Rexy   Judges ⚖️

You know that handling Crash would be difficult as it is? I'm with you, Crash Bandicoot was a HUGE part of my gaming adolescence, and it was my goal since I discovered OCR to push any and all exposure for it. And right now, there are two mixes from the original game (BOTH involving me, may I add ) that are waiting to get posted onto the site. But it's hard because of the complexity of the originals and general structures for them, not to mention a lot of them are percussion heavy. And being a recent member that wants to give some exposure to a game that otherwise doesn't get much love at all, you need to watch out for what you've put yourself in for. It won't stop me from giving a few tracks a go, provided I don't overwork myself. Amusingly, I've had this dynamic worldy arrangement idea in my head for the desert town stages roaming in my head for years, but never really had the tools to pull it off; I hope with what I've learnt now, I could attempt it and see how it goes

Even for games in which MIDIs are really hard to find, I'd have a go at transcribing some key parts to use later, or to just learn to play it on the piano based on what I can hear and what techniques I am most comfortable with. Developing an ear for just writing music takes years to learn, and over time you will be able to identify notation in these songs that you might not have noticed without this training.

What if your track is really so close to geting a NO verdict? You didn't think of that, didn't you The judges can vote how they want, not by ultimatums. Even if there is no decision by the compo's start, have some patience. Things will look up down the line.

See, this is what we should be responding to instead of throwing in random female composers. And here I come with a comprehensive list of every female OC Remixer that has contributed - I hope this helps out in regards to the OP. If I'm missing anything, please clue us in!

I LOVE YOU JEWBEI! If I had a roster, I would've had Sakura as my first pick. I am so looking forward to seeing what you do with her, if no one else picks her too

I don't know if I'm going to take part this time as I already am busy enough (not to mention my familiarity with SF is stuck at SF2 and Puzzle Fighter), but I could still provide signatures again like with the WCRG and vote each week. Good luck to all

While I sent an MP3 your way for any potential feedback on Monday, the WAV however is going to be late. Within the past couple of days I ended up with a shoulder injury, thus heavily affecting my computer time. I'll try and get it within the coming week, or whenever it starts healing up

You can't have post-apocalyptic without Napalm Man and Grenade Man IMO - both robots based on weapons of mass destruction (assuming that nuclear war will be in the equation), and could fit suitably well in a situation like that. Cool idea though; would be interesting to see how others think about this.

I've been hearing about Nuzlocke runs for some time. Never got around to do it as I felt more focused on building teams based around what I seem to be obsessed with at the time. But yeah, should probably give it a go with my FireRed cart sometime. Wonder where would be a good place to make a log for it O_o

He did, but his two posts in 2010 showed that he was cool with sending stuff in if he felt desired to. Anyway, let me throw a question in here - it's definitely taking effect for tracks to be submitted from this point on, but what about tracks that are pending to be posted? Is it possible for the mixers behind those tracks to send higher quality versions over, and if so, where would be the best place to do it?

Eh, I thought Split Mushroom (X4) was ridiculous enough; I stated that on my Twitter once, and Monobrow told me that the name "sounded like a dick tip" (how else am I supposed to emphasize this without breaking the rating barrier again?!). Nice going, Katie. Well I claim victory of the WCRG . So there

Now that the female plaecment is brought up, it can be true that it can sell games; but not necessarily. Being a Crash Bandicoot fan I'll see if I can bring in a tale regarding that series. Let me copy a question from Naughty Dog founder Jason Rubin's interview at Crashmania: For the record, the original Tawna design had her wearing a very short pair of pants AND revealed her cleavage, which was indeed seen as an over-pimping kind of way for women. In the final design, the pants were shorter and her shirt was far more modest, not to mention she somehow lost her tail. But for the success of Crash back in the day, even the sequels didn't need sexual females to sell well. Crash 2 and 3 featured a female character but in a different way - Crash's sister Coco, coming across more like an intellectual rather than a VG pin-up. In the second game she never left her laptop but used it as a means of communication to Crash. In the third game however, she became a full-on playable character, being used for the jetski stages, the China stages (where she'd end up riding a tiger cub), an airplane dogfight and the boss fight against N. Gin (hence the fandom soon seeing them as a potential pairing). In fact, Naughty Dog didn't start referring to sexy girls again until Crash Team Racing, though that was merely used for the trophy girls at the end of each race. The sexual approach would be used more often though when they moved on to Jak and Daxter, in which pretty much every leading lady would reveal their legs (Ashelin), their cleavage (Tess) or their waist (Keira). To my knowledge they didn't have any modestly-dressed females in the series until Rayn in Jak X, though I'm not too sure if that sold as well as ND's other titles to be honest. So yes, in the early 90s it was possible to get games to have strong female characters AND sell well. Nowadays, we aren't too sure, but the examples stated already (and I especially agree with the Valve statement) have shown that while few and far between, non-pin-up girls are still around in videogame form to some degree. I'm in the same boat as Luiza in that I'm not too offended by how females are portrayed; again, it's the inner character that I want to see rather than appearances.

I have "The Obsidian Ocean" - great track from the VGMix days

Another track that I managed to steadily get attached to, not to mention that it wanted me to take interest into actually playing through the game. The sources used are very simplistic melodies that tend to get absorbed well without becoming too repetitive, and thus it works beautifully well in the context of a more chilled track from avaris's end. Having heard his progression since the PRC days he's managed to show his clarity and develop his style a lot, and in the style of a gentler soundscape it's managed to provide something that provides more of a zen-like state of mind from the user. It may be generally a tad dry and a little on the unrealistic side in regards to the organic instrument selection used, but given that this is more of a citing of his musical influences, it actually seems natural to be able to take it that way and fit in a more modernised context. So you can see that I dig this - works well for my travels out and about, and can be quite reflective depending on the context. I hope to sense more of avaris in later endeavours

I have appreciation for a lot of tracks on Unsung Heroes, but ilp0's track REALLY took that appreciation over the top in something that grew on me a lot since the release day - so much that this was one of the tracks I even picked to use in my video talking of my involvement about it. But enough about myself - while I hadn't played the game (like most people), it still didn't need to have memories of playing the game to invoke power towards the track. It starts out pretty upbeat with plenty of schizophrenic writings, while still remaining very upbeat with the interpretations of the Village theme. Though, the amount of manipulations taken in with the Dialog theme managed to add more of a moody "evil is coming" quality towards it and can even tell of one's own struggle even in their happiest of times. This is especially emphasized with the ending, with the darkening chords and lower timbres adding in more of a feeling of despair that gives me the CHILLS every time I hear it - that's how potent I think the writing is!! I can't say the Village theme is without its own moments - the lively interpretation at 3:26 with the acoustic guitar performance leading into the mad piano riff really shows as a strong example of ilp0's musicianship and does a lot to fit more of a frantic touch towards the track. In fact, I said in the IRC for the listening party that his style is filling the progressive void a lot in the community, though when someone else (was it KyleJCrb?) said that ilp0 is "his own genre", it does indeed make me think that he's benefitting the community in a very unique way, both with writing, ideas and growing sound quality over the years. For that, I got to say that this is one of his best works IMO - capturing the source to an emotive quality, great musicianship, and it doesn't necessarily need a nostalgic connection to pack a punch concept-wise. I'm now really looking forward to see what he can provide in the time to come, because honestly, I can't imagine the wider community without him

Having had Unsung Heroes floating around on my MP3 rotation in the past month, I say it's about time I take a look at some more of the flood posts. The opening track managed to capture that serene moment of wanting to express feelings about telling of the games that have been unexpressed in the community. Arrangement-wise it's pretty straightforward, but it didn't need a complex arrangement with the lyrical writing, slight modifications to the melody on both the vocals and flute countermelody, and even then the components highlighting the source sell the track more than what appears to be lesser-stellar original components, give or take the string writing near the end which I thought managed to compliment the mood quite well. As the time went on I felt a little unsure about the choice of room ambience; it felt rather dry and wide for what could be considered a tavern setting, and even then it wasn't exposed on all the instruments represented. That to me could be seen as more of a nitpick more than anything, as the sounds themselves have been emphasized very cleanly even with the ambience concerns taken to account, and Deia's laid-back vocal complimented the medieval-esque instrument selection just as much - the travelling bard in the pack of musicians, throwing her wisdom into the face of adversity, with not much expectation to go by other than her own heart. So for a rather inspirational album it made for a very pretty opening track, and I hope the other contributions that both OA and Deia worked on whether together or with others would eventually surface too to compliment the raw emotive power behind this one

Brandon has a bass at least, but you're going to have to ask him first. As for a drummer, live drums to me are few and far between so you might be pressed on your luck for that o_O

I'm up for it if you want me! I of course have piano service if anyone wants to use it, and I also have a harmonica on hand but I don't consider myself a shredder with it o_O

I guess this is the part where I say that the whole WCRG was a blast from start to finish. Sure, it wasn't an easy ride, but if anything it left me feeling more humbled and having grown my production set somewhat. These are things that I will be happy to take to new venture, wherever it would go. As for the whole popular-verses-left-aside remarks, the reason why Plant Man was my prime pick for Robot Master was both for accessibility reasons and for the fact that there was no Plant representation on OCR yet. I almost considered Centaur Man at one point because as stated he hasn't been represented in a Mega Man compo yet; but one look at Vurez's "Odyssey Beyond the Falls" quickly convinced otherwise (awesome remix, believe me). My knowledge on MM source material would remain slim though as I don't have much of a musical connection with 4/5/7/8/10 at this point, but I still enjoy working with lesser loved source material nevertheless I don't think I'd be doing the GMRB due to other commitments (as much as I'd love to represent Magma Dragoon for it... oh well xD), but I should still be able to listen in and see how things develop... and maybe keep refining the graphical skillset? We'll see For now, here's to a well-mannered results party!

While I'm here, while I am not quite open to actively pursue the project, I still would like to lend piano performance services for anyone that needs a part

A lot of the gentler cues from the various Dragon Quest symphonic suites worked for me in my student days - often anything to do with shrines, towers or sailing (requiems are questionable depending on your mood). From the soundtracks I have, here's what I think would work out to fit your situation: DQ4 - Menuet / Balloon's Flight / Sea Breeze / The Unknown Castle (I STRONGLY EMPHASIZE THIS) DQ5 - Magic Carpet ~ The Ocean (might need to watch out a bit with the second half) / Melody of Love / Noble Requiem ~ Saint / Heaven DQ6 - Ocean Waves / Pegasus ~ Saint's Wreath / Melancholy / Ocarina ~ The Saint DQ8 - Travelling with Wagon / Mysterious Tower / Remembrances... / Poet's World / Memories of an Ancient Ocean DQ9 - Angelic Land / Destiny ~ Prologue to Tragedy / Pathway to Good Fortune ~ Cathedral of Emptiness Your mileage may vary with some of these, but if you want something different to study to, it might be worth pursueing

I'm pretty sure the Sagat references have become a collective running gag with the Bad Dudes camp, particularly with a handful of individual mixes from members of the roster and the source getting cameo'd in unrelated arrangements from Diggi Dis and even posu himself. So I'm half-expecting to hear more Sagat for the rest of 2012. This classy cuban jazz like interpretation apparently fits more of JM's style than anyone else (which does seem odd to think since posu did a handful of the accompaniment work and lead guitar performance), though the translation from the original's 11/8 to a more conventional time signature AND a much more exotic jam setting definitely shines a very intriguing light on the arrangement. The teamwork is shown with a lot of the tradeoffs between posu's drum writing and guitar emphasis with JM's attention on pitched percussion and sweeping strings (with the occasional flute part from Stacy as well, which seems to be rather hidden in comparison); the collaborative effort has done a lot to shape in a much more atmospheric track that captures the more team spirit based nature of HvV extremely well. I don't think I have much else to say about it, other than it being a very different take on a popular theme by the Bad Dudes, and one to consider as a more distinct track amongst the HvV album tracks. I'm sure JM will be rising with a handful of tracks for 2012, and I'm also sure that Sagat will also make ANOTHER appearance somewhere with the way this is going

Yeah, this track was a huge thinker for me. No doubt that it caught the nature of the source material, but all those time signatures made it tough to really break down on the first go around xD Luckily it's been some time since BadAss was unleashed, and it should be much better digested as I state my thoughts. It starts out well with some nice creepy synth and echoed piano which bears a familiarity with some of the more ambient Metroid Prime soundtrack selections, before going straight into a hard 12/8 interpretation of the source which may make one somehow mistake you for DJ Orange in terms of writing (honestly, I can't help but think of "Harvest Hoedown" here xD). This feel managed to continue onto the hard 2/4 section, though like halc stated with the awkward beats, the transition between the signatures made it hard to digest initially due to the lack of a significant downbeat for the start of it. Luckily the adaptation of the source with this more aggressive soundscape worked creepily well. The return to the intro's texture with the 9/8 time signature, soon following with the return to the original's 5/8 time signature, both showed his testament to adapt the source within the different time signatures. But I have to say, the 11/8 section at 3:20 was by far what I felt to be the coup de grace for me, as it gave a lot of room towards the drum writing/variation and give in a more progressive feel to it with the accompaniment building. Following that though, the ending was a bit weird with all the pitch shifting invlved, but given the oddities of the time signature it's something that can A) be excused, and contribute more towards the general quaintness of the arrangement. While I hadn't heard too much of Rozovian's work (and I believe I need to rectify that soon lol), what I did hear though was one of his cleanest works to date; kinda low-mid heavy, but all the more to fit the feel for the source, and the attention to emphasis on the instrumentation and the sheer creative nature of handling the source material were seen as major key points for the track. The progressive-ish nature of the time signatures wouldn't at all really make this easy listening, but then again none of the tracks on BadAss were, so just come in and let Ridley take a gash at you in musical form

I've always had a soft spot for the Genesis version of this source, but hearing the Saturn one managed to capture the Christmas spirit extremely precisely; again, solid proof on my feelings of how amazing these 32-bit system soundtracks really are So, Jivemaster's mix. Similar to the source it manages to keep with the appropriate instrumentation with all the bells and subtle string work, though his light electronica style is also present to emphasize his style. This approach may be seen as dated due to the almost stagnant accompaniment work, but the sounds themselves are clean enough for their time to really take in casually. Similarly to some of his works there's been a lot of familiarity with the source, so Sonic fans would generally feel happy with the presentation as well. Strangely, I was most looking forward to seeing the development of the creative piano writing at the end; it seemed as if it was going to build into a climax, but before I knew it the track came to a rather abrupt end. Yes, I know the track itself is short, but I was kind of hoping for something to not make the closure feel so sudden. Still, it's an oldie but goodie from Jivemaster, and while I haven't seen much of him since he sent "Lava Reach" over in 2006, I do hope that his remixing plight hasn't stopped there. Please tell us that you're alive D:

Yeah, the source itself already had a hint of light funk with the clean guitar lead and latin pop sound to it, and thus I do indeed see it fitting really well with Joshua Morse's style. Nice pick! So what we have is this generally dry soundscape that managed to emphasize more of the mood of the source going by instrument selection, started by the classy organ writing before going into the clean guitar lead rather early on. As the track goes on, a lot of the writing would soon end up becoming very traditional JM flare with the keys/string writing and attention paid towards the drum work, as well as additional spotlights being given towards those keys and expressive modulated light synths. But odds are if you enjoy his style of arranging it would be down your alley a lot; not the most obvious connections to the source, but they didn't need to be if they are simply to provide a solid groove. Let me give high appraisal to something that caught my attention within the setting - the brass placement. The trumpets to me with their free moving texture sound really great to me as well; they are hard enough to sound convincing at all, but the slide work and attention to humanisation came off as one of his best attempts at conviction for me, and I am so happy for them. For my first experience on hearing something from Sonata of the Damned, it's definitely a good starting direction. I'm pretty sure I should take a look at the rest of the album down the line, and may even get a kick out of arrangements for the Castlevania titles that I am apparently more familiar with, but for what it is, it's another win for JM