Gario

Haaaaappy Birthday!

Well, I'm glad Mega Man X finally came out... Oh wait. Actually, since I can't hook up the Wii online to download the games, I've missed out on 9, and now I'm going to suffer through being left behind with 10, as well. This is depressing .

So this is still going, riiiiight? Well, take your time - when I finish the junk that I'm doing right now (aka not really junk) I'm going to get in on this. Mark my words, LT.

Yeah, time to jump on the bandwagon, here. Check it out - it's another FFVIII Laguna remix! Man with the Golden Machine Gun (old) newer version here... Yeah, tear me apart, but know this - I wrote this with no intention of submitting, so if it doesn't follow any OCR guidelines, meh... Critiques welcome!

The 'machine gunning' that I spoke of occurs at 2:50, in the melody. It's... not good. Oh, and as I said before, since there are so many Laguna posts in here recently, I decided to do one of my own. It's your fault .

Ah, a lot of changes with the textures, here - always nice to see changes (especially when they're for the better). The repetition is far less noticeable, due to the rich textures you use. I would still recommend changing harmonies in those first two minutes at least periodically, though. The sample you used at 2:39 for the melody sounds like... well, I'll use a quote you said before, a 'vocoded fart'. Not sure that's what you were going for, but that's what it sounds like. It'd be a good idea to change it, unless you like stinky melodies. I find that while you change things up in the soundscape and texture quite nicely, you virtually stay in the same harmonic areas in every section of the song... It really needs to change every once in a while. It isn't bad to stay in one area for a considerable amount of time, as long as you are changing it, since the change will be very intense... Yeah, change the harmonies more often. I feel the mastering is light in the highs. Turn them up, please . On your way, I see... Alright, now you need to go critique mine. I made one, since it looked like so many people on here were having fun with it, lol.

What the hell? This is the third Laguna track in here in a week or two, I love it! Strange, I like the use of the FFVIII (or 8 for morons) samples in the beginning, along with the slight changes made to the track. It caught me off guard, in a good way. It's pretty repetitive, overall, and it sticks to the source quite strictly. Being conservative isn't a big deal, but repeating the same material over and over again isn't really pleasing to the ears, after a few minutes. I understand you played around with the samples a bit, making them sound like machine guns, but that didn't really help. The samples are a little bland, but that's mainly due to the fact that you used the same ones over a 7 minute song. It would be more enjoyable if you either changed up the sounds periodically or you shorten the track by 5 minutes, cutting the repetition (I'm leaning towards the latter, here). I love the drumwork, personally - The snare is just awesome. Great work, there. Alright, that's my critique. I'm going to upload a Laguna remix, now, just for the lulz . Always great to see some FFVIII/8 love on here (especially when it's all about LAGUNA!!).

Dash, you are aware that Cave Story is freeware, and it's one of the best games out there, right? You have no excuse for not playing the game, now. Go download and play it. As for the remix, it sounds like some of the sounds clip (drums clip the texture, the chippy organ thing clips everything, etc.), but it's a nice, moody song. It's got neat groove to it that you simply can't ignore. I'm not sure if the clipping is a result of Youtube's terrible quality reduction, but it's certainly there, so if you could fix that this song would end up being a nice little addition to my personal collection. I like groovy chippy music. Did I mention that it's groovy? Groooovy.

I'd love to see the price tag for Duke Nukem Forever. Do any of you suppose that would top the list, if anyone had any clue how much money has been invested in that sinkhole?

Holy crap, only one day left and (nearly) no one's done anything for this? You big sillies...

Always thought the Omega Weapon boss from FF8 was tough, too... Then again, that's in a very unfair sort of way. 12,000 to your entire group? Cheapshot, anyone?

Mmm... shameless plug. I don't think we're going to hear an update on this song for some time, unfortunately, for certain reasons, but when we do you can expect the song to be considerably varied from the source. Don't worry, have some faith .

Mmm... for the original post, another significant difference between 44.1K and 48/96/whatever K is that many, many common applications of sound (CD use, DVD soundtracks, etc.) are not compatible with the higher grade stuff, so it'll all get reduced to 44.1K, in the end. I can hear the difference between 44.1 & 48 (since Reason records in 48, but outputs in 44.1... ouch), but that's about as far as I can go. As for 'getting louder'... yeah, it's all in the mixing. My suggestion is to work backwards - first, make the source as loud as you can before clipping/crud occurs, then follow the line to the next amp, make that as loud as you can, etc., until you get to the final mixer. That generally gets you the maximum sound you can achieve without tricks such as compression. Hard to explain, but once you understand that there's an order to where sound goes when it's produced it becomes easier.

Well, you certainly have the dedication to get this project done quickly, so I have faith you'll be done soon. Hell, if you finish this within the next month or two I think you'll still hold the record of 'FASTEST PROJECT EVER!!', so no worries - just take a deep breath and polish it up so everyone can enjoy it. Really, how long has it been, six months? That ain't nothin' in OCR time .

Been listening to this site's music since 05' (I have no clue why it took me that long to find it - I swear I was actively searching for something like this since 00'), and have been actively participating since 08'... Yeah, I'm hoping I can actually experience a full decade of this wonderful site before anything happens to it, so c'mon - you guys have gotta last until at least 18'! Here's to the next 10 years of OCR!

Theory to incorporate in these videos... I would suggest the numbers for your fingers (thumb is 1, index is 2, etc.). That way, you'll have a language to use in your videos if you ever want to talk about scales, chords, etc.. That probably won't be until later, but I'd suspect you'll talk about scales eventually, right? You probably don't follow fingering charts religiously, since you're self taught, but sometimes it helps the audience organize what they're doing, so making one up won't hurt them too much. Not that fingerings are critical, but it might help organize your thoughts, if you ever needed to. I suggest you also introduce the audience to rhythm, soon (soon as in within the next two or three lectures), since the piano (*ahem* the keyboard ) is the instrument that most heavily relies on it (next to percussion, of course). It seems intuitive, but many people mess up on little melodies and themes like you presented in your video because they don't know how to line up their left and right hand. One-e-and-a-two-e-and-a... yeah, let's see some rhythm! Alright, that's my suggestion for theory... I hope it's minimal. I like the choice in using the key of 'A' rather than 'C' - it makes things more interesting. Here's to a successful second video in this series .

I'd assume such a thing is a paid gig - he wouldn't say that it's professionally produced and such and tell the musicians 'Naw, you don't get nuthin'...". Unfortunately, Opportunity only arises for those that have the money and tools, in the first place. Give me a couple months and I'd have the tools to produce something for you, but atm, no go. Good luck, Zipp.

Pretty much... Unfortunately, due to the design of the company there's really never going to be satisfying everyone, so people should just accept that there will be many games out there that they don't like, for one reason or another, and that others will enjoy those games for those very reasons. People should actually welcome novel changes, if they're connoisseurs of an older generation because, let's face it, there are certainly enough games made using the older mechanics, so they'll always at least have something to fall back on, if they don't like the novelty some games bring with them. Also, we are talking about video games, right? I swear, there are some zealots out there that should lighten up on their views a little bit .

Yeah, Spakku pretty much nailed it on the head, there. Also, while the drums are far better than they were, the patterns do still a bit repetitive. It's not that you don't change them up (you do, quite a bit), it's that you have too much reliance on bass drums and snare, for the most part... It would benefit from a great deal from things like hat work and such. Also, the link in Z1 was, indeed, young according to lore. If you read the instructions for Z2, it explains that the events of Z1 all happened considerably before his 16th birthday, so he couldn't be older than 14 or 15. Maybe not a kid, but certainly young.

I know, right? I can't speak for the J's, but I feel the arrangement of the instruments, the atmosphere, etc., are enough of a variation. Again, OCR may or may not accept this based on the conservative nature of this, but it's certainly worth the shot. Archangel, if you want to be sure, send a PM to either a judge or to Zircon (a former judge) and ask one of them about it, if you want to put it on here. They'd have a far better idea on whether the conservative... thing would affect it's chances. Funny, I'm assuming you want to put it up here - it's ultimately up to you, after all Oh, and this prelude song probably isn't in FFXIII because Nobuo Uematsu isn't involved in the soundtrack. Rights to the song and all...

Hold on... I'm getting lost in this one... Alright, it's official - this is badass. It's very, very well done (and I don't just say these things). Beautiful orchestration, great samples, excellent production. I love the reverb on the piano - it takes it out of reality just enough for it to be fitting to the style. Yeah, if I don't say anything bad about something that generally means it's pretty close to perfection. Normally, for a song that's this conservative I'd say you need to vary it up in order to get it on OCR, but I think this is an exception. This needs to go on this site, so submit it, damnit. EDIT: I'm trying to dl this thing, but it's givin' me trouble. Help? EDIT2: Wait, I think I know the problem... nm, lol.

I know, false dichotomy. It often is the case, though (SSBM is the perfect example of an exception). Until VG companies learn how to make games easy to learn & accessible, yet challenging & complex under the surface we're going to see many games that fall under that dichotomy, unfortunately.

Meh, I think the article pointed out one thing very clearly - there's no satisfying everyone. Sure, the people who love the new streamlined games have a good point in that these new games should be open to new players, trim the fat, etc. However, those that complain that new games aren't 'HARDCORE' also have a point in that if a game isn't difficult, it often isn't very fun, either... for them. Really, VG companies have quite the dilemma, and there's nothing they can do about it. Do you make a game more accessible, thus alienating a loyal audience, or do you continue to make the games difficult and complex, thus alienating a new audience? I think they're making the right choice, streamlining games and such, because let's face it - if you want a hard game, go set up your good ol' NES and run through Contra again. Hardcore gamers already have a vast library of games at their disposal, so they suffer less when games are 'streamlined' or 'dumbed-down'. I'm sure there are some games that satisfy both parties, in some sense, but alas, they are few and far between.

Yeah, any % run ftw. I'm going to work on getting my runs down to a recordable time if it kills me ... In honor of the new album, of course .