Upthorn

I suggest to use the shuffle feature of your mp3 player.

VGM is smaller and has less problems than GYM

One of many types of sounds which are commonly used in actual Genesis games. It's hard to come up with specific examples, but like I said, sustained tones, arpeggios, and solid percussion seem to have been signature elements to most compositions for those games. The sustained tones, especially, are lacking on that front. Because the whole point of having a xylophone is that it does not sound like a piano (or dulcimer, or harp, or trumpet, or violin, etc...), but it, instead, sounds like a xylophone. If you're going to use a xylophone to make it sound like a piano, why not simply use a piano? (Unless you plan to do it as a small segment in a larger xylophone piece) That is not the case, in this piece. In this piece, for the entire length, the genesis synth fails to produce sounds that provoke my memories of genesis music. In the same way that composing a five and a half minute piece for the piano, with a pianos musical strengths, weaknesses and playing styles in mind, and then playing it with no alteration on a guitar would detract from the charm of the guitar's sounds. Ironically, the only part which I felt made proper use of the NES sounds, is the one which was taken from the deliverance "dueling banjos" tune. (note that this part still made poor use of the Genesis synthesizer). The problem is not so much that the source material was transposed from SNES chip, or banjo to the NES + Genesis synths, it's that it was not sufficiently rearranged and interpreted to make good use of the instruments which "dueling consoles" was recorded on. I did not say that the cacophony precludes proper use of the NES and/or genesis synth sounds. I said that the it precludes proper emphasis on the "dueling consoles" concept, because in the tumult of sounds, it becomes difficult if not impossible to determine the origin of each particular sound. In dueling banjos, the listener can easily keep track of which banjo is which, and they're the same instrument. In dueling consoles, it is difficult to keep track of which is the NES and which is the Genesis, even during the call and response portions. During the loud parts with many different synth instruments, it is all but impossible. Partially because the genesis sounds were chosen to directly mimic the NES synth instruments, but also because there are many different musical parts all being played at once, so it becomes a din. I did, indeed mean cacophonous. and, while not true of the whole source, many segments could easily be described as "loud confusing disagreeable sounds" as in the definition of the word cacophony. The source, however, uses it to good effect. My review is trying to say that, in Dueling Consoles, Shnabubula made poor choice of genesis synth sounds, and took the wrong approach in translating the piece to nes+genesis chiptunes, with the result being that the piece fails to communicate its concept effectively. That said, about three/quarters of my complaints wouldn't apply if I hadn't read the writeup before I downloaded. And if I listen to it without thinking about what shnabubula said he was trying to do, or thinking about what a genesis ought to sound like, it's not half bad.

I don't like it. Here's why: NES games and Genesis games tend to have very different styles synth instruments, mostly as a result of the NES and Genesis having sound chips that operate in quite different manners. In this piece, the Genesis chip isn't producing any of it's trademark sounds. Rather, it's being made to reproduce NES and SNES trademark sounds. This is like making a xylophone sound like a piano. It may be possible, and it would be a great technical accomplishment. But it's a waste of a xylophone. I would actually go a step further and put forth that this composition does not really make good use of the NES as an instrument. It sounds like it was written and arranged for live instruments, and then transposed to NES & Genesis chip synths. This prevents it from really taking advantage of the charms of the retro sounds those chips produce. Additionally, the source tune is a bit too cacaphonous to allow proper emphasis of the dueling consoles concept (it becomes difficult to tell NES from Genesis at many points, and it's even harder to tell when they stop dueling and start cooperating). The overall effect is that the chiptune sounds have been reduced to a gimmick, which pales in comparison to the original SPC. I would really like to hear Shnabubula make a second offering of the NES + Genesis "dueling consoles", with a less frenetic source tune, and some of the signature Genesis type sounds in mind (strengths seem to be sustained tones, rapid arpeggios, and solid percussion). I think that could be truly great. Edit: I fully expect to be lynched for this opinion, but it is my honest opinion, and I have tried to make it as constructive as possible.

Actually, unless something goes horribly wrong, it should be more like http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00464/ (especially 0:00-0:27, and the part at 1:43-2:09 which repeats on and off through the rest of the song) Though, if both you and your partner are well versed in appreciation of music, it could be well worth developing an intimate knowledge of Wily and the Deep Forest.

While zircon undoubtedly deserves a zircmix, the more time that passes before that happens, the more entertaining the mix will become, as it will have more varied sound clips. I'd say give it a month or so longer. And then start asking.

Well, if those last three songs are each 90% done or more, there could be a much greater completion percent than just 24/27

Well, I just voted for VGDJ again this month.

Aww. I was hoping for Myf. Grr. Bah. I will never accept this new co-host!!! (Okay, that wasn't funny, but gimme a break, I just woke up, and it's before 9am even) But seriously, finally a new cohost, and one who's already got a good dynamic with pixietricks, awesome. Can't wait for the new shows.

I am very familiar with the importance of context in Japanese. I am also intimately familiar with the "[clothing]の[person]" type of construction, and my solution to maintain accuracy of translation both gramatically and spiritually would be something along the lines of "Business-suited Bin Ladin" But, by my knowledge, and your own example, "snowy countryside" would be 雪の田舎(yuki no inaka), whereas "田舎の雪" would come out to "countryside's snow" or "countrysidy snow". Also, I wasn't particularly criticising that phrasing, though the full Japanese translation of "snow that litters the countryside" would be 田舎をちらつく雪 (inaka wo chiratsuku yuki). Although this is irrelevant, because as I said in that post, "In the first line, most of these errors can be written off as artistic license in trying to fit the [Japanese] to the same rhythm as the English." What I was saying about の is that, while in English "of" could be left off before fall, in Japanese の cannot be left off after 秋 in that context. PS: mitsukeru in the correct tense as used in that line you mention, however "kangaeru dake" is an incorrect (inverted) usage of "dake", and rightly, it should be "'shioreta nozomi doko ni' dake (wo) kangaeru" or "kangaeru mono wa tada 'shioreta nozomi doko ni'"

Sorry about that. I should have explained better. I brought up Drum in the thread (as a suggestion), because I figured a lot of other people would probably be having the same idea, and if there was some reason he wouldn't be suitable, it would be better to quell the idea in the thread rather than having to explain individually to each person who PMs suggesting him. In hindsight, though, it would have been better just to PM you suggesting you explain that stuff in thread. I really am sorry, and I really didn't mean to cause trouble.

True, he would be the first host who's never had a mix on OCR, but he would only be the third male host ever. Though, I was wondering precisely what pixie meant by musically experienced. And that would certainly be an explanation. And I hereby end my participation in discussing this topic in-thread.

Seriously, if there's not a class scheduling conflict or such, I'd suggest DrumUltima. I mean, he's right there, he has a talent for spontaneous humor, he seems reasonably on top of the community, and his call-ins have shown good confidence and stage presence. (I know pixie asked for suggestions to be PMed to avoid drama and whatnot, but I'm having trouble seeing this suggestion being very controversial.)

I actually like it better for its imperfect quality. I think it helps capture the feeling of that night.

Okay. I've figured out how to say what I was trying to explain earlier. This song is not meant to be a demonstration of talent. The amount, or lack, of talent displayed here does not reflect on the remixers. This song is an expression of joy, and love for the community. When someone tells you "You make me happy I'm really glad you're in my life I love you." Would you really take them to task for the run-on sentence, or any slight mispronunciations they make? Because that's the equivalent of most of the unfounded negative comments I'm seeing here. This song is (unlike most of the other songs here) not meant to be of professional quality. It's just supposed to be good fun. It's like going to the discussion thread for "Music of my groin" and saying: "Vocals are clearly off-key. Sloppy guitar work. Poor recording quality. 0/10." It only demonstrates that you completely missed the point. Any problems with the performance are irrelevant to the success of this mix. Whether or not it made you happy to listen to is all that's important. It made me smile and chuckle a bit. If it didn't do that for you, fine. But it wasn't intended to be fine art, and you shouldn't have expected it to be if you read the lyrics. So don't act like the mixers tried and failed to make a masterwork. Because they weren't trying to, and they didn't fail at their goal. Edit: See. This guy gets it.

Edit: Added stuff on the top so the Recent Comments" bit (scroll up from the link) wouldn't make it looks like someone was hating on it. I enjoyed this mix greatly. The following is a quote. Your first mistake here, was making the pompous assertion that voice is not a real instrument. Voice is one of the most powerful, and most difficult instruments to learn, and requires much greater pitch discrepancy than any other instrument to use properly. This is because instruments that you play make notes in preset intervals. Voice has a greater freedom of range, but the tradeoff is that it requires impeccable precision to sing with notable skill. Your second mistake was completely missing the point. The mistakes were not left in because it was rushed to get out. The mistakes were left in for authenticity. This mix was not even planned before the meetup happened, and was 90% done the next morning. That's something special, and putting make up over it would kill its beauty and power. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=unthaw I don't think of it as rap. I think of it more as a lyric recitation. The important things there are feeling and clarity.

I LIKE the first verse better as Sandopolis act 2 references, though. 'Cause that's the zone right before Lava Reef.

Haha. Yeah. I love how they're direct references to the levels, though. Sandopolis, Lava Reef, hidden palace, Ice cap(!!) It's great. I could only catch the rather obvious Lava Reef references...What are the other zone references? Here are the references I could make out There's a cold wind through/This sea of sand/And the sun's gone down/On our parting hands (Sandopolis Act 2. Dark, cold colors, inside the pyramid) So darling please/Don't let me go/Tread lightly on this/Bed of snow. (Ice Cap?! Why is there a reference to Ice Cap? Was the rhyme built around "don't let me go" or "this bed of snow"?) There's a fire lit/So let's unthaw now (Lava Reef) Too cold and too far/We'll make it out somehow/We've turned to ice/And it's not our way to be (Act 2) So let the earth quake/And melt with me. (Boss) Through the coldest nights/And dawning day/I will wait for you/In our hideaway (Hidden Palace is in frozen lava reef. Dawning day could be a reference to beating Carnival Night, though) And our lips will meet/In the frozen air/When the shadows fall/I'll still be there. (If you think of this as a reference, the only possibility is that it's the boss fight vs Knuckles. Hillariously, it works rather well this way) When our emotions first ignited/It's like our hearts were never tired/My desires were set free/Was like a raging wildfire. (Angel Island? Or Lava Reef act 1?) But now that spark has grown dark/We're now just dying embers/Afraid I'll end up all alone/Within these cold Decembers. (Lava Reef act 2)

I see. Most of my knowledge of Japanese comes from translating anime as a hobby, so it's quite possible that he's been exposed to some non-dictionary vocabulary I haven't. "Musabi" was the only word that wasn't easily identified. Several of the mistakes I'm seeing could easily be the result of learning vocabulary 'by ear' instead of by book. (This could also explain "musabi", although I still have no idea what it's supposed to mean). [Edit]This could also easily be the result of 2chan's typos corrupting his written vocabulary.[/Edit] There is a very small chance that "musabi" is archaic, but none of the rest of the song is, and I can understand some classical Japanese, myself, so I'd guess there's a different source for that. (Maybe a word he's only seen in kanji?) There are also a few basic grammar errors (wo instead of ga, and vice versa), but those are much easier to make. The thing that I find interesting, considering that this translation was also done by Evilhead, is that Ocarina of Time 'Prayer' has far fewer problems like that, just one or two less commonly used words, and one "wo" where a "ga" should be.

I downloaded this song because of a comment someone made in the Lover Reef review thread about "no Japanese" this time. I really, really enjoyed the arrangement, and pixietricks can definitely sing damn well. But when it got to the part in Japanese... it hurt me. It hurt my heart. I was surprised at how few pronunciation problems there were, (although there were one or two, such as failing to hold a long vowel for the extra syllable length). No, what hurt me was the Japanese translation. While this is certainly far beyond the abilities of anyone I studied Japanese with in school, it still isn't good. I understand that certain liberties must be taken when trying to match the translation to a certain rhythm, however, most of these errors don't fall under that. let's compare for a moment I've underlined the errors and retranslated the lines as they are back into English. In the first line, most of these errors can be written off as artistic license in trying to fit the translation to the same rhythm as the English. (Although there is one grammar error: missing 'no' after aki). However, once we look at line two, things get a little less ... coherent. first problem is easy. "kotta" means stiffened. "kootta" means frozen. second problem: complete lack of any word meaning see, find, or anything. Third problem, mijime is a noun already, though "aware" would serve better. Problem four is the huge one. musabi is not a word. It is not a conjugation of any word I can find. It is not a plausible typo or mispronunciation of any conjugation of any word I can find in any dictionary. Then, "shiteta" should be "shitteta" and "dokoro" should be "tokoro". There's more, and I'd be happy to explain (especially to the person who did the original translation wants help making corrections, or just improving their knowledge). But I don't want to come off as overly critical, and I've spent far too long on this as it is.

Haha. Yeah. I love how they're direct references to the levels, though. Sandopolis, Lava Reef, hidden palace, Ice cap(!!) It's great.

Hahaha! Awesome! This mix made me smile. A lot. And the story behind it just makes it that much cooler. My only complaint is that Shonen's vocals aren't nearly up to the level of Pixie's in the first chorus. After that he's a bit more warmed up, though.

Why not say Hedgehog Heaven was bad? It had a couple cool tracks, but it was a bit of a disappointment. On the other hand, All the songs on this project should be of a quality to be accepted by the OCR judges panel, and I look greatly forward to its release.

Good God man, that's insane! At least he's alive. I hope he heals quickly.

I think that's pretty much a given. Well, y'know, I tend to operate on the principle that just because something is insanely, completely, blindingly obvious to me doesn't mean the other guy will have thought of it. Doubly so for large groups.