It's been a long time coming. I've loved OCR for a long time, and got rejected on a remix i sent in back in high school (I'm post-college now). So last year, I decided I was definitely above par for the high OCR standards. As some people may've noticed, Majora's Mask is severely under-represented on overclocked, despite having a fantastic soundtrack. So I wanted to help turn the tides.

Thus, here's my Zelda: Majora's Mask remix, which got posted on OverClocked Remix just yesterday (10/26). Check it out, let me know what you think. Be warned, it's quite liberal at times with the source usage, but I'd be happy to post a breakdown of the source use.



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Wait, since when do you make music?

And what program / synths are you using for this? It's pretty high quality.

Great!

Permission to use it on the podcast someday?

@GuillaumeThank you! Please, use it on a podcast.

@Zero Haha for a while now. I went to college for it and everything. I haven't had as much videogame-related stuff to post here, though. My sequencer is Sonar 8, the samples are a mixture of East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold + the XP expansion and Quantum Leap Goliath. The trumpet is my own doing, recorded on an SM57 (mic). And then a TON of clicking--I don't like using a keyboard. And thanks!

Aww there's gotta be some more interest than this!

I love OC Remix, though I haven't downloaded anything recently for some time.

For your music to be selected for the site is indeed a great honor! Congratulations!

I haven't always been the biggest fan of liberal arrangements (where the original melody is not obviously recognizable on a first listen), but I do like your composition. I had to listen to it several times to pick out the use of Majora's Theme and the Song of Healing, but they're indeed in there. It's really cool how they complement each other in this complex and haunting piece, a truly great nod to the very nature of the game Majora's Mask itself. Excellent work, I will have to add this to my playlist. Any additional love for Majora's Mask will always have my approval.

@Cubed777

Amazing work!! It's a serious honor to get into OCremix these days; congratulations. (I also tried a few years ago and was not accepted as well).

EWQL Symphonic Orchestra is ridiculously awesome. Too bad I can't afford that...

How did you achieve the pungi-sounding instrument?

Nice, nice, nice stuff! Congrats!

@autokymatic

I had to google pungi :-P I used uillean pipes (samples)--fancy bagpipes. I'm pretty sure that's what they were emulating sample-wise in majora's mask throughout (especially the intro).

And thanks again! I'm quite proud of getting on there (@autokymatic I'd love to hear your remix that you submitted). @roykoopa64 And I would never find fault with someone for not liking how liberal I was with the theme, but I'm happy so may people (here and elsewhere) are cool with it and, hopefully, enjoy the twists and turns. It was fun as heck to work with the themes. And yeah, the ewql stuff gets pricey FAST. I only wish I could afford hollywood strings or the like. But I'm happy with the samples, and they've opened things up a lot for me. Short of using a real ensemble (which I've had the pleasure of doing a number of times), great samples make a huge difference. I just need a better computer so I can run it all better...

Oh, and I'm a fan of anyone who spreads the Majora love.

@Cubed777

I used to think it was bagpipe-ish too, but the use of Eastern sounding "gongs" and drums made me think more of the pungi. I didn't know EWQL had the uillean pipes, so now I want that software even more. Gahhhh.

Secret of Mana remix I submitted in 2007...

Be kind. For my first remix I mashed "Ceremony" and "Oracle" together. It wasn't approved on the grounds that it didn't deviate enough from the originals, even though it's two songs of different tempos, different instruments were used and some parts rearranged, I incorporated parts of "Ceremony" into "Oracle", and the drums were reworked. If they told me it was too lo-fi for the their increased standards I would have been more accepting of not being approved. I know it needs a lot of work still, but their lack of (appropriate) explanation left me pretty discouraged.

There's also this trip-hop remix of the green Brinstar theme I did 3 years ago... Never wanted to submit it though.

Redid the drums, changed how instruments' timings played with each other, added a "bridge" (meh), made the strings "inhale and exhale" with back-masking, and added a Tourian-style gurgle-burble synth.

And, you're super welcome. You deserve it!! I'd love to hear what you submitted in the past too.

I just submitted my BIT.TRIP RUNNER remix. I don't think it is even close to high enough quality to make it, but I figured why not give it a shot? It's pretty unique I think, and there are no BIT.TRIP remixes up there yet.

oh, you might be surprised, zero! It could make it. And they love remixes of games that have none.

And I'll be sure to listen to those remixes tomorrow, auto when I'm not on my (new!) 3DS.

So I submitted my BIT.TRIP song and it got rejected. Which was what I expected. To be honest the fact that two of the three judges said it was "close" surprised me since I just kind of assumed I wasn't even close to the quality needed. However, I doubt I will be revisiting this song anytime soon. Maybe I'll come back to it once I get used to my new Ableton software and do a few other songs first and learn some new stuff?

@Zero

That's too bad! But that's cool they said it was 'close.' What do you think about their comments, do you think there's some validity to their inputs on 'improving' the song (I wouldn't know! I'm not a musician.)? I'm sure you had a vision for the song when you worked on it though. Regardless of whether you re-visit this song, I look forward to hearing your future songs after you learn 'some new stuff.'

Oh yeah it could use a lot of improvement. I just don't know exactly how to do some of what they suggest and I don't know that I want to put the time into that song right now.

How'd I miss this? I absolutely ADORE OCR, so this is kind of a big deal to me! A super-late congrats are in order and I really love the song! First off, it's long, and I love long tunes. Second, you don't appear to have cut any noticeable corners, which you can really feel as you listen to it, excellent work! Very dynamic tune as well!

And Zero, I recommend sticking to that tune you submitted! (When you have time for it, of course.) If you don't know how to do certain things, ask around, even for general advice, people on OCR and hell, even here are extremely helpful and ALWAYS willing to help. Lots of OCR submitters take all the time they need for their submissions, some get dropped as they have new inspiration, but I always think it's great when someone got rejected two, maybe three times and just finally hits it out of the park. They're proud, the judges are all always DELIGHTED that they kept up and didn't give in (Because their rejections aren't ever "Hey you SUCK!") and finally just finished a piece that many get to enjoy.

You don't even have to do everything they say, even some lower-quality (On the technical side, and even a little on the arrangement side.) stuff can pass through if there's enough imagination and love in it. Make something you love and keep improving and iterating, submitting it every now and again. I hate to see good work like what you made get left behind! Remember, OCR is very receptive to alternate genre and especially multi-genre music, so maybe get a little funky here and there!

Whatever you decide, I think you already did a fine job!