Rexy

Hello OCR!
We have a very special remix contest happening this month over at dwellingofduels.net, involving crossover with OCRemix for the upcoming Final Fantasy III [NES] album! All entries for this month are encouraged to be submitted to OCR after the voting phase for consideration on this album, and will be fast-tracked through the OCR judging process!
Any song from the FF3 soundtrack is allowed (note: this is the Japanese release of FF3 on NES, NOT the game known as FF3 in America which was for SNES). There are a few songs that are more 'preferable' from the soundtrack and do not currently have representation on the album:
Crystal Cave Battle theme Crystal Room Opening Theme Return of the Warrior The Way to the Top Cute Little Tozas Sailing Enterprise Veggies of Geseal Castle of Hain The Requiem Swift Twist Good Ol' Fellows In the Covert Town Salonia Deep Under the Water The Invincible Forbidden Land The Dark Crystals  
What is Dwelling of Duels?
Dwelling of Duels is a monthly VGM cover competition. Competitors submit redone versions of game music and the entries are voted upon by the community. Entries must comply with the rules, briefly put as following:
The song must follow the current month's theme The song must be previously unreleased The song must not be shorter than 2 minutes The main instrument must be played live Check out our full rules page for more info on how to enter! Deadline for submissions is September 28 at 06:00 PM Eastern.

I hate to double-post myself, but there is some big news regarding album development.

This album trilogy has had a history of collaborating with the Dwelling of Duels, and so, September 2020 is the OC ReMix Crossover FF3 Month!  If you main a live instrument, go check it out - if you take part and you decide to send it to OCR's submissions queue, the evaluation will get fast-tracked.  Any track from the game can be chosen, though there are still some uncovered spots on the OST (including some not even listed in the OP) that would be nice to have some representation.

Talking of which - during this past month, @bluelighterhas made claims on not one, but two tracks!  He has finished his take on "Crystal Tower" (with added usage for Tower of Owen), and is wrapping up an arrangement of "Ancient's Village" at this current moment.  I am delighted to have a talented classical-inspired arranger jump in!

If you're a potentially interested arranger, you're more than welcome to send a PM to me here on the forums or in the OCR Discord if you'd like to make a claim yourself outside of the DoD event.  I wish all participants there the best of luck, and hype for some great tunes! x)

Thank you Rexy for taking this project forward. I can't wait to see the end result. Hope for the best and hope for 2021!

I hate to double-post myself, but there is some big news regarding album development.

This album trilogy has had a history of collaborating with the Dwelling of Duels, and so, September 2020 is the OC ReMix Crossover FF3 Month!  If you main a live instrument, go check it out - if you take part and you decide to send it to OCR's submissions queue, the evaluation will get fast-tracked.  Any track from the game can be chosen, though there are still some uncovered spots on the OST (including some not even listed in the OP) that would be nice to have some representation.

Talking of which - during this past month, @bluelighterhas made claims on not one, but two tracks!  He has finished his take on "Crystal Tower" (with added usage for Tower of Owen), and is wrapping up an arrangement of "Ancient's Village" at this current moment.  I am delighted to have a talented classical-inspired arranger jump in!

If you're a potentially interested arranger, you're more than welcome to send a PM to me here on the forums or in the OCR Discord if you'd like to make a claim yourself outside of the DoD event.  I wish all participants there the best of luck, and hype for some great tunes! x)

I hate to double-post myself, but there is some big news regarding album development.

This album trilogy has had a history of collaborating with the Dwelling of Duels, and so, September 2020 is the OC ReMix Crossover FF3 Month!  If you main a live instrument, go check it out - if you take part and you decide to send it to OCR's submissions queue, the evaluation will get fast-tracked.  Any track from the game can be chosen, though there are still some uncovered spots on the OST (including some not even listed in the OP) that would be nice to have some representation.

Talking of which - during this past month, @bluelighterhas made claims on not one, but two tracks!  He has finished his take on "Crystal Tower" (with added usage for Tower of Owen), and is wrapping up an arrangement of "Ancient's Village" at this current moment.  I am delighted to have a talented classical-inspired arranger jump in!

If you're a potentially interested arranger, you're more than welcome to send a PM to me here on the forums or in the OCR Discord if you'd like to make a claim yourself outside of the DoD event.  I wish all participants there the best of luck, and hype for some great tunes! x)

I hate to double-post myself, but there is some big news regarding album development.

This album trilogy has had a history of collaborating with the Dwelling of Duels, and so, September 2020 is the OC ReMix Crossover FF3 Month!  If you main a live instrument, go check it out - if you take part and you decide to send it to OCR's submissions queue, the evaluation will get fast-tracked.  Any track from the game can be chosen, though there are still some uncovered spots on the OST (including some not even listed in the OP) that would be nice to have some representation.

Talking of which - during this past month, @bluelighterhas made claims on not one, but two tracks!  He has finished his take on "Crystal Tower" (with added usage for Tower of Owen), and is wrapping up an arrangement of "Ancient's Village" at this current moment.  I am delighted to have a talented classical-inspired arranger jump in!

If you're a potentially interested arranger, you're more than welcome to send a PM to me here on the forums or in the OCR Discord if you'd like to make a claim yourself outside of the DoD event.  I wish all participants there the best of luck, and hype for some great tunes! x)

Yeah, VGMix was more of a community rather than a label.  I can't speak for everyone who was active there at the time, but any albums spawned from them were primarily original ones from friendly competition.  (And yet the only album I can remember from such an endeavor, for obvious reasons, is Gwilym Logan's "The Meinpenis Zeitgeist"...)

Either way, the closet thing to an album release from VGMix 2 in particular was the Cave Story Remix Project.  It had a lot of faces active there at the time, and a lot of the organization happened through a forum thread  But it was never hosted on VGMix itself, and k-wix released it independently.  You also need to remember that it was 2005, and there weren't as many album-producing VGM communities as they are now, so whether VGMix staff wanted to go through with publishing albums in the first place is anyone's guess.

Rexy - just want to say your response means a lot on many levels. This is all incredibly helpful and I'll be sure to give a lot of this some serious thought. Thank you!

Hey, thought I'd chime in with some second judge feedback.

I've seen your form letter in the inbox and while I disagree with the minimal source connection - in fact, the bass and synth strings carry it all the way through - I do however understand your critique for the bass connection getting pushed under.  Perhaps doubling the bass riff (but not the repeated non-source notes) onto another instrument, preferably an octave higher, can give it another boost.  The arrangement structure itself is solid though, going through one variation of the theme with textural variations between similar parts - even with a fun solo for the last minute.  For what it's worth, the transformations are reasonable, though as mentioned, layering your parts can help bring out the source more.

Addressing the other production crits - sample quality here spawns more from your individual instruments sounding like they've only got one VST per part, meaning leaving an exposed impression on the mastering.  It is possible to import non-Propellerhead VSTs into Reason whether you decide to invest in some or find some freebies, and it's not impossible to get a mixpost done with just the defaults (but it takes a lot more work).  Whatever direction you go in, if the sample itself doesn't have more than one layer, it's best to layer it with some other sounds.  Like, if you want a bass to have more sub-bass, find something that has a square or triangle tone and cut all frequencies above the highest note your bass ever plays.  If you want more air in a synth, use a harsher saw tone and cut all frequencies from the lowest note the synth plays.  Here is a chart with every frequency on all notes on an 88 key piano - that should help with figuring out where to make cuts.

Another way to give your instruments life is to take a look at envelopes.  Bear with me, as it's been years since I've last used Reason for anything - but I believe you can set envelopes for certain parameters within a VST, and not just volume and panning.  You could use it to manipulate cutoff, resonance, modulation, the wet mix of an external effect, or even bending the pitch if you want to get that creative.  It would make your synth solo sound more like a lively synth rather than something that gets tapped multiple times a second.

And let's go back to the last statement you received - the "needless sizzle", or the mastering being way too bright.  If you air the track in a music player that has a visualizer, you can see that the higher frequencies are pushing as hard as the bass and low-mids, which isn't normal.  Higher-pitched instruments are there to add some sheen, but definitely not too much.  Assuming Reason comes with a decent EQ plugin, it's best to make mid-high EQ cuts from instruments that don't benefit from it (bass, lower synths, strings) and let those higher-pitched instruments just shimmer.  If the problem still persists, consider bringing down the volume for your hi-hat, cymbals, bells and rhythm parts in that range.

Anyway, I hope these critiques can help you out.  It's frustrating to push yourself so hard and get a DR, but don't lose heart over it.  The fact here is that you're willing to improve yourself, and whether you decide to refine this track or work on another, it'll be cool to hear from you in the inbox again.  Keep at it x)

I would relish the chance to discuss Super 3D Noah's Ark in a writeup. Don't let this bias your decisions, though

Alright, I'm going to have to chime in on this one as well.

After Meteo stepped down, the duty of finishing this project had fallen into my hands.  I've made steps behind the scenes to make sure things will progress - gathering as many WAVs as possible, getting in touch with artists who had prior claims, and figuring out ways to get more tracks in.

As of right now, there are some updates to be done with the roster.  Firstly, all but three WAVS had been gathered together - the Dual Dragons lost theirs, OA wasn't happy with how his track turned out, and PacificPoem has been unresponsive.

Secondly, I got interest from Eino and Sagnewshreds in keeping on refining their work.  I have contacted all others who had a claim, but no response - so any other claim will get freed up.

Thirdly, a massive thanks to Artem Bank ( @redshojin ) for not only taking on Boundless Ocean, but getting a full track and WAV prepared in less than a week!

Nevertheless, if you the web surfer - yes, you - is interested in claiming a track and can do so in the space of the next 6-8 weeks, send a PM to me in the Discord, or here in the forums if you don't have a Discord account.  I share my sentiment with the artist collective on board with letting it see the light of day

Wow, listening to this in a vacuum, I felt the orchestration sounded fantastic!  The instruments sound clear, the brass is well articulated, and there's some excellent care to dynamics and stereo placement for the other parts.  The crazy chord writing and moments where it changed to 6/8 time signature breakdowns gave me those Phantasy Star Online vibes brought up in the comments, and combined with the more melodic parts of the original sections, it felt like a fun ride from start to finish.
But there is a problem with this, unfortunately, and that is source use.  Here's what I picked out:
0:06-0:15, 0:18-0:24 - transformed version of the arpeggiated piano (section A of Other Promise)
0:32-0:59 - melody as heard in Roxas's theme
1:40-2:07 - melody as heard in Roxas's theme
3:20-3:55 - melody as heard in Roxas's theme, then goes straight into the C section of Other Promise.
4:14-4:25 - Intro of both sources
After crunching numbers, I sensed only 40% of the track with source present.  I'm afraid in its current state I can't accept it based on that alone.
I do have some ideas on how to remedy it.  You can go over the original sections and figure out ways to add elements from the theme(s) in the background.  You can cut the original parts short, allowing for more emphasis on the source.  Or you could look at adding different Kingdom Hearts BGM as references into the original writing in a similar way to my first suggestion.  You don't need to take all of these ideas all at once, but I'll be very grateful if you do decide to revise it.
Honestly, production-wise, I admire the lengths taken to create something mesmerizing and powerful.  I hope you'll be able to revise it with more source content - it's one I'd love to see on the front page if you make those changes.

[EDIT: 2020/07/24 - After seeing Larry's timestamps, I compared them with my own.  First of all, wow - I am a complete tosspot for not catching the theme C section at 2:21.  Secondly, the main reason why I didn't count notes trailing off during the Roxas melody sections is that the notes in the original were 1/4 notes and were treated as such in the arrangement.  Thirdly, I couldn't hear the first soundalike section, but caught on to the third.  It's brought my stopwatching to over the 45% mark, which is already clutch territory as it is.  Thankfully, the production values and overall framework have supported the ideas, and I now feel barely confident in seeing it on the page.  Jamaal, this will definitely be a noteworthy debut - but I hope for future submissions, you should watch out for how the source spread goes.]

YES (borderline)

I'm impressed with how you used the sources. The framework essentially boils down to ideas from act 2, then act 1, then back to act 2 and act 1 with entirely new integration - which is a sweet way to explore the similarities and differences between both sources.  You allowed for transformations in the melodies to shape up this framework - and except for 22 seconds combined from the bookends, the VGM is present entirely, so no problems with dominance whatsoever.  The backing element integration got used straight, however, but as they are responsible for carrying the source through when melodies are absent, there was no need to change them up in the first place.
The production values aren't too shabby either.  The choice of instruments for the palette is excellent and appropriate for the crystalline direction.  The synths have some well-expressed envelopes and modulation as well, and the use of reverb is a fitting choice that compliments your sound choices.  Much like Wes, I also sensed mud going across your leads, so the idea of putting EQ on the reverb can give a lot more breathing room for your bells and mallets.  I can also argue that the synth leads are quieter in the mix than the chimes when it should ideally be the other way round, but whether this is an after-effect of the reverb use is hard to tell.
Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable and meaningful romp.  The source is more dominant than cars in a traffic jam, the transformations are engaging throughout, and the sound design has more pros than cons.  This track is a worthwhile sophomore effort and one I'll be happy to see on the front page.  Great job, Darren!

YES

Alright, I'm going to have to chime in on this one as well.

After Meteo stepped down, the duty of finishing this project had fallen into my hands.  I've made steps behind the scenes to make sure things will progress - gathering as many WAVs as possible, getting in touch with artists who had prior claims, and figuring out ways to get more tracks in.

As of right now, there are some updates to be done with the roster.  Firstly, all but three WAVS had been gathered together - the Dual Dragons lost theirs, OA wasn't happy with how his track turned out, and PacificPoem has been unresponsive.

Secondly, I got interest from Eino and Sagnewshreds in keeping on refining their work.  I have contacted all others who had a claim, but no response - so any other claim will get freed up.

Thirdly, a massive thanks to Artem Bank ( @redshojin ) for not only taking on Boundless Ocean, but getting a full track and WAV prepared in less than a week!

Nevertheless, if you the web surfer - yes, you - is interested in claiming a track and can do so in the space of the next 6-8 weeks, send a PM to me in the Discord, or here in the forums if you don't have a Discord account.  I share my sentiment with the artist collective on board with letting it see the light of day

Alright, I'm going to have to chime in on this one as well.

After Meteo stepped down, the duty of finishing this project had fallen into my hands.  I've made steps behind the scenes to make sure things will progress - gathering as many WAVs as possible, getting in touch with artists who had prior claims, and figuring out ways to get more tracks in.

As of right now, there are some updates to be done with the roster.  Firstly, all but three WAVS had been gathered together - the Dual Dragons lost theirs, OA wasn't happy with how his track turned out, and PacificPoem has been unresponsive.

Secondly, I got interest from Eino and Sagnewshreds in keeping on refining their work.  I have contacted all others who had a claim, but no response - so any other claim will get freed up.

Thirdly, a massive thanks to Artem Bank ( @redshojin ) for not only taking on Boundless Ocean, but getting a full track and WAV prepared in less than a week!

Nevertheless, if you the web surfer - yes, you - is interested in claiming a track and can do so in the space of the next 6-8 weeks, send a PM to me in the Discord, or here in the forums if you don't have a Discord account.  I share my sentiment with the artist collective on board with letting it see the light of day

Hi, I’m a remixer from Japan. This is my first submission. Thank you. Hassan A Nojo Hiroki Ando    (No website)  36035 Kirby’s Dream Land 3 Matango on Iceberg Iceberg I have dreamed of making a ‘mixture rock’ song with Kirby’s soundtracks.This remix contains rock, metalcore, heavy metal, pops, chiptunes etc.  
 

Just FYI everyone, the rendering errors were all on my end and had to do with issues with my Lynx card.  With the help of my computer-expert friend, I was able to solve that issue today, which is a huge weight off my shoulders as well as finally getting this track sounding the way it should!  It's a beautiful track and I enjoyed working on it!

I find it interesting that you used a small part of the source, yet made an engaging arrangement with very few seconds left bare.  With just this C section alone, you've used it with a modified chord structure for your leading hook, and a transformed snippet of the second half for the intro (0:06) and bridge (1:24).  I appreciate you keeping the minor key at 1:36 while letting the melody pass by, maintaining the tension for the prior bridge, and making the bass's LFO take prominence.  The second proper run-through at 2:00 also has some impressive sound design to keep it different from the first, with some call-and-response between a full groove and a pause from the percussion and bass.  No section feels stale, so by that merit alone, you nailed the arrangement.
The production values are high, too.  The palette has a playful selection of synths with varying processed effects, the parts got cleanly mixed in, and the effect envelope work is top-notch.   In my opinion, I would've wanted the melodies to be a touch louder so that they don't wrestle so much with the other effect work - but as careful synth shaping is the core aspect of the interpretation, it's nothing more than at nitpick in this case.  It did so much right that I'm happy to approve it on this front as well.
Nevertheless, it's considered a more "academic-style" mixpost - a study in both palette molding and how to arrange with only a small source fragment.  These ideas form a unique personality and stand as a memorable addition to your PC game initiative.  Let's go.

YES

Hey, I missed voting on this on the panel, just wanted to add that this is super cool and I like it a lot!

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)

Though you wanted your orchestration to sound menacing, I honestly felt a lot of bounce with the rhythms, and you might've unintentionally retained the goofiness behind that source - which is not a bad thing at all!  The interpretation's great - melodically straight-forward, but the theme adapted well to the style, and you have some manipulations with the opening on the strings at 0:15 (hard to hear thanks to the flute focus) and at 1:58.  I also appreciate the attention change to the male choir at 1:14 as a middle point between similar renditions at 0:29 and 2:13.  However, like everyone else, the problematic delayed syllables (1:16, 1:23) stuck out like a sore thumb.  That's something a five-minute fix can resolve.
The production values got me thinking hard about this one over the past few months since I first heard it in the queue.  The balance is on point - all volume levels are appropriate to the instruments' roles, and with how the male choir got presented at 1:14, I appreciate it being a background part for the other two theme run-throughs.   Truthfully, I would've preferred it getting cut from them both entirely to save some breathing room, but it's your call.  There's also a part at 1:43 where the strings and female choir play, but the similar frequencies caused them to bleed together.  It's something that'll be nice to hear get addressed, but no big problem if it gets left alone.
I also thought carefully about the articulation throughout.  Usage of these is an excellent example to demonstrate realism in an orchestrated backdrop, but the amount of staccato on display is very peculiar.  Can a live woodwind or brass player make so many short stabbed notes consecutively?  Possibly, provided there is room to breathe.  It's a non-issue in the theme variations as there are some half-second gaps for a virtual player to draw air, but the intro at 0:15 feels so constant a live flute player would struggle under those conditions.  It's still not a dealbreaker, but more of an observation and something that I hope you can look out for with future orchestrations - which at this point the overall quality has significantly improved over time.
Having said all this, I feel it's good to go - but provided the delayed syllables get fixed.  Regardless of what happens, I hope you've learned a lot from this experience, Alex - and I'm game to see where your orchestrations go next!

[EDIT: 2020/05/06 - I spoke with Alex this morning and learned that he lost the project file in a hard drive crash not long after he released the EP.  With there being a year long gap between release and addition to the queue, it feels rough to go through judgment without seeing it coming.  These things can't be helped, unfortunately, and as I can't see it on the front page as is, I'm going to have to flip my vote.  I still stand by what I said though - these orchestrations have really improved in quality, and I hope I get to hear more examples in the near future.]

NO

The virus hadn't done as much damage as I thought, but it's still done some rough rounds.

Prior to the outbreak, I had been trying to get a longer-term paid job with a strategy of doing volunteer work in my local area.  I was actually due to be an IT technician in my hometown's library on the day the lockdown got in place, and I'm sure the offer will still be there once restrictions get taken down.  As of right now, the only volunteer work still running are actually here in the remix community - judging everyone's music submissions to OCR, and the contributions to RadioSEGA as well.  As long as it keeps my mind sharp, that's all I can ask for.

Outside of here, I'm either hooked on Animal Crossing: New Horizons (or as I'd like to call it, "outdoor play simulator"), and I've also been one of those using Zoom to keep in touch with my family.  It's especially good for my father, as because of his suppressed immune system, he is forbidden from leaving the house at all.  The only time he'd ever head outside is to use the garage, and that's it.  Two of my family members had also contracted the virus, but are both recovering well and I am thankful for that. 

Anything else I mention here would go into what the UK in general had endured under the outbreak, so that's gonna be worth another thread on its own.  In the meantime, I'm doing well, and I aim to keep being proactive for as long as it takes x)

The virus hadn't done as much damage as I thought, but it's still done some rough rounds.

Prior to the outbreak, I had been trying to get a longer-term paid job with a strategy of doing volunteer work in my local area.  I was actually due to be an IT technician in my hometown's library on the day the lockdown got in place, and I'm sure the offer will still be there once restrictions get taken down.  As of right now, the only volunteer work still running are actually here in the remix community - judging everyone's music submissions to OCR, and the contributions to RadioSEGA as well.  As long as it keeps my mind sharp, that's all I can ask for.

Outside of here, I'm either hooked on Animal Crossing: New Horizons (or as I'd like to call it, "outdoor play simulator"), and I've also been one of those using Zoom to keep in touch with my family.  It's especially good for my father, as because of his suppressed immune system, he is forbidden from leaving the house at all.  The only time he'd ever head outside is to use the garage, and that's it.  Two of my family members had also contracted the virus, but are both recovering well and I am thankful for that. 

Anything else I mention here would go into what the UK in general had endured under the outbreak, so that's gonna be worth another thread on its own.  In the meantime, I'm doing well, and I aim to keep being proactive for as long as it takes x)

Oh god, this sounds soooooo broken.  My brain keeps wondering if my computer is about to blue screen.  I can see how this could be super irritating to some people.  But it's so ridiculously clean and well-balanced.  This track throws my brain off in such a wonderful way.   The sub booms in the intro are subtle and divine.  I absolutely love this.  Like, seriously love.  Smiling.  Thank you.
YES

Hey, thanks for the shoutout Rexy.  MnP, isn't quite doing well, but it's still trucking along.  Still, the vote of confidence brightened my day/night.