Gario

Sorry - I was distracted and didn't listen to your update . Oh well, I'll give this one a stab, now that I'm here . The melodic variations help your cause out a lot. Now we're going to need to change up the harmonies a little... At least, hang out in one area for a longer/shorter time so the listener doesn't grab onto the harmonic pattern as easily (that's how I tried to handle the problem on the Laguna track, anyway - might work for you too). The instruments are a touch low-fi... I'm sure you know, but it needs to be said. The effects help them out considerably, though. I'd suggest introducing different sounds to take over the same jobs every once in a while; that'll keep the sounds you have fresh. Minimalist tracks can work, but I'm not seeing this one working as a minimalist song... Yeah, hewhoisiam is right that the track is a bit on the short side, so it'd be nice to hear more of the arrangement so we can hear how it flows (can't really comment on the structure much, as it is). MARCH IS LAGUNA MONTH!! Get something up here, dude...

Wow, an official OCR challenge issued from Youtube, eh? Interesting... Sounds like it could make an incredible minimalist remix, to me.

You would if you could, Luke. You would if you could.

Well, I submit it. If it goes through, great, if not you guys'll always have this version to listen to (I think it'll pass, though - got a hunch about this one). Oh, if there's still something wrong with it and you held out on me, I can still fix it so let me know . MARCH IS LAGUNA MONTH!

That is called cheating, Neblix .

Good point... I didn't even think about that, as a matter of fact . Thanks for the response, Nase. Time to go sub it, I guess.

I was 20hrs into the Children of Mana game, when my nephews got hold of it and saved over every file with a lv1 char. It's a funny habit they have (hell, they do this with their own files, losing everything they do every time), so I guess I should've saw it coming. Even still... I was a touch upset, with that one. Oh, and Neblix, get an SNES and play the games on there. It's just wrong to beat games on emulators using all the states and such (I learned that the hard way when I tried to play games I stated through before - states totally change the experience, and not in a good way ). Just do it - you won't regret it .

Augmentation is when a theme is stretched over a longer period of time, while diminution is when the theme is compressed into a shorter amount of time. They can be quite useful techniques if you need to vary the music, yet somehow keep it connected to the source.

Sounds like a silly question, but I'm putting some final touches on a song and compared it to the other songs on this site, to hear how well it blended. It seems a little louder than most of the music on here without clipping problems and such (which is good, I guess). However, if I play this music with other programs (background music while playing a game, for example) it either clips out the sound or the sound clips out the music. Should I take this into consideration and submit a slightly quieter version of the song on the site or is it better to leave the music loud?

Hmm... It's great, what can I say? The asian instruments are piercing, so mix those down, please - wouldn't want a little thing like that to throw off the listeners. I think we've found ourselves a new orchestral masta on OCR - first the prelude and now this .

At this one again, eh? Well, it's clean and it definitely sounds like the source... unfortunately the source was something like 10 seconds, so it gets repetitive (which you know, I believe). There's really no variation in the instrumentation, either, so it compounds the repetitive nature of it all. Realize that this is going to be tough to remix... but if you're up for the challenge experiment with the theme a bit via augmentation/diminution, soloing, harmony changes, etc., because this will be too repetitive otherwise. Yeah, production is so-so, but you'll need to focus on the arrangement of this one, since it's so easy to get in a rut, with this one.

Oh oh oh... sorry, BGC mentioned setting up a 'gate' and it threw me off there. Thanks for clearing that up, Zircon .

Wow, so many tools for gating? You can't just attach mixers to other mixers, set the auxs in the second mixer and automate the mute in the first mixer (or second, if you wanted the auxs to stay in effect)? Someday I'll need to move out of my sheltered Reason 3.0 DAW to something a bit more professional, so I'd like to know if that trick is still possible .

Am9 Inversion = CM7 with a pedal A, pending on context. Since the A is in the left hand I'm assuming he would have either left it as a static note while moving the right hand or he moved into it by step... Yeah, I'm always weirded out whenever someone says '9th chord in some inversion', since that actually doesn't make much sense, theoretically. I've always been more kin to calling chords 'cluster(fuck) chords' when they don't line up with traditional chords, anyhow, so I guess we can call them whatever . I like 'Magic Chord' better than any of our names, anyway, so it's all a moot point.

Me likes. Sega chiptunes, when done well, often enough surpasses the original, like this one does. Love the slides and such... This could be played on a Megadrive, right? Ah well, nice stuff. Good goin' Txai.

Meeeeetul. Always nice to hear from you (sorry I didn't see it before - original works forum isn't nearly as popular to surf ). I like the main riff ideas, and the texture is sweet. I'm going to say your methods of adding to them bug me (doubling at the fifth after the initial idea just seems a bit lazy and grating on my ears, for example - doubling at the sixth would improve the sound, trust me). Somewhere in the middle of the song, your leads don't line up with the harmonies (can't say where - tindeck doesn't tell time )... Line em' up. The solo towards the end sounds like what my older brother would call a 'SLAYER SOLO', meaning it really just hit random notes really fast. Try to keep the notes within your scale when soloing, and it'll make it fit in better. Love the soundscape. Not much to say there. Production has no issues - it's loud, grungy and heavy. The three basic food groups of Metul Mixing . Nothing really stood out as being clipped or anything, so you're fine there. In progressive rock/metal, the ideas tend to evolve over time to different ideas, linking together as a story would. While this song makes one significant change, it's probably not enough to classify it as such. It's not really a problem with the song (it flows fine, and it isn't really too repetitive), it's just a clarification with the genre. My younger siblings hammer prog rock/metal into my head daily, so it's always going through my head, sadly. It could use an ending that's significantly different from the idea that was playing there. Wrap the song up and let it out, I say. Keep it comin'!

Oh, and I have an update for you all that makes my last version look like crap (also updated on the first page). Then again, that's the difference between a rough arrangement vs an arrangement that's been properly mixed & balanced, so no surprise there . I'm going to upload it tomorrow, unless there's something REALLY wrong with it (in which case you can give me a holler ).

You'd have far better luck getting a response to this if you posted it in this forum. Hope that helps.

Not too bad. The instrument choice was neat (close to the game, but neat), and the overall structure made sense. The production, of course, has issues, but we'll get to that. First thing I'll say is this - it's very conservative. I always emphasis that this isn't a bad thing, but OCR doesn't accept music that's too conservative. Since you probably wrote this for your own enjoyment, you probably don't care, so... yeah. The solos add a whole lot of flavor to it, though, so it's not like you simply midi ripped it, at least . The organ rocks and bugs me, all at once. That vibrato that comes with it is driving me nuts, especially since it just sounds like it's clipping... Decrease that effect on the sample, please, since it's used to an epic effect in the song - a less wide vibrato will do wonders for the sample. The guitar, while fitting, is weak. My recommendation - find a real guitarist. There are plenty on here, and among them I'm sure at least one may be willing to help out. It's the boon of being on a site like this one . Otherwise, change the sample to something that doesn't sound like a bunch of fuzz. The drums are alright, but far too quiet fir a song like this one. Make em' louder. Solos and leads are badass, and you seem to have a knack for making them. Kudos, since they really add some flare to the mix. Yeah, the biggest issue with the production is the mixing - it just sounds like you throw the background instruments too far in the background. Bring them out a little bit and it'll fill the soundscape better. You'd be surprised how much of a difference that can have. The mastering sounds like it's disabled or on a default setting, so you'll certainly need to tweek that up some (increase the limiters for volume, add some bass and treble for clarity, etc). Not bad, though. Not bad at all. Very enjoyable, and I'm glad you shared it with us .

Hey look, Simon Cowell in a couple of years. Disturbing. Anyhoo, I'd say we should fight for musical equality on OCR and label everything under one genre - MUSIC .

Mmm... sounds like a discussion of pedal tones, to me. Actually, that should definitely be another lecture, if you want to introduce interesting sounds to the audience

Hey, if he lives in New Mexico I'll punch him. In the face. Otherwise, I live in too remote of an area to do such cool things.

I hope so, too... I mean, c'mon, it IS Goldeneye, one of the best 1st person shooters of all time. So, it looks like I'm getting a lot of good feedback on this one, so I guess I should just submit it, lol. Nothing to lose, and something to gain, so why not? If it's rejected, I guess it's simply a gift to the WIP forums (which was my original intent, anyway). If it's too conservative for OCR, screw em' - it'll simply be an offering to you guys, instead . Of course, criticism is still welcome, if you guys have anything else to say (quality-wise, in particular, but I'll listen to anything else, if you have anything to say).

Well, we're all happily waiting for it! Glad you're making the changes, and I'll be even happier when I get to hear them .