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Yeah, definitely. )) And I found another really interesting Lufia 2 remix by Mystwalker, which I also added to the remix list in my main post (right after the three battle theme remixes). Check out the Triumph remix: Really impressive what a driving and energetic remix he has composed out of the little fanfare theme from Lufia 2. Kinda love the electric guitar passages after minute 1:33. ... There are also two more modern Lufia 2 remixes by him, but the themes don't really appeal to me that much – just in case you still want to hear them: - Lufia 2 - Cave Remix >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCfsnPX6YQ8 - Lufia 2 - Labyrinth Remix >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfU99NdOD2o

Yeah, I sometimes have a real penchant for long titles and texts. 😄 But thanks for the tip. I hope that's all right now. ... But while you're on the subject as an admin... What's your opinion on measurable clipping, especially when it comes to remixes on OCR? Is clipping generally tolerated on OCR, was it not measured again before uploading or perhaps simply overlooked, or does this clipping maybe occur after uploading to streaming platforms such as YouTube? Or could it be that the displayed clipping is more likely to be detected with true peak metering, whereas with standard peak metering the inter-sample peaks, which might cause some additional overshoot problems, can't be exactly measured?

Pretty passionate and energetic stuff. Have a listen and enjoy the little gems, guys: Lufia 2 - Battle #1 (Standard Battle Theme) Remix -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lufia 2 - Battle #2 (Boss Battle Theme) Remix ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lufia 2 - Battle #3 (Sinistral Battle Theme) Remix ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lufia 2 - Triumph Remix ----------------------------------------- Lufia 2 - The Earth Remix ------------------------------------------- Lufia 2 - The Prophet Remix ----------------------------------------------- Lufia 2 - Peace Of Mind (Song Of Love) Remix -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ... The remixer's name is Mystwalker. Maybe I'll ask him later if he wants to take part in OCR. ))

I recently wanted to listen to some of the remixes submitted for evaluation, but in the initial post I could only find links to the original source soundtracks that served as inspiration for the remixes - but never the actual remixes themselves. Would it be possible to create a common way for all OCR members to listen to the submitted remix via audio stream or something similar? It would be really interesting to be able to actively follow the evaluations in this way and get a sense of what is particularly important in remixes submitted to OCR, what is sufficient in terms of composition and mixing, and where more work needs to be done on the remix.

@Unknown Pseudoartist I think the desire for more dynamic and consistent loudness levels between different soundtracks and other audio programs began back in the 1990s. Perhaps some of you still remember those days when you would frantically reach for the remote control as soon as a commercial break suddenly interrupted your favorite show, often mixed much louder than the regular TV program. You couldn't just stroll over to the refrigerator and grab a portion of lovingly prepared sashimi along with the rest of the hearty 7-course meal to make the most of the commercial break in a witty and culinary way, taking on the battle against continuous advertising stupidity with copious amounts of brain food. Sometimes you really had to hold down the volume down button for a few seconds or, better yet, press the mute button on the remote control so that the stork wouldn't fall out of the neighboring tree in fright 'cause of the commercial sound pressure level. With the development of methods and metering devices for measuring the loudness of sound events, soundtracks and all kinds of other audio programs, which ultimately led to the EBU R 128 guidelines created by far-sighted sound engineers, it was possible to satisfactorily solve not only the problem of loudness jumps between successive audio content. At the same time, a standardized basis was created to allow for much more dynamics, especially in the field of music. If you are interested in the smaller details and background information, I recommend the compact Wikipedia link on this topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBU_R_128 … Incidentally, EBU R 128 is not only a basis that allows much more dynamics in music and other audio contributions. EBU R 128 also limits the dynamics within a soundtrack or other audio program in order to ensure an enjoyable listening experience without causing permanent hearing damage. For example, you won't be startled by the extreme sound level of a realistic gunshot at close range in the middle of the gentle rustling of leaves in a film. This is achieved by additional parameters within this loudness standard, which, in addition to the program loudness main parameter (where the entire soundtrack or audio program is measured from start to finish and a target loudness value of -23 dBFS is aimed for after complete measurement), would primarily be the following parameters: 1) Maximum Short-term Loudness ------------------------------------------------------------ This refers to the continuously measured loudness of the last 3 seconds throughout the entire soundtrack or audio program, which must not exceed a value of -18 dBFs at any time. For example, -17.9 dBFS over a recorded period of 3 seconds would no longer be permissible. 2) Maximum Momentary Loudness ------------------------------------------------------------- This refers to the continuously measured loudness of the last 400 milliseconds throughout the entire soundtrack or audio program, which must not exceed a value of -15 dBFs at any time. Accordingly, sporadic sound effects such as a gunshot with a maximum level of -14.9 dBFS or higher over a measured period of 400 milliseconds would no longer be permissible. It is not necessary to comply with the maximum values of both additional parameters together. It is sufficient if either the Maximum Short-term Loudness value or the Maximum Momentary Loudness value is complied with during a loudness measurement for a soundtrack or other audio program such as a podcast or commercial. In conjunction with the primary program loudness target value of -23 dBFS (with a permitted tolerance of +/- 0.5 dB), this limits the dynamics to a level that is tolerable for human hearing and at the same time provides an enjoyable listening experience. You can read all about this in detail here: https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128s1v1_0.pdf … And as you can see in the image here, after a complete loudness measurement of my Crisis Core remix from start to finish, this remix is also well within the permissible parameter limits: I don't know exactly why the Maximum Short-term Loudness value is already flashing red here with a measured value of -19 dBFS (according to the EBU R 128 guideline, up to -18 dBFS would be permissible) - but perhaps the values have been slightly adjusted over the years. And since EBU R 128 only requires you to adhere to the maximum value of one of these two additional parameters anyway, I'm still well within the green range with the Maximum Momentary Loudness value, although my main focus is primarily on the target program loudness of -23 dBFS. ... Another interesting aspect in connection with the implementation of EBU R 128 in broadcasting is the fact that, towards the end of 2023, an extended guideline for streaming platforms was also initiated: https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128s2.pdf It would be really awesome if this became standard practice in the near future, because then it would no longer be worthwhile to stubbornly master soundtracks for maximum loudness (since the soundtrack would be reduced to -23 dBFS anyway), but instead every musician would have the same fair opportunity to make their compositions as dynamic and lively as possible at a standardized loudness level. … Based on EBU R 128, the resulting expanded dynamics in music, and my “Life Force” mixing concept, which I have developed extensively in recent years, I want to demonstrate with my upcoming video game remixes and some larger original compositions that dynamic music can sound really good, organic, and lively in every conceivable music genre - from classical orchestral music to electronic music to rock and metal - and that it can be superior to the often dynamically limited “compressor music", especially in terms of sound quality.

I noticed these phenomenons like partial frequency clipping or even peak clipping in lots of remixes from OCR and also in many official modern audio productions quite a while ago when I loaded a few audio files into my DAW to compare certain parameters and audio measurements for different soundtracks. And I think that such technically obviously not quite clean masterings of today's era are above all the direct consequence of the constraints that the loudness war has brought with it since the beginning of the 90s with the dawn of the era of digital music production. And once the music industry sets such rather counterproductive trends for mainstream music in terms of music quality, many musicians seem to feel compelled to follow suit in order to keep up in terms of loudness or to be noticed at all. But just as - at least according to their aggressive endless advertising - the arms industry stands for peace and security in the world or the pharmaceutical industry for people's health (while the reality often speaks a completely different language), the same is obviously true of the modern music industry and music, especially the quality of many of today's music productions. And by that I don't mean the often first-class compositions, but rather these often radically messed up, because far too loud, undynamic and therefore usually not very lively masterings and remasters (if you want to hear more dynamic and lively music from certain bands, always get the original works if possible and never any remasters or even remasters of remasters). Even in today's music industry, making a quick buck is often more important than the actual thing - and then it ends up being crap again. I will show this below with corresponding negative and positive examples of soundtracks from different times in the music industry and certain forms of individual approaches to mastering and music production in general. … 1) David Guetta Feat. Sia – Titanium --------------------------------------------------------------- Soundtrack link: Visualization of the measured values for the soundtrack: While David Guetta is literally a guarantor for really groovy and impressive compositions, when it comes to mastering he is rather a real negative example of how not to do it. Here you can find massive clipping in the bass range of up to over 9 dB above the zero point (see Spectroscope/Spectrum Analyzer in the middle right of the picture), while the measurement displays are apparently no longer sufficient to capture the true extent of the mastering excesses. The true peak measurement shows a value of a whole decibel above the zero mark, which should never be exceeded in a technically clean mastering, as this leads to audible clipping in some cases. And the loudness of this mastering was driven so close to or even above the maximum limit by excessive use of compressors and limiters with a loudness value of around -8 dBFS (the exact loudness value within the complete loudness measurement is only obtained at the end of the soundtrack, but the loudness has certainly not changed much after the first half of the soundtrack and the heavy compression) that any efforts to achieve dynamics and sound quality in this soundtrack were literally beaten to death with the digital mastering club. But this is probably how it must be when the music producer sees mastering as the final boss and then shouts to the mastering engineer: "FINISH HIM!" (with the iconic "Techno Syndrome" theme from the Mortal Kombat movie playing in the background) 2) Donkey Kong Country 2 - Prismatic (OC Remix) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soundtrack link: Visualization of the measured values for the soundtrack: This is definitely one of my many favorite soundtracks from OCRemix, which combines a really beautiful, energetic composition with impressive sound design. The mastering here is also very loud with a measured loudness value of around -11 dbFS and technically not entirely flawless with similarly strong clipping in the bass range and a slight overshoot of the level peaks at 0,3 dB above zero. But at least the mastering here doesn't seem to have been completely fucked up compared to the mastering of the previous David Guetta soundtrack and offers a little more dynamics and sound quality. 3) Final Fantasy 7 Remake - Let The Battles Begin! - A Merc's Job --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soundtrack link: Visualization of the measured values for the soundtrack: This is an original soundtrack from the video game Final Fantasy 7 Remake and at the same time a really powerful, modern new composition of the standard battle theme from the old Final Fantasy 7 for the Playstation. In such a world-class production (and a Japanese one at that), I would never have guessed that there were apparently minimal technical flaws in the mastering (slight clipping in the bass frequency range and minimal exceeding of the 0 dB limit at the peak levels with a value of 0.1 dB, even if this value remained at 0 dB for a long time during the loudness measurement) and that Japanese sound engineers would let them get carried away with something like this. But I could imagine that they really had a lot of time pressure in this mammoth project and perhaps couldn't subject every soundtrack to an exact loudness measurement again. And perhaps the mastering engineers, as is often the case in the music industry, were given exactly the same guidelines by the leading developers and producers, contrary to their own aspirations and rules, and were told: "As loud as possible, but also with a sense of power and dynamics, with gentle clipping if necessary." 4) Bridges - Miss Eerie -------------------------------------- Soundtrack link: Visualization of the measured values for the soundtrack: Many people probably don't know it. But the band Bridges, which was founded back in 1978, was the immediate predecessor band of the well-known Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha, while the soundtrack "Miss Eerie" was virtually the early version of the cult hit "Take On Me". Although “Take On Me” has more impressive vocals, “Miss Eerie” has some really creative, effective compositional interludes and variations to offer. For example, I really like the melodic, multi-octave playing of the steelpan synthesizer from minute 1:36 onwards in the soundtrack, which gives the whole thing a very refreshing individual touch away from the later mainstream productions. The mastering (which may not even be the original mastering, but a remaster) is also convincing in terms of production quality - technically absolutely clean, with no critical values (neither in the spectrometer nor in the measurement display of the maximum level peaks) above the permissible limits. The maximum level peaks may still have been -3.2 dB at the time of the screenshot. But towards the end they were also just below the zero mark (which is still within the limits for a technically clean production). 5) Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us (Brazil Version) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soundtrack link: Visualization of the measured values for the soundtrack: Throughout the history of his musical career, Michael Jackson has not only stood for unique world-class compositions, but also for excellent music production at the mixing and mastering level, which has not so easily bowed to the bad trends of the modern music industry, but has gone its own way, which did not aim to win the small-minded race in the loudness war. According to my memory, Michael Jackson once mentioned somewhere that music should always be able to breathe a little. He was probably alluding to the desire to make his musical works as dynamic, natural and lively as possible. And this is only possible if the loudness is not set to such a high level during mastering, so that the level peaks can rise up freely without the forced use of compressors and limiters, which also preserves the transients and maintains the sound quality. As you can see here in the measurements for the soundtrack, the loudness measured from the beginning is only around -20 dBFS, even shortly before the end of the soundtrack (see the position of the marker at the top of the waveform after the 120th bar). This is only slightly louder than the loudness standards I use to master my own soundtracks and remixes (around -23 dBFS, or more like -23,1 dBFS). And despite the low loudness, you can clearly see from the measurements of the maximum level peaks with a value of -0.2 dB that the level peaks in the soundtrack obviously need this low loudness in order to be able to level up freely and unhindered without exceeding the 0 dB mark. Apart from the more than sufficient headroom in the spectroscope measurement across the entire frequency range, the waveform of the soundtrack also clearly shows that this is obviously a very dynamic and lively example of a sophisticated music production. 6) Treasures Of The Deep - Shipwrecked ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Soundtrack link: Visualization of the measured values for the soundtrack: “Shipwrecked” is an original soundtrack from the underwater exploration action-adventure video game Treasures of the Deep for the Playstation. Apart from the truly atmospheric, ambient composition, this soundtrack is also a positive example of successful music production in the field of video game music in terms of mastering. The spectroscope measurement makes a relatively relaxed impression along the frequency range shown. The maximum peak levels of -0.4 dB measured also appear to be within the bounds of technically clean mastering. And with the measured loudness of around -18 dBFS, no unnecessary excesses appear to have been made here either. 7) Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 - Wings Of Freedom (Master Mi Remix) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soundtrack link: Visualization of the measured values for the soundtrack: For comparison, these are the measured values from one of my soundtracks and remixes, which I regularly mix according to the loudness standard of the EBU R 128 norm with a target value of -23 dBFS. It's possible that I will develop my higher compositional potential over the coming years. But I believe that I'm already on a really good, future-oriented path in the area of mixing and mastering, which might be able to solve numerous problems in today's music production. As you can see in the picture with the measurements, none of the measured values shown here are even dangerously close to any limit value. The maximum peak level values show a completely relaxed peak level control at the end of the measurement with a value of -7 dB. Even the measurements in the spectrometer still show more than enough headroom over the entire frequency range, although this is already a very dynamic remix in the classical-orchestral and rock ballad music genres. I believe that the far-sighted developers and sound engineers behind the EBU R 128 loudness standard had exactly this in mind, namely to develop a uniform, universally applicable loudness standard that works for all music genres and other listening programs and at the same time allows maximum dynamics, naturalness of sound and the highest sound quality without making the listener's eardrums bleed. ... And yes, I think that such a generously designed, uniform loudness standard can solve almost all the problems in the field of music and audio production that the soulless trend of the loudness war has brought with it in the course of the modern music industry. These problems include, for example, serious loudness jumps between different musical works and other audio programs from different music producers - or sometimes even loudness jumps between different musical works and audio programs from one and the same music producer (often caused by a lack of good loudness concepts in the field of music production, where the primary focus is still on maximum peak levels). What's more, a generously designed, generally applicable and, at best, globally enforced loudness standard can also guarantee the return of high dynamics, liveliness and sound quality in musical works, regardless of the music genre or type of audio program, the respective TV and radio station, the streaming platform, etc. In the near future, it may be possible to develop playback devices that use an integrated software solution to bring music and audio programs mastered at different volumes to a uniform loudness level and play them back accordingly. If this is approached wisely, all music and audio programs in the world could be brought to a uniform loudness level (so that there are no more annoying loudness jumps between different music works and audio programs and the volume on the playback device only has to be set correctly once according to your own listening habits and loudness preferences), and at the same time the best possible dynamics, liveliness and sound quality could be guaranteed for music and all other audio programs. … And since we're in a very large, multifaceted and international musician and remixer forum here, I'm particularly keen to hear your opinions and experiences on this topic. )) But I would also be happy if you just wanted to share something about the phenomenon of clipping in certain frequency ranges or peak clipping, which I have noticed in numerous remixes from OCR as well as in many modern music productions and remasters in the field of modern mainstream music.

"The bar was kinda crowded. Like the slave quarters of Rupture Farms. But that's a different story from another game. Couldn't even catch a glimpse of Robo Eggman and his big band through the thick clouds of smoke. Things were starting to get hot. So I went to the bar and ordered a hedgehog-friendly tuna shake. I sipped the glass slowly... ... and, of course, I reserved a pool table in the back corner of the bar to play a smooth casual game with my spiky-haired cutie and the affectionate, fluffy fox."

Epic stuff, dude! And really good mixing as well. The only thing you could still fix for this really cinematic remix composition is the way too abrupt ending of the last notes. Maybe, it's just a video issue that chopped the last notes - but I'd let these notes fade out way more slowly for the final submission track. Hope you are going to submit this title, aren't you?

Definitely a worthy upgrade of the original soundtrack. But for submission to OCR, I don't think it will suffice in terms of composition efforts as a mere arrangement. If that's your ambition, I'd at least compose something like an atmosheric intro (maybe something with some sort of a knightly fanfare), at least one little break around the middle of the soundtrack (where the remix could lead into a different musical structure for a few moments), and (optionally) maybe a little outro. Mixing seems to be good so far. The only thing that seemed a bit strange to me was in the beginning after minute 0:09, where the electric guitars around the center of the panorama sound kinda squashed together with the drums.

I'm not familiar with the game or the original music in any way. But the remix sounds like a really good and humorous upgrade of the original soundtrack. The mixing also makes a really good impression. It is also something really different in terms of genre. So I would definitely submit it and give it to the judges at OCR for evaluation. ))

This guy is quite the personified one-man invasion of a multi-instrumentalist with the estimated energy supply of a faithful energizer bunny: Love the southern style with the energetic and joyful vibes, the radically lively instrumentation of the brass as well as the well-placed “eat the rich” message in the background. It might be fun to implement something like the ska genre into some future remixes on OCR to further increase the musical variety. With music like this, you can easily support the good ol' summer days or radically shake some dark warlord armies out of their stiff marching beat 'n' make 'em stumble over their own stinky cheese feet. ))

@Rozovian Got a brand-new version of my remix and I would really love to hear/read your feedback on this one (especially in comparison to the last remix version) since I put huge efforts in this new version (description of the biggest changes in terms of composition and mixing you can find in my comment above). You might not remember how the old remix version sounded like. But I kept a SoundCloud upload of the old version (I guess I will still keep it for at least one or two further months). Old remix version: 1.2 >>> New remix version: 1.3 >>> ... I really think about submitting this new version to the OC judges. But I still want to get a few impressions from the other remixers and listeners before. You also said that I should make a louder version which is on a similar loudness level like other OC remixes. I'm not really a big fan of getting involved in modern loudness wars since they do a lot to kill the dynamics of the music. That's why I favour the loudness recommendations of the EBU R 128 standards with a consistent target loudness level of around -23 LUFS (-23 dBFS) - with the help of this, you will never get into trouble with signal peaks and dynamics. And I also use it to bring all my own remixes and compositions on a standardized loudness level (so you will never have to touch the volume knob when listening to my uploaded audio content - wish they would implement this loudness standard not just at broadcasting but also for all steaming services and their whole audio content in the near future). But as long as it doesn't mess up my dynamic mixing concept I called "Life Force", I could create a louder version for OCRemix without using any compressors or limiters that might destroy dynamics, transients and degrade the sound quality. The measurements for the new version of this remix in my DAW show me a really safe maximum true peak value of around -7 dBTP. This means that the highest peak signal throughout the whole soundtrack just scratches around -7 dB (way below the 0 dB mark that should never be exceeded to avoid clipping and ensure a clean music production). So I think I could safely create a remix version for OCRemix which is about 6 dB louder (with a target loudness level of around -17 dBFS) than my own version without messing up my dynamic mixing concept. And it would sound like this in terms of loudness (be careful with the loudness jump, especially when using headphones): CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Plus 6 DB OCRemix Version.mp3 This should be around the loudness level of the really dynamic mixes of RebeccaETripp, a kinda famous composer on OCRemix. So what do you think?

Thanks. )) Have you already found any hints regarding the display of the remaining upload limit? As far as I remember correctly, this was previously always displayed somewhere on your own profile page or maybe at the logged-in account display under "Content" >>> “My Attachments”.

For media files uploaded to OCRemix, such as images and audio files, I have always checked from time to time how much I have already exhausted my upload limit for attachments in posts or to decide how much I want to compress this media data. When I checked my last uploads of attachments, I could no longer see any such upload limit. Does this mean that this upload limit restriction has now been lifted?

@pixelseph Yo, dude, I finally finished the guitar part and the whole remix project. Gave some of my best shots in terms of my momentary composing, instrumental and mixing skills. So I'm really lookin' forward to your critical opinion of a professional guitarist. )) I posted the full version of my remix in the forum "Post Your Game ReMixes!". The remix is called "Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 - Wings Of Freedom (Master Mi Remix)".

@DarkeSword Big thanks. )) I forgot another question. There was also some kind of an off-topic forum here on OCRemix some time ago. Has this also been removed - or is this hidden somewhere and has been integrated into another forum section?

I had just posted a new video game remix on OCRemix after a few years (in the “Post Your Game ReMixes!” forum) and wanted to take the opportunity to update the old tags for the remix, which were still there. But somehow you don't seem to have access to them anymore - or is the tagging function just a bit hidden now? I was a bit confused, as you can still search for tags in the search function on the site. ... The second thing is this. Years ago, when you posted a video game remix, you could indicate the current status or progress of the remix. According to my memory, you could indicate things like “work in progress”, “ready for review” or “submitted” etc.. Has this also been rationalized away at some point - or is it just related to the restructuring of the site some time ago and will return at some point? ... It would be really nice if someone could give me a short answer and explain the changes I apparently missed. ))

Now, about 8 years later and with much more sophisticated composition, mixing and sound design skills in my musical repertoire, I have radically reworked the entire remix and would now like to present to you the results of my ambitions. I think one of the main reasons that inspired me to get back into this remix project these days was the release of the Playstation 4 remake of the game called “Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion”, which I mainly played in 2024 together with a good friend and enjoyed the really good story to the fullest once again. I had also set myself the goal of perfecting and demonstrating my continuously evolving dynamic mixing concept called “Life Force”. To do this, I primarily wanted to use my beloved Yamaha MSP3 studio monitors and finally mix my second larger and this time somewhat more epic soundtrack on them, whereby I ultimately decided on my Crisis Core remix. I hope you, and especially the fans of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, like it. )) Here are the links for the new remix version 1.3: >>> or >>> https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm44603368 >>> https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/crisis-core-final-fantasy-7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This soundtrack is the newest (and maybe even the final) version of my remix for the original song "The Price Of Freedom" from the PSP game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, which was originally composed by Takeharu Ishimoto. I haven't uploaded any new soundtrack or remix content of mine in the last two years because I've been particularly dedicated to developing my mixing concept, which I call "Life Force", to be able to present my compositions and remixes at a much higher level of quality. This mixing concept, which I have developed over the last years, is primarily aimed at bringing much more clarity, a more natural, organic sound, much better dynamics, more atmosphere and spatiality back into the mix through sophisticated depth gradation and unique mixing techniques. In order to achieve this, I mix all my soundtracks and remixes in accordance with the loudness standards of the European Broadcasting Union, which are set out in the EBU R 128 recommendation with a target loudness level of -23 LUFS (or -23 dB in the context of the full scale), a loudness level at which the level peaks and transients can run out completely relaxed and naturally without the need to use compressors or limiters, which are prohibited in my mixing concept anyway. This is roughly at the loudness level of many soundtracks from the early 80s and about half as loud as most soundtracks produced according to the rather unfavorable trends of today's music industry. My aim with my mixing concept "Life Force" is to bring back or even surpass the very good sound quality and high dynamics of the soundtracks from the early 80s and to breathe a little more "life" back into the music, regardless of the music genre. … But I have also developed my compositional skills over the last few years, which I wanted to show in this heartfelt remix project. Not only did I make the dynamics and playing style of the existing instruments much more lively, natural and artistically elevated, I also recorded numerous new instruments and composed completely new passages to deepen the atmosphere of the remix even further and steer it in more specific directions. The early musical part with harp, strings and bells is primarily intended to emphasize the heaviness, sadness and tragedy of the approaching death of the main character Zack Fair, while his girlfriend Aerith apparently also suspects this at this moment or has been told this by the planet itself. This part becomes a little more powerful a little later with the introduction of the acoustic guitar and a slightly more intense way of playing the instruments. The section with the brass instruments such as trumpets in combination with an almost fanfare-like solo trumpet, followed by powerful French horns, is intended above all to emphasize the heroic side of Zack's self-sacrificing final battle against a veritable superior force of hostile Shinra troops, which presumably saved the life of his friend and companion Cloud, who was still incapacitated at the time, suffering from severe Mako poisoning. A slight musical change then takes place with the new electric guitar part, which transforms the previous orchestral part of the remix into an increasingly intensifying power ballad, which, in addition to driving power chords, also contains very beautiful melodic electric guitar leads, piano arpeggios as well as a Spanish guitar, all of which together are intended to illustrate once again the extremely liberating feeling that the main character Zack might have felt at the end of his hero's journey. For the soundscape and the mixing of the electric guitars, I drew a little inspiration from the really atmospheric electric guitar sounds in the song "Everytime We Touch", sung by Maggie Reilly. And for the final part of the remix, I composed an additional harp section to symbolize the path of the inner heaven that Zack has obviously taken, because he has always pursued his big dream of becoming a real hero with his heart in the right place, without forgetting the high value of honour, friendship, helpfulness and humanity. … In this sense, the title of my remix "Wings Of Freedom" does not stand for any small-minded, money-focused libertarian ideas or for one-sided freedom without justice, but rather for the freedom of the heart within the power of the unleashed soul, which allows some people in difficult situations and hard times to take not always the easiest but the right path, which fully convinces them, literally flows through them and gives them wings. Perhaps this is also part of the mysterious gift of the goddess. ))

Enhanced sound experiment with mono/stereo signal sources and mono/stereo reverb effects ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've probably taken my time with this, although this undesirable lobbyist government in my country is also producing a lot of problems these days (to cut a long story short: neoliberal bullshit politics >>> approval of a really hefty 500 billion euros primarily for arms companies, the military and war >>> in return, massive austerity measures for public and municipal budgets as well as a considerable reduction in public contracts mostly for critical infrastructure and the most existentially necessary things >>> mass redundancies at companies, including mine, which had primarily specialized in public construction, planting and vegetation maintenance contracts >>> I was also laid off after no major construction contracts had been recorded since the beginning of the year and my company had only been able to pay wages in chunks for the last few months >>> yeah, it radically sucks... once again). But apart from the not entirely voluntary job search, I can at least take all my remaining vacation these days and, after creating 4 different versions of my Crisis Core remix and doing the final checks of the audio samples on various audio playback systems, I was also able to complete my long-announced sound experiment and present it to you now. … With this sound experiment, I wanted to investigate the extent to which mono and stereo signal sources as well as mono and stereo reverb effects can be used in different combinations in order to primarily improve the clarity and spatiality in the mix and thus further increase the mixing quality. I have examined four main variants and compared them in detail: 1) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends 2) Mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends 3) Mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends 4) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends I tried to reproduce the four versions as faithfully as possible, taking particular care to ensure that the positioning of the signal sources (i.e. the instruments in this case) and aux reverb effects in the panorama were all correct and that the loudness ratios between the signal sources and the aux reverb effects were maintained without significant changes. This was quite time-consuming precision work with extremely fine, often multiple loudness measurements for each track within each of these four versions. The final listening tests of the audio samples (four full-length soundtrack versions + the soundtrack excerpts presented here, as well as further mono compatibility checks of the four complete soundtrack versions + mono compatibility checks of the four soundtrack excerpts) on a variety of tested audio playback systems (Yamaha MSP3 studio monitors, Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones, Presonus Eris E4.5 studio monitors, a somewhat larger stereo system as well as a somewhat smaller, kitchen-radio-like stereo system or my HD MP3 player, for example) also really took a lot of time. But these detailed comparisons, for which I also made a few notes on clarity and spatiality in the mix as well as on special things with regard to the overall sound impression, have provided me with some really important insights that I will take into account in the future application of my dynamic mixing concept “Life Force” and which have given me further certainty that I am probably on the right path in this respect. … And so let's start right away with the first version: 1) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The track mainly contains signal sources or instruments in the stereo version (playing only on the outermost sides without further center participation in the panorama). I reduced a few signal sources (electric bass and kick drum) to centered mono signal sources to further improve clarity in the mix, while some other signal sources (all other drum elements) are present with a stereo width reduced to approx. 50% (playing between the outermost sides and the center in the stereo panorama, so to speak). All aux reverb effects are stereo in this version (but they only play on the outer sides without center participation). In the following audio sample, you can also hear the third and final electric guitar track for the previously mentioned part for the first time, which I wanted to compose in addition as part of my prior considerations (new electric guitar begins around minute 0:39 and plays on the left side in the stereo panorama) and which has really enhanced the electric guitar part and the overall sound ambience at this point: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 As I had already used an electric lead guitar and a clean electric guitar for the big guitar part, I also wanted to use another individual setting for the third electric guitar. I decided on a crunch setting, for which I first experimented a little with a “Funk Frog” wah-wah effect. However, as this sounded far too playful in the context of the serious background of the soundtrack, I later deactivated this effect and instead used some really nice chorus and flanger effects in combination with the crunch setting, which made this electric guitar sound a bit more out of this world and also blended in really well with the soundscape of the other electric guitars. Here is a screenshot of this new electric guitar setting in my Vandal guitar amp plugin: After careful consideration, I also decided to use this first version of my mix as the new version for my remix, as I still find it to be the best overall package in terms of clarity, spatiality and the general sound quality of the mix, even after my extensive listening tests on various audio playback systems. Nevertheless, the following versions also have a few outstanding features that could be useful in certain mixing situations. 2) Mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this version, I used only mono signal sources (with a comparable positioning in the panorama as the previous stereo signal sources) and added an individual stereo reverb to each of them via aux sends in order to achieve a corresponding spatial effect, while at the same time trying to significantly increase the clarity of the mix: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 When listening on some audio playback systems, I actually had the feeling that this mixing approach was able to slightly increase the clarity in the mix in comparison to the first version. But on the other hand, this seemed to be at the expense of the spatial effect in the mix, whereby the connection between the playing instruments also seemed to get lost a little. 3) Mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the seemingly minor improvements in clarity to the detriment of the spatial effect in the mix with the previous mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb send version, I naturally wanted to find out whether the clarity in the mix could be increased even further if you combine the existing mono signal sources with mono aux reverb instead of stereo aux reverb sends: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 And indeed, I had the impression that at some points in the remix (especially in the large part with the three electric guitars) this increased the clarity in the mix a little bit and you could hear the individual instruments even more clearly. But on the flip side, the whole thing seemed to worsen the spatial effect of the mix even further, while the individual instruments seemed even more detached from each other and somehow disjointed. On some audio playback systems, the spatiality and reverb in the mix even seemed downright strange. I sometimes even had the impression that this mixing approach tore some holes in the stereo panorama and that the mix sounded very thin at some points (especially at the beginning of the audio sample, when there weren't quite as many instruments playing). Nevertheless, such a mixing approach with well-placed mono signal sources and mono aux effects could perhaps come into play if you are confronted with such a complex and extremely extensive mix, whose stereo panorama is already fully utilized or even radically overstuffed, for example in such a remix here, in which a large number of instruments and other signal sources play simultaneously at various points in the soundtrack: 4) A mix of stereo and mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For the sake of completeness, I still wanted to find out how the mix behaves if I simply combine stereo and mono signal sources with mono aux reverb sends, which then sounds like this: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 This doesn't sound bad either, but here too the spatial effect seems to suffer considerable losses, while the reverb also seems to sound somehow strange and to be downright dominated and drowned out in the interplay with the predominant stereo signal sources of the instruments. … So much for that. However, as promised, I also wanted to carry out a further mono compatibility check for these four different mixing versions as part of a more detailed examination. This can be done quite easily with a DAW by simply switching the master track (this contains all the individual tracks in the music project) to mono in the mixer view at the touch of a button in this master track, of course only temporarily for control purposes. This not only sets all tracks in the mix to mono sources, they are also centered in the stereo panorama, which means that a stereo width is non-existent, so to say. And this also means that all signal sources and effects are virtually superimposed and squashed in a centered point in the panorama. On the one hand, some sound engineers do this test to get a vague idea of how well the mix translates or reproduces on a mono audio playback device. On the other hand, by centering all available signal sources and tracks with the master track mono button, you can find out whether there are any gross frequency overlaps between the various signal sources and effects (can be fixed by the precise use of EQ plug-ins, for example) or even serious phase cancellations (which can cause some sound elements to literally drown out in the mix). But let's start right away with the mono compatibility control tests of the four tracks. M1) Mono compatibility check - a mix of stereo and mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 M2) Mono compatibility check - mono signal sources + stereo aux reverb sends ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Mono Source Signals + Stereo Reverb Version.mp3 M3) Mono compatibility check - mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 M4) Mono compatibility check - a mix of stereo and mono signal sources + mono aux reverb sends ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Mono Compatibility Check - Stereo And Mono Source Signals + Mono Reverb Version.mp3 … To summarize, I would say that even in the mono compatibility checks of the 4 versions, the first version with the well thought-out mix of stereo and mono signal sources and the stereo reverb aux sends performs best as an overall package. The first version not only convinces with a really good clarity and perceptibility of all instruments and effects in the mix, but also with a really good representation of the spatial depth and the spatial coherence of the sound sources. Once again, the second version with the mono signal sources and stereo aux reverb sends as well as the third version with the mono signal sources and mono aux reverb sends seem to perform slightly better in terms of clarity in the mix. Nevertheless, the instruments in these versions sound a little more static, a little less spatial and less coherent than in the first version, while the reverb also sounds a little strange in some places or even seems to overlay and dominate some instruments. The fourth version with the combined stereo and mono signal sources and mono reverb aux sends comes off worst here in my opinion, because this somehow strange and sometimes stalled-sounding reverb does least justice to my actual intention as a composer and sound designer. … Certainly, the differences between the four versions here are more in the range of nuances, since I was able to achieve the far more resounding improvements in the mix with some of the previous mixing approaches and sound experiments. But I believe that with this second major stereo and mono sound experiment and with the previous first stereo width sound experiment from December 20, 2024 (with the title: "Using specific stereo widths for instrument and direct signal tracks for more clarity and assertiveness in the mix and for a more impressive representation of panorama and spatiality in the soundtrack"), I was able to demonstrate quite well that you can not only clean up a mix in terms of frequency. You can also clean up a mix by making more efficient use of the panorama or by using different stereo widths for signal sources and aux effect sends in the mix, whether you turn critical stereo sources completely into mono sources or simply reduce the stereo width of some stereo sources so that other signal sources have more space in the stereo panorama in order to be better perceived in the mix. … But I'm still curious to hear your opinions on the subject and very interested to hear your listening impressions of the four different mixing approaches. )) … In my next and possibly last post on this topic within this thread for now (I want to throw myself back into the passion of composing), I will show you the full version of my new Crisis Core remix and, as a comparison, upload the previous version of this remix from about 8 years ago as an audio streaming file. Because that was about the time when I started to deal much more profoundly with the topics of composition, mixing and sound design in many smaller and larger steps, while about 12 years ago (around 2013), through a few lucky coincidences (one of which was the OCRemix community) and without any previous musical knowledge, I stumbled into the topic of DAWs & remixes and some time later took the first awkward but joyful and curious steps in this direction with my first version of a DAW. ))

Dunno, when I saw the new dark theme the first times, I thought that some kind of apocalyptic Kefka cult must have raided the peaceful OCR platform - just to plunge the colourful world of video game music into chaos, darkness and depression. But then I thought you're just following the legendary Japanese prophecy, aren't you? O_O ... Nah, just thought that the world could need much more light 'cause of the annoying weather (c'mon - only writing about it and it's just already raining like in late autumn again) and because the world got already dark enough for many people. But maybe I'll just hang up a bright and sunny picture with a really nice tropical motif in my living room next to my studio environment. This one has a really stunning paradisiacal ambience: Or maybe this one? I'm not really a designer with an additional degree in psychology. But I think you understand how strongly certain colors and motifs can influence people's thoughts and feelings. This was perhaps one of the reasons why the painter Vincent van Gogh, in a mentally unstable phase of his life, longed for much more light, sun and colors to capture them in his works and even moved his place of residence to the sunny south. So if you want to have a few ambient-heavy Chrono Cross and Star Tropics remixes again, or if you want to tempt all the remixers on OC to make some of these, you can use the picture motifs as a new (tropical sun) light theme after the prophesied battle against darkness is over. ))

Thanks for also keeping the light version. )) Not fully sure about this one (due to a missing comparison) - it might be also a thing of adaptation. But my very first impression was that the former font was easier to read.

I recently finished my Crisis Core remix “Wings Of Freedom” and uploaded it on several platforms: You'll just have to turn up the volume quite a bit, as I master all my soundtracks at EBU R 128 loudness standards to around -23 dBFS in favor of dynamics, sound quality and to avoid loudness differences between my soundtracks and remixes (quite a similar level of loudness as lots of the original mixes of soundtracks from the early 80s and thus about half as loud as many modern mixes). Maybe I'll present it in more detail in the remix thread sometime soon and submit it to the judging panel. But before that, I still wanted to finish and present a small, quite interesting mixing sound experiment with mono and stereo signal sources.

Over the last few days and weeks, I have made a major update to my main post for this thread. Since some interesting new studio monitors have come onto the market or some studio monitor speaker series have been given the latest generation of studio monitor models, while the production of some older models has been discontinued and these are often no longer available at all, I have finally made this way overdue update. The update in my initial thread post contains the following main points: 1) newly released as well as time-tested studio monitor speakers made for accurate mixing in home studio conditions as well as for professional endeavors in audio engineering 2) new models within a studio monitor series (whereby I generally only took the new models as a basis for a more detailed description if they were actually better than the older models - if the old models were obviously better than the newer versions, on the other hand, I took the older models as a basis for a more detailed description and rather mentioned the newer models only in passing) 3) have slightly expanded the information in the descriptions of the studio monitor models, categorized it accordingly and standardized it (so that the frequency range, sound impression, build quality and especially their suitability for creating professional mixes are rather high up in the description of the respective studio monitor speakers and somewhat less important aspects such as design, power consumption, price and further information can be found at the bottom of the description) 4) updated links with the currently available studio monitor models as well as additional helpful information on older studio monitor models (which are sometimes even still available on the market) 5) a slightly adjusted personal rating for the larger and the smaller studio monitor speakers, which is primarily based on my personal sound impressions of the speakers in the music store as well as through comparative sound test videos, personal mixing experiences with some of these speakers, certain product characteristics such as build quality, frequency range, linearity of the frequency response or at least a frequency response that is advantageous for mixing, intensity of inherent noise, various buyer and user feedbacks, power consumption, price-benefit ratio as well as current availability on the market (whereby the sound characteristics and mixing suitability are the most important factors for my rating - although this should only be a rough assessment and I am not yet completely sure about some of the sometimes pretty close positions of my personal ranking) 6) a link to a YouTube channel where you can roughly compare the sound of a large number of studio monitor models even far away from specialist music shops (whereby the sound impression of the studio monitor speakers in the specialist music shop and even more so in the corresponding rooms at home should be the final factor, without prioritizing the first sound impression over the much more crucial mixing suitability - because what ultimately counts for composers and sound engineers is not the pleasant sound of these speakers, but the impressing sound of the final mix which you have created with the speakers and which should also sound really nice on all other playback systems) 7) a brief summery of my personal speaker search over many years (from the simplest desktop speakers to professional studio monitors with corresponding background information to better understand why I have taken certain steps in my home studio planning and why I do not always find larger studio monitors necessarily better and more suitable in terms of mixing suitability than slightly smaller models) Maybe this can help some people in their search for suitable studio monitor speakers for their room conditions. ... In addition, I wish you a happy Easter. Don't forget to bring rich offerings of natural, organic stuff (food) for the fluffy hares and bunnies to the radically sacred Long 'n' Floppy Ears Shrine to appease the gentle and wise rabbit gods. (\_/)

Must have radically missed this thread. Really amazing mindset and work. )) ... In today's world, unfortunately, far too much revolves around profits, mindless competition (competition for the sake of profits instead of real improvements and better quality standards), exploitation and the resulting conflicts in the world. That's why I'm really grateful that some people are still really concerned about the cause itself (in this case music and creative remixes of video game soundtracks), community endeavors as well as essential improvements, real progress and new opportunities for all people to participate. Since free time is often a precious and rare good, you certainly give up a lot for such a project. But on the other hand, you are creating something beautiful, valuable and perhaps even permanent - like freshly harvested, delicious fruits from the trees you planted many years ago. Just reminds me that about 10 years ago, I myself planted a variety of different fruit trees and bushes - from apples, cherries, plums, sea buckthorn, hazelnuts and others - in an open, secluded meadow area in my home town, mowed the meadow around the planted trees and bushes with a classic scythe and watered it the first time with the water of a nearby river. After three or four years, the trees and bushes yielded their first fruits and the people who came by could harvest some fresh 'n' tasty fruits. But I've also seen lots of birds coming by or even somebody who enjoyed reading something in the quiet, idyllic area of the lil' fruit tree paradise. Against all gardening knowledge and recommendations (I'm a landscape gardener myself), I never pruned one of those trees. And they grew up beautifully in their own unique and the most natural way they could grow. Didn't have to put any further work in these trees and bushes since then, only a few trees died within the first years, but the remaining ones grew really strong and vital. The only thing that can be a bigger threat to them now, are the greedy property sharks and rent roaches that literally infested my home town years ago. These kind of "people" mostly have eyes for easy money and huge profits - they don't care about natural beauty, community standards, good structures, social peace or creating something really useful (and affordable) most humans would benefit from. People like those would even sell paradise for the latest luxury resort or sell a good community for the newest sports car in their garage. It would be even a compliment for them to be called just "useless" because their greed and selfishness make them rather harmful for society, especially for the workers and common people. They piss off workers with ridiculously high (simply not affordable) rents, and then - without workers - these Trumpish Muskuitos and all the elitist, capitalist or even fascist money sniffers even dare to borrow eggs 'n food from other countries where workers don't have to live in tents yet. In this really batshit crazy world, I'm really glad I live in a social housing associating that even existed after the former socialist times of my country and still offers very stylish flats with really affordable rents, a good neighborhood, a rather rural silence and lots of trees 'n' natural green places around. Still no car (just the good ol' bike + trailer and a local public transport "gold ticket"), no expensive holidays and no luxury on my wish list - but at least plenty of good organic food in the fridge, a little home studio, a much more pleasant 4-days working week (around 30 hours a week on average) in my job life, a bit longer 3-days weekends - and much more time for recovery, for the things that need to be done and the things I really want to do. ... So if you are fine with a modest, more active and more healthy lifestyle, I'd radically recommend to shift down (especially in your working life) a bit - for the sake of the things you are really passionate about. Money is mostly for living in modern societies (and for saving a little bit), but not for hoarding meaningless luxuries and status symbols. Hoarding bananas, sashimi, good literature, video games and music as sources of life force, knowledge and joy is totally fine, of course. The higher currencies in the universe are still (life force) energy and time, with which you can really unleash your creative potential, create synergies, new possibilities and experience joy, intensity and really inspiring natural highs. ))