Remix Arrangements

[Brandon Strader]

Hi.

The more I think about this question, the more confused I get about it. I wanted to ask how much of a remix was allowed to be original, but if you really think about it, converting an orchestral piece into a laid back reggae song is pretty much a complete recreation of the song with just including the basic melody of the song in it. So I am officially confused about this. I know your mix can't be TOO CLOSE to the original source track, but how far from the original source is it allowed to be?

I listened to the brand new Lost Odyssey mix that was just posted today, and I was even more confused about this. As far as my memory serves me (which isn't very far to be perfectly honest), I didn't recognize the song at all in the remix. It's almost like it was its own original song. I am posting this with hopes that a bunch of passing remixers will come in here and share their wisdom about the proper way to rearrange a track for OCR.. thanks.

[Nabeel Ansari]

I believe (heard in a thread) judges like to go by 50/50 original/source.

That counts as any part of the source, so maybe you were just focusing on the wrong parts of the mix.

[Meteo Xavier]

At least 50% source is the name of the game.

And don't think you can fool Larry...

[OverCoat]

DJP kinda fudged when he started out calling them "ReMixes" because what everyone thinks when someone says "remix" is not actually what this site hosts, in fact remixes are not allowed. Lots of confusion for a lot of people.

MY PERSONAL guideline is like... if the song contains your own style and you can still clearly hear the original song in there, and it sounds good, it's something to submit to OCR. Kind of vague terms, but this is not an exact science, really. Just do what you feel, man.

[Fishy]

Basically, you can't just cover it with different instruments. You've got to do something to make it your own.

I think a good example of something that isn't particularly different from the original in terms of the actual notes is bLiNd's Jenova Celestial mix, but it's very well adapted, with genre specific additions and breakdowns but with always some kind of connection to the original.

50% of the mix being recognizable is where larry draws the line for liberal (which some of the judges disagree with mind you) mixes but really, if you're arranging music I don't see why you'd bother if you don't actually use the song in a meaningful way for half the damn song.

It is kinda hard to explain what is too covery, the best way to figure it out is to find recent mixes that had a split vote on that issue but still passed and read their decisions, that usually gives some insight.

[Liontamer]

50% of the mix being recognizable is where larry draws the line for liberal (which some of the judges disagree with mind you) mixes but really, if you're arranging music I don't see why you'd bother if you don't actually use the song in a meaningful way for half the damn song.

We have a winner! This is a video game music tribute site after all.

As far as the Lost Odyssey track, the melody's present for most of the mix, and the arrangement's overtly built around that. It doesn't matter if the genre sounds nothing like the original for a mix to pass.

[Brandon Strader]

That is fantastic advice from everyone and I think I have a general idea now. Thanks!

[Dj Mokram]

if you're arranging music I don't see why you'd bother if you don't actually use the song in a meaningful way for half the damn song.

That one really ought to be added to the submission guidelines.