Zelda: LATIN INSPIRED GERUDO VALLEY by Sweendrix

[Sweendrix]

Along with Photos of my band...of me...my life...and Woodstock 99. (I was a young buck...lol...17)

[Sweendrix]

The Zelda Song Remixed here is "Oracle of the Sun - Part 2 - Passing Through Gerudo Valley" by Sweendrix (John Sweeney)

Includes photos of my band, my life, and woodstock 99. (I was a young buck...lol..17)

[Sweendrix]

I just want to say that I have great respect for the judging process here. It's tough, and I like tough. Really pushes the emphasis on quality. Unfortunately, all I have is a PODXT live, a guitar, and my computer.

After just a few short months, my Zelda - Oracle of the Sun series has already:

1. Has been downloaded 237,000 times (and the average per day is increasing)

2. Has shown up on user and commercial websites in at least 4 countries.

(by googling sweendrix)

3. Has a high level of positive feedback.

4. Has been rejected by OCremix.

These numbers would make most lazy, including myself. But OCRemix is giving me the motivation to improve it even more, even though I am a complete amateur at audio engineering. (I can play the guitar though!)

Tips...MAKE SURE YOU FINISH BEFORE SUBMITTING! (I learned this the hard way)

Maybe "Gerudo Valley" (from the Oracle of the Sun series) will make it...

http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=391

[Sweendrix]

Maybe I should sample other people's work more often? I haven't sampled anyone's work and seem to have no luck. It would probably be easier that way.

[Harmony]

Maybe I should sample other people's work more often? I haven't sampled anyone's work and seem to have no luck. It would probably be easier that way.

Don't whine about it man, just improve like you said you would. I'd start with that drum loop...c'mon man, it's a 4-bar loop that repeats through the entire thing. Even an excellent loop wouldn't stand up to that kind of abuse.

[DarkeSword]

Don't look at 237,000 downloads of a song as an indicator of anything more than promotion. You'll get a quarter of a million people to download an MP3 of a cow farting if you promote it enough. Not saying your music sounds anything like that; it's pretty good actually, but you get my point.

Also, you already made a thread about your Gerudo Valley remix. Please stop making multiple threads about your mixes.

[Meteo Xavier]

1. Has been downloaded 237,000 times (and the average per day is increasing)

2. Has shown up on user and commercial websites in at least 4 countries.

(by googling sweendrix)

3. Has a high level of positive feedback.

None of those mean squat, the sad fact is. You can find virused software with equally high numbers of download and high marks (though they are fake in this context) too. Numbers and marks a remix does not make.

4. Has been rejected by OCremix.

So? Even Big Giant Circles got a mix rejected a few months ago. I'd think it silly to go on a quest to find any of our more prominent remixers who have never been rejected.

Tips...MAKE SURE YOU FINISH BEFORE SUBMITTING! (I learned this the hard way).

How do you even do something like that? You didn't finish it and you submitted it anyway? I'm confused.

[jabond23]

Exactly, people will download ANYTHING, and its terrible that sometimes the good downloads never even get noticed.

I use just a Toneport UX1 for recording my guitar, and my guitar is a beginners guitar that i got almost 10 years ago! I wish i could actually afford to get even a decent guitar, but i'm more than happy with the way my sounds and records. The Toneport UX1 is made by Line 6, just like your PODXT. You probably even use Gearbox or Pod Live (whatever the software is called) to record your guitar. I've submitted multiple tracks to the good judges here and all of them rejected. I'm still not complaining about it. Its sucks, but OCR is looked at as being the highest quality. I'm hoping one day one of my mixes will be up to that standard. You could be the greatest guitar player in the world, but if your arrangement, production, and mixing is terrible you'll never see it posted on here.

I love the sound i get out of my Toneport. I would even go as far as saying its almost professional quality. Of course, this is considering i only spent $99 to get everything i need to record my music.

This is my last remix that i did and i plan on submitting very soon after i hear back about my NES Zelda mix: http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=392 It took a lot of time and energy to get this just right, and with help from fellow OCR peeps. Learning the whole process of recording a track takes a loooooong time. I've been learning for almost 2 years now and i'm just about where i wanna be.

[Nabeel Ansari]

1. Has been downloaded 237,000 times (and the average per day is increasing)

2. Has shown up on user and commercial websites in at least 4 countries.

(by googling sweendrix)

3. Has a high level of positive feedback.

4. Has been rejected by OCremix.

Tips...MAKE SURE YOU FINISH BEFORE SUBMITTING! (I learned this the hard way)

1. Dude, just because people download doesn't mean every single person has the mindset of a judge. Most of the people probably downloaded cuz they just thought it was cool.

2. I'm not sure what to say... same as number 1.

3. Well that may be the only legit reason you could be ticked off at rejection.

4. If they gave you tips, use the tips they gave you. Then they won't reject it next time.

I'm not sure if anything unfinished qualifies as submission material. xD

Never say "Always the next submission" or "Just good enough to make the cut"

because

1. Who cares if there's the next submission? Whatever the hell happened to THIS SUBMISSION?!

2. Don't make it "just good enough to make the cut" and stop working on it, make it as good as you possibly can! Otherwise, even if it gets accepted, when you get more experience you'll look back and say "jeez why didn't I do *so and so*?"

[Sweendrix]

Not pissed...I'm really just trying to point out that a song should not be rejected because of technical reasons or because a drum loop repeats. Did anyone notice the time signature of the song changing from the original? NOPE. What i'm saying is...repeating musical ideas are noted in the history of music. The Legend of Zelda IS A REPEATING MUSICAL IDEA...so is a song called CANON...and so on and so on.

I'm just saying that rejecting a mix because it repeats a musical idea is stupid. And by the way...I haven't promoted any of the Zelda stuff I've done. As a matter of fact, I was invited to submit it for Rock Band 3. (Gerudo Valley)

I'm just making a statement here...about the judging process. It's too rigid. Not everyone appreciates the same music...and I think that's something that the Judge's miss. There are plenty of good songs on this site being rejected for all the wrong reasons...

To anyone making music for the masses...remember this quote...

"Not everyone is a musician...Not everyone is gonna care that you slid in 8 32nd notes over 9/8 8/8 7/8 time signature...mostly...they are just gonna remember how they feel when listening to it."

[Sweendrix]

I'm not pissed about the rejections....seriously.

So...about this software you speak of. Where can I find it? LOL...

Cheers

None of those mean squat, the sad fact is. You can find virused software with equally high numbers of download and high marks (though they are fake in this context) too. Numbers and marks a remix does not make.

So? Even Big Giant Circles got a mix rejected a few months ago. I'd think it silly to go on a quest to find any of our more prominent remixers who have never been rejected.

How do you even do something like that? You didn't finish it and you submitted it anyway? I'm confused.

[Sweendrix]

I didn't promote it at all actually. Just signed on one day to find out that everybody and their mom in Japan was downloading my Gerudo Valley remix.

Don't look at 237,000 downloads of a song as an indicator of anything more than promotion. You'll get a quarter of a million people to download an MP3 of a cow farting if you promote it enough. Not saying your music sounds anything like that; it's pretty good actually, but you get my point.

Also, you already made a thread about your Gerudo Valley remix. Please stop making multiple threads about your mixes.

[Sweendrix]

I just wanted to point out one other thing...

There is quite a bit of stuff on the site that is completely sampled from other works...with no original work being applied (in some cases). No performance whatsoever. Then I get drilled for having a drumbeat that I personally created...along with completely original guitar parts (not sampled)...

All this while upwards of 90 percent of people who have heard the song have given positive feedback...

Just seems kinda shallow to me....MAYBE I SHOULD JUST COPY AND PASTE ESTABLISHED MUSIC...why even mix it? Isn't that where your heading? Seems that way. Then again...I came from the old school...I was mixing at 13 years old on DATs and Tascam D88s. There was a warmth and feeling to music in those days...that's no longer present. But hey...we can create songs with the push of a button these days right?

[Rozovian]

Dude, your guitar work is great. Give the drums a fraction of that attention and you shouldn't have much problem getting a mix on ocr.

As for the completely sampled stuff... care to give an example?

[Nabeel Ansari]

Sweendrix, just because your drumbeat is a good musical idea doesn't mean you can just copy and paste it. It's not that simple.

You need to create a performance, and a guy doing the exact same thing on drums is no performance.

I just wanted to point out one other thing...

There is quite a bit of stuff on the site that is completely sampled from other works...with no original work being applied (in some cases). No performance whatsoever. Then I get drilled for having a drumbeat that I personally created...along with completely original guitar parts (not sampled)...

All this while upwards of 90 percent of people who have heard the song have given positive feedback...

1. You're exaggerating. QUITE A BIT. Too much to ignore.

If no original work is applied, I'm pretty sure it gets rejected. So I don't think there are any works with no original content anywhere on this site.So, as Rozo said, example please?

"Then I get drilled for having a drumbeat that I personally created...along with completely original guitar parts (not sampled)..."

I read the board, and that is not what they told you.

Larry said not to have the drums on cruise control for the whole song. That means not the exact same drumbeat over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and so on. Keep variety in the way the drummer does things. Make him interact with the song.

And as for your "along with completely original guitar parts" comment that's also something that you misunderstood. Larry said you shouldn't just make a bunch of ideas and stretch it out for seven whole minutes. He didn't say you didn't have any original arrangement. You should make the arrangement as one whole idea made of ideas.

"I'm just saying that rejecting a mix because it repeats a musical idea is stupid"

There comes a time when it's repeated too often and we have a word for that:

"Repetitive."

Just seems kinda shallow to me....MAYBE I SHOULD JUST COPY AND PASTE ESTABLISHED MUSIC...why even mix it? Isn't that where your heading? Seems that way. Then again...I came from the old school...I was mixing at 13 years old on DATs and Tascam D88s. There was a warmth and feeling to music in those days...that's no longer present. But hey...we can create songs with the push of a button these days right?

You seem to feel pretty strong about your opinion that OCR's standards are loose enough to slip by with no effort.

Care to share why? Sharing is caring.

[jabond23]

Dude, your guitar work is great. Give the drums a fraction of that attention and you shouldn't have much problem getting a mix on ocr.

As for the completely sampled stuff... care to give an example?

EXACTLY!! I can't tell you how many mixes i've had rejected from the J's. But that's why this WIP forum is here. I can't believe how bad some of my early mixes, from about a year ago, that i ACTUALLY submitted. Now i can actually tell the difference between good and bad in terms of production, mixing, and writing/arrangement. Sometimes i spend a good quarter of my recording process just programming the drums. Having an awesome drum beat really helps bring a mix together.

[rig1015]

OMG Sweendrix are you still dickin' around with this track!!! Give me your stems and I'll do your drums!!! (j/k) Naw cereal-lee though... I'm just too eager to hear what you'd call a finished product.

Oh,

& while I do agree with Neblix about making a performance, (so remember Neblix I AGREE) if your drums are good enough and make you mix sound tight, people shouldn't notice if you're copying and pasting... what the hell do you think 80% of Electronica is (in the drum section).

[Nabeel Ansari]

OMG Sweendrix are you still dickin' around with this track!!! Give me your stems and I'll do your drums!!! (j/k) Naw cereal-lee though... I'm just too eager to hear what you'd call a finished product.

Oh,

& while I do agree with Neblix about making a performance, (so remember Neblix I AGREE) if your drums are good enough and make you mix sound tight, people shouldn't notice if you're copying and pasting... what the hell do you think 80% of Electronica is (in the drum section).

OBJECTION!!

OCRemix has songs, not trance loops. You shouldn't really compare OCR standards to what's in mainstream. XDDDD

[rig1015]

OBJECTION!!

OCRemix has songs, not trance loops. You shouldn't really compare OCR standards to what's in mainstream. XDDDD

OMG! You are so funny when you wanna be.

[Lord Exor]

Gotta love drama.

[Sweendrix]

Gerudo Valley Remix with images of my life. (Including Woodstock 99...I was 17)

[Sweendrix]

Gerudo Valley Remix with images of my life. (Including Woodstock 99...I was 17)

Trust me when I say: "I know that I suck at using looping software"...however...I also know that while I consider drums to be the most important element of music, I know that they are not always the driving force of a song. That's all I'm trying to say.

With that said...

Maybe someone familiar with drum looping software could help me out? I no longer have access to a good drummer...and I am not familiar with looping software to bring out all the dynamics in the rythm section that I would like to...

Prior to OCRemix I had always had real drums in my songs.

Example:

The Breakdown:

[Sweendrix]

Yes...it is repetitive...the drumbeat does go on and on and on and on.

To understand what I was trying to say...why don't you fire up a classic version of the original "Legend of Zelda" and tell me what the overworld theme does.

I'll give you a hint... It repeats...over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

The Crazy thing is...that the song doesn't get annoying...it grows on you. Try leaving my track in the cd player for a few repeats. It will grow on you. (At least that what's i've been told)

I'm not saying that my song is god's gift to songwriting or remixing...I'm just saying that the reasons I have been told it was rejected...are a lot of the same reasons MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY people have told me they love it...that it's soothing...driving...and epic...all at the same time.

As for loops...

Listen to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" ...and you will hear a very repetitive loop. Then again...this album is said to line up with "The Wizard of Oz" perfectly. So I'm sure there is a reason they kept the loop going even though it could have gotten a little repetitive.

Wouldn't it be crazy...if I used my knowledge of TIMECODE from my work as a Video Professional, coupled with 33,331 frames of an EXTENDED PRE RENDERED cut scene from "OCARINA OF TIME" to sync my 18:31.01 second Zelda Tribute up perfectly to what's going on...on the screen?

Now...that would be awesome. CHEERS!

Sweendrix, just because your drumbeat is a good musical idea doesn't mean you can just copy and paste it. It's not that simple.

You need to create a performance, and a guy doing the exact same thing on drums is no performance.

1. You're exaggerating. QUITE A BIT. Too much to ignore.

If no original work is applied, I'm pretty sure it gets rejected. So I don't think there are any works with no original content anywhere on this site.So, as Rozo said, example please?

"Then I get drilled for having a drumbeat that I personally created...along with completely original guitar parts (not sampled)..."

I read the board, and that is not what they told you.

Larry said not to have the drums on cruise control for the whole song. That means not the exact same drumbeat over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and so on. Keep variety in the way the drummer does things. Make him interact with the song.

And as for your "along with completely original guitar parts" comment that's also something that you misunderstood. Larry said you shouldn't just make a bunch of ideas and stretch it out for seven whole minutes. He didn't say you didn't have any original arrangement. You should make the arrangement as one whole idea made of ideas.

"I'm just saying that rejecting a mix because it repeats a musical idea is stupid"

There comes a time when it's repeated too often and we have a word for that:

"Repetitive."

You seem to feel pretty strong about your opinion that OCR's standards are loose enough to slip by with no effort.

Care to share why? Sharing is caring.

[jabond23]

Gotta love drama.

Ain't that the truthiest thing of truth in all of truthy-land!

Yes...it is repetitive...the drumbeat does go on and on and on and on.

To understand what I was trying to say...why don't you fire up a classic version of the original "Legend of Zelda" and tell me what the overworld theme does.

I'll give you a hint... It repeats...over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

The Crazy thing is...that the song doesn't get annoying...it grows on you. Try leaving my track in the cd player for a few repeats. It will grow on you. (At least that what's i've been told)

I'm not saying that my song is god's gift to songwriting or remixing...I'm just saying that the reasons I have been told it was rejected...are a lot of the same reasons MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY people have told me they love it...that it's soothing...driving...and epic...all at the same time.

As for loops...

Listen to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" ...and you will hear a very repetitive loop. Then again...this album is said to line up with "The Wizard of Oz" perfectly. So I'm sure there is a reason they kept the loop going even though it could have gotten a little repetitive.

Wouldn't it be crazy...if I used my knowledge of TIMECODE from my work as a Video Professional, coupled with 33,331 frames of an EXTENDED PRE RENDERED cut scene from "OCARINA OF TIME" to sync my 18:31.01 second Zelda Tribute up perfectly to what's going on...on the screen?

Ummm...yeah...so ANYWAYS...If your going to point out that your doing exactly what the original is doing, then its not really a remix, is it?

Nope! That's where arrangement comes into play. You could be the greatest damn guitarist to ever walk this earth, but not know diddley squat about arrangement and recording. Nothing wrong with that. You just gotta learn. This was your first and ONLY remix to be submitted and then promptly rejected by the judges.

Your skills show in the guitar work, but for everything else, you need to spend a little more time on! Just put as much effort into programming the drums as you into the guitar and you'll be set!

Also, i'm fricken awesome at delivering and packing bread for a national distributor, but doesn't mean that i can use those skills for recording music. Just like your video editing skills. My Zelda dungeon remix is fricken heavy and makes you want kick some majob Ganon ass, but doesn't mean its necessarily going to be accepted here into OCRemix.

I'm hoping it does! :D :D

[rig1015]

Just throwing this out there again.

Give me your stems and I'll do your drums!!!

To loop or not to loop IS that the question?

Show me a drum line that never repeats its rhythm and I'll show you a song that is tricky to get into. Repetition is sooooo ingrained in us because it is in SO MUCH of our everyday music, so I can understand the one side that one would be quick to say, "loops are bad." And I also understand how loops are good (1st point).

Sweendrix as long as the drums don't sound hokey I'm sure you could get away with looping a four count! I wouldn't because everyone here (on the thread) will shit kittens on the "your drums sound looped" crit. You're not a drum'n'bass composer... or a breakbeat artist... and the songs mood doesn't call for bigger drums... Do a 32 count pattern and set it on a loop, do break downs and build ups as need according to the arrangement of your track, that should be plenty.

I worry this is going to become one of those topics that you (the creator) hates because the help pulls in all the wrong ways.