Xaleph

I'd love to join this project, Tetris Attack is a childhood favorite of mine.  I'd happily start with Bumpity or Garganta Blargg if they're available, but will gladly take any other track that's up for grabs.

Tetris Attack Album

This was a great game I played with my wife when we first got married nearly 20 years ago.  The original album project was set up at that time and I had accepted 3 songs.  The original thread is still around and there was plenty of interest at that time.  The songs I worked on I did a lot of it when I was sent to Louisiana for Hurricane Katrina relief (I built/maintained the supporting software for various gov't agencies, like power, rebuilding roofs, etc).  It was here that I had a lot of time (no internet, very little power except through the RV as there were no hotels) and being alone at night I just wrote music (3 songs).  In any case, I loved these songs and I wanted to put them towards the album - it was abandoned so I decided to start a new one.  I'm looking for people interested and will ask to move this to the album thread if I get enough interest.
I'm also thinking of possibly doing more puzzle game albums depending on how this one turns out.
I plan on programming the website - though I may recruit some highschoolers/college students (friend's kids) looking for experience to add to their resume.
Positions Recruiting:
Remixers / Musicians Art Rules:
Each song has a core instrument/style of play to represent the character and its critical/panic.
It is encouraged to use this instrument in creative ways throughout the piece (or versions of it).  For example, a prepared piano or different types of pianos within the piece. The instrument needs to be a main part of the song in some way shape or form as it is to be highlighted.  If the song is "bass", just having a bass isn't enough - it needs to be celebrated. What is an example of critical/panic vs normal?
Raphael the Raven (Lunar) stage and the panic/critical stage would both be a violin.  The normal stage would be playful violin but the panic/critical would be a horror violin style.
The actual genre of music could be anything as long as the normal stage has a positive vibe and the panic stage has an aggressive/panicked vibe.
Panic can just be fast or a fast paced song/style/genre.  It doesn't mean over the top aggressive. How do I know what instrument is to be highlighted?
I'll clearly add a list of each instrument corresponding to each character/stage below - though this is currently in progress.
What if I want to highlight a different instrument?
If both Normal and Panic stages are not taken, you can request a certain instrument to be featured (if we think it's a good fit, we'll change it).
 
Contacts:
Directors: Xaleph, Zack Parrish
 
Sources:
https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/tetris-attack
https://www.zophar.net/music/nintendo-snes-spc/tetris-attack
 
Track List:
Available (14)
Not Started (6)
In Progress (4)
In Progress > 80% final touches  (0)
Ready to Master (1) 
Total: 24
[instrument featured]
Demo / Lip’s Stage [Drum Kit]
- Normal Stage Mel Decision
- Critical Stage
Yoshi Stage
- Normal Stage Geoffrey Taucer
- Critical Stage
Breeze Stage 1 (Lakitu) (Windy) [Voice]
- Normal Stage Souperion
- Critical Stage Cyril
Glacial Stage 2 (Bumpty) (Sherbert) [Trumpet / other high brass]
- Normal Stage Wassup Thunder (80%)
- Critical Stage
Forest Stage 3 (Poochy) (Thiana) [Acoustic Guitar]
- Normal Stage The Vodoú Queen (Acoustic/Slap Bass)
- Critical StageThe Vodoú Queen & Xaleph (5%)
Flower Stage 4 (Flying Wiggler) (Ruby) [Flute]
- Normal Stage
- Critical Stage
Water Stage 5 (Froggy) (Elias) [Piano]
- Normal Stage Emunator (90%)
- Critical Stage Xaleph (75%)
Blaze Stage 6 (Gargantua Blargg) (Flare) [Bass]
- Normal Stage
- Critical Stage Moebius 
Sea Stage 7 (Lunge Fish) (Naris) [Mallet? Dulcimer? Clav? Rhodes? Pads? - unsure]
- Normal Stage Thirdkoopa
- Critical Stage Xaleph (75%)
Lunar Stage 8 (Raphael the Raven) (Seren/Selene) [Violin]
- Normal Stage
- Critical Stage Xaleph and pointblanket (done)
Boss Stage (Hookbill the Koopa, Naval Piranha & Kamek) [Cello]
- Normal Stage Zack Parrish
- Critical Stage
Bowser's Stage (Bowser) [Low Brass]
- Normal Stage
- Critical Stage
Other songs are optional though I recommend you check out Encounter with Bowser as it's pretty awesome.

Women's World Cup Compo 2023
https://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/ARHC4
Start date  July 24, 2023
End date  August 10, 2023
Vote by  August 15, 2023
 

It's the women's world cup! We're excited to host the world cup 2023 compo event! The source is pretty simple - soccer video games or animated films. The theme must follow one of the three themes:
Practice (if you've ever watched professionals practice, many times they have some high-energy theme music for practicing) In-game (in a game - it's tense, so the music here is intense theme music) Victory (when you win there must be some kind of victory theme no?) When you submit - make sure you explain what theme(s) you used and how it applies to soccer (or the women's world cup 2023)!
 
The rules for the compo are simple:
No plagiarism Songs should fit the theme of the event (as described in the competition) Songs should be based on a video game or animated film soundtrack that originated in that film/vg. Songs should be based on content that is age appropriate (avoid adult movies) Songs will need to be uploaded on Thasauce (https://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/ARHC4) in order to get votes @starla provided an example of an in-game "intense" theme:
 
AnimeNewsNetwork has a good article on animes to watch for the world cup:
https://www.awn.com/news/crunchyroll-celebrates-world-cup-soccer-themed-anime-lineup
 

I'm interested! Still deciding between Hookbill and Bumpty.

i will listen to the OST again.
zero promises though. my track record after signing up for a project is horrible.

i personally think the tetris attack music is very serviceable if a tad forgettable...
the sped up tracks at critical points always did the trick for sure. but the themes by themselves? just very serviceable, but not much more if you ask me.
idk, could still result in a fun album if you thematize the whole tetris attack energy correctly.
because lemme say....
 
 
tetris attack is like maybe the best fucking 1on1 game ever. it literally has time bending properties once you really get into it. normal tetris is fucking BS in comparison.
(i never got good at normal vs. tetris, but i really understood the magick of tetris attack/panel de pon. it's like a mathematically psychedelic experience, because no joke, when you're in full flow mode you experience a real bending of time. this is a legit psychedelic game.)
(also to my shame, i tried it again on my handheld emu a few months back, and i couldn't even beat it on hard vs. CPU. while i was regularily practicing against roomies 15 years ago, the super hard hidden CPU mode wasn't a problem. i wanna play this again, but i got no ready opponents.)
(tetris attack should be offered in every nursing home. if you can beat the CPU on hard at age 70, you won't get alzheimer's. just my opinion.)
 
 

Categories - This was my idea. I wanted the album to be different than previous large-scale albums which seemed to just follow 'whatever works in whatever order' sort of direction. I wanted a more cohesive flow that was separated by disc. Something you can't get on a single or perhaps a two-disc album, in terms of variety. With 4 discs (not counting the bonus) to work with, there was plenty of room to arrange tracks to best fit together and flow smoothly for a cohesive listening experience. I feel every album should have a focused theme or goal in mind before starting instead of just: "we'll take whatever is submitted." Some may not agree with me, but I can think of several awesome orchestral-only, metal-only, rock-only, dance edm-only albums which have had STRONG outings because of these realized visions. So I'm very happy you enjoyed how it came out, even if the initial impression wasn't favorable! ❤️ I just now need to convince everyone for the Star Fox album the new vision there too. haha....
Listening Party - Also another idea I pushed months in advance. OC ReMix had never done these sorts of things before for any of its albums and I was inspired by the one done for a Final Fantasy IX album (not done by OCR) whose name escapes me. I was like: That's an awesome idea. So, I took it upon myself to create all the videos and push the agenda in making the party happen. Unfortunately, we had settled on a hard release date of 5/8/2023 and we were crunching to make that deadline. So, we couldn't advertise the premiere party launch until almost the last minute, because we weren't sure if we were going to make 5/8/2023 and we needed the final assurances of DJPretzel and Liontamer before we could announce the listening party or if we needed to push it back. Despite this, it was a successful premiere and everyone enjoyed themselves! Maybe next time we'll have more!
Collaborations - Another thing I strongly pushed for. I promoted it up front as people were claiming tracks to collab with each other. We even made it a point to make a separate role on the collaboration server for collab-only contributors. So you could easily identify and reach out to those who could do live instruments you were seeking. It was a fantastic mix of talent that if I go on to direct the Star Fox album, I'm going to continue to push for collaborations among musicians/artists. For example: So what if most of the 'theming' might be too fast-paced or rock/metal based for some remixers to participate, doesn't mean you can't collaborate and add in your own flair to it. I can see it now: Metal Star Wolf with some Oud mixed in for good measure (as a weird example, but hey! Anything can happen with creativity!)! So, I'm happy to hear this struck a lovely chord with you.
 
Thank you so much for these comments and I hope you enjoy the album many times over! We're all very proud of it!

Amazing job everyone.
Quick POSITIVE feedback.
Categories - initially (when I first read the project announcement years ago), I wasn't sure how much I liked the Calm | Crazy | Goofy categories but I thought it was unique and interesting but it felt like a gimmick. I now stand corrected, it adds so much to the album and I really really love these categories.  Seeing how each genre fits perfectly in the category interpretation... it's BRILLIANT and I really hope to see this concept used again in future albums.
 
Listening Party - I know it's kind of a new thing we were playing with but it's definitely the way to go.  Not sure how to best market it but it definitely built up the hype.  Great decision here.
 
Collaborations - the amount of collaborations (as was mentioned by @Liontamer and others last night) is truly amazing.  It further improves the community and honestly makes the quality of the songs fantastic.
 
In no way am I criticizing previous albums (which I'm an artist in many) when I say that this album is easily a 10/10
This is particularly impressive given the number of songs on the album.
 
Again, great job everyone!

Amazing job everyone.
Quick POSITIVE feedback.
Categories - initially (when I first read the project announcement years ago), I wasn't sure how much I liked the Calm | Crazy | Goofy categories but I thought it was unique and interesting but it felt like a gimmick. I now stand corrected, it adds so much to the album and I really really love these categories.  Seeing how each genre fits perfectly in the category interpretation... it's BRILLIANT and I really hope to see this concept used again in future albums.
 
Listening Party - I know it's kind of a new thing we were playing with but it's definitely the way to go.  Not sure how to best market it but it definitely built up the hype.  Great decision here.
 
Collaborations - the amount of collaborations (as was mentioned by @Liontamer and others last night) is truly amazing.  It further improves the community and honestly makes the quality of the songs fantastic.
 
In no way am I criticizing previous albums (which I'm an artist in many) when I say that this album is easily a 10/10
This is particularly impressive given the number of songs on the album.
 
Again, great job everyone!

@Subz1987 Actually, @Liontamer found out what the real issue is - special characters in filenames that aren't encoded right, which are causing issues on Apple devices. We will be updating the zip shortly to address this.
UPDATE: zip files on all three mirrors updated with filenames that should no longer causes issues on Apple, etc. devices!

Amazing job everyone.
Quick POSITIVE feedback.
Categories - initially (when I first read the project announcement years ago), I wasn't sure how much I liked the Calm | Crazy | Goofy categories but I thought it was unique and interesting but it felt like a gimmick. I now stand corrected, it adds so much to the album and I really really love these categories.  Seeing how each genre fits perfectly in the category interpretation... it's BRILLIANT and I really hope to see this concept used again in future albums.
 
Listening Party - I know it's kind of a new thing we were playing with but it's definitely the way to go.  Not sure how to best market it but it definitely built up the hype.  Great decision here.
 
Collaborations - the amount of collaborations (as was mentioned by @Liontamer and others last night) is truly amazing.  It further improves the community and honestly makes the quality of the songs fantastic.
 
In no way am I criticizing previous albums (which I'm an artist in many) when I say that this album is easily a 10/10
This is particularly impressive given the number of songs on the album.
 
Again, great job everyone!

Preview Final Fantasy VIII: SeeDs of Pandora: https://youtu.be/WVx6a1JHaDk Download Final Fantasy VIII: SeeDs of Pandora: https://ff8.ocremix.org Torrent: https://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Final_Fantasy_VIII_-_SeeDs_of_Pandora.torrent To talk about SeeDs of Pandora, I feel I should start with Secret of Mana. It was my first RPG that I have ever played and it sparked the flame to play more in this genre. It ultimately led me to playing Final Fantasy VI (III at the time) for the SNES. I was hooked on the RPG genre and I wanted more Final Fantasy. Sadly, Sony had moved on from Nintendo at this point and all the cool new games, VII, VIII, IX, and more, were released on PlayStation systems - systems I was too young to have money for with parents who weren't willing to shell out more for additional consoles. So it would be near a decade before I had a chance to play Final Fantasy again and this time it was on the PC with the PC ports of Final Fantasy VII and VIII (strangely, IX never got one). And of course, my first Final Fantasy played was VIII. Coming back to the series after being gone from it for so long was like coming home and Final Fantasy VIII just seemed to be this perfect welcoming party of a game for me. I loved its characters, its world, and its music - the battle/junction system and card game would grow on me later.
Fast-forward to now and I was given the opportunity to direct a defunct FFVIII OC ReMix album project. It was attempted once, but for reasons, it fell through. I was offered, due to my experience in directing Arcadia Legends and Mizar Attacks!, the chance to direct and revive this album - being the last Final Fantasy of the PlayStation era not to have an OC ReMix album. Directing an album isn't easy, especially one of this magnitude that could easily reach 40 tracks or more. I mean, it took us 3 years to finish Arcadia Legends and that was 36 tracks! Enter Jorito, my co-director and essentially my lifeline throughout this entire process. If it weren't for him, I highly doubt this project would have gotten off the ground, let alone finished in record time. It was his insistence and push to give the entire album a year's timeline to complete all claimed tracks - a decision that paid off well and gave incentive to remixers to strive to complete their claims in record time! Jorito is just as much a director as I was on this project and is truly the star MVP of the album.
Despite having a solid directing team and the backing of OC ReMix to revive this project as an official album straight out of the starting gate, we still needed a solid vision for the project. We could have gone the traditional route and just do a chronological ordering of tracks from the beginning of the game to the end and let remixers decide what theming and genre is best for their claimed tracks - or we could go a more unique route and create special, themed groupings of tracks. Taking inspiration from the Spectrum of Mana album, directed by Nate Horsfall, I divided up FFVIII's soundtrack into three distinct styles:
CALM - Chill and slow remixes that had a cultural bent either via arrangement or unique instrument use that gave visions of a specific culture.
CRAZY - Toe-tapping, floor-thumping, heart-pounding beats and fast, frenetic energy in remix form.
GOOFY - Songs that are remixed in ways you would not expect, for example taking a waltz and making it death metal. Constantly surprise the listener and betray their expectations.
With the vision set, we recruited far and wide for remixers and artists. The unique flavoring of the three discs drew interested creatives to the project and helped nurture fantastic remixes and artwork. It was around this time, as musicians flooded in to claim tracks, that we might have more finished tracks by the end than the planned three discs could handle and thus the further theming of the album began to revolve around the three Gardens in the game: Balamb, Galbadia, and Trabia. However, the need for that fourth disc loomed and the only other option left which made the most sense was the Lunatic Pandora (or the Pandora) disc. With these themes locked in, the artists went to work straight away and created some fantastic pieces that matched the original vision. With the help of Jorito, it was an amazingly smooth experience and we managed to get a complete album finished in just over a year's time with a whopping 69 tracks!
But wait, there's more! In the 11th hour, weeks before we were to submit the album to OC ReMix, ZackParrish, among others, spearheaded a crazy last-minute bonus disc with 11 more tracks (get it, 11th hour?!) to cover any last, remaining songs on the OST the core album couldn't. It was a fun, insane rush to the finish line and with a final tally of 80 tracks in total, we have officially broken the record as of 2023 as being the biggest album ever produced out of OC ReMix! We are kings (and queens)! Kudos to all the talented people who helped make this album a reality! It was a joy working on this and seeing it come together.
Finally, one final note to you, the listener: If you are expecting these remixes to adhere close to their original inspirations or to have faithful adaptations of well-known and beloved tracks, then this album might not be for you. The intent with this album was to embrace the remix aspect of OC ReMix fully and to interpret the original melodies in ways you might not have heard before. Our goal is to provide something new and transformative with these songs. So go in with an open mind and know that this listening experience was carefully crafted to take you on a journey (I should know! I ordered the tracks specifically to flow in a way that felt natural). We hope you enjoy this album and may it always rekindle your fond memories of your time playing Final Fantasy VIII.
From the SeeDs of Pandora team to you: Happy listening!
- Darkflamewolf
I've been hooked on JRPGs and Final Fantasy in particular since discovering SNES emulators back in the late 90s, and that hasn't changed since. The very first console I owned was the original PlayStation (PSX), and the starter game I bought with it was Final Fantasy 7. And of course two years later I also made sure to get myself a copy of Final Fantasy 8. To this day I still distinctly remember the "WTF is going on" near the end of the game and, whatever the story was trying to tell me, it flew right over my head.
Fast-forward about fifteen years, and I got into VGM remixing and became an active member of the OC ReMix community. So when an album project got started to remix the Final Fantasy 8 music, I of course had to join and make a track for it. Unfortunately that album initiative got stranded early on in the process, something that always left me feeling a bit sad. At the time I was just wrapping up the OCR Secret of Mana album and was in need of a break, but I always kept the FF8 album in mind to potentially pick up as a (co-)director later. Given the sheer size of the OST I didn't want to do it alone though. So the idea got shelved for a few years.
That is, until Darkflamewolf randomly brought up the comatose FF8 album on the OC ReMix Discord in August 2021. We started talking about the album, djpretzel pointed out that I had expressed interest in helping out a few years before, and after a few chats we decided to team up and rejuvenate the Final Fantasy 8 album and make sure that the only missing OCR Final Fantasy PSX game album got the tribute it deserved. I did have one specific aim though: I wanted to get it done in about a year, because I know how much work these album projects can be and how hard it can be to keep people motivated long enough to create and deliver their tracks. All set and done, we outlined a rough planning, Darkflamewolf sketched out a compelling vision and tracklist suggestion for each disc and came up with a title, I started recruiting far and wide (apparently being in the VGM community for a while and doing lots of collaborations is a good way to build a network), and we were off to the races.
And boy, what a journey it was! We managed to interest a lot of people from the VGM community, with a good mix of OC ReMix veterans, people from other communities, and newcomers. We created a Discord server for the album to help coordinate things (not a small feat with I think in total some 70+ people), many fun conversations were had there, and the setup overall led to a positive, supportive environment that made the whole experience very enjoyable. And of course I would be amiss if I didn't mention the collaboration with Darkflamewolf; we worked really well together as a directing team, each of us with their own areas of expertise and roles yet always united to get the album done and cheering all the artists that joined us on this journey. All in all it was a very smooth experience, and I think all everyone involved should be very proud of what we've achieved together.
I hope all the fun and joy we had while creating this album for you shines through, and that you, dear listener, enjoy this fresh new take on the music of Final Fantasy 8 as much as we enjoyed making it.
- Jorrith Schaap (Jorito)

Always like a great trance track that keeps focused and varies things up as the mix goes on, and the added sfx and voice clips were good choices for the dream theme. The end section was awesome as well with the almost ethereal voice and piano. This is fantastic!

If nobody has pirates ahoy I’ll take it.  My son started a mix of it, I’ll finish it with him.

Tetris Attack Project Post
 
I put together some teasers as I do want to release some of these on OCR once I'm done with them.
Lunar Panic Sea Panic Water Panic  
If someone wants to lead the tetris attack project - I'd be willing to finish these up and maybe do another one or two.  I have fond memories of the game as I played a ton with my wife when she was pregnant / young mother with my two kids (who are now grown up).  I started these songs when I was deployed to help out with the Hurricane Katrina relief (I worked the power software used to restore energy - and we did it really fast, worked through the night to get schools/hospitals restored).
Needless to say - they're super old and would need rework to have better samples/structure/etc and I'd probably rewrite most of them (as I layout below).
 
Lunar Panic Plans:
Most of my better remixes are usually darker and fast, which is why I chose the panics (though Sea and Water I find to be more relaxing).  Here is an example of a recently completed mix (which is where Lunar is likely to go):
 
Sea and Water Panic Plans:
I was planning on doing something a little lighter - I'm not really sure where I was going to go with some of them (One of them I 3 minutes of work, but I'd probably re-do it).  Tempted to do Lo-Fi or do a Armin van Buuren style techno - or something like The Last Firefly:
 
 

If you already own a certain DAW which runs smooth and stable and to which you are used to for several years, I'd stick with it.

If you manage to get more into your DAW, figure out all the functions by studying your manual and trying out a lot of things, you might be able to compose, arrange, mix and master great soundtracks with nearly any DAW on the market out there.
The last thing I would do is changing your DAW regularly after a few years just because of some brand-new features by other DAW developers.

There are some general features you may have in all DAWs, and there are often some unique features in several DAWs.
But you can also see that some those unique features tend to become general DAW features over the years.

And you don't have to go for every upgrade of your DAW if you don't like or need the new content - I'm sure there will also be coming upgrades and developments of your DAW you will like again.
If not - don't hesitate to write your DAW developers about the new things you like, you don't like and things you want to see improved (I also do it sometimes).

I wouldn't go for 365 days or monthly offers from DAW companies because you are always kinda forced to get the newest content, the newest operating system and the newest hardware (if necessary).
And I don't always want to set up a new PC with a new operating system after just a few years.
If you don't mind to live several years in the technological past and rather making huge jumps after 10 to 15 years, you won't miss too much. But you can save lots of time, money and nerves.
And in case of being a Windows user, you will have a lot more information of the private customer "Windows test subjects" who have made their early experiences with the latest program versions.

...

But back to the DAW topic...

So, if you already own Reason and you are used to it, stick with it.
If you have questions on this DAW software, you could also ask the composer Thomas Mende.
He works with Reason and he also composes some really good electronic video game remixes with this DAW made by the Swedish developers Propellerhead/Reason Studios:
 

If you own Cubase and you are already used to it, stick with it.
This famous DAW software was originally developed by Steinberg, a German developer which is in the hands of the well-known Japanese Yamaha corporation since around 2004.
And these Japanese companies - especially Yamaha - develop lots of highly sophisticated technological products for musical purposes and they aim to improve their results continuously with their (for the Japanese society pretty famous) Kaizen concept over time.

Even if you own FL Studio (Fruity Loops in the past - a DAW I really don't like because of the less intuitive access to the main functions) and you are already used to it, stick with it.
When I tried this DAW for the first time without any manual, I really hated this DAW because of the kinda annoying pattern system and because I couldn't even manage to create a single empty MIDI object for hours.
But if I remember correctly, even famous video game music composers like Zircon work with FL studio - and they compose outstanding soundtracks with this DAW in combination with some further 3rd-party VSTis, synths and VST plugins.

...

But if you are a newcomer and still not bound to any DAW, you might have also a closer look a Samplitude Pro X Suite (definitely the Pro X Suite version because of the hugely enhanced content).

For me, it was a really close race between Cubase and Samplitude back then - but in the end, Samplitude won my heart because of the really intuitive access to the main functions, the complexity and really huge content of the DAW (which you can use for quite every common music genre), the clarity and flexibilty of the interface and the really stylish black Carbon design you can choose in the settings:

There is still a good video of this DAW which shows some of the content and functions of Samplitude Pro X (the first version of the Samplitude Pro X series) from around 10 years ago.
And even back then, it already had an amazing content of high-quality metering devices, VST plugins, VST instruments and synths - even a sophisticated guitar and bass amp was (and still is) part of the enhanced Suite content:
 
 

With the current Pro X7 Suite version, it got even more content.
And I am still fine with Samplitude Pro X4 Suite.

Many years ago, Samplitude Pro X Suite was around 1000 bucks for the first buy.
But over the years, it went down to around 600 bucks, sometimes it's already around 400 bucks and during several special offers during the year it can be around 200 to 300 bucks, while upgrades are around 200 to 250 bucks.

For the case you want to check out the features in detail, have a look at these links:
 
 
https://www.magix.com/int/music/samplitude/pro-x/functions/
https://www.magix.com/int/music/samplitude/pro-x/version-comparison/#c1574623

...

If want to build up your studio environment, really take your time and inform yourself well about the stuff you want to go for before buying it.
Never be in a hurry, because a huge amount of information and experiences can save a lot of money, time and nerves in the long term.
Rather buy a drop of a product after bathing in an ocean of information than the other way around.


I have built my home studio within a time of around 10 years, and aside from my electric guitar of choice, I'd say it was complete around two years ago, hardware-wise.
If you save up some money for 1 or 2 two studio gear elements per year, it might not stress you too much in times of permanent financial crises and geopolitical changes.

If you don't have any studio gear yet, I would buy the stuff in the following order:

1 - a good ergonomic office chair with adjustable headrest (a healthy and upright sitting position is a really good start before composing and mixing for several hours at once)
2 - a good DAW of your choice
3 - professional studio headphones like the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro (with these you can compose and mix in a really accurate way)
4 - professional audio interface (increases your DAW performance and stability - especially when composing bigger tracks)
5 - a good allrounder MIDI keyboard with at least 49 synth action keys (synth action keys should not make any annoying noises compared to some MIDI keyboards with weighted/hammered keys), 8 drum pads, pitch wheel and mod wheel, a good amount of faders, buttons, knobs and editing/programming functions, together with some fitting pedals for your MIDI keyboard
6 - a professional studio microphone with a low noise floor like the Rode NT1 (if you want to use singing voices or instrumental microphone recordings in your musical projects), together with a good and stable microphone stand
7 - professional studio monitor speakers, which harmonize with your room conditions (speakers should rather be a little bit smaller than too big for your room), together with some fitting isolating studio monitor stands
8 - maybe a good compact studio subwoofer to enhance the frequency range of your speakers into the deeper bass range
9 - professional headphone amp (which will drive even high-impedance studio headphones in the best possible way to unleash their full potential)
10 - additional instruments, VST instruments, synths and VST plugins
 

DJ Carbunk1e... i have not been able to find him online ANYWHERE.
i don't see him here, i also heard else where that he changed name.. anyone know ?

OCR (in no particular order): Prophecy, bLiNd, DJ Carbunk1e, FFmusicDJ, Spekkosaurus, Russell Cox, goat, Sir Nuts, SgtRama
non-OCR (also in no particular order): Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Robert Miles, Tiesto, Rammstein, Danny Elfman, Nightwish, Rammstein, Juno Reactor, Master P, Dr. Dre, Journey, Guns n Roses, Enya, Nobuo Uematsus, Koji Kondo, Koichi Sugiyama

My Quest
To grind until my body is level 99. What does level 99 look like? This.
 

 
That's right! I'm going for the Fabio body! Don't try to stop me! Anyway, I'm working on my own workout. I'd rather do an hour of aerobics than 30 minutes of running. Whenever my mix CD gets to Torn Apart by Xaleph, I'm a completely different person. I can boxercise the hell out of anyone for any amount of time to that song. And I'm FAT!
 
3 Things I Want In Exercise Music
1. A tempo good for stepping to. Torn Apart (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01630) and Triforce Majeure (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01184) are about the right tempo.
 
2. Aggression. Torn Apart sounds kinda brutal. Most Xaleph remixes do and that puts me in such a mood. I really liked his FF7 remixes as well.
 
3. A constant techno beat. What I mean is how there's a bass drum hit on every beat. Not a requirement but it helps.
 
Anyone have any suggestions workout music within OCR or without? Thanks!

(ALSO ADDED TO THE ORIGINAL POST)
These resources really helped me when I hadn't done any job hunting in 11 years and was super rusty and out of practice:
https://youtube.com/c/DonGeorgevich - Don Georgevich: Job Interview Tools
https://youtube.com/c/ALifeAfterLayoff - Bryan Creely: A Life After Layoff
What I'd recommend with these two YouTube channels: Just search through the videos for each of these channels for ANY topics that directly interest you the most. It could be about résumé writing, could be about cover letters, it could be about what interviewers are actually looking for when they ask you certain questions, it could be about career changes. There's enough content on both channels that you can just pick and choose what's interesting for you.
So don't feel pressured to "OMG, watch every video", but when you get some breathing room, scan around and dig in.
For all jobs, order the skills/impact bullet points in the order of relevance to the type of job you want, i.e. if you want to manage people, put any managerial experiences first; if you love reviewing contracts and data, list those kind of actions first; if you love solving problems, put the instances of product development, tool creation/metric measurement innovation first or customer service experience. In other words, steer your relevant experience towards what you want going forward, and de-emphasize other stuff.
Include any professional development accolades, e.g. formal trainings, certifications, presentations. If you have anything like that, that’s relevant.
Lists of impactful résumé verbs: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/action-verbs-to-make-your-resume-stand-out
Lists of overused résumé terms: https://www.capstoneresumes.com/remove-25-words-from-resume
Without overhyping yourself or using words you wouldn't normally say when casually speaking, use more of these impact verbs instead of more passive and generic verbs like "provide", "support", “work with”, and “assist”. In other words, stay true to how you communicate, but put yourself in the best possible light with verbs that you like from the big list.
You'll need to add placeholders for numbers you would fill in to help demonstrate impact.
Good résumés convey your IMPACT at your jobs, not just the list of responsibilities.
Your aim is to illustrate:
1) how you left each job better than you found it; and
2) what hard & soft skills you demonstrated to do it.
What specific things did you accomplish? How did you make money or innovate for the company? How did you make things more efficient or effective?
That said:
1) If a number wouldn't be impressive (i.e. typically 10+), then don't include it.
2) NEVER ever overstate a number. Always underestimate while giving your best guess if you don't remember something more specific (e.g. "worked with 300+ customers"). If you overstate, you risk the company contacting an employer and them being told you've embellished/lied.
3) The numbers usually should represent total impact (e.g. if you did customer service at store for 5 years, you should say either a) approximately how many total customers you worked with over the years or b) how many customer, on average, you worked with per year).
8 most requested general skills, in order, according to ZipRecruiter (July 2022) - these are important skill to both say by name (for ATS/computer screenings) and demonstrate by listing related accomplishments:
Communication skills Customer service Scheduling Time management skills Project management Analytical thinking Ability to work independently Flexibility

Adapt your resume to each job you apply for. Study the job description to determine why you are a great fit. Then, add your skills, experience and measurable achievements that are relevant to that position.

The second and third finger don't hold the mouse; they just click the buttons. (sorry, that's piano numbered fingers).  I hold it between my thumb and fourth finger (ring finger).  I think the pinky maybe helps the fourth finger push the mouse a bit.  So do you use your hand to actually hold/move it or your fingers?  Also wow, this is a seven month old thread and still on the first page.  Does everyone Discord now?

I'm running Sennheiser HD 600 for headphones.  I'm looking to get monitors - I appreciate your post Master Mi ?

Maybe it's a little bit late for a helpful reply...

But after searching for a similar topic and reading your comment, I thought of something that would really fit your needs - as I was in a similar situation years ago.

Ever heard of the Yamaha MSP studio monitor series?
They are the flagship of the Yamaha company as far as studio monitors go, and arguably some of the world's best studio monitors you can get right now.
The MSP series is even better (better audio resolution and flatter frequency response) and also a bit more expensive than the Yamaha HS series - here are a few official links from Yamaha to compare the two series:

https://de.yamaha.com/de/products/contents/proaudio/musicianspa/products_studio_monitor.html

https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/speakers/msp_studio_series/index.html
The MSP studio monitors have been hard to get in stores for a few years now (especially the MSP 5 and MSP 7 - more recently the MSP 3) - this may have to do with the MSP series designer retiring (but it appears they are opening a new line of the MSP series, starting with the Yamaha MSP 3A).

The MSP 7 and MSP 5 got a younger brother, the MSP 3, a few years ago (followed by a newer model, the MSP 3A) that would be great for your needs (I own the MSP 3):

https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/speakers/msp3/index.html

https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/speakers/msp3a/index.html

I use the MSP 3 (65 - 22000 Hz) in connection with a small Japanese subwoofer, the Fostex PM-SUBmini 2 (enhances the frequency range in the lower bass section down to 40 Hz and is only turned up just a little with the lowest crossover setting - so, it's really just a very subtl deep bass support for the MSP 3 to have a good impression of a kick drum or the bass right between your feet).

I've placed them on the desk in my living room, which is about 6 meters (length) * 4 meters (width) * 2,50 meters (height) in size.
I don't use any kind of professional acoustic treatment in this room because I really like the cozy, bright and sunlit Mediterranean atmosphere of my living room.
There is only more or less unintentional acoustic treatment like wallpaper on the walls and the ceiling, two thick carpets filling almost the whole floor, a bigger couch and a wall unit on the sides, a standing model of a punching bag in the back corner and some smaller wooden furniture - that's all.

And because I got problems with bigger (and even slightly bass-boosted) 5-inch studio monitors like the Adam T5V flooding my room with nasty bass reflections and making it impossible for me to mix my tracks accurately or even enjoy listening to music, I decided to look for a smaller version of studio monitors.
After this, I got the Presonus Eris E3.5 as kinda useful entry-level reference studio monitor speakers (where I really enjoyed listening to music on a higher quality level without annoying room reflections - though, for accurate mixing they are not optimal because they sound a bit overpolished, so the mixings often sound too good too quickly before they are actually finished).

A few years later, after already owning a professional studio headphone solution, I also wanted to get professional studio monitors in a similar size like the Presonus Eris E3.5.

And after researching for a long time and getting a nice tip from an employee of a music store, I got more and more into the Yamaha MSP series, especially the smaller MSP 3 model.

After ordering a few MSP 3s for a friend, I didn't like them at first because my mixes with them sounded kind of fuzzy and less clean.
But the amazing audio resolution of these studio monitors was some of the best (along with the Neumann studio monitors) I've ever experienced with any type of speaker.

Right after borrowing those studio monitors from that friend and doing a first mix on them, I was impressed how much better the track sounded later on all the studio monitors in the music store and all the other sound systems - even though the MSP 3 still showed me some weaknesses of that mix, the track sounded really fantastic and clean on the other studio monitors compared to my earlier mixes.

And then I kinda fell in love with the MSP 3 and bought them for myself a few years ago.
Since then, I've never wanted other studio monitors.

...
And the good thing is - the MSP 3 (as well as the newer model MSP 3A) are pretty close to your budget.
A pair of them costs around 400 to 500 bucks.
And of course, with the MSP 3 or MSP 3A, you don't have to worry too much about the acoustic treatment of your room.
The design of these speakers is really nice, and the fairly low wattage of about 20 to 30 W per speaker makes them a really energy-efficient and sustainable professional studio and sound engineering tool these days.

If you can't find a dealer near you for the still available Yamaha MSP 3A, maybe try the Thomann online store for professional audio equipment:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_msp3_a.htm


If you want to get an idea of the sound and audio resolution of the Yamaha MSP series, put on some professional studio headphones and check out the links below (there are also some frequency response measurements of the MSP studio monitors in some videos):

MSP 3
--------


MSP 3 vs MSP 3A
-----------------------


MSP 5
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MSP 7
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MSP 7 vs Tannoy Reveal Active MK1 vs Presonus Eris E8
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I hope I could help you or someone else with my information and experience about studio monitors. ))

I first found this place sometime in 2003....so hitting 20 years already....so crazy to think.  But I've never gotten into making music and can't play even one instrument.  But listening to it, and editing videos to the music, thats my thing.
Back in 2003, I was trying to record every game soundtrack into the computer so I could then burn tons of CDs to listen to.  I had to hook a mini DV camera to the game system, record each track in real time, then hook the camera via firewire and record to the computer, also in real time.  It was an extremely time consuming process.  A lot of games have a sound test, so that was used, or at least some place, area or whatever to get a clean recording.  I wanted the original Star Fox soundtrack, but had no way to get it without just playing each level.  I didn't have the internet at that time, but sometime in the summer, I went and visited my parents, from Florida to Idaho, where they lived.  They had the internet, so in trying to find the Star Fox soundtrack, I instead found a Star Fox remix....which was here.  I do not remember which remix, but once I explored the place a bit more, my two week visit was mainly downloading every single remix from the games I already loved....and still on dialup at the time, it was such a SLOW process.....
I think I was actually surprised to find SO many people that also loved video game music.....I really thought I was all alone and maybe just crazy. Way before I recorded in the camera way, I would use a basic tape player/recorder up next to the tv, which was surrounded by pillows.  Hit record, play the track, and after it looped once or twice, turn the volume down on the tv for a fading out effect.  I think the Streets of Rage games were the first I ever did that to....and then the Sonic games.  Good times.