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OCR, 8 Bit Weapon & Nokia! Reset Generation ReMix contest!


Liontamer
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OCR, 8 Bit Weapon & Nokia! The Reset Generation ReMix contest!

It's time for some summer contest action! It's not the usual OC ReMix compos though, we've got swag on the line for this one! Legendary chiptune musicians Seth Sternberger & Michelle Mitchell, aka 8 Bit Weapon, have been putting out some awesome music & products lately. Along with several albums (their latest being Electric High) and the recent "8 Bit Weapon: A Chiptune Odyssey" loop & sample library, some of 8BW's proudest work was gaining the title of video game composers with their soundtrack to RedLynx and Nokia's awesome puzzle/strategy title Reset Generation on the Nokia N-Gage.

In Reset Generation, old school gamers choose from a cast of classically influenced characters like Plumber, Hedgehog, and Babe Gunner to rescue a princess while taking out all other would-be heroes. Besides being able to get the game free at ResetGeneration.com to play anyone using their PC or N-Gage, fans can download the entire soundtrack to Nokia's Reset Generation free from 8BitWeapon.com!

Because Seth & Michelle are so supportive of game music & the OCR community, we're teaming up with 8 Bit Weapon AND Nokia to hook up the artist who can do the best job of remixing and interpreting the Reset Generation soundtrack! Besides getting their ReMix posted to OCR as our first N-Gage mix, 8 Bit Weapon has delivered with an amazing phone hookup courtesy of Nokia. The grand prize... a brand new Nokia N81, a US$399 value, with 8GB of memory including Reset Generation installed!

Contest Rules

The rules are simple. No MIDI format submissions, no chiptune-sounding submissions without some modern sounds & production techniques, no covers with little interpretation, no traditional remixes heavily sampling original audio, no mashups. If you're new, read up on OC ReMix's standards and compare recent ReMixes to their original game tracks to understand what we're all about.

Beyond that though, you can arrange the source material for any genre, any style, any length, any number of source tunes, any number of artists, and any number of entries. In short, make a kickass Reset Generation OC ReMix! Reset Generation's tracks are all in the 8-bit style of classic, old-school game music, so you have a lot of flexibility with your arrangement!

We've already provided the link to download Reset Generation's MP3s, but 8 Bit Weapon has also provided you the 21 MIDIs of the Reset Generation soundtrack (also attached) in case you need references. You have from now until the middle of July to complete as many entries as you want. But once we hit 11:59PM EST on Friday, July 10th, 2009, we're done accepting contest entries! All contest entries need to be emailed to admin@ocremix.org, subject "Nokia & 8 Bit Weapon!" Be sure to mention who was involved & what songs are being ReMixed!

Our illustrious judges will be chiptune assassin 8 Bit Weapon (Seth Sternberger), the lovely ComputeHer (Michelle Mitchell), OCR founder djpretzel (David Lloyd) & OCR head submissions evaluator Liontamer (Larry Oji), who'll be judging every track on a simple 1-5 scale, so make sure your entries are creatively arranged and capably produced for the win!

WHAT CAN I WIN?!? (Winning collaborators will be responsible for divvying up their prizes)

1st place!

  • The Nokia N81 phone (a US$399 value) with 8GB of memory and Reset Generation installed!
  • An 8 Bit Weapon t-shirt, to show your chiptune love!
  • A signed limited edition of 8 Bit Weapon's latest EP, Electric High, in a real 5.25" floppy disk!
  • Your choice of an OCR t-shirt along with a pair of OCR stickers, so you can fly the colors!
  • Your choice of 1 more prize out of the OCR prize pool below!

  • Cakewalk SONAR 7 Producer Edition (NFR)

  • Sony ACID Pro 6 (NFR)

  • Sony Sound Forge 9 (NFR)

  • Novation V-Station Virtual Instrument

  • SONiVOX Playa Hip-Hop Virtual Instrument

  • A bundle of loops by M-Audio

  • Project Gotham Racing
    (Microsoft, Xbox 360)

  • Unreal Anthology
    (Midway, Windows)

2nd place!

  • An 8 Bit Weapon t-shirt, to show your chiptune love!
  • A signed limited edition of 8 Bit Weapon's latest EP, Electric High, in a real 5.25" floppy disk!
  • Your choice of an OCR t-shirt along with a pair of OCR stickers, so you can fly the colors!
  • A limited physical edition of OC ReMix's Final Fantasy VII album, Voices of the Lifestream!

3rd place!

  • An 8 Bit Weapon t-shirt, to show your chiptune love!
  • A signed limited edition of 8 Bit Weapon's latest EP, Electric High, in a real 5.25" floppy disk!
  • Your choice of an OCR t-shirt along with a pair of OCR stickers, so you can fly the colors!

If you want to win a badass free Nokia N81 phone, the limited edition of 8 Bit Weapon's latest album signed, some fashionable gear and MOAR, you've gotta get crackin' on your ReMix! Let's get it on!

Links

reset_generation_character_lineup.png

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just to make sure i'm wrappin' muh brain around this correctly ...

  • we're supposed to use the soundtrack mp3s as part of our mixes/remixes?
  • not that i saw anything about this here ... but are there any stems (separate instrument tracks) anywhere?
  • any indication regarding bpm for the individual tracks?

thx!

edgar

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just to make sure i'm wrappin' muh brain around this correctly ...

  • we're supposed to use the soundtrack mp3s as part of our mixes/remixes?
  • not that i saw anything about this here ... but are there any stems (separate instrument tracks) anywhere?
  • any indication regarding bpm for the individual tracks?

thx!

edgar

Nope, you're NOT supposed to sample the original tracks, you're supposed to create an arrangement from the ground up. A little bit of sampling is OK, but it can't be a case where if you removed the sampling, there'd be no other connection to the original music. We did link the MIDI pack to use as a reference if you need it.

There's definitely no BPM requirement, so uptempo or downtempo, it's all your choice!

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Nope, you're NOT supposed to sample the original tracks, you're supposed to create an arrangement from the ground up. A little bit of sampling is OK, but it can't be a case where if you removed the sampling, there'd be no other connection to the original music. We did link the MIDI pack to use as a reference if you need it.

sooooo ... it sounds like we're makin' cover tunes of 8-bit Weapons' tracks. sorry for being so dense about it all. i've done a few remix contests and i just wanna make sure i don't goof up on a technicality.

thx!

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A little bit of sampling is OK

I have one additional question regarding my own mix: I've created a full arrangement of Tricky Game, but I wanted to filter the original song into my track. So maybe a no more than 10 seconds of the original, and put through a (FM radio/telephone) filter to fade into my completely remix. They're in the same key, so it would work and you could see the similarities immediately.

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I have one additional question regarding my own mix: I've created a full arrangement of Tricky Game, but I wanted to filter the original song into my track. So maybe a no more than 10 seconds of the original, and put through a (FM radio/telephone) filter to fade into my completely remix. They're in the same key, so it would work and you could see the similarities immediately.

Yeah, that's fine, Phil! That kind of stuff is hunky dory.

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I'm working on my 64 Rocker/Anthem mix, and I just want a view on this. Is it alright to have a melody section that is very different from the source? For example, in the mix, it first plays an arrangement of the source, then goes into a new melody, then back into the source. I wanted that extra section in there to give it that mood I want, but I was just wondering if it'll be okay? Thanks!

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I'm working on my 64 Rocker/Anthem mix, and I just want a view on this. Is it alright to have a melody section that is very different from the source? For example, in the mix, it first plays an arrangement of the source, then goes into a new melody, then back into the source. I wanted that extra section in there to give it that mood I want, but I was just wondering if it'll be okay? Thanks!

Yeah, as long as the majority of the arrangement uses the source tune and it laid out cohesively, feel free to structure it how you want.

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I'll attempt to make a remix for this. I've never done one before but there's a first time for everything I suppose. This seems like a fun thing to get started with. I'm going to be working on Macro Boogie. I am a pianist so this arrangement will be all on the keys. I hope it turns out good. Maybe if I finish ahead of time I can try remixing another one.

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Will all submissions be available for people to listen to? or just the winners?

I'm working on a remix, and I know I'm not going to win. But would be nice if others could hear and comment.

I like getting feedback on my work.

This kinda leads up to my question. Are there restrictions on who is eligible or ineligible and is it going to be a level playing field?

My concern here is if Zircon or BGC or ANSO or McVaffe or Mazedude all join in too, the competition will quickly wittle its way down to them and no one else will even come close. I'm definitely not trying to be negative or insulting to any of the names I just mentioned, but they will absolutely obliterate every other entry presented.

And again, I'm not trying to be negative or accuse bias or anything like that, I'm just wondering how this is going to work like that.

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thankfully zircon will be too busy, I asked him and he's getting himself married right now ha. But it is possible one of the aforementioned remixers will win. I'm getting signed to an indie electronic label for my electronic stuff (not that it makes my music any better), and I still plan on entering for fun.

What I'm saying is that it looks like a normal remix competition; remember OCR did a remix competition for first time mixers? This time it's a competition for everyone. It's only fair. I won't speak for Larry though, so he's the authority in regards to your question.

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  • 2 weeks later...
This kinda leads up to my question. Are there restrictions on who is eligible or ineligible and is it going to be a level playing field?

My concern here is if Zircon or BGC or ANSO or McVaffe or Mazedude all join in too, the competition will quickly wittle its way down to them and no one else will even come close. I'm definitely not trying to be negative or insulting to any of the names I just mentioned, but they will absolutely obliterate every other entry presented.

And again, I'm not trying to be negative or accuse bias or anything like that, I'm just wondering how this is going to work like that.

Uh, just because someone's very good, they shouldn't be allowed to compete? :lol: No reason to psyche yourself out.

Anyway, everyone is eligible. The only people ineligible are the contest judges, i.e. Seth, Michelle, djp and myself.

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