Search by genre

[DarkeSword]

Even though I normally think it's a crappy way to evaluate someone's credibilty, you could possibly only allow people with a certain postcount to add tags.

Permission to do things will never be based on postcount.

[djpretzel]

Permission to do things will never be based on postcount.

Well... actually, considering only allowing PMs after postcount > 10, to avoid PM spam... never say never

[Dhsu]

Haha.

It actually didn't cross my mind that a tag system would necessitate some sort of moderation...so to that, I'd suggest a simple solution: don't allow users to submit tags. Just let the judges decide on tags before each new mix is posted. Yeah, it would add even more to the judging overhead, but probably only by a few minutes or so, and I think it'll be worth it in the long run. Might need to recruit some extra trusted members to work on tagging the existing mixes though.

As for the matter of the development backlog...if you haven't already, have you considered asking CHz to help with coding? I don't want to straight-up volunteer his services prematurely, but he's been doing a lot of cool stuff for GamingForce and I feel he'd be a great asset to OCR development as well.

[SoulinEther]

I don't know why but I strongly feel this would work better as a separate project outside of OCR... at least in the initial stages, especially if it allows any old person to tag songs. But in imagining how complicated of a system I'm suggesting, it might be a good idea to integrate.

I would imagine it would be a smart move to first create a short (50-100) list of descriptors that you can tag a song with, such as:

• Genre (rock, metal, jazz, "pop", rap, new age, techno, trance, R&B, classical/orchestral, classical/piano)
  
• Instruments/vocals (piano, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, oboe, ukulele, flute, cello, timpani, drums, synth (should be various types i suppose), male vocal, female vocal, chorus)
  
• Lyrical/non-lyrical
  
• Length (1:00-1:59, 2:00-2:59, 3:00-3:59, 4:00+, etc)
  
• Other various descriptors (chill, upbeat, relaxing, reviving, angry-with-your-significant-other-so-you-drive-80-miles-an-hour-with-this-song-playing-on-the-car-stereo-system-and-you-scream-along-with-this-song)

That way, the tags will be limited in quantity and thus accessible, constructive, and unique (no repeats). New tags could be proposed and ratified through a simple, democratic poll (maybe even on this forum).

With a well-crafted interface system thing with the song database, interesting statistics could be taken on the songs to see how commonly, say, the piano is used in remixes or what is the most commonly used genre in remixes....

Meh. Anything would be cool though.

[Sinewav]

It would kill the variety of tags that I would hope for, but SoulinEther's idea is a good one. Would certainly be less messy.

And I never said the postcount idea was a good idea. Just brainstorming.

[Yuiopdude]

K, I know it would take a TON of time... but wouldn't it help some people who are trying to find remixes to add a Genre to OCR songs, and then allowing them to search by that?

I know I've visited OCR numerous times looking for a specific song genre... whether it be Techno/Electronica/Dance, Rock, Classic-ish, Blues, etc. But I get here only to remember that I'm going to have to blow through hundreds of Remixes to MAYBE find one or two songs that I'm kinda looking for.

It would even help further if they could also be seperated into subgroups (like Punk Rock under the "Rock" genre, and Death-Metal under the "Metal" genre.

I just don't want to have to ask in the general forums "I'm looking for this kind of song," because I'd probably do it a LOT if I didn't stop myself every time

Again, I KNOW it would take a great deal of time, and I don't expect it to happen yesterday, I'm just saying, it's a suggestion (That, admittedly enough, has probably already been suggested.)

[Schwaltzvald]

Quoted from the FAQ of the site

Why aren't the ReMixes categorized by genre, i.e. techno, jazz, orchestral, etc.?

OC ReMix has no intentions of categorizing pieces by genre. We've discussed this matter several times - what it boils down to is a feeling that:

* There are many pieces that don't fit nicely into genres or have multiple genres, and putting them in "miscellaneous" and "multiple" categories would be kind of lame; and

* Part of the purpose of the site is to open people's minds (and ears) to new horizons. Try everything. If all you want to do is download Square techno, so be it, but you'll be missing out on tons of great songs. We've decided not to implement a system that would encourage that kind of navigation.

A third reason could potentially be that djpretzel would feel lonely having the only piece in the hillbilly genre, but we think the first two reasons are strong enough.

[K.B.]

I am of this same mindset, but we have to respect the wishes of the site's owner and operators. This also allows for VGMix to retain one of its niches. VGMix has classifications and rankings, so if you're intimidated by the hundreds of remixes then you can start there and then ease into OCR. That's what I did anyway. And that's also why I like both sites for what they are.

[Kizyr]

The other issue is that debates tend to flare up over genre classification... especially when you try to finely dice it up (like subgenres of metal or electronica). I don't know if that happens here, but at least in my experience elsewhere, genre discussions have a high likelihood of descending into arguments over semantics and technicalities that.

'Course it's also worth mentioning that OCR isn't the one and only standard for all things remixed. There're other places with different goals in mind, like VGMix or OLRemix, and it's not like anyone's in competition with one another. Then again, it's not really possible to compete with the amazing quality that is OLRemix. KF

[Yuiopdude]

D'OH! Shot down by the FAQ... aw well, would be nice, but if there is no intention, then forget it. Guess there's no point in discussing this further eh?

[Liontamer]

D'OH! Shot down by the FAQ... aw well, would be nice, but if there is no intention, then forget it. Guess there's no point in discussing this further eh?

Nope, no point.

[Echbel]

Hello all,

I was wondering if the site has considered adding tags to the remixes to indicate genre? Could make it easier for people to find what they want.

I know it would take some work, but I'd be willing to help out. I recently decided to listen to EVERY remix in alphabetical order (I've just barely gotten to "D" so far) so it would be easy for me to type the tags for each one as I go.

The list I had in mind would be something like:

Electronica

Dance

Trance

Drum 'n' Bass

Accoustic

Beep-boop

Vocal

Metal

Hip Hop

Ambient

Orchestral

Big Band

Mustin

Cheerful

Sad

Bittersweet

Humorous

Adrenaline

Creepy

Dramatic

OCR Album

Of course others can be added.

I don't know whose call it is on whether such a project would be OK, but I hope they see this. Thoughts?

e

[Gollgagh]

http://www.ocremix.org/info/Frequently_Asked_Questions#Why_aren.27t_the_ReMixes_categorized_by_genre.2C_i.e._techno.2C_jazz.2C_orchestral.2C_etc..3F

[FR]

It's never gonna happen.

[Flare4War]

What Gollgagh said.

[Echbel]

Okay, I read the FAQ about genre tags.

I have to say - and I'm saying this as a fan - those are the lamest reasons I've ever heard.

Seriously, I thought it would be something pragmatic like "we don't have the time to categorise them" or something. But come on, the remixes don't fit cookie cutter labels? Big deal, that's what multiple tags are for. Opening people's minds? Hey, you just said the mixes don't perfectly fit the labels... let them put in Trance and listen to some new stuff they wouldn't get on any online Trance station.

As a living example, I'm offering to to do all the work involved in tagging the mixes (that's how gung ho I am for genre tags) and I just stated I'm listening to every single mix on the site in order even if they're not of a genre I normally like (even the metal ones, and that's saying a lot for me). I'd say that open minds and genre tags are perfectly compatible.

We're all here because we like video game music and I suspect most listeners will give a track a try, even a weird one if it's from a game they like. Being able to search by tag would only allow them to find something faster for a particular party, mood or playlist.

*sigh* djpretzel, if you read this, please know that my willingness to volunteer remains, and if you guys would ever be willing to change your minds, I'm here. I may not be able to mix music but I could at least do something useful for my favourite music site.

:/

ap

[lazygecko]

No, the main reason is they don't want the site melting down from my nerdrage when people will inevitably tag Techno on anything that has even a remotely electronic element to it.

[Echbel]

No, the main reason is they don't want the site melting down from my nerdrage when people will inevitably tag Techno on anything that has even a remotely electronic element to it.

But that's the beautiful thing about multiple tags. If you don't like the way the "techno" tag is applied you can click on a more specific tag like "trance" or "Drum n Bass."

And actually I excluded "techno" from my proposed list of tags precisely because it would be over- and mis-applied.

[LuketheXjesse]

You should be willing to broaden your musical tastes outside of whatever genre you're stuck in.

End of story.

[Fishy]

What is this obsession with catagorising every peice of music? It kind of sucks out the inidividualism and personality of music if you insist on giving it a label. Just enjoy it for what it is and put your tag guns away.

[FR]

i don't like country, how do i not find country music if it's not labeled :[

[Skrypnyk]

it's funny how people are so against genre tagging, and their various silly reasons.

but it's even more funny when people tag anything 'electronica'.

[FR]

This whole site is "electronica".

[Palpable]

I'm not sure how long ago that part of the FAQ was written, but I know the idea of tags has been floated by several people (check out this thread, for starters), and without having talked to him, I'd guess djp is probably not as averse to having functional tags rather than genre tags; something that objectively describes the song (violins, synths, vocals) rather than labelling it with a genre which could be contentious. You can practically already do searches on write-ups to get all the mixes where a certain instrument is mentioned, so using tags would just facilitate that.

[Olarin]

suggestion: if you feel that passionately about putting things into tiny little boxes, nobody's stopping you from making your own website listing the remixes and providing either your own categorizations and/or a user-driven tagging system. obviously it might not get as much traffic as if it were integrated on the ocremix.org site, but it would work just as well in terms of doing what you're envisioning. but you better have quite the supply of patience for the endless stream of irresolvable flamewars about proper use of terminology that would land at your feet.