1999-2009: Ten Years of OC ReMix!

[Lovely Peach]

Congratulations and happy anniversary, OCR!

I don't post terribly often, but I listen to OC Remixes just about every day at work. Thanks for the amazing contributions to game music. ^^

[Vortex RuneCutter]

Wow... 10 years already. This makes me feel old. Thanks for all the great remixes, which I still listen to this very day. Nostalgia.

Congrats on your success OCR!

[Salluz]

It's been seven years for me, but nonetheless. Who would've known that I would start attending meetups and planning collabs?

[LuketheXjesse]

...but one I'm better for having taken

I found OCR in 2002, when John Romero linked to it on his site. I was like "oh no not another one of these videogame midi sites" and then I realized what it actually was and my mind was totally BLOWN. I spent the ensuing months obsessing about OCR, making OCR mix cd's and having game music constantly going through my head. I had only ever done some midis and I didn't really have any musical equipment, so I thought there was no way I could make music sound as good as the mixes on the site. I thought it would take forever before I did anything decent. But then my first mix got two YES votes, and my second one was accepted and posted in January 2003 (both were made in MODplug with free soundfonts) so it didn't take long . My life has been different ever since. I realized that I could actually make music that sounded good and people liked it!

The politics and other stuff really bogged me down a few years later, though, and made me lose sight of what interested me about OCR in the first place. I "quit" the community in late 2005/early 2006 partly for that reason, partly for other personal reasons, partly because I felt like people weren't really liking what I was doing anymore, and partly just because I was embarrassed to tell people that I liked videogame music. To anyone who finds themselves in a situation like I was in - if you really like or care about OCR or any other place like this and feel like you really want to make a difference, just try to make the most positive amount of difference with what you have the ability to make, and let the rest go. And also, sometimes it's good to quit for awhile and come back. Gives you a fresh perspective.

I was wary about coming back to OCR because of my transitioning from male to female, among many other things. "Liz" is a "joke" account that I created in 2004 that turned out to not be a joke (in case I'm being too vague, adhesive_boy = me). It's weird when you have any sort of name recognition amongst people already, especially under an opposite gendered moniker. But I've talked to some friends in the community and went back and listened to some of my favorite soundtracks and found many reasons to be interested in videogame music again.

So, once again... happy birthday, OCR! I look forward to the next 10 years.

So Adhesive_boy has been lurking in the shadows this whole time!

We've been wondering where you have been.

[HershDawg]

10 years already. Damn. I've been lucky to have been here for 7 of them and all the entertainment that has gone on here. The changes which were good, some of the hilarious reactions to some of them, and the growth of the site. Good 10 years. I drink to you

[Kakumei]

Congrats I guess????

GREAT JOB OCR YOU DIDN'T DIE

[HershDawg]

Ten years...

I need to get a mix posted!

I know. I go to school as a music major to be a musician and still haven't produced any material for this site. Which is surprising, since this site is partially responsible for me wanting to be a music major in the first place.

[mern]

I'm with the people that mentioned they have been on here for years and have yet to post a mix. Actually, I hardly come here anymore...better get back into it!

Happy 10th, Overclocked Remix!! You're making me feel old because I remember the Orange layout!!

[EightBitAssassin]

Happy 10th OCR! I remember finding this site in December of 99 when I was trying to find a place to download some FF VII songs for a friend. I bookmarked the site, spent about 30 minutes each downloading 3 or 4 MP3s from the site on the crappy dial-up connection that I had at the time, and have been hooked ever since.

I'd check the site weekly to see if anything new had been posted, and spent another 20-30 minutes each (man my internet connection was crappy). I remember being excited when there were enough remixes on the site to fill up an audio cd. Man. Good times. I need to come around more.

[Salluz]

I remember before I joined the forums and prior to computer ownership when I would burn OC songs to a CD and bang them in my monitors. Thanks to the skillful artists @ OCR that I realized my own knack for music theory. I would've had some serious deprivation for excellence if it weren't for this site.

My message to the world: open your mind and feel the music.

[Mirby]

I remember a time when I was trying to get mp3's of tracks. Wound up here (before the current incarnation of OCR) and didn't like it. Then I got into The Black Mages. Made my way back here (it looked much as it does now at this point) and enjoyed it. That was back in 2007. I've been a frequent visitor ever since, suggesting tracks to be remixed and giving feedback on WIP tracks ever since. Only recently did I finally join the IRC chatroom. It's a blast! This is a great community, and the fact that it has thrived for ten long years deserves a toast. To the love of video-game music, to ten years of dedication to music (something that is sorely lacking in today's schools, so this is a great way to get more people into it), and to many more years of remixing to come. I have a feeling that as long as there are video games with original compositions, OCR will be there, remixing tracks and interviewing composers, for many more long years to come. To OCR! *tink* *drinks*

[Darth Lime]

I remember when I stumbled upon this site back in 2003. Trolled the ReMixes and listened casually. Fall of 2004 I got more involved with the community. Got into the TF2 server a couple times I think and I wouldn't trade it in for the world.

One of the few communities I'm glad to still be a part of.

Happy 10th, OCR. None of this would be possible without you, djp.

[Jaeman]

Only recently did i discover the wonders of this site. There is no other place you can get excellent free music, and its always music that's unlike any that can be found on the internet.

Besides, where else would i listen to bubble bobble!?

[WillRock]

I didn't actually find this fantastic site until last year (well... two years now hehehe) sometime, and yet, I feel like I have been a part of the community for much longer.

Its been pretty awesome hearing all the great music on the site, and getting feedback for my own music.

I'd also like to say that without OCR, I wouldn't be half as good at music as I am now, so thanks to OCRemixes community and thanks to DJP for founding this excellent site.

I will be still a a frequent visitor in 10 years i'm sure

[Omnitrix]

The remixing community, sure has evolved from it's humble beginnings. Thanks for the many years of quality control.

[Jay Cee]

Hi, my name's Jade, a friend put me onto this site in '00 or '01 I think, I've been coming back from time to time ever since, usually to search for music from games I might recognize, but recently I've been lurking the forums aswell.

The first song I think I heard was a remix of the first level from Alex The Kidd (might have been "Sugar High"), I was so interested I had to check out the website for myself. Downloaded a few songs, most notably "Ressurection By Breakbeat" and would listen to them over and over at school. When I got a computer of my own I downloaded everything I could find from games I knew, had a massive stockpile, I recently discovered that it's vanished from my hard drive so I'll have to download a bunch of songs again, plus everything else I've missed over the last few years, which only excites me more than anything, even with my awful 56k internet connection.

On thursday night (it's now sunday in NZ) I took my trusty imitation ipod Shuffle, loaded with OCR tracks, and my boom box down to the local halfpipe, skated to the music until it got dark, then turned the ramp into a makeshift dancefloor for an impromtu dance party which lasted until the mp3 player squeezed it's last track out and the battery went flat. We were all (only about 7 people) drunk of course, but it was so much fun, someone even managed to produce a glowstick, someone else suggested forming a "Chinese dragon" using only a rug, which was going well until a cop turned up, right at the moment I, the head, was roaring into the darkness. He was amused and didn't stop our fun. Phew.

Thanks OCR for providing me with great, FREE music for the last 8 or so years, and also for making my night on thursday. Congradulations on your 10 year accomplishment, your work is inspirational.

[Neaj]

First of all i have to thank OCR and its many brilliant authors. I have been listening to OCR since 2000 and i must say more then half of my libaray of music is OCR. I have gone from almost getting into accidents to making friends because of the music lol. So here's to another 100 years of fantastic and innovative music.

Congrats on a fantastic 10 years!!!!!!!!

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Whoah, I thought I'd already posted in this thread, but evidently not.

I cannot even imagine where my life would be without OCR.

I'd taught myself to play a few VG tunes on piano long before I found OCR, and even threw together a few half-assed MIDI arrangements, but nothing more serious than that. I figured that was all there was to do.

I first found out about it in '03, when somebody mentioned it on the Starmen.net forums. First mix I listened to was Radical Dreamers Angelic by Kaijin, and that moment, in all seriousness, changed my life.

The idea that music on this level could be made by some amateur with his computer at home was completely inspiring to me, and I spent the next couple years honing my musical skills. Somewhere along the line I started playing guitar, and later irish whistle (my first submissions to OCR were made long before I learned to play either one -- these early subs were all rejected).

But this community has effected my life in far deeper ways than simply inspiring me to become a better musician and producer: this site has introduced me to many of my closest and dearest friends. I don't even keep in touch with most of my highschool friends anymore, but the friends I have made here I'm positive will be friends of mine for life.

Dave, you have created something truly wonderful that has brought together people who thought they were freaks, outcasts, misfits, into a community of wonderfully close friends, and for that I cannot thank you enough.

[DJ Pili]

I first knew of OC Remix when I searched for Tetris mixes in Napster in mid-2000. I came across some that had 'OC ReMix' at the end and tried downloading them. When one of the 'hosts' I was downloading from had to go, he told me "you can download them at remix.overclocked.org", so I came to this site. I've always loved video games music, so I started downloading more ReMixes and burn them in CDs. After a couple of years of knowing which ReMixes were my 'best companions', my 4- and 5-star songs, I decided to burn compilations called "Pili's 'Me' ReMixes", and since 2004 to now, I have burned 7 CDs, with an average of 15 ReMixes per disc.

Those 'Me' ReMixes have been a good part of my life, and very good 'friends', whenever I'm surfing the Net, driving, sewing, embroidering, painting, or just feeling lonely. I've even dreamt of them being played (either in music players or by some person using musical instruments, or played in the background, soundtrack-like), sung, or hummed by me.

For now, my fave ReMixers are, in no particular order: Star Salzman, Russell Cox, Spekkosaurus, Trenthian, GrayLightning, DJ Chrono, DJ Pheonix, Jared Hudson, FF Music DJ, The Wingless, McVaffe, DZComposer, Dhsu, PriZm, Christian Pacaud, DJ Pretzel, and Bladiator. All these ReMixers have at least 3 ReMixes that made it into my 'Me' ReMixes series.

[xamgis]

I'm glad to have been part of this community since 2002. While I don't post much at all anymore, I still come back to listen to and download new music that is posted.

Keep up the good work OCR and Happy 10th!

[TheMadman]

Just joined the forums, but have been coming to the site for a number of years. I just wanted to say that I love everything that goes on here, and what the site stands for.

It is an exclusive haven for the celebrated musical genre of VG music, and provides an amazing voice for its community.

Cheers! Here's to ten more great years!

[Ranch Doritos]

Its kinda surreal that OCR has been around for this long and that even so I still remember stumbling across here from the Microsoft Media player Music search browser in 02 finding Standby's 'GalvanizedBoss' mix on our family's very first computer (I was 12), till this day that has been the best stroke of luck I have been honored with in years. As a loyal listener and fan, I immensely appreciate all the hard work the moderators, judges, and artists put into out shinning themselves and bringing glory here year after year. No one was prouder to see the work of OCR's mixers represented in Street Fighter HD remix And it was my utmost joy meeting and shaking hands with djp last year at the Distant Worlds concert in Baltimore. OCR is still the thing to get me to work in the mornings, In hopes of many more years to come!

[God's Debris]

Wow wow wow. 10 Years? Wow. I'm upset that I'm this late in coming here to pay my dues to this magnificent website.

Congratulations, DJP. I've enjoyed seeing the site flourish and grow over the years and am glad what was once an idea in your head has grown into not only a healthy community where people may share their creativity but one the news media and video game companies themselves taken have notice of.

What you (with acknowledgments as well going out to the judges and friends who have helped lend a hand through the years) have accomplished with OC ReMix is truly incredible; in providing an outlet for those who have a passionate love for the truly beautiful music in an interactive medium that has evolved just as the site has, you've brought joy to many. You've also provided a stepping stone into the video game music industry for those who have aspirations of being the next Nobou Uematsu or Koji Kondo.

In the community through the years there have been tears shed, friendships made and lost, and many laughs shared; no matter the differences everyone may have on the forums, at the end of the day we all share the same bond for our love of what was once a secluded and overlooked genre of music from an ostracized art. I've grown up with this website... When I first made my OCR account I was a know-it-all smart-ass teenager who was entering high school. I'm now creeping up on my 25th birthday this year and trying to start my own business. My, how the time flies.

I thank you and the many artists who have contributed over the years for helping draw recognition towards the art form and showing the depth and emotion that music has.

I wish you and OC ReMix all the best for the future. May I further grow old with this dear friend and listen to the remixes of songs made by artists who had once contributed to this website, who have since gone on to become well-known and recognized in the industry. And so shall the cycle continue through the ages.

...And it puts a warm smile on my face that, after all these years, there are still very few Pokémon remixes on the site. I remember way back when I was a regular visitor the joking of there being no Pokémon remixes on the website. (And I can't wait for Soul Silver in March!)

< Joyful reminiscent tear wipe >

Cheers to friends, success and the future.

[Dinobot 2]

Here's to another 10 years for this site.

[Gario]

Been listening to this site's music since 05' (I have no clue why it took me that long to find it - I swear I was actively searching for something like this since 00'), and have been actively participating since 08'... Yeah, I'm hoping I can actually experience a full decade of this wonderful site before anything happens to it, so c'mon - you guys have gotta last until at least 18'!

Here's to the next 10 years of OCR!