DarkeSword

Just a note guys: just because bLiNd is a trance artist doesn't mean you have to make a trance mix. I talked to Jade yesterday on AIM and she said that he likes a lot of different styles of music. The mix I'm working on isn't trance either, so don't worry too much about that kind of thing.

If you want to contribute something, contribute! How many times do I have to say anything is okay?

Anyone is allowed to contribute music to this album. I'll only cut it if it's just intentionally terrible or just plain painful to listen to. I don't think anyone would send me something like that though. Remember guys, the primary audience for this is bLiNd himself.

On the subject of album art: I'd really prefer it if people could draw something specifically for the album, instead of hunting down stuff that's already been done and Photoshopping.

MP3 is just fine.

Not even a screamo mix?

The reason we're doing Super Metroid is because Jade said it's his favorite game.

Can you draw or Photoshop? Some album art/insert art might be nice. And Wingless, yes. Multiple trax are GO.

They don't have to be OCR levels of arrangement, but of course I'd prefer some effort at variation. Whatever you can contribute would be great, because a week isn't a lot of time to get a mix done.

That's a tall order. I'll see what I can do. __ HERE'S THE DEAL GUYS!! We're gonna do a GET WELL SOON album for bLiNd, because he's sick. So what I need from you guys is to do some Super Metroid remixes, because that's his favorite game. You can remix any song from the album you want, and anyone is allowed to contribute. I'd like to get this done quick, so get the tracks to me by next saturday (july 19). GO GO GO!!!

That's a tall order. I'll see what I can do.

It's the thought that counts! Give it a shot! It doesn't even have to be super-long, maybe 1:30-3:00.

BLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND Hey the guy likes Super Metroid. Let's do a SuperMetroidMiniAlbum for the guy. Tracks don't gotta be long, just at least a minute and a half! Arrange what you want! Anyone can contribute! Get 'em all to me by next Saturday! darkesword at ocremix dot org

Why do you have to get on her case about it? Let her do what she wants. She's not badmouthing OCR or anything like that. She's not "undermining" anything. There are plenty of people who do covers and upgrades and call them remixes, and you know what? They're not wrong in doing so. Here at OCR we have a relatively narrow and specific definition of the term "remix," which is why we use special capitalization: ReMix. We don't own the term remix, and we don't own the concept of remixing and arranging video game music. Plenty of people have their own approaches ranging from ultra-liberal to ultra-conservative. Different strokes for different folks. Stop trying to be a crusader. Do you know for a fact she dressed up MIDIs? Seems like the post Hawking quoted says she did everything by ear. Transcription takes skill; I know I'm not great at it. I dunno what you thought was gonna happen by posting about this here. We're not gonna rush that forum and demand she stop.

Yeah, because Mega Man X2 is obviously 11. Because X2 = 11, right?

Yeah I gotta chime in and agree with everyone. There's a lot more to Harvey Dent than just Two-Face. Harvey was one of Batman's most important allies early on in the Caped Crusader's war on crime. You should really read The Long Halloween to get a good sense of this. These aren't the old Batman movies from the 90s where we say "oh this movie's villains are going to be such-and-such." It's not about that. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are about Bruce/Batman growing as a character. Harvey Dent--and his subsequent transformation into Two-Face--is an important part of Batman's history.

This happened last year.

But the story isn't over. It'll never be over as long as retro-MM games are viable, and I think that when MM9 comes out, we'll see that they're viable. In other words, it shouldn't be over. Don't give me closure because then you're painting yourself into a corner. If Mega Man 9 ended with Mega Man's death and Light building X, where does that leave us? It leaves us without Mega Man 10. I don't want to live in a world where Mega Man 10 is an impossibility.

You missed my point. It's not important to show how they're connected. All that's really needed is to say: "Light built X and put him in the capsule." "Zero sealed himself away after the Elf Wars and was found by Ciel." "Zero, X, and the Four Generals became Biometals, along with Weil, who became a bad Biometal." You don't really need all the details. The only people who really care about that stuff are the obsessive fans who over-analyze every piece of Mega Man story they can get their hands on like it's James Joyce or something. It's not an epic; it's not Lord of the Rings or Star Wars; it's a video game series about robots that shoot little robots that wear hardhats. Little robots that are hardhats. Don't get me wrong; I like a little context in my platformers too, but ultimately stuff like how Classic and X link up isn't really important. I honestly hope they never tie it up and just keep making retro Mega Man games for console-download-stores. Give me a new one every year. I'll take Mega Man over Madden any day.

Yeah but see, that's what Mega Man 9 is about, in my view. It's gonna show the younger generation that you don't necessarily need amazing dialogue and deep stories to have a great game. There's a big movement these days in getting back to simplicity in gaming; you see it in the indie market, and the (and I hate this term) "casual" market. What's old is new, and I think that with the advent of Mega Man 9--and digital distribution on consoles--we're going to see more and more "old-school" stuff.

Great. I want you to understand that I'm not trying to tear you down. The world needs more 3rd Strike mixes; it's one of my favorite games and favorite soundtracks.

I use FLStudio, for the record. And nobody said anything about a battle either. My point is that you don't have to sacrifice your laid-back approach by changing the lead. You can have a lead that is gentle and soft but still have presence. This lead is playing the melody mid/low-range, so it bleeds together with your bassline and pads. It's very middle-heavy sound that comes off as weak, partly due to some of the quicker fading releases in the sequencing. You can try bringing the lead up an octave, adding some portamento or some quick modulation to give it a little flavor. Make it interesting. It's not interesting. It doesn't have to be harsh, distorted, or loud, but it's the lead; it needs to be interesting.

Why would you want that? You don't want Mega Man 10? The series don't need to be bridged because despite what the fandom believes, the story in Mega Man games is only there to contextualize the game and is peripheral to what's really important: the game itself. These aren't RPGs and Capcom isn't really trying to tell a grand epic. Why do you think everything is so convoluted and inconsistent? They make it up as they go to give the game a framework. That's it. Mega Man is Mega Man, X is X, Zero is Zero, ZX is ZX, and Legends is Legends. They take place in different time periods. We don't need games to tell us "what happened" between them because ultimately it's not all that important.

I split this out of the CTDS thread. Let's not go off on tangents in threads guys.

Time signatures have nothing to do with intonation. I think you're using the term incorrectly. They also have nothing to do with any of the criticism in this mix because I'm pretty sure this mix is in 4/4 time. Just thought I'd throw that out there. As for the lead lacking "punch," it's not a philosophical criticism about what it represents in relation to Chunli or your conceptual approach; the lead sucks because it has very little presence or definition. Weak attack, thin sound, etc. It gets lost in the soundscape. I'm talking about it on a technical level. And yes, I listen to a lot of Indian music; my parents are Indian and my dad has quite a collection. Regardless of how Reason's synth behaves by default, the sitar in this mix is out of tune, because you haven't taken the rest of the song into any kind of ragga mode. Your mix is in a traditional Western minor key and the scooping and pitch bends (i.e the "twang") don't work because the notes don't always lock in and settle diatonically, even though the melody you're playingis a regular old minor key melody. I highly doubt you're intentionally delving into rearranging the melody with semi-tones and quarter-tones.