Did OC ReMix influence your taste in music?

[Wicked]

I haven't posted here in four years or something...so hey, I guess.

I had an interesting moment the other day. I have a bunch of burnt CD's with OCRemix material on them. I've listened to them a hundred times while on the road and put many of my friends through them, as well. I recently found a couple new bands while listening to Last.FM and one of them was called Delain, a European metal band with full orchestra. The genre is probably called symphonic metal or something. One of my friends was listening to them for the first time in my car, a song called "Frozen" and he stops and asks, "Is this video game music?" "No, bro, it's a band called Delain."

That's when I realized it DID sound a hell of a lot like some of the stuff I've listened to on OCRemix. In fact, I'd venture a guess and say if it hadn't been for my listening to the material that's come out over the years on OCRemix, I may not have even liked Delain at all when I heard them. When I first heard stuff on here, I was still in an everything metal mode. No rap, no country, no wussy stuff. Listening to stuff on here, though, orchestra and electronica mixes of awesome games sure as hell opened up my mind as time went by.

So I'm curious, did others have the same type of experience? What kind of bands are you listening to now that you weren't before because of OCRemix?

[DragnBreth]

I can't say as my non-vgm tastes have been altered by remixes. Thing is, even though I listen to the variety of genres available on here, they're all based on VGM, and there's just something about VGM that makes it enjoyable regardless of the genre. I tend to look for that quality in the music I listen to outside of VGM, but honestly outside of certain Metal genres, I've not really found it. I tend to describe it as an 'epic' quality. One of the defining features of certain metal genres (ie Power Metal) is that 'epic' feel to the music.

So I stick to metal, mostly. And classical.

BTW, if you've found you enjoy Symphonic Metal, Epica, Kamelot, and Nightwish might be some bands that you'd enjoy.

Meanwhile, I'ma check out Delain.

[Bahamut]

I don't know if I'd say OCR influenced my tastes in music so much as my appreciation changed with OCR reflecting it alongside, but my case is different - I explored music heavily back in undergrad, listening to anything I could get my hands on and vet for myself.

[Mirby]

Because of OCR, I will now listen to pretty much anything. So yes, it has.

[Fishy]

Being a judge makes you appreciate music done well in any genre after a while. I can enjoy a huge amount of styles a lot more then I would have otherwise having heard excellent (and awful) examples of each.

[Brandon Strader]

It definitely opened me up to techno.

Totally not joking either.

[Mirby]

Same here.

[Tex]

There is no techno on OCR.

[Brandon Strader]

There is no techno on OCR.

It's less common now but i'll tell you it was a staple in 2002. The electronica today, I don't quite get it.. I don't find it too appealing.. but there's some good sound techniques to be learned from it and I find that kind of thing appealing.

[WillRock]

I wouldn't say that its influenced my taste in music, but its most certainly influenced my own style of music that I make.

[Deep Thought]

I developed a palate for electronica due to OCR, but I've been pretty eclectic for a while now.

[Bigfoot]

It has definitely exposed myself to many types of music that I listen to now. I mean, I guess video games have helped with that too. It's just that I've learned to appreciate a good piano or cello now when I hear something like this: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01040/

I actually have interest in wanting to get a keyboard to try to play. Back in middle school I took a class for keyboards, but I obviously didn't take home much from it because I remember pretty much nothing.

[Guifrog]

Yup, a lil' bit; I wasn't much of a VGM listener until I found OCR. But I still like to listen to other types of music, except carioca funk.

[Benjamin Briggs]

The electronica today, I don't quite get it.. I don't find it too appealing..

if yer not down wit da boomwaa you ain't got da moolah

[EC2151]

not much- If I don't like a type of song, hearing it on OCR won't make me download it. I'll say "That's nice," and move on.

And I think a lot of techno/by-the-books electronica lends itself to genericness, so the less of it the better, for my pallete- I've heard very few unique techno mixes, here and elsewhere.

[Tex]

I've heard very few unique techno mixes, here

Give examples. I assure you, you won't find any.

[liquid wind]

OCR/VGMix is actually probably most of why I got into music, OCR's influence on me was huge

[lazygecko]

Hillbilly Rodeo made me love country

[zircon]

Give examples. I assure you, you won't find any.

I assume by "techno" you mean the old "techno" genre with orchestra hits and 909s, right? Not electronic music in general? If the former, who cares? Why bring up semantics?

And I think a lot of techno/by-the-books electronica lends itself to genericness, so the less of it the better, for my pallete- I've heard very few unique techno mixes, here and elsewhere.

There is a ton of extremely unique electronica on OCR. Most remixes do NOT follow modern trends. If you listen to the current Beatport charts you will hear a lot of extremely homogeneous music with very little melodic or harmonic content, just big thumping kicks and wobbling bass. You will NEVER find tracks like this:

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01225/

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00928/

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01918/

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01547/

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00211/

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01319/

etc. I could go on and list all the other amazing electronic and hybrid pieces here, but I think they speak for themselves.

[ZealPath]

For the most part I would say no, since I have been a genre-jumper for years, but maybe the one exception would be jazz, as I tend to love the vast majority of jazz mixes while having previously listened to very little jazz outside of OCR.

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

Well I'll say this:

There's no other Shnabubula. I've listened to a lot of very strange and varied music and no other song has managed to engage & stimulate me the same way Shnabubula's music has.

Wow. I'm such an ass-kiss.

[Strike911]

I wouldn't say that its influenced my taste in music, but its most certainly influenced my own style of music that I make.

This. This. This.

[Master_Yoshi]

Definitely opened my ears up to a lot of different genres I wouldn't have thought of trying out before, and for that I am quite thankful!

Also, I got to follow along and listen to what people used for inspiration for some of their music, and that broadened my musical tastes too.

Case in point: A recent gnomergean WoW remix came through that I didn't get, but after a bit of prodding and experimentation I was able to get into more modern sounds, and that's a very cool thing indeed.

[djpretzel]

Well, I sorta came at the whole thing loving multiple genres to begin with, hence the emphasis, but I still find that OCR has expanded my horizons in terms of instrumental genres, since most of the other music I listen to outside of OCR has vocals.

Also, nitpick, but I somewhat object to the form of the question - I truly hope it's not a past tense deal, strictly, and that we are all STILL being influenced, and will continue to be

[LuketheXjesse]

I pretty much only listen to the remixes that are Metal or Piano solo, save for the occasional gem from an outside genre.