Album Requests?

[Pipez]

Is there any place here to request or start the ball rolling on Remix albums?  I'm asking this because I've noticed that there's a Rocket Knight Adventures album project here that seems DoA and no remixes otherwise on the site.

[djpretzel]

@Pipez The Recruit & Collaborate forum is your best bet (https://ocremix.org/community/forum/29-recruit-collaborate/)

Basically, staff rarely run albums themselves - most albums are started by artists or individuals interested in seeing X game or concept realized; for more obscure games, that can mean having a smaller scope & staying on top of deadlines, cycling requests out, etc.

[Darkflamewolf]

There is also nothing stopping you from becoming director and gathering together awesome talent and managing an entire album on your own. (granted, I had help in the way of @Modus, who was invaluable) But anyone can make an album become reality. Arcadia Legends is proof of that. However, it is a lot of work, keeping up to date on both remixers,, artists and more and making sure everything is flowing smoothly and on time. It takes a lot of organization and patience and definitely a lot of micro and macro managing. It will not be easy, but if you are passionate about the project, others will see that and hopefully will want to join and make it a reality too with you.

[Jorito]

Chipping in, what DFW is saying is true. It's a lot of work managing an album, but I've personally found it very rewarding and satisfactory (hence doing my 3rd album gig, as the Terranigma co-director this time). There's something about working with artists, see and help their vision come to life bit by bit and unleashing the combined tracks unto the world that has a certain something to it. It can feel like cat herding at times, but for me it has been worth it. Having a manageable album vision and scope and clear deadlines (I prefer albums projects that can be finished within 1 year) definitely helps. Either way, it is typically a process that takes months at least (sometimes years, with large gaps of inactivity if you're unlucky), depending on the vision, scope, directing and that does involve a commitment of time and energy from the director(s). I've seen projects stall because the director(s) started enthusiastically but couldn't keep the time and energy committed to it to see things through to the end.

Maybe directing your own album is not something you want to do, but if it is something you're considering, I hope it helps to give you a sense of the things you might run into rather than going in blind.

[orlouge82]

I always personally would love to see a Godzilla NES album, but I have zero technical music expertise myself, so it's not going to happen anytime soon, sadly...

[AngelCityOutlaw]

17 hours ago, Jorito said:

Either way, it is typically a process that takes months at least (sometimes years, with large gaps of inactivity if you're unlucky),

[Darkflamewolf]

Pitch it then. Make it happen. Literally one of the first things I did after I had made the initial project thread and put out a recruitment call, I went down the list from A to Z of all my favorite remixers and painstakingly sent off DMs to each and every one of them (limit 5 per day for these forums) hoping to recruit them to the project. 80% never responded back or even read the DMs. 10% will politely say no for whatever reason. However, the remaining 10% will surprise you and be on board to creating tracks for the album. You just never know until you ask!

[Pipez]

Yeah, I'm not sure I want to be the overall project head.  I don't have the technical know-how to compile everything.

[Bundeslang]

On 2/13/2019 at 9:03 PM, orlouge82 said:

I always personally would love to see a Godzilla NES album, but I have zero technical music expertise myself, so it's not going to happen anytime soon, sadly...

Second that.

[Rozovian]

I see you, ACO. I see you.

Album projects have gotten stupidly ambitious. It'd be nice to see more shorter albums. One disc, some central tracks, unremixed pieces, remixers' favorites, themed around the bad  guys or locations or something, done within a year or so by a handful of remixers who each do multiple tracks for a more cohesive sound. If I ever do another album, that's my approach. Narrow focus, small scope. Much easier.

And maybe a stickied album requests thread in the remix requests, or a resurfacing album requests thread here in community could inspire people to make more shorter album projects. Nothing says they have to be ocr-style, either. Posted remixers can pimp them here anyway, and there are other outlets for this stuff too, eg reddit. Mods, thoughts?

If you're particularly interested in the Rocket Knight Adventures album, necroing the album thread is showing interest. I liked how the sd3 project thread saw activity from people hoping and waiting for it. I'm sure others working on album project feel the same way about theirs. Even if the project is dead, thread activity can inspire remixers to have a look at the tracklist and maybe do a remix from the game independent of the album. So it's a remix from the game, even if it's not a whole album.

[Admiral_C]

On 2/13/2019 at 12:03 PM, orlouge82 said:

I always personally would love to see a Godzilla NES album, but I have zero technical music expertise myself, so it's not going to happen anytime soon, sadly...

Thirded... for emphasis. If I had the time, I would really try to get this going myself.

[Pipez]

3 hours ago, Rozovian said:

I see you, ACO. I see you.

Album projects have gotten stupidly ambitious. It'd be nice to see more shorter albums. One disc, some central tracks, unremixed pieces, remixers' favorites, themed around the bad  guys or locations or something, done within a year or so by a handful of remixers who each do multiple tracks for a more cohesive sound. If I ever do another album, that's my approach. Narrow focus, small scope. Much easier.

And maybe a stickied album requests thread in the remix requests, or a resurfacing album requests thread here in community could inspire people to make more shorter album projects. Nothing says they have to be ocr-style, either. Posted remixers can pimp them here anyway, and there are other outlets for this stuff too, eg reddit. Mods, thoughts?

If you're particularly interested in the Rocket Knight Adventures album, necroing the album thread is showing interest. I liked how the sd3 project thread saw activity from people hoping and waiting for it. I'm sure others working on album project feel the same way about theirs. Even if the project is dead, thread activity can inspire remixers to have a look at the tracklist and maybe do a remix from the game independent of the album. So it's a remix from the game, even if it's not a whole album.

Just necroed it.  Last post was in '12, though.

[Darkflamewolf]

You mean this sort of soundtrack for Godzilla?

 

[Admiral_C]

16 hours ago, Darkflamewolf said:

You mean this sort of soundtrack for Godzilla?

 

Yes. This soundtrack was/is "on fire" (as the kids say these days). Each of the planets and most of the bosses had really catchy tunes that somehow fit the scenario just right.

There's some nostalgia bias here because this is one of the few games my brother and I played and beat together when we were little. But even re-listening to it now, the tracks still sounds good and it would be sweet to see them get some remix love.

I know for a fact that I wouldn't be able to keep up as an album director for something like this though. So I am content to dream about it for now.

[orlouge82]

Wow, I didn't mean to derail the topic so much, but I'm thrilled that there's so much love for NES Godzilla out there!  Hopefully the remix album will materialize one day, but Motherpluckin' B does have a sweet, sweet remix of the game's ending credits in the meantime:

 

[Liontamer]

On 2/14/2019 at 10:25 PM, Pipez said:

Yeah, I'm not sure I want to be the overall project head.  I don't have the technical know-how to compile everything.

You don't need any technical know-how to direct an album project, just putting that out there. You just need to have the time & energy to organize it and keep things progressing.

[Darkflamewolf]

And good management and people skills also helps. You definitely need to be empathetic and understanding of the remixers who agree to help you, since they are doing this for free (most times). So understanding they have lives and struggles will help keep your expectations in check. Sure, you can make deadlines, but realize that not everyone can meet them due to a variety of reasons. If you aren't caring how many tracks the album ends up being, this can be a good way of getting 'something' pushed out and securing the tracks that were able to be created in that deadline timeframe. However, unlike that suggestion, I chose to set a goal of 36 tracks - 3 discs for my album, and I personally wasn't going to accept anything less. Sure, it extended the timeline of the album over 3 years, but I felt it ended up being a better product in the end for it. You decide what will work best for your album.

[prophetik music]

as someone who's done several album projects, here's what you need:

• time
• patience
• desire

that's it. so little of running a project is technical know-how. you need to have a vision, which is what people sign up to participate in. you need organization, to keep track of who's where and what they're doing. you need to be willing to listen - both to a ton of trash tracks that might turn out good once they're worked, and also to people telling you suggestions and when things aren't good enough yet. and you need unflagging enthusiasm and drive, because without that your project will turn into every other project out there that's sputtered. the onus is on you to recruit, to inspire, and to follow through 100% of the time.

if you like a soundtrack or concept that much, then do it. it's not just a matter of updating a doc. for chrono cross, i sent over 600 total PMs in ~85 conversations, sent 200 emails, and heard fourteen tracks that didn't make the eventual cut or weren't finished. i'd say a third of those had nothing to do with music and were follow-ups to get comments or to get stuff for the website or verification. it's a lot of content that you need to regularly manage. it's not a stretch to assume that i've put several hundred hours into it over the last two years, more if you include the extra phone conversations and text conversations i've had with collaborators.

[The Nikanoru]

Just to add my two bits in - I'm one of those directors that started out strong, but got a bit overwhelmed by life as time and a half went by, and for the last year or so have been having trouble staying in touch consistently. 

Most of the main points are stated above, but as a living example of some of the shortfalls of directing an album, I would add three things that I think are very important even in the face of the obstacles that will inevitably come:

1. Always keep your lines of communication open. I have not been as good at this as I would like on my project. As prophetik says, everything is on you and people are looking to you for guidance, updates, and general status of the project, and when you stop communicating, people will draw their own conclusions. I have found this leads to remixers feeling alienated or moving on to other projects, as the assumption becomes that 'this is another dropped project by someone who doesn't care to finish it.' Even if you only tell people that life continues to suck and you'll be away for a while longer, at least folks know where you are at and where the project stands.
2. Don't be afraid to collaborate or ask for help. You mentioned 'zero technical expertise' - that's why the OCR 'Recruitment and Collaboration' forum exists. Every project that I have seen or been part of doesn't just rely on one person's knowledge or expertise, it relies on a bunch of people - some handling more administrative tasks (such as info gathering and organization), some manage the quality of the music (giving notes on arrangement, mixing, etc.), some handle the stuff outside of OCR (such as professional mixing/mastering, cover art design, etc.) because they have the contacts for that - just as examples. Even if you don't know where to go from where you are, you can always ask for help! There's lots of us who have been involved in album developments in the past who are willing to give pointers or advice, as this thread has demonstrated.
3. NEVER GIVE UP! - Life is hard and we all understand that things happen and sometimes when things get so deep or so far behind that we ask to ourselves 'is there any point in finishing this?' The only answer is YES, because you had a dream and other people have invested with you to see that dream come to life. It doesn't matter how bad things look or how far gone things seem to have become, there is always a reason to finish and there are always people willing to help to get you out of your cloud, help you get back on track, and help you keep things going.

Projects will always progress at different rates, sometimes not as originally intended (Right @Rozovian?). Life will happen at some point and choices will have to be made; no one is going to jump up and down on you here because of what you had to do to deal with your life. What counts is what comes of all that effort - and I'm sure there are folks reading this who can attest that all the crap you go through in the album's development is totally worth it to see that album released and/or posted on OCR's main page. 

If you have the time, patience, and desire to start building an album; the vision, the organization and the willingness to listen to attract people to your project; and the unwavering enthusiasm and drive to see the progress made in spite of everything that life throws at you, then there's no reason you can't start to build your own album from start to finish - but regardless of how it actually goes down, remember to always keep your lines of communication open to the folks you are leading, don't be afraid to collaborate or ask for help for anything you are having trouble with, and above all else that happens ... NEVER GIVE UP!

... because I sure won't!

Edited March 12, 2019 by The Nikanoru

[TSori]

As someone who is leading their first album project right now, I really appreciate the above posts, especially @The Nikanoru and @prophetik music

I can't offer any advice or experience yet, but I will say before I actually decided to take the plunge I spent a lot of time reading through other albums project threads, both successful and not so successful, to see if I could figure out what made the difference.  The biggest thing I drew out of all of that will echo what's been said above.  The difference seems to be a commitment to see it through to the end, to be consistent, communicative, enthusiastic, patient, and to strike the right balance between flexibility and organization.

I often lead large engineering projects at work, and I can tell you the above applies for those too.

So if you're passionate about it, I'd say do your research beforehand and make up your mind as to what kind of director you're going to be come, hell or high water...then dive in.  Never be afraid to ask for help or advice.    
 

Edited March 13, 2019 by TSori

[Darkflamewolf]

Oh, and I guess I can add a new point to this whole discussion, one that isn't discussed much: PHYSICAL COPIES of said album.

This isn't required for any album to have physical copies at all. In fact, this is more of a personal choice for the director of the album if they want a physical copy. There isn't going to be some big Kickstarter like there was for FF6: Balance and Ruin for your physical album prints. I think that was a one time thing and a legal quagmire that I feel OCRemix isn't wanting to delve into anytime soon. But can any album have a physical release? I believe so! However, there are some requirements first.

1) The director must be the one who impresses on everyone from the outset their intention to make physicals after album release. Everyone on the OCRemix admin staff and those remixers and contributors to the project need to be aware of this intention and be agreeable to pitching in for the final product.

2) You will not normally see a simultaneous physical and digital release of the album. The digital will always come first and the physicals months later due to logistics and timing, etc.

3) The director is responsible, with their art director, in securing all front/back cover art and disc art for the album. However that happens, either you draw it yourself or you pay a commission for an artist to do it for you, it must be something available and provided for the physical prints.

4) Split your discs up early into track lists where the run times are 74 mins or less per disc to properly fit on physical CDs come printing.

5) After digital release, you'll most likely be working with DJPretzel directly and once your request for physicals is approved on OCRemix admin, they will be covering HALF of the costs. The other half must come from you, the director. This isn't cheap, and the Arcadia Legends album limited print run went close to $2000. So about $1000 needed to come out of my pocket. You can either dump the change all yourself, or get as many folks from those who contributed to pitch in equal amounts of money to add up to your half. However you slice it, you need to provide it.

6) It is generally considered a good recommendation that you order enough for at least two physical copies per contributor to the album. However, not all contributors will be able to or willing to pitch in for the cost, nor will all contributors be willing to respond and provide you with their physical addresses to mail them. (which you'll have to do and pay additional for shipping out of pocket) So it is up to the director if those who neither paid nor provided address get physical copies at all - harsh truth, but needed to be said.

7) Once ordered, the shipment will be split, you'll get roughly half, and OCRemix will get half to give out at their fest panels. Once you receive your shipment, it'll be on you to make good on promises made to all those wanting physical copies. Once those are sent out and you have a bunch left over, the director can do whatever they want with them, raffles, prizes, etc. Just don't sell them!

With all that out of the way, physicals are a neat novelty piece and a great reward for all the hard work for everyone who put effort into the project! It isn't ideal for every album, but the option is there if you wish to pursue it. Just know that you, the director, will be the one who foots all the work on this and covering cost when others come up short. So be aware of this!

Now for those interested, Arcadia Legends physicals should be finishing up printing this week and hopefully shipping out by this weekend! So for all those waiting on their contributor copies, it won't be long now when I get them and repackage them up and send them out!

[Rozovian]

It's in my sig but just to make it a little more visible:

Chernabogue's ocr project guide aka Creating & Helping OCR Projects 101.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Rozovian
can't spell