djpretzel

I always admired and loved the OCRemix albums that would get released every few months. I always dreamed of having one directed by myself one day too. (hey, look what happened!!) However, one thing I did notice that in almost every single one of the albums, @djpretzel always had a hand in it by contributing at least one track. It almost seemed like a tradition at this point - that the creator and owner of OCRemix involves himself at least once in every major project released. So, obviously I had to ask the man himself if he was willing to donate a track to the cause after it was approved for official album status. Imagine my surprise and excitement when he said yes!

However, true to form and to the advice other album directors gave me, they all mentioned that @djpretzel would take his time and most likely be the last track to be finished for the album....and boy did he not disappoint!  If it weren't for a last minute change for Fina's Theme involving @Deedubs at literally the 11th hour (no kidding, it was finished and sent in AFTER the album had been submitted for eval!), @djpretzel's track would have been the last completed for the album! You almost made it there, buddy, but your streak has been broken! haha!  

As for the track itself, not much to say except he nailed it on the first try, is awesome in every way and I loved it so much that it instantly became my top pick to be the opening track for disc 3. Thanks again to @djpretzel for being so great and easy to work with, you made the final stages of this album submission so much easier and friendly. I appreciate all the help you've given me and the help you'll continue to give as we progress forward in working out these physicals! Huzzah to all for a job well done!

This song has quite a history. This was always imagined to be the centerpiece to the entire album in my eyes. One of the key defining features of the Delphinus track was how it would subtly change as you flew near each of the major continents of the world, different instrumentation layering itself to give a different flavor as you travel through each section. That aspect of the track always stuck out to me and I was always hoping we could incorporate that somehow into the remixed version. Although the album already featured a few interesting combo tracks, where we mixed two similar or even dissimilar songs together to form an interesting blend, this was going to be on a whole different level.
So I started pitching the idea to many people, saying the Delphinus track, if they were interested in it, had a VERY special requirement request placed upon it. Most were intrigued by the source tune, but the moment they heard the additional requirements to add into the song, they immediately bowed out. I can't recall how many remixers I approached with this track, each one turning it down for various reasons. It was getting to be one of the last 4-5 tracks left on the album unclaimed. We were starting to despair that we would even get anyone at all for it and the original vision I had wanted. I was considering taking away the request and just having the plain source tune by itself be the only thing a remixer would have to do.
Help arrived in the form of @Jorito. At first, he wasn't keen on producing another track for the album, having since submitted one already in the form of il buono, il brutto, il pirata dell'aria. He was busy with various other projects and remix songs. So I moved on to pitch it to others. In the end, he came back around and asked about the album and I mentioned there were only a few tracks left. He was interested in the request for the Delphinus and I told him my vision. He said it was highly interesting and he would think on it. I think a week or two went by and he came back inspired, saying he had the perfect idea for it. Why just layer instrumentation over the original melody? Why not just take the listener directly into the culture of each moon, incorporating rather the Delphinus track INTO the separate musical elements rather than those cultural tracks into the Delphinus? Let Delphinus be the bridge to this big melody than the sole focus?
After many months of going back and forth and tons of feedback, he dropped what simply was one of the best and most impressive songs of the entire album. He even loved the title to our second disc that he asked if he could appropriate it for his own song. Given that it was a bridge between disc 2 and 3, I figured there was no better track name for this than that. The moment I heard it, I knew immediately it was going to be the showstopper to end the second disc and seque us into the third. It had elements of songs that had come before and previewed songs we had yet to hear. It was the perfect bridge to the perfect album for Skies of Arcadia. Thank you again, @Jorito for a job well done!

Sometimes with movies, you don't just have an awesome theme, but there's also a brilliant "suite" on the soundtrack that takes you through many of the different tracks in a great journey. This is that suite. Amazing stuff from all involved and it's great to hear all of these live performances! Epic stuff guys! 

Because this situation might recur, I'll outline the specifics:
PRS for Music (https://www.prsformusic.com/) issued a DMCA takedown for a ReMix by @Beatdrop Dreamhost removed the mix and notified us... ...however, our automated process to synchronize mirrors put the mix right back where it was, and Dreamhost subsequently shut the whole mirror down I am in the process of issuing a counter-claim and checking with Dain to see if there's any reason this company would have issued such a claim; even if there is, our content policy grants us license to publish/distribute and supersedes any subsequent agreements re: exclusivity. In the meantime, the mirror will remain down

Yeah I've been using Bitwig since release and I don't think I will need to switch anytime soon.  The strong points of bitwig are the modular possibilities, the sandboxing of VSTs which is the absolute best of all the DAWs I've tried (and I've tried almost all of them except Logic) and the quick workflow it offers.  Also, I'm not sure if this is a thing nowadays but you can use 32 and 64 bit VST2 and VST3 devices on the same project without any issue.  I know I had issues with this in a couple of DAWs a few years ago (Sonar comes to mind).
However, it's also a relatively young DAW, compared to the mainstream ones that have been around for more than a decade, so you might find here and there some stuff that's considered "basic" in other DAWs is not yet available in BW.  So if you want to switch I recommend trying to at least make a couple songs on it to see if you're going to miss anything pivotal from your previous DAW.
Overall, I've always said the best DAW is the one you know.  Don't switch for the sake of switching.  But if you're curious about having a modular DAW with the best VST support then check BW out. 

A note on Reaper: it's cheap, and also has a vast feature list.  However in my experience it was very clunky and the workflow never quite clicked for me.  Even after doing some deep customization on it (which is one of its strong points, as it's highly customizable) I just couldn't feel at home.  I did produce a few songs on it but left it after BW came out, whose workflow clicked for me quicker than any other DAW before it.  So be warned that Reaper is famous for having a steep learning curve, but also packing tons of features.
edit:  Also, I have a Nektar LX48.  The nektar controllers are basically made for BW's workflow, specially if you're into live performances.

I've got Bitwig, but haven't really put it through its paces. It definitely holds its own, and the modularity of the environment is awesome.
A couple other bonuses:
It loads VERY quickly, It scans & detects new VSTs in near real-time, and... It has best-in-the-industry sandboxing of VST plugins, where a plugin can crash, disappear, then reload itself all while your song is still playing, without crashing the DAW. If I'm just wanting to load a VST quickly to mess around, Bitwig is my go-to now, because of the above. Still wanna wrap my head around it enough to actually make a complete song, but I'm thinking B3 will be a good incentive.

I have Bitwig and did a few tracks in it (posted remixes, even). It is pretty cool, a bit of a mixture of Live, Logic and Cubase, looks like. With the upcoming Bitwig 3 you even get a modular synth build thingie inside of it. Best ask @Sir_NutS about it, the resident Bitwig advocate
I never worked with Reaper, but my impressions is that it’s a very flexible, more traditional DAW that you can (... must?) customize to your hearts content to make it work for you. YMMV.
Ultimately it all depends on what you want and what you’re using now. A different DAW can inspire you to do different creative things. Or it can annoy and confuse you to no end, My go-to DAW is Logic Pro, but sometimes I do a Bitwig track just to try different things. But that only works if that other DAW is different enough from your regular one. So... why are you considering to switch/start using another DAW?

Hmm... Well, I'm willing to go back and re-listen to the track with this in mind, especially since I actually really did enjoy this arrangement otherwise. I'm sticking to my guns on my criticism, though, since that remains unchanged - the mixing of the leads is consistently problematic throughout the track, often getting buried completely. However, looking back at a few other decisions I'll check to see if this is actually a deal-breaking breaking issue.
Looking at this from a different perspective, while the mixing is problematic throughout, it's oftentimes a bearable issue, only really burying the lead at 1:23 - 1:46 and 1:53 - 2:30 (2:30 - 2:40 the lead is an octave out of the range of the background, helping it stand out). Much of the rest of the track the lead, while not being mixed much differently, does stand out because it doesn't share the same register as the backing instruments.
For those paying attention, this is often an easy fix if you're having issues with the lead getting buried in the middle/background: just bump the lead up an octave. Seriously, this can fix the issue about 50% of the time, since often it's less a mixing issue and more of a crowded EQ range in a soundscape. It's still a mixing issue here, sure, but having it share the same soundspace as the accompaniment really compounds the issue.
Rather than being an unbearable issue throughout the track, it's closer to being a noticeable issue throughout, with it being really problematic for about 20% of the track. Yeah, I think I might've come down a little too hard on this the first time around, but please pay attention to how you mix your leads in the future in order to save your future projects from such discrimination.
YES

I Frisking love this album!!!! Some of my favorites have to be invincible, greedbuilt, koopa reaper, underground pipe society, and herculean to name a few, I dunno how to make music but darn, this music is awesome! it always makes me think of making a ROM hack with the music! All that I can say is this is a GR8 soundtrack 10/10 IGN

Ah, this takes me back to the early days of remixing. I remember that remixes with lyrics were extremely unique at that time. Heck, remixing as a whole was unique at that time.

Fantastic!  Brought a smile to my face and I was honestly sad when it was over.  The horns with the accordion were delightfully cheery.  This one gets saved - nice work!  Would love to see more works like this.

http://ocrmirror.org/
So... yeah.

Наконец то! Спасибо!
I knew that this game will be ReMixed by someone from my part of world, for some reason.

Moved around a month ago. I always like to incorporate my living room and studio into one space - saves money!
Just attach a picture when you post.

Haven't done one of these in so long....

There's also rent to owm plugins out there that sound amazing. FL Studio has good synths but there is so much out there worth checking out. I just got Sylenth1 and am spending $10 a month on it and it is freaking amazing. Serum also has options similar to this.

Hey, don't do this. Don't call out other replies as "patronizing." Give your advice without the snide commentary.

Hi!
It's been a while since I posted on OCRemix, ... but now finally my new VGM album is out! It's called Rock 'n' Roll for Basement Dwellers and has 8 classic rock and funk covers of video game songs – this time with vocals.
Songs are from Mega Man 3, Mega Man 10, Phantasy Star 2, Blades of Steel, and other games.
Reactions have been very positive so far. Hope you like it!
Listen to it here:
http://mutherpluckin-b.com/sm2player_basement.html
Or on Youtube:
 
 
 
 
Find all my music on
http://mutherpluckin-b.com

I took my 4-year-old daughter to MagFest this last weekend and gave her the chance to play a bunch of different games.  The clear winner, surprising me, was Spyro, which she spent almost 2 hours playing.  I had to help her a lot, but she did much better at it than at other games she tried.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised.  The platforming is generally very forgiving.  Spyro has only two attacks, both of which have very generous hitboxes.  And his glide means that he'll go forward if you hit the jump button in midair, which makes simple jumps onto higher platforms easier.  Compared to something like Mario games (which I tried her on), there's a lot less coordination required.
Anyone have any other suggestions along those lines?  Cute aesthetics, low precision requirements, minimal reading required, nothing that really requires explanation?  I have the Spyro trilogy (just have to install a PSX emulator), but some more options would be nice.

UPDATED YOUTUBE VIEW COUNT 8+ years later. 
 
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Chernabogue - The End OCReMix (short edit) - 404 views
Lessashamed - Dreaming Still - 832 views
diotrans - Mario Paper Friends - 852,989 views GOOD GRIEF

 
 

arcadia legends was trying to get out in time for their 15y anniversary. since we're not aiming for a specific date, i agreed to let arcadia come out first.

Just chiming in with an update:
Our current plan is that Chronopolis will be the first OC ReMix album released in 2019 (yay!) This is partly because we're trying to get Arcadia Legends out this month (yay, but also difficult!)

Haven't done one of these in so long....

Nailed the psytrance vibe for sure! Great stuff, love it. Teach me how

This is extremely sexy. Great voice work, too. From the thick beats to the constantly varying textures, this track wins on all fronts.
Lovin' it.