Spell It Out

The Sonic Zone Remix Competition began its first mixing stage following an extensive recruitment period. The introduction for the compo is much like the plots of the Sonic games themselves: something has gone wrong in the universe, causing the Sonic Bracket and Robotnik Bracket to form through some contrivances. The tournament promises some exciting bouts, particularly considering the large amount of veterans of previous tourneys such as the Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet. Worlds away over at SDCompo, its 66th round had quite a large turnout with thirteen entries. This was no doubt a result of the revised rules, which extended the usual deadline to six weeks, as well as the newly permitted use of four selected VSTs: Synth1, daHornet, Crystal, and TAL NoiseMaker.

LLCompo: Battle 16 settled on a location as its theme; along with the usual description, “Egypt” also had a pair of ASCII figures walking like an Egyptian. The intro narration by WVI and s1rnight started off with a mic check proceeded by an official decree of the royal pharaoh, and un-tiss. MKC made use of exotic scales before dropping the 8-bit beats and reaching the “Mummy Boss”. blink and the 364s took advantage of SolidComposer’s markdown by incorporating a line break, font resizing and boldness to display their metallic lyrics. The centerpiece of the night was a three-part odyssey conceived by Tilde, Sear and Paratroopa1 as separate tracks: “The Exploration of Harbinger’s Tomb” began with breakbeats combined with chips; it continued with a moodier journey into lo-fi material; and it ended with a lighter tone noted as being “No relation to parts 1 or 2.”

JHCompo on Tuesday threw everyone involved into a dancing game show complete with “Dancing with the Stars” as the intro backing music. AkogareZephyr appeared unexpectedly and offered a breezy scat entry. SonicThHedgog put up a consolation entry sampling James Brown and cranked to the utmost electrohouse volume. Duosis apparently recorded his funk tune with a blanket on the microphone before removing it partway through. skyndileg’s trip hop composition features arpeggios that would be more at home in a 50s doo-wop ballad, combined with trance lead. chunter laid down the funky jams, going back and forth between a clavinet, Rhodes and an airy synth melody. Finally Chickenwarlord contributed to the compo with a quickly-made ambient beat due to his late start.

Thursday’s OHC almost seemed to go meta with its “public forum” theme, as the compo itself has served as an open mic of sorts for various musical talent over the years. DucksUnlimited set the tone with much trumpeted fanfare, and a distorted vocal recording at “The Funeral Pyre”. Further speeches followed: seventhelement delivered his through a vocoder; sci went for a wah-wah effect; blastron full-out sang his words to the assembled throng. The round also had its share of instrumentals including darthpolly’s layered guitar and piano work, though he later felt that a rap would have been a good fit for the theme. The showstopper of the night came from DDRKirby(ISQ) who put together an eight minute piece setting off a flurry of comments in the listening party.

Some further rousing music came from TheMisterCat, who utilized his vocal and flautist talents to evoke a mournful yet driving mood. IXI’s slightly detuned keys supported several glitch effects before the boom-pat entered the fray. The round was not without overly quirky music though: CJthemusicdude made repeated references to DucksUnlimited, and fowl lamentation in general. My own entry “Raise Your Voice” seemed to raise eyebrows as the party wondered what the time signature of the song was. Finally munchi wrapped things up by twisting a mundane-sounding speech into an electronic session punctuated by guitar stabs.

Composer Spotlight on Rexy

Beverley Wooff aka Rexy has been involved in remixing since 2004 and has made a mark on the arrangement community. From her earliest days at VGMix to her recent contributions to OverClocked ReMix and its various fan remix albums, Rexy has had her hand in multiple successful projects. Additionally she puts out a video blog on her YouTube channel wrapping up her thoughts on current releases by the community. As an active participant in composition compositions, she has seen herself improve and witnessed the rise of musicians in her peer group. I asked Rexy a few questions about her influences, her tenure as a compo organizer and her recent projects. 

Regarding her earliest exposure to music and how that influenced her current approach, she revealed that, “My first experience with a musical instrument must've been with the elementary school piano when I was about five years old. Eventually I'd learn the craft; the way a piano can interpret so many different styles of music left me open to expand my listening horizons too. This transferred over well to my current style of composition, even outside of piano solos.” Rexy explained her common workflow methods: “I'd plan everything out on paper first to cut the chances of artists' block, and then spend time writing the tracks out in Cubase and spending some additional time producing and getting a second opinion before getting the track out there properly. My soundbank has been changing over the years; currently it consists of many Native Instruments’ Garritan, Addictive Drums, Zebra, EWQLSO Gold and a handful of freebies I looked into over the years. My current solo piano weapon of choice is Alicia's Keys for its more delicate tone, though I do want to explore many more down the line, wallet permitting.”

As an avid entrant in compos, Rexy has shared her work and gained feedback from others. She detailed her early experiences in such competitions: “I got to hear about the Dwelling of Duels back in around 2004, followed by the People’s Remixing Competition (PRC) not too long after; in mid 2005 I finally got around to start taking part in both. What I find compelling about competitions is getting the chance to make music to accompany the corresponding theme. It's a great way to be heard, but also hard because you also have to think about what the voters want to hear too: tastes, production values, composition... It's hard to understand at times. But generally, if you understand the theme, give it your all and make something enjoyable, you'd often be proud of what you did.”

Among her contributions to the arrangement community, Rexy is also known for her tenure as an organizer for PRC. She recalled the events that led to her being handed the reins: “PRC round 65 was a bizarre event; at that point, the original host reelmojo decided to do a mid-season tie-in, in which the source tune was the Team All-Stars theme from Super Dodge Ball (SDB); the winner would go on to represent that source on Walan's SDB project Around the World. While it started out fine, the voting phase faced a delay because of reelmojo’s disappearance, extending close to PRC66's start date. As the winner for PRC64 I decided to take PRC66 into my own hands and let Walan host the voting for PRC65 alongside it. Then it was found out that reelmojo's internet problems meant he could no longer host it, and so it was decided that my position as host was made permanent.” 

Rexy further elaborated on the responsibility of running a compo by saying, “There was a lot of organization: keeping the inbox open for votes; getting MIDIs and MP3s ready; updating my forum signature every two weeks; noting that the dates for the mixing and voting stages are met; making sure the previous winners have their source material ready; and validating all submissions to make sure they fit the guidelines.” She added that despite the numerous duties, “I found it to be an enjoyable run with encouraging people to participate in things like this and get their foot out the door.” Her tenure ended at PRC130, and the torch was passed to Bundeslang, who continues to run it to this day. Rexy explained the reasoning behind her departure: “It got harder during season five when due to real life strains I felt I was getting more distanced from the community, and just as well that by PRC130 I had just started employment and took on a new responsibility.” That round gained an enormous turnout of participants and included acknowledgements of her contributions to the compo: specifically Hylian Lemon’s entry titled “We Love You Rexy” and analoq’s “cheers, rexy”.

Rexy looked back upon the experience with fond memories and noted that, “During my time I saw the competition as the launching ground for several newer artists who went on to be huge names within the community.” She pointed out avaris, Flexstyle, Joren de Bruin, Nutritious and Mattias Häggström Gerdt as examples. Several remixes from PRC later became posted on OverClocked ReMix, including Bladiator’s "Fast Cars, Russian Cigars", Suzumebachi’s "The Final Stretch", Showroom Dummy's "Pixelated Tales" and Heath Morris's "TimeShock". Theory of N's PRC130 entry "I Love This Radio" later appeared as a bonus track for the OCR album project Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption. Rexy concluded her thoughts on PRC by stating that it “served as a great outlet to get newer blood started out, and to just have fun making music.”

I asked about her recent projects, including her participation in the Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet (WCRG). In an unusual turn, Rexy recorded her vocals in a team-up with Brandon Strader titled "Liquid Metal". She explained how this collaboration came about: “Brandon had wanted me to provide vocals for one of his works since he found out my microphone settings — intended for things other than singing, mind you — and thus the WCRG arose as a funny opportunity as he wanted to do a comedy metal entry for one of his submissions. He asked for a demo of what I could do, felt that my metal screams bombed (rightfully so!), and then later on we spent a night together on Skype trying to get me to improve the art of death metal growling. Then the next day he gave me the lyrics; I sent him five different takes with the intent of him just using the best parts of each, though as it turned out he layered every single take into that mix for some strange aquatic effect, which came across as unique and worked.”

Rexy concluded that, “Doing ‘Liquid Metal’ boosted my vocal confidence, though my reasons for not doing them often comes down to even my normal speaking voice rubbing people the wrong way in regards to tone and accent. Given the chance I'd still get to sing just for fun, though hearing my voice back on actual recordings without flinching may be another thing altogether.” Aside from her singing adventures, she also narrates a video blog summarizing arrangement community projects via her YouTube page. Rexy offered some closing advice for compo hosts and entrants alike: “Just sit back and have fun. Then you can look back afterwards and remember this legacy fondly, wherever it may lead.”

Start This Again

The start of the year came with an assortment of music ensuring a bright 2012. Dwelling of Duels ushered in a battle between Nintendo and Sega: participate could choose to remix game music from either company for the round in time for a listening party at MAGFest. The turnout totaled twenty-five and leaned more toward Nintendo in amount. This past week also brought in another round of the Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet. The source selected was the Wily Stage 2 theme from Mega Man 9, and a total nine entries were submitted.

JHCompo on Tuesday occurred on the cusp of MAG festivities, as particularity evident by the elation of the entrants. I chose “Rescue” for the theme, leaving it open for super-heroism if the composers saw fit. cjthemusicdude followed my brief narration with synth-hop piece of his own, citing busyness for the shortness. Jakesnke17 experimented by creating a solo piano composition, much to the surprise and delight of the listeners that night. MandraSigma described his entry as more embarrassing than his pop song “Peace”; in “Awkward Hero of Old” a thin voice yelps “I'll save you... Or whatever.” nikola embarked “On an Adventurous Mission” sailing the seas to rescue a damsel with the help of woodwinds.

 

coda’s track comes off a cross between Superman and Indiana Jones with a majestic flair of orchestral brass. Evil Shrubbery melted synth bass with guitar shreds, and coincidentally ended with a speed up as coda did. Newcomer Argh! admitted to copying and pasting much of his electronic track, taking advantage of the established groove. SonicThHedgog took a page out of Daft Punk’s book by submitting a pounding house track with Moog riffs. Finally Kay Faraday did his best to salvage his “Sinking Ship” but nevertheless put up his synth-laden tune before it sank. 

Thursday’s OHC followed up on "The Finale" theme of previous week with "New Beginning". dusthillguy made a quick entry due to setbacks, but managed to put out his distinctive style of quirky instruments. JackShine marked his new beginning by way of supersaws that sound like bells and constant arpeggio. Scootabag was asked in the listening party whether name referred to a "bag of scoots"; his answer came in the form of a flower encoded in 8-bit. elsalluz uploaded a Wild Arms WIP described by the party as "organy" and it began, then opens up to an orchestral arrangement.  

sci's cryptic description set the mood for this warm, slightly detuned instruments. djtuBIG-MaliceX gave up on the idea of a new beginning and declare "There is no change' accompanied by loungy drums and heavily reverberated keyboard. Arcana put a timer on his start to a new way of life, scoring a lush soundscape punctuated by pizzicato strings. CJthemusicdude suffered another pitfall as his creativity was sapped, thus settling on trance. DDRKirby(ISQ) fired off a blast of chips that rocked the dance floor and took to ambiance in the same track.

Forty-Two washed ashore with flutes and percussion instruments and remarked "I dunno", perhaps echoing the opening scene of Inception. td244 wrote a somber piano-centric piece and ushered readers of his description to go on. Acuity was at an airport due to a delay on his flight, and took the moment to server up some blips with punchy drums that come in halfway through. Jakesnke17 made another go at the ivories, this time joined with strings, oboe and brass. At the end of the night munchi fought the boss, and ran out of quarters as the "Continue" music reared its head.

Compo Harder

Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet’s fifth round resulted in twelve entries containing a variety of styles. The theme chosen was of Wily Tower 2 from Mega Man 8. A small debate also brewed over Ben Brigg's team being designated as "The Mega Ballers" instead "The Hard Men". DarkSword, in typical fashion, corrected the name and obfuscated further conflict. The Soundevotion Competition also reached the end of round 62 after suffering a delay due to bugs. Despite the glitch issues, eleven tracks were uploaded before the deadline.

JHCompo on Tuesday had a humble turnout based on its “Shark Waters” theme. coda made the unusual move of not referencing a dog in his track title, opting for a fanciful tune reflecting his “shark friend”. Torzelan pulled out his e-rock riffs as became one with nature for “Dancing with Fishes X”. Newcomer rkmusic suffered a crash or two, but came through with a sweeping cinematic piece. SonicThHedgog beamed with pride at the fact that he “I escapez shark in liek few level WOO!” using layered guitars, topped with some strings and switching to a slower electro beat. Finally MandraSigma picked up coda’s slack by naming his entry “dogfish” and submitting mellow funk.

Thursday’s OHC raised the question "Of What Remains" 10,000 years into the future. Following my vocal introduction, MandraSigma offered an answer in the form of "industrial old growth" replacing the Earth's vegetation with endless fields of un-tiss. Scootabag wondered who really won after the dust settled, starting off with reflective strings before venturing in to wub-wub bass. LuketheXjesse made a rare OHC appearance and put up metallic riffs whilst wondering how the compo regulars got so good since the last time he entered. CJthemusicdude played around with automation and a hammering beat, ending with fading delay. Fusion2004 established his chord progression early on with searing lead, and then settled into pads and soloing for the duration.  

Bren warned of the hodgepodgery of his composition, but pulled through with his distinctive collection of synthesizers. Acuity shook the dancefloor for an esoteric look at the distant future, pausing momentarily for a piano and organ session. sci unearthed "the last surviving compo entry" awash in white noise and cracking, but addible enough to discern tickled ivories and a repeating word. Forty-Two was concerned about the issue of being "On Your Own" by way of plinking keys and sustained chords. General Mumble insisted that the year 12,011 will consist of a four-letter word being pitch-shifted to resemble the Windmill Hut theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  

Arcana's track brought to mind SimCity during the listening party, as well as traces of Ice Cap Zone topped with untz. DDRKirby(ISQ) discussed the remaining robots look over the settlement of dust, and sent along heavily affected lo-fi dance music. replacer collaborated with stablefree for a jovial session of electronic, shrugging of the quick piece with a "Whatever". Hapi-San imagined the BBC News Theme in the far-off future surrounded by lush nature sounds and trance. munchi's echoing bursts of synth are guided along with piano arpeggios and a spaced out snare. Finally Duosis altered a cha-cha clip for a minimal headbobbing tune with choir and acid bass. 

The Beginning

Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet reached the end of its fourth round this past Saturday with 12 entries. The Wily Theme selected, Mr. X Fortress came from Mega Man 6. Among other interesting developments, the round brought about a rare vocal appearance from Rexy, who did her best growl for her and Brandon’s metal take on the material. OLRmageddon LIV featured a sports theme for contestants to tackle: remixers could choose any sports game to remix, excluding fighters and driving games. Perhaps not surprisingly, considering the limited choices, zero entries were submitted. 

JHCompo on Tuesday had “The Grind” as its theme prompting participants to either get down to business, or be lazy. The SolidComposer founder superjoe submitted a quick musical piece with his usual pop-punk chord progression, this time set to a swung percussion. Newcomer LyokoFreaks melded distant lo-fi percussion with flute before laying down rock drums and guitar chords. Obtuse created a session of 8-bit, explaining that “This is how it feels when I check my email when i get in during the morning.” SonicThHedgog attempted to troll the listening party by starting quietly and bursting to maximum volume, not realizing that the waveform of the track was visible to all. Finally MandraSigma uploaded a chill electronic composition with a bit of record scratching, admitting that he was “Hardly Working”.

Thursday’s OHC made the unusual choice of a musical-specific theme: "Compose a song for an early 90s 2D platform game." On that note I appended my vocal narration with an 8-bit rendition of an old composition of mine, "The Beginning". On the flip side, dusthillguy avoided chips by submiting guitar strums under the title "sadsong". frkygp brought things back to form with a conceptual piece that goes from a happy-go-lucky vibe to a menacing bass line. CJthemusicdude entered a 16-bit cavernous zone that holds some mysticism, if not plagiarism. Doctor Arcana fired up synth brass and an assortment of elements for "Space Jump 16", raising the question of where the previous 15 installments went.

Forty-Two made a rough estimate of the length of his "2-minute-ish loop" entry, a driving electro tune laced with piano. sci took his chiptune leanings to epic heights as appropriate for being inside "the biggest space castle of the fleet." jarski had perhaps the most distinctive song description of the night for his dancefloor shaking chip music, consisting of a series of emotions. munchi's biggest selling point for his game was the "SUPER-" prefix, suggesting his product is merely a repackaged cash-in. MandraSigma sent along a chill composition defying the "Shred the Beast" title: maybe this was the edgy Americanized title of the game. 

Hapi-San succeeded in beating all the levels and reveled in his victory by using major-key arpeggios. Destroid dived into a sea of ambiance as well as a plot twist in the narrative description. ancara22 rushed in with bit of banjo enveloped in strings and broad piano chords. At the end of the listening party, the setting of DDRKirby(ISQ)'s headbobbing entry is vague enough to be placed anywhere between 2090 to 2099, explaining the various sounds that no early 1990s console could possibly produce.

Trains and Traditions

Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet entered its third round, prompting the teams to designate their remixer. The source tune chosen was Wily Stage theme from Mega Man 5, prompting each team to incorporate its Robot Master's theme for submissions. In total the round brought about ten entries. People’s Remixing Competition 207 on the other hand suffered an absence of entries; contributing factors may have been the lack of a MIDI transcription to work with, or unfamiliarity with the Warlords III: Darklords Rising source material. 

JHCompo on Tuesday had a theme inspired by an offhand comment in IRC: “Train Ride”. b-type almost literally took a page from The Little Engine That Could and sent along an chip-hop beat missing effects “because **** the police”. coda travelled on his “steamdogger” using an energetic mixture of shaker, piano chord jabs and arpeggio. Alestance applied a more conventional locomotive sound including a filtered train whistle. Obtuse chose a different angle for his take on the source, and from the very first chord establishes an “Alien Train”.

 

mu’s short-but-effective track rides a drum loop with a variety of riffs within the minute-long running time. irrelevnt took out his guitar and put together a piece that could probably fit well in a spaghetti western. MandraSigma made a bouncy electronic track that sounds like it was extracted from a video game, presumably one about locomotives. beek initially ran into trouble signing in, but laid down the funk with Ableton Live once everything was settled. 

Thursday’s OHC featured a "strange foreign tradition" theme, reflecting the U.S. Thanksgiving that fell on that day. The compo organizer starla was away for the holiday, and thus deadline extensions could not be issued. My entry had a bit of family participation due to relatives visiting; a turkey gobble appears courtesy of my brother's mobile app. DDRKirby(ISQ) composed a piece called "Reminiscence" (not to be confused with Ramaniscence) that explores nostalgia by way of 8-bit ambiance that leads to dancefloor action. td244 traversed with caution offering moody orchestral that builds to a crashing chord.

Forty-Two dedicated his stirring piano-and-pads entry to "a person very special to me", but neglected to mention who this referred to. OHC first-timer LyokoFreaks found himself asking a bunch of questions regarding premise of his own industrial track. MandraSigma created a chill, quirky tune and prepared to make the "Clock Tower Base Jump" as mandated by tradition. Finally the doctor Arcana journeyed along the violin-filled "Highway of Heroes" passing by many signs stating "vi-IV-I-V".

Between the Eyes

Kwakfest on Saturday started a compo weekend and marked its triumphant return after a year-long hiatus. A whopping 23 entries that night resulted from its loose theme related to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Saturday also happened to be the second round for the Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet, in which DarkeSword selected Wily Stage 1 from Mega Man 2 for team members to tackle. Punchfest 16 occurred on Sunday, thus continuing the weekend festivities. The theme for the round was “Vertical Shooters”, opening up a slew of video game music for participants to remix. For a bonus, entrants could also elect to do it vertically, with SnappleMan adding “I don't care, find a way.”

For JHCompo on Tuesday I selected a theme inspired by the NYPD’s recent actions on Occupy Wall Street protesters: “The Raid”. The ambiguity in the phrasing meant the entries largely leaned toward military movements. Alestance rolled the timpani and fired brass as he pondered over a day he will never forget. irrelevnt posted army chatter that is ominously cut off in mid-sentence. liquidwind’s track is washed over with flying jets, an explosion and a percussion session. LoneStar made her second JHCompo appearance, offering live electronic work self-described as “Omigosh Too Long (It Really Is Mix)”. coda again referenced canies when he deployed the “D.O.G.Z. Squadron” with a composition that recalls the days of the Sega Genesis. zebra’s ambient glissandos established the mood before settling in a lo-fi beat. Finally Torzelan preceded his frantic metal with a voice clip and proceeds despite a momentary bit of silence.

Thursday’s OHC featured "The Stranger" as its theme, thereby giving me the opportunity to read aloud some Billy Joel lyrics. Fusion2004's description almost looked like a transcript of a film trailer voiceover, which suited his string-heavy music with bits of electro. Forty-Two found himself in a "Kingdom of Ice" framed by Rhodes, bells, and pizzicatos. HarryNilsson'sGhost's conceptual piece starts off with a raw synth tone tamed by pervasive drum machines. The good doctor Arcana experienced sensations that could be diagnosed as dubstep-like, but with a dollop of bloops. swordofdestiny began with a quick stereo pan to clear the air, then offered a cautionary tale by way of brass intertwined with e-lines.  

Hapi-San swung "Along in the Rain" by putting his double bass and organ next to a spacey lead and heavy sounds of a storm.  Flexstyle perhaps worked on music in isolation for too long, as he proclaimed "I Just Want a Friend" and put out a mellow dance tune. Billy Joel was kind enough to join the round and retroactively created the song "The Stranger" to meet the compo theme. munchi stumbled into OHC through "The Fog" and found his way along by following the harp arpeggio, piano and head-bobbing drums. sci continued his megasong for the month and threw in all manner of elements, including chip melodies and a warped vocal clip. 

DDRKirby(ISQ) fired up a "Grooveshark" funk beat embellished with violins and and e-piano breakdown. frkygp was no stranger to audio panning, and worked out some electronic music despite apparently having Ableton crashes. CJthemusicdude's entry brings to mind the Dragnet theme and Tums ads, all while being cautious of the stranger. As the listening party winded down, Zovi presented a 5-minute excursion into aural madness narrated by muttering voice. Acuity finished things off with a more straightforward synths to make the body, and rests on a bed of delayed piano.