Chimpazilla

This one is a collab: ReMixer name: jnWake. Collab ReMixer name: Ivan Hakštok (User ID = 43292). Name of game(s) arranged: Mega Man X2, Mega Man X6. Name of arrangement: Forever a Sponge. Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Wire Sponge" (from MMX2), "Infinity Mijinion" (from MMX6). LINK TO ARRANGEMENT: Mix comments: I made this mix for Round 1 of last year's Grand Maverick Remix Battle (took me a while to submit it!). In that round, I had to mix Wire Sponge (my choice!) against Infinity Mijinion (picked by Zerothemaster). There are a couple of Mijinion mixes here on OCR that focus on the 80's sound of that song, so I tried to stay away from that in my remix. Instead, I only focused on blending the two sources as well as I could, so this mix is actually quite representative of my "natural" style, which is some kind of piano/synth heavy rock thing... Or something. Source breakdown: To make this easier, I'll show some important stuff of both sources! First, Wire Sponge ( ):0:00 - 0:11: Intro (ignored in the remix!). 0:12 - 0:21: Section 1 (used a lot!). 0:22 - 0:30: Section 2 (also used a lot). 0:31 - 0:37: Transition (ignored). 0:38 - 0:50: Section 3 (used once). Now, Mijinion ( ):0:00 - 0:13: The Final Countdown... uh- Section 1/Intro (used in the remix). 0:14 - 0:30: Section 2 (also used). 0:31 - 0:46: Section 3 (also used). 0:47 - 1:13: Solo! And finally, the remix! 0:00 - 0:28: Intro. Based on Mijinion's Intro. 0:29 - 0:35: Sponge's Section 1. 0:36 - 1:03: Sponge's Section 1 on piano and Mijinion's section 2 on ac. guitar. 1:04 - 1:24: Sponge's Section 2. 1:25 - 1:48: Violin plays Mijinion's Section 3. End of the section uses a transition from Wire Sponge. 1:49 - 2:21: Mijinion's guitar solo played by a synth. A violin plays Sponge's Section 1. 2:22 - 2:53: E. Piano plays Mijinion's section 2 and synth plays the lead from Sponge's section 3 (chord progression is also Sponge's section 3). 2:54 - 3:06: Guitar plays Sponge's Section 1 melody. 3:07 - End: "Epic" outro with Mijinion's melody. Hope I didn't mispell Infinity Mijinion's name too many times there!

Hello, My name is LindsayAnne Pepper (formerly Klemm), and I currently have a song posted on ocremix as "A Fate PreOrdained." I have a new song that I would like to submit to you for your approval. It is called "Fortitude," and is a rendition of both Zelda and Link's theme. It is meant to portray Zelda's farewell to Link as he heads off to war. I hope you enjoy it! Sincerely, LindsayAnne Pepper ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zelda's Lullaby - Zelda Main Theme - Kakariko Village - Song of Healing -

You are right, it isn't acceptable. The process is too long, but we are actively working on this issue. Resubmissions do not wait in the inbox like new submissions, they go right back into the judging queue.

Excellent track! Great combination of timbres, I love that mallet, awesome concept and really adds to the evil. Very exciting. I'm a huge fan of including game sfx in ReMixes, this track is a winner!

Happiest of birthdays to my dear friend Will. I hope you have a very Rocky Birthday!!!

Ah, 100% orchestral mixes are a bitch to get right! It takes a lot of humanization and layering of articulations and automating of CC11 or volume to get string and brass lines to sound real. The xylophone also needs humanization as each hit is the same velocity. The snare rolls sound quite mechanical. As for the mixing, the high strings are much too loud. The snare and xylophone are also too loud. Orchestral tracks should kind of sound like a "homogenous wall of sound" and nothing should really stick out volume-wise, if you think about it, picture a live orchestra, no one runs up to a microphone in the front to play a solo! The arrangement needs to be written so that some parts are "wall of sound" and other passages contain just the solo element(s), which will be somewhat soft, giving the piece a lot of dynamic range. But no way will the xylophone be louder than the entire brass section. I like this arrangement but there needs to be much more attention to the humanizing detail and balance/mixing. Also there are areas of the arrangement that feel strangely empty, for example from 1:44-2:15, something like a harp gliss or glock pattern would give focus to those empty passages. The ending is much too abrupt, it feels like it needs one more resolving chord or something, also make sure your render captures the final reverb tail. NO (resubmit)

What a fabulous track. Emotional and brilliantly produced. I have one small nitpick and that is the bass sounds a little too loud when it plays a G. Other than that I'm loving this.

I hear zero source and only pads and atmo until 0:55, at which time there is a complete silence. The piano that follows, playing the arp from Bad Future, is very quantized, dry and unhumanized, even through the glitching effect. At 1:24, the soundscape is much fuller and sounds very muddy. I still hear the Bad Future arp in the background. The first saxophone, starting at 1:59, as far as I can tell is not playing the Present source, but seems to be harmonizing that melody (if it were there). Here's what I hear: vocals from Present: G,A,G,D C,A#,G sax from remix: D,F,G,C,F,G,A#,D#,G,D#,A# The second saxophone bit (3:37-4:34) sounds completely original, and starting at 4:34, the sax again plays the notes I laid out above. The backing vocals at 2:24 sound like source 0:35. Very cool vocals by Damashii!! in this track. Breakdown at 2:28 does sound like the Bad Future source with the arp and the breathy vocals, but unfortunately it is very muddy sounding. I definitely do not hear enough source in this track. Also the mixing is quite muddy and indistinct. I can hear that some cool ideas have been added here but they aren't enough to overcome the muddy mixing, and more overt source use must be present for this to be considered for a pass. NO (resubmit)

What a kickin' source! And this is a groovy remix! Fun filtering and effects. Dat bass. Production is super. Drums are sounding good. The sub bass could use just a teeny cleanup in the lowest end. Unfortunately Larry is right about the source use. There are large sections which only vaguely reflect the underlying chord progressions of the source, and you've got some supercool noodling on top but no source melody. I don't think it will take much to get this track OCR worthy, as the source has so many little motifs going on, just throw some of those motifs in during the source-less sections (like 0:32-2:06), use a little sine timbre or bell or something that will cut through the mix even with everything that's already there (i.e. please don't remove anything, it's all cool!). Just needs that better source connection. While you're at it, I'd love just a bit more differentiation between the two samey heavy-sidechained breakdown sections starting at 1:03 and again at 3:06, it wouldn't take too much to give them each just a little different flavor. (this is not a dealbreaker issue, just a thought) I can't wait to hear what cool things you do with this to add that source. NO (resubmit soon, plz)

I'm a huge fan of Jake's music and this track is no exception. I love the interweaving of sources here, quite impressive. The detail work in the track is really nice as usual from Jake, and Ben's and Nathan's solos are really fun and add tons of personality. The track has *almost* too much reverb, even by my loose standards, but the combination of heavy reverb elements with more upfront and drier crunchy synths and percussion elements/reverses makes a wonderful contrast. Great listen, nice work. YES

Ok I'll try. remix 0:00-0:43 arpy original intro remix 0:43-1:02 is 0:06-0:34 of Main Theme source remix 1:02-1:18 is 0:41-0:57 of Cave source, interpreted yet identifiable remix 1:18-1:34 is 0:41-0:57 of Cave source, mainly chord structure of source with original piano arp added remix 1:34-2:01 is 0:41-0:57 of Cave source, piano playing somewhat identifiable interpreted source, synth lead added remix 2:01-2:28 is 0:41-0:57 of Cave source, SUPER heavily interpreted source chord structure, piano and synth original soloing remix 2:28-2:56 is 0:41-0:57 of Cave source, piano playing somewhat identifiable interpreted source, synth original soloing remix 2:56-4:00 is 0:41-0:57 of Cave source, sped up chord structure and heavily interpreted with original piano soloing remix 4:00-4:03 original bell outro First, this mix is amazing, I love it. Beautifully produced. But I only hear identifiable source from 0:43-1:18. The Main Theme is readily identifiable imo. The first interpretation of the Cave source is unique and nice, yet identifiable. After 1:18, he introduces a piano arp that doesn't seem to exist anywhere in the source material, and although it is beautiful, it begins to go off the rails away from source. After this point the remix progresses and introduces the synth lead and more piano soloing, all over a somewhat interpreted version of the Cave source's chord progression and partially identifiable source played by the piano. This continues all the way until the brief outro. As far as I can tell, no other portions of the Cave source were used. Some of the piano soloing is following the original line in that short portion of the Cave source, but it's really heavily interpreted. Someone please point out if you think I'm wrong. tl;dr - I think this is lovely and fun but too liberal. Ow, my brain. NO

I would have preferred the dark version. This is too light and fluffy. I feel uplifted after listening to this. You couldn't have added some low notes? This really could have used some cowbell. I kept waiting for the technomanga part. I'm not gonna fuck around though. Killer Studio Chops indeed. This track is excellent. And I judged as hard as anyone. YES

That's one slow-burn intro. Just... two chords... and pad... until 0:34. I think that background arp pattern is the most repetitive element, if that were altered somewhere, it wouldn't feel so samey. Even when played by different instruments (bells, harp, some other plucked thing), it still feels samey. I agree with Larry and Vinnie, there's lots of nice personalization. But wow it's repetitive. Very cool bass drop at 1:06. I want more of that. I'm not a fan of the lead that enters at 1:23. It seems so lifeless. That first lead should really shine and stand out, and this one just leaves me flat. It's kind of faux-trumpety. It could be a really nice sine/saw/triangle thingy with some fun modulation and delay, and it could play an octave higher. Same crit for the lead that begins at 2:47, it could be so much more. And again at 3:56. Drums are basically copypasta all the way through. I would love to hear some additional drum elements at some point. I feel like there are large sections of this arrangement that are basically empty (like multiple 8-bar sections), with just that arp pattern and bass and drums, and no lead or super minimal lead. This track is produced very well, but I'm just finding it too empty, lead-wise. Too much missed opportunity. If this doesn't pass, I'd recommend just doing some cool soloing over what you already have going here, and/or spiff up some of the lead timbres, that would pep it up. Also, some drum variation. Also, blarg, abrupt ending. NO (resubmit)

Happy birthday, guys! Haha Larry that's a good one, I've got one that's similarly creepy:

No pseudonym required. You can change your username to whatever you like, use the link timaeus provided. Many people use their full real names as their usernames.

Intro piano is way too mechanical and sounds totally fake. The timbre is nice, so the super-quantized and all-equal-velocity sequencing is quite a shame. With humanization, this intro could flow and would be quite nice and emotional. At 0:30, you've got a soft instrumentation concept here, but that heavy relentless kick just kills it. It's way too loud and rigidly sequenced, giving it zero groove. From 0:30 to 1:48, I'm having a hard time discerning what is playing lead, the instruments are soft and thin and not mixed cleanly (competing for space with each other), as well as getting completely clobbered by that kick. Everything is rigidly sequenced. I don't feel like this drum kit fits with the instrumentation at all. At 1:48 you have a somewhat cinematic soundscape starting up, and the kick and snare are playing a metal style that is decimating the music. Kick and snare are way too loud, not mixed well with the rest of the instrumentation, and the drumkit itself does not match or compliment the other instrumentation. Sometimes combining genres works well but I don't think it is working here. I think you need to decide if this track is meant to be cinematic or metal, and since the writing is cinematic, I recommend replacing the metal-style drumming altogether with some orchestral or cinematic drumming with appropriate samples used. Ok so there's a two-second silence at 3:40, then more rigid piano, very similar to the intro. This outro might work if it were connected to the previous part with some kind of transition, and again the piano must be humanized. The writing throughout the entire track is quite rigid and needs to be humanized. NO (resubmit)

Deia nailed it here. Great concept, and I love the genre adaptation, but the idea needs to be fleshed out a bit more. This track is lacking in instrumentation variety. Since the entire track relies on the guitar timbres (is that lead a guitar or dulcimer?) and only the whistle as countermelody, and with just one percussive element, the track feels like it lacks dynamics and there is not enough differentiation between the sections. The guitars sound great sometimes and super mechanical other times (during the faster passages where every note is the same and at the same velocity). You've written a nice breakdown at 2:57, and some cool soloing at 3:15, but the instrumentation never varies so it all kind of blends together. What about changing the lead timbre for a section, or adding some other unique backing element, additional percussion elements, some sfx, even a pad during part of it, or what about some bass in there somewhere? Any or all of these things would help break the track up and maintain interest. It just needs some more variety throughout the track. NO (resubmit)

This is simple and lovely. The piano is soft and emotional and is played beautifully, and the piano/cello really portrays a feeling of despair. I like the ending with the guitar, high strings and drum impacts added, and even with the sirens coming in I can almost feel the game characters gathering their courage to continue on, as the track concludes on a positive note. Simple sparse soundscape for the most part, but works well to convey the emotion of the game. I think the piano and cello could have been eq'd a little better as they conflict in frequency somewhat, especially noticeable during the long sustained cello notes. The solo cello is sequenced quite well which is not easy to do (I can hear many different articulations being used/layered), although the timing is a tiny bit behind in spots, and adding a few expression swells by automating CC11 would have added a touch more realism. Overall though, super nice track. YES

This track has been played over 12,000 times on my Soundcloud. I have no idea why... I don't even... it must be linked somewhere. I'm hoping it's making everybody happy!

This is a nice chill listen. But for OCR, there are issues. That mallet timbre does sound like it was ripped right from the source. While I feel like some direct sampling is ok, in this track that mallet timbre from the source plays quite a prominent role, and I think there is too much of it. My bigger issue with this track is that it never goes anywhere. The track stays in intro mode until the 2:06 when finally a lead appears. The lead writing and two flutey timbres are soft and mixed too far in the back, and the writing is verbatim to the source melody. At 2:54 you've added a guitar pattern which adds some interest, but it isn't enough as the exact same leadwork is going on in the background (guitar thingy shouldn't be in the foreground imo). That same flutey melody just repeats again after that (at 3:55), verbatim. The drumming sounds very much like one continuing loop. There are a few arp patterns and sfx and things to break up the arrangement here and there, but it's not nearly enough to prevent this from being a very repetitive listen. I feel like the outro begins at 4:39. The track is 6:41 so that's a full two minutes of gradually softening outro. I find myself asking when will this end. Sorry. Nice ideas, but the track needs a lot more development. If in fact the mallet timbre is ripped right from the source, I recommend you make your own similar pattern from your own samples. I'd replace the flutey leads with something more original, mix them more in the foreground, and do some soloing somewhere. Add a really soft drumless breakdown somewhere as well. Could be a really cool arrangement. NO (resubmit)

This is a really nice arrangement of this source. Source material is readily apparent. The mix has great energy and really embodies the emotion of the source and the feeling of determination, while giving it that added rock/metal edge. I'm finding the track well produced with one exception. The lead guitar that is playing the main melody (beginning at 0:37) sounds very low-mid heavy and almost honky to me. That honky tone really bothers me, most apparent at 1:39-2:07, where it is the most exposed. The tone of the guitar solo starting at 2:07 by contrast sounds just about perfect to me. When that low-mid heavy tone begins again at 2:32, the honky sound is almost startling against the nice tone of the solo. I feel like the leads are generally far enough forward in the mix, I'm only bothered by that one timbre. I wonder if we could get a version with this tone eq'd a little better prior to posting. edit 6/27/14: I won't hold this vote up. I've listened again and yes, the drums are a bit weak. The snare needs to have a heavier tone. The drums are quiet in general, crashes are soooo far back. I personally feel there is enough variation in the drumming, but yeah, let's get the timbres and volumes where they should be. And please re-eq that one lead. Track isn't far from passing, let's hear it again quickly. NO(resubmit soon plz)

Happy birthday my friend!

I've done my own assessment of the source's main-melody note progression, vs. that of the remix, and I come up with this: source progression: A-B-C#-D-D-C#-B-A-Ab-A-B-E (0:01-0:03) and A-B-C#-D-D-C#-B-A-A-Ab-F#-Ab-Ab-E (0:06-0:09) remix progression: E-D-C#-A-B-C#-B (0:19-0:22) and E-D-C#-B-A-Ab-B (0:24-0:27) Larry's right, no match. The only place I've found a legitimate match is here: source 0:19-0:24 = remix 0:40-0:49. Nine seconds. Guys, we have totally dropped the ball. The original NO votes are all primarily aimed at production which needed improvement. Now that the production is improved in this version, we have all engaged in groupthink and assumed that source was fine. Larry is right, this is a no-go. Changing my vote. Still, cool original song.

I have been agonizing over this track. It is a really well produced and groovy track and I love it. But I know these source tunes really well and other than the opening vocals and the five notes of the Delfino Plaza backing progression, I cannot hear the sources in this mix. And I've really been trying. I can't seem to pick out that "Gelato Beach string countermelody" that you've mentioned from 0:38-0:50. Is it the motif you've written in that section (which appears throughout the rest of the track) or is it the countermelody? I just don't recognize it after many, many listens. I keep hoping if I come back and listen again after a few weeks, I'll hear it... but I just can't. I feel like it shouldn't be this hard to pick out the source usage. I'm sorry. If the source use is there and I'm just being dense, I apologize, but you've hidden it just a bit too well. You've really captured the feel of the groovy island fruit-seller stand (while giving Piantee Joe some serious attitude!), and I really enjoy this mix. I hope maybe Larry can confirm the source use on this one, if he does, I'll change my vote. NO

There is definitely repetition going on here, but I'm going to forgive it because liquid DnB. I love the way you've broken down the source and used the parts. This is such a creative take on this source and it is mixed really well (yeah it's washed in reverb but I'm a fan of that). If this doesn't pass, I'd suggest just varying some of the verses/breakdowns somewhat in writing or instrumentation. I'm gonna give this a borderline only because of the repetition, but I totally dig this. edit 7/16/14 - There seem to be some pops in the render around the 0:50-1:01 mark, perhaps we could get a better render before posting if this passes. Some of the percussion in the track also sounds like render artifacts but I think they are intentional, it would be better without these. The kick is quite loud, but for me it's ok. YES (borderline)