What is wrong with people?

[Flexstyle]

Quite honestly, almost all the people I've showed any OCRemixes to have loved them almost immediately. I'm rather selective of which mixes I show off (or even listen to, lol), but all the ones I show off get great responses.

[PhiJayy]

Agreed, because in the end it doesn't matter where the music is FROM, but what the music IS.

Yep, yep, yep. This is what it comes down to. Or what it should come down to anyway.

Personally most of the time I really don't care who made the track or why?

If I like it: "Woo-hoo."

If I don't like it: "Trash."

But yeah overall. I agree with Mustin. Don't tell them its VG remixed music since more than likely they'll probably just shove it off to the side and miss out on the track completely..

[Imagist]

good lyrics =/= good music

ya I no

scratch that actually you are dumb you obviously don't understand quality lyrics you just like people sssssshredding on their geetars n bangin on their drums

(but really I was just refuting his argument that "pop songs are all trite crap about love" because that's blatantly untrue; of course the music has to have an enjoyable sound as well, I mean even if Will Sheff wrote Okkervil River songs like T. S. freakin' Eliot I wouldn't care unless he had the same group of awesome musicians rockin' out by his side)

[HideousBeing]

I'll just say, "It's a remix of some of Nobuo Uematsu's compositions" or whatever. They don't know the artist of course, and you just dismiss him as an avant-garde Japanese composer.

[Argle]

People are stupid.

[Bleck]

(but really I was just refuting his argument that "pop songs are all trite crap about love" because that's blatantly untrue; of course the music has to have an enjoyable sound as well, I mean even if Will Sheff wrote Okkervil River songs like T. S. freakin' Eliot I wouldn't care unless he had the same group of awesome musicians rockin' out by his side)

yes exactly

good music + good lyrics = win

good music + bad lyrics = win

bad music + good lyrics = just get out and don't come back

bad music + bad lyrics =

ARRRGH

[Imagist]

now that's not entirely true, BAD lyrics can ruin a song too, but if it's something like Daft Punk or Justice then I'm not going to be overly concerned if the lyrics are just mediocre throw-aways

[Kanthos]

When I listen to my father's classical music, I have a hard time following it, simply because I am not used to listening to melodies that don't repeat themselves after a couple of seconds. You have to learn how to listen to classical music before you can appreciate it, and I think it's the same for videogame music.

It may take time to appreciate video game music, but for very different reasons. Ignoring the more modern game scores that are very heavily classically-influenced (which fall under your point about listening to classical music), the main complaint is sound quality. Many video game tunes aren't any more complex than your average pop tune; the difference is it was often written for primitive audio hardware, not real instruments (or realistic samples), and that there are no vocals (which shouldn't, but does, scare some people off).

Remixes on the other hand are a different story since most of the remixes here are in other established genres. Barring chiptunes, there's not a whole lot of OCR's catalog that doesn't fit in with something more mainstream.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

How do you "learn to listen" to certain music anyway?

It's always seemed to me that if it sounds good, then I'll listen to it. I didn't have to go through some arduous process of "learning" how to listen to classical, VG, or any other type of stuff.

Is this a recognized idea?

[Kanthos]

How do you "learn to listen" to certain music anyway?

It's always seemed to me that if it sounds good, then I'll listen to it. I didn't have to go through some arduous process of "learning" how to listen to classical, VG, or any other type of stuff.

Is this a recognized idea?

Not sure about recognized or not, at least in an academic sense. It's not about learning to listen in the fundamental sense of having sound waves enter your ears; it's more about being able to appreciate a genre, composer, or artist despite not liking them in the past. I've often returned to bands I didn't like in the past to find that I appreciate them a few years later.

Sometimes, at least for me, it's also been about understanding the music. I almost always appreciate a piece more if I can see themes introduced at the start of the piece and developed later. So if there is "learning" involved, it's maybe developing my musical memory enough to the point that after listening to a piece a few times, I can make those kinds of connections.

[John Revoredo]

Agreed, because in the end it doesn't matter where the music is FROM, but what the music IS.

I second that.

[Palpable]

How do you "learn to listen" to certain music anyway?

It's always seemed to me that if it sounds good, then I'll listen to it. I didn't have to go through some arduous process of "learning" how to listen to classical, VG, or any other type of stuff.

Is this a recognized idea?

Not sure about recognized or not, at least in an academic sense. It's not about learning to listen in the fundamental sense of having sound waves enter your ears; it's more about being able to appreciate a genre, composer, or artist despite not liking them in the past. I've often returned to bands I didn't like in the past to find that I appreciate them a few years later.

Sometimes, at least for me, it's also been about understanding the music. I almost always appreciate a piece more if I can see themes introduced at the start of the piece and developed later. So if there is "learning" involved, it's maybe developing my musical memory enough to the point that after listening to a piece a few times, I can make those kinds of connections.

Yeah, you can definitely learn to like music, though I'm not sure it's something there's a standard process for. Maybe understanding is a better term, like Kanthos says. I used to hate rap when I was younger. Then at some point in my life, after hearing it so much on the radio and all, I started to like certain rap songs. Strangely then, when I'd hear old rap songs I used to hate, it felt like I was hearing them for the first time, and I even started to really like some of them. I finally understood the underlying appeals of rap.

If you've never had a knee-jerk dislike of a genre, I'd say count yourself lucky.

[Mirby]

If memory serves, Liberi Fatali was played during the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Anyways, I've tested this theory myself. I've played some game music before (without telling the people it was game music) and let them listen. They liked it for background music, or ambience if you will. But when I told them what it was they freaked out. Meh, if you truly love music, you'll listen to anything. And video game music is the best because it has so many varied styles, depending on the situation and the composer and the game. It is massively more varied than other music. Granted, I still listen to other music, but VGM is by far my favorite kind of music.

[Ray Falling]

How do you "learn to listen" to certain music anyway?

It's always seemed to me that if it sounds good, then I'll listen to it. I didn't have to go through some arduous process of "learning" how to listen to classical, VG, or any other type of stuff.

Is this a recognized idea?

Well, I remember there being courses on how to listen to classical music.

Liking a song is one thing, but understanding what a song is trying to tell is a whole other thing.

Opera is another example. If one doesn't understand opera, there's hardly any point listening to it.

And trance is also more than just *bass bass bass*, yet that is still how most people see it anyway.

Each genre has things that people should be listening to in order to appreciate it. Things that define the genre in the first place.

In the case of game remixes: game soundtracks are made with a purpose too. Most of them to set a mood for certain themed levels. Remixing allows people to use more realistic sounding instruments, making the songs sound more like other existing genres.

I had another point but I forgot haha... u_u;

[yangfeili]

Each genre has things that people should be listening to in order to appreciate it. Things that define the genre in the first place.

In the case of game remixes: game soundtracks are made with a purpose too. Most of them to set a mood for certain themed levels. Remixing allows people to use more realistic sounding instruments, making the songs sound more like other existing genres.

That reminds me a bit of a post I just made on GameFAQs with regards to the Gurumin soundtrack (which needs some mixes, now!!!):

The more I listen to it, I think I'm starting to figure out what sets Falcom's soundtracks apart. A lot of other companies, while they do indeed have good soundtracks, they've drifted into sounding more and more like "movie style" soundtracks. Stuff like MGS, or Final Fantasy.

Whereas Falcom has continued to practice and advance the style of "video game music," which has its own unique rules and requirements which are a bit different than soundtracks for the film medium. It's got to be short and loopable; it has to fulfill the paradox of being catchy while at the same time avoiding being distracting or annoying. Falcom has taken these "limitations" and perfected them into an art form.

[Gollgagh]

AH, that's right.

I've been meaning to get Gurumin for a while.

Thanks for reminding me.

[Sir_Snooze]

If memory serves, Liberi Fatali was played during the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Anyways, I've tested this theory myself. I've played some game music before (without telling the people it was game music) and let them listen. They liked it for background music, or ambience if you will. But when I told them what it was they freaked out. Meh, if you truly love music, you'll listen to anything. And video game music is the best because it has so many varied styles, depending on the situation and the composer and the game. It is massively more varied than other music. Granted, I still listen to other music, but VGM is by far my favorite kind of music.

VGM is epic to me because it speaks to my childhood. I've just introduced a buddy to F-ZERO's soundtrack and we're already going through looking to write scores for a Bill Chase-esque Mute City. To me, music is fairly new - in fact, I hated music with a passion until a trumpet got rammed into my face. Now, I love it.

Music to me is hard to explain in a definition form. For one, I do not feel that music is in a jingle. Music has to have some appreciable length, or else it's a clip or a sound-byte. I also think that music is fundamentally tonal. As in, street noise is not music.

I love VGM because it allows the remixer to express how they want a song embedded in their mind. Some people (djp, to name a great example) have taken F-ZERO electronic, and I've heard Fire Field in a rough chamber form. VGM, by its limitations opens up the musician to an infinite world of mixing.

That said, I also do love the jazz. And classical. And I won't apologize for that. I don't claim to understand the composer's message all the time (or the soloist), but I relate it to my own feelings. For example, when I was writing a part of a unit that I compiled (for school), I added the 'March to the Gallows' by Berlioz to the presentation. Now, I associate it with Kemel Araturk's struggle for Turkish independence. I don't know the 'meaning', but to me it immediately conjures up Turkey.

That's my take, anyway. And that's why I love VGM - the music brings up childhood memories and I write some sheet music with pals to express those memories.

[Ray Falling]

That said, I also do love the jazz. And classical. And I won't apologize for that. I don't claim to understand the composer's message all the time (or the soloist), but I relate it to my own feelings. For example, when I was writing a part of a unit that I compiled (for school), I added the 'March to the Gallows' by Berlioz to the presentation. Now, I associate it with Kemel Araturk's struggle for Turkish independence. I don't know the 'meaning', but to me it immediately conjures up Turkey.

That's my take, anyway. And that's why I love VGM - the music brings up childhood memories and I write some sheet music with pals to express those memories.

I can relate to that.

I don't always understand the message either (the same goes for film) I just know there is quite often something deeper in music/movies/games that can take one from "I just liked it" to "ZOMG that has SOME depth!".

Back to the part I can relate to: I too relate music to my own memories and feelings. It enables me to store and re-live special moments in life (be they good or bad) in greater detail. All I have to do is hear the song again.

We can make something of a song that has nothing to do with the original intention of the artist. Which is, I guess, the reason why remixing here is such a big deal