Glad I kept the old files...

[OmegaPaladin]

I noticed that a new set of OC Remixes is out with the release of OCR #3000. However, I was intrigued that there were a hell of a lot fewer files than 3000. Looking around, I ran across the changelog, and was I in for a surprise. Apparently I considerably have different tastes than the judging panel!

Ironically, the remix that led me to find this site, the GoldenEye 007 Symphonic Caverns Remix, was one of the ones removed. I was quite surprised at just how many remixes I liked got the axe. There were also no remixes where I found that I was glad that it was removed. I'm very glad I didn't delete the old files before downloading the new torrent.

Obviously, I know that OC Remix has no obligation to do anything whatsoever, judges can do whatever they want, yadda yadda yadda. I was just curious how many other people still keep around unofficial OC Remixes?

Edited October 29, 2014 by OmegaPaladin
Fixed typos due to posting at 3AM

[Kenogu Labz]

The removed remixes were not removed as a matter of panel taste. They were removed because they did not meet the standards all arrangements on the site are held to. The one you mentioned in particular was removed because:

OCR00870 - GoldenEye 007 'Symphonic Caverns'

Reason: Too similar to the original. Author requested removal.

See the FAQ and the ReMix Changelog for more details.

This isn't a personal vendetta against your tastes: it's just the standard application of the submission standards.

[Moseph]

And if anyone's looking for mp3s of the removed mixes: http://www.doulifee.com/Storage/OC_Removed/

[Brandon Strader]

I was quite surprised at just how remixes I liked got the axe. There were also no remixes where I found that I was glad that it was removed.

I completely agree,

-- it should be back on the front page immediately.

[OmegaPaladin]

The removed remixes were not removed as a matter of panel taste. They were removed because they did not meet the standards all arrangements on the site are held to. The one you mentioned in particular was removed because:

See the FAQ and the ReMix Changelog for more details.

This isn't a personal vendetta against your tastes: it's just the standard application of the submission standards.

Personal vendetta? I'm a recent joiner of the forum, and it would be absolute egomania and paranoia to think anyone here cares about my opinions beyond idle curiosity. I'm sorry if you got that impression - it was not intended.

Yeah, I did read that changelog. However, aren't the standards of the site also a matter of interpretation / taste? After all, they do not specify an exact threshold of how close a remix can be to the original. I'm just stating my disagreement, and asking if others had remixes that they liked, but did not make the cut.

It is interesting to note that they were approved at one time. Did the standards change over time, or was there an error in judging back then?

And if anyone's looking for mp3s of the removed mixes: http://www.doulifee.com/Storage/OC_Removed/

Thanks! That could definitely come in handy.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Yeah, I did read that changelog. However, aren't the standards of the site also a matter of interpretation / taste? After all, they do not specify an exact threshold of how close a remix can be to the original.

For what reason do you think we have multiple judges voting on every mix instead of just one?

[timaeus222]

Yeah, I did read that changelog. However, aren't the standards of the site also a matter of interpretation / taste? After all, they do not specify an exact threshold of how close a remix can be to the original. I'm just stating my disagreement, and asking if others had remixes that they liked, but did not make the cut.

It is interesting to note that they were approved at one time. Did the standards change over time, or was there an error in judging back then?

There's an important distinction that needs to be made. Saying the site standards are a matter of taste would be somewhat like saying morality is a matter of God's taste (but in a much less serious way). See the 'second horn' of this. One of the judges' most important aims in their votes is to minimize subjectivity as much as possible. Any judge is supposed to not reject a mix they hate or accept a mix they love for the sole reason of their hating or loving it, respectively. If that were done, it would be continually whimsical to have a mixpost on the site and the standards wouldn't mean anything (consequently, they also wouldn't exist in the absence of judges). To minimize that subjectivity, we have multiple judges, because nobody's perfect.

You can't specify "exact thresholds" on the conservative or liberal nature of a remix to the original because there are thousands upon thousands of VG tunes, and to set an objective standard on what you 'have' to do to be above or below some threshold on being too interpretive or not interpretive would be impossible.

The best that can be done is to say "don't stick to close to the original and write it note-for-note", "try to change the tempo, flow, structure, harmonies, key, instrumentation, dynamics, etc. as ways of reinterpretation", or perhaps "make sure you can still hear the original in the remix without trying too hard". There's somewhat of a 50% guideline for source usage, but that depends on how confident and accurate you would be on saying "this counts as source, I'm sure of it, and others would agree with me."

Even then, with those standards, it's kind of hard to apply to everything because there's always that oddball source tune (like what

came from), or there's the chance that someone changes the notes too much. There's just too much room for error to make absolute rules on 'what you have to do to get on OCR'. It would also be too restrictive to creativity to do that. The bar, as Liontamer says, hasn't really 'moved' since 2007, though, no matter how inaccessible it might seem.

---

The standards did change over time, but the removed OC ReMixes were re-judged according to the standards of their time. They generally had very obvious reasons---ones you could make within 5 minutes perhaps (MIDI rip, mere addition of drums, excessive sampling, primarily sound effects, overly low encoding, etc.), but also some other not-so-obvious reasons (game music not written for game, removed by request, too original, stolen arrangement, etc.)

Edited October 29, 2014 by timaeus222