Gario

Whoopseedoodle is the best thing on the forums now, currently. Just saying.

I balanced the lead a bit, adjusted the levels to accommodate. Original link reflects these changes, have at it.

I don't see why MW considers this too liberal. 0:00 - 0:35 is a variation of the opening of Magus' theme, adding an arpeggio to the mix to keep it interesting. I can see where it's going from 0:35 - 1:04 (taking the melody, reharmonizing it, varying the rhythm, etc.), but that's definitely a more tenative connection to the source. The connection is stronger at the reprise at 2:29, since the lead punches through better at that point. Looking at the timestamps, this is how I would see it: 0:00 - 0:34 Magus (intro) 0:34 - 1:00 Magus (Section A, hard to hear though) 1:04 - 1:26 Magus (Section B ) 1:53 - 2:14 Lavos 2:28 - 2:38 Magus (Section A) 2:45 - 3:06 Magus (Section B ) For a 196s track we'd need roughly 98s of recognizable source, and I hear 108s (more like ~120s, if 0:34 - 1:00 is included) - enough source to get on OCR, in my book. The production does certainly have overcompression issues, though (especially where MW says - the bass and crash), and I feel the reverb between the instruments is a little inconsistently mixed (again, like the guitar in the beginning, like MW said). I'll also add that I feel the reverb is a bit too heavy on this one throughout. Lighten up on the reverb, and fix the overcompression and I'd be okay with this one. The arrangement is unconventional, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing - I thought it was cleverly arranged. NO

Ha! I finally have access to the track, so I can share my thoughts on it (Hello, 2017!). Kris is spot on, as far as the difference between this track and the classical form of variations: variations as a form sounds like one cohesive piece which transforms over time as it repeats. A very clever... er, variation of the variation form can be set so that it's nearly imperceptible that it's actually a variations form at all - Brahms did this, for example, for his Symphony no. 4, 4th movement. If there is perceptible space between the tracks then this is NOT variations as a form, but rather it's a series of songs that are variations of one source. This is not the same thing, and it's where the argument that we're discriminating against a genre or form goes flat. If they want to create multiple well produced tracks that are indeed variations of the same source they should be posted individually. If Wiesty and XPRTNovice wanted to correct this and transform it into one track, they could do so easily: don't lose the beat, keep playing through each variation without pause. The overall composition of the setup would sew the tracks together, and the fact that the source is very recognizable would mitigate the lack of transition for the most part. That's how variations as a form works, after all. It's not a difficult fix, though posting these as multiple tracks would work alright, as well. As for Mike's concern over how multi-movement concertos and symphonies work, we already have a precedent on the site as to how we handle it in the Cantata for Dancing series of tracks: we post each movement as a stand alone track. People perform individual movements all the time without performing the entirety of the song (Moonlight Sonata is famous for this - the first movement is performed all of the time without the other two movements), so I see absolutely no issue with handling tracks like this in a similar manner. Those are my thoughts on it, based on my knowledge of the form. For what it's worth, due to prior observations from the judges... NO

I actually do like the arrangement on this one - the harmonizations are legitimately very interesting, and I feel the sax sample was handled well (with one or two exceptions). If the style was more RnB or hip hop where the fake string stabs make more sense I'd say they were alright, but for all intents and purposes this track should try to breath some more realism into its strings by giving them some more dynamics. The part writing for the instruments is pretty slick, though. As I said before, the sax is alright, but the slides on that sax are too extreme at 0:24 (and all parts similar). A slide into your note is fine, and you handle most of them like a champ, but honestly that wobble just sounds like it hits the wrong note. The section Larry hears as problematic (0:44) has to do with how precisely the slides line up - for one part it may make sense, but that may not apply to the backing instrument. When two instruments line up that perfectly it takes the realism down a notch. If I make two instruments accompany one another I more likely than not utilize two samplers or synths in order to be able to separate the envelopes, as necessary. I hear the copy pasta that Larry is mentioning, but I will note that there ARE faint backing elements that are different the second go around (like the xylophone coming in earlier, for example), but those differentiating elements are faint and nearly unnoticeable. We've heard the part that you play most prominently, either give some room in the mix for the elements that make it different come out more, or change up some of the copied elements to keep the listener interested. Love the bass work underneath, it does add a whole lot to the track as a whole. Yeah, lots to like about this, but the instrument realism and copy paste are noticeable issues with it. I did get a kick out of the harmonies and small changes you made from the source - lots of subtle love went into this. Hope to see the issues fixed up and have this resubmit at some point. NO

I really like this arrangement, and I find it a shame that the FF3 project couldn't be completed on OCR. But I'll say it again, I REALLY like this arrangement.

Contact Information ReMixer name: Almighty_Arceus Real name: Jordan Website: www.youtube.com/user/AlmightyArceus UserID: 33542 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Name of arrangement: "Wibbly Wobbly Time and Space" Name of individual song(s) arranged: Battle! Vs Dialga/Palkia! LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALbsX5oXHc8 Comments: It's been quite a while since I've submitted anything to the site, so I thought I'd try my hand with some of my own signature time signature rearrangements. What better mix to do that on than on a theme literally dealing with PokeGods of time and space? This arrangement takes a theme primarily in 4/4 and turns it into 7/4, with a small 5/4 ending (fun fact, part of the original arrangement actually is in 7/4; that part was especially simple to make lol). Since this a bit of a quirkier arrangement, with some elements of Dubstep while certainly not staying strictly within that genre at all, I made the title a bit quirky as well, using the Dr. Who references to "Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey...stuff" cuz that's basically what this arrangement is. Overall this was fun to create, so I truly hope you enjoy!

Mp3 link: Contact information: RemiMixer Name: Instant Remedy Real name: Martin Noriander Email: Website: http://www.irsounds.com Submission Information: Name of Game: Captain Planet and the Planeteers Name of Arrangement: Instant Remedy - Captain Planet (Synthwave Mix) Name of individual song: Final Stages (level 5/6)? Additional game info: Original composed by Ben Daglish (although Anthony Crowther is sometimes credited) for the Amiga version. Own Comments: A tribute to the 80's synthesizer era. The Synthwave genre have grown in the later years and I can see why: we love the retro feel and miss the great music from movies and television from the good old days. Instant Remedy on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dvP4j3IM7Av4SBTwTXSFV Instant Remedy on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/instant_remedy thanks (Source @ 1::24:30)

Your ReMixer name: Slimy Email: Website: https://soundcloud.com/slimy-4 User ID: 30104 Submission Information: Game: Star Fox Name of Arrangement: Lonely in Space, With a Waltz Name of Songs Arranged: Sector Y Links to Originals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na6ejAgJInQ Comments: Since the first episode of "A Fox in Space" came out, I've had Star Fox on the mind, so I threw together a Sector Y, (that's right, the space whale level,) remix because I hadn't been making too much music at the time. The first half of the remix is based almost entirely on the intro of the original - often slowed down and in different keys. It gets pretty abstract at 0:51, and the main melody finally comes in at 2:14. The waltz starts at 4:02. Originally there was going to be no waltz section at all because it just didn't sound good. However, after hearing the "Rosetta's Comet Observatory" song from Super Mario Galaxy, I added some flutes to play on the second and third beats. Without that detail, I think the second and third beats would have sounded very dry and boring, and I wouldn't have bothered completing that section. I had some trouble exporting this, so I owe some thanks to the people in the Discord server for helping me out. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Since much of this song is remixing all of 2 seconds from the original, I'm including a source breakdown. 0:00 - 0:50 The 2 second intro, slowed down and in a different key. The bell motif from the source continues while pretty much everything under it is original. 0:51 - 1:27 Original 1:28 - 1:55 The intro, this time in the same key but still slowed down. 1:56 - 2:35 The intro, this time at the same tempo as the original, albeit in different keys. The main melody comes in at 2:14. 2:36 - 2:53 Piano motif was inspired by the original song's intro, but isn't taken directly from it. 2:54 - 3:34 Main melody 3:35 - 3:58 Second part from the original song 3:59 - 5:17 Basically the source song 5:18 - 5:51 Original 5:52 - 6:07 Main melody again 6:08 - 6:28 Original 6:29 - 6:57 Main melody

Jesus, this is freakin' gorgeous. The overall style is calming, somber with a hint of Celtic folk in the vocals. Everything about this track really does send some shivers down my spine. I will point out that the vocals, while absolutely beautiful, does have the tendancy to go flat from time to time (such as at 1:47-1:48). I will also note that I felt there was a little bit of a missed opportunity to bring in some real meaningful lyrics to go with the voice, but that's more of a nitpick than anything. All things considered, though, the tuning is a bit less of an issue with the more Celtic style you had going (though don't make any mistake, it IS still an issue). The arrangement is very well done, though, and the vocals fit wonderfully regardless; it'd be a crime for me not to pass this. Great work! YES

Remixers: HoboKa, Stahalamora (vocals) & Chimpazilla (remaster, added some sfx and compositional touch-ups) Album: paths less traveled Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhqdOJibkUc Comments: Well I love this OST, as does everyone else who participated in the Terranigma album 'Paths Less Traveled' - Odai and a few others whom I can't recall their names b/c my memory is seriously hampered. Prob early onset. ANYWAYS, decided to employ Stahalamora's vocal chops in order to make a cool orchestral, sing-songy, conservative remix. Sprinkled with the feelings of wanting, sorrow and perhaps just a hint of sexiness.

It's pure chiptune (not talking VRC6, either; it's standard NES chipset), so I'm feeling this will have some contention. If the production wasn't 110% high quality stuff on its own, and the arrangement wasn't spectacular I wouldn't have inboxed it, but seeing that it's Shnab+ in execution, and the arrangement is superb, I think it's fair to discuss it. As far as I'm concerned, I think it could use a little spreading of the channels (like Rushjet1 did for his posted track) so that it fills the speaker space a bit better, and it would benefit from more use of the PCM channel to give it some more breadth of sound at times, either for stronger drums (like how Rushjet1 and Mario 3 utilize it) or for another instrument (like how it's used in Journey to Silius). I don't think it's entirely out of the question to post something like this with more minimal tweaks, however. I've got a HUGE bias on pure chiptune (it's a genre I listen to quite a bit), so I'll defer to others on here before giving a more definitive vote - I'd likely lean more in favor of posting something like this than not. Thoughts?

Slower, more powerful than the source (of which was specified to be the Smash Bros. Brawl rendition - there are some differences between DKC2 and the Brawl version), it hits all sorts of sweet spots for me. It has nice pacing, the change to swing time from the source is rather brilliant, and it holds some really grand moments throughout; the track does more than enough to leave its mark, even at the short runtime of 2:34. I love the overall tone of the guitar work, with the jazzy, rock lead against the acoustic backing (which eventually gives way to some power metal), it works great. The performance it pretty solid, and the production is almost perfect. At 1:48 - 2:18 there is some noticeable mud to the mix, which makes some of the backing instruments get lost in the mix somewhat. The leads punch through, though, which is the most important thing for something like this. The ending is pretty lame, too - it just kind of stops - but I can let that slide due to the overall high quality of everything else. I'm diggin' it. EDIT: Looking at it again, Chimp and Nutz are correct on the production issues that are present - it hits the limiter pretty regularly throughout (especially when the drums hit), and at 1:48 - 2:18 it's brick walling pretty hard, as well. I don't believe it's enough to sway my vote, as it's not easy to notice casually (except, again, at 1:48 - 2:18), but it would be remiss for me to leave that out of my decision. EDIT #2: Improvement is up now. It doesn't change my vote, but it DOES make it stronger now. Pretty much a DP quality post, now. YES

Delicious metal remix of some classic music... oh boy, do I like it. The power metal is just pure chuggy goodness, and the switch to the ballad, while a little sudden, works beautifully to break the piece up. I could hear this as an instrumental on a Megadeth album, and it would work amazingly well. Considering Megadeth DID do a VG metal arrangement or two in his time (Duke Nukem!), that's not entirely out of the range of possibilities. The game SFX at the end was sudden and didn't fit at all, but it doesn't kill the arrangement. I would be remiss to leave out the fact that it plays out a little like a medley, but I've heard metal tracks that transition from power metal to a ballad before, so it didn't bug me too much. Overall some high quality power metal to tickle everyone's ears with... everyone WILL listen to it, right? YES

We are excite.

DOH! forgot to sub that remix!! Remixers: HoboKa & Chernabogue ; original concept me ; Chernabogue touched up stuff and remastered things with his superior sound library and skillz. LINK: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgit8zlIupo Description: Well, it's an orchestral semi re-interpretative remix. Has some original elements to it, and was also inspired by the more recent Castlevania on the PS3 as well. Hoping you guys think its worth putting this bad boy in the OCR rosters.

As far as the production goes, I do hear the lack of highs in this, and I hear the very wet arrangement. As far as the wetness, that doesn't bother me much - that feels like a stylistic choice to evoke the ethereal mood of the source. I agree that it could've let the solf mallet marimba (that's the instrument in the beginning) do most of the ground work, though - adding heavy delay and reverb to the keyboard and other percussion does take it out of the realm of reality a bit. The lack of highs is something I had an issue with in a prior Slimy track, and yeah, it does affect this negatively, too. To be honest, it doesn't bother me much, but it is something of an issue. It's a tough thing to put a NO on, since the arrangement is pretty sweet, and that orchestration and humanization is oh so good. I can't deny what the other judges are hearing, though, so I think I'll need to agree to see if Slimy could send us a touched up version to post. I do hope he does! NO

ReMixer name: jnWake. Name of game(s) arranged: Mega Man X3, Mega Man X6. Name of arrangement: Beetle Dopplerganger. Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Doppler Stage 1" (from X3), "Ground Scaravich" (from X6). Note: This mix is included in the SFRG album headed by timaeus. LINK TO ARRANGEMENT: Mix comments: I wrote this remix as my first entry in the SFRG 2015 competition. It's a mix of my chosen tune (Ground Scaravich) with Darke's pick the round (Doppler Stage 1). When making the arrangement, I quickly realized picking Scaravich as a tune was a big mistake because it has barely any recognizable melodies... Instead, it has strange chords. Hence, this remix takes Doppler Stage 1's melodies (which are easily recognizable) and blends them with the weird chord progressions of Scaravich. I also went for a slightly progressive rock style with piano and synths which is kind of my usual style of composing I guess. This version I'm submitting now is actually pretty different from the original one I submitted to the competition. I rewrote a large bit of the rhytm guitar/bass lines, added some variation to the leads and even removed a repetition from the arrangement to help the pacing. Also, I made my best attempt at polishing the mixing to have a decent sounding song. The synth patch from the solo in the original version is also replaced by a patch from timaeus who somehow figured out the solo I played without any MIDIs in like 1 hour! Anyway, hope you like it!

Track: ReMixer name: Overkillius real name: James Wilkinson email address: uberkillius@gmail.com website: http://www.youtube.com/user/Overkillius userid: 33843 Name of game arranged: Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism (東方地霊殿　～ Subterranean Animism) Name of arrangement: Dance of Decision Name of individual song arranged: Corpse Voyage ~ Be of good cheer! (死体旅行　～ Be of good cheer!) Additional information: Theme of Rin Kaenbyou. Stage 5 Boss. Link to the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZoJLMuq_cQ Rin Kaenbyou Dancing in Hopeless Masquerade was the inspiration for this. This song is my absolute favorite from the Touhou series, and Rin is also one of my favorite characters, so I guess it didn't take much to push me to arrange it. I started making an NES chiptune, with no expansions or DPCM samples, that started vaguely as a high BPM dance-ish track, and then swiftly deviated from that into what it is now. I make extensive use of chromaticism, extended tertian harmony, complex meter, meter changes, and a little bit of polytonality (all within the realm of tertian harmonic structures) to arrange the material from the original piece. As I composed the arrangement, what guided me was the exchanges between the heroine and Rin in Subterranean Animism. Rin doesn't actually kick off the events in Subterranean Animism, but she is the one who initially gets the attention of the heroine. Rin fights the heroine to test if she is capable of solving her problem, namely that her friend is trying to take over the world. In the final stage of the game, Rin tries one more time to defeat the heroine to take her remains (because I guess that's her hobby or something) but fails. I find the scenario interesting; Rin is desperate to stop her friend from taking over the world, though she doesn't feel like she can do it herself. She's also desperate to gather the remains of the heroine before the heroine has the chance to die and disintegrate in hell, even though defeating the heroine would mean that the heroine couldn't deal with her friend. Not only that, she appears 4 times in total (most characters only get 1 or 2 appearances), and two of those times she doesn't even talk to the heroine; she obviously has issues with confrontation. I don't know how to describe it in words very well, but this relation strikes me on a personal level, kinda related to the essence of procrastination and warped priorities.

AJ DiSpirito AJ DiSpirito AJ DiSpirito 22 year old composer from the island part of New York. I usually compose for video game and animation projects. ... Donkey Kong Country 2 Bramble Blaster Stickerbrush Symphony (based on the brawl version Bramble Blast) LT EDIT (2/20): Got the new version with the following comments from AJ: Here is my resubmission of the DKC2 remix. Thank you for all the great feedback! I didn't mix/master this track very well back in 2015.

May I add that I am actually interested in what you have in mind? Now you've got TheChargingRhino requesting Star Fox analyses, as well, so you have an audience.

Contact Info: Remixer name: Outset Initiative Real name: Zeke Fenelon Email: Website: www.outsetinitiative.com Userid: 24461 Submission Info: Game arranged: Super Smash Bros. Melee Arrangement name: Choose Your Character! Song(s) arranged: Menu 1 Comments: A laid back jaunt through Super Smash Bros. Melee! This remix was originally created for the Materia Collective fighting game tribute album, VERSUS. Shout out to the fellas behind the Collective for organizing this fantastic project; enjoy the remix

Quick analysis of the portion in question (as it was requested): In the source (1:04 - 1:34), the interlude runs like this: IV-(bVIb5)-(VII#3#5)-(II#3)-IV. It's a strange progression to write out, but there it is, for completeness sake. In reality, it makes far more sense to explain it as the bass outlining a fully diminished chord (4-b6-7-2), which is conveniently made up of minor 3rd spacing between each note. This means all of the voice leading and such can be repeated indefinitely, and it ALSO means that it can lead back into the chord that it started at (IV). The technique is called a chromatic sequence, for anyone interested in the literal music theoretic terminology. For the sake of making it sound palatable in the source, even though the bass notes outline something that doesn't naturally occur in the key (fully diminished chords do NOT naturally occur in the scale, except in harmonic minor) the notes above the bass are changed so they always make up a major chord. This is why the chords look as strange as they do, as Roman numerals. As far as functionality, it's one large decoration of the IV chord. Very pretty, and holds the space well, but it's just a decoration. If you want another example of this technique in practice, take a look at 3:08 - 4:11 of my FF9 track "The Throes of Death(guise)" (Aw yeah, self promotion!), though instead of every chord being major, every chord is minor, and there's an intermediary chord between each chord that outlines the bass (which is a Neo-Riemannian L-P-R transformation, which are non-tonal... but that's a bit off topic). It also serves the same purpose - it decorates the minor tonic chord for a significant period of time using a chromatic sequence. OA does know that this is the source chord progression, as I discussed it with him. I'm waiting to see if he'll revise it with that info in mind, since he said he'd likely just make it work with a different progression altogether, which would be great, as well.

Hi there! This is my first remix, done for insaneintherainmusic's Jazz competition. I'm pretty proud of it, as I am by no means a Jazz musician. YouTube link: Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Hi, My Name is Alex (That's the name of my channel, anyway) Alex Mott https://soundcloud.com/alex-mott 32965 Submission Information Shovel Knight Swing thy Shovel! Strike the Earth! https://youtu.be/wqAYMZSOQao I just kept humming this song to myself with a shuffle rhythm. For like a year. Then I finally decided to make it. I played the guitar and bass parts, and everything else was done on a MIDI keyboard. The digital instruments are all from EW/QL libraries. The brass and woodwinds are EW Hollywood Gold, and the drums are from the EW ProDrummer Joe Chiccarelli library. Hope you like it!

Haha, this is on the panel, as we speak. Here's my thoughts on it: EVAL-ish Batman first stage... Yeah, that's a great source. I'm surprised I haven't heard a straight metal arrangement of this yet, as it works wonders like this. Heavy, some real great licks and solos throughout and just does so many neat things with the source later, this track does an already great source justice. It does have a few areas that are rough around the edges. The bass is pretty oppressive in this, first and foremost. I can understand to a point, since it's a pretty iconic part of the source, but it really could've been mixed behind the lead guitar better than it is here. As it stands, it sonically gets in the way of the other instruments, such as the guitar (which sounds like it's being drown by the bass and drums). Looking at the waveform, there's also a bit of overcompression that occurs from time to time. It looks like there was a pass on the compressor at the end, as there's a lot of headroom, so you might consider releasing a version without that last pass on the compressor. It's loud enough, so there's really no need to compress it for volume, here The strings are not the best, but honestly they are not a huge focus at all in this. They rarely stand out, for better or worse; They could be better, but I don't think they bring down the track much at all. I really enjoy the arrangement, though; even before the soloing at 2:10, I'd argue it takes it in a pretty different direction from the source at 1:05. It slows it down, cuts it to half time and sounds more like a power ballade for Batman than the straight thrash the rest of the track presents. It's a really solid approach. The ending could've been better, but what's there isn't the worst. TL;DR: Mix the bass so it isn't nearly as oppressive, mix the guitar so it's a bit more prominent, tinker with the rest of your mix so that overcompression doesn't occur nearly as much and maybe see if you can give it a more definitive ending. It's a great arrangement, though, and there is a LOT going for it, but those mixing and production issues may hold it back a bit. It's a fairly strong arrangement, though, so it's not dead in the water, but fixing the production would make this soar through the panel.