The WIP Report (Week III)

I WANT YOUR WIPS!!!!!

I WILL EAT YOUR WIPS!!!!!!!

(Come 2 Daddy)
DJ Exotic – Super Mario Bros – ???? – U.S. Hardhouse
(http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=98406)

Ahh yes. Hardhouse. Just a couple of bpm shy of Gabber, and a few hunder bpm short of Speedcore. This song starts out with dem good ol distorted kick just banging away at your ear drums. Originally, I didn’t really like the sound. I was hoping for somethng with a little more bass, a little more bounce, a little more pump to it. This kick sounds like it’s running through a bad amp with too much gain. A bit of the SMB melody comes in and it doesn’t want to flow with the kicks at all. Very akward sounding. Enter various hats, they sound good. More panning can give everything a little more space. Now, the kick, the melody, the hats, this all repeats for about a minute, which many people will find pretty monotonous. It then turns into a little break session with the full SMB melody playing. Now, it sounds like the actual SMB song is being used because note for note, it sounds the same….sound for sound it sounds the same too, so I can’t give you much points on arrangement. After the break and the little build, it goes into this repeat session of the melody which again, sounds very akward. It doesn’t sound like it’s repeating with the proper tempo, so it sounds out of sync with everything. The whole hardhouse package comes back to join the melody pretty much till the end, then it cuts.

Overall, it sounds like you listen to the genre. It sounds like you’ve been listening to the genre for a long time. You know the genre, you know what should go in the genre, You know what hardhouse sounds like, etc. etc. However, I’m not sure you know much about remixing. Or I should say, video game remixing. If you go through the communities and you download various tracks, you’ll realize that it’s more then just taking the MP3 and laying a hardhouse beat onto it. There’s nothing wrong with remixing the MP3, but it doesn’t sound like you know exactly what you’re doing with it. So I suggest stick with making hardhouse original music because as I said, it sounds like you really know the genre. Try using MIDI files as your source instead of MP3s, that might help, and just keep at it.

about:blank – Earthworm Jim – Acrophobia – Experimental Breaks
(http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=97528)

Oh, I wanted to review this last week. I really wanted to. I had high hopes before he original submitted this to OCR. I really like the ideas in this song. I am rooting that this song does good!!! But I got really lazy last week, thus no update >__> . Anywhoo, onto the remix.

Starts off with a really soft fx/pad thing. Then enters nice acoustic guitars. Just playing oh so softly, nicely, quietly….really quietly…really really quietly. Why is everything so low?? The FX/Pad thing kinda just cuts off at 0:13, it’d be nicer if there was a delay out, or a fade out. Guitar keeps playing, still nice, still awesome sounding. The piano enters in kinda softly and low, then the next set of notes played are noticibly louder. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not but it kinda breaks from the nice and soft and awesome. Beat comes in and it really starts to go well together. Lovin the the stuttering. Now, the stuttering guitar at 1:20 doesn’t really suit me well. Of course, the stuttering is awesome, but the timing in which is playing sounds off. String rise and we start to enter some climatic action. The gain on the kick might be a little too much as when it really hit, it sorta cuts the strings from playing. 2:20 has a sort of pink floyd delay thing going there, which doesn’t sound bad, however the transition from that to the arpping synth doesn’t really fit well with me. It kinda sounds like you’re ending one song and starting another. (Lame suggestion = throw in an audio clip from like a 1970 movie in there =D ). The synth sounds nice, the strings sound nice, the piano sounds nice (although I do hear how the sustain is cut off rather suddenly on some notes). At 3:15 it enters another transition back into the main climax part of the song (lame suggestion = throw in an audio clip from like a 1970 movie in there =D ). The rest of the song sounds really awesome. I would have liked to see some panning on the stuttering to add more diamension to the song. The ending is very nice.

The song as a whole, is really really sweet if really basic and minimal. I love it though. I love the idea, I love the guitar, it’s a fresh and new change from the usual big beat/orch or trance remixes. And yes, I might be bias because I love this genre, I don’t care. My only real overall beef is that it’s too damn quiet!!! Beef up the sound!!!

gmk_corp – Super Mario World – ???? – Testing?
(http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=98429)

I…guess you can be my n00b for the week….I mean…you do have 10 posts and such…and no avatar =o . This song this short. Very short. Not even a minute and a half of my time. The first 2 seconds sound like this could be something amazing, then a drum and a kick enter which are noticble dry and very FL sounding. Those drums however, don’t last long. Different melody instrument and and different drum kit. For pretty much the entire song that’s the routine. Change the drums and lead instrument every couple of seconds while filtering or djing different parts.

This whole remix sounds like you are experimenting with the softwear you’re using which is totally cool. As a remix however, it’s pretty low on the listen board. There’s no real arrangement to speak of, it sounds pretty much the same as the original toon with different instruments and different drumkits. There is clipping when filtering is being done so watch out on that, and continue to learn to programs you’re using.

This mix was kinda cool though. It sounds like an early early wip of the dirty mix.

Looking back at old WIPs II

Continue to look back at some old WIPs with ZeaLitY. Each WIP is linked so you can download them and personally listen. Highlights include WIPs from Mega Man X, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario Land, Unreal Tournament, and others.
IMC12 – Sonic 2 – Metropolis Zone

This was a fun Iron Mix competition that attracted a lot of attention and remixes. Space Cowboy and Suzumebachi made strong entries; “Blue Metro” was cited as having a Van Halen synth feel to it. There are a lot of “before they were famous” remixers on here, like Analoq, djcubez, Prophecy, Rellik, Overcoat, and maybe a couple others. Check it out and relive the competition; I’ve included some WIPs in there. All of it dates from March 3, 2003, when I downloaded the final archive.

Darkesword – Mega Man X – Beamsabre Beat ZERO (WIP)

Oh man, how laughably FruityLoopy can you get? Featuring the default snare and clap samples, this thing is a shining example of a WIP by a new remixer — a decent arrangement with pretty default execution. I think the finished version is up on OCR, so feel free to compare them. I grabbed this March 5, 2003.

Steve Schardein – Mega Man X – Boomer Kuwanger

Here’s Steve again. Boomer Kuwanger’s Tower is sort of an underremixed theme; the source tune is very unique and intense. Instead of blatantly playing the first few high-pitched notes, Steve starts low and slowly builds things up. Things don’t get very far, though, and we’re left with one less Boomer Kuwanger stage remix. I grabbed this March 8, 2003. If you’re craving Mega Man X remixes, check the Rockman X – ALPH-LYLA doujin released in 1994 in Japan.

Nex – Tetris – Russian Roulette

And now it’s time for something you might actually keep. Nex does the timeworn and still-cool thing of starting with a chiptune and building it up into an asskicking remix. It’s still a WIP, so the beat / instrumentation are minimal and the song doesn’t go very many places. It degenerates into a FOUR ON THE FLOOR LET’S DANCE “E” GLOWSTICKS HOORAY at one point, but overall it retains some attitude as a Tetris remix. I used to leave WIPs on in the background as I played Unreal Tournament to cover some ground, and I can remember hearing this starting March 11, 2003.

DJOrange – CRONCO TIGGER – Factory

I grabbed this March 11, 2003. It’s pretty simple, and in a world without factory remixes, it can pass. There’s a minimalist funk going on here. He later put out a WIP called Factory 2, which is hosted at the Chrono Compendium. I have no idea whatever became of DJOrange.

MC_Radical Dreamers_dream-shore-sonata2

Here’s the rough edition of MC’s Dream Shore Sonata-Fantasy, found March 15, 2003. The aural quality is a bit low along with the bitrate, but even in this primitive state it shows the quality that eventually earned it status as an OCRemix.

Beatdrop – Raiden Beta

You’ve heard Beatdrop’s Raiden remix; now hear the WIP. It’s less of an assault on the ears than the final product, utilizing a snappier and softer tone. All the basic arrangement is there, just waiting for the final production value increase to make it presentable and edgy. But you might find that the WIP has its own flair and appeal. This was a strong remix even in its infancy. I found it March 20, 2003.

Strider Yoko – Unreal Tournament – Foregone Destruction unreal mix

The final version (with two WIPs behind it) debuted on VGMix with a driving rhythm and some samples courtesy of Xan Kriegor, the boss of Unreal Tournament’s single player mode. The first WIP is less in-your-face, and as a result has an attitude closer to the source tune’s. There’s some simple and effective DnB here, and the light, airy synth that kicks things off never gets annoying. This is a good addition to the playlists of Unreal game players. It found its way to my hard drive on March 20, 2003. As I recall, in the original thread at OCR, some guy had heard of Strider Yoko from elsewhere and couldn’t believe it was him.

DJ Ikronix – Super Mario Land – Cloud 9

This is the version unavailable anywhere else (which…I guess isn’t saying much, since only one other later WIP is available on VGMix anyway). A remix of Super Mario Land’s ending theme, it maintains an airy and heavenly texture with a simple, little rhythm to take you away. This earns it high marks in staying faithful to and expanding upon the intent and mood of the source tune. Super Mario Land was probably the first video game I ever beat, and the ending theme blew me away. So I suppose I’m a little biased here. At any rate, Ikronix did release a second WIP on VGMix with a louder and more upfront synth sound. Find it when VGMix goes back up. I was happy to find this remix on March 20, 2003.

ResidntEvilFreak – Chrono Trigger – Glenn’s Awakening

ResidntEvilFreak had an incredible work ethic. He came onto the remixing scene as a frequent flyer of the WIP board, outputting a big catalogue while constantly improving. Then he completely disappeared, leaving behind these unfinished and unpolished works. Check out the interesting string sample and the bouncy little arrangement; it’s in a different vein than most remixes of “Longing of the Wind” (hah, not Wind Scene; that was a bad translation). It goes into Frog’s Theme thereafter and maintains a heroic little musical journey for the next couple of minutes. It’s nothing impressive or musically strong, but as a WIP, it gets an A grade. I downloaded it on April 8, 2003.

~

That’s all for this time. There are still more to come.

Running the Gauntlet released

In celebration of the holidays, Running the Gauntlet, a Gauntlet arrangement album, has been released.

http://gauntlet.olremix.org
This project shows that OverLooked ReMiX is not only the place to host your beloved zany mix from EAR and BEER competitions, but is also full of capable remixers who can put forth a remix album worthy of listening to again and again.

The project covers all nine songs present in the soundtrack, and features the following artists:

-Andy Lyons
-Brunzolaitis
-dasaten
-nesper
-V_Gasm
-vindkast
-Xenon Odyssey
-Zimish One

Enjoy, and happy holidays from OverLooked!

-Xenon Odyssey (Project Coordinator)

http://gauntlet.olremix.org

VGMusic’s 10th Anniversary

From VGMusic.com:

“10 years ago today I founded the Videogame Music Archive on a small little corner of Geocities. Along the way, other staff members joined the fun, and the site has grown year after year.
Our hit counter died a while ago, but according to Google Adsense, we
had over 25 million page impressions over the past year! We’re older
than Google (8 years old), Wikipedia (5 years old), and even Slashdot (9 years old).

“Our dynamic community of volunteer staff, sequencers, forum patrons,
and general visitors have kept us going strong! To show our
appreciation, we are conducting our largest giveaway to date: one lucky
winner can get the Top 10 Albums at GameMusic.com!

Contest ends December 25, 2006.”

Looking back at old WIPs

I’ve got a treasure trove of ancient works in progress, dating back to late 2002 all the way to early 2004. They’re sort of like b-sides and outtakes — some are learning moments for established remixers, while others are one-shots by unknowns who have faded into history. I’ll be exploring these for a while with a regular feature (until the supply dries up). We start with late 2002 in this one, and cover ten songs total. If you want some remixing curiosities probably unavailable anywhere on the net, check it out.
Hey, welcome. I’m going to be taking a look back to some ancient, interesting works in progress as we eagerly await the opening of VGMix 3.0 and the return of permanent WIP hosting. To start us off, I’ll provide some backstory. I’ve got a WIP folder with a lot of selections in it, including several songs taken at random from #ocremix and many from the OCRemix WIP forum. These date back to late 2002, 2003, and early 2004. Most would be impossible to find these days, considering they were placed on temporary hosting. And most did not make it to remix status on VGMix or OCRemix. Nonetheless, these are interesting pieces — some are from established remixers, others are actually good arrangements, and some are simply curiosities and enigmas. I hope you’ll enjoy digging through the sands of time and finding some of the lost WIPs of yesteryear. I’ll list songs (click to download) and offer a short writeup on each.

Unknown Remixer – Sonic 3 Credits

This is the earliest dated piece in my collection, downloaded October 12, 2002. It’s a pretty simple arrangement, arguably a MIDI rip, and the identity of its author is a persistent mystery. Still, the song stands out for using the TS404 in FruityLoops — the artist actually managed to not make it sound like default crap. The other fun quality is that for a remix of the credits theme, it’s a simple, straightforward arrangement. Okay, so the song doesn’t stand out that much, but if you have any idea of who made it, let me know.

Suzumebachi – Forever (First Version)

The Chrono Trigger remix ‘Forever’ went through an awful lot of itinerations, and Suzumebachi would post each after making it in #ocremix. I’m pretty sure this is the first version; it’s sort of like an unabridged edition of the final product. It was interesting to listen to the development of the song, but more fun is to compare this version and the final. This one’s arrangement may be unforgivingly simple, but it formed the basic blueprint of a decent OCRemix. It dates on my hard drive at November 14, 2002.

Suzumebachi – Placid Shores

This remix of Epilogue ~ Dream Shore (Radical Dreamers) is a rare breed, as no one has really attempted this song. The original piece has a dreamlike quality to it, fitting to wrap things up as the book closes on an imaginative adventure. Suzumebachi preserved that well; the airy background and the shore sounds are a faithful aural enhancement of the original. The arrangement was simple, as Suzu was still maturing his skills, but it still sounded decent and recreated the feel of the original piece. I acquired this on January 4, 2003 (Suzumebachi issued the first 25 seconds or so as a preview the previous day). Though I think this was lost to his massive hard drive failure, he did attempt it again to produce the b5 reconstruct version, the most complete itineration of the song. I host that particular remix on the Compendium; grab it here. Next one won’t be a Suzu song, I promise!

DJ Metazero – Zero the Red Demon

DJ Metazero tore it up with Mega Man X series WIPs in 2003, releasing around five or six. This was one of his initial tries, and covers the first Zero theme ever. The result was an asskicking beat and a sexy lead (try cranking up the bass for the first three seconds of the song). Metazero is able to stretch it out to over 5 minutes without compromising freshness. In a world without much MMX coverage (at least not on the level of Final Fantasy games), this is a surprisingly solid entry for a lost WIP. If submitted when OCR first formed, it would have been one of the better songs of the bunch. There’s even a log of me saying that in #ocremix sometime in 2003. I acquired this remix on January 19 of that year.

Joseph Tek Fox – Tides Turned in Aqua Lake

JTK came out of nowhere and returned thereafter, leaving us this Sonic 2 remix. The soundfont is a little artificial, but aural quality is clear and the groove of the song doesn’t let up. If I were to get synesthesiatic, I’d say this long is sort of like a tasty treat. You can make an easy comparison to Mazedude’s ‘Reich Lake’ and see that Tides Turned in Aqua lake manages to hold up with its own funk. The arrangement can get slightly repetitive if you leave the song on in the background for a while, but knowing what comes next won’t diminish this song’s upbeat nature. It could be plugged right in to some kind of Sonic 2 port. It came to the hard drive of Zeal on January 27, 2003.

k-wix – My Beautiful SimCity (Remastered)

A lot of points in my remixing book go for augmenting or heightening the original feel of the source tune. If the dungeon theme of SMW2: Yoshi’s Island made you feel a little dark and edgy, then Rexy and Prophet’s Dream an Eastern Peace is a coup de grace. This entry by k-wix, while not being the most complex or gigasamply SimCity remix on the market, still manages to evoke that wonderful, tingling feeling of the SNES SimCity title screen. Don’t be put off by the MIDI-sounding intro at the beginning, or the high strings thereafter. Let it ride and you’ll find a one-way ticket to nostalgia. I downloaded this January 28, 2003.

DJ Orange – Super Mario RPG Volcano

Fire is the name of the game. DJ Orange starts it off with that twangy bass guitar, then turns up the heat with some DnB. If you were a bit put off by the simple instrumentation and soundfonts used in k-wix’s remix above, then you might not like this one, either. The sound is not complex or aurally exquisite; instead, the fun of the song lies in the beat DJ Orange lays down. I’m not even sure who he was; I have some other CT ones he made that I’ll post. At any rate, he seemed to like injecting a little funk in his remixes, and it shows here. In a world of sparse Super Mario RPG remixes (let alone cool Volcano stage efforts), this is an enjoyable piece. I nabbed it from the WIP board on February 1, 2003.

Ge-Off – Super Mario 64 NightCap

I have no idea who Ge-Off is, and I doubt there’s any relation to Taucer. This WIP wormed its way to OCR’s forums, and I’m not sure it was ever heard from again (along with its author). Ge-Off’s laid back atmosphere and instrumentation paints a picture of lazily sinking off to sleep at night in the castle. Perhaps this is what the castle theme sounds like to Mario when you leave the controller idle for too long. It’s nothing groundbreaking, explosive, new, or technically complex. But like its source tune, it works as lazy background music. I found this on February 1, 2003.

Figaro – Underwater Palace Glitchy

Glitchy stuff can be humorous. Ever accidentally bump your cartridge a little out of the slot and witness the game go crazy? Sounds like Figaro got too excited upon reaching the Ocean Palace. This is one of those “throwaway” pieces like Leis Miller’s “Pure Crap” Super Mario RPG take or BEERmix. It’s somewhat of a joke tune, and you’d probably never burn it to CD or put it on your mp3 player. Still, it’s sort of like weird art in an art museum. You don’t like it, but you still might say “hmm, that did take a smidgeon of creativity.” This came around on February 8, 2003.

Steve Schardein – Donkey Kong Country Blue Oblivion

I think Steve is still out there somewhere. He posted a new version of this on VGMix under the nick OtherSteve; the one above is the original OCR WIP forum entry. Faithfully recreating the watery, dreamy sound of the original, Steve lays a minimalist beat on top while twinkling pianos fade into the distance. I can already hear the objection — yes, this might as well be a MIDI rip with updated sounds and a drumloop laid on top. But if you listen closely, Steve applies touches of magic here and there to create a heavenly, ambient experience. The arrangement gets thicker after the two-minute mark, but the song never loses its chill effect. If I’m not mistaken, this is the most remixed theme from the original Donkey Kong Country. Dave Wise even remixed it in his new soundtrack for the GBA port of Donkey Kong Country 3, and put its leitmotif into a couple other songs. It’s a dreamy track, and Steve Schardein did it adequate justice with this work in progress. I grabbed it on March 2, 2003.

~

That wraps it up for this column. There are a load of other old WIPs to go, including another obligatory Suzumebachi remix and the mythical McVaffe preview. Tune in next week, and don’t forget that ASCII Hitler plays Chrono Trigger.

Featured Song: Terra’s Bad News

In the year 9595, a young robot named CHz participated in a music compo on an IRC channel. The theme, to create the fanfare music for a television or radio news broadcast. His challengers, many. This is the story of his triumph, tribulations, and the trouble with tribbles.


NNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSS
!
So yon CHz makes a song comprised entirely of Steve Carrel vocal clips
(“NEWS” and “rahdha dhadhe bhdbhr asdhiugri ahdahefr inregrua nenifee
vbinbe nbibbiiblbgf bblagh”) and a 10 note brass fanfare. Many people
were killed by the ensuing hurricane of ROFL. It was a sad day for
robot kind.

In order to commemorate those lost in the NEWS storm of 9595, Sadorf
the Grey, level 10 wizard from his parents basement, created a NEWS
memorial. His memorial came in the form of song. A Terra remix, to be
precise. A Terra remix, encompassing the original NEWS theme created by
the venerable CHz. The juxtaposition of quadratical equity formed the
foundation of hullabaloo for many transient years to expirate profusely.

In other words, CHz done made this here song for a compo, so sadorf
done took it and turned it into one of them there terra remixes so
theys could get it up on OverLooked ReMiX.

PLAY! Announces Australian Tour

I guess Australia is hot right now, because a day before Passion!’s Sydney concert, PLAY! has announced that it too will tour Australia beginning June 20 2007 in Sydney. The first concert will be at the Sydney Opera house. It’s interesting that we now have two big video game orchestral movements making worldwide bids. Anyhow, I’m in a good position to get a lot of coverage of the Passion! concert taking place this weekend, so expect some neat pictures and possibly some videos and recordings.

PLAY! Full Press Release
Register to Attend June 20 2007 Concert
Bootleg of a Full PLAY! Concert Recently Held in Stockholm

The WIP Report (Week II)

They’re tiny, they’re toony, and their WIPS are a little looney!

And in this report they’re invading your ears! (Hey, at least someone‘s doing their job around here.)
illustrationism – ?????? – Yellow Lounge – Piano Arrangement
(http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=97127)

Mr. Schooley is a relatively new face around OCR, but he knows what he’s doing. Having CompoSTed with him once (or twice), I was quite surprised with his work. But enough about that, on to the mix. Now, I personally have no clue what (if any) game he remixed as he doesn’t really mention a game, and nothing in the song sounds familiar to anything I’ve play (and if one of you call me stupid because it’s a Chrono whatever remix or a Final Fantasy remix, you can go F#$@ yourself cause I never played those games!!). I can’t really comment much on the mix because I’m no expert by any means on what qualifies a good piano remix. It sounds nice and it’s played nicely.

Personally, I got this kinda jazzy feeling while listening to the piano and I think having an acoustic bass and some jazz drums in the background would be so very hawt, but that’s just me. If you consider yourself a piano expert, give this guy a shout because is thread has no love =( .

KingTiger – Sonic 3Glorious – New Age
(http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=95929)

I would just like to start off by saying the idtag is a little messed up. You put ‘Gorious’ instead of ‘Glorious’. Now onto the mix. I like the intro pads, as they sound nice. Nothing too over the top, pretty simple. The piano comes in and after it struck 2 notes it screamed mechanical, and as it continues to play you really notice it. To say the least it sounds like FLKeys, which isn’t a bad thing mind you, but by itself it’s really really poor. Reverb, velocity changes, all that good stuff. I’d recommend perhaps looking for a nice soundfont. As the song progresses, it introduces bongos and a synth that sadly, sounds really poor. There’s no ambiance coming off of them and they’re as dry as a bone. Like stale bread, you gonna want to wash it down with a little something something.

New age is all about ebb and flow, where things move in and out smoooooothly, nicely, dream…ly. Having everything sound so mechanical and dry is what really is holding this mix back from sounding pretty awesome. I would suggest pausing from this mix and work on a simple ambiance song and use reverb, phasers, delays, and other fx to see what you can come up with. Then use what you’ve learn from that and try and apply it to your mix.

Xfactor – F-Zero (Untitled ?) – Techno? ish?
(http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=97172)

Time again to help-a-n00ber-out. His last link on his thread doesn’t work so I downloaded the link one post up. The intro is surprisingly not that bad. It has potential, it sounds like it can go somewhere. Enters an arp that sounds like it can work and a synth string that stands out a little too much. Kick kick kickkickkickkickkick and the lead synth comes in, and it just goes down hill from here. The arp/synthstring hang around and then leave abrutly. The lead synth sounds very present and the delay on it doesn’t work for me. The section also sounds very bare with only 3 sounds going at once (synth, bass, kick). At 0:44 and organ replaces the synth and it sounds a lot nicer, but the kickkickkickkickkick is still there. As the song progresses, it plays the same melody with a different synth yet again, and still kickkickkickkickkickkick. 1:52+ is a new organ sound and different melody, and still kickkickkickkickkickkick. There’s also clipping =( .

As I stated in a previous post, the remix has no genre, no direction, no climax, no originality, no style. It is just a bunch of sounds put together, there’s no real work put into it. I understand however, that Xfactor is new to the whole music scene, and that this is his first attempt at a remix. I encourage him to continue trying and using the program, learning what it has to offer, etc. Also listen to other music and note that there’s more to it then just a kick. Find a genre you like and try and make a song in that genre. You’ll start to have a better understanding of the do’s and do not do’s of music making.

And for those of you who like DJ Shadow or Boards of Canada, you may want to check out my SMRPG mix: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=97141 =)

Sakari End of the Year Music Competition

As some of you may already know, Sakari Infinity is holding an end of the year music competition. This competition is similar to past monthly competitions, only slightly more difficult, and promising a prize for the winner (TBA Music Software).
Here’s the lowdown on the competition:

For this competition, musicians are given a choice between 5 themes from popular or classic video games and asked to write a substitute piece. This substitute piece must not be a remix or arrangement of the original, but an entirely new piece that could be used in place of the original. That’s where the challenge comes from…

Entries are being accepted now until Jan 1, 2007, 12:00:01 AM PST, GMT-8

Everybody is encouraged to join in. As always, Sakari has a system to allow uploads from members. If you have any problems contact me on Sakari.

Source Link: http://www.sakari-infinity.net/forums/index.php?topic=690
Cited: http://www.sakari-infinity.net

The WIP Report

Three users set off to create the next big remix. These are their stories.

*DUN DUN…..*
cornandbeans – Donkey Kong Country 3 (Untitled) – Ambient/big beat (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=95154)

ahh, a style I can relate too. Starts off really smooth like, and yet you can still feel the energy of the drums. Then at :40 it busts into some block rockin’ beats. The drumkit itself could use a little more oomph, a little more bam. Really cool though, makes me want to pick up need for speed and start playing. Then moves into a breakdown section. A little simple, little minimal, especially coming from a high energized section of the song. It then goes back into the high energized part. Could benifit from changing up something in that part so it isn’t the same as the first part. The synth then moves up an octave and plays. Drums cut out and then it moves into the outtro. Lasts a bit too long in my opinion, could have been cut it shorter.

Overall, the song reminds me a lot of that scene from hackers, where Johnny Lee Millar is playing that arcade with Prodigy – Voodoo People playing in the background. This song has looooads of potential to be kick ass and fortunately he plans on updating the song in the future, so be sure to check it out.

mlo – Yoshi’s Island (Also Untitled) – ambient (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=96470)

More ambiance? Awesome city!!! This starts off quiet. Really quiet. Really really quiet. Really really very very quiet. It slooooowly builds (still quite quietly though). Repeating the same pattern over and over again which isn’t really a bad thing, but it gets monotonus after the first minute and a half. It starts to then play (quietly I might add) what is probably the melody in a very warppy watery like synth which is quite nice. Still playing that intro pattern, with other ‘cave like’ sounds. Kinda breaks into a different pattern around 4 minutes in. I think it uses some ‘ahh’ sounds which sound very GMish, but again, it’s very very quiet. Drifts off into the end.

I quite like this song. You can’t go listening to ambient songs expecting lots and lots of things to happen. This song could be shorten down by 2 minutes at least though, and the volume NEEDS to be amplified. Because it’s such a true ambient song, I don’t think many people would enjoy having it on loop for hours and hours, but I think it makes for great background music.

underthesun – Super Mario Bros. (Untitled yet again) – some form of abstract? (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=96413)

Time to help-a-n00b! In this mix, we have all the following ingrediants to make a n00b mix: FL default presents and drums, too much reverb and to top it all off, sounds used from the actual game. Really what hurts this (besides the obvious lack of musical knowledge) is the lack of direction. This mix really has no genre, no focus, nothing to make it unique. Really it sounds like a first attempt at using the sequencer.

We’ve all had our share at ‘first attempts’, we’ve all done that, So help-a-n00b out. Offer some advice, some tips, some help, and maybe you’ll find his/her next song on your playlist.