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Rexy

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Posts posted by Rexy

  1. For clarification, the Ottawan Band cameo lasts for 3 seconds.  I consider the minor use of non-game music okay in this context and fine to put this in the queue.  This submission is done by mlho7.
    -Rexy

     

    Hi OCR,
    Long time no remix.
     
    I made a Megaman 2 flashman theme remix and I would like to know your feeling about it.
     
    I was listening to original soundtrack of this game I used to play a lot and I suddently thought, :
    Damn, this theme is so disco, potentially.
    There is something from this Ottawan band in it, D I S C O.
     
    Then I tried my best to prove my thought, I didn't go too far from original arrangement and did that.
     
    Thanks.
     
  2. Hi,

    This is Drew Etterle (SuprMelO). My OCR user ID is 34268. I can be found at http://peribangrecords.com. I've got a couple submissions up with you guys from my band Moiré Effect. This track is a solo effort and I hope you like it. It's a synthwave/outrun style remix of "Black Waltz" from Final Fantasy IX. I've titled it "Neon Black Apocalypse".
     
    I composed this track to participate in the Pixel Mixers community album Beyond the Mist. The whole album is over 7 hours long and can be found here: https://pixel-mixers.com/2019/06/27/final-fantasy-ix-beyond-the-mist-tribute-album/
     
    I don't have a lot to say about this track. I had two weeks scheduled in a Holiday Inn so I brought my laptop, keyboard, and audio interface. The project needed a remix of Black Waltz and I wanted to try my hand at this synthwave/outrun/retro stuff that's really fun now. As I was doing research on Spotify about this genre while driving through Tennessee, the track I kept coming back to was Dystopia Now by Mental Minority. I don't know much about this artist but when I heard this track I knew I wanted to make something like it. I thought a song about a subjugated race of powerful black mages crafted as weapons of war matched the genre pretty well.
     
    Thanks for checking it out,
    Drew
     
  3. Honestly, I see this as a neat genre adaptation.  The performances are tight, the guitar tones both electric and unplugged are expressive, the drum writing never sticks around in one place, and the palette as a whole has this raw garage sound to it.  Yes, this track does have more of a bass presence and not so much on the highs, but I didn't sense any glaring frequency overlaps either and can consider this an intentional alt-rock sound that fits its intended purpose.

    And yes, the arrangement is minimal, but it's just the melody maintained as it is while the bass does its own thing, and the added rhythm guitars/synth work contributes some fun textures that also shake up through the track's duration.  The sustained aesthetic in the second variation felt ominous, the bit-crushed breakdown at 1:23 was out of leftfield, and the half-time drums at 2:17 shaped up an impressive audible climax.  I think it set out to tread the fine line between conservative arranging and thoughtful interpretation, and that's impressive on its own.

    So yes, it's a gritty sound and minimal arrangement that may not fly with everyone, but I didn't sense anything glaring, so both sides squeaked over the bar for me.  But I do hope you take what you've learned from this experience and see where you can push yourself for future submissions.  Please stick around!

    YES (borderline)

  4. Remixer and real name: Michael Hudak
    Name of game: Tales of Symphonia
    Song from game: "A Snow Light" (Flanoir Theme) with some very brief riffage from "It Can Waver and Fight".
    Name of my arrangement: "Blizzard Love Triangle"

    Original songs:
     
     
    More 80s! Madonna, Kate Bush, Flock of Seagulls, and especially New Order were main inspirations for this track, and in fact the whole thing at first came out of trying to replicate Peter Hook's (New Order/Joy Division) chorus-y bass tone. The name "Blizzard Love Triangle" is a play on the New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle", too. The name still stuck after several versions.
     
    I quite like how this arrangement turned out. I love the big rock kick drum and how it juxtaposes with the glitter of many of the rest of the instruments. The Tales of Symphonia OST has a LOT of distant-sounding bells and thin, airy synths, and really just a ton of reverb in general, which reflects the game's thematic elements of angels, holiness, and, uhmm, church-themed stuff. There's a side plot about a pope. There are lots of abbeys. Everything is a little bit...like a prayer... :3
     
    There's a little metal break from "It Can Waver and Fight", which won't be recognizable to anyone but to ToS music fans, I think. Many of them are apparently also metalheads (going off of how many metal remixes there are from this game), so maybe this is a little bit of (additional) fanservice? 
     
    Thank you, as usual, for your very useful evaluations!
  5. Altering this particular section of "Dancing Mad" to common time opened up a lot of room to not only tweak the source's progression but add more to the notation within the newly created space.  The syncopated feel on this arrangement has a lot of bounce, the performances are tight and on point, and the use of the opening bassline as a recurring rhythm pattern is a fun way to layer a motif on top of the main one.  It's great stuff all around.

    However, working with four piano parts playing all at once at its busiest also meant the production values should've been treated less like a single piano and more like an ensemble.  As of now, they are prone to not only note overlap but also getting buried behind other parts.  Assuming you still have your MIDI data, you could change the timbre of three of the pianos, put the lower-scale notation on a darker one and higher-scale on brighter, and give them their unique positions in the stereo field.  I'd also appreciate a small touch of room reverb, but it's best to decide the intensity when you figure out the separation first.

    As it is, the arrangement is fantastic.  I, too, would like to see it on the site, but in a revised production that defines it as a four-piano arrangement rather than multiple ones hogging the same space.  Keep going with your work no matter what you decide to do, Adeel - I see potential!

    NO (resubmit)

  6. What a fun soundscape - I appreciate your "clown-like" intent with mixing orchestral sounds and glitched tones together in a whimsical palette like this.  The orchestrated sounds themselves aren't the most realistic when left isolated and could've done with more articulation and humanization, as prophetik stated.  Combined with the synth work, though, they just needed to co-operate together so one doesn't overpower another on a timbre standpoint - and that's what this track achieved.

    However, it's got some nasty flaws.  First of all, the mixdown is unbalanced.  It's a muddy mix where instruments bleed into each other, to the point that I can barely even hear your leads.  The glitch tones and pads also overpower the rest of the instrumentation on a volume standpoint, so consider doing another volume pass in addition to any EQ cuts.  Thirdly, most if not all of your instruments are drowning in reverb, and while I understand that is the norm for orchestrated sounds, it amplified the muddiness too much.  Consider bringing the wet mix down for those affected instruments.

    And of course, the arrangement isn't interpretive enough.  The glitch tones, arpeggio and trumpet solo at 1:54 were all fun additions, but the source itself didn't end up with any significant tweaks outside of instrument changes.  prophetik listed some sweet ideas to add personalization to your work, so do take them to heart.  A couple of fun ones I can add on top of it are to put the melody on top of a different chord progression, or the sillier thought to change everything into a major key - though I doubt you'd go in that direction for this particular track.  And while I understand the constant kick-cymbal pattern to be an artifact of the source, that too is also constant and can do with some changing up after each section, so it sounds less like it's on auto-pilot.

    It's not a bad first pass with a fun sound palette idea, but the arrangement and mixdown both feel lacking in this current form.  I hope you'll be able to go back and improve on those aspects in the future, whether on this track or future works.

    NO (resubmit)

  7. Contact Info:
    ReMixer name: about:blank
    Real name: Chris Bouchard
    Email address: 

    ReMix info:
    Name of game ReMixed: Sword of Vermilion
    Name of individual song ReMixed: Stats
    ReMix title: Treacherous Road


    With the original track being about a minute long, I tried to take this in a few different directions to keep things interesting.
     
    I took the most liberties in the first half of the song, and in those softer sections the arpeggio is based on the original's bass part and the melody is based on the original's arpeggio. Aside from that and a few new lead melodies, the rest of the song stays fairly faithful to the source material - at least in terms of composition. 
     
    As for production, I tried to emphasize the original song's intensity by writing mellow sections in an effort to give those grittier sections a greater impact.
     
  8. Contact Information:

     
    ReMixer Name: Seth Skoda
    Website: I don't have one, but I host my original content and VGM remixes here - https://skoda.newgrounds.com - add /audio to the URL to see all of my available audio submissions
    User ID: 36199
     
    Submission Information:
     
    Game Arranged: Sonic & Knuckles (SEGA Genesis)
    Name of Arrangement: High Voltage
    Name of Individual Song Arranged: Flying Battery Zone Act 2
    Additional Information for this game is already available on ocremix.org
    Link to Original (Source Material):
     
     
    My comments:
    Well, this spawned from a similar remix made years ago (a trap remix of the Death Egg Zone music from Sonic & Knuckles) as a joke with a friend. He said that it would be funny if someone were to rap on the original theme, so I made it into a hip-hop instrumental piece just hit shits and giggles. I posted it on Newgrounds (yes, that site is still around) Audio Portal because I thought, "hey, this kinda sounds good!" This was back in 2016 (and here it is: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/712132 ). Recently, Tom Fulp, the owner of the site, stumbled across it and wrote a review (which you can see if you click the link). He liked it (hooray!). I later not only discovered it in his favorites, but it turns out that he put it on the front page of the site for a while! Like, I've never experienced that before. It was a good feeling and made me want to make more quality material to upload. And since he liked it so much with not a whole lot of effort on my part, I figured that I could really blow him out of the water with an even better piece. A few nights ago, I finally got around to working on another Sonic remix. Hence this Flying Battery remix was born.
     
    You might want to know what I've used, considering that this is my first submission to OC ReMix.
    First off, my DAW is Mixcraft, version 7.7 (32-bit) Build 316. I initially chose this software at version 4 due to the price point being within my budget (only $65!), plus the ease of use (being a GarageBand ripoff).
    The VSTs I name in this first list are virtual instruments (starred names are VSTs packaged with Mixcraft):
    -Messiah*
    -Impulse*
    -YM2612 (a lot of it)
    -MinimogueVA*
    -Neochip v1.0
    -Nightlife by Acoustica
    -Omni Sampler*
    -Alpha Sampler*
    -808/909 drum kit*
    Effects VSTs:
    -Classic Phaser*
    -Acoustica EQ*
    -Classic Reverb*
    -Classic Master Limiter*
    -Classic Delay*
    -Classic Chorus*
    -Classic EQ
    -LoudMax
    -mda Stereo Simulator
    -Broadcast Multiband Compressor
     
    Except for the above mentioned 808/909 drum kit, which is what I used for the toms, all of the percussion is from the Trapstep Sample packs you can easily find for free download with a Google search.
    I made this kinda from scratch. I had a midi sequence opened in one window, the project file of a previous remix of the Flying Battery Zone music in a second window (specifically, this: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/714068 ), and the project resulting in this arrangement in the third Mixcraft window. I used parts from the other two windows (even though I can't copy and paste between windows) and added in some new stuff as well. I tried to stick close to the source material with the melody and backing, but I also made a huge effort to throw in all kinds of extra stuff to not only make it my own, but add a little complexity and a lot of atmosphere to the piece as a whole. I hope that even if this doesn't make it to the site, you still find it pleasing to the ears.
     
  9. Contact Information

    ReMixer name : Neverback-Music
    Real name : Backer Ruth
    Email address : 
    Website : https://www.reitoken.com
    Userid : 34757

    Submission Information

    Name of game arranged : Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
    Name of arrangement : Sleeping Beauty Makes A Horrible Nightmare

    Name of individual songs arranged :

    • The Silent Forest
    • The Rustling Forest

    This is an orchestral arrangement of two songs from Kingdom Hearts. It’s a game that I love, including it’s soundtrack! I Have try to share my love for this game and for music with you through this little arrangement. I try to make a powerful orchestration where you can find communication between instruments. At the same time I try to put my little own touch. I believe it’s important to be able to create/arrange a track but also to try to bring something new into the track.

    I spend 56 hours to make this track. 46 hours to compose it and 10 hours to mix it. I have started by writing the full arrangement on piano, after that add more instruments, transitions an littles small details. I hope you will enjoy it.
     

  10. This arrangement isn't terrible, but it's undoubtedly on the static side.  The source is dominant, but its parts were used verbatim on top of an otherwise pleasant set of bass and gated pads.  The only source modification I heard was changing the last chord in sequence from Bb minor to G minor 7.  You have a static second half that repeats the first melody variant with a different lead, so instead of repeating previous ideas, that could get used to explore and develop the motif.

    I should also elaborate more on Sir Nuts's concern about the piano on top of the clavinet at 0:33.  You have the piano playing in a straight rhythm, but the clavinet has a swung one.  Usually, a listener expects consistent rhythms, so consider changing the pace of one instrument to that of the other.

    The mixdown isn't too bad, though - there aren't any frequency overlaps, and you've panned your instruments appropriately, but the e-piano that appears at 1:03 is too loud for its role.  That same timestamp also has a jarring 9dB volume jump - way too unexpected for the genre as it is.  The piano has some pleasant velocities to it but can be more realistic, with one such idea being to layer two or more piano tones on top of each other for a unique timbre.  The swelling legato on the saxophone also sounds cool, but the attacks and note cuts are too constant and can benefit from manual articulation tweaks.  I do have credit where credit is due, though - the synth and pad selection is lovely and appropriate, so if you do go on to revise this track, please keep those patches are they are.

    While the track is pleasant enough to listen to at night, it is, however, bogged down with a static arrangement, very minimal interpretation, the jarring volume jump, and some smaller issues regarding realism.  It's not bad, Gary - and whatever you decide to do going forward,  I hope you get to take this experience to another level.

    NO

  11. Contact Information
     
    Your ReMixer name: Saxxon Fox
    Your real name: Tony Konzel
    Your email address: 
    Your website: https://sanxion7.com
    Your userid: 16152
     
    Submission Information
     
    Name of game(s) arranged: DELTARUNE
    Name of arrangement: Arcane Anticipation
    Name of individual song(s) arranged: The Legend
    Additional information about game including composer, system, etc: (left out; this is a well remixed game by now)
    Link to the original soundtrack:
     
     
    Your own comments about the mix:
     
    I wrote this in a fever of inspiration while at Summer Games Done Quick 2019. About 15 years prior to this submission, I used to write a lot of trance music (it was popular at the time and also my fave!) So, this remix revives the classic early 2000s trance genre that I used to love so much.
     
    This remix follows the typical trance format: intro, drop in to the melody, break down, bring in another section, break down, bring it all back in the end. It's abridged a bit from its first trance length draft (over seven minutes!) in order to keep things interesting. The melodies themselves build up and become more complex in each part. Plus, I've added some original melodies in there also. The synthwork is entirely hand crafted specifically for this remix.
     
    I did the composition and sound design on a laptop at the event itself using FL Studio, then took it home and did the remainder of the mixing on my main setup.
     
    Thank you for your time!
    - Saxxon
  12. Original Decision

    ReMixer Name: Aesaire
    Real Name: Li-Wen Oh
    Email: 
    User ID: 34323

    Game Arranged: God of War (2018)
    Name of Arrangement: War Never Changes
    Name of Individual Song Arranged: God of War
    Original Composer: Bear McCreary
    Link to Original Soundtrack:
     
    Comments:
    Thanks for the feedback, was helpful. Removed the layers of white noise that were obscuring the mix. Quite a few of the harsher dubstep growls were removed in the process as they were the main contributors. Redesigned some of the synths to with vocal filters as replacements. Ended up veering more towards the synthesizer orchestra in the end. Arrangement is mostly the same, there are some minor changes to fill up some extra space in the mix.
     
    The original goal was to create a modern God of War theme in the style of electronic music. All instruments and sounds, except the drum samples and some of the sound effects, were digitally synthesized an modeled to resemble the characteristics of physical instruments in an orchestra. Envelopes were shaped to mimic the build up of tension and release when played by real musicians.
     
    The first version included layers of dubstep growls to replace the choir from the original. This version was rejected as the layers of white noise were quite overwhelming.
     
    The current version removes a few of the harsher dubstep growls as they were the main contributors to the white noise. Redesigned some of the synths with vocal filters as replacements to mimic the choir, though they're a lot more subtle. Arrangement is mostly the same, there are some minor changes to fill up some extra space in the mix.
     
    Hope you guys like it.
     
    Cheers
  13. Once again, thank you for providing source breakdowns, Timaeus!  I find them so enjoyable to follow them along to the music and see how you shaped up the arrangement.  It all handily checks out - evident source clarity, motifs on top of other motifs, grace notes aplenty, adaptations to different chord sequences, and a tight framework that knows when to anticipate which stretch of a source at which possible time.  It's great stuff all around, and I can't expect anything less.

    I like your sound palette too.  Keeping the Radical Dreamers backing to bells and e-piano adds a dreamy feel to it, as do every other rhythm and melody part other than one specific lead synth going legato-free.  Yes, it can get busy and overwhelming to the point that I would've preferred some backing drop-outs.  It's nothing too serious overall, though - it's still clean, reverb is used tastefully without clashing instruments together, and all parts have lovely articulations to them.

    All in all, it's solid stuff all around - and proof that you're capable of working with whatever tools are available and bringing out their best qualities.  It's an inspiring track for anyone who wants to get started in arranging, but don't necessarily have the budget to invest in much from the get-go.  Great job!

    YES

  14. Contact Info
     
    ReMixer Name: Ranipla
    UserID: 36139
     
    Submission Info
     
    Name of game arranged: Mega Man 8
    Name of arrangement: Jump Jump, Slide Slide
    Name of individual song arranged: Ice Stage
     
    Comments:
    Originally this track started off as a joke. A friend of mine was playing Mega Man 8, however it was the English version, which was infamous for it's "totally high quality" voice acting. One of those gems was this annoying robot that would yell "Jump Jump" and "Slide Slide" as an instruction, I found it to be a hilarious sample thus this was born.
     
  15. Should the track pass, it will need a new title.
    -Rexy

     

    Contact info:
    Producer name: SpaceGhost 
    Real name: Deion W.
    Email: 

    User#: 36070

     
    Submission info:
    Game: The Sims 1
    Arrangement: Buy mode 1
    Song name: Buy mode Future Bass remix
    Original composer: Jerry Martin, Marc Russo
    Original song link: 
     
    Comments: I just really feel like this is a great song that everyone who ever played the Sims loves. It's pretty happy and upbeat, but still orchestral. I wanted to make it into a track you can dance to, while still keeping the original feel and orchestral instruments. 
     
    I hope you guys enjoy and add it to your site, I been a long time fan for over 10 years. I been making video game music for just as long and finally decided to submit something.
     
    Thanks for you time, 
     
    Deion

     

  16. Contact Information

    • Your ReMixer name: JohnStacy
    • Your real name: John Stacy
    • Your email address: 
    • Your userid: 33075

    Submission Information

    • Name of game(s) arranged: Super Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong 64
    • Name of arrangement: Zacatecas
    • Name of individual song(s) arranged: Gusty Garden Galaxy, DK Isle
    • Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.

     

        Oh boy does this mix have a story. About 10 years ago, I had a dream where I was on stage somewhere, performing as part of a large ensemble - probably a big band, banda, or brass band. This dream was very vivid, I remember it being an outdoor concert in the evening. It was very hot and dry, but the music was fun and the audience really enjoyed it. This dream sticks with me.
        In 2015 I was working on an album of big band video game music. That album never released, although it was completely arranged. I recorded this the parts to this track multiple times - trumpets 3 times, horns twice, trombones twice, drums twice. This was over the course of four years - 2015-2019. I would get excited and work on it, but could never quite get it the way I wanted it. I pulled it out one last time, wrote an ending (it previously was part of a medley), and got on seriously producing it. When I was mixing, I got to the 3rd section and realized that this was the kind of music that was in my dream. This is the kind of thing I want to be doing.
        Interesting things - I used some instrument choices here that deviate from the norm. The first minute or so features a flute choir - 3 flutes, alto flute, and bass flute. Lead trombone is played on an alto trombone, and trumpet 3 and 4 are on cornet.
    Zacatecas is the name of a city and state of Mexico, located in the south-central part of the country. This name is only significant in that the climate and geography looks most like what I remember from my dream.

     

    Credits: 
    Alto, tenor, and baritone saxes, trumpet, cornet, french horns, alto, tenor, and bass trombones, drums - JohnStacy
    Flutes - Gamer of the Winds, Lea Baumert (alto and bass)
    Tuba - Alex Hill
    Piano - DS
    Guitar - Andrew Flipinski
    Bass - Sam Bobinski

     

    (OCR users in italics)
     
  17. Stretching out a source that's less than 20 seconds long is always going to offer different methods of interpretation. Still, even then, the "theme and variations" route is suitable enough to twist the foundations and keep them recognizable at the same time.  No two run-throughs sound identical, the use of "Zelda's Lullaby" as a countermelody is charming and compelling, and I liked how you placed the core motif of the source into a broodier minor key development at 1:14, spread across multiple wind instruments. Arrangement-wise, the sum of the parts are simple, but get their job done effectively.

    Naturally, this track has a similar quirk with prior submitted works, what with it having a fair chunk of headroom.  But when the instrumentation is both mixed down and articulated well, it's something that I can easily overlook.  It would've also been nice to have added more opportunities for your virtual performers to breathe too, but I consider it something of a desire rather than something that goes against the standards.

    As a collective whole, the arrangement and production values are both simplified - but with a focus on a short source and a minimalist set of instrumentation, they set out to achieve their roles and create a robust package through and through. Great work, Rebecca - let's see this on the front page.

    YES

  18. Remixer Name: RisenLP
    Real Name: Keith Woods
    Website: https://soundcloud.com/rcstudio (err.. don't have a proper one)
    UserID: 36058
     
    Submission Info
    Game Arranged: Delta Rune
    Arrangement Name: Surly Operator, Kind Acts
    Song Arranged: Rude Buster
    Original Author: Toby Fox
    Own Comments: I'm a huge fan of Toby Fox's music and a huge fan of the sound you can get out of a Sega MD/Genesis. I created this via FL studio 20, a synth called FM_DRIVE and Super PSG by the wonderful Aly James. This arrangement is not made to be accurate to the hardware but more what I felt was good.
     
    Thanks, This is my first submission, kind of nervous about it but thanks.
     
  19. Contact Information

    Submission Information
    • Name of game arranged: Diddy Kong Racing
    • Name of arrangement: Starlit Darkmoon
    • Name of individual song arranged: Darkmoon Caverns
    • Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.

      As with most of my remixes, i tried to stay close to the original idea and expand upon it. My interpretation of the original song is that it highlights the serenity and loneliness of being on the dark side of the moon and only having the starry night sky as a source of light, while also still delivering the "drive" of a racing game ost.
      The track is written entirely with VST-instruments and WAV-soundfiles (the latter only used for sfx).
      I approached this by mixing as bass heavy rhythm guitar and a juicy bass, in reference to the "darkmoon" in the title aswell as to the racing game aspect of the song, with a grand piano that is playing in a high octave to emulate the glitter and shine of the stars, in reference to the "starlit" in the title. A lot of reverb was added to the piano to both emulate the vastness of space, aswell as the natural reverb of caverns. The "Starlit"-aspect is further supported by the ambient sfx that appears from time to time, aswell as the bright synthesizer bits and string ensemble, to give it more of a "spacy" feel. Furthermore a tenor sax plays the second lead to balance out the high pitch of the piano.
      The most notable changes from the original are the addition of a new part, that acts as kind of a pre-chorus to the B-Part of the original track, aswell as the structure of the track, deviding it into 3 distinct variations, one representing each lap.
      The newly added part acts as a centerpiece and is supposed to really deliver on the core ideas of the remix. If you are familiar with the original game, I like to think of this part as the section of the track where you boost through the two loops at max. speed. I apporached this by having the piano play arpeggios in an ascending manner to give it the maximum velocity feel, aswell as adding ambient sfx and synthetic sounds to give the listener a feeling of open space in contrast to the more compact A-Part, as if you would leave the caverns and now find yourself below the night sky.
      The 3 lap structure is concieved to give the remix a climax. The first lap acts to introduce all instruments, the general feel and the newly added part. The second lap has a pianissimo part with the sax taking over the lead in order to break the flow up a bit and to contrast the fortissimo of the final lap. The final lap is where the remix recieves it's resolve, accentuated by the key- and tempochange. The piano is now only loosely playing the original melody and the B-Part is an extended piano solo.
      All in all I think that this remix, while having major variations, is still faithful to the orginal track.

      Im looking forward to your feedback!
      Kind regards, Gian-Luca
       

     

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