Arrow

I tried to keep this brief, but as you might know, that's not my forte.
FIRST, the facts...
On October 28th I informed staff that I was stepping down from my role as president/admin/owner/etc. of OverClocked ReMix, and on November 1st I also stepped down from the board of Game Music Initiative, the 501c3 non-profit organization that funds OCR. In short, I no longer feel I have the bandwidth to do these roles justice and to not only maintain, but advance, the missions of both projects. I will be working with Shariq Ansari (DarkeSword) to transition my responsibilities and ensure continuity of operations. The (excellent!) mix posted on Halloween was published without my direct involvement, subsequent posts up to the milestone #OCR04500 have been superbly executed, and I am confident that staff will continue the work necessary to operate - and evolve - OCR in my absence. I will be even less available than I have been, lately, so I apologize in advance for any lack of responsiveness.
THEN, the feels...
Where to even begin?
It's hard to encapsulate over two decades of history; omissions are inevitable. What began as a neat side project I started in my parents' basement in 1999 snowballed into something far beyond my wildest expectations, due to the blood, sweat, tears, and unbridled, rampant creativity that thousands of you have contributed. Much of this happened before social media was even a thing and before the platforms/services we now heavily associate with the modern internet had come into being; it was a frontier, and we were on it, and we took it pretty seriously because we knew how amazing VGM is, how creative arrangements could effectively convey and explore that vast musical landscape, and how a small fandom communicating via email, IRC, & forums could collaborate to build mighty, new things. We took it seriously, often too seriously, but we ALSO played more than a few rounds of Shaq-Fu at conventions, made some truly ridiculous (but always musical!) joke mixes, and developed internal circles of lore with our own memes & jargon.
NOT in strictly chronological order: there was some drama with now-legendary composer Jake Kaufman; VGMix entered the fray; we added a judges panel so it wasn't just me making stuff up; we released our first community album; the unmoderated forum birthed its own sort of... subculture; the site itself evolved to be database-driven and not just two giant dropdowns sorted by game/date; we posted mixes submitted by composers George "The Fat Man" Sanger and Jeremy Soule; we met/interviewed Hiroki Kikuta and Nobuo Uematsu; our album trailers by the incomparable José the Bronx Rican started blowing minds; we started appearing in person at Otakon, PAX, MAG, others - much love to all for having us; we bumped into Leeroy Jenkins at ROFLcon and gave him a hoodie; we started hosting from our own server and managing the technical side of things ourselves; thanks to Mr. Shael Riley (among others!), we got to remix the music for an actual Street Fighter game (!!); we released fifteen more albums...
...and then we turned ten, on December 11th of 2009.
Quite a first decade, and I missed hundreds of things I shouldn't have. Hundreds of firsts, some tragic lasts, and millions of memories that can't quite be conjured by words.
In 2011, we stood up for Fair Use at World’s Fair Use Day, an event organized by the non-profit Public Knowledge.
In 2012, we launched our kickstarter for Final Fantasy VI: Balance and Ruin, it was taken down, we talked with Square lawyers directly for a couple hours and made the non-profit project structure clear & contractual, and we relaunched a successful kickstarter. That's not always how those things go!
We launched Game Music Initiative in 2016, creating an official 501c3 charity to formalize the finances around OCR and potentially support other VGM-related projects, too. On a related note, I’ve absolutely loved seeing OC ReMixes featured by charity speedrunners Games Done Quick (GDQ) - it’s exactly the type of thing I always wanted to see, that synergy.
Things do start getting a little quieter from then on out, and I think there are a ton of reasons for that, but it has been an incredible and improbable journey that I wouldn't have missed for the world. Thank you ALL for making it possible; OCR was always yours, I aspired only to stewardship of something I wanted to exist for everyone.
FINALLY, the future…
It's time - some would say past time - for OverClocked ReMix itself to be ReMixed.
That's the point, right?
Infinite permutation; endless possibility.
You don't always know the day, month, or even year when your influence on something starts holding it back, or when the waning amount of time and energy you can dedicate becomes a liability. That type of certainty is often elusive; it can be a difficult diagnosis to even contemplate, and you need to look for & listen to signs. In addition to just being too much of a single point of failure for OCR (sorry, engineering mindset), the last year I've been asking myself whether it was time to let go, and I think the answer is sometimes in the asking. I have been stretched thin, like butter scraped over too much bread, and that's when you leave the Shire.
Beyond representing what I genuinely believe is best for the future of OCR, I absolutely confess a personal wish to redirect reclaimed time & energy to my family and my own music. Being a husband to my wife Anna and being a father to our daughters Esther and Sarah is my meaning; I have always put them first, but now I can put them even MORE first. Esther just started learning trombone, so in a few years, expect a collab! Sarah is building her confidence learning piano & makes me proud every day. I want to write new music for them, and with them, and that requires more time than I've had.
I believe the principles that have driven us - embracing all games & all styles of music, emphasizing interpretation & creativity, offering both curation and critique, and providing a non-commercial platform for those who seek it - are truly timeless, but there are many ways to honor them.
I look to the new leadership/staff to galvanize, streamline, diversify, and re-imagine, within that immense space.
I'll be leaving them with some ideas of my own; please let them know yours. I ask the community to support them, embrace change, provide guidance, and be patient; I believe it will be worth it!
Thanks,
- djpretzel
 

It's been almost 11 years.  And I still listen to Reuben Kee's "Once Upon a Lifestream".
 
This loss is immeasurable.  What Reuben did in his lifetime was already extraordinary--if he had survived this event, I have no doubt he would have become a name that would have lived throughout centuries.
 
Rest in peace, Reuben Kee.  You were magnificent.  And as long as I live, I will continue to share your magnificence.

Howdy, OCR forums. I'm directing a project for OverClocked Records that is similar to OCR's Super Cartography Bros album, in that it's working with short, recognizable themes and turning them into EDM tracks. I need someone who thinks they have the killer studio chops to take a short theme and turn it into an EDM (house, dubstep, future bass, riddim, etc.) banger. What's more, you need to be able to pull this off in the span of a few weeks. If you think you're up to it, send me a sample of your work, and let's talk!
 
There is no payment up front, but this will be a commercially-released album with royalty payments.

Just wanna chime in to note that I built a machine in July, entirely based on parts suggested to me by prophetik, and it's served me super well since then. Huge props! Man knows what he's doing.

About
Rise again, Robot Masters! The year is 2018, and the battle for musical supremacy returns! Bring your phattest beats, your wailingest guitars, and other superlatively described musical elements!
Current News
Round 7 is over. The matchups were as follows:
Remixer and Source VS Remixer and Source Arceace - Air Man vs Garpocalypse - Tengu Man Voting is live and will last until November 14, 2018.
Past Rounds
Music downloads for past rounds are available in voting threads. A tournament archive will be provided at the conclusion of the competition.
Round 1 - Mega Man Bracket Round 2 - Proto Man Bracket Round 3 - Mega Man Bracket Round 4 & 5 Round 6 - Proto Man Bracket Round 7 - Grand Final Eliminated Competitors
Eliminated competitors are welcome to challenge other eliminated competitors to friendly matches during any mixing stage. I will encode, tag, and host any friendly matches and provide voting along with tournament entries.
Remixer and Source AxLR - Metal Man Ronald Poe - Cut Man pixelchips - Tornado Man Supercoolmike - Shade Man Realme - Wind Man Gario - Cloud Man Trism - Top Man Starphoenix - Grenade Man SuperiorX - Ground Man Ridiculously Garret - Crash Man Chalis - Flash Man PlanarianHugger - Freeze Man Mak Eightman - Fire Man Jamphibious - Charge Man Submission Instructions
Submission
All entries must be sent to me (DarkeSword) via PM on the forums. Please include the round number in the subject line of your PM. I encode all MP3s myself, so please send me your submissions in 16bit, 44.1KHz WAV format. Don’t send MP3s.
Please do not use MediaFire, RapidShare, or any other ad-ridden public sharing site as a host for your entry. There are many better options you can and should be using to host your music. I recommend Dropbox or SoundCloud. Make sure your files are downloadable.
File Names
Filenames must be in the following format:
Your Artist Name - Your Remix Title (Your Robot Master vs. Opponent's Robot Master).wav For example:
DarkeSword - Be Cool, Man (Ice Man vs. Blizzard Man).wav Notes
Make sure you’re using proper capitalization for Robot Master names. Put spaces on both sides of the hyphen the Artist and the Title. If your remix’s title has special punctuation that you can’t include in the file name (e.g. \ / : \* ? " < > |), please let me know in your submission PM so I can include the correct title in the tags. Robot Master names have a space between the element and Man; e.g. it’s Ice Man, not Iceman. There should be a period (.) after vs. Please follow the file name format exactly; I use the file names to make sure that all the metadata is correct when I tag the MP3s. It’s a massive pain sitting there renaming, re-spacing, and reformatting so that everything works properly with mp3tag’s file-name-to-tag tools, and ultimately it means that when you all do it right, I can get the music up for voting way faster.
Voting Rules and Guidelines
Voting is conducted publicly in the Public Voting forum. Every week, a thread will be created for the most recently completed round of remixing.
Things to keep in mind when voting:
The most important thing to consider when voting is how well the remix incorporates and arranges both themes. Production and enjoyability should also be considered, but this is primarily an arrangement competition. Everyone is allowed (and encouraged) to vote, including competitors. Everyone must adhere to the Competitions Code of Conduct. How Does it Work?
Theme Selection
Choose three Robot Master themes from any of the following classic Mega Man games:
Mega Man 1-6 (NES) Mega Man 7 (SNES) Mega Man 8 (PSX/Saturn) Mega Man 9-10 (PSN/XBL) Mega Man V (GB) (This game has Stardroids instead of Robot Masters, but that’s okay) Mega Man & Bass (SNES/GBA) Post your list of three in order of preference. A draft will be run to determine your Robot Master theme assignment. This is the theme you’ll be remixing as you progress through the tournament.
The Tournament
The GRMRB is a single-elimination style tournament, with scrambled match-ups every round. The tournament will have 3-4 rounds (depending on participation). Each round is divided into two stages: the Mixing Stage and the Voting Stage.
At the start of the Mixing Stage, you’re matched with an opponent. You and your opponent have one week to write, produce, and submit your own respective remixes that arrange both of your Robot Master themes. Once the week is up, all remixes are submitted to the Competition Organizer (i.e. me). This is the end of the Mixing Stage.
At the start of the Voting Stage, the remixes are uploaded and made available for voters to download. Voters will listen to the music, and decide which remix in each pair “wins the battle.” As the GRMRB is an arrangement competition, the primary criteria voters should look at is how well the remixes incorporate both themes. Production quality and enjoyability should also be considered. After a week of voting, votes are tabulated and the winners of each remix battle are declared. These winners are scrambled and new match-ups are posted for the next Mixing Stage.
Defeated competitors are welcome to challenge other defeated competitors to “friendly” matches while the tournament progresses. These matches won’t affect the outcome of the tournament and won’t be tracked in any kind of bracket, but I will collect, upload, and provide voting polls for friendlies.
The tournament will continue until one remixer remains. That remixer will be crowned the Grand Robot Master Remixer.

Friday, March 30 to Sunday, April 1
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Washington, DC
http://awesome-con.com/
OC ReMix returns for their second year at AwesomeCon to celebrate the greatest music in the world: video game music. OCR will showcase their community's latest and upcoming free projects including tributes to Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, and Sega racing titles. No matter what genre of music you like, OCR has you covered, so come join OC ReMix founder djpretzel and several OC ReMixers to see what's new! 
OC ReMix: Honoring game music since 1999
Panel Date/Time: Sat, Mar. 31, 7PM
Location: 201
Panelists:
djpretzel DarkeSword zircon Jill Aversa Arrow Level 99 (maybe)

I doubt I'll be opening up the limitations for this album, but as I mentioned in the OP, I plan on doing a sequel album after this one that's specifically battle themes, so that one (assuming you're talking about "Quicksand", which was Thanalan 1.0 battle theme and now is Sohm Al Hard) would be perfect for that. I'll definitely let you know when that one gets started.

Hey all; just wanted to share some pretty cool news, for everyone here who didn't see the buzz on Facebook. This past Friday, my hometown of Syracuse held their annual "Syracuse Area Music Awards," also known as the SAMMYS. Local artists were celebrated per albums released during the previous year. Considering my remix project of American Pixels was launched last January, and I crafted it in Syracuse, I was nominated. I'm blessed to be able to announce that I actually won the award for "Best Electronica," and was able to use the platform to showcase the world of video game remixing (and game music in general) to a whole new audience!

It was awesome to be honored where I grew up, but it was doubly cool to take game music to a place that typically focuses on rock, jazz, and folk, ya know? It was a fun night.

I've never played any Final Fantasy Games, but I'm interested in The Twin Faces of Fate. I'll take that one. Does it have to be any genre specifically?

After several of my friends got me into Final Fantasy XIV, I fell in love with the game so hard that I've been playing pretty regularly for a year and a half straight now. The game has an incredible soundtrack, with over 400 songs, and I wanted to see an OCR album for it. Of course, 400+ songs is insane, to the point where this game has a legit Guinness World Record for the most original music in a video game. With that much music, and since XIV isn't the cultural touchstone something like VI or VII is (WHICH IS A TRAVESTY), I couldn't guarantee I'd be able to get enough interest in this for even the standard four-disc type OCR album. So instead we're going for a smaller, targeted idea here.
The concept is simple: an album specifically for the area themes of the game. This includes city-states, towns, villages, the various zones you travel through, etc. I'm hoping to direct a sequel album in the future centered on battle/dungeon/boss/primal/raid/PVP themes, but let's see how this one does first.
If you're interested, please look through the list of 47 potential sources below (cut down from my original list of 120, lol), complete with YouTube links, and if anything jumps out at you and you'd like to remix it for the project, let me know! Everything on a single line uses the same basic source for several in-game remixes, so I've listed them together, and you'd basically be claiming that one "melody" for a single remix, so to speak, rather than three or four different songs.
If you're familiar with the XIV soundtrack and actually want to remix a source not in this list, and it's an area theme like the rest, then also let me know.
I would like to see this released within a year, but I do not currently have any specific deadlines in mind otherwise. I'll decide that down the line, once I see how many people are interested in the project.
 
Legend
---
Purple - Initial WIP complete
Blue - Significant WIP complete
Green - Done
 
----------
1.0
Navigator's Glory
Freedom
On Windy Meadows/Saltswept (ARR) - claimed by Furorezu
Born of the Boughs
Whisper of the Land - claimed by hylianonbi
Emerald Labyrinth
The Twin Faces of Fate - claimed by Ridiculously Garrett
Twilight over Thanalan
Widdershins
Unspoken
Tears for Mor Dhona
 
----------
A Realm Reborn
A New Hope/Sultana Dreaming - claimed by Manji
To the Sun - claimed by Earth Kid
I Am the Sea/A Sailor Never Sleeps
On Westerly Winds
Ruby Sunrise - claimed by John Stacy
Wailers and Waterwheels/Dance of the Fireflies
Serenity - claimed by Darangen
Greenwrath
The Waking Sands
Fealty
Frontiers Within/Reflections
Intertwined/Silver Tears
Crystal Rain
Thicker than a Knife's Blade
The Edge
The Emperor's Wont - claimed by DusK
 
----------
Heavensward
Solid/Nobility Obliges/Night in the Brume/Nobility Sleeps/Hallowed Halls - claimed by OA
Against the Wind/Black and White/Descent - claimed by DaMonz
Lost in the Clouds/Close to the Heavens/Like a Summer Rain
Coming Home/Heavy Rain
Painted Foothills/Painted Skies/Slumber Eternal - claimed by Jake Meacham
Landlords/Skylords/Roar of the Wyrm/Apologies - claimed by Arrow
What is Love
Missing Pages/The Silent Regard of Stars/Poison Ivy
Paradise Found/Homestead
The Mushroomery
Order Yet Undeciphered/Unbreakable/He who Continues the Attack/Unbreakable (Duality) - claimed by XPRTNovice
 
----------
Stormblood (songs that don't yet have official OST titles are in brackets)
Beyond the Wall/Hope Forgotten/Their Deadly Mission
Keepers of the Lock
Impact/Afterglow/The Measure of Our Reach/The Measure of His Reach/Heroes of Stormblood/[The Royal Menagerie]
On High/The Stone Remembers/Alienus
Crimson Sunrise/Crimson Sunset/Deception - claimed by Thirdkoopa
Liquid Flame/Westward Tide/The Open Box/Down Where Daemons Dwell
Indomitable
A Father's Pride/A Mother's Pride/Gates of the Moon
Drowning in the Horizon/He Rises Above/Most Unworthy
Songs of Salt and Suffering/Old Wounds/Liberty or Death/Far From Home - claimed by AdLib

I would like to try To The Sun.

i decided
crimson sunset, please

After several of my friends got me into Final Fantasy XIV, I fell in love with the game so hard that I've been playing pretty regularly for a year and a half straight now. The game has an incredible soundtrack, with over 400 songs, and I wanted to see an OCR album for it. Of course, 400+ songs is insane, to the point where this game has a legit Guinness World Record for the most original music in a video game. With that much music, and since XIV isn't the cultural touchstone something like VI or VII is (WHICH IS A TRAVESTY), I couldn't guarantee I'd be able to get enough interest in this for even the standard four-disc type OCR album. So instead we're going for a smaller, targeted idea here.
The concept is simple: an album specifically for the area themes of the game. This includes city-states, towns, villages, the various zones you travel through, etc. I'm hoping to direct a sequel album in the future centered on battle/dungeon/boss/primal/raid/PVP themes, but let's see how this one does first.
If you're interested, please look through the list of 47 potential sources below (cut down from my original list of 120, lol), complete with YouTube links, and if anything jumps out at you and you'd like to remix it for the project, let me know! Everything on a single line uses the same basic source for several in-game remixes, so I've listed them together, and you'd basically be claiming that one "melody" for a single remix, so to speak, rather than three or four different songs.
If you're familiar with the XIV soundtrack and actually want to remix a source not in this list, and it's an area theme like the rest, then also let me know.
I would like to see this released within a year, but I do not currently have any specific deadlines in mind otherwise. I'll decide that down the line, once I see how many people are interested in the project.
 
Legend
---
Purple - Initial WIP complete
Blue - Significant WIP complete
Green - Done
 
----------
1.0
Navigator's Glory
Freedom
On Windy Meadows/Saltswept (ARR) - claimed by Furorezu
Born of the Boughs
Whisper of the Land - claimed by hylianonbi
Emerald Labyrinth
The Twin Faces of Fate - claimed by Ridiculously Garrett
Twilight over Thanalan
Widdershins
Unspoken
Tears for Mor Dhona
 
----------
A Realm Reborn
A New Hope/Sultana Dreaming - claimed by Manji
To the Sun - claimed by Earth Kid
I Am the Sea/A Sailor Never Sleeps
On Westerly Winds
Ruby Sunrise - claimed by John Stacy
Wailers and Waterwheels/Dance of the Fireflies
Serenity - claimed by Darangen
Greenwrath
The Waking Sands
Fealty
Frontiers Within/Reflections
Intertwined/Silver Tears
Crystal Rain
Thicker than a Knife's Blade
The Edge
The Emperor's Wont - claimed by DusK
 
----------
Heavensward
Solid/Nobility Obliges/Night in the Brume/Nobility Sleeps/Hallowed Halls - claimed by OA
Against the Wind/Black and White/Descent - claimed by DaMonz
Lost in the Clouds/Close to the Heavens/Like a Summer Rain
Coming Home/Heavy Rain
Painted Foothills/Painted Skies/Slumber Eternal - claimed by Jake Meacham
Landlords/Skylords/Roar of the Wyrm/Apologies - claimed by Arrow
What is Love
Missing Pages/The Silent Regard of Stars/Poison Ivy
Paradise Found/Homestead
The Mushroomery
Order Yet Undeciphered/Unbreakable/He who Continues the Attack/Unbreakable (Duality) - claimed by XPRTNovice
 
----------
Stormblood (songs that don't yet have official OST titles are in brackets)
Beyond the Wall/Hope Forgotten/Their Deadly Mission
Keepers of the Lock
Impact/Afterglow/The Measure of Our Reach/The Measure of His Reach/Heroes of Stormblood/[The Royal Menagerie]
On High/The Stone Remembers/Alienus
Crimson Sunrise/Crimson Sunset/Deception - claimed by Thirdkoopa
Liquid Flame/Westward Tide/The Open Box/Down Where Daemons Dwell
Indomitable
A Father's Pride/A Mother's Pride/Gates of the Moon
Drowning in the Horizon/He Rises Above/Most Unworthy
Songs of Salt and Suffering/Old Wounds/Liberty or Death/Far From Home - claimed by AdLib

i have a disappointing confession
i can't play acoustic guitar that fast
ALSO will be claiming soon. lots of great tracks

May I have Ruby Sunrise?

Back when I was privately floating the idea of this album, before I'd even figured out what tracks I was gonna offer as sources, OA was like "gimme Ishgard" and basically didn't give me a choice in the matter, lol

this song is also unreal good
 
 

I'm interested in taking Windy Meadows/Saltswept, if that's possible

Oooh, yes please! I absolutely adore this game and soundtrack - could I claim A New Hope/Sultana Dreaming? 
 
Aside, I cannot wait to see what Oa does with Nobility Sleeps because that is basically a perfect piece of music, don't @ me

I would be interested in doing Serenity.

Definitely interested. I had a similar idea with renting places on the beaches of the NC Outer Banks, but those would be 3-5 room beachside cottages, and so getting more than 10-15 people together would require renting multiple cottages. This might work better.

Also happy to see it finally released. It was a lot of fun writing some music for this album, hope y'all appreciate the hard work that went into it

Another album released, well done. 

The ultimate album.
For the ultimate BADASS.

OUT NOW!

& Knuckles
 
• http://ocremix.org/info/&_Knuckles
• http://soundcloud.com/ocremix/sets/and-knuckles
Director: Jarel Jones (Arrow)
Artwork: Tabby Ramsey - http://digitallyfanged.com

 


 
 

Wanted to chime in and say that this is a great analysis.  That it doesn't contain specific jargon I could care less about -- I'm motivated to track down the relevant stages and listen for myself after reading since I missed out on Super Monkey Ball.  From this, I'm reminded a little of the final stage of Katamari Damacy in which the music is particularly less upbeat compared to the euphoric whimsy (visually and aurally) on display in the opening stages.