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OCR & DT Present: Rosenkreuzstilette Re-Vamped! - FINAL DEADLINE COMING 12/15


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OverClocked ReMix and Darkside Translations present

Rosenkreuzstilette Re-Vamped!

Description of Project

Overclocked ReMix has been approached by Darkside Translations to take the original soundtrack to the Japanese Doujin game Rosekreuzstilette and overhaul the original tracks, taking inspiration from numerous video game franchises. This project, which is being jointly run by Leif Landevag (aka. TDOMMX) and Level 99, is aiming to get as many tracks upgraded in appropriate style before the final deadline. Leif explains the gist of the project:

Hello, everyone. This is Leif Landevag (TDOMMX), the Project Coordinator for Darkside Translations and the co-producer of the English localization of Rosenkreuzstilette. I'd like to thank you all for volunteering to overhaul the soundtrack of RKS. I have been a fan of OverClocked ReMix for many, many years (I've lost track of exactly how many), so I consider it an honor to be working with you.

Rosenkreuzstilette contains many deliberate homages to gaming classics - in its graphics, its character designs, its levels, and even its enemy AI. A prime example of this is the game's lead antagonist, Count Michael Zeppelin (pronounced "Mikhail" without the 'k'). The

is an undeniable throwback to the battle between Richter Belmont and Count Vlad Tepes Dracula, as retold in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood,
, and
. Zeppelin's outfit, his mannerisms, and even his demonic form closely resemble their Castlevanian counterpart.

Since the release of Symphony of the Night, the song "Dance of Illusions" has been regarded as the theme of Dracula himself (and has been officially recognized as such in

and
). Its rousing symphonic orchestra and its powerful organ melody are instantly recognizable, to the point that homages and parodies of this battle practically demand at least a nod to this song. It's with this same rationale that we wish for Zeppelin's theme, "Fighting Eternally", to be rearranged in the same orchestral style as "Dance of Illusions", with as close a match to the song's tone colors and progression as possible. Since there are many official renditions of this song, we have plenty to work with, though I think it's safe to say that the Symphony of the Night rendition is easily the most well-known of the bunch.

Where strong parallels such as Zeppelin / Dracula or Iris / Lumine are present, we'd like to underscore these parallels through the soundtrack by arranging the melody in the same style as its counterpart. Of course, this does not apply to every track. "Winter Breath" is easily my favorite track in the game, but this track is an original composition, not intended as a nod of any kind. With tracks like these, we would like for the musicians to follow the example set by Mathew Valente (TSSF) with his treatment of the Chrono Trigger soundtrack in Chrono Resurrection - producing a more organic, less "MIDI" rendition of the original tracks. For an example of what I mean by this, compare the

to
.

Naturally, what we're looking for varies on a track-by-track basis, so I'd very much like for each ReMixer to contact me directly by private message or Gmail (TDOMMX at Gmail dot com) to swap ideas and ensure that we have the same image in mind. I'd like to chime in early and often so that everyone has a clear idea of how they are faring.

If you have any other questions or wish to pick my brain for a bit, my inbox is open to all of you. I may not be able to answer your questions immediately, but I can practically guarantee that you will hear something from me within three days' time.

That said, I'm very much looking forward to hearing what you can do. Good luck, and thanks again for helping us out!

Sources and Specfications

To summarize, what the localizers are looking for is more of an upgrade as opposed to full re-arrangement for most of the songs, and have compiled an extensive list of instructions for people who are interested in taking a track. There are genre and style limitations for every track, because most of these tracks are inspired by other video game music. Note that while a song is listed as to what arrangement style or video game song to model it after, do NOT include the inspiration song as part of the arrangement. I encourage anyone interested to download the whole soundtrack bundle and check out the notes for any tracks that catch your ear:

Here is the whole soundtrack bundle for RKS, including tracknotes - contact Leif of Darkside Translations at TDOMMX at gmail dot com if you want to discuss arrangement ideas with him.

The tracks are meant to be replacing these so please do your best to make them somewhat loopable. Each track and its mixing instructions can be accessed separately at http://www.darksidetranslations.com/rks-bgm/, and any notes about them will be updated over time there (NOT in the RAR archive).

One person may claim one track at a time. If they get that finished to the satisfaction of the organizers and have time to tackle more, they're more than welcome to. If you want to arrange a track that has already been claimed, you are still welcome to make a short WIP to pitch your version to the project runners. We may decide to go with your version of the existing claim for time and style reasons. The album can have multiple versions of a song, but the game will only use one.

The game itself is Japanese-only and does cost a small bit, but the English localization patch has been and will continue to be free, and it's those people that do the patch that are requesting this musical treatment.

Timeline and Deadlines

You should send your WIPS to both project leaders via email. When you have a WIP, email it with the subject line containing "Rosenkreuzstilette Project", your remixer name, and your source track name. The recipients should be:

level99remixteam [AT] gmail [DOT] com

TDOMMX [AT] gmail [DOT] com

Previously, the project had an endgoal of mid-June. After further discussion, the final deadline has been extended and a new timeline has been created. See below:

1st Deadline: June 18th, 2012

Requirements: Rough WIP showcasing track ideas and progress

2nd Deadline: August 27th, 2012

Requirements: Full-length WIP

3rd Deadline: October 22nd, 2012

Requirements: Pre-Final track, only minor tweaks or feedback needed

FINAL DEADLINE: December 15th, 2012

Requirements: Absolutely final track

Note: you may get your final track in as early as you wish, and if you are looking to claim multiple tracks, you must get your final for one song in before claiming another.

Tracklist and Claims

Legend:

normal = unclaimed

red = claimed

purple = WIP'd

blue = FINAL

01 - Arima's Music No. 13 - Claimed by Calum

02 - AM Fight No. 1

03 - Dancing Snowflakes -Turning Everything White-

04 - Human Heart, Divine Might

05 - The Ground Which Can Shine

06 - Arima's Music No. 07

07 - Arima's Music No. 03 - Claimed by mak

08 - Snow White Soil - Claimed by Dj Mokram

09 - March on the Haunts of the Wicked - Claimed by theshaggyfreak

10 - Stage Start - WIP'd by Metal Man

11 - Pegasus

12 - Arima's Music No. 22

13 - Stardust Love Letter

14 - Red Pollution

15 - Sinner

16 - Arima's Music No. 28

17 - Untitled

18 - Outnumbered

19 - Arima's Music No. 26 - Claimed by Level 99

20 - Arima's Music No. 11

21 - Deep Purple Moonlight - Claimed by Dj Mokram

22 - Deep Purple Moon -The Rebirth of Death-

23 - Crash Man

24 - Flame in the Night

25 - Arima's Music No. 30

26 - Dear

27 - Arima's Music No. 33

28 - A Little Mischief - WIP'd by Moomba

29 - Untitled

30 - Arima's Music No. 14

31 - Untitled

32 - The Fabricated Truth

33 - Arima's Music No. 10

34 - Meteor Strike

35 - Arima's Music No. 15

36 - Party of Ghost

37 - Cathedral -Second Movement-

38 - Fighting Eternally

39 - Sovereign's Oath

40 - Untitled

41 - Shining Man

42 - Winter Breath

43 - Arima's Music No. 18

44 - Closing Venue

45 - Head Serpent

46 - Pray to Muse for

47 - The Final Confrontation

48 - The Devil Loves a Fallen Angel

49 - Last Battle -Requiem for Myself-

50 - Untitled

51 - Mirror in the Sky

52 - The Winner

53 - First Love - Claimed by Rexy

54 - Untitled

55 - Vampire Revolution

56 - Fighting Spirit - WIP'd by MeteoXavier

57 - Kingdom of the Last Elf

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Are there any vocal tracks in the game at all?

I just woke up but off the top of my head, no there aren't.

Stevo, I think I could do something with "First Love". Cue me in. :)

Done.

Hell, that's soon. This is pretty cool, though - good luck getting it all done by then!

Yeah, that's why it wasn't possible to realistically organize a FULL roster of songs, so really, just seeing exactly how much can be done in a short time. Will definitely be interesting to see how it all turns out!

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I just woke up but off the top of my head, no there aren't.

Done.

Yeah, that's why it wasn't possible to realistically organize a FULL roster of songs, so really, just seeing exactly how much can be done in a short time. Will definitely be interesting to see how it all turns out!

Thanks for the info. Best of luck, everyone!

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Some questions..

I found lot of interesting tracks, but I'm complitly confused. What actually i need to do?

Cover? RMX? Or what? And the most unclear thing is: WHICH actually track in the folder I need to .." what?"..Megaman? For what purpose all this youtube links to megaman or zelda or whateva. I'm confused.

Sorry.. MegaThanks to someone who can tell WHAT actually i need to do.

yeap, i'm dumb:<

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Some questions..

I found lot of interesting tracks, but I'm complitly confused. What actually i need to do?

Cover? RMX? Or what? And the most unclear thing is: WHICH actually track in the folder I need to .." what?"..Megaman? For what purpose all this youtube links to megaman or zelda or whateva. I'm confused.

Sorry.. MegaThanks to someone who can tell WHAT actually i need to do.

yeap, i'm dumb:<

I'll send you a PM with more elaborate instructions if you need it.

I've already got mine about 90% done. I had some trouble with the latter part and I need to tweak some more stuff inside, but I'm at a point where I can put it off for a little bit and show it to Stevo when he's around.

Fantastic!

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If this is open to anyone willing, I would love to at least try something for this, even if it may not end up being up to par. I do have a lot of free time coming up in the near future to work on some music since I'll be done school. I'll give some tracks a listen when I get home and see if anything catches my ear.

Its open to anyone but the final music must be up to par, yes. You have it exactly right but that shouldn't discourage you from trying at all. Do let me know if you find something that tickles your fancy.

I'm not a mixer, so I'm useless.

But if I was, "Party of Ghost" sounds badass. I'd pick up my guitar and try to learn it by ear, but it's probably more effort than it is worth.

Even if you don't pick it up, I highly encourage you to use this music to learn and improve your musical skill! There's no such thing as "more effort than its worth" if you get something out of it!

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I have an idea brewing for 28 - A Little Mischief based on the "inspiration" they included if I could possibly claim that.

I do have one question though - if the source is only about 1:30 in length, does it matter if I don't end up creating an arrangement that's 3+ minutes? i.e. there's no minimum length to aim for?

You're marked as claimed for that.

In regards to your question, I've asked them and will get back to you with a response. I'm fairly certain that as long as you do at least the length of the original, it should be okay.

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Ok, so I didn't see anything about not posting tracks here, so here goes (I'll delete it if I need to later).

EDIT: 98% finished versions. I just need to add humanization and articulation in some parts

http://tindeck.com/listen/bgjd - Fighting Spirit Redo A

http://tindeck.com/listen/pxwg - Fighting Spirit Redo B

The different is that damn part 1:36-1:58. One is slightly more full than the other and I saved both just in case. I've never had so much trouble with 20 seconds of music before. The rest of the track took like a few hours - this section took 2 days. That's as good as I can get it, it might need to be fixed in mastering unless I'm just being way way way too anal about frequencies.

The loop point needs to be set at the section starting at 0:01.50, or back to the beginning without the introductory four bars. I tried to do that myself and it was causing volume and automation problems.

Now I just need Stevo to hear it and let me know. :)

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Ok, I got a problem here. I wanted to wait until I could talk to Stevo, but now since experience dictates these kinds of things never resolve in my favor, and I don't know when he'll be available again and I know my schedule won't allow me to be this week, I may as well go ahead.

I went ahead and sent the track I was working on to Leif Landevag to show him I was working on it and it got rather abruptly rejected because it went in "a very different direction than what we were hoping for with this track." Apparently it was "specified" to sound almost exactly like the X VS Zero in Megaman X5, same tempo, progression, instrumentation, and presumably the same unnecessarily high synth bell lead and my mix did not (same as the original) have any of those - also seems to imply I did not have fast, rock drums, electric guitar or a synth lead for the melody?

Uh... what? My mix had drums, guitar and synth lead in it. My understanding, as Stevo told me and the project information made it appear, was that we were largely supposed to just redo the existing tracks with better samples, better production and light remix touches to improve the original composition - nothing in what I was given told me I was to be under guidelines those strict.

Here were my instructions with "Fighting Spirit".

"This track plays during the bonus battle with the game's main heroine, Spiritia Rosenberg. The battle is undeniably inspired by the battle between X and Zero from Megaman X5, so basing the arrangement on "X vs Zero" is a practically required."

That is literally all the instruction there is. It wants the finished version "based" on X vs Zero, not completely emulating it. Does not say same tempo, progression, etc. anything. I tried getting the synth bell in there but it wouldn't fit in the mix.

I'm really trying not to be pissy or throw an aspie fit here, but I'd really like some clarification of whats to be expected from us. The project guidelines as written makes it seem more loose and inviting whereas the guy handling it wants it in a much stricter fashion. He doesn't want something good, he wants what he "hopes for". To fit a vision it seems. I just spent 4 days on my track for this game and he loves it, but he wants me to START OVER from scratch to fit this hope that wasn't specified in the first place. I don't have 4 days or more to rewrite a track until its what he "hopes for". I didn't have 4 days to work on this one, I thought it was a relatively quick gig and it spiraled out of control.

So, quick word of warning to everyone participating: You might need to write this guy and confirm before you spend a lot of time on a track that doesn't meet hidden expectations. No hate, just really really damn frustrated that 4 days of work might've just gone down the drain on no fault of mine.

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