zircon

Definitely agree; all excellent points. Not much more to say than that. I hope the next generation of game designers will take this type of stuff to heart.

I have to agree with Larry that the beat and bassline seem stiff and choppy. The primary drum groove sounds like it should simply be way faster, like for a breakbeat or big beat track, rather than for a chill atmospheric remix like this. The more distorted and processed drums are very nice though. This reminds me of the bustatunez/TO collaboration "Rare Square" in almost every way, which I was a big fan of... but I think the percussion there was more fitting in the mix and less distracting. Production is good, other than the main drums. However, it really seems similar to the original in terms of style, mood, and instrumentation. In fact, I actually preferred the atmosphere of the original, even though the setup was almost identical to the remix. Lots of long sustained string chords, simple progression, etc. Even though there is a degree of interpretation in the remix, I just don't think it was quite expansive enough overall. The layers build up gradually throughout, but the texture never changes very much (besides more percussion), and almost all the notes are just long sustains. The whole mix sits awkwardly between being a dramatic action film score type of sound, and a chill, atmospheric groove, so neither style is working. Hate to be so negative, especially compared to the other judges, but I just think this one needs more cohesiveness, and more elements to set it apart from the source. NO

Bah!! This should have been on VotL. I heard the WIP and liked it, but the deadline was approaching so quickly, this mix wasn't finished in time. Smooth, atmospheric synths and beats, with appropriate ballad-style guitar cutting through. Arrangement was great, which of course is no surprise, given the mixers involved. The ending in particular is just really awesome. I thought the lead guitar might have been a little too loud overall, given how 'soft' the other elements were, but that's a minor complaint. Great job, Anshy! Fisho? Foundscape? YES

No, soundcard has basically no bearing on the quality of the output sound. Input (eg. mic)? Absolutely. But otherwise, the only thing the soundcard would affect is the conversion from digital to analog, but that process on consumer electronics these days is going to be neglgibly different from one advice to the other, IMO. Noise is not really going to be an issue in all but the cheapest electronics. However, quality of your drivers is another story, as well as the bundled software (eg. mixer, router.)

Yeah, WIP forum is also for full releases... depending on the nature of your album we might be able to promote it elsewhere though.

By the way, Master_Yoshi was the winner of our free CD giveaway, as we promised Looks like OCR may be getting into the quarterfinals again this month. I'll make a new topic for when that happens. Thanks all for the support, again.

Whoa, $20,000 for one of their machines... hope that's a typo...

I've already listened to this five times in a row. McVaffe was my favorite ReMixer when I first started getting involved in OCR; mixes like Actraiser Freestyle, Medieval Kaoss, Cutmana Sonata, and dozens more were like magic to me. They were the primary motivation for my own improvement as a ReMixer, as a matter of fact. While I have a much better understanding of music production and arrangement now than I did five years ago, McVaffe's music is no less amazing to me. This ReMix really brings me back - it's got Mike's signature approach to instrumentation and groove, but it's even more refined and polished than his previous posted mixes (which you'd expect, considering they were posted years ago!) I've never played Okami, nor have I ever heard the music, but this mix certainly encourages me to do both. AWESOME.

The month ain't even half over, so keep the support coming, folks - remember, the less we have to worry about keeping the site afloat, the more time we have to focus on improving OCR! EVERY dollar you donate makes a difference; no amount is too small, and no purchase through the AStore goes unappreciated. Thanks to everyone who's chipped in so far, too! I myself am donating $50 and picking up some stuff through the AStore.

I really like the treatment of the chord progression here. Very creative interpretation - the harmony writing in the other instruments was also good throughout. However, all the jumping around from chord to chord make the piece feel a little uncentered... it keeps going back and forth between major, minor, and suspended chords, which makes it a little hard to pick up on any kind of mood. Simplifying the progression later would enable you to do more with your pads and maybe "ground" the piece a little more. In general, I definitely though this needed more meat in terms of pads or additional melody voices - perhaps some sort of original soloing over the underlying source melody and progression. Also, the ending with the solo harpsichord was too abrupt in the sense of everything dropping out, and felt too empty and mechanical. I would try something else. In terms of perc, I agree the drums are fairly repetitive. I liked the main breakbeat loop more than the really simple lo-fi loop. More variation in drums or more layering throughout (not necessarily all at once) would help to keep interest. I like the ideas here; your interpretation of the source is excellent. Additionally, overall production is quite effective. But structurally and musically speaking I think you need to fill things out more in terms of writing and instrumentation. You don't need to add a lot, even just one or two instruments would be good, used properly. I really enjoyed this mix, and it's not far from our bar, so please resub! NO, resubmit

$200 USD or Canadian? Anything in the Oxygen line will be pretty solid: http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOOXYGEN49 You get some synth action, USB connectivity, and extra controls should you need them. But pretty much anything on this list will be fine. Most synth-action MIDI controllers are quite similar. http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Compact-Keyboard-Controllers--2687

I thought the brass here was pretty good here, all things considered... the muted trumpet in particular sounded nice. I actually thought the piano sounded a little on the weak side instead.. too panned and wet for my taste. A more upfront, upright piano sound would have been nicer, IMO. In terms of arrangement, I was really feeling it up until 1:12 that section, through 1:44, was just too brass-heavy and not really that interesting. I would have liked to hear other instruments weaved into the texture, with fewer long sustained notes. The same goes for the repeat of this section later. While it's a creative interpretation, these parts sounded somewhat plodding. I was disappointed that the piano was not integrated more throughout the mix; you could have done some nice fills and riffs with it to help keep things interesting. As for other instruments, the bass sounds good, but sequenced in a very basic way. It could be playing faster, more intricate rhythms to achieve a more authentic sound. The drum sounds are all pretty weak, very "default GM" in my opinion - a more detailed jazz kit would benefit the mix quite a bit, with concert toms and maybe some other kinds of percussion like bongos/congas as well. It would spice up sections like the Kefka part very well. All in all, some very creative arrangement ideas, but I think this one isn't quite ready yet. I couldn't help feeling that in general the mix just felt sparse and empty at times, needing more instrumentation or more interesting writing to carry it better. Sample/quality is secondary (though could still be improved for some of the instruments.) I'd love to hear this resubbed. NO, resubmit

The original sub of this mix was only a borderline NO for me because of production issues. I loved the creative interpretation of the sources tunes, which, despite their popularity, are treated differently here than in any other mix on OCR. In this new version, the is noticeably improved from the original submission, as is the tweaked ending, which was the only aspect of the arrangement I didn't like last time around. I'm really glad Nekofrog was open to constructive criticism and decided to go back to this and resub! YES

Orig. Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14329 * Your ReMixer name: Nekofrog * Your real name : Justin Jones * Your email address : justinjones84@gmail.com * Your website : www.gamesarefun.com * Your userid : 5151 * Name of game(s) arranged : Xenogears * Name of individual song(s) arranged : Awakening (with one overlapping melody from Omen -- both songs share the same melody) * Additional information about game : Composer is Yasunori Mitsuda, system is PS1, * Your own comments about the mix: I first played Xenogears in 1998 when it came out (still have my copy ) and was enthralled. As time went on I learned to recognize its obvious shortcomings, which I think led me appreciate the game differently. It's not perfect by any means -- there's a lot I'd chop out of it -- but by and large it's enjoyable. The soundtrack pretty much makes the game for me. I've always felt that "Awakening" and "Omen" were the standout tracks, so I wanted to take "Awakening" and apply to it the "this is my world, and I'm ready to take it back" feeling. The name of the remix is "Mechanical God |Create|Corrupt|Consume|" in reference to Deus (badass robot) as the creator, the corrupter, and eventually the consumer. Tech talk: Recorded in Steinberg Nuendo with an Ibanez SZ520 into a PodXT Live processor. Drumkit From Hell used for the drums. This is my second go at it, as the first was rejected based on technical aspects for the most part. I've refined it, eliminated all of the clipping that I could find, and threw in some bass now that I have one. Drums have been boosted as per request. Enjoy.

Bump. Just added another page, a fairly in-depth guide to the basics of music licensing and what it can do for any musician, with or without a label deal. Please read, post questions, comments, thoughts of any kind. I know a lot of y'all want to make some money from your music, and this is one of the best ways to! http://soundtempest.net/how-to-make-money-from-music-licensing/

Yeah, this is really compressed, no question. Even before the texture thickens up, the strings alone sound limited - not smooth at all. Turn them down a bit, go easier on the compression, and most importantly, use EQ more. You should be rolling off the lows of almost everything except the bass, but even the bass has too much low-end energy. Cutting down on all that stuff will actually make the bass feel tighter and more effective, plus you won't have to worry about constantly hitting 0.0db and causing that overcompressed sound. Some of the melodic elements, like the guitar sound in the break halfway through, are also mixed too low, as the "pad" type sounds (eg. strings) tend to be too loud. The production needs to be cleaner, IMO - shouldn't be more than 10-15 mins of rebalancing and making some EQ cuts here and there. Also on the production end, some of the heavily detuned saw leads seemed a little too thin (too much high end) and centered - I feel like a wider sound would work better, with somewhat attenuated highs. Maybe some filter or PWM action too, to keep the interest on the sustained notes. As is, the trance lead doesn't have any motion to it. Also, the drums are pretty nice, with a lot of fills, but it would have been good to hear some additional layers by the end. Tambourine, another breakbeat, maybe some kind of ethnic thing. Alternatively, you could just switch it out with another loop more often. Considering the length of the mix, as good as the drums are, they do feel a little repetitive. You could also do more 'glitching' on the percussion. I heard you do it at least once in the mix; some kind of stuttering effect. Throw in some effect automation with reverses/panning and you've now made your drums even better with minimal effort. The arrangement and overall approach is very cool. This is my kind of mix. You've got creative variations and great use of original material that actually blends with the source. As it is, the most pressing issue is the unbalanced production. As is, I can't pass the remix in its current state. The other things I suggested would also help, but aren't as crucial. Please resub. NO, resubmit

Hey, they remade Shining Force for GBA. I bought it. I do think it has sort of been eclipsed by Fire Emblem though, which is kinda the same thing, but with more depth.

Why would you put Phantasy Star above PSIV?

Interesting interview, but I think he definitely seems to look down on "working" composers. I write a lot of production music myself, and I don't think that means I'm not a "man", to use his words. Yes, I use Stylus, but I use it creatively. Some people don't have the time or luxury to do exquisitely crafted orchestral scores, and sometimes spending that much time is not worth the paltry sum you'll receive for your work.

I think it depends on what you want to do. I would Google every game and app you want to use under XP64 to see if they are supported. You WILL need to make sure all your drivers are 64bit compatible as well - some of them will simply work, others, you can't just use the 32bit ver, you need the 64bit ver specifically. I would not recommend Vista 64bit for any reason. I've been using XP64 as my "DAW" OS recently, as a dual boot, and it has worked very well. No compatibility issues that I have found yet, but I had to carefully research all of my hardware (soundcard, keyboard, video card, etc.) and software (FL, favorite plugins) to make sure I could get them to work. Luckily, all of them had 64bit drivers, or 32bit ones that worked anyway. FL runs flawlessly on XP64 as far as I can tell. I've made an entire, resource-intensive song with it with no problems. Then again, I use FL7/FL8, so I have no idea about FL5.

I think the majority of remixers on this project sequenced their pieces in a piano roll environment, rather than with programs like Finale or Sibelius... thus converting those projects to readable scores would definitely be an undertaking. Plus, considering the age of the project, it is not likely that all the project files are still available. You would almost be better off simply transcribing by ear.

This technology is really old. There is so much software that automates harmonizing for you. Look at "Band in a Box" for example.

How could you say you "can't find it anywhere" when there are links in this very thread? Or are you advocating piracy?

Here's another way you can get some more money to the site, if you're still on the fence. If you buy any of my CDs through my website or CD Baby, I will donate $2 from each sale to OCR**. You can show you're buying the CD via OCR by emailing me a note (aaversa@gmail.com) after making the purchase through Paypal, or simply writing "OCR" when CD Baby asks you where you heard about me. I'll be doing this through the end of April. **The only exception is if you do the $5 deal on CD Baby, since I basically only get $2, and the CDs cost $2 to make.

An MP3 clip would be really helpful. Is this an actual bass instrument, or a bass drum?