Flexstyle

2013 called, and they said that the loudness wars weren't over yet. Also that crunchy basslines will remain cool forever. Pretty sure at least that last one is correct! :P I agree that this thing is mixed pretty hot, and there are a few specific parts throughout where a deep, boomy sound is just getting in the way of the rest of the bassline -- would have been better to let it do its thing, then bring the bass back in, because otherwise we've got some thick mud right there. It's not egregious enough to hold this one back, though, just pretty obvious on my studio monitors + sub setup. Interesting choice to focus on the background elements of the song, but hey, it definitely works for this track. I dig that this thing keeps trying new stuff out without getting stale, but still gives us callbacks to song sections as well. Well done. Something else I want to call attention to: the beat very rarely changes throughout the sections, with JUUUUST enough fills to keep things moving along. However, it works because you end up using synth elements to change the rhythm instead -- a good example is the SID bassline at about 1:19, which acts as a 16th-note percussive element of its own for that section. Just a note for anyone looking through these decisions for what to maybe imitate in their own tracks. Creative take on a good source tune, with some great energy! YES

My only comment is that I wish there were a cool 16th-note synth arp skittering around behind the rest of the instrumentation in the "chorus" sections at 1:20-ish and at 2:50-ish for that True Synthwave Sound (tm). Other than that, I dig the arrangement, the instrumentation is sweet, the drums are punchy, the mix is pretty clean, and this is gonna look great on the front page! YES

My interested is piqued, and my available time to accomplish this is unknown.

OCR was 100% how I developed as a musician and producer. Always happy to chat about it.

Ahhhh Jordan, you're better than this. Gimme some kind of variation that isn't just a bass patch swap at the end -- do something with the lead melody notes to make it spicier, play the melody on a different instrument halfway through the drop, drop into a different bass-heavy genre the second time around, or SOMETHING. You can follow an EDM playbook and still get something interesting if you just do those things. It'd be even better if you were to take that melody and really do some variation: swap instruments, iterate on where it's going, whatever. This song is copy-paste from one half to the other with just a couple loops swapped out or added, and you use the same lead instrument throughout the entirety of both drops -- something I'd bust a newbie's chops for, let alone a veteran! Plus, that first drop's bass sounds are just grating. Second drop's bass tones are better and less piercing. So, here's what I'd LOVE to see, and this is gonna be hella specific to exactly what I know you're able to do: take your bass loops from the second drop and replace the ones in the first drop with them. Use a different instrument for the lead (and make a variation of your arpeggio of the source tune) halfway through that first drop. Get rid of your second half of the song, and rebuild it: do something similar enough to what you did already for the build, but then modulate to a new key (?) and drop into a psytrance (or trap or something) drop that then integrates the source in a fresh way. Let the instruments from the first drop make a cameo part way, but don't rely on them. End the song from there. It would be SO SICK. C'mon, I know you've got it in you! NO (resubmit) (in case anyone reading this in the decisions forum doesn't know: bLiNd and I have collaborated a LOT over the years, and I consider him a good friend and an inspiration over the course of decades -- this isn't me just bullying someone!)

I'm not even gonna bother with the arrangement side, as the other Js have done that. The real question at this point is: is it mixed well enough to make the front page? Yes, yes it is. Yeah, we could hear some more of the orchestral elements more clearly, but that's not enough to stop this thing. Y'all some nitpicky geezers! The FEELING of the song never fails, and that's what need to come across. (Plus, c'mon, I've heard pro records mixed more poorly than this, and that didn't stop the songs from becoming classics.) YES YES C'MON LET'S GO

Ya really love Glitch, eh? Lots of dfault dblue sound processing going on here lol. Not a criticism or a kudos, just an observation. Anyways on to the real review: I'm not really hearing anything glaring, harmony- and melodics-wise, and I can pick out source tune laced throughout, so those are both passing for me. Very ambitious arrangement, and definitely on the "we might have bitten off more than we can chew" side of things. I think it actually does work overall -- the stop-start-stop beat stuff doesn't lose the momentum to my ears, I can hear what you're going for throughout. No instrumental performance issues that stand out, either -- seems like some good clean takes on those guitars. Mix-wise, I can always hear the lead instrument and supporting instruments clearly, even if they are mostly in the same EQ spectrum, but they're not totally drowning each other out. A more mature arrangement wouldn't try and cram all these instruments together at the same time, and would have more space carved out for each individual piece, both in the arrangement and in the mix. However, the song tells a story, it's always moving somewhere new and interesting (love that), and the production issues, such as they are, aren't enough to hold it back in my book. I say let this one through to the front page! YES

I think this would have made it through to the front page a long yesteryear ago as-is. It's fairly cleanly done, the source is clearly there, the groove makes my head do that head-nodding thing, and there's nothing egregious about it that hurts it. It's the sum total of all the little issues -- the very sparse part writing can work in the right context, but in this one, it sounds like it needs more call and response, ESPECIALLY in that bass solo section. The timing of some things are a liiiiiiiiiittle bit off, almost like you played it in by hand, quantized, and then didn't check the quantize job all the way throughout. The sounds themselves could just use a teeny bit more oomf to them, and then little details like DarkSim mentioned about your hi-hats could help too. To make this one pass, I'd personally want to hear a few more tasteful parts added in -- some call and response, something to make it a musical conversation throughout instead of each instrument just standing up and saying their piece and then sitting down. I know it's discouraging to be rejected twice on the same song, but please don't give up! Whether it's this song you resubmit again, or just another arrangement that takes this feedback and incorporates it during the actual building process, I think you're really on the right track here. NO (resub)

MOAH POWAAAAAAAHHHH oh wait, sorry, wrong Top Gear....anyways! I think I'm on board with Brad's view. There are things I could nitpick -- that section he mentions could really use a bit more love in the sound design and part writing department to avoid things sitting in all kind of the same high-midrange. The drums SLAPPP tho, and I do love me a good synthwave drum line! I also agree that the ending was anticlimactic...give me my 80s-retro-nostalgia kick in the face one more time with some kind of cool drum fill or whatever! Melding of themes was done pretty well (I could pick out both sources pretty clearly), with some clever writing to make it work, those drums give me dreams in neon colors, the mixing is adequate, the overall song is a good vibe -- I'm good with passing this one! YES

Ah, a "source tune with drums over it" submission -- haven't seen one of those for a while! OK, that's a little bit unfair of me. The drums are chopped up in interesting ways, and it's not a straight audio rip, but it sounds very much like mostly a MIDI rip for the most part. With a source tune like this that's so simple (just a lead and some long bass notes), I'd expect to hear some reharmonization, perhaps some embellishment and variation on the melody, stuff like that, but there's hardly anything here to differentiate from the simplicity of the original. Let's talk a bit about the audio engineering side of this, too: most of the elements are loud, midrange-heavy, and distorted. That makes them hard to differentiate from each other, and fatiguing to hear for a long time. You've got some cool individual sounds that might work well in other contexts, but combined together, it's struggling to work. The beat fights for space with the lead synths which fight for space against the gated chords, etc. Each sound needs to have its own place in the frequency spectrum, at least to a degree, and with these, everything's in the same place. So what does all that mean? Here's some takeaways: - You'll need to probably do more arrangement of the source, not just play it back while adding layers on top. - You'll need to improve your sound design and mixing so that sounds aren't fighting for space in your mix. - I recommend spending some time in the workshop forums and maybe in a competition or two so you can get feedback from other folks at OCR and hone your craft further! NO

I'll keep this one short: I agree that this track isn't transformative enough. If the instruments were arranged to be a significant embellishment of the original melodies, if there was variation and playing with different presentations of the motifs, if there was a significant change in instrument choice...all of those would help this on the way to being a OC ReMix. As it is, it's a really beautiful cover, but not substantially transformative for this site. I'd love to hear this back with a new, fresh approach to the tune, because this is certainly well-done -- the mix is clean, the sounds work well in their context, and that MIDI string lead is sequenced quite well. Can't wait to hear a new approach to this one soon, I hope! NO (resubmit)

I'm hearing what everyone else is hearing -- I can definitely see why the NO votes exist, and I can definitely see why the YES votes exist. I believe this is just barely over the bar as-is, because of this: it's mixed well enough, it's a FUN arrangement, it's got very clear source connection, and it's a pretty good genre execution. Energy flows well enough, even with the repetitiveness. Like Emu said, the "vibe check" is there. This wouldn't be out of place in our catalog, IMO. If it gets rejected, I'd really love to see a bit more variation and embellishment on the repetitive sections -- give them each their own personality so the track moves along better -- and maybe some risers to help transition through certain sections (although probably with the mid frequencies cut out pretty aggressively so as to not overwhelm the already-busy midrange). Heck, if you want to REALLY turbocharge this one, I could see a collab working out...this is pretty solidly in my wheelhouse of sound profile.... ...anyways. All that to say: YES

Easy vote for me -- the stylistic choices don't bother me one bit, and this is a creative, well-executed arrangement. Now, I'm a sucker for the oldschool tracker/keygen sound (cTrix, Fearofdark, etc. are some of my favorite artists), so you're getting a bit of personal bias here, but regardless, I think it's easily within boundaries for a post-able arrangement. Overall sound is clean, the link to the source is there, love the concept. Far more enjoyable than the original, for sure. No need to expound further -- we've gotten good pushback from MW and good counterpoints from other Js, so no need to drag it out IMO. YUSSSS

Aww man. This track is rad as heck. Love the sound design, love the sectional approach, love how it's never boring as the song progresses, even with the short little licks and riffs. My studio subwoofer is very happy with all the bass and my feet were tapping along the entire time! (Also, Acid was my first DAW. Glad to see it's still getting some love!) Here's the thing. This has a very clear SPIRITUAL connection to the original -- that is, I can hear where the influences are. This is not an ARRANGEMENT of that source tune(s), though. It's INSPIRED by the original. That's great if you're trying to release this -- I'm pretty sure even Robin Thicke's jury wouldn't hold the way this sounds against you compared to the original -- but it's a problem here at OC ReMix. No blurred lines, there are very clear lines that this doesn't cross over. I'd expect to hear the main bass riff from the original repeated clearly throughout, since that's the meat of the source tune. I'd expect to hear the octave-jumping acid line played with in some way. Those don't show up, at least not clearly enough to make this obvious to an average listener, IMO. If I were this ReMixer and I really wanted to see this posted, I'd find ANOTHER source tune with a really obvious melody to pull from and incorporate that as well. Have a lead line that plays over the top of what's here in some way. That way, you can keep the spiritual connection to the Remy track, but then also present a discernible melody line from another tune as the source tune. For now, very sadly, I must vote... NO

Woof. All down to me now, eh? What a first day back on the job! After listening through this one carefully, here's where I'm going to land: this is not different enough from the source tune to make a difference to the average listener. It's a sound upgrade, as some have stated, and while it's an enjoyable one (my AirPods Pros didn't show the frequency issues some were pointing out), it's not DOING anything other than what the source tune did: be minimal, foreboding, and ominous. OCR, as I understand it, requires a level of interpretation and embellishment that isn't obvious enough in this case for me to want to pass it through. I'd love to hear someone take a crack at this source tune with, say, using those dueling arpeggios as part of a build to an industrial-dubstep-metal song, or something along those lines. Or, y'know, whatever. What do I know, I'm just the basshead around here . If Rebecca (or another artist in the future) were to handle the source in a way where you can separate out the various musical elements and then rebuild them, and do it in a way that allows for a discernible ebb and flow of musical energy, that would be wonderful to see. For now, my verdict on this one is.... NO

First track back on the j00jtrain! I read the above opinions and came in here expecting to hear something wildly off key and rough, vocally, but that's not what I heard. Yeah, this is definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea (hi, vocal haters!), but I think the performance is given with a great amount of intentionality and drive behind it. The B-section of this thing totally rocks -- that bass is doing fun things to my posterior movements and the guitars chug with appropriate amounts of [[insert METAL HORNS here]]. Drums are obviously sequenced/grid-locked but effective and cut through well enough. Loving the hand percussion throughout. The vocal mix doesn't bother me -- this is clearly a "vocal as instrument" sort of application here and I'm not fussed about being able to decipher the lyrics when the *feel* of the song works so well. This is OC ReMix front page material if I ever heard it! I clearly heard source tune material woven throughout the track -- nothing terribly ground-breaking here, but the connection is there. 'Scuse me while I go charge at some enemies with this blasting over the loudspeakers.... YES

Finally! I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to see this site align with my values as a professional musician. Looking forward to my payouts in that sweet, sweet bitcoin.

just gonna chime in here and list what I use: MAIN RIG: Neumann KH120 + KRK Rokit 10s sub (medium sized room with a bit of treatment and a lot of odd angles) SECONDARY RIG: Kali Audio LP-6 (small, boxy bedroom, but lots of furniture so is reasonably dead) The Kali Audio LP-6 set is some of the VERY BEST bang-for-buck I've heard, at least from my initial listens. Super clean for the price. I love my Neumanns, and I plan on never getting rid of them. I've been able to mix some great stuff on em. My Kali set is brand-new and I'm still evaluating them, but the sales rep who steered me away from Genelec and into the Neumann set -- who has turned out to be completely correct -- was singing the praises of these Kalis quite effusively, and thus far I'm finding that they sound great. Have yet to do a proper mix, so I'll report back on that whenever that happens. Here's some example tracks from my Neumann+KRK setup:

@Chernabogue Cheers for checking in! I'm looking for stuff that would fit alongside releases on Monstercat Records, Tasty Network, and TinyWaves, predominantly. Your stuff is super neat, but not exactly the same sort of genre.

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.

I missed the comic launch, since I hadn't been checking the forums for quite a while, but I'm all caught up and it's bookmarked, ready to go! Good to see you at MAGFest too, sir Hudson.

Hey gang, I had the privilege of playing a set during MAGFest this year for OCR's Community Showcase. If you missed MAG (or heck, if you just want to hear this set again), then here ya go! TRACKLIST: 01. Flexstyle - Optimist Prime 02. Flexstyle - Do Yoshi What I See 03. Flexstyle - Crypt of the Necrodancer Lobby Theme 04. Desert Catz - Greedbuilt (Flexstyle & @KingTiger) 05. @PrototypeRaptor - Deep Sea Bass 06. Instant Remedy - IR-Type 07. Flexstyle feat. @Nutritious - Unfinished Legend of Zelda remix 08. @DDRKirby(ISQ) - Fortitude (Flexstyle Remix) 09. PrototypeRaptor - Last Dance 10. Disstopia - It's The End of the World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine 11. Dan Bull - You're Special! 12. PrototypeRaptor - C.H.E.E.T.A.H. 13. Tyrone Hapi - Cantina Band

Texas would be SO MUCH MORE DOABLE for me than the MD/DC area currently is. Could potentially even just be a long road trip for me, forget flying, haha. Color me interested for sure.

Oh gosh, this thing is pretty old -- my youngest sister is going to be 11 this month, haha. Still really glad to see it show up on the front page, though!

What I'd call the "base usable" version of FL is a mere $199 (Producer Edition). This will get you several usable plugins (including flagships Sytrus and Maximus, plus GMS, etc.) and the entirety of mixing and sequencing capabilities. With what's included in here, you'll have more than enough to get started making music with a wide palette of tools.