Rexy

I found myself able to listen to the entire thing on the train back from a day out at London today.  It's so refreshing to see so many arrangers specialised in meatier genres trying something new if they hadn't gone down the mellow route before - and for those that did handle it before, it's great to see what vision they had in the grand scheme of things.

Silly notes that ended up coming into my head throughout it:

- As an artist involved, I obviously got to hear "Baby Blue Sky" before even getting to pick a source.  And my thoughts now are the same as they are back then - it's a tough act to respond to; the fusion of Chimp and halc's writing / production respectively works so bleedin' marvelously; and it serves as a great understanding for the album's vision.
- Yep, Meteo Xavier's Secret of Mana track turned my least favorite source from the entire game into something much more tonally spaced and clean - as well as by far being the most energetic on the entire album (!!)
- Considering a fair number of OCR arrangers are parents now, I'm surprised Eino was the only one that sampled his own kid in this!  It also made me want to check out ilomilo as a game, but I don't have neither an XBox (and am keeping refusing to buy them for obvious reasons) or a Windows phone to play it on...
-  I can trust a trance-based arranger like bLiNd to make a pun on Samuel Barber's famous classical adagio.  I guess it won't be long until it'll get other EDM remixes from people around GameChops or something...
- You did good with that accordion, zyko.  You stood out all those years as a musician that focused on stylistic creativity, so I'm glad to hear a track that makes it feel like you 
- Hearing E-Bison's re-harmonizations in the Sleepytime disc feels as if C418 ended up on the roster spiritually.  Actually... did the 'recruitment net' get that wide we could've had C418 doing something for this?
- LOL at Zoltan's sillytime bonus!  Just wait til you get halfway through and you'll see what I mean.
and who's that Rexy chick again?  Some cute animal loving n00b? lol

This album may have come out of the (baby) blue in terms of release, but it seems to be going really well.  Hopefully this time we'll get those that think OCR does 'too much techno' or 'too much rock' to be silenced if only for a little while.

Personally I'm with Mirby on the statement that the involved artists should be asked about this.  We had experiences with Brandon to varying degrees around the site, though like djp stated in the FF8 thread post it's best to remain professional and make OCR solely about the music.  As I have a finished track on this album, I'd prefer to remain on the album regardless of who's running it or whether it would be an OC Remix album at all, though I can imagine for some that there'll be grief no matter what happens.

Personally I'm with Mirby on the statement that the involved artists should be asked about this.  We had experiences with Brandon to varying degrees around the site, though like djp stated in the FF8 thread post it's best to remain professional and make OCR solely about the music.  As I have a finished track on this album, I'd prefer to remain on the album regardless of who's running it or whether it would be an OC Remix album at all, though I can imagine for some that there'll be grief no matter what happens.

Personally I'm with Mirby on the statement that the involved artists should be asked about this.  We had experiences with Brandon to varying degrees around the site, though like djp stated in the FF8 thread post it's best to remain professional and make OCR solely about the music.  As I have a finished track on this album, I'd prefer to remain on the album regardless of who's running it or whether it would be an OC Remix album at all, though I can imagine for some that there'll be grief no matter what happens.

Personally I'm with Mirby on the statement that the involved artists should be asked about this.  We had experiences with Brandon to varying degrees around the site, though like djp stated in the FF8 thread post it's best to remain professional and make OCR solely about the music.  As I have a finished track on this album, I'd prefer to remain on the album regardless of who's running it or whether it would be an OC Remix album at all, though I can imagine for some that there'll be grief no matter what happens.

...derp, that's an error on my part!  Apparently I thought it was "Together Always", which grated on me due to the low-toned mallet melodies.  Seriously, someone should at LEAST do something good with that song though

I found myself able to listen to the entire thing on the train back from a day out at London today.  It's so refreshing to see so many arrangers specialised in meatier genres trying something new if they hadn't gone down the mellow route before - and for those that did handle it before, it's great to see what vision they had in the grand scheme of things.

Silly notes that ended up coming into my head throughout it:

- As an artist involved, I obviously got to hear "Baby Blue Sky" before even getting to pick a source.  And my thoughts now are the same as they are back then - it's a tough act to respond to; the fusion of Chimp and halc's writing / production respectively works so bleedin' marvelously; and it serves as a great understanding for the album's vision.
- Yep, Meteo Xavier's Secret of Mana track turned my least favorite source from the entire game into something much more tonally spaced and clean - as well as by far being the most energetic on the entire album (!!)
- Considering a fair number of OCR arrangers are parents now, I'm surprised Eino was the only one that sampled his own kid in this!  It also made me want to check out ilomilo as a game, but I don't have neither an XBox (and am keeping refusing to buy them for obvious reasons) or a Windows phone to play it on...
-  I can trust a trance-based arranger like bLiNd to make a pun on Samuel Barber's famous classical adagio.  I guess it won't be long until it'll get other EDM remixes from people around GameChops or something...
- You did good with that accordion, zyko.  You stood out all those years as a musician that focused on stylistic creativity, so I'm glad to hear a track that makes it feel like you 
- Hearing E-Bison's re-harmonizations in the Sleepytime disc feels as if C418 ended up on the roster spiritually.  Actually... did the 'recruitment net' get that wide we could've had C418 doing something for this?
- LOL at Zoltan's sillytime bonus!  Just wait til you get halfway through and you'll see what I mean.
and who's that Rexy chick again?  Some cute animal loving n00b? lol

This album may have come out of the (baby) blue in terms of release, but it seems to be going really well.  Hopefully this time we'll get those that think OCR does 'too much techno' or 'too much rock' to be silenced if only for a little while.

Apparently I count amongst those people who have written techno AND rock... in one!  By the way, I also appreciate that @José the Bronx Rican used my baby picture (courtesy of my dad) in the album art! (I'm the sketched baby)

I found myself able to listen to the entire thing on the train back from a day out at London today.  It's so refreshing to see so many arrangers specialised in meatier genres trying something new if they hadn't gone down the mellow route before - and for those that did handle it before, it's great to see what vision they had in the grand scheme of things.

Silly notes that ended up coming into my head throughout it:

- As an artist involved, I obviously got to hear "Baby Blue Sky" before even getting to pick a source.  And my thoughts now are the same as they are back then - it's a tough act to respond to; the fusion of Chimp and halc's writing / production respectively works so bleedin' marvelously; and it serves as a great understanding for the album's vision.
- Yep, Meteo Xavier's Secret of Mana track turned my least favorite source from the entire game into something much more tonally spaced and clean - as well as by far being the most energetic on the entire album (!!)
- Considering a fair number of OCR arrangers are parents now, I'm surprised Eino was the only one that sampled his own kid in this!  It also made me want to check out ilomilo as a game, but I don't have neither an XBox (and am keeping refusing to buy them for obvious reasons) or a Windows phone to play it on...
-  I can trust a trance-based arranger like bLiNd to make a pun on Samuel Barber's famous classical adagio.  I guess it won't be long until it'll get other EDM remixes from people around GameChops or something...
- You did good with that accordion, zyko.  You stood out all those years as a musician that focused on stylistic creativity, so I'm glad to hear a track that makes it feel like you 
- Hearing E-Bison's re-harmonizations in the Sleepytime disc feels as if C418 ended up on the roster spiritually.  Actually... did the 'recruitment net' get that wide we could've had C418 doing something for this?
- LOL at Zoltan's sillytime bonus!  Just wait til you get halfway through and you'll see what I mean.
and who's that Rexy chick again?  Some cute animal loving n00b? lol

This album may have come out of the (baby) blue in terms of release, but it seems to be going really well.  Hopefully this time we'll get those that think OCR does 'too much techno' or 'too much rock' to be silenced if only for a little while.

I found myself able to listen to the entire thing on the train back from a day out at London today.  It's so refreshing to see so many arrangers specialised in meatier genres trying something new if they hadn't gone down the mellow route before - and for those that did handle it before, it's great to see what vision they had in the grand scheme of things.

Silly notes that ended up coming into my head throughout it:

- As an artist involved, I obviously got to hear "Baby Blue Sky" before even getting to pick a source.  And my thoughts now are the same as they are back then - it's a tough act to respond to; the fusion of Chimp and halc's writing / production respectively works so bleedin' marvelously; and it serves as a great understanding for the album's vision.
- Yep, Meteo Xavier's Secret of Mana track turned my least favorite source from the entire game into something much more tonally spaced and clean - as well as by far being the most energetic on the entire album (!!)
- Considering a fair number of OCR arrangers are parents now, I'm surprised Eino was the only one that sampled his own kid in this!  It also made me want to check out ilomilo as a game, but I don't have neither an XBox (and am keeping refusing to buy them for obvious reasons) or a Windows phone to play it on...
-  I can trust a trance-based arranger like bLiNd to make a pun on Samuel Barber's famous classical adagio.  I guess it won't be long until it'll get other EDM remixes from people around GameChops or something...
- You did good with that accordion, zyko.  You stood out all those years as a musician that focused on stylistic creativity, so I'm glad to hear a track that makes it feel like you 
- Hearing E-Bison's re-harmonizations in the Sleepytime disc feels as if C418 ended up on the roster spiritually.  Actually... did the 'recruitment net' get that wide we could've had C418 doing something for this?
- LOL at Zoltan's sillytime bonus!  Just wait til you get halfway through and you'll see what I mean.
and who's that Rexy chick again?  Some cute animal loving n00b? lol

This album may have come out of the (baby) blue in terms of release, but it seems to be going really well.  Hopefully this time we'll get those that think OCR does 'too much techno' or 'too much rock' to be silenced if only for a little while.

Dude, I just realized that my son was born ON THE EXACT SAME DAY as Ester (Dec. 19, 2013). Now I most definitely have to play these for him at night....

just wait for when i reveal myself as greylightning. 

Yeah, SRD was an alias I used for a while to try different styles without people telling me to "go back to trance".  It got a little out of hand after a while, and when I joined the staff I felt it was wrong to keep the ruse going any longer.

Just in case anyone wonders, I didn't use SRD to circunvent PRC rules, I was participating regularly as both srd and sn, but I never selected a song for the other alias to remix if I won a round.  I simply skipped the next round if I ever won.  After a while, stuff I was doing as srd seeped into sn so it was really pointless since both were very close in style by the end.  Sorry for the shenanigans, but srd did help me broaden my styles to the point where I'm not the trance guy anymore.

The mixing is really getting to me but this is still well-executed. I'd say it's a battle theme worthy of a good RPG.

I'm so happy I'm not alone in regards to Crash coverage now!  And not only did you go for a difficult source but I can see how it served as an outlet for your childhood frustration.  Though the Crash 2 bosses didn't really give me much trouble in comparison to the first game, Tiny was definitely one of the bigger challenges there (no pun intended).

For me, it's a great recognizable arrangement; sensed the source AND the Williams inspiration with the writing, not to mention some great additional melodies to add to the otherwise chaotic approach.  I don't know why but the word-builder intro made me laugh  - it's the same kind of effect as the final boss music of Jamestown, which also started out with amusing use of word-built choir, and in both cases it makes it feel less serious and more fun.  It's also very difficult to be able to build up an orchestral palette when you have experience in multiple arrange-writing fields according to your Soundcloud, yet you've built up a great selection and also took advantage of different patches / keyswitches when appropriate (staccato strings at points, brass swells, etc).  I didn't even expect the drum set given what I read prior to listening, though it's a nice surprise as using that gives me serious Video Games Live vibes about it.  Seeing all this come together, I'm so happy to see you managed to put all this together to get it onto OCR!

I am however with the judges when it comes to humanization, as there's some instruments like the piano and some of the staccato writing that felt more like the velocities for the entire riff were stagnant.  It's a good idea to think about what the instrumentalists would do in a live setting and envision how the sound would come out for that purpose.  Extended legato based sections, especially with some of the lead / chorded brass, can also benefit quite well from the MIDI volume control from what I've learnt; I don't know what patches you primarily used, but I'm aware of some that completely change expression depending on the value of the MIDI volume event at the time, which would be really useful to bring in a sudden dynamic change or regulate the kind of air-flow you may see from (again) players in a live setting.

But yes, this is kind of weird for me to offer a pointer or two in an otherwise absolute moment of elevation for me. xD  Kudos for giving some love to the Crash series here. welcome to the OCR clan, and I really hope you keep pushing yourself and sending stuff over in the future!

I can't say it's Christmas in July, but it is Christmas in March!! I apologize for the hold up, but I wanted to kick this thread into gear as early as I could this year, because this is the tenth anniversary of An OverClocked Christmas we're talking about. That's right, Volume 10!!
 
Who's directing this ship this year?
Well, in the last two years (volumes 8 and 9), The Coop has stepped up and stepped into the role of director, while I, for personal reasons that I won't get into here, stepped back to take a breather. Two years is a long time, but this year is special, and I couldn't stand staying away for it. So this year, I'm happy to announce that...
Both The Coop, and myself (Dyne), will be directing this project.
So, what's this year's theme going to be, or, what music should we be making for this project?
As always, Christmasy, snowy, seasonal music is the goal, but this year, I'm asking everyone to stick to Video Game Music specifically. That means that we're not taking original music, or remixes/rearrangements of classic Christmas tunes. I will explain why this is the running theme for the year. In previous years, we've had a mix of all manner of music, from VGM, to classic Christmas music, to originals. For this year, I wanted to focus primarily on VGM has a whole, especially because of this community here at OCR. I love this community, and though I've been lurking for a long time now, I still think of this community as an extended family. So, with that in mind, let's brighten the year with amazing music!!
The other reason for this focus is actually a project that has yet to be started. One that I won't be talking about, but one that is something I want to accomplish for Christmas 2017. So keep an eye out for that.
What format should our tracks be in?
Typically, we've accepted them as MP3s and WAVs before. We're going to do this again. The following is the format that I would like followed:
44.1 Khz, 192kbps .MP3 
Who do we submit our music to?
Well, to be honest, either one of us. But more specifically, I'd like to have them sent to me through my gmail account. That said, I have some guidelines for how you can send me those emails, and what I need to see so I can locate them in my email.
First, my Gmail address is, as always, Dyne2057@gmail.com.
Secondly, in the SUBJECT line, I'd like the following in all caps: RE: AOCC VOLUME 10 SUBMISSION
Thirdly, in the body of the email message, I'd like the following: YOUR REMIXER HANDLE (what you use on OCR is fine), THE OFFICIAL TITLE OF YOUR TRACK, THE SOURCE OF THE TRACK (what game is it from? who is the composer?), ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE ABOUT YOUR TRACK (or tracks if you are making multiple submissions).
Should we send multiple tracks in one email?
The short answer is NO.
The long answer is, I would like tracks in separate emails. I know this is tedious, but it will help me keep track of what information belongs to each of your tracks.
What should we do if we can't send you tracks via email?
If you can't send them via email, I will accept links to DropBox, web space (if that's where you can put it), or whatever method you'd like to use to get them to me. I would still like the requisite information from the email along with the link. If you are doing multiple tracks, then you can send multiple links this way. I know, this is a bit backwards from what I said about sending email to me in one of the sections above, but please hear me out. If you're sending links, you can more easily divide up your track, so what it should look like is like the following:
--- <DOWNLOAD LINK FOR YOUR TRACK>
--- REMIXER HANDLE
--- OFFICIAL TITLE OF YOUR TRACK
--- SOURCE OF YOUR TRACK
--- COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR TRACK
And then just repeat for as many submissions as you have. The download link will act as a divider. And remember that your SUBJECT should also be the same as above.
WIP Deadlines, Final Deadline?
I'd like to have at least two WIP Deadlines this time around. The deadlines will be as follows:
First WIP Deadline: June 1, 2016
Second WIP Deadline: September 1, 2016
FINAL DEADLINE: December 11, 2016 at 11:59pm
I would like to have everything submitted by December 11, 2016, which gives almost 2 weeks for everything to be finalized, and readied for release. This year, because of the length of time we have, I'm going to be a bit more strict on late tracks.
That said, the very latest I intend to take submissions will be by: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 11:59pm.
 
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
If you have any of these, feel free to drop me a line, or throw those things here in the thread. Either The Coop or myself will answer you as soon as we can.
 
Thank you, and as always, I look forward to hearing your tracks.
Track Suggestions
In a response to a question about suggestions, I said I would think about some ideas and present them here in the OP. So, here are some ideas. Also, please note, your remixes don't necessarily need to be specifically snow-based level music, or what not, it can be any track you want.
Super Mario Bros.
Castlevania
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Earthbound
Mega Man and Mega Man X (don't forget the Game Boy series!)
Megaman Zero 1-4
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Final Fantasy series
Destiny
Tom Clancy series
Rainbow Six series
Act Raiser
Final Fight
Street Fighter series
King of Fighters series
Snatcher
Sonic the Hedgehog
Undertale (especially this)
Super Mario RPG
Tales of ... series
Assassin's Creed series
Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid series
 
Thanks for the reminder Yannic Gerts! Here's a link to all the previous albums!
http://williammichael.info/aocc/index.htm

Interesting.  I put in a few artists under those conditions and saw the common bridges out of OCR tend to be through either Jillian Aversa or Mega Ran.  Mazedude stood out, though, with a loose six degree link using Chad Seiter as the outward community bridge.
There's got to be more artists that would tie over in a completely different way... XD

Try disabling all the relationship types except for "primary" and "support". You'll find a longer, more interesting chain if you do.

I feel like pingning @Chernabogue and @Rexy in honour of certain Sega Mixer Drive shenanigans.

Funnily, I have a feeling that OC Remix changed my perception on the world rather than my actual music making skill.  Back in 2003, I was a college student that saw OCR as a fun place with a fun premise and wanted to instantly interact with other fans there; turns out, it didn't feel like a safe place for a 16-year-old pencil-using fanartist and amateur fan-writer with a huge admiration for PlayStation platformers, so after failing to interact I felt as if I could just keep my core interests as a low profile and start over when the time was right (i.e. the opening of VGMix's 2nd incarnation served as that platform).

Needless to say, time passed and especially within the past few years, I felt as if I opened up considerably.
As for music writing though, just being aware of the wider community for some time gave me time to experiment with different ideas, see a bunch of ideas work, see others don't, try to see what's supposed to work and keep pushing to blend in, which seems to have had a hand in my versatility.  I STILL experiment to this day, though luckily it's over time when I finally felt I didn't need to break the gamer that I was to still make great arrangements, period.

Perhaps this may answer your question?

Yes. I believe that if you buy either conquest or birthright, you get the other two for 50% off. I read that the Special Edition with all 3 sold out in just a few hours - so I was super lucky to get that. I wouldn't buy the special edition second-hand - people are selling it for ridiculous prices online but buying the other two as DLC amounts to roughly the same price, maybe a little less, as the special edition cost brand new.
I have a few. Conquest definitely isn't messing around.
1) Always have Azura on the map. Especially in the timed missions or ones where an enemy mage has "freeze", being able to move twice in a turn is more useful than it's ever been in these games. It's very easy to level her up by just having her sing on every turn. Have her sing for someone even if moving someone on a second turn isn't necessary - it's easy exp.
2) In Awakening, "pairing up" was almost a win button. In Conquest, pairing up will only give you a defensive boost or your partner possibly defending you - they will not attack with you. Have them stand side-by-side and they will give you an offensive bonus and possibly attack with you, but they won't throw themselves in harm's way. For the most part. "pairing up" is only useful if you intend to use a weaker unit or a support unit as a shield when your squad is cornered, such as on a survival mission. Alternatively, you could use a high-level unit as a shield when trying to level a lower level unit.
I suspect a common mistake is that people would pair up units too often and the lack of exp to the supporting unit as well as being unable to utilize each party member will put you at a disadvantage. Also, be mindful of the new color triangle as well as the traditional weapon triangle! It's not enough to just look at axe/lance/sword anymore!
3) Wherever possible, let a low-level person or support unit (even Azura) get a kill. In a game where you can't level grind, getting everybody as equal as possible in levels and promoted to an advanced class is super important. 
4) Maids, Butlers and Adventurers ftw! Definitely do your best to keep Felicia, Jakob and a promoted Niles alive. They are so useful because maids & butlers can throw daggers AND wield staves. Adventurers can fire arrows and wield staves, but can open chests too! Always have these people standing right behind your front-line units.
and lastly
5) It's not always ideal or possible, but in general this type of formation is usually good
Frontline - Heavy units like knights or melee fighters like Berserkers and Heroes.
2nd line - Cavalry units and ranged units. When an enemy is killed, your horsemen can quickly move in and score another kill either on the enemy frontline (where your cavalry unit will likely be standing next to a heavy unit for an offensive bonus) or attack enemy archers etc. a few spaces back.
Back row - Healers, songstress and fliers.
 
 

There's no release date for Europe yet and I'm super stoked to play through Fates!  Awakening was the first FE game I ever played and it made me re-think how to approach tactical RPGs, so I'm totally set for going through the new installment.  Birthright playing a lot like Awakening should be no problem, so that'll be a case of getting back to how the system works.

Yet from what I read on the net though, I noticed people saying that Conquest (the one that plays more like a traditional FE) is insanely difficult and has nowhere to grind if you're stuck on a certain map.  And being the challenge seeker that I am, I feel uneasy at the idea of playing through it on Casual mode.  @AngelCityOutlaw - considering that you're actually making good progress through what I presume to be Conquest (in comparison to one journalist I read taking 12 hours to beat an early map, apparently), do you have any tips to share that would help out anyone that's currently struggling?

don't let anyone fool ya, that was the biggest one
 
the BIGGEST

You know, I just realised something.  What happened to PuD; doesn't he usually enter these MAGfest DoDs with some huge collab?