rRPC - The Remix Role-Playing Competition (Congratulations to Jason Covenant and evktalo)

[Eino Keskitalo]

I've done some recording, but I'm occupied for a few following hours and would need about five hours more to turn something in. If I could get an extension and it'd be ok with Ethan, that'd be great.

[FenixDown]

I'm fine with extending it. I haven't gotten anything from Ethan yet either. I don't want to have the finalists decided by default so if the deadline has to be extended a little, so be it. Voting for Villain Round 2 will end as scheduled however, so I can start Villain Round 3.

Please get the music in to me as soon as possible.

[FenixDown]

Voting for Villain Bracket Round Two has closed.

Not long before the heroes arrived at the tower, the forces of Pokey and Sherincal had converged upon the hallowed grounds. As the grueling battle ensued, the weary minions of the two dominating villains fell one by one. And while the main forces were locked in combat on the grounds, their masters took their battle inside the tower itself. The victor of the battle will reign supreme over the denizens of darkness. And their first act as master will be to seize control of the Divinity Orb.

Villain Bracket Round Three: Domination

After much conflict, only two Villains remain. The winner of this round will advance to the finals and be pitted against the Hero Bracket’s champion. The deadline for this week’s match-up is noon EST on Monday, July, 21. And our two remaining Villains are:

Jason Covenant (

) vs. Ghetto Lee Lewis (

)

This will be the last round of the competition in which Summons will be allowed. The Summons the remaining Villains can use are:

Jason Covenant can summon Anorax’s Deathevan and Mindwanderer’s Gades

Ghetto Lee Lewis can summon Supercoolmike’s Saturos and Xenonetix’s Shadar

The Villains who have been eliminated from the compo can still contribute Fallen mixes for this round. Fallen Villains may choose to mix their character’s theme with one of the other Fallen participants', or one of these four dungeon themes:

The Castle - Final Fantasy VIII

Great Silver Shrine - Skies of Arcadia

Don’t forget that collaboration between Fallen participants is acceptable. I don’t have to say it, but please be sure to submit your mixes in the format I requested in the first post of the compo. The final battle is drawing near. Who will be the final boss of the rRPC?

[Ethan Rex]

I haven't really started a track - I had a fucking crazy week at work and drove up to Indy for the weekend.

Sorry to blue balls everyone in the semis, but so far all of my musical ideas for this have been complete shit and I'm not happy with any of them.

[FenixDown]

This is just me brainstorming at the moment so this isn't an official decision, but if I were to extend the Hero Round 3 deadline to match the deadline for the Villains Bracket's current round, would everyone be able to submit a mix? I'm only considering that possible option because we won't be able to start the finals until after voting has ended for the Villain Round 3 mixes anyway.

I know evktalo said he only needed a few hours to have his mix ready, and he would be more than welcome to take this extra time to polish up his mix, if we go this route. It just doesn't feel right for a finalist being decided because they were the only one to submit something. I personally don't want a repeat of the first round of the compo but I also don't want to do anything that could be considered unfair to other competitors. If Ethan thinks he only needs a day or two, or (and I hope this isn't the case) he does not think he'll be able to do anything regardless of how much time I give him, then those routes are more likely to be taken.

Again, this is just me thinking out loud, but if you have any thoughts on this, feel free to share.

[Ethan Rex]

This is just me brainstorming at the moment so this isn't an official decision, but if I were to extend the Hero Round 3 deadline to match the deadline for the Villains Bracket's current round, would everyone be able to submit a mix? I'm only considering that possible option because we won't be able to start the finals until after voting has ended for the Villain Round 3 mixes anyway.

I know evktalo said he only needed a few hours to have his mix ready, and he would be more than welcome to take this extra time to polish up his mix, if we go this route. It just doesn't feel right for a finalist being decided because they were the only one to submit something. I personally don't want a repeat of the first round of the compo but I also don't want to do anything that could be considered unfair to other competitors. If Ethan thinks he only needs a day or two, or (and I hope this isn't the case) he does not think he'll be able to do anything regardless of how much time I give him, then those routes are more likely to be taken.

Again, this is just me thinking out loud, but if you have any thoughts on this, feel free to share.

If evktalo is down, then so am I, but he did get a track done in the time allotted. Maybe we could give him a vote bonus of like 2 or 3 extra votes for finishing in time?

[Jason Covenant]

This is just me brainstorming at the moment so this isn't an official decision, but if I were to extend the Hero Round 3 deadline to match the deadline for the Villains Bracket's current round, would everyone be able to submit a mix? I'm only considering that possible option because we won't be able to start the finals until after voting has ended for the Villain Round 3 mixes anyway.

I was actually going to suggest this. I say go for it.

If evktalo is down, then so am I, but he did get a track done in the time allotted. Maybe we could give him a vote bonus of like 2 or 3 extra votes for finishing in time?

Neither of you turned in a remix on time, so I don't think it matters.

Jason Covenant (

) vs. Ghetto Lee Lewis (

)

I hereby challenge Ghetto Lee Lewis to a vocal battle...TO THE DEATH....and by death, I mean to see who gets the most votes.

[Eino Keskitalo]

I'm cool with extending the deadline, definitely. I do have half a skeleton ready here but it'd be cool to have a competition + I'd like to work on it some more, definitely.

[FenixDown]

Alright then, the semi-finals for each bracket of the rRPC will now be taking place simultaneously with the deadline being July/21 at 12:00 PM EST. I will also still be accepting Fallen mixes from the Hero Bracket in case any of the heroes are still interested in participating.

Alright everyone, best of luck in the semis.

[MindWanderer]

I hadn't been planning on doing a Fallen mix, but Black Dream calls to me.... I'd intended to rework Gades vs. Dark King into two separate mixes anyway, and this could work out nicely. There's no real reason why I have to write a 100% new mix, since this is bonus anyway.

[Ghetto Lee Lewis]

I hereby challenge Ghetto Lee Lewis to a vocal battle...TO THE DEATH....and by death, I mean to see who gets the most votes.

OH YOU MAY JUST AS WELL GET MORE THAN YOU BARGAINED FOR. There will be much blood, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth, and atrocities. oh yes there will be.

[Jason Covenant]

OH YOU MAY JUST AS WELL GET MORE THAN YOU BARGAINED FOR. There will be much blood, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth, and atrocities. oh yes there will be.

We have faced each other many times in compos, stretching back over a decade. But, never have we fought 1 on 1. Let this be our final battle--the duel to decide the victor once and for all!

[Ghetto Lee Lewis]

oh you are so going down

[Anorax]

[FenixDown]

Nice to see you guys fired up. How is everyone faring with their mixes so far?

[Eino Keskitalo]

I've gotten past the pain and am now having fun with the arrangement. I have no idea if it is any good, but good times are being had. Good to have a second week, I put the bar way too high for myself with the time signatures and live guitar and what not.

On Monday I actually had a crash that erased a bunch of work I had done, including a transcription of the chorus (or whatever) of the Xenoblade theme, that I couldn't just get right a second time. That's still waiting. I think the laptop just overheated in the hot weather. Hope it doesn't act up anymore or blow up, I dunno when I could get back to making music again if I lost it..

[Ethan Rex]

My song is waaaaaay out of left field.

You'll probably enjoy it.

[djg-music]

Whew, sorry for being m.i.a. the past two weeks. I would've liked to have contributed a fallen mix but I've been caught up in other projects. Maybe I can give "Corridor" some loving before the weekend is up.

Moreover, I'm so regretful that I didn't vote on the last round!! >.< You guys submitted some great stuff! I don't have the time tonight to finish my review for Supercoolmike's "Earths Sacrifice", but I managed to get everyone else's done. I'll post those next, and I'll get yours out ASAP, Mike!

Edited July 18, 2014 by djg-music
Formatting

[djg-music]

Jason Covenant - Pokey the Choker (Pokey & Gades)

I definitely enjoy the chill/fun mood in this piece, and I feel you used the source material generally very well. For me, when Gades comes through at around 0:55, I would've enjoyed for the strings to have more texture and crescendi. It seems to function as a mini-breakdown and introduction of Gades, but I think that as the melody changes there's an opportunity for the instrumentation to change slightly (let the strings help tell the story). Just a personal inclination. Thereafter, everything's fun and groovy again, but around 2:17 it all becomes a little repetitive. Maybe having Gades' theme take the reigns back again would've added variety.

MindWanderer - Mother of Sinistrals ~ Lament (Gades & Pokey)

There are some cool things going on in here. I actually really like the structure of this piece. Both themes are used frequently and often, and with variation in notes and/or instrumentation. If given live instruments and top notch samples, the composition here could really shine through. I'll admit, I was intimidated by the length of the track and expected some cut and paste, but you definitely kept things interesting. I honestly love the idea of (what sounds like) a saxophone solo thrown in there, and I genuinely like the symmetry of having the piece begin and end more or less the same.

Xenonetix - A Demon's Executor (Shadar & Sherincal)

I really like how you took parts of the brass from Icewind Dale and the strings from Ni No Kuni to make a somewhat combined ostinato. However, where in Icewind Dale that brass part is used sparingly to create action and, at times, syncopation against other parts, in your piece it creates a slightly frantic mood, but maybe that was exactly what you were going for. It's fortunate that both themes begin and center around a P5 (sometimes augmented 5th) interval, it allows you to reference both simultaneously. I enjoy what you do at ~1:12, bringing in the trem. doublebass to reference the tail-end of Icewind Dale. It's my favorite part of the piece and it establishes some nice tension. Unfortunately, the ending feels abrupt and as though you weren't sure how to finish it.

Ghetto Lee Lewis - Gratuitous Sax and Violins (Sherincal & Shadar)

Oh, god. This is so... ... awesome. Way to completely change the mood. Haha, I'm so taken aback. Ok, so you obviously focused far more on taking only the melodies from each piece and making them fit the feeling you wanted. Which can be awesome or lack lustre depending on who's voting, I suppose. I love the way you implemented the Ni No Kuni theme around 1;09, it sounds very motown-ish. I feel like I'm watching the opening to "In the Heat of the Night" (I'm old i__i) albeit less bluesy. The percussion, bass, etc. are all done very nicely and really like the way it ends. I'm taking a note from this to flip more songs on their heads, that's probably more toward the point of remixing in the first place.

[FenixDown]

Maybe I can give "Corridor" some loving before the weekend is up.

You have no idea how happy that'd make me, but don't let that be the deciding factor over whether you do it or not. Anyway, don't worry too much over missing the last voting period, sometimes things just happen and your attention has to be focused elsewhere. Thank you for taking the time to critique the Villain entries from round 2.

Also thanks for the updates evktalo and Ethan. I'm very eager to hear what you guys do with that Xenoblade source.

[Xenonetix]

Well, I was attempting to mix Shadar's Theme with Hollow Bastion, which probably could have worked out quite well, but no matter how hard I tried, making a good sounding version of a section of Shadar's Theme in 5/4 never quite worked as I'd've liked it to, so I've had to abandon that Fallen Mix. Sorry.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Xenonetix

[FenixDown]

That's unfortunate. There are three other sources to choose from though, if any other ideas regarding them click with you. The deadline is closing in but it's not quite here yet.

Speaking of the deadline, I actually have a dentist appointment taking place around noon tomorrow, so I am going to give you guys an extra hour. The new deadline will be at 1PM EST on July 21st. Of course, if your mix is ready before hand, I will gladly take it as soon as you are ready to submit it. I hope our competitors in the brackets are making progress with their mixes.

[Eino Keskitalo]

I kinda have a full arrangement, there's just these holes in it and I hope I can manage to fill them. Anyway I'll submit what I have now if I don't have the time. It's turning out alright too.

[MindWanderer]

Nothing from me this week after all. I could have worked on it, but instead I chose to:

- Assemble a crib

- Replace a window screen

- Watch all of No Game No Life

- Play through almost all of Papers, Please

I may still do the remix I had in mind at some point, but I really have to start questioning whether it's the best use of my time.

[Jason Covenant]

I've made a lot of progress on my track. I've recorded over 15 minutes of raw vocals and I've already built some backup choirs from them. Unfortunately, I woke up with an ear infection today, so I might be a little late turning it in. Hope that's ok. I'll try to get it in by the deadline still, but I can't really guarantee it.