Link's Awakening: Balland of the Wind Fish

[TroisNyxEtienne]

It's been a while, OCR. It has been a while. I've been beaten down by many, but that hasn't stopped me from trying.

This is my latest attempt at a video game cover of any kind: a French version of the Ballad of the Wind Fish from Link's Awakening.

That voice is mine, as are the lyrics and music. Now have at that song, for I've done all I could.

EDIT: TITLE IS BALLAD OF THE WIND FISH, I don't know how that stray N got in.

[Liontamer]

A great creative concept, beautifully performed, and well-executed. Never a bad time to submit this!

[Liontamer]

 

Sorry for the delay in responding to this, Troisnyx, but I was on vacation last week and wanted to give this the attention it deserved. I've never interacted with you before, nor have I see your name or handle in our submissions inbox (which I've helped manage since 2006), so you'd have to give me the backstory as to when/how you were excluded over mixing issues despite others being included; not sure if that meant a standalone submission being rejected or you trying to join an album project and being turned down. As far as you or others creating VGM arrangements out of spite for OC ReMix, we'd rather you didn't, but spite can be a powerful, motivating force. Whatever spurs you to make great music, channel it while its available. Not that you need it, but if part of your issue with OCR is not getting direct validation from someone in our community, then please consider that over, because I see that you're extremely skilled & talented. I wish you'd been on my radar way back when, but you're certainly on it now (in a positive way).

You in 2012 on our forums: *"I'm already deterred from submitting anything to the judges — as much as I want to [...] I know for sure they're going to turn round and say something is wrong."*

Definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I can tell, you've never actually submitted an arrangement to our judges panel for consideration to OCR before. I would always encourage anyone to submit something and just see what the feedback is. We have another great female, UK-based arranger, Rexy (@freqrexy), who was rejected time and time again, yet eventually improved her skills enough to where she's now on the judges panel that helps evaluate and select the music that's posted on OCR. Lots of arrangers have different stories, but she can attest to the fact that we do our best to be constructive with the feedback, and we're not here to beat people down. You also mentioned being shy in a forum post in 2012; glad to see that's not the case now. You wouldn't be the only talented person that's unreasonably intimidated by our submissions process or (wrongly) feels they already know the negative outcome in advance. But Pixel Mixers and GameGrooves also do quality control on their albums and I'm sure have had their own run-ins with people disappointed to be told their work needs improvement before being included in a project, even if their bars aren't as stringent as ours.

You posted an incredible LoZ:LA "Wind Fish" arrangement with French lyrics on our forums back in 2013; I'm sorry you didn't get a reply to it, because it definitely deserved the attention and affirmation. I thought it was amazing (i.e. a great creative concept, beautifully performed, and well-executed) and it's something I would strongly be in favor of posting, if it were submitted. Not sure what production limitations were involved in the track back then, but we don't consider how pricey someone's equipment is, just how effectively they use the tools they have (including predominantly free tools).

I also enjoyed your recent "Face Shrine" arrangement that you linked; not sure if an Enya comparison would be taken positively or not, but it's meant as a genuine compliment. If you don't want to consider submitting it, or the older "Wind Fish" arrangement, that's unfortunate for the additional audience we reach that otherwise won't get to hear it, but it's OK, and there's no drama here; we can't force you to actually try going through the submissions process, and we can't house every great interpretive VGM arrangement in existence, but we do our best to evaluate and publish the ones that are actually submitted to us. Whether it's now or years from now, you're always sincerely welcome in our community and encouraged to submit music for consideration. If it isn't approved, we'll do our best to explain why, but from what I can tell, your work is (and already has been) strong enough to be included, as well as unique enough to attract a following.

Lastly, I also mentioned Rexy because she's also a contributor to Pixel Mixers & GameGrooves recent charity album Heartwood. We don't look at being involved with OCR as being an either/or thing with other VGM communities. So I'd always encourage you or anyone else that's a part of Pixel Mixers, GameGrooves, Dwelling of Duels, Tiny Waves, GameLark, Materia Collective, Remix64, etc., to keep in mind that being part of OCR isn't at the expense of contributing to and supporting other creative VGM arrangement communities. It's all about "and", not "either/or."

I'm not here trying to manufacture a kumbaya moment, but I'm glad that you voiced your criticism so that I could respond and clarify that we're a genuinely welcoming community, and you and your music are definitely still welcome in it. I'm not sure what event made you feel like you were unwelcome, but that's never actually been the case. If you have any questions about how the submissions process works, let me know. I hope you're willing to reconsider submitting music to be included on OCR; if not, that's OK, and there's no negativity from us about it. Keep up the great work!

-Larry Oji (@LarryOji), community manager and submissions judge