judges have laid them out pretty well. The low-end in particular sounds pretty stuffed, and while I sort of dig the messiness, you could clean it up some without wrecking the concept. Here's hoping for a resubmit from you, this is good stuff. NO (resubmit)

Artist name: Flexstyle Real name: Mike Birch Website: http://flexstylemusic.com Userid: 22246 Game remixed: Golden Sun Song remixed: Venus Lighthouse This remix came about as a submission to the People's Remix Competition 124, almost exactly a year ago as I write this. I heard the original song and decided that I simply must remix the song, even though I'd never played the game. It's quite an epic song, and I thought it fit perfectly into the trance genre. This is a slightly modified version of the PRC submission (tried to shorten it a bit), and has actually been featured on the Aftershock Promotions (www.aspromos.com) Downloader Volume 6 mixtape, a freely available download full of music from great independent artists around the globe. I never got around to submitting it to OCR previously, but better late than never, eh? Thanks for listening! -Mike (Flexstyle) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Admittedly, it was hard to hear the lead against the UNTS at times, and the piano section was a weak point, but I thought the arrangement was nice and the beat bangin'. A good deal of automation and dynamic changes to keep it interesting, I never felt like this got repetitive. Heck, sometimes I'm just glad to see trance use more than one melody line from a source song. If the lead had been more clear and the piano more humanized without the delay competing for attention, this would be a no-brainer, but as is, I think it's good enough to pass. Let's see more from you, Mike! YES

vertexguy Chris Kline ChrisK@vertexguy.com http://www.vertexguy.com 16102 Street Fighter II Intro / Title Theme Remix Title: Frets of Fury http://www.ocremix.org/game/street-fighter-ii-the-world-warrior-arc/ http://www.zophar.net/music/spc/street-fighter-2.html This mix was inspired by a Street Fighter II month at the Dwelling of Duels. Rather than do one of the common themes covered by many, I chose to take the 18 second intro and try to turn it into a lengthy and enjoyable remix experience. To do this I had to add a lot of my own new melodies that fit well with the original, all while reinjecting familiar parts of the original back in so you don't lose the theme. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sf2 - The World Warrior (sf2-02.spc) Only 2:22, but so oh sweet. It is pretty conservative for the first 0:27 and the uses of that section thereafter, but a new backing guitar part helps differentiate it. But what I love is how he adapts the chords to a minor key and solos like a crazy person over it, referencing the melody occasionally. Very cool stuff, that Chris makes sound easy. I suppose someone might think that the new and source elements are too separated, but I think there's just enough peanut butter in the chocolate and vice versa, so to speak. The song is a little soft and it might have been better with the backing instruments brought up, but I feel fine passing this. If y'all agree this is passable as is, I can e-mail Chris afterward to see if he is willing to make any tweaks. YES

Remixer Name - Jae Real Name - James Clyburn User ID - 29277 Name of Game Arranged - Fighter's Destiny Name of Individual Song Arranged - Joker's Room System - Nintendo 64 Comments - Well, I wanted to try my hand at remixing a song from a game that was never super popular. "Fighter's Destiny" isn't a name that sticks out as much as "Street Fighter" or "Tekken". In fact, I couldn't even remember the title of the game until I ran a search of some of the characters last year. Besides most of the characters, one thing I remember the most about the game is "Joker's Room". It's been in my head ever since I played the game many years ago, and it is the reason why I wanted to search for the game again. Now, I've taken the source material and added my own spin to it by slowing it down while hopefully maintaining the song's intensity. It was an interesting task considering this is my first serious attempt at this, and I really couldn't have completed it without some very helpful suggestions. Since it is an unfamiliar song to an unfamiliar game, I really didn't expect anyone to listen to it in its WIP stages. Luckily, they did, and they helped me out a great deal. I hope you all enjoy it. I had a lot of fun with this, and I appreciate your feedback! ^.^ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The arrangement was pretty good, though it may have been light on Fighter's History melodies; I was finding it hard to break down how much source was used. But some of the production issues are dealbreakers, including the realism of the strings and some of the panning choices. I also think there was a general issue with filling the soundscape. I'd recommend listening to professional music with the same instrument set and see how it is produced to try to get a more balanced, orthodox sound. Sections of this are quite nice, so keep at it. NO (resubmit)

*cough, motions at sig*

So no nostalgia for you, I take it.

My 1996 U2 fan page has long been taken off geocities, but I still have some nostalgia for those days. xkcd.com has a pretty accurate homage today.

Nope, still no minimum length. If a song can be sufficiently developed and interpretive under 2 minutes, we'll take it. It would be rare, but possible.

Haha, sorry to make you give the judges breakdowns on your birthday. Hopefully our gift can be speedy decisions! (Also, 24 is not old.)

From the man himself:

I've started operating more and more like that, quick, from the gut decisions on close calls. The volume of subs just keeps getting higher, something has to give. And I feel like anything on the border is not a mistake to pass. And I'm all about taking a second look later if I feel we missed something too. Anyhow, I'm getting off track. Ask and ye shall receive:

Amy just finished the new version today, more reverb, better separation. It's linked in the first post.

Song: Aquilla 303- Aquantick (Futuret Rave Mix) Remixer: DJ Lamborghini Turbofire Real Name: Sergio Arturo Muñiz Arellano WebPage: http://srcorp.multiply.com UserID: 26029 Game: Need For Speed 3 Hot Pursuit Song: Aquilla 303 (Race Track Atlantica/Acuantica trax Techno Ver.) Composted by: Rom Di Prisco (Electronic Arts.) Game System: Play Station One A remix of this trax style future rave..... --------------------------------------------------------------- Though the source melodies were used in somewhat interesting ways, those usages just repeated and repeated. The arrangement seemed to drag in that respect. Automated processing on those parts might have compensated for the repetition, but there wasn't a lot here. Some of the original writing clashes too, not a great addition. It also seemed pretty loud, though that's an easier fix. I think the arrangement not having enough variety is what's gonna make this a NO (resubmit)

My big issue was with the piano and guitar realism, but I'll relisten to whatever fixes he's willing to make.

I e-mailed Rozo for a source breakdown, which is what I should have done a while ago. It's unfair to him for us to hold this for so long without voting on it (Jimmy aside).

People sometime post about needing a vocalist for a song in Community or Workshop. Keeping an eye out for those kinds of threads is good. Updating your music skills in our Workshop database and listing them in your forum sig are both good too, I saw you've done both of those. I guess another important thing is just getting your name (and voice) out there by posting in the forums or doing competitions. Establishing yourself as a regular will help producers keep you in mind for songs and trust that you won't flake on a project. One last thing: if you have any ideas for songs you'd like to remix, you could just start a Workshop thread about that, asking for a producer to collab with and hope someone wants to do the same song. Hope this helps and that you stick around!

So I missed a section in my notes the first time through. Just vote on it, ya punk.

I feel like I'm trying to judge some sort of alien song based on Earth music conventions here. The mix of electronic drums + female vocals + orchestra + growl + choir is bizarre, to say the least. I guess let's start with the arrangement of the source. I definitely may have missed something so please feel free to set me straight, OA. 0:00-0:15, 0:16-0:24, 1:21-1:30, 2:21-3:04, 3:26-4:08, 4:13-4:25, 5:08-5:18, 6:23-7:06, 7:09-7:24, 7:25-7:35 = 207 / 468 = 44% That's a close call, and I don't know what way I would go on it, so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I don't think it's a mistake to pass it on that level; it references the source nearly half of the time, if not more than that. Next to the arrangement itself. This is definitely one of the most ambitious songs I've heard submitted, and though it's interesting to hear, it's not without its problems. I thought it was somewhat disjointed and some transitions were weak. The individual parts and writing were quite good, but at the busiest moments (2:42-3:04) it felt like there was too much going on. I liked it, but tough to say which side I fall on. And finally, production, which is pretty good for a song with so much in it. However, I wasn't a fan of the way the drums were produced and they didn't seem to have much power to them, which hurt the whole piece. I also thought the soundscape was cramped - big surprise, right? But hell, it's certainly a better job than I would do with it. I feel like this is borderline decision on three fronts, and I'm leaning towards NO because of that. The production is probably the thing which most leads me most in that direction, but if I was really behind the arrangement, I could probably overlook it. Any additional information someone can provide on source breakdown might cause me to take another look, but I think I'd probably still be a NO. NO (resubmit?)

Gonna need help breaking it down... -palp Remixer name: Uboichi Real Name: Uub Jacobson Remixer ID: 10339 Game Arranged: World of Warcraft Songs Arranged: Gnomeregan Theme (gnomeragon01-zone, gnomeragon02-zone), Tinker Town Theme (tinkertownintro-moment) Composer: Derek Duke Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqlaoBlnKaI Well, this sure was a weird project of mine. For quite some time I've been wanting to do a remix in 20th century classical music style. But most modern composers write atonal music and most game music composers don't. Also I've been wanting for about as long to do a remix of the Gnomeregan theme from World of Warcraft, but I didn't have a clue what to do with it. Then one evening while hearing the Tinker Town theme I thought I could use the ostinato chords from that work to build a base for the Gnomeregan melodies. At first I wanted to make a full orchestral work, but decided that the sound I wanted was that of a small ensemble instead of a full orchestra. So after deciding to use a woodwind choir, some percussion instruments and a piano, I set my goal to creating the weirdest classical style arrangement in the history of OCR. Heavily inspired by Messiaen, and to a lesser extent by Schoenberg, I started writing . But after listening several different cadenza's for Hungarian Rhapsody no.2 by Liszt I wanted a cadenza for my work too! So I finished the arrangement, but left a space open for a cadenza. A couple of weeks after finish, I started writing on the cadenza. I had never written a cadenza or someting similar to it before, so I didn't have a clue how long it would take me to write. To my surprise I was done in only 2 days! I don't expect a lot of people to actually like this arrangement. Modern classical music is not for everyone. It can be beautiful if you are able to listen it, but most people just aren't used to it. But this is simply my ode to both modern classical music and game-music. Uub. P.S. Though Inpsired by modern classical composers, everything written is based directly on the sources given and in no way I tried to quote those composers I mentioned earlier.

Original submission: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13328 2nd submission: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14498 Remixer name: Vidilian Real name: Vidal Spaine Game: Fire Emblem - Blazing Sword Songs: Archsage Athos, Silent ground, Knight's Oath Submitted this a long time ago under a different name since the name didn't really suit the song. Thats obviously not the only difference. I improved a lot on the production, humanised every instrument and expanded on the arrangement. Best way to describe what I'm going for is an epic lullaby. All done with a PSR-1500 keyboard. Thanks for listening. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/15933 - "The Archsage Athos", "Silent Ground" & "A Knight's Oath" I didn't touch much on the arrangement last vote, but I had a hard time even hearing the sources in this except Knight's Oath in the middle section. I'm not sure if this was an issue in the last version because it's been a while. Would be nice for Vidal if another judge wouldn't mind chiming in there. Unfortunately, I still don't think the production is up to scratch. I wouldn't give this as harsh a vote as last time, but there's still some weird envelopes and volume changes that make this sound unrealistic. Now the soundscape is cloudy rather than thin, which makes the writing hard to pick out. There's also some timing issues and bum notes, which I notice I said last time. Keep at it, Vidal. You might have overcorrected some of this stuff, but I think you'll settle on a happy medium and you can use those skills in further works. NO

Hmm, disappointing to see that the rock section is pretty much straight Enemy Attack. Actually, the style of that song is closer to Octo's which made me reconsider my vote. This was already on the conservative side, and that pushes this more in that direction. However, even with the hooks intact, I feel like this is interpretive enough. In the intro and outro, you've got new string writing going on under the melody. In the verse, there's new low brass parts. In the chorus, the chords are changed, the low brass parts are again new, and the melody is changed at the end. In the 2:04 section, the chords change again. Also, unless I missed something (which I may well have), the 1:25-1:43 and 3:27-3:33 sections are new. I still feel this is on the acceptable side of conservative. Sticking with YES.

Hi OCR remix!! I send my music.please listen it. RemixerName:Mirage Luv FullName:JetsFrideURL:http://gunpeace.blog54.fc2.com/ ID:29544 ReMix Music Name:Return to Darkness GAME:FINAL FANTASY XI -online- OST NAME:Awakening ReMixTYPE:HardRock COMPOSER:Naoshi Mizuta Plathome:WINDOWS/PS2 about music:Awakening HR arrange,Recorded sound of playing guitar and etc.. Message: Sorry for my poor English,coz Im Japanese. But I always watch OCR reMix everyday, So I made remix music of FFXI Music. From Email Adress is my Email for JOB(WORK),so if you reply, then Please send to "jets-fride@mirageluv.sakura.ne.jp" Thank you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Very close to the original, to the point where it's more a cover than an arrangement. Sure, there are rock drums instead of more orchestral percussion, and guitar in place of some leads, but the melodies and structure are kept intact. That makes this a NO, sadly. Apart from some slight realism issues, I thought this sounded good and was well mixed. Please submit again, Mirage! NO

Remixer: Dr. Manhattan (userID : 23236) & Scaredsim (userID : 20011) Submission information: Game arranged: Langrisser II Songs arranged: Knight’s Errand, One’s Side Source material: http://www.project2612.org/details.php?id=72 Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- , I was going to let this one marinate because it's absolutely badass, but I think I already know which way I'm going on this. With the melody, structure, and even sometimes backing guitars and drums following the original closely, this feels like a cover to me. There's one section in the middle that bridges the two songs where you guys solo over the opening on One's Side, but otherwise, it's pretty conservative. I can hear that you've added some background bells here and there, a guitar harmony at one point, but it all feels like sauce. The meat of this is straight from the original. Sorry guys. I may change my mind based on what others say, but I think we routinely say NO to rock arrangements with this level of interpretation and I want to be fair. NO