zircon

http://www.ocremix.org/info/Submission_Standards_and_Instructions From the "Info" link at the top of OCR's navigation.

PCAudioLabs is INSANELY overpriced. I set up a system with no monitor and no extra storage besides the raptor and it came out to $2,600. DIY it would be $1,400. What a ripoff.

I already went over Compression in an earlier tutorial, part 5.

Regarding the RAM thing, Smoke, I can't read that article. It says I need to subscribe. Mustin makes a good point about DIY... all of my personal experiences with DIY (even when expert friends built in) have resulted in problems down the line. Prebuilts do seem to be more solid, plus you can always uninstall all the crap they come with. Nonetheless, not sure if it's worth it.

Err the e6600 is the best processor on the market in terms of how much power you get for the $. No AMD processor comes close, and Core 2 Duos (especially when overclocked) blow AMD's similar offerings out of the water in every review I have seen. Haven't heard of 64 bit sound cards... sounds really pointless, even 32 bit audio is a waste. 24 is realistically all you need. Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate it.

Ok, so within the next month or two I am looking to buy a new workstation. My sweet spot for price is $1500, but I might be able to go up to $2000 if necessary. Basically, this will be a DAW - digital audio workstation - I don't plan on doing much game playing (if any). It's gotta be as lean and performance-oriented as possible. Here are the specs I am looking at, but I'm not entirely sure what I want. * Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (e6600 - the 2.4ghz one). This seems like the sweet spot for power:price. eg. THe e6700 is 2.66ghz, but seems to cost almost twice as much. Is there a better option? * OS: I'm not too sure about this yet. I think I would like to go for XP w/ SP2, with a voucher to upgrade to Vista. Does anyone know if upgrading the Windows install to Vista means you have to reinstall all your programs, or will it be seamless (mostly)? * RAM: Sort of dependant on OS. I would like expandability up to 8GB. To start with, I think I'd like 4GB. Is this wise? I do need massive RAM for audio stuff, but as I understand it, XP by default can only take advantage of 3 total. Will I actually experience problems if I have 4GB? I figure when I upgrade to Vista (assuming it's as good for audio as people say) given that its 64 bit it will be good as a future-proof. * Storage: I have a 400gb external and 250gb internal hard drive, currently. For this new computer I would like the main apps drive to be a 76gb 10k RPM Raptor. I'd also like another internal - a 500gb Seagate, if possible, though this could come later. I have a lot of samples. * Optical: A single CD/DVD R/RW drive. * Video card: Nothing more expensive than $100-$120. I don't need a great video card, just something that gets the job done. For reference, I use a $30 ATI Radeon 9200 that sucked when I got it over 2 years ago, and I have basically no problems. * Sound card: Probably will be purchased separately. I can port over my $100 EMU 0404 from my current machine, but eventually I plan to get a much nicer card, eg. a Creamware SCOPE. For now, ignore. * PCI slots: I would like to have 4-6 PCI slots. Soundcard takes up one, extra USB card takes up one, and eventually I'll probably install things like DSP. I also have a nice network ard that will take up another one. * Monitor: 22 to 24" widescreen. I saw a Dell PC in the University of Pennsylvania bookstore that had low/midrange specs and a 24" monitor for $1500 total (250gb storage, Pentium D 3.2ghz, 2gb RAM etc). My current monitor is 19" and it is definitely not big enough. Best options here? If it's going to put me too far over budget, forget it, but given that UPenn deal it can't be THAT bad. Alternatively, would 2 19" monitors be better...? Any advice would is greatly appreciated. PREFERABLY not "do it yourself".

VERY rigid/mechanical sequencing, the instruments do not sound realistic at all. Hit the ReMixing / Guides & Tutorials forum to get some advice on this topic - even if you are only using free sounds, you can get them to sound way b etter. The arrangement is very close to the original in a lot of ways, aside from a few chord changes, and it's also very repetitive. You did have some good ideas here and there but you need to go a lot further and develop them - fill out the texture, for example, be more creative with adding original material and varying the melody & rhythms of the original. If you really made the sequencing and production much more realistic, and had a higher level of variation and new material, you could probably get away with using a small ensemble like you are now. However it would be easier if you didn't limit yourself. I also want to add that the point of this site is not just to do simple genre adaptations of game themes, but to go one step further and create truly unique adaptations. Even if there were no production issues here whatsoever, and you had this played by the best musicians in the world, it would still not be passable due to the arrangement issues. Try listening to other ReMixes on the site in an orchestral style (artists like Jared Hudson, Russell Cox, Jeremy Robson, Tyler Heath) to get a better idea of where our bar is at. Good luck with your next sub. NO

Hmm. This is a tough call for me. I actually remixed this source tune awhile back and I know it is hard to work with. Lots of unpleasant, dissonant, near-atonal material. So, with that in mind, I think you guys did a great job of varying it and making it more interesting and unique. However, I have to agree with Larry that it seems like your ideas kind of ran out towards the second half, which consisted of mostly recycled material. I think more could be done, maybe simplifying the background chords and doing some solos (guitar or synth) for a bit, or integrating another theme from PS4 for example. I just feel like there were maybe 1:30 or 2:00 worth of ideas stretched out through the whole mix. Another thing to consider is maybe varying the instrumentation, if you don't feel comfortable changing any of the melodic material. eg. An acoustic guitar breakdown with some distorted pads and a heavenly choir on top? Maybe some breakbeats? Cello solo? Lots of stuff I could think of that would potentially fit in the style. Production-wise, the "resub" so to speak sounds a lot better than the first version I heard. I don't really have any problems there considering the style. The drums especially are a lot stronger. Good job there. This is not far from the bar, and if it did get YESed by the panel I would not really object. However, I feel that the arrangement aspect could be significantly improved with little effort, and I think both ReMixers are easily capable of doing this. NO, RESUBMIT

Hello and welcome to OCR's newly redesigned ReMixing forums! Having a problem with your sequencer? Want an opinion on a piece of hardware or software? Or maybe you have a tip on how to get the most oom-tss out of your technos? If so, you've come to the right place. Whether you're a seasoned pro or you've never touched a musical instrument in your life, everyone with an interest in ReMixing or related topics (eg. MIDI sequencing, recording, audio editing) is encouraged to post here. That said, if you are looking for feedback on a specific ReMix or song, please post in the WIP & Releases forums. We ask that you please review these simple guidelines before posting. * Check the main site's Mixing page, which has a variety of resources. * If you have a general question about ReMixing, such as "Where should I start?" or "What keyboard should I buy?", first review the Guides & Tutorials subforum. This subforum serves as a permanent database of knowledge; you may find that many of your questions have already been thoroughly answered in the threads there! * Before starting a thread, please use the forum's Search function and make sure you are not posting or asking anything redundant. * If you have any sort of question, try to be as specific as possible. "How do I make my mix sound better?" is hard to answer - "How do I make my mix less muddy?" or "Where can I find a more realistic piano sound?" are both easier. * If you have a question or topic specifically regarding FLStudio (Fruity Loops) or Reason, post in their respective subforums. * If you see a topic that has been around for a day or more that does not seem to be in the appropriate forum, please bring it to the attention of one of the moderators via private message. Hopefully, using these forum, we can all share resources and knowledge and help each other improve our abilities.

Absolutely unbelievable, I hope this gets routed ALL over the internet and Geffen gets screwed over.

Social philosophy. It's PPR, dude.

Haha yeah that's just a rendering error. Gonna be fixed on the next one.

One of the grooves is sliced + processed RMX, the main groove is my own sequencing from oneshots, and then the crunchy beat later is from Reason. Most of my drum sequences are built in a similar manner - I prefer to use oneshots for the foundation and then build on top.

Well, that's the deadline everyone! Here are the results. First Place: Mustin Second Place: Sephfire & Tweek Third Place: Reuben Kee Mustin had a strong upper hand on first place, but there was a lot of competition for everyone else. I won't post the numbers - but suffice it to say that with one or two more votes, the 2nd and 3rd places could have very easily been switched (or two new names could have been there entirely!) I'll be contacting some of y'all very soon about joining the FF7 project itself. Not just the winners either. And of course, prizes will be sent out as appropriate - PM me if you won with your email & name. I'd like to thank everyone for participating. Lots of great tunes here and I wish I could have given out 5 prizes and not just 3. I hope some of you develop your tracks and submit them later, too - I think with a little more time a lot of 'em could be improved (after all, one month isn't that long in the grand scheme of things).

Again, thanks everyone so far for the feedback. More stuff added!

BUMP for awesome

Well, good coding helps to make good sites. As virt mentioned a BIG problem with VGMix 2 was the lack of expandability due to everything being hard coded. The new system allows for much more flexibility. That will, in turn, make the site better!

Looks like I'm doing Arrangement, based on the results! Coincedentally (or perhaps ironically) I am taking a class right now called "Modern Arrangement Techniques".

Four and a half hours left. More votes. MOAR

Well, we don't NEED to. But I absolutely can understand concerns people might have about, "What makes this person qualified to judge MY music?" You and I might know the answer to that - and it's not necessarily musical expertise - but a lot of people might not. To draw a parallel, I'm a member of an organization called TAXI where I submit my original music for consideration to be forwarded to various people that need music (music libraries, labels, publishers). It is frustrating that the people in TAXI that screen my music are relatively anonymous. When I get a rejection, I have to ask, "How do I know this guy knows what he is talking about?" I think it would be nice to make a friendly intro post so people know who the current panel is in a little more detail.

I haven't sent out any confirmations unless I need something else from you. Just assume that I got it.

Yeah that guy sure got us.

Definitely not a bad idea, but the judges would have to volunteer the information themselves. I would be up for it but I can't speak for anyone else. With regard to gear and methodology, I'm pretty sure all of us judge things differently and in different environments. That said, none of us use a fancy graphic equalizer...

OOPS I MEAN THERE ARE ABOUT 30 HOURS LEFT

Less than 6 hours left to vote, but there's still time! It's a close competition. VOTE VOTE VOTE~