MindWanderer

Posting source links in the first post now. I'm using EasyTAG for Linux, so even though I didn't tag them the same way you suggested, they should still show up grouped by album ("ReMixing With the Stars"; OCR is touchy about using their name, and this isn't an official OCR release) and disk (000, for the pilot; season 1, episode 1 will be 011). Are the tags not showing correctly for you? Nice! However, I'd personally rather have one piece of art for the whole RMWtS collection, and I'm not sure if it's OK to use the OCR logo. But the design is very cool.

Voting instructions up in first post. For redundancy: Votes should be based on, in roughly descending order, use of source, arrangement, production, and enjoyability. Interpretation of the theme shouldn't be considered. You'll pick your three favorites, in order. Your first-place vote will get 3 points, your second-place 2 points, and your third-place 1 point. Participants (both Novices and Stars) may not vote for their own mixes, but participants who vote will get a free first-place vote added to their score. I asked DarkeSword for a social group, but he suggested I use PMs instead. So that's the way we're going to do this. Please send me a PM with your votes, like this: 1. First-place ReMix 2. Second-place ReMix 3. Third-place ReMix

The mixes are available in the first post. Voting instructions soon. Participants: I'd like a bit of narrative from each novice, please. What you did, how you did it, how your Star helped you, what you learned, etc. If you want to post a link to your source, that would be a good place for that, too.

One hour left, still hoping to get something from you. If you think you need a short extension (< 1 hour), let me know. I think for season 1 I'll just make the choices myself, for the sake of 1) expediency and 2) not to give an advantage to the one who chooses it (e.g. they've already been working on something that fits the theme). PRC avoids that by not letting someone enter on their own choice, but I want to let folks participate every month for the whole season, if possible.

12 hours remain, most of which are generally used for sleep here in the States. I have 1 submission.

@urdailywater: Got it. @Kuolema: No, it doesn't disqualify you. You have almost 24 hours left, just make the most of them!

One week in! I guess wildfire is doing well. How about everyone else? Any comments on how the whole collaboration thing is going, and perhaps what this compo format might do in the future to facilitate learning and mastery?

Sure, why not? Not a stage select, though (since you can reach it mid-game).

This is only a pilot test, so no promises the format will even be similar. I'll probably loosen up the "Star" criteria--even though the "interest" thread had roughly the same number of Stars and Novices, this time it was about a 1:2 ratio. More info later. Sure, as long as the result is a coherent piece of music.

Pairings and theme are up in the first post! For the lazy: Participants Rozovian with AlmightyArceus DusK with Cash and Change Flexstyle with urdailywater Sir_NutS with Kuolema Prophecy with Tuberz McGee TheGuitahHeroe with wildfire Theme This pilot episode's theme is "Beginnings"! Your remix should either: Be based on a source that's used for a title screen, into/opening sequence, or starting stage/area, or Evoke the feeling of being used for such a thing (regardless of the source). This is a judgment call, but in my opinion Who's That Child is a good example--I could easily see it being used for the epic opening of a Castlevania HD remake. If you and your partner don't use the same DAW, do your best--exchange MIDIs, WAVs, whatever. Remember this is a pilot test and not to be taken too seriously. We'll standardize this process for next time. If any other challenges come up, please discuss them here so we can streamline the process for the future. Mixes are due in 2 weeks from today, at noon PDT. Novices should send me a PM with a link and post in this thread to confirm they sent it.

Not to derail this conversation too much, but they marvellous things with medications these days, and don't give up if you don't like the first one (or two or three) you try.

Yeah... I can think of formats that make sense (e.g. round-robin), but without elimination it would take forever even if no one took breaks in between mixes.I suppose you could do a last-man-standing model: After each round of eliminations, randomly pair the survivors, and if one side or the other is doing better, the extra participants would just sit out a round. It could be pretty hard for a team to catch up, though, since the winners risk fewer casualties. Could do it in waves (reinforcements) instead of brackets, that might help.

One of my early ideas for Remixing With the Stars was for each participant to pick a source, and in each round they'd have to mash up the sources of the Novice and the Star. Would have been an interesting chance to mix up totally different sources, e.g. if the theme was 8-bit vs. 16-bit, the Novices could pick any 8-bit source and the Stars could pick any 16-bit source. Perhaps if after 2 years of Robot Masters and Mavericks we still haven't had enough Mega Man, there could be a Mega Man vs. Mega Man X compo with a similar format. That could be pretty awesome.

That pretty much sums it up for me as well. I keep waffling between them. Amphibious's is clean and precise, very well done. Gario's is... interesting. I can't decide whether it's interesting in a good or bad way. It's funny, but the parts that are funny aren't always the best musically. I'm not a big fan of rap, and it repeats a lot (can't blame whoever wrote it though, given the time crunch). I'll certainly remember it for a long time, and you could call that a win regardless of how the voting goes.

Update: I have a whole bunch of signups for Novices already. If you didn't indicate interest in [thread=40410]the original thread[/thread], there's no more room. If you did get your name on there, you might still be able to bump someone. If this pattern is any indication of how things will go in the future, I definitely want to loosen the criteria for being a Star next time. I'll toss ideas around at the end.

Yes... in fact, double-checking now, I realize that yours is technically only one that counts, since all others were sent in before noon PDT. However, since I didn't absolutely, unequivocally, no-room-for-misinterpretation, state in every place possible that signups began at noon, and no Stars signed up since Sunday, I'll accept the signups that came in earlier today.

Star signups are closed. The participants are Rozovian, DusK, Flexstyle, Sir_NutS, Prophecy, and TheGuitahHeroe. That's six slots for novices. Novice signups are now open. Even if you already sent me a PM before today or posted in this thread, send me a PM now with your preferences of Star and samples of your previous work. I have a few signups already, so get yours in soon before all slots are taken!

Y'know, I -thought- so, but I figured that after I miscategorized Proto-Dome, -surely- I must have double-checked when I first put Geeky Stoner down....@SonicTH: For now, this is a one-shot thing. If it works I'll come up with a "season" format, but this one will be one round, one partner, one bracket.

It's an idea, and the solution might be to somehow lower the bar for "stars," but the whole point is to get the most experienced remixers past some of their first hurdles, with the ultimate goal of getting them good enough to be posted. Pairing random people together would be a different sort of compo altogether.Novices: Signups open tomorrow at 12:00 noon Pacific time. Please follow the instructions in the first post at that time. Stars: Signups close tomorrow, same time. If you're interested and haven't said so yet, please post by then. From the original thread, we still haven't heard from Rexy, Neblix, or PROTO·DOME.

Thanks. I guess anyone can look at your profile to find some samples, but if you want to add any specific examples of your focus(es), or any other info that would help folks choose you or not, please edit your post.Regarding the DAW: If this is going to work as a competition, it would be a pretty crippling requirement to have everyone's tools match. But this is why this is a pilot episode. In the real launch there may need to be additional requirements. Perhaps the Star can only provide advice and not work on the actual mix file, or perhaps the only files they can send back and forth are midis and sound samples. Something to hash out later.

To clarify/reiterate: If you're not a posted/accepted remixer, as the primary or only contributor to a piece, you're in the Novice category. Novices should wait until next Tuesday, when Star signups are closed, then send me a PM with their ranked list of Stars they'd like to work with, or specifically indicating a lack of preference thereof. If you want to post your samples in the thread, that's fine, but I want them in the PM as well so I don't have to hunt through the thread for them.

The plan is to go with SuperiorX's suggestion, more or less: this will be a standalone pilot, then Season 1 will be a series of one-shots where participants in earlier "episodes" get first dibs on slots but cannot be paired with the same partner twice. I don't see a ReMixer profile on your name--are you posted/accepted under another name? Clearly unclear; I revised things above a little, but basically, I want to make sure that every Star gets a partner, so if you are willing to take whoever's left over (randomly) I'm willing to guarantee you a slot. How can I state that more clearly? Sonic won't conflict, but probably your other commitments will. We'll see based on this test round how much time the Stars actually end up putting into it.

ReMixing With the Stars Pilot Episode ReMixing With the Stars is intended to give beginning remixers some support, encouragement, and mentoring in their quest to become great, and as a sidenote, to become posted remixers. For the purposes of this competition, "stars" are anyone who is a posted OCR ReMixer, as the only artist or as the lead arranger on a piece. ReMixers with mixes accepted by the OCR judges but not yet posted also qualify. "Novices" are everyone else. This isn't meant to be a statement on who's a "good" or "expert" artist, but it's a somewhat meaningful threshhold which doesn't require any subjective judgment on my part (however subjective the OCR judging process may be). It's not perfect, but seeing as how objective criteria are almost impossible to come by when it comes to art, and these are the OCR forums, this is what we're going with. Results! First Place: "Broken Wings" by urdailywater feat. Flexstyle, with 35 points. Second Place: "Vertigo" by wildfire feat. TheGuitahHeroe, with 34 points. Third Place: "ScarfFace" by Tuberz McGee feat. Jason Covenant, with 30 points. Fourth Place: "Yo Momma" by AlmightyArceus feat. Rozovian, with 27 points. Fifth Place: "Before the World Ends" by Kuolema feat. Sir_NutS, with 25 points. Sixth Place: "Upon New Shores" by Cash and Change feat. DusK, with 11 points. Download Season 1 Now! Participants Rozovian with AlmightyArceus; Source: http://youtu.be/f5_R4WMBZjg DusK with Cash and Change; Source: http://youtu.be/4P26FsWQf18 Flexstyle with urdailywater; Source: http://youtu.be/g_1U7L_uDA4 Sir_NutS with Kuolema; Sources: http://youtu.be/dv2rUPvp644 http://youtu.be/uhgkRJUnWN4 Prophecy with Tuberz McGee; Source: http://youtu.be/rS0Lu_seKzw TheGuitahHeroe with wildfire; Source: http://youtu.be/sg5-ELCZ9Ys Theme This pilot episode's theme is "Beginnings"! Your remix should either: Be based on a source that's used for a title screen, into/opening sequence, or starting stage/area, or Evoke the feeling of being used for such a thing (regardless of the source). This is a judgment call, but in my opinion Who's That Child is a good example--I could easily see it being used for the epic opening of a Castlevania HD remake. Schedule All deadlines are 12 PM (noon) Pacific time (PDT). As this is the "pilot episode," we're going with a schedule that's a little more than a month long. The goal is to get it down to 1 month cycles Signups for Stars from Monday, July 9 until Tuesday, July 17. Please post in this thread indicating your interest. Also please provide links to 2 or 3 remixes you've done which you feel best illustrate your style and strengths. Also include any other information you feel would help someone decide if you would be a good mentor for them (software preferences, preference and schedule for IMing live, etc). Signups for Novices from July 17 to Tuesday, July 24. Please send me a PM listing: The Stars you are interested in working with, in rank order, or "no preference" Links to at least two compositions on which you are the primary or only arranger. Novices who choose "no preference" of Star get priority for one of the slots. This is to help make sure every Star gets to work with someone. Please do not disclose in the thread who you ranked or did not rank, or even that you chose not to rank anyone. I don't want someone to put themselves out there as a mentor and feel rejected, including by deduction. Your sample compositions don't have to be any good (this isn't an audition), and they don't even have to be game remixes--it's just to establish that you've at least tried your hand at composition and production to a digital format. Things you've posted to the WIP forum are preferable but not required. [*]Announcement of the pairings and theme on July 24. The theme will be broad enough to allow many, many options, serving mainly as a unifying factor. [*]ReMixing from July 24 to Tuesday, August 7 (2 weeks). Rules and guidelines below. [*]Voting until Tuesday, August 14. Votes should be based on, in roughly descending order, use of source, arrangement, production, and enjoyability. Interpretation of the theme shouldn't be considered. You'll pick your three favorites, in order. Your first-place vote will get 3 points, your second-place 2 points, and your third-place 1 point. Participants (both Novices and Stars) may not vote for their own mixes, but participants who vote will get a free first-place vote added to their score. I asked DarkeSword for a social group, but he suggested I use PMs instead. So that's the way we're going to do this. Please send me a PM with your votes, like this: 1. First-place ReMix 2. Second-place ReMix 3. Third-place ReMix Rules Pairings: I'm going to assume that the Novices will outnumber the Stars. The number of slots available for Novices will thus be equal to the number of Stars that sign up. Novices who put their name up in [thread=40410]the original thread[/thread] get priority over those who did not, and Novices who do not express a preference of Star get priority over those who do. Otherwise signups are first-come, first served. After establishing the list of participants, each Novice will be paired with their first choice Star; if two or more Novices choose the same Star, the conflict will be resolved by coin toss or die roll. If there are still conflicts after that, they'll be resolved the same way. (This method should be familiar to those who followed the Mega Man/Mega Man X/Sonic Zone compos.) If you lose the coin tosses for every Star you ranked, you're out and will be replaced by the next person on the waiting list--so if you rank Stars at all, rank everyone you're willing to work with. Left-over Stars will be randomly paired with those who did not express a preference of Star. Mixes: The Novice must be the primary remixer. Stars can contribute by giving advice, playing a live instrument or vocals, and with production, including minor adjustments to fix timing or dissonance issues. They may also contribute a short solo segment. No one other than the Novice and Star may help in any way. Submissions: All entries must be sent to me by the 12PM PDT deadline via PM on the forums, with a link to a reliable host for me to download your mix from. I also recommend you post in this thread that you have done so, since I know there have been issues in other compos with PM's not being received. Please submit your file as an mp3, preferably encoded at a high-quality VBR or 320kbps. Filenames must be in the following format: Novice feat. Star - Title (Game).mp3 Example: MindWanderer feat. djpretzel - The World's Worst ReMix (Pong).mp3 Proper file names mean I can do my job of getting the compliation done and posted faster, which means you get to hear the great music produced by this sooner.

I was going to suggest Rexy and Brandon face off for 3rd place, but Rexy has a huge advantage in that she's 1) already worked on such a piece, and 2) it kicks ass. The opening segment (pre-voice clip), in particular, was just beautiful.

Darkesword introduced another possibility regarding themes: Making the themes based on the style or genre of the remix rather than of the source. I have some mixed feelings about that idea. On the plus side, it would definitely force people to try different things. It would also reduce voter bias based on genre, and make comparisons between the remixes easier. On the minus side, it might not be as fun for the remixers to do something in a style they don't care for. Perhaps more importantly, I think it would be a bit fatiguing for the listeners, being given six or more remixes that are all, say, heavy metal, or all evoke an "underwater" feel. I could do a mix of both types of theme, I suppose. For instance, a "Racing" theme could allow a dubstep remix of Mario Kart, but a mix like "On the Highway" from Maverick Rising would also count, not being from a racing game, but rather evoking the feel of one. Opinions?