Palpable

I liked the treatment. You brought some great ideas to the table, and used the full dynamic range of the orchestra. Each section had a new approach but the source was almost always present. On an arrangement level, I would pass this. However, the ending could have used more of a build-up - it just... ended. The production wasn't as solid, starting with a lack of reverb. The strings sounded okay legato, but once you moved to the sharper attacks and releases, it felt like we were transported from a hall to a studio. Be more careful with how your instruments are positioned spatially - like Chimpazilla said, you don't want things to stick out that will take the listener out of the experience. Sequencing is actually not as big a problem here as reverb and balance (which is unusual for orchestral subs we get, where sequencing is typically the biggest problem), but could use some tightening. Fixing those space-related issues will bring you a long way towards a pass. NO (resubmit)

Man, I love Brent's stuff. This cycles through several different songs and styles but with enough panache to make it feel like a connected piece; in fact, the only real criticism I can make of the song is that it's medley-like. It helps that Brent lays the crazy FX on so heavy in his songs - it's the metaphorical rug that ties the room together, makes it sound like a DJ mixing whatever random records are sitting on his floor. 1:41-2:02 was trippy as hell and an especially freaky section for anyone who's played the games. Wonderful soloing from Brendan to close it out. Have your YES

You've got moxie, kid, I'll give you that. We've gotten subs before where one element is really out-of-place and it's not obvious to me whether the remixer realizes it; with you, Brandon, I'm guessing you realize what you're doing. That rap is kind of hilarious and sounds like a completely different song. I mean, that in itself isn't a dealbreaker, but it's certainly jarring. The thin synths that handle the source are also out-of-place for most of the song, except when the guitars lighten up, and that was a bigger problem. The soundscape never gelled - the synths sound like an afterthought. Will also called out the problems with the drums and I agreed with his comments. The vocals could have been more intense, but it wasn't as big an issue. I do think this is salvagable. Start with the core of the song, the guitar/drums/bass/vocals, and get those sounding balanced. Pick a synth with more bite to it, maybe something distorted, or just use a guitar. The rap... is what it is. With a near perfect execution - not vocals, but transitions in and out, and production - it would be easier to swallow. Those are my suggestions to get this passed. NO (resubmit)

Siding with the YES votes. Separation could be better, as well as frequency balance to a lesser extent, but I heard no dealbreaker issues here. 0:44 was crowded but not bad, and the high frequencies were certainly on the tolerable side of hot, I thought. A creative, restless mix with mostly excellent execution. YES

Kristina's comments on the drums are very useful, and I'll elaborate on those. The kick is all click, not enough thump. The snare sounds quite dull and needs the same mid/high end boost that the kick has. Those drums are a big problem when so much of the track rests on it. I really recommend doing an A-B comparison with say, one of OA's songs and see if you can get the guitars and drums to sound more like that. Pay close attention to the higher frequency ranges, I think your mix is lacking there. Overall, an improvement over the last version though. The 1:35 section sounds better, and I think the arrangement is rock solid. There's just not enough bite here because of the production. NO (resubmit)

Man, that's a great way of putting it. Describes my music making to a T. I make about 1 song a year now, down from probably 5-6 at my peak, but I've always tried to make each song better than the last and that takes more and more time. Well, that and music became less of a priority. To answer the thread, I've never flat-out stopped since I picked up Cakewalk back in '98, but sometimes I'll go a couple months without touching music.

MP3 (mediafire): ReMixer name : Maxo Real name: Max Coburn Email: Website: http://maxoisnuts.bandcamp.com --- Game arranged : Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue Arrangement name: Cruisin' Kanto Songs arranged : (in order) Vermillion City, Cerulean City, Cinnabar Island, Viridian City, Lavender Town, Celadon City, Pallet Town Game Info: SYSTEM: Gameboy, COMPOSER: Junichi Masuda (1996) Source Material: (also in order) VERMILLION: CERULEAN: CINNABAR: VIRIDIAN (PEWTER): LAVENDER: CELADON: PALLET: Comments: This is an especially wanky, especially jazzy version of the town tunes I heard countless times (and still do) growing up! It's a very maximalist arrangement, but I'm proud of the work I put into it! It's been a long time since I've submitted to OCRemix, but I hope this can get me back on the wagon! : ) hey! so i'm gonna just list timestamps of which part is which tune! 0:00 - 0:45 - Cinnabar Island (0:29 - Route 11) 0:45 -1:10 - Cerulean City 1:10 - 1:42 - Vermillion City 1:42 - 2:23 - Viridian / Pewter / Saffron City 2:23 - 2:50 - Lavender Town 2:50 - 3:30 - Celadon City 3:30 - 4:16 - Pallet Town : D Thanks OCR team <3 -Max

EVERYTHING about this song works for me, except the amount of source used. Great production, playing, mood, and mix title! When the Sagat theme is in play, everything is firing right, but this is way too liberal for me. Apart from the obvious uses of the Sagat main melody, the rhodes seems to borrow the rhythm of that melody from time to time, but that's really not much of a connection. Bass and chords appear to be totally different. Judges, please point out anything I missed, I'd love to be able to pass this. NO

Remixer Name: Nostalvania Real Name : Markus Email: User ID: 47981 Name of game arranged: Street Fighter II - The World Warrior (SNES) Name of arrangement: The Eyepatch Of The Tiger Name of individual song: Sagat's Theme Additional information: Composer: Isao Abe My own comments: A smooth and jazzy 5/4 groove. Long E-Piano solo at 2:25. Tiger!! Link to Remix: Source Link: http://youtu.be/qMsfhbRgxBg

Great start. Right from the bat, this has great energy and the Raiden melody works really well adapted to rock. The B-section isn't handled as well though. The lead guitar still sound good, but drum/bass pattern is a little basic and thin to fill in the wide gap left by the rhythm guitars. When the rhythm guitars come back, the gap is filled, but the guitars aren't that interesting, playing basic power chords. Again, the A-section sounds excellent, especially with the soloing brought in. The transition at 2:25 was really abrupt and didn't seem to do much apart from extend the song. There was another unchanged repetition of the A-section right after it. This is very close, but lacking the extra push needed to really make this song work. I would do more with the B-section, either using some muted rhythm guitar, or more elaborate drum patterns and fills. When the rhythm guitars are in play in the B-section, they should do something a little more interesting, maybe a flourish near the end of the chord. Finally, it would be nice to have the last repetition do something a little different, maybe more soloing or changing around the bass or drum patterns. This is an excellent start, Julian! NO (resubmit)

Contact info Remixer Name: Kogasu Real Name: Julian Villarreal E-Mail: Website: http://www.youtube.com/user/scorchbird/ User ID: 52432 Submission: Submission info Game: Raiden Arrangement name: "The Fearless Lightning and Thunder" Song used: "Gallantry" I decided to try my hand at submitting something., I hope it isn't too bad. --------------------------------------------

Interesting arrangement. The original is basically just one riff, and you guys expanded upon it by adding a chorus (with vocals!) and a new post-chorus section. All in all, this is really well-executed but too liberal. 0:00-0:29 and 1:08-1:37 are the only direct uses of the sources, and 2:16-2:27 might be counted if I'm feeling generous. That's really not enough to be dominant. I would strongly encourage you guys to send more our way, if it uses less original material. NO

CONTACT INFO: ReMix by "Dynamite Pleasure Chair" (forums userid 52588) Dynamite Pleasure Chair is: JP Jason Power: Vocals Dan Cranston: Bass guitar Nick Brutal: Lead and rhythm guitar Brett Petersen: Drums website: http://www.dynamitepleasurechair.com (currently just points at our Facebook page, we will have a proper site in the near future) e-mail contact: (the address I'm sending this from!) SUBMISSION INFO: Game: DOOM (PC, 1993) http://ocremix.org/game/110/doom-win Source track: "At Doom's Gate (E1M1)" http://ocremix.org/song/732 (can be heard at )ReMix name: BFG This song is track 4 from our upcoming album "Sudden Impact", which is full of music about video games, 80s and 90s movies, and even Dr. Seuss books! Our usual sound is largely influenced by punk rock, grunge, and metal, though is best described as "seusscore". This track, however, is PURE METAL. Everything you hear is real instruments, recorded with Tim Lynch at "The Recording Company" in upstate NY. We wanted to do a track about DOOM and felt pretty strongly that "At Doom's Gate" (the first level theme) was the most iconic and recognizable (as well as my personal favorite!) The intro and verse are the source material played relatively straight, and the chorus and lyrics are all original - my biggest concern about suitability for OCR is that there may be too much original material for your standards, but I'm hoping the original track is prominent enough that it won't be an issue! This track also has explicit lyrics, but I don't imagine that will be a problem since there are already songs with explicit lyrics on OCR such as http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02388/ ("Prancing Dad" by Prince of Darkness). We have another track from the same album about Dr. Mario that we will probably also submit in the future - it has considerably less original material mixed in with our arrangement of the source and may thus be more suitable, but the band wanted to submit BFG first since it's one of our favorite tracks! Thanks so much for your time and feedback! -Dan Cranston, bassist of Dynamite Pleasure Chair

Weird source song. It has some unusual elements working together, almost dissonant. Cody's song keeps that crazy mood but adapts it to a more fleshed out, groovy style. I like the ideas here, but the sequencing is really not doing the song favors. The hip-hop loop is overused, the flute, plucked instruments, and others are lacking in expression. Cody uses a wide array of instruments, which compensates somewhat for that, but I didn't think it was enough. However, some of the funkier guitar parts were cool. It was also a problem that the song didn't really move outside of the first gear. Once the guitar and shakers come in (let's call that 1.5 gear), it stays at the same energy level throughout and reuses some sections too. Good start, Cody, but I think this needs more to sell it. NO (resubmit)

Contact Info: Remixer Name: Cody R Burns Real Name: Cody R Burns Email: Websites: http://codyrburns.moonfruit.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_R_Burns http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3979887/ userID: 45468 Submission Info: Name of Game: Pokemon: Diamond Version Name of Arrangement: Groovin' in B-"Miner" Name of Song Arranged: Oreburgh City (Day) Link to Original: Composer: Hitomi Sato System: Nintendo DS Comments: "I wanted to create something different that hasn't been seen before in this game. I've been a fan of the series since the old GameBoy days, and to take a theme that people often overlook and turn it into a groove, it was a thrilling experience. By adding in an eccentric funk guitar sound with a hip-hop beat, I've combined the two into something that hardcore fans of the series will recognize, but maybe question what theme has been remixed." ---------------------------

Aahh, it pains me to keep rejecting this submission, which has come a very long way. This is the best version yet, certainly. I love how you keep further humanizing the articulations, and having Joe play live parts really adds a lot of expression. However, those drums still just aren't working. They don't sound like they are even in the same space as everything else, and they're way too plodding. Personally, I don't think a rock kit has the right sound for what you're trying to do, and an orchestral kit might work better. The coda is a little better in this version, though it still sounds a little out-of-place. But pay heed: the drums are the last element that need to be fixed for me. With a kit that works into the mix better and isn't so plodding, you have a pass from me. NO (resubmit)

previous decision Remixer name: Bluelighter feat. XPRTNovice Real name: Guillaume SAUMANDE; Joseph ZIEJA Mail: ; ID forum: 30998; 48347 Game & Songs: Asterix GB – Helvetia & Title Screen & Secret Level Album Project: The Game Boy 25th Anniversary ReMix Composer: Alberto Jose Gonzalez Interpreter: Joe ZIEJA (flute; clarinet; saxophone) (Link: the precedent links are no longer available and I didn’t find other links on Youtube. Please contact me if you need original music also for a RESUB) Hi OCR! The album project was for me the opportunity to make new version of this mix. For this one, I used better samples for orchestra and drum parts; And above all Joe recorded for me some instruments on the melodic line (flute, clarinet and saxophone). He really helped me to get a more refreshing version of these melodies. So thanks to him! I hope you’ll enjoy this version

The snare has certainly been decreased in volume, which fixes the biggest problem I had. It sounds like it still plays the same way most of the time, except maybe on fills, but it's way less noticeable now. Yeah, great work here. YES

original decision Contact Information > ReMixer name: HeavenWraith > Real name: Antanas Palaitis > Website: http://www.heavenwraithmusic.net > Forum userID: 50325 Submission Information > Game: Mega Man X, Mega Man 2 > ReMix Name: Charge! Towards The Sunset Of Intergalactic Dictatorship > Original Name: Boomer Kuwanger Stage (MMX), Metal Man Stage (MM2) > Original Author: Makoto Tomozawa, Setsuo Yamamoto, Toshihiko Horiyama, Yuki Iwai, Yuko Takehara (MMX); Manami Matsumae, Takashi Tateishi (MM2) Now with less snare! I kind of understand what Larry wants me to do with the transition between the two themes, however I feel that something fast and not pace-breaking would be more loyal to the original idea I had for this remix back in 2012. I sure hope this new rendition doesn't tick anyone off too much!

New name is "Mystical Mist".

Basically co-signing Dave's vote. The organ detours might have sounded a little better if the guitar chords had also gone off the rails for those short sections, but they didn't sound awful as it was. I liked the idea of them. However, the production is a little too rough around the edges, even for this style of song. With a little clean-up, this would be a shoo-in for the front page. NO (resubmit)

Right from the outset of the rock ensemble, it felt crowded. The snare, pad, and the lead instruments are fighting somewhat for the space in the mids, which isn't helped by the reverb settings used. The pad especially doesn't need to be taking up that much room, and you should play with EQ and reverb settings to make some room there. As noted, the snare sound is pretty plodding, and some variation to how it plays might help. I think some extra attention to the percussion sequencing wouldn't be amiss. Since I'm saying a lot of the same things the others have said, I'll second Liontamer's suggestion to add more personalization to the first half. It bordered on being a cover, and we look for more personalized approaches in what we accept. This is a decent start and I'd like to see another revision. NO (resubmit)

I kind of hold the same opinion as Dave, but it didn't confuse me much. I've heard songs before that alternate between high-energy trance sections and ambient or downtempo sections, and as long as it builds appropriately up-and-down, it works fine. Tyler did a fine job here, I wasn't thrown much, nor did I think the synths used were all that generic. The building block sounds may have been, but with some filters, FX, and portamento, they stood out. Apart from the issues with lack of bass in the intro, I liked it and have no problem passing it. YES

That was the first thing I noticed besides the direct sampling. The lead guitar could have been fatter and the pad less so, but I thought the mixing was pretty solid otherwise. The next thing I noticed was that it followed the source pretty closely, almost a straight genre adaptation other than the drums and rhythm guitars. But that's fairly substantial on its own. The second half introduced some new elements and generally did more arrangement; by the end, it won me over. Creative ideas, great production and playing, a winner. YES

A lot of my remixes are deconstructive, and as such, I really dig this style, especially when it's this polished. Aymeric made smart use of the original melodies, and dare I say, came up with something that is a bit more cohesive than the original source song! Really, the only complaint I have is that there is some repetition. It's not entire copy/pasted sections, but many of the elements are reused. A little more creativity and variety would have made this a 10/10 remix in my book; as it stands, it's a pass. YES