The Orichalcon

The XP trick in the mines is the single best place to level. You get over 60,000 xp for three characters in 2 minutes. You won't get that kind of efficiency anywhere else. Another good xp/time place is in Nabreus Deadland where the Bone Warriors generate (hidden area), you get 2,500 from each of them and there are about 40 of them in the area. So you can kill 120 before having to switch screens. It's good XP for lower levels, but it takes longer than the henne mines. Gambits you'll need are (top to bottom): Ally: any - Arise Enemy: Undead - Sleepga Enemy: Undead - Curaja Ally: any - Faith Ally: any - Curaja Ally: any - Hastega Also, equip a demon shield (from nabudis) and main gauche (dagger, sold in some places) to max your evasion to 74%. You won't be doing any attacking, so strong weapons mean nothing. The bats also drop demon shields. Edit: Forgot to say, Faith doubles magic potency. ie: it makes Curaja hit twice as hard.

There's a 3-way area in the second section of the mines (towards the last esper) that generates 20 or so of those nasty bats all at once when you flick the gate switch. You can set your characters up to cast sleepaga to put them all to sleep, then to cast curaga (holy magic harms them), three hits of 9,999 curaga will kill them all. That's 20 bats killed in 2 minutes for something like 3,500 xp each (I think), then you just run two screens and return to flick the switch again over and over. Faith, bubble and hastega on your party helps. Although eventually the chain level will max and you'll be picking up coins that'll cast protectga and shellga on your party.

99. I did the Henne Mines levelling trick. Also, I should point out that I only used Balthier, Vaan and Bash. Never levelled Ashe, Penelo or Fran. Never summoned a zodiac (except to open the Giruvegan door.) The fight is easy if you keep switching the Masamune/Genji Gloves combination between characters (and disabling everything other than attack and revive gambits.) You can usually get between 3-12 combo hits with those two equipped. And just keep the Ragnarok and Tournesol on the other characters. Lots of guides I've seen have people wielding really slow weapons in fights with Yiazmat which makes no sense. Since the damage is capped, you're better hitting 3+ times at 3,000 damage than once at 6,999. The only reason to switch weapons is that your MP eventually dies down on the two other characters as they take the job of healing, casting bubble etc. The Masamune hits hard and fast so it regenerates HP for the hitter pretty fast, then you just keep switching it to whoever needs MP.

Piano quality is below average. When you play the louder notes it clips something nasty. It'll never pass until that is fixed. The arrangement is pretty simple, but still sounds nice. Be more daring with the arrangement. Add more than just strings, woodwind and piano for the first 2 minutes. The harp was a nice touch. But things remain too simple from there on out. The mix is too long for so little arrangement. NO

So you took the source and made it into a pseudo-rock song with a generic beat, repeating the main melody from the source over and over again with the strings/synth dominating the guitar the majority of the mix. Things pick up at the end when Sixto does his thing, but his solo has nothing to do with the source, what's the deal? Larry has a word for this kind of remix, I can't remember what it is. Where the source is used conservatively and then original material is used to solidify the piece instead of rearrangement. My main problem with the piece is the arrangement. The beat is generic rock. 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, right the way through. I think that could be switched up at times to give it a more interesting twist. Drums shouldn't just be there to keep the beat, they have to be interesting too. The arrangement could probably slip by, but I would have liked to have seen it used more intelligently. The source was a sad, tragic piece that made use of each string note to give it that mood. I'll say NO for now, I think this could be better.

Good ending episode to the season. The Snuke probably gets my "favourite of the first half"

ugh, Karl I didn't know you were going to post the VIDEO link here. I'm gonna have to take it down before it sucks up my entire limit for the month. Sorry! Maybe someone who's downloaded it will rehost it for you. Link to the mp3 in the meantime: http://members.iinet.net.au/~barberoz/Kunst_Na_Arbeid_Accordian_Orchestra_-_Salsa.mp3

Drums stand out immediately as a major problem. They're buried in the mix, and I mean they're six feet under. I can barely hear them, and when I can they just aren't the right sound for this kind of mix. You need something heavier, rather than the room-reverb kit you're using at the moment. I'm struggling with this one. There are some great elements in the mix that I'm enjoying a lot. The guitar is just great, and I mean great. Good tone, good playing, well placed in the mixing. I'm "getting" the references and liking it. But the rest of the mix doesn't gel to the guitar well. The drums I've already addressed, but I know there's other stuff in the mix and I couldn't honestly tell you what they are or what they're playing. They just don't add anything substantial. I think I'll wait to hear more comments from other judges on this one before I finish my vote. I'm just not entirely sure with this one at the moment, or what could possibly be done to make it OCR-worthy.

Powerful and enjoyable. Could it be better? Of course it could. It's not the best or most realistic orchestral arrangement. But I enjoyed it. The production is good enough, the arrangement is great. You could ask for more, but it's good enough to pass as it is. YES

Very liberal arrangement, and minimalistic at that. From what I under of D&B, the power comes from the drums and the bass. You have no power in either drums or bass here. There are small references to the source at the beginning of the mix. The section from 1:07-1:35 was all right, but it didn't reference the source at all. Finally we get a proper reference to the source at 1:36, although it sounds more like dysfunctional clown music (not necessarily a bad thing.) The mix just sounds unclean and messy overall. It could definitely be produced better. The arrangement could glue together more solidly, rather than sounding like random segments one after another. You're right that the vibraphone with the piano at the end of the mix (from 2:53) was the best part. That part is very nice to listen to. However, it is important to notice that it's a note-for-note cover of the source apart from the very end. It'll need a lot more work to pass the panel. NO

Luckily I have the Hocus Pocus soundtrack on my computer. Fancy sending a link to a youtube video as the source. Source: http://www.doulifee.com/prc/TheOrichalcon/Hocus_Pocus_-_Danger.mid Drum machine mix. This might be groovy to play as a live performance for fun, but it comes across as rather basic and unfinished as a finalised remix. Beyond that, I'd go as far as saying this is pretty much just a cover of the mix. The melody that kicks in at 1:12 plays the same note patterns, just with shifted keys. Even the little breakdown melody at 1:31 is identical. The keychange at 2:31 was a nice touch. But once again the only thing that's changing in this mix is the key, it's still the same thing over and over. Don't get me wrong, this is still an enjoyable, groovy piece. I'm a fan of these kinds of mixes myself and I'll be keeping this one on my playlist. I imagine it would have passed back in the '00 and '01 OCR days. It's similar to an Ultima remix we had rejected here a while back. It's enjoyable, but it just doesn't fly under OCR's strict standards and guidelines on arrangement. NO

Great ambient stuff by ambient. Great drum programming by.. Skrypnyk? That came out of the blue! Way to go from zero to hero in 4 minutes and 20 seconds! Great piece. It's different to what I'd normally expect from this sort of track. Experimental is the word that leaps to mind. The stutter goes a bit over the top for my tastes. But it sounds pretty cool and people will either love it or accept it like I do, because the track is just that good. I also agree with zircon that it's refreshing to hear a take on Schala's Theme that isn't a near-cover. I wouldn't say it's too liberal. The theme is apparent right from beginning to end, the mixer(s) have simply reduced the reliance on a melodic lead and let the sad strings melody slowly work its way through. Very effective and enjoyable. As a side note, from the title I was expecting this to be a Ska remix of the theme. I'm actually relieved that it wasn't. YES

FOX and SKY News Australia are reporting 32 confirmed including the gunman. What's sad is the way the gunman supposedly lined them up execution style, and how he waited 2 hours between his first kill and the second massacre. That takes a really sick mind. People talk about being grief-stricken and temporary insanity. But the fact that he waited 2 hours between killing gave him time to calm down and become rational. This sounds more like just a cold-blooded and pre-meditated murder rampage. I'm interested in hearing how he was taken down as well. I love hearing about retribution on people like this.

Sounds are quite thin through a rather empty mix. While the fluctuating frequency on the lead synth sounds nice. You really need to build this sort of electronic remix up to something more complex and daring or it just sounds blande and beginnerish. I don't recognise the drumloop as easily as Larry, It doesn't work as a loop, but if you beefed up the set and gave it a proper drum arrangement, it'd sound all right for this type of mix. Either way, not enough work. As Larry said, it's generally the same thing over and over with the background changing from time to time. NO

Guitar is great once it gets going. The drums are absolutely horrendous though. They're so basic rock-kit. Especially when the snare hits start getting abundant. You can really tell it's just the same sample smacking over and over with no alteration in strength or pitch. The kick, toms and cymbals are all basic and buried in the back of the mix as well. As good as the guitar is in this. The mix just feels unfinished. It just ends at 2:46 and I'm like "... and?" At least shape a proper finish if you can't be bothered working on another section. As for the arrangement. It's pretty much a direct cover bar one unique lead towards the beginning of the mix. I'd recommend going your own way with further rearrangement if you decide to pursue this further. NO

Having a look at the mp3 in cool edit, the majority of the mix is sitting around roughly -11dB, with only the major percussion hits peaking at 0dB. I'd recommend perhaps compressing, or at least limiting your percussion and then boosting the master channel as close to 0db as you can. Right now the mix is great, but it's very quiet in the context of other sounds and music. My vote stands from the original decision, on the proviso that the volume is fixed. The arrangement is fine and so is the rest of the production. YES (Proviso)

I haven't seen 300 yet, so I can't really comment. But it seems like it was more of an homage than a parody. ie: they were just doing the style because they liked it, not because they were trying to parody it the way they parodied 24 a couple of weeks ago.

I don't really understand the ratings system here, how easy it would be to change such a thing. Australia's always had a problem with censorship. We need a new liberal government to swing in so we can get a less old-fashioned and less blindly-Christian stance on censorship. People's rights and such. If they'd simply allow 18+ games to sell in Australia, I'm sure they'd find they have a large target audience willing to buy. The problem is simply censorship. People in power with blind Christian ideals deciding what the rest of the country should and shouldn't be allowed to see/play/use. Sounds kind of like a nazi regime, doesn't it?

I think this arrangement could be a lot more daring. It's an overall good soundscape. But the instruments are only just barely tacking together to make a nice sound. Minimalistic is an understatement. I liked the swell at 3:18. Made a shiver run down my back. Borderline with this one. It could clearly be a lot better. While it sounds good overall, it'd benefit from more work on flushing out the arrangement. I'm gonna swing with Larry's vote on this one. See what else you can do to it and resubmit it. NO

Well played and interpretive. Production is fine. Enjoyable to listen to. I would've done away with the louder parts, they sound bad. The quieter parts remind me of the 'Bran Bal, Soulless Village' on the FF9 Piano Collections. My issue is with how many FF7 project pieces are passing lately. Is the whole project going to be posted to OCR, mix by mix? I mean, it's good that so many mixes from the project are OCR quality, but where's the line drawn. YES

I hate to butt in after leaving the comp, but may I suggest that ORC continues the text-results? The reviews are/were the best part of the competition.

Looks intriguing. 11 hours? Will check it out tomorrow.

New episode "Fantastic Easter Special", a good parody of the Da Vinci code.

I've never seen anyone in Perth wearing OCR material. Nor has anyone heard of the site when I've brought it up. I guess video game music doesn't really have a place in a community where video games barely even exist.

PM your votes to Doulifee. He's in complete charge of ORC as of this point. Anyone who sends votes to me will find them unaccounted. Sir Nuts - Faded Thoughts of a Morning Dreams Description: The song is complete, not a WIP (2:49). analoq - Xela's Crusty Sheets Description: this started out as a decent baroque/contrapunctal interpretation of Xela's main theme but it became a chore so i just wanted to finish it as soon as possible. worthwhile for me in it's own way, nonetheless.. this is a style i haven't visited in a loooong time. Chrono26 - Dreams not forgotten "The production on this one is kinda blah since i didnt have too much free time to work on it. i basically played with the chords and made a groove with the progression in double time. then i put lots of different stuff goin on underneath that. i think the arrangment is fun and i hope everyone enjoys."