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djpretzel

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Posts posted by djpretzel

    OCR03905 - *YES* Skies of Arcadia "A Sailor's Respite" *PROJECT* *RESUB*

    in Judges Decisions

    Posted

    A little conservative in instrumentation and overall style, but thoroughly embellished with additional ornamentation, fluid temp fluctuations, and of course a nice live trumpet solo that adds a lot. Certainly keeps the feel of the original intact, but also explores permutations & enhancements sufficiently. Nitpicking, I'd say there could be even more ebb & flow to the tempo & dynamics, because it's the type of composition that leans on that "swaying" aesthetic, but that's tough to sequence, and what's here is good.

    YES

    *NO* Final Fantasy 4 'Devotion to the Motif'

    in Judges Decisions

    Posted

    On 11/28/2017 at 5:28 PM, Gario said:

    To be honest, this is a lot closer to passing than not, in my book. The weak string instrument that carries the theme does hold this back considerably in my book, though, as well as the highly dissonant section at 0:54. Fixing these issues as laid out above (as well as the pitch bending) would pretty much secure a vote from me upon resubmission,

    NO

    Agreed; arguably that makes it a YES conditional; I do hope APZX revises the mix.

    On 12/12/2017 at 5:22 PM, MindWanderer said:

    The strings and the pitch bending are what sinks this.  There was a lot I enjoyed, though--the solidly EDM chorus sections and the ending in particular--so I do hope to see you take another stab at it and send it back our way.

    More the pitch bends than the strings. The dynamic panning helps the strings, and it's a unique lead sound you don't hear much... by the same token, it kinda sits in uncanny valley for me, sounding more realistic than most classic string synths (Solina, etc.) but not as realistic as actual strings... something more committed to either a classic analog string synth or realistic strings would probably work better, and an entirely different approach to the lead might also be more effective.

    On 12/15/2017 at 4:48 PM, Jivemaster said:

    My thoughts are that the track here has promise with some unique ideas but overused techniques that need polish and refinement, as well as a rethink required of the overall arrangement to in some way, avoid harmonic clashes.

    The pitch bends are not only overused, but weirdly implemented... they warble a bit, and the increment is subtle, and it almost sounds like someone trying to learn the theremin. The pitch bend down on final note of phrase has such a connection with Blade Runner for me, too... not 100% it survives this implementation without channeling that in a weird way.

    I had no major problems with harmony/dissonance except as relevant to the pitch bending. We'll see what @Liontamer thinks.

    I think is creative, fun, engaging, and would love to see it on the site, but I also agree with the apparent consensus of the panel that the pitch bending (first & foremost) and the lead string patch (secondary but non-trivial) being addressed & refined would let this shine.

    NO (but please resubmit with fixes!)

    OCRA-0065 - Secret of Mana: Resonance of the Pure Land

    in Album Reviews & Comments

    Posted

    On 2/2/2018 at 9:33 PM, Silverpool said:

    The new song by halc is not in the Secret of Mana: Resonance of the Pure Land album torrent, nor are the rest of the songs track numbers updated. I understand that the song wasn't originally on the album, but in the write up for the song in question, djpretzel says "When Secret of Mana: Resonance of the Pure Land first dropped, it didn't include this chill & mellow chipjazz ReMix of "Distant Thunder" from the one and only halc, due mostly to passage of time & some missed emails. Drew let us know, and we've since added it back to the album, where it rightly belongs."

    Just letting you guys know that it isn't there as of today. :)

    @Silverpool @Liontamer Thanks for bringing this to my attention; Larry had provided an updated torrent, but I hadn't yet gone live with it. It's up now, but the old one is still seeding as well until it dies out by attrition, since we get most of our seeders from the initial album release announcement(s).

    OCR03680 - *YES* Secret of Mana "Sunny with a Chance of Thunder" *PROJECT*

    in Judges Decisions

    Posted

    Gets more interpretive as it goes, from an arrangement perspective, and I totally dig the soundscape - Drew kinda inverts things by putting more verb on the bass than many other elements, so it sits back in the mix as this dope, mellow lurker, while foreground textures seem closer. Chiptune & glitch elements are excellent; especially love how even individual notes within a line will mess with panning & jump around a bit, adding life to each passage. Mix does kinda just end, and in this case I wanted something a LITTLE bit more, even a surprise extra note or beat, but it's a nitpick - as others have said, this is classic halc, plays the arrangement relatively close but definitely breathes comfortable in its own skin, and packs in those classic 9-bit flavors we've been missing.

    YES

    Keyboard connectivity

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Yeah to echo what @Jorito said, there aren't too many variables:

    • If you have 1/4 headphones, try plugging them directly into the 1/4 outs of the Korg/Yamaha, just as a sanity check.
    • Assuming that test succeeds, there are only a few buttons on the Behringer that could be messing you up:
      • Try the "to main mix" buttons like Jorrith said
      • Make sure level knobs are up
      • If the mixer has a software interface, post a screenshot, and/or a photo of your hookup
      • If the mixer has a software interface, make sure the line inputs are enabled, NOT muted, that no other inputs are set to solo, and that they are assigned to main mix

    Ads on OC ReMix YouTube Channel

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 12/2/2017 at 5:56 PM, Rozovian said:

    So long as there's transparency, I'm cool with it. Can we see some more specific numbers, like an end-of-the-year report on costs and revenue? How much is being paid out of pocket, how much does patreon cover, ads, other donations, other costs...

    @Rozovian So last year we filed a 990-N, because we're under the $50K limit and had only been a 501c3 for a grand total of one month & change, in 2016.

    https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/annual-electronic-filing-requirement-for-small-exempt-organizations-form-990-n-e-postcard

    For our 2017 taxes, I'm planning on doing the full 990, which does spell things out more explicitly. We need to amend our bylaws, get those online, and check some other boxes, but information like you're requesting WILL be made publicly available in Q1 2018 when we go through this process.

    Ads on OC ReMix YouTube Channel

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Patrick Burns said:

    I like the evolution and the enthusiasm...

    ...but just so things don't get confusing about this "I consent" business, I want to add that the primary consent is choosing [or not choosing] to submit your music under the content policy. Voicing consent in this thread is redundant to that choice and muddies the waters a bit, possibly leading some readers to incorrectly assume that not posting somehow implies non-consent, or that non consenting has any meaning if you still proceed to submit your music under the content policy.

    @Patrick Burns is correct, for the record - we weren't planning on explicitly keeping track anymore, just enabling it for the whole channel. Stating consent here has the effect of voicing support for that plan, but that plan would enable everything, for all videos. Given that YouTube apparently can enable this at will, and given that tracking each & every artist preference could get.... elaborate.... especially with collaborations, the idea is that the content policy itself does and would cover this, across the board.

    It's an important distinction/clarification.

    Ads on OC ReMix YouTube Channel

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    36 minutes ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

    As I recall, the main arguments were

    1. It was basically flown in under the radar
    2. YouTube is a service that doesn't actually cost OCR anything
    3. Some feel that the ads are more a "part of the mix" on YouTube and a lot more invasive (unskippable ads)...which they are.
    4. Additional Brandon Strader conspiracy theories.

    Personally, I still tend to agree more with the naysayers, but the energy involved in caring and bitching about it just isn't worth it.

    • #1 was a legitimate misjudgment on our part - my part - as to the timing of going live to get basic metrics vs. a full roll-out, and how that would be perceived; I'd need to review the full thread again to remember if I apologized for that misjudgment, but if I didn't, I do. A good faith assumption was all it took to understand what happened, and we didn't get a good faith assumption from some folks, but ideally we wouldn't put ourselves in a position to NEED a good faith assumption :)
    • #2 never made any sense to me, personally; whether we pay for YouTube or not is irrelevant. That's basically saying you should only run ads on the platforms that represent an expense to you, and only use revenue generated on any platform to pay for that platform, and nothing else? That's NEVER been true, because even a decade ago, when it was just banner ads, we used funds for promotional runs of physical albums as prizes at conventions.... so that's using web ads to pay for something not strictly related to web hosting. This conceptualization of funding & expenditure is very odd/rigid/limiting...
    • #3 is worth talking more about, I think. We have no intention of ever enabling unskippable ads, so those are off the table.
    • #4 tell me about it...

    Ads on OC ReMix YouTube Channel

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hopefully we can avoid a repeat of the drama that occurred on a previous thread discussing this matter.

    On Tuesday of last week, all videos on our channel mysteriously had ads enabled without any action on our part; previously ads were limited to a small percentage of videos from artists who had opted in, so we could get some metrics. We have disabled all ads as of today, including for videos that previously had them enabled. This batch change is currently processing on YouTube.

    We did inquire with YouTube/Google as to how this change could have happened, as none of us made it directly or intentionally, but they couldn't help us:

    Quote

    "As far as channel action history is concerned, we are unable to provide any records of it."

    It's difficult to understand how an entity so large wouldn't track such actions on a per-user basis, but it's apparently the case.

    TL;DR; what's changed since the last time we had this conversation is that OverClocked ReMix is now a project of Game Music Initiative, Inc, a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization...

    We've got a board of directors that has met three times this year, we've got separate bank accounts that are not in my name or included on my personal income taxes, no single individual can sell the domain or its intellectual property, and there are legally-binding rules about how the money can be spent, and for what, above and beyond the existing content policy. While the ads were not enabled intentionally, we waited to hear back from Google before disabling them, because we wanted metrics for the entire channel being ad-enabled and because the original plan was to wait for 501c3 status and then revisit the topic.

    Our submission agreement has always allowed for advertising in the context of mixes, so long as that revenue is used for the site:

    Quote

    This license explicitly prohibits OverClocked ReMix from distributing submitted materials for for-profit endeavors. All revenue generated by advertising presented in the context of submitted materials will be used for costs directly associated with the operation and promotion of OverClocked ReMix.

    Originally this change rubbed some folks the wrong way and there were heated words about how YouTube ads were somehow profoundly different than website ads; I'm not sure if anyone still feels that way, but either way, "context" is an umbrella term that was never intended to be limiting. The Internet changes and we need to change with it, as best we can.

    So, basically:

    1. We have removed almost all ads from our websites. We only want to run promotions for VGM & related stuff that's relevant, and keep that minimal and non-intrusive.
    2. Right now, GMI & OCR are funded primarily by our support on Patreon (you gals & guys are the best!)
    3. However, I've never been comfortable with a single point of failure, and feel like YouTube ads are a good secondary source of support.
    4. From the last week of metrics, full ad-enablement on YouTube adds up to about $25 a day, give or take. For any one artist, myself included, this would be less than a dollar a month.
    5. In addition, YouTube ads *apparently* help SEO and enhance the visibility/reach of the videos, which is important.
    6. I'd like to reach a point with artists where we've built enough trust, through our words and actions but also our new legal status, where this change is understood and appreciated, but we should by all means continue the conversation and see where it takes us.

    We previously committed to:

    1. Filing for 501c3 status in this calendar year. (DONE)
    2. Updating the content policy with clarifying language surrounding "advertisements in the context of submitted material" meaning more than just banner ads, with YouTube as a specific example. (PENDING)
    3. Reaching out to artists via forum email addresses, social media, etc. for additional feedback on this topic prior to enabling ads on the back catalog of 3000+ videos. (THIS THREAD + NOTIFICATIONS)

    Final Fantasy VIII: Collision Course - History

    in Projects

    Posted

    Yes, but to be honest I think we need to reevaluate having myself, @JJT, & @zircon as co-directors - what we really need is ONE strong leader to be a rainmaker, bother people, cut people, be brutal, be loving, and get things moving again.

    We'll put a call out in January & see what can happen. It's possible my time will free up but I can't count on that. The WIPs are promising and the project still needs to happen, we just need a single, willing & able mastermind!

    OCR03900 - *YES* Secret of Mana "What the Ocean Taught the Forest" *PROJECT*

    in Judges Decisions

    Posted

    Just like with SMRPG, figured I'd post this here since it's not officially a flood mix, and it's actually relatively liberal - the source itself should be pretty easy to identify, but there's an original melodic motif that gets a fair share of some time, and a bass solo section thinger, and... okay, I'll stop talking :) Here's my notes from the album itself:
     

     

    Quote

    "I had originally planned a very different arrangement/collaboration with Harmony, who loves this theme and will hopefully one day do his own mix which will be much better than this, but the timing didn't work and I went in a different direction after seeing Disney's Moana for the 75th (or so) time. Not joking; my daughters Esther & Sarah are both huge fans, and for that matter so are Anna & I, and I can't think of another movie I've seen that many times without going clinically insane.

    A big part part of Moana, for me, is the soundtrack; not JUST the brilliant songs, but each individual cue... it's ALL fantastic. The story also inspires me - maybe it's just because I've seen it SO many times, but I've started thinking of the islanders as a metaphor for all humans. We need to be voyagers, out there discovering new planets & finding our way, beyond the reef, and instead we're stuck on a single rock, beautiful though it may be.

    So what DID the ocean teach the forest?

    I love the Secret of Mana OST track names, so I figured I would play a little bit off of that. What can a forest teach us? Wisdom, permanence... temporal & vertical scale. Many other things, I'm sure. But what could a forest learn from the ocean? How to flow... how to touch many coasts, be a part of many traditions... how to be wild, dangerous, open, & free. More or less. I took this idea, inspired by Moana, and worked in a pretty diverse instrumentation: piano, ukulele, balafon, bandoneon, tin whistle, koto, taiko, violin, cello, a whole buncha percussion including some frame drums, & a pretty active electric bass. This type of arrangement is tough to do with samples, in my opinion, but I had fun trying, and I hope you have fun listening. Thanks to Jorito for bearing with my delays & putting together an amazing album, and mad respect & love for Hiroki Kikuta, whose Seiken Densetsu 2 & 3 soundtracks are both unqualified VGM classics."

     

    OC ReMix Announces Official 501c3 Non-Profit Status as Project of Game Music Initiative

    in Announcements

    Posted

    logo-color-white-FINAL-2017-09-26A.png

    OC ReMix Announces Official 501c3 Non-Profit Status as Project of Game Music Initiative, Inc

    November 24th, 2017
    Contact: press@ocremix.org

    FAIRFAX, VA... OverClocked ReMix today announced its status as a fully-sponsored project of Game Music Initiative, Inc (GMI), a newly-formed 501c3 non-profit charitable organization devoted to the promotion of video game music as an art form.

    Established on November 26th, 2016, the mission of GMI is as follows:

    • EDUCATE the world about game music as an art form,
    • PROMOTE game music and game composers,
    • RESEARCH game music and contribute to the body of free and open knowledge,
    • PRESERVE the history of game music and archive relevant artifacts,
    • PROVIDE resources for existing and aspiring game composers,
    • PROTECT the right to explore game music through transformative works and assistive technologies, and
    • SUPPORT any projects that advance these goals.

    OverClocked ReMix founder David W. Lloyd expressed his enthusiasm about this development and the need for such a transition:

    "For seventeen years, OverClocked ReMix has been a community effort, but has been owned by a single individual, myself, and not officially registered as a 501c3 charitable organization. Game Music Initiative was created to support this project, and others like it in the future, and provides permanent assurance of non-profit status while also enhancing financial transparency & operational continuity," Mr. Lloyd noted. "This transition paves the way for exciting developments ahead, makes all donations from US citizens tax deductible, and builds on the foundation of trust and long-term commitment that OC ReMix has developed since 1999."

    More information about GMI, including its board of directors, can be found at https://gamemusic.org.

    An FAQ is available and will be updated to address any questions surrounding this change of status.

    About OverClocked ReMix

    Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix (http://ocremix.org) is a community featuring thousands of free fan arrangements & albums, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

    About Game Music Initiative

    Established in 2016, Game Music Initiative (https://gamemusic.org) is a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the promotion, preservation, research, & celebration of video game music.

    Square Enix is hard to get in touch with for stuff like this

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    9 hours ago, orlouge82 said:

    Not sure how ambitious you are, but there's a nice compulsory license system (see copyright.gov's link here) that can help you out a lot..  The law firm is just charging for their labor.  The actual fees are substantially less.  If you have the time, you could certainly become familiar enough with navigating the system to not need to use a lawyer.

    Right, but that's just for licensing the music. The permission to raise funds via Kickstarter is, at least according to some, a separate cost/right entirely, since it's not a fixed price-per-track licensing - backers can (and do) contribute more, for other types of benefits...

    @GSO Grand plans usually require enthusiastic participants/collaborators, and you'll get more of those when you have a track record of successful projects, whether free or commercial. So yes, to echo what's been said several times, it feels like you're starting very large, and that your energies would be more productively directed at building up the type of successes that would lead to being able to put something like this together more effectively.

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN! OC ReMix and YoshiBlade present Candy Corn II: The Sequeling!

    in Announcements

    Posted

    Cover


    HAPPY HALLOWEEN! OC ReMix and YoshiBlade present Candy Corn II: The Sequeling!

    October 31, 2017
    Contact: press@ocremix.org

    FAIRFAX, VA... BOO! Celebrating Halloween, OC ReMix is proud to present YoshiBlade's Candy Corn II: The Sequeling, a follow-up to Halloween 2016's release of the original Candy Corn EP. The Sequeling features seven game arrangements and four vocal drama tracks inspired by the legendary television show "The Twilight Zone," including EDM takes on games like Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VII, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and more.

    The album was produced to help promote video game music, was made by fans, for fans, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by copyright owners; the games, characters, images, and original compositions are copyright their respective owners.

    "The Twilight Zone... was THE inspiration for this album as the tracks were more about questioning what you know as opposed to the BOO! of Candy Corn I," says creator YoshiBlade.

    Candy Corn II: The Sequeling also marks the fifth Halloween album release for the OC ReMix community. Last week OCR released Ghetto Lee Lewis's Heretic Sinphony, arranging the music of DOS FPS Heretic, last year saw YoshiBlade's arrangement and skit album Candy Corn, 2015 featured the Castlevania-based album trilogy Vampire Variations, and Joshua Morse created the site's first solo artist album with his 2009 Castlevania tribute Sonata of the Damned.

    About OverClocked ReMix

    Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. Its primary focus is ocremix.org, a website featuring thousands of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

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