RWS - ReMixing With the Stars: Pilot Episode

[Magnetic Ether]

Aw Can't believe I didn't know about this until the day of the deadline. Would have liked to try this if I'd known about it

Unfortunately there were way more novices than stars this time anyway, but you can still sign up when the next round starts!

[SuperiorX]

Great job guys! I'm loving these 6 songs, it's going to be hard to choose!

MindWanderer: not sure how you're tagging the music, but I'd recommend using Mp3 tag, it's a free program that makes it really easy to tag multiple mp3 files with the same info. Like for example, you could tag all of these songs as "ReMixing With the Stars: Episode 1 - Beginnings", make "OverClocked ReMix" the 'album artist' and select Disc '1' for the songs, so they all show up grouped in playlists (like iTunes). I'd recommend putting the game name in the title (in parenthesis) too.

Also you guys need to get some album art! Here is some crap I threw together in like 30 mins. If you guys like it and want to edit it and make it better or something, I could post the PSDs.

[Anorax]

Unfortunately there were way more novices than stars this time anyway, but you can still sign up when the next round starts!

Whenever that is.

I'm really liking these tracks. You all did a wonderful job on these!

[Magnetic Ether]

Yeah, I've got to say that these tracks are awesome.

I've been listening pretty much all day and honestly have no idea who I'm going to vote for .

Btw, you guys need to post your sources, I want to hear what you're remixing!

[wildfire]

Mine were the first two tracks of Super Columns. This was the first game on the first system I'd ever played. I guess it's fitting that I chose it for the Beginnings round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg5-ELCZ9Ys&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Melbu Frahma]

Btw, you guys need to post your sources, I want to hear what you're remixing!

This x 1000 - the one category I'm having trouble with is source usage in my voting, and that's mainly because I'm only sure what three or four of the sources were. >_< Once I figure out what the other sources are, I'll be able to turn in my vote, but since source usage is the highest-ranked voting criteria, I don't feel comfortable turning it in until I've double-checked that.

[DusK]

Yoshi's Island theme:

[Magnetic Ether]

since source usage is the highest-ranked voting criteria, I don't feel comfortable turning it in until I've double-checked that.

Actually, that brings up a good point...how exactly should we be evaluating source usage? Should it be based on the OCR guidelines (Not too much, not too little kind of thing)?

[Flexstyle]

Actually, that brings up a good point...how exactly should we be evaluating source usage? Should it be based on the OCR guidelines (Not too much, not too little kind of thing)?

What do you mean by "not too much?" As far as I'm aware, there's no such thing as "too much source." Now, being too similar (cover-ish) will get a mix frowned upon, but never will anyone decry a mix for incorporating too much of the good stuff.

[Anorax]

Ugh, we have to judge? UUggghhh, fine.

Actually, that brings up a good point...how exactly should we be evaluating source usage? Should it be based on the OCR guidelines (Not too much, not too little kind of thing)?

ENTERING JUDGE MODE

I'll put up my eval here, but I'll judge in PM. However, it's late at night, and I might not send in the judging PM until later. (I'll probably edit this post here as people begin posting their sources)

Song: Upon New Shores

Remixer: Cash and Change feat. DusK

I remember this source! Ah, sweet nostalgia.

I'm not a fan of the synth used for the opening notes, nor the slowing down/speeding up of the opening arpeggio like that. However, it's a clever re-instrumentation of the opening, and I feel like the guitar parts are well-written and performed. The mixing is good. No muddiness or anything like that.

aaand I still can't get used to that sudden slowing down of that synth. Oh well.

Song:

Remixer:

Source

Song:

Remixer:

Source

Song:

Remixer:

Source

Song:

Remixer:

Source

Song:

Remixer:

Source

I'll fill these in when all the sources are posted

[Anorax]

What do you mean by "not too much?" As far as I'm aware, there's no such thing as "too much source." Now, being too similar (cover-ish) will get a mix frowned upon, but never will anyone decry a mix for incorporating too much of the good stuff.

I think that's what Kuolema meant.

[ad.mixx]

I'll fill these in when all the sources are posted

Have already posted the source to the Starcraft theme just in case anybody else missed it

I think to make things a bit easier for everyone, the OP should be updated with all the sources, that is assuming you have them all MindWanderer.

[Flexstyle]

Btw, you guys need to post your sources, I want to hear what you're remixing!

source:

(we used the riff at 5:13)

Just so there's no confusion.

I should also mention that generally speaking, as long as a ReMix stays interesting and incorporates some kind of source for more than 50% of the song, it has a strong chance of passing the panel, from what I've observed (obvious factors like production and instrumentation notwithstanding).

[AlmightyArceus]

We did the title theme from the original Mother game. SOURCE:

It took a while to actually get rolling on this mix. This wasn't originally the song we were planning to do. Originally, I chose the title theme from the indie platformer Tower of Heaven, but that remix didn't pan out, so I ditched it. I then tried a few more (unsuccessful) themes, such as Ninja Gaiden 2, the Pokemon title theme, etc. None of them stuck. Finally, I stumbled upon the theme to Mother, a classic, and was instantly able to do something with it. By that time, we were a week into the contest.

I had been talking to Rozo previously about the mixes and selecting one; obviously we went for a simple source. It was difficult to actually work with Rozovian because of our major time difference; he lives in Finland and I live on the Pacific Coast of the US so there's a 10 hour time difference, meaning lots of the time where I am awake and active, he is asleep; and vice versa.

I got going with the track on Garageband--he updated his version of Garageband to help with production after I finished a part--and then I ended up finishing the rest of the song last night; he finished production on it while I was asleep. A tip for next time: have each star and novice provide their time zone so that they can be more carefully matched. That would help out a bit.

I stuck with my usual style, which he likes doing as well, which is working in odd times. I converted all the licks in this from 4/4 to 5/4. I had a TON of source in this, as well as added in some "Easter Eggs"--the 8 melodies from mother, a small chunk of the Ruins of Alph melody (in a 6/4 "skip" bar), etc. One of the reasons I like converting time so much is because even if I am using a lot of source it sounds pretty different from the original because of the conversion from one time to another. Anyways, I arranged all the parts etc, used all my usual drum samples etc. Rozovian did a bit of production on it.

What makes me a bit disappointed about this contest was the fact that I got very few pointers and instructions from my partner. Many of the others here were very satisfied with what they were learning about the program/remixing from their partners, but I am sad to say that I didn't gain very much knowledge from my experience. Everything I did was the way I normally did it, and the production I didn't really get to know about much. My work was observed but not really critiqued. I certainly do not believe that this means that my work is good enough to not need comments--I believe it craved more, but didn't get many. I would have loved a lot more constructive feedback to help make me a better remixer, but unfortunately I didn't really get that much. It was fun working with Rozovian on a song, as well as touching source material I had never touched before. I'm not saying at all that I am ungrateful for Rozovian or the help that he gave me on production. I just wish that I had been able to learn a bit more so that I could up the quality of my mixes to something that would be able to get closer to passing the judging panel.

I thank you for the opportunity, and I hope someday I can enter this once more to get another, different experience from this.

[Magnetic Ether]

What do you mean by "not too much?" As far as I'm aware, there's no such thing as "too much source." Now, being too similar (cover-ish) will get a mix frowned upon, but never will anyone decry a mix for incorporating too much of the good stuff.

I think that's what Kuolema meant.

Yeah, I should have been clearer...How about Not to cover-ish, and not too unrecognizable?

I guess I'm just not clear on how to evaluate the mixes based on that.

Also, in case anyone missed it, these are my sources.

[Tuberz McGee]

Okay, basically, Prophecy and I tackle completely different styles, with completely different abilities in terms of music.

We found some middle ground in terms of conversation and relatively hit it off whilst debating composers ie. Tchaikovsky and the like

After a little bit of getting to know each other. I pieced together the arrangement of a theme I had ALWAYS wanted to do.

Jason gave me some harsh advice at times, which is exactly what I needed.

He knew what was necessary, and I thank him for not beating around the bush. <3

I layed down my tracks as efficiently as possible, but thanks to different time zones, family problems and moving problems on our both parts...

it was a little bit hard to finish. Haha

Honestly. We only finished with a few hours to go.

And I'm very glad.

Thank you Jason, for being the coolest dude.

And thank you MindWanderer for hosting this. <3

- Callum

EDIT: Also, my source tune was the Mega Man 5 Opening and Title Screen Music

[RiverSound]

Wow, guys! I'm actually stunned about how good the entries are. I mean, given the relatively short time available and the fact that they were supposed to be novices, I think the arrangements really are and work great. Above and beyond my expectations.

And SuperiorX, at least I think your artwork looks good considering you did it so quickly. I'd really suggest, for future episodes, using artwork for at least promotion purposes. It's easier to get people's attention that way and make the competition seem a bit more pro. Oh yeah

Furthermore, I'd like to hear something from the stars' side as well. I like reading the stories behind songs...

By the next episode, time zones should really be taken into account when deciding partners. Should make co-operation much more fluent and effortless.

[Cash]

Alright, DusK already posted the source. First I want to say that all the remixes are really well done, good luck to everyone!

I chose the Yoshi's Island title theme, it just sort popped into my head. I wanted to take advantage of both our strengths, so we decided to make a synth/pop rock style remix. I put together the bulk the track, I sent it to DusK for feedback a few times. Once the track was finalized on my end, I sent a wav file over to DusK. He added a few finishing touches and recorded the guitar parts. Overall, I think we made a good team, plus he was available most of the time, which made things easier.

I learned a lot about myself in terms of workflow. I'm now more comfortable and confident putting together a remix, thanks in part to DusK's feedback. I discovered that when I have a deadline, I tend to have more motivation to actually finish an entire song. I have a bunch of half-finished projects lying around. This was a fun competition, but it was also a good learning experience.

I think I covered everything.

[MindWanderer]

Posting source links in the first post now.

MindWanderer: not sure how you're tagging the music, but I'd recommend using Mp3 tag, it's a free program that makes it really easy to tag multiple mp3 files with the same info. Like for example, you could tag all of these songs as "ReMixing With the Stars: Episode 1 - Beginnings", make "OverClocked ReMix" the 'album artist' and select Disc '1' for the songs, so they all show up grouped in playlists (like iTunes). I'd recommend putting the game name in the title (in parenthesis) too.

I'm using EasyTAG for Linux, so even though I didn't tag them the same way you suggested, they should still show up grouped by album ("ReMixing With the Stars"; OCR is touchy about using their name, and this isn't an official OCR release) and disk (000, for the pilot; season 1, episode 1 will be 011). Are the tags not showing correctly for you?

Also you guys need to get some album art! Here is some crap I threw together in like 30 mins. If you guys like it and want to edit it and make it better or something, I could post the PSDs.

Nice! However, I'd personally rather have one piece of art for the whole RMWtS collection, and I'm not sure if it's OK to use the OCR logo. But the design is very cool.

[DusK]

I'm not sure if it's OK to use the OCR logo.

Why not? The compo is hosted on OCR's forums, tailored to the OCR community, and qualifying as a Star in the compo requires having a mix posted to OCR. Makes sense to me.

[Rozovian]

Yeah, Arcy and I had some trouble getting starting. I didn't want to take the reins and pick a source just to get things started, since Arcy would be the primary arranger and therefor had to have a source he could work with. Had we gotten started sooner, we would have had time to talk about eq technique and stuff like that.

On the flip side, we both had GarageBand, so we could work with the project files directly. That's something not all teams will have. Arcy has my first mix pass with level and eq changes that he can compare to the version he sent me as well as study the settings I used. There's also the comparison of the levels and mixing of that and the final version, but there's a lot more I could have conveyed. We could definitely have done better in the teaching/learning department. I did ask, earlier in our correspondence, what he wanted from me, but that got left by the wayside when we realized we didn't have much time.

That it took almost a week to get started definitely made it harder, and the 10 hour difference wasn't working out that well either. I've done all right dealing with ppl over the 7 or so hours to the east coast, and no problem within the european time zones, but perhaps 10 hour differences should be avoided, especially now that ppl are back to work/school.

I would also recommend not being invisible on whatever IM your team decides to use.

TL;DR:

+ same program

- time zone difference and other communication problems

- delay getting started

As far as the pilot round goes, I think these difficulties lead up to a good thing. We've identified some problems that can occur with matchups and within teams and gauged the time allotted and know that those two weeks are both needed for what's really a pretty involved collab.

[Magnetic Ether]

Due to all the issues that have been brought up, I'm thinking, if people are okay with this, that it might be easier and more efficient for everyone if Mindwanderer decides who all the pairs are. That way he could do his best to match people who are in similar time zones and work with the same DAW.

[Sir_NutS]

Well, as far as myself, I had a fun time with this. I could get in contact with Kou and add each other to be able to chat, then we talked about ideas and whatnot. Overall, I wish I could've helped more with the arrangement. My free time was limited that week, and we couldn't get in contact in the weekend. The very last day I received the arrangement and started working on the mixing at 3 AM XD.

Most of the work I did was on the production side of things, changing a few of the sounds, adding my own synths and making the mix sound more tight. I did spend a lot of time on it but usually when I do mixing and specially mastering, I take a couple of days so I can give my ears some rest. In the end it sounds decent enough.

In the last few hours we could get communication going and did a bit of back and forth. A tropical storm was raging (yay for living in the caribbean) and I had several power outages which made things certainly more difficult. After the song was done I explained what I did and gave Kuolema some mixing and mastering tips (which I hope were useful) and tried to explain why I did what I did. In the end, I wish I had a couple more days to get involved more in the arrangement side of things, and also to share more of my knowledge with Kuolema.

Fun times, would join this again in the future. Perhaps the mixing period could be a bit longer.

[MindWanderer]

Due to all the issues that have been brought up, I'm thinking, if people are okay with this, that it might be easier and more efficient for everyone if Mindwanderer decides who all the pairs are. That way he could do his best to match people who are in similar time zones and work with the same DAW.

Well, here's my thinking/plan.

What I'd like to do for the real seasons is to keep as stable a population of remixers as possible, with each Novice cooperating with each Star once, again as much as possible given that it will be drop-in, drop-out. Since the majority of participants are in the US, if I paired Europeans up with each other as much as possible, it would limit the pool of available partners to one or two. I could start folks off with others in their own time zone at first, but that would fall apart pretty quickly.

As for DAWs, since there are so many different ones, there's the same problem but moreso. Furthermore, since it's a competition, whoever got lucky enough to share the same DAW would be at a significant advantage. What I'm thinking right now is to limit each team from exchanging project files--they can only send each other midis, wavs, etc, anything software-neutral, and the final submission would have to come from the Novice.

[jnWake]

Being from South America is completely bad for these kind of things