The Nikanoru

Just to add my two bits in - I'm one of those directors that started out strong, but got a bit overwhelmed by life as time and a half went by, and for the last year or so have been having trouble staying in touch consistently. Most of the main points are stated above, but as a living example of some of the shortfalls of directing an album, I would add three things that I think are very important even in the face of the obstacles that will inevitably come: Always keep your lines of communication open. I have not been as good at this as I would like on my project. As prophetik says, everything is on you and people are looking to you for guidance, updates, and general status of the project, and when you stop communicating, people will draw their own conclusions. I have found this leads to remixers feeling alienated or moving on to other projects, as the assumption becomes that 'this is another dropped project by someone who doesn't care to finish it.' Even if you only tell people that life continues to suck and you'll be away for a while longer, at least folks know where you are at and where the project stands. Don't be afraid to collaborate or ask for help. You mentioned 'zero technical expertise' - that's why the OCR 'Recruitment and Collaboration' forum exists. Every project that I have seen or been part of doesn't just rely on one person's knowledge or expertise, it relies on a bunch of people - some handling more administrative tasks (such as info gathering and organization), some manage the quality of the music (giving notes on arrangement, mixing, etc.), some handle the stuff outside of OCR (such as professional mixing/mastering, cover art design, etc.) because they have the contacts for that - just as examples. Even if you don't know where to go from where you are, you can always ask for help! There's lots of us who have been involved in album developments in the past who are willing to give pointers or advice, as this thread has demonstrated. NEVER GIVE UP! - Life is hard and we all understand that things happen and sometimes when things get so deep or so far behind that we ask to ourselves 'is there any point in finishing this?' The only answer is YES, because you had a dream and other people have invested with you to see that dream come to life. It doesn't matter how bad things look or how far gone things seem to have become, there is always a reason to finish and there are always people willing to help to get you out of your cloud, help you get back on track, and help you keep things going. Projects will always progress at different rates, sometimes not as originally intended (Right @Rozovian?). Life will happen at some point and choices will have to be made; no one is going to jump up and down on you here because of what you had to do to deal with your life. What counts is what comes of all that effort - and I'm sure there are folks reading this who can attest that all the crap you go through in the album's development is totally worth it to see that album released and/or posted on OCR's main page. If you have the time, patience, and desire to start building an album; the vision, the organization and the willingness to listen to attract people to your project; and the unwavering enthusiasm and drive to see the progress made in spite of everything that life throws at you, then there's no reason you can't start to build your own album from start to finish - but regardless of how it actually goes down, remember to always keep your lines of communication open to the folks you are leading, don't be afraid to collaborate or ask for help for anything you are having trouble with, and above all else that happens ... NEVER GIVE UP! ... because I sure won't!

Hello, all! Another anti-necrotic post - I remain not dead and we are moving ahead, if a bit more slow and ponderous than everyone would like. Just a short announcement: I took some time today to post some updates to the page header - two months later than I meant to, but there you are: Updated thread track list to current. Still waiting on a few folks to confirm things with me, but it's fairly accurate to now I have now limited open claims to three tracks. We are still accepting remixers, but at this point in the project, they should be finished or near finished if you would like to submit. New FINAL project deadline! Oh, and one other thing for today: Narratives are on hold until I can finalize the track list. I admit I haven't done much on this in the last two months, but I'll be working on this over the next couple of weeks and hopefully will have a better answer on what is happening here for the next update. That's all for now. I just wanted to get something posted while I had some time, but there is more to come .. did you notice the TBAs on certain positions? Stay tuned!

Another glowing review for @prophetik music from here - I've had my new build for about a week and it is the sleekest, sexiest, most awesome machine I've ever used! Brad was very capable, very knowledgeable, and very precise with all parts of how he manages this 'hobby,' as he calls it. Well, hobby or not, he has shown me a level of integrity and customer service I don't see in this world much - and I have a lot of respect for that. If anyone needs a build, I cannot recommend anyone better for the job than this guy. Whether you know exactly what you're looking for or have no clue where to start, Brad will be able to help you get to where you need to go. Thank you again for everything, Brad - like @PRYZM, I'm 110% happy with my new computer!

Sorry, all. Timing didn't work out in the 28th and I got a bit distracted last week. I will be posting update later today or tomorrow.

Reframing update coming this weekend. Stay tuned!

You know, you seem familiar to me. Have we worked together on something before...? Hey, Jorito! Got something I think you'll like - I'll PM you with some ideas later.

Hello, all! Just letting everyone know that I will probably be done reframing the project for sometime next week and will post the new guidelines for the final leg of the project then. This will include some of the updates in track listings, track progress, remixers, and finally, some stuff on the narratives and how I'd like to roll that out. I think I've reached out to everyone except a few people now, but I'm still waiting for responses form a lot of people. I need to know where you are at on your tracks, folks - not just because I want to start to wind this project down and need to gauge how much work there is left to do, but part of this reframing is also a rejigging of the concept and if your track isn't part of this, then I might need to adjust the track list, the script content or even the number of scripts for the narrative portion. I now have 5 final WAVs - thanks to @Afilion for finishing his Titanic Beach in record time - and 18 other tracks in various states of completion. Get in touch with me please and let me know what's going on! If I don't hear from you on your track before I repost the concept toward the end of next week, then I may have to move on regardless. I know I'm partly responsible for that - we've already lost a few folks to attrition due to my absences already - but I've always said I'll see this through one way or another, and dammit, I WILL! That being said, I do need help: There are still open claims to be taken! If you are interested in something, let me know and I can get you a list of open claims in the meantime. I will be actively looking for voice-over roles again once the concept is reposted. If you can do a good Pigma impression, we want you! LOL I am still looking for a co-director and I am now looking for assistant director as well. (Good luck, @DS394, wish you all the best). I need a website - not now, but soon. @Starphoenix was supposed to help me on this, but I haven't heard from him lately. I will need someone to design the ambiance/ambient music/'je ne sais quoi' for the narratives. Preferably someone with experience in this area or in soundtrack design in general. If you are interested in any of this, please contact me via PM or the project email - you can reach out on Discord (@Nika) as well, but I might take longer to respond, because I'm old school. --- I also want to say that I'm very happy to be back and doing this again. My life has been missing a lot of joy lately and being part of this again (as little as it seems) has made me feel so much better about so many aspects of my life - so thank you, LSC team and OCR, for letting me come along for the ride and helping me move on with my life.

Sent you a PM on this. No I didn't - or rather I did, but referred to it as something else. Solar has the same music as Sector Y in SF64, like other tracks in SF64: Titania = Macbeth (SF64) Fichina = Sector Z (SF64) Sector Y = Sector Z (SF SNES) I suppose I could have laid out the tracks as the ones I wanted on the album, but that seemed a bit stifling for creativity and interpretation at the time. Some folks like some soundtracks better than others.

There are a few fixes I have do on this. I will address all of this when I redo the format. I will announce when I've got this done.

Hello, all! I'd like to add @ad.mixx to the project, taking a unique approach to Sector Y from SF SNES! Welcome aboard! --- Not much to report at this point. I've been dealing with some stuff this last week and only touched base with a few people so far, but I'm slowly getting through the list. Feel free to send me updates to your tracks while you're waiting for me to message you!

Just so everyone is clear, I cannot guarantee that I will be here every day until the end of the project. My life is still complicated and my RL has to take priority. That being said, I WILL guarantee that if messaged/PMed, I will respond within 24 hours. Both of you should be syntaxed for your context! LOL

Yes, I did. I'm getting to it... I have some stuff to say on SCRAMBLE, but I'm not ready yet. I will get back to you when I can. I still have all the material and all the WIPs, and the project overview is mostly accurate to the last time I was active - there are only a few changes to do. I did send out a bunch of reviews in July that I didn't hear back from some folks on but I will follow up with each remixer as I get caught up. You should be punished for that one, sir!

Hello, all! Me here. Again. I have been out of commission since August due to a personal loss of someone very close to me. I've been anti-social, shutting out the people closest to me, and throwing myself in full 'get through the day' mode for three months - with a little self-pity for maximum impact. There is nothing like doing everything the grief counsellors tell you not to do - the platitudes lose their effect after a while, and it's amazing how far down you go before you realize where you are and how long you've been there. So, I have let this get off the rails again, and this time, I let it run over our final deadline. I can say with certainty that this project is not yet to the point where it can be submitted, and due to the utter lack of updates in my absence - except @Slimy (final tracks submitted! YAY), @JulienMulard, and @TheChargingRhino, I've received no updates from anyone. That being said, I really wasn't here at all this time and judging from some of the feed I was reading on Discord, some folks are losing faith - so here I am, once again checking in with the project and letting everyone know I'm not dead and neither is this project. Now, we are past the final deadline I set for September 30th. I have to reframe this project to get it back on track and this may mean renaming the project itself. If you still want your submitted track to be included in the album, have faith and I will be reaching out soon! If you are out of patience with me and want to take the music elsewhere (or submit independently), please let me know or I will assume you are still on board. ---- For anyone questioning whether I will see this through, you would be right to ask - but please understand that this project gives me a joy I don't have in other parts of my life right now. I will see this through one way or the other - after all, I always come back, don't I? I'm sorry again for being away. Please have patience with me through this - we're still going to get this done!

LOL I guess I have been really slow about that. I'll have an answer for you by Monday.

Hi! I'm here - always have been - I just have a lot on the go at the moment. PM me if you need anything.

This mythical 'UnMod' forum seems like it was a really happening place. Every time I see long-time members reminiscing, that forum always seems to be at least mentioned. I've noticed this too. I wonder if OCR has any statistics on that?

I appreciate the offer and will keep that in mind for when the time comes. --- Thanks to @Jorito for pointing out a couple of bad links on the WIP Spreadsheet. I've fixed the links to Impending Abyss and Can't Let You Do That!

Hello, all! The post is a bit late, but I was watching all this weekend - everyone except @Katamari has now checked in with me. Thanks to everyone for doing this; I'm very happy for those of us still on board and once again, I think we are back on track! Now, a quick State Of The Project: 27 of 32 tracks claimed, 26 with WIPs of some sort. @XPRTNovice has had something come up, but he'll send me a WIP for his track soon. Lots of work still needed on these tracks - heads up for anyone offering to perform jazz instruments as @Thirdkoopa might be looking for folks for his remix, and a few folks will be looking for guitar and/or bass recordings soon too. Keep those strings tuned and practice your embouchure! 6 of 8 scripts finished and reviewed. My reviewer is away at the moment, but as soon as he checks in, I'll post them. Once scripts are posted, I'll be gathering up the narrative staff again so we can get some vocals recorded. Voice roles are still open to claim; put together a recording of what you think is the best voice for the role and PM me! I have an idea for the ambient soundtrack in these scenes, but I'll need someone to take on handling this aspect, as I now doubt I'll have time to do this myself. We won't be ready for this until we get some vocals recorded, but something for folks to keep in mind. I have the back covers for the album, as I said previously, but they aren't ready yet and my guy had a rush of work at the end of spring. I hope to have updates by the end of the month, but no guarantees. It sucks waiting for free stuff, doesn't it? Still looking for a co-director. Nothing to say on this; PM me or email lylat.system.clear@gmail.com if you're interested! The Audio Support panel is a little thin on responses lately. Anyone interested in reviewing tracks and helping out fellow remixers, please let me know! I've asked the QA panel to do a final, final review on our two 'finished' tracks, and then pending any last-minute revisions, I will submit them to the OCR panel for the second pass. I see several others getting closer and closer - keep up the great work everyone! SCRAMBLE is still coming. Might not have, er, taken the time offered this weekend, but it is coming. I have given a lot of thought as to how much time to give to finish, as this has not progressed in the way that I envisioned (no one's fault but mine). July 1st was the original final deadline I put in place, but I extended it based on where we were in the spring. However, given where we are now and the great response I have had on this deadline, I'm confident that we are going in the right direction, so the FINAL DEADLINE FOR ALL MUSIC will remain SEPTEMBER 30TH. I might give some leeway if discussed prior to deadline, as I don't expect the everything will be done on that day, but if we want to continue to target release this year, we can't put it off any later if we want to have a chance of doing so. So - get me your final final FINAL tracks ASAP so we can get them reviewed and submitted as we go. Any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know. We're on the home stretch, everyone!

I rather enjoyed this one too. Lovely and warm, with just enough epic for excitement. This feels like a Metroid overworld track or a Star Ocean theme - and I hope you don't take offense to that, as I know you don't remix much anymore. My only real comments are: In the intro, the horn sounds way more present than the background strings (ie. the strings sound a bit narrow). This is probably subjective. Not sure about the lead vocal fill at 1:13. It's the only place where a lead vocal stands out, so it seems a bit out of place to me. I really like the subtle build until the violin drops at 0:52 - I think this is a perfect escalation of mood. The parts that really grabbed me was the little fill you have at 0:32 over the horn and the ending; that last instrument made me think you were going to break into something sounding a bit Southern Europe or Middle Eastern. I think this would sound pretty darn awesome following an orchestra, but only a suggestion. Anyway, sounds great! Hope to hear more on this.

Just a reminder - it's almost deadline time! I haven't had a chance to work on SCRAMBLE yet, but I'm putting aside time in the next couple of days to work on this. Probably won't have the scripts ready until next week, but this is also still coming. ---- I have not heard anything from @Katamari or @CrimsonCobalt in some time - if anyone has heard from them recently, please get them to check in with me! Also, need to hear from @Cole Train and @DS394 over what is happening with the Sauria remix. ---- I've received quite a few updates lately which I have been posting to the WIP spreadsheet. Great work, everyone, keep them coming! ---- EDIT: @MindWanderer has offered to join our QA panel. Welcome aboard, MW! ...and a special thanks to @Theory of N for helping me get the word out. Still looking for folks to help out on the Audio Support panel too!

How dare you, sir. Bob is a revered and respected name, given to all sorts of perfectly intelligent and properly-endowed people. Many such Bobs have gone on to do wonderful and important things - in fact, we in Canada almost had an entire province named Bob. It's beautiy is in its simplicity; I'm sure there are many folks here who have a Bob in their life that has been an inspiration to them - what better place to pay homage to a great name than a great song? Now that I think about it - A Bombastic Bruhaha Blasting a Blasphemer of Bob wouldn't be bad either, would it? Still like yours, though.

I was going to suggest 'Bob', but I like this better.

I do like your style, Cmac. Geez - last time I heard the name Death Adder was on a then-old arcade machine about 15 years ago. Never did have enough quarters to actually fight him though... You have great sound with the guitars - definitely good metal going on here. However: Everything is jammed in the center - panning / reverb needed all around. Bass sounds un-good; it sounds a bit 'flubby' and (to me) sounds like it has no depth at all. Most percussion seems buried behind the guitars - except the double-kick, which sounds a bit weak to me. Transitions to slower parts sounds a bit clumsy, particularly around 1:34 and 1:49; some dynamics or a bit of a lead-in (like @ 2:20, but this sounds a bit clumsy too) would really help with flow. Needs fills everywhere - lots of heavy rhythm guitar, no lead work! I hear light touches from orchestral instruments here and there - good start, work on this! You definitely got the main sound of your track down pat here, but it needs more support from the lighter parts of the track, more lead guitar, and more of those orchestral touches. Can't let big rhythm guitar sections rule the piece! I'd like to suggest you give the Black Mages a listen, if you haven't already, particularly this track. The way they combine the full orchestra with the epic metal might give you some ideas and scale on what the arrangement and mix could sound like. Maybe. Hope this helps. I enjoyed, thanks for posting!

Like Meteo, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I found this track surprisingly quite good. I rather enjoy the creativity of the arrangement and sound design applied to this. The quality of the mix is quite good, IMO. I like the whimsical feel and light touches of organ here and there; the heavy reverb on the background strings really sets the stage well. On arrangement, the only issue I would have is there are places that sound quite scarce. An example of this is 2:16 to about 2:35 - until that light harpsichord(?) fill comes in, you're only repeating the root again and again; not a terrible place for it, but a little garnish here (more fills with varied instrumentation) would help keep up the pace and keep the arrangement interesting. I think production is where you will be picked on most by the panel. The reverb is a little too heavy in spots, particularly noticeable on that bass drum - toward the end, I've got this constant rumble in the lower back of my right ear that is really making me grumpy. Some of FX have good filtering and panning, but no dynamics; some variation in volume and application throughout the piece would add some texture. All in all, I really like this and I don't think it is far off of what the panel is looking for. You've definitely posted to the right place; if you put a 'ready to review' tag on this, one of the workshop folks will give you the full meal deal on feedback. Hope this helps and keep playing!

I rather like this. What was the inspiration for this?