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Fantastic texture and evolution throughout; there's not much to the source, but you guys managed to take what was there and bring something solid to the table. I'm not so crazy about the reverb on the percussion, but perhaps that's just a characteristic of the genre that I'm not familiar with. That guitar rocks out. YES

I like it. The opening is very emotive and delicate, and it's all played so well. YES, but let's get a new render so that the ending sample doesn't cut out.

I felt like this could have been stronger with better samples, but you made good use of what you had. Malcos was right; this mix feels like one cohesive piece, and you did a good job of avoiding medly-itis. Nice variation throughout and excellent percussion. YES

Is Retro Sonic really coming out, finally? I've been waiting for a new release for AGES. I know that Taxman has been working on it an completely rewrote it in C++, but it's still been a long time since he updated anything at all related to the project.

Snape killed Vertexguy.

Thanks. Gotta agree with Larry on this one. Sounds a lot like an upgrade, and the soundscape feels sparse and lofi. The percussion particularly sounds like it's stuck in a small room; it doesn't integrate well with the rest of the synth-laden mix. I realize you're going for that synth-rock sound, but it comes off sounding weak. There is a nice groove to the track, with good part-writing though. It's not like a rip or anything. Still, NO for now.

That bit at 1:42 is gratuitous and pointless. In no way at all does it even attempt to interpret the source tune. Now, I'm not saying that every single part of a remix should be OMG SOURCE, but still, it's a boring, repetitive, atonal synth "breakdown" that accomplishes nothing but making the song a little longer than four minutes. The actual Bubble Bobble theme here is pretty much the original. And then you've got standard, generic, four-on-the-floor beats underneath. The synths are, as Larry stated, vanilla. That detuned saw lead in particular is way too messy; reminds me of my own meager attempts at synth design (see: twinkle park classic). What you need to do is break the song down into its most basic components: the melody and the chord progression. Then, start writing your parts from there. Think about how you can fill in spaces with a counter melody or a percussive fill, think about writing something more than just a standard octave jumping bassline. It's okay to be inspired by certain artists and to try and emulate their ideas, but don't forget that YOU are arranging the song, and that YOU have to bring something of YOURSELF into it. NO

What do I use to listen to the source?

I don't think the final minute of actual straightforward choral arrangement helps a piece that that essentially samples originals. The opening part is the rising sun theme from Ocarina of Time. I'm not sure about actual sampling in this case, but it doesn't really matter, as it's note-for-note verbatim. The next minute or so obviously samples SFX and music from the NES game; the opening choir underneath all that is right out of the Twilight Princess title theme. I know because when I played the game for the first time I distinctly recall the choirs sucking ass and wishing Kondo had gotten his wish to use real a orchestra and choir for the game's music. The bit with the the irish whistle is right out of the credits theme from Wind Waker. The sample is easily recognizable, as it has that fakey air-flubbed attack. The ending choir is probably all new, but I don't think it really matters. This song samples way too much to jive with OCR's standards of arrangement. It's a remix, not a ReMix. NO

The intro is so great, but the texture of the song falls apart when the electronic stuff comes in. Those beats sound TERRIBLE. They're dry, loud, and don't feel like they're inside the song; the percussion sounds like it's another piece entirely that happens to match up in terms of tempo. Voice work is fine, but the echo is cheesy. Everything else sounds empty; the sounds are generic and there's not enough interplay between instruments for this arrangement to really work. Tons of default FL sounds in here that are immediately recognizable; if you're gonna use defaults, you have to really be creative with how you process them. Also, you rendered your song to loop; it sounds horrible at the end there; cuts right off. This needs way more in terms of creative sound design and part-writing. NO

Yes well, as some people may have noticed, I've shown up again in the Judges' Decisions forum. Many of you probably don't know this, but I didn't leave the panel at the beginning of the year for entirely the same reasons I quit being a moderator. At the beginning of last year, 2006, I graduated from college with a BS in Electronics Engineering. I did a job hunt for a while and eventually ended up taking a job as an instrument and controls technician at a nuclear power plant that summer. The job ended up being a big disconnect from the different kinds of things I'd done in school and was eating up a lot of my time in terms of commute and shift work (I did 12 hour night-shifts 7 days a week for the entire month of October). That, coupled with some personal issues with some very important people in my life, was putting a lot of stress on me, and causing a great deal of frustration, both personally and professionally. I'd been "out of it" for a while, and I'd felt like the quality of my judging was taking a hit. That wasn't fair to the artists being judged; if I wasn't confident in my own decisions, was I qualified to make them? When the proverbial shit hit the fan in January, I'd had just about enough of all the bullshit I'd had to put up with as a mod; the last thing I needed in my life was more stress. OCR was supposed to be something I enjoyed, not something to get pissed off over. So when I quit being a mod, I'd decided it was a good opportunity to make a complete break from the site. Things have been getting better. I recently changed jobs; I work as an engineer at a laser diode company, which is very rewarding and exciting. Personal stuff has taken a turn for the better as well. Larry asked me a few nights ago on IRC if I'd be interested in helping out a bit, as there's a big backlog in the queue. I said I'd think about it; last night I let him know that I'd be willing to hop back on to help out. Being "away" from the site has been very beneficial. When you're a judge and a mod, you tend to view everything in a much more critical light. Taking a long break from that helps to refocus a little. As far as things stand now, my time on the panel is temporary, but for an indefinite amount of time; I don't know if I want to make OCR into a big priority for me again. But for the time being, it's good to be back.

Such a fitting title; you really nailed the concept, I think. The problem is that I think this piece is just too short. You've got a lot of slow, sustained sections, but I think you could really go places with some quicker, moving lines. Some runs that play on the melody could really work; some kind of softer/lighter section that doesn't have the stateliness of the rest of the piece. This comes off sounding a lot like a first movement to a larger piece. I'd like to see more exploration of the theme. Hopefully you can do it. NO for now, but keep at it.

I disagree, I think that the sequencing is good enough. I'm not too crazy about the guitar either though; it lacks some personality, and I do take some issue with the levels in the percussion; the snare can be a bit prominent at times, moreso than necessary. Great arrangement though. I really like what you've done with the original. Develops well and overall it has a nice texture going on. NO (PLEASE RESUB)

Those canned beats are really killing this track. There's no balance. Did you learn nothing from Mr. Miyagi?! WHOLE LIFE MUST HAVE BALANCE. Seriously, the beats are way too loud and the rest of the song is way too similar to the original. You gotta actually arrange the piece and make it more than just the song with some beats. Anyway, I'm giving this a NO, but I hope your friend liked the song and had a happy birthday.

You used the "shutting down" transition twice. Lazy. You've got a lot of ideas here, but they're all severely underdeveloped. It sounds more like stuff you jotted down in a notebook to try and make sense of later. HAHA get it because in Hotel Dusk you have a notebook yeah nevermind Now is not the time for a pretentious metaphor. Let's see some real development! Don't just fade out and go to the next idea. Integrate your ideas, transition from one to the other. This is one song, not seven. NO, but keep at it

I really like the tribal atmosphere in the beginning, and the evolution into the heavier electronic stuff works really nicely. This mix has a really cohesive feel to it, especially when you mix that tribal sound with the electronic stuff. Blah. Don't like that pan-flute lead; I've got a better one, contact me and I'll give it to you for future works! Whatever, it's not a dealbreaker. YES LETS POSTING REMIX

I realize I'm late to the party on this one, but I've got to say, this is one bitchin' track. I love the beats, I love the synths, I love the voices, I love everything about how it sounds The issue here is that, while I love this track, I have to agree with Zircon's analysis. The point about the melody just being notes in the same mode is a good one. I had a hard time even finding Requiem of Spirit in here. This "feels" like Spirit Temple, and it may have been inspired by Spirit Temple and based on Spirit Temple, but I certainly believe that it's turned into its own beast. Such a shame too. Leah, I really hope you don't get discouraged by the way things have turned out. This track is really awesome, and indicative of some real talent. Hopefully you'll submit more in the future, and if you don't, I'll be watching out for mixes of yours anyway. NO

There are timing issue galore in this piece. I really feel like this could be a groovy track, but every time I try to follow the beat, it's a few milliseconds off and messes up the flow. It needs some quantization to help out on that end. Sound design is fairly boring; I'd like to hear some more effects and some processing in this piece; it would really help. The arrangement isn't bad at all; it's got some nice development going on, but I think you need to take some more stylistic risks. It sounds an awful like an upgrade of the original; a good one, but an upgrade nonetheless. Make it more. NO, but keep at it

Some folks probably already know about this but, Pixel, the author of Cave Story, made a fun little top-down vertical scrolling shmup called Guxt. http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA022293/ Also, there's a soundtrack available for download, with it's own player. It's a small soundtrack, but it's got some nice old-school tunes. Check it out. http://homepage2.nifty.com/rochet/storage/pxstg_bgm_061118.zip Enjoy.

OCR-tan Story, anyone?

OFFICIAL'D http://www.ocremix.org/info/Groups Come on people, help out! D:

Just addressing your specific examples: That S&K song the race results song from Sonic 3. Mother 2 song in Gameboy Camera? It'd be Mother 2 remix, obviously! Browsers aren't games, period. Nothing ambiguous about that. Electroplankton doesn't have music. It's a game that lets you make music. I do agree, however, that the Mii Channel could be a game. My older sister and her friends once "played it" for three hours, just having fun making likenesses of people. I know many other people are the same way. The Mario Paint analogy is a good one., and like KWarp said, it's like a doll-maker game.

I started using ma.gnolia, a social bookmarking site. I'd been using del.icio.us for a while, but I found ma.gnolia had a lot of options I liked, particularly rating bookmarks and groups. I made a group for OCR: http://ma.gnolia.com/groups/ocremix Hardly anything added yet, as I'm at work and can't spend too much time on it, but I figure it'd be nice for a public link repository. Throw sample links, game music links, and other stuff up there.

Let's get some sprites going here, people! Also: we got OCRv2-tan yet?

No, and no. This is a video game remix site and it'd dedicated to honoring music from video games, not from derivative media.