MindWanderer

Awesome!Per the rules: I'm prepared to laugh heartily when I hear a solo segment roughly 1000% better than the rest of the remix.... Yeah, since folks will have limited time to learn a new tool for this compo, I'm deliberately choosing ones that have mostly features common to most synths, or that have only a few sliders. There are some nice-sounding ones out there that have dozens of arcane, undocumented fiddly bits that just aren't appropriate for this format.

I won't likely be able to commit to this, but I'll be listening and voting. It does seem like there's been a fairly steady decline in interest in these types of compo. The first GRMRB was amazing and had lots of high-profile remixers in the running, but it seems like each one has fewer, and more drop out.

"Last Battle" is on the unclaimed list? This travesty cannot stand! (Not that I can do anything about it myself... but still.)

Looks like the format was similar to PRC and not a reference to Iron Chef.

There are. Kids mostly, but I see adults do it on occasion. Also lots of people who lean their whole bodies when playing racing games.

That's cool. Any archive of that anywhere?

There's also Impact's Cinematic Synthetic Drums, which is free for Kontakt or in WAV format. Worth adding to anyone's library just 'cause. They're definitely fakey, but the sample you provided is heavily electronic as well.

Yes, no source restriction.

Season 3, Episode 2: Iron Remixer Challenge: Bleep' The Iron Remixer Challenge is a theme based on a particular instrument or effect, called the "secret ingredient." Remixers can use the secret ingredient as a "main ingredient" (lead), a "spice" (harmony, pad, arpeggio, or other accompaniment), or both, but should make an effort to take advantage of it and illustrate its use, i.e. to "best express the unique qualities of the theme ingredient." This round's secret ingredient is ToneBytes Bleep'! http://tonebytes.com/bleep/ Bleep' is a VSTi synthesizer that simulates the sound of the Commodore SID chip. It has an interface that's simple to understand while retaining many powerful options. You can download it from the ThaSauce page or from CNET. If you remix on a Mac or a DAW that doesn't support VST's, you have permission to fake it using whatever tools are at your disposal. Allez remix! About ReMixing With the Stars 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. Beginners are mentored by experienced remixers to push their abilities to new heights and submit collaborative works according to the theme of the month. Who's a "Star" and who's a "Novice?" There are no fixed rules on this. Originally, RWS treated anyone with an OCR mixpost as a "Star" and anyone else as a "Novice." Later it evolved so that anyone could elect to be a Star, but posted remixers couldn't be Novices. The reason was because a lot of really good remixers expressed a lack of confidence in their abilities and didn't feel they were good enough to mentor someone else, but RWS gets a lot more Novice than Star signups. Now anyone can sign up as either, but please be honest with yourself. If you have several direct posts to OCR, you're probably in a better position to give help than receive it. If you have a giant bowl of Wooden Spoons from PRC and mostly only win by default, the reverse is probably true. But if you feel that you're pretty good and your OCR submissions just get NO'ed due to minor nitpicks, go ahead and sign up as a Star if you want. If you have been posted but each submission takes you months and multiple resubmits, feel free to sign up as a Novice. Or not, it's your choice. If you're on the fence, bear in mind that being a Star is a much smaller time commitment. One caveat: This should not be your first attempt at creating music in a DAW. The Stars' job is to provide mixing, production, and arrangement advice. It's not to teach you how to choose or install a DAW, load VST's, work with a MIDI piano roll, arm your microphone, etc. If that's where you are right now, try PRC or MnP as a first compo. Rules Enrollment/Pairings: Stars: Sign up by posting in this thread that you're available. Mention any time restrictions or or other limitations you might have, or if you have any particular strengths you'd like to offer (playing a live instrument is a great one). Novices: If one or more Stars have signed up, just post to claim one! First come, first served. Get in touch with your Star as soon as you claim them, and get started on your mix. I encourage Novices to rotate between multiple Stars to get different learning experiences and perspectives, but if the same people keep signing up week after week, repeat pairings are fine. If there aren't any unclaimed Stars, feel free to post to say that you'd like one. [*]Mixes: The Novice must be the primary remixer. Stars can contribute by giving advice, performing with a live instrument or vocals, and with production, including sample quality, balance, and minor arrangement adjustments to fix timing or dissonance issues. If you don't use the same DAW, you can exchange MIDIs or rendered stems. The Star may also contribute a short solo segment arranged entirely by them. No one other than the Novice and Star may help in any substantial way. You can use multiple sources in your remix, but at least 51% of the remix must be based on one or more qualifying sources. For example, if you use 3 sources, and only one fits the theme, but it's present in more than half the mix, then it's fine. [*]Submissions: All entries must be submitted to ThaSauce by the deadline. Check the ThaSauce page for the exact amount of remaining time (the image in my sig should also be correct). Give credit to your partner in the submission description. File sizes cannot exceed 20MB. If you have trouble uploading the file or getting a ThaSauce account working, post a link to your mix in this thread and I'll get it on there. If this is your first ThaSauce compo entry, don't do it at the last minute! [*]Voting: Use the ThaSauce page to vote. Entrants (Novices or Stars) may not vote for themselves, but your mix gets a bonus first-place vote if you vote. Support your partner by voting! The deadline is on the ThaSauce page (or in my sig, once voting has started). Previous Episodes Season 1 Compilation Season 2 Compilation [thread=40611]Pilot Episode: "Beginnings"[/thread] [thread=41556]Season 1, Episode 1: "Spooky!"[/thread] [thread=41864]Season 1, Episode 2: "Origins of Home Gaming"[/thread] [thread=42143]Season 1, Episode 3: Special "You Can Never Have Too Much Mega Man" edition[/thread] [thread=42485]Season 1, Episode 4: "Yesteryear"[/thread] [thread=42797]Season 1, Episode 5: "Ultra-Modern"[/thread] [thread=43124]Season 1 Finale: "Touched by a Star"[/thread] [thread=43437]Season 2, Episode 1: "Country Road"[/thread] [thread=43702]Season 2, Episode 2: "Tropical Vacation!"[/thread] [thread=45320]Season 2, Episode 3: Special "Wish on This!" edition[/thread] [thread=45909]Season 2, Episode 4: "The Need for Speed!"[/thread] [thread=46454]Season 2, Episode 5: "Pacifism"[/thread] [thread=46676]Season 2 Finale: "Rising Stars"[/thread]

There will be a new thread for the next round. Look for it on Friday.

You're too modest. You're a damn good remixer, and you won't have forgotten all you know in a year. Using the same DAW and being able to chat live are plusses, but emailing WIPs back and forth and commenting on arrangement, EQ, compression, instrumentation, etc. etc. can be massively helpful. If I had time in my life right now to remix, I'd definitely want to take advantage of that. Ah, I apologize for that. I took that step out, because in the past seasons, everyone had to sign up, then wait for signups to close to get their pairings. I wanted an easier, faster, lower-commitment system this time around (not to mention a lesser commitment on my own time), so my intent was for novices to just snatch up volunteer stars and go for it. I'll clarify that in the rules.

Well, that's one cancellation and one no-show (assuming Esperado and Rexy even got in touch). Thus closeth the inaugural round on ThaSauce. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to further lower the barrier to completion. I have an experiment in mind for next round which may help. There's also the "versus mashup" format which I previously reserved for special events, which might help with writer's block.

My guess would be a bimodal distribution: One peak with those of us who grew up in the NES era (late 30's now) and one when good, cheap DAWs started becoming available when they were young adults (probably late 20's, early 30's).We might be getting into a new peak now, though. This is the generation of VGM winning Grammies and VGM concerts becoming a thing.

Deadline is in 24 hours, no submissions yet. Get 'em in!

This is actually something I see a lot when these discussions come up in compos. The remixer thinks they used a lot of the source because it borrows heavily from the source's bass, harmony, chord structure, etc. but uses the melody only briefly. The accompaniment becomes a lot more obvious when you've spent several hours listening to the original and pulling it apart (especially if you started with a MIDI). Most listeners are expecting to hear mostly the melody, repeatedly, throughout, although they're tolerant of a certain amount of transformation. Neither is wrong, but they're listening to and for very different things.

That's weird... I usually have a hard time with subtle use of theme (I agree with the OP about that Shadow Man mix, and I still don't get where Stone Man is in Crystal Cypher), but it was really clear to me in Blackout Tower. And, in fact, I'm going through the votes and comments; the presiding sentiment seems to be that you made better use of the Elec Man theme than Will did. Everyone picked up on it despite the key change, and you used the second verse (elegantly) which he barely used at all.

That's really nice! Good source use while remaining creative. I loved the chill take on a normally energetic theme (and you don't see much chill 9-bit music). I have a feeling you might get some crits on EQ, but that's not a strength of mine.

Also, it's worth pointing out that Gario (the mod reviewer on that piece) said that it was a close call on originality. I think if you cleaned up the production issues he mentioned, it would really make the judges think hard about whether to accept it anyway. OCR does accept remixes that stay vary close to the original, even these days. Pearly Gates is very similar to the source stylistically (while adding original content), and Umaro's New Groove uses the original melody almost verbatim while taking a creative direction in style and flow. Guile's Theme Goes With Metal is a more typically conservative remix: mostly very cover-ish but with a lengthy original bridge. All are perfectly legitimate approaches.

There's a famous old sci-fi story, I forget which one, in which artistic expression entirely stops because all the ideas have been used already. I think OCR goes a long way in showing how even a "used" idea can create original music.

Brandon Strader also posted some practice stems [thread=44793]here[/thread].

A Splatoon-style game in the MMBN universe would be pretty awesome. Everything after O.G. Mega Man is kind of postapocalyptic and could make a nice military shooter if reskinned enough. I don't play many of those games, but Mega Man X redone in the style of Mass Effect 3... hell yeah.

Make sure you clarify whether the source or the remix itself, or both, need to be horror-themed. For instance, there's a lot of Castlevania rock out there. I also did a horror-themed Sonic/Mega Man mix for B4C2 I might improve on (though I probably couldn't make a deadline this year).

Doesn't cover all the GM sounds, but a good place to start might be http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/explore/make_music But yes, you can extract wav's with SFZed. Although IIRC it creates one giant wav with all the samples end-to-end.

The fact that I didn't even know that means they did a crap job of marketing the feature. Plus it was based on Mega Man 1, which no one loves. Plus it was on the PSP, which no one owns. Plus the PSP has no native content sharing. It would work better on the 3DS or modern consoles; it would be amazing with Steam Workshop.Granted, other aspects of MMU may have had problems, and the name wouldn't stick.

Appropriately, I just ran across this today: http://thenextweb.com/opinion/2015/02/10/watching-people-code-next-big-thing-live-streaming-video/ If watching people code is becoming popular, watching people remix might be more popular than I thought. I personally thought that, watching AGDQ, watching all the runners and staff hanging out and interacting was part of the fun. Maybe this could be held right before or after PAX or MAGfest when a bunch of remixers are already in the same place.