djpretzel

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

First off, don't get me wrong by what I'm about to say - I absolutely love the analysis we do, and I think our taking standards seriously is a good thing. I've heard a few folks criticize us for taking vgm/arrangement/"life"/etc. too seriously, but frankly, people put a lot of work into mixes, we put a lot of work into the site, and it should MEAN something when a mix gets accepted, AND when it gets rejected. So, don't misinterpret this, but... we may be overthinking this one a bit. Ultimately, there are some things we really just CAN'T put in writing and be 100% objective about. Having a 50% arrangement material requirement SOUNDS reasonable, and sounds objective... but really, it isn't, because you can haggle about what is or isn't arrangement, as we've been doing here, and you're right back to square one: subjective analysis. You might glean from the above where this comment is headed, and you'd be right, but hear me out a bit... I'm not trying to set a precedent that says Larry's 50/50 thing is WRONG - I think it can be very helpful, and doing a source breakdown is almost always a good idea. In this instance, we deal with the issue of whether soloing on top of a fairly conspicuous (though certainly not unique in the world of music) chord progression counts as arrangement. Here's the thing: this is a fusion piece. Without soloing over base progressions, jazz and fusion would be almost impossible as musical genres to begin with. In other words, the idea of soloing over top the source progression is inherent to the very genre/style the mixer chose. Am I saying that I wouldn't allow the same thing if it were a trance mix? Maybe... I'd have to hear it. But I suppose my (very subjective) litmus test here is: does it flow? Do the solo passages sound pasted on, or do they flow from the source material, and how it's being adapted? Does it sound like wankery plopped carelessly on top of patches of VGM arrangement, or something that's been integrated? You can't use a calculator to answer that question, and yet for me it's very important on mixes like these. So, I'm not saying Larry's wrong to look for 50% arrangement, but I'm not saying Jesse's wrong to go "by ear" either... I think you need to do a bit of both qualitative AND quantitative analysis to do this job right. For me, personally, when I do so... I come up with a yes. But damn... can we get the snaps, crackles, and pops out? Rice Krispies called and they want their sound back... my approval is conditional on at least SOME work being done, by someone (doesn't have to be submitting artist, if he's cool with getting help), to help address the production issues - it's too good a track not to at least attempt fixing!

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

One word: Pepsiman. Any list that does not include his resplendent theme song is buncombe.

I was going to ask to have that question removed; I don't see the relevance to the topic of the paper, and I don't really want the results posted here as some sort of a popularity contest. Larry gave the green light, so I blame him - this is what happens when you delegate Kidding aside, I do encourage skipping this specific question.

Might this be the most expensive VGM-related mistake ever made?? Anyways, glad Shariq chimed in, as some of the comments were headed in the wrong direction. I'm always interested in talking with him about Islam because he helps temper some of the perceptions I'm fed by the media and others. Whether it's LBP or Fallout 3, a game developer should be prudent/pragmatic enough to realize that including content like this is going to be offensive. Sometimes it's an intentional thing, to get a media grab & free advertising, and sometimes it's just a screw-up, as this appears to be, but either way, you do have to wonder what the composer in question was thinking. I could easily see this being a case of ignorance, too: someone searching their sample library for "ethnic chanting" or googling for public domain samples of such or whatever, finding said quotes, and not even bothering to vett them. How much sense do they make in context, on the level? If it's deliberate, it really is an odd decision. Other side of the coin: different things offend different people. Having a thick skin is, in my opinion, a rational and advantageous personal AND cultural characteristic, but you can get almost anyone riled up with the right words. Furthermore, Muslims don't try to hide or obfuscate what they object to... it's all pretty straightforward, they spell it all out, so it should never surprise anyone that instances like these raise eyebrows. In this instance, the quoted email sent to Sony was phrased very politely and makes a calm explanation of the issue. That's some pretty damn tactful "fanaticism" there HOWEVER, I think the reaction this is causing amongst some is fueled by the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, where there WAS overreaction, violence, and what seemed like fanaticism to me. The problem with events like that - which Islam doesn't attempt to distance itself from enough, in my opinion - is that when rational Muslims make calm, understandable objections to things like this LBP content, it's hard not to resurrect such events in one's mind and make connections. Is that fair? Not at all... but, like I said, if mainstream Islam did more to distance itself from extreme reactions like the cartoon event, there'd be less misunderstanding and generalization. Pretty much.

Quick question, because I'm lazy: is there a mechanism to export finished songs as MP3/WAV files using wireless (or similar)?

A fair question, but expecting folks to remember this selection potentially months later isn't realistic, and some people just have a kneejerk reaction to receiving email from anyone, about anything. At any rate, we need a standard footer for mass forum emails with instructions on unsubscribing - that's definitely a standard/best practice.

Agreed, we'll do it next time, and sorry. The addition of such a footer is long overdue; in the past we've tried to simply send so few mass emails that we didn't think it'd be an issue, but either way, there are always a couple folks like yourself who aren't cool with it, and adding a message at the bottom shouldn't be much trouble.

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As you can imagine, OCR does a fair amount of bandwidth. One of the ways we've been able to survive is by using shared hosting plans to handle some of the MP3 traffic, while our main site remains on a dedicated server. If you're looking for hosting yourself, we recommend our shared hosting provider, Dreamhost, as well as our dedicated host, LiquidWeb. Here are five promotional signup codes for Dreamhost: 426461614634 296376551207 956144461798 018301179762 286598244563 You will get all these super special advantages not available any other way: * Four (4) times the normal disk and bandwidth! * If you choose their five-year plan, you'll get $150 off! * If you choose their ten-year plan, you'll get $200 off! * OC ReMix will get credit towards our account for your signup! Signup at http://www.dreamhost.com/ and use one of the above codes for affordable, excellent shared hosting. Even without the code, it's a great deal, but with the code, it's downright ridiculous PLUS it helps us out as well! If you're looking for a virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated server like we have, we've been with LiquidWeb for a long while now, and they've been awesome. We wouldn't recommend them if we didn't think you would feel the same way, plus - as with Dreamhost - if you use the link above to sign up, you'll be helping OCR out in the process. Cheers, -- David W. Lloyd President & Founder, OverClocked ReMix www.ocremix.org

Thanks everybody... I'm unsticking this one since it's been around awhile, but I appreciate the wishes/congrats - we're trying to get busy on picking a time/place, but with Anna graduating from law school in 2010 and most places booked up a year in advance, it's tricky! If you've got suggestions in the Philly or DC area (no churches/cathedrals), let us know!

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

One, C# and SDL sounds like a good way to go... hell, I could even assist a bit, or at least compile and see what's what. As far as plotlines go, I'll throw out a couple skeleton ideas: MegaCorp. Conglomerates Inc., headed by the evil (and decidedly unpleasant) Dr. Silence, has developed new technology that removes original soundtracks from video games and replaces them with licensed music by mainstream artists. Dr. Pretzel sends out his beloved creation and protector of VGM, OCR-Tan, to do battle against Silence and his minions: lawyer man, corporate marketing woman, product placement man, overplayed alterna-rock boy, talented rapper who nevertheless should not be making video games man, etc. A little edgy, I guess, but it could be cool. Variant: MegaCorp. Conglomerates Inc., headed by the evil (and STILL decidedly unpleasant) Dr. Silence, has developed new technology to steal the world's video game music from games everywhere. No platform is safe - handheld, console, arcade (what's left of them... mostly in Japan), and computer games alike are all being sucked dry by Silence and his minions. Only Dr. Pretzel and his robotic creation, OCR-Tan, can stop this foul deed and restore the world's VGM. Using her psionically-enhanced mega-guitar, OCR-Tan must battle each of the eight robots Dr. Silence created to oversee music removal (uhh... let's see here... Drum Man, Guitar Man, Synth Man, etc.... Cowbell Man would be fun... Shakuhachi Woman amuses me, as does Ethnic Instrumentation Boy...you get the idea), while collecting chiptunes on each level to power-up her guitar for new and increasingly awesome attacks (i.e. lens flares or some shit)... Variant: Instead of the bosses being musical instruments (or types of instruments) they could be musical genres... Variant: Instead of musical instruments or genres, maybe Dr. Silence kidnapped the world's most famous game composers and created robotic alter egos of them... why?... I have no idea, this is what makes him a mad scientist... but anyways, yeah, he kidnapped them to... have them compose music for educational documentaries... and created robotic alter-egos that fight using the power of music, should anyone come looking for them... oh hell, this doesn't work at all... but STILL the idea of Robo-Nobuo, Mega-Mitsuda, and King-Kondo really appeals to me... good way to incorporate actual OC ReMixes of said composers as part of the game soundtrack, too... Yeah, didn't really think these through, 100%, but some of the concepts (chiptunes as powerups/energy, Dr. Silence, bosses as musical elements and/or composers) could be used without my skeletal (and lame) narrative... I guess, in general, it'll be cool if the plot weren't soooo focused on in-jokes and community insider trivia and were more accessible, but that's just my two cents...

Everyone? Maybe four people or so... I'm reluctant to call that everyone. Dhsu thinks the colors could be fixed and it could work, and I agree that they don't match up 100% with the header, for instance, so I think I'll take a stab at fixing them, then maybe run a poll to see who prefers what after they're fixed.

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¡Viva Kirkhope! - OverClocked ReMix Interviews Composer Grant Kirkhope By: David Lloyd, dlloyd@ocremix.org "Just trying to get a job as a composer is the hardest of all. I always tell people to make sure they are good sound designers as well. Despite the fact I'm known for being a composer, I have always done sound design on the games I've worked on. I like having the variety." - Grant Kirkhope, OC ReMix Interview October 4, 2008 Fairfax, VA -- OverClocked ReMix today published its third video game composer interview, this time focusing on ex-Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. Known primarily for his work on the Banjo-Kazooie, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and Viva Pinata scores, Kirkhope recently left Rare - and the United Kingdom - to join THQ's Big Huge Games studio in Timonium, Maryland. The interview is available online at http://www.ocremix.org/info/Composer_Interview:_Grant_Kirkhope. Conducted by site staff, OC ReMix interviews cover major aspects of a composer's career, featuring targeted questions unique to each subject, as well a standard list of questions that specifically delve into a musician's formative years, creative inspirations, and views on the current state of the game music industry. This unique format presents both a contemporary look at a composer's recent activities as well as more comprehensive questions about the nature of video game music composition. About OverClocked ReMix Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans. Links Composer Interview: Grant Kirkhope OC ReMix interviews Grant Kirkhope Composer Profile & ReMixes at OverClocked ReMix Grant Kirkhope @ MySpace Big Huge Games

That Raptor/FF7 song association is legit; check the writeup for the mix. ReMixes DO have screenshots, games do not... this is logistical, based on a desire for game listings to be lighter, take up less vertical space, etc. - that won't change, as it allows for much more extensibility. The alpha listings haven't showed mixes in a long time, just games, so they too won't have screens. Instead of tabs for mixers and composers, those are now displayed right on the same alpha page, to the right. Things ARE in flux at the moment, as I make some tweaks, but the decision to have lightweight (i.e. no screenshots or icons) listings for games won't change.

That's new, and based directly on user feedback. Hopefully the bandwidth impact won't be prohibitive. On the main mix list and on search results, instead of putting an ad banner on the far right, I've embedded it into the actual list, so that it only takes up vertical space, not horizontal. This makes a lot of sense to me and makes the lists more usable at 1024x768, imo. I think I agree w/ Dhsu on column headings and left alignment. I'll look into that. I can try to match up the colors a bit better, but... I'm really preferring the light text/dark bg for data tables. These guys present a lot of info, and I feel like the contrast with the rest of the site lets me focus on JUST the table... Some other improvements - enough so that I may do an announcement once I stabilize minor tweaks based on feedback: Quick search for games now lets you search for games by composer Quick search for mixes now lets you search for mixes by composer AND ReMixer Both types of quick search now also search against game alias. This field hasn't been fully populated, but would allow for shorthand searches e.g. "ff7" Pretty much.

Made some formatting changes to the lists... feedback here.