VG Frequency

Larry Oji was featured as special guest on My Take Radio, a live webcast hosted by Richard Butler. Listen to him discuss OCReMix and Street Fighter II HD Remix (essentially the same things that he talks about on NGI), as well as mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. Check it out here, and listen for Larry’s call-in at about 33:00.

Thanks go out to GeekDad (@WiredGeekDad) editor-in-chief Ken Dedmead (@fitzwillie) and our other brother at Wired.com, Z. (@hipsterplease) for some excellent pimpage of OC ReMix recently. Make sure to follow all of those guys on Twitter to stay on top of geek culture.

Yesterday, Ken assembled a pretty comprehensive list of 100 geeky groups and people to follow on Twitter, and OC ReMix is listed second between Wil Wheaton and Weird Al Yankovic. Other important VGM groups and musicians on the list included Jonathan Coulton of Portal “Still Alive” fame (and much more), Nerdapalooza where John “hex” Carter covers VGM and nerdcore music as well as the regular music nerdcore music festival, genoboost of VGM and VGIM newsblog & netlabel Game Music 4 All, and British chiptunist Pixelh8.

Beyond that, the list is very thorough, and, since it’s not a top 100 list, many Wired/GeekDad readers have supplemented the list with great additional follow suggestions.

For those of you strictly interested in video game musicians, we continue to maintain our VG musicians Twitter list here on VG Frequency for everyone to crib from, as there are so many awesome composers & arrangers in the community that any VGM fan should follow. Thanks again to Ken for a truly awesome honor having many of us from the VGM community included in such an important list!

Yesterday, I read Nick Chester’s post on Destructoid about GamerDNA’s Sam Houston maintaining a list of video game industry professionals and journalists using Twitter at Game Industry Tweet.

I love Twitter, and video game music is my passion. Since an important sector of game development was absent from Sam’s list, I’m maintaining a list of video game music professionals and enthusiasts on Twitter. More links will be added, and I’m sure there are folks who are absent from this list or want their info amended. If you need either, follow me & direct message me on Twitter, or email me at larryoji@ocremix.org.

If you’re not on Twitter, it’s a great platform with easy access to fellow enthusiasts, and it also encourages brief, effective communication. Get with the program and sign up.

Last updated: May 30th, 2009 - added chrisjhampton, esti_, gazms, gerdin, jgmusic, jasonchayes, masusu, masu_tom, neilvoss, ryuichisakamoto, whelchelphd, TracyWBush, virtjk, 8bitVGM, halc9bit, HaleaciousB, hatebunny, Nailhead, Nailhead_Gamer, nonsensicalexis, THE_Real_Chako, therks, Willrock07, danbrownpiano, dezolorfien, GenesisTribute, jason_vincion, shotanakama, SOU1, spamtron, thanatos_hn, Wizwars, xocnosaj, appiani, Axtuse, ffdistantworlds, SpiritofGamer, TheSIDStation

Since I put in the elbow grease to create this list, leading off is my bread and butter…

OverClocked ReMix (http://www.ocremix.org):

ocremix : OverClocked ReMix, composers for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, world’s largest website for VGM arrangements & fandom, hosts over 1,500 free VGM ReMixes

djpretzel : David W. Lloyd, aka djpretzel, OC ReMix founder/president/designer/webmaster; co-composer & soundtrack director for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, software engineer

LarryOji : Larry Oji, aka Liontamer, OC ReMix head submissions evaluator, assistant soundtrack director for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Tim Follin: Dirge for the Follin album director, creator of VGM radio show & blog VG Frequency, VGMdb staff

anosou : Mattias Häggström Gerdt, aka Another Soundscape, OC ReMix submissions judge, co-composer for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, composer for OK Games’ Artoon and Onion Factory’s The Perfect Match

biggiantcircles : Jimmy Hinson, aka Big Giant Circles, OC ReMix submissions judge, co-composer for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix,

darkesword : Shariq Ansari, aka DarkeSword, OC ReMix submissions judge, Kirby’s Adventure: Rise of the Star album director

zirconst : Andrew Aversa, aka zircon, OC ReMix submissions judge, Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream album director, composer for Fittest, co-composer for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, creator of music industry/business blog SoundTempest, former host of OC ReMix podcast VGDJ, fiancé of vocalist & composer Jillian Goldin (pixietricks)

Professional video game musicians:

8bitweapon : Seth Sternberger, aka 8 Bit Weapon, chiptune musician, composer for Nokia’s Reset Generation

awintory : Austin Wintory, composer for thatgamecompany’s flOw

Beatdrop : Dain Olsen, aka Beatdrop, former OC ReMix submissions judge, co-composer for Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2, Universe 2 & Universe 3

bobbaffy : Bob Baffey, audio director at Backbone Entertainment, former audio director at Digital Eclipse, sound designer, composer for multitude of Game Boy Color titles

cdeenen : Charles Deenen, composer for Virgin Games’ M.C. Kids, co-composer for Interplay’s The Lost Vikings, senior audio director at Electronic Arts

chibitech : Jason Nisperos, aka Chibi-Tech, chiptune musician, composer for Marvelous’s Zero no Tsukaima: Fantasy Force

chrisjhampton : Chris J. Hampton, aka ast0r, composer for Two Tribes’ Toki Tori

christilton : Chris Tilton, composer for EA’s Black and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

christophertin : Christopher Tin, co-composer for 2K Games’ Civilization IV

clswall : Cindy L. S. Wall, vocalist for Ubisoft’s Myst series, wife of Video Games Live co-creator & conductor Jack Wall

CoLDSToRAGE : Tim Wright, aka CoLD SToRAGE, former in-house composer at SCEE’s Psygnosis, co-composer for Psygnosis’s Shadow of the Beast series and Sony’s Wipeout series

ColinOMalley : Colin O’Malley, co-composer for Eidos’s Tomb Raider: Underworld

Dave_Clynick : David Clynick, in-house composer at Microsoft’s Rare, co-composer for Perfect Dark Zero

David_Wise : David Wise, career-long in-house composer at Microsoft’s Rare, composer for Wizards & Warriors series, Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country series, co-composer for Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise

Disasterpeace : Rich Vreeland, aka Disasterpeace, lead composer for 16×16’s Rescue: The Beagles

doistovich : Gene M. Rozenberg, aka Ampersand/Doistovich, composer for EA’s Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

EminenceOnline : Eminence Symphony Orchestra, founded by Hiroaki Yura, Echoes of War album creators, performers for Blizzard’s Diablo III, Vanillaware’s Odin Sphere, Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles and Namco Bandai’s Soulcalibur IV

esti_ : Jin-Bae Park, aka ESTi, composer for Nexon’s TalesWeaver and NTREEV Soft’s Pangya: Fantasy Golf

gazms : Robert Stjärnström, aka Gaz, vocalist and former guitarist for band Machinae Supremacy, co-composer for Rake in Grass’s Jets’n'Guns

gerdin : Andreas Gerdin, aka Gordon, rhythm guitarist for band Machinae Supremacy, co-composer for Rake in Grass’s Jets’n'Guns

GKMarino : Gerard K. Marino, co-composer for Sony’s God of War series

Godspeed_ViViX : Masahiro Aoki, aka Godspeed, co-composer for The Law of Contradiction

grantkirkhope : Grant Kirkhope, audio director at THQ’s Big Huge Games, former in-house composer at Microsoft’s Rare, co-composer for Rare’s GoldenEye 007, Donkey Kong 64, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie series & Viva Piñata series

harwood9 : Stephen Harwood, Jr., composer for Ubisoft’s Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30

iwadon : Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, composer for Natsume/Hudson Soft’s Omega Five (see also: iwadon_ldrlog)

jgmusic : Jason Graves, composer for EA’s Dead Space

jasonchayes : Jason Hayes, co-composer for Blizzard’s StarCraft, Warcraft III and World of Warcraft

jonathancoulton : Jonathan Coulton, composer of “Still Alive” for Valve’s Portal, nerdcore singer-songwriter

JoshuaMorse : Joshua Morse, composer for GameOn’s Anna’s Ice Cream, creator of album Ragnarok Online: Hybridism

kevinrieplmusic : Kevin Riepl, composer for Microsoft’s Gears of War (see also: DamageVault_K)

madfiddler : Mark Knight, aka madfiddler, composer for EA’s Warhammer: Dark Omen, Bullfrog’s Populous: The Beginning and Dungeon Keeper 2, Lead Audio Designer at Codemasters Software, member of band Stuck in D’80s

Malcos : Stephen Malcolm-Howell, aka Malcos, co-composer & assistant soundtrack director for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, former OC ReMix submissions judge

mark_griskey : Mark Griskey, composer for LucasArts’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

masusu : Masashi Yano, composer for Bullet Witch and Suiheisen Made Nan Mile?, co-composer for Cave’s Puzzle! Mushihimetama

masu_tom : Tomas Nilsén, drummer for band Machinae Supremacy, co-composer for Rake in Grass’s Jets’n'Guns

McVaffe : Michael Vafeas, aka McVaffe, OC ReMixer, co-composer for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

M_Minoshima : Masayoshi Minoshima, co-composer for Makura’s H2O: Footprints in the Sand, founder and owner of Alstroemeria Records

Mustin : Mustin, OC ReMixer, composer for Telegames’ Ultimate Arcade Games: Treasure Hunters, leader of band The OneUps, creator of record label OneUp Studios

nakataka : Takayuki Nakamura, co-composer for Sega’s Virtua Fighter series and Q Entertainment’s Lumines series

neal_acree : Neal Acree, co-composer for Blizzard’s Warcraft: The Burning Crusade and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

neilvoss : Neil Voss, composer of H2O Entertainment’s Tetrisphere

neostormx: Anthony Marin, aka Neostorm, OC ReMixer, co-composer for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

nrvststpilot : Paul Taylor, aka nervous_testpilot, composer for Mode 7 Games’ Determinance, freelance music journalist

orchetect : Steffan Andrews, OC ReMixer, co-composer for EA’s FaceBreaker and PowerUp Studios’ Night of a Million Billion Zombies

REDALiCE : Akai Hito, aka REDALiCE, composer for Dokodemo Sukishite Itsudemo Sukishite, veteran VGM arranger

Richard_Jacques : Richard Jacques, composer for Sega’s Sonic 3D Blast, co-composer for Sega’s Jet Set Radio series, BioWare’s Mass Effect and Sega’s Sonic and the Black Knight

RyanAComposer : Ryan Arndt, Lead Sound Designer/Composer/Studio Marketing & Development at Somatone Interactive Canada

ryuichisakamoto : Ryuichi Sakamoto, co-composer of Square Enix’s Dawn of Mana

SeanBeeson : Sean Beeson, composer for Silver Sphere Studios’ Eternity’s Child

ShaelRiley : Shael Riley, OC ReMixer, co-composer & soundtrack director for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, member of nerdcore band The Grammar Club, cast member of ScrewAttack’s The New Adventures of Captain S, brother of Devon Riley

sklathill : Vincent Diamante, composer for USC Interactive Media’s Cloud and Konami Mobile’s Castlevania: Order of Shadows, Interactive Media Division adjunct professor at University of Southern California

soundofjw : Josh Whelchel, aka TwiTerror, composer for Natomic Studios’ The Spirit Engine series (see also: whelchelphd)

TheMightyFatMan : George Sanger, aka The Fat Man, OC ReMixer, legendary professional VGM composer, leader of Team Fat, creator of game music summit Project Bar-B-Q (see also: fmandcg)

TheRealBeano : Robin Beanland, audio director at Microsoft’s Rare, co-composer for Rare’s Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct series, Conker series and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

toksin : Sascha Dikiciyan, aka toksin, co-composer for Ubisoft’s TMNT, co-composer for Flagship Studios’ Hellgate: London, musical collaborator of Cris Velasco

TommyTallarico : Tommy Tallarico, Guinness world record holder of work on the most video games, co-creator & host of Video Games Live concert series, founder of Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.)

TomSalta : Tom Salta, composer for Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfigher 1 & 2

TracyWBush : Tracy W. Bush, co-composer for Blizzard’s Warcraft III and World of Warcraft

virtjk : Jake Kaufman, aka virt, composer for Capcom’s Shantae, Neon Studios’ Legend of Kay and Konami’s Contra 4, founder of band The Smash Brothers, husband of Kristi Kaufman

wall_snd : Jack Wall, co-creator and conductor of Video Games Live concert series, composer for Ubisoft’s Myst series, BioWare’s Jade Empire and BioWare’s Mass Effect, husband of vocalist Cindy L. S. Wall

zhaytee : Joseph Toscano, aka ZhayTee, OC ReMixer, composer for Sunspire Studios’ Tux Racer

More OC ReMixers (http://www.ocremix.org/remixers/):

8bitVGM : 8 Bit Instrumental

adrianholovaty : Adrian Holovaty, creator of Super Mario Bros. 2 ‘Gypsy Jazz’, creator of open-source web application framework Django

AkumajoBelmont : Rabbie Sabo, aka AkumajoBelmont

audixmusic : Greg Michalec, aka Audix, composed starting lineup themes for Valparaiso University and University of Virginia basketball teams

b_knox : Langel Bookbinder, member of band aneurySm, member of band Warmth

blizihizake : Blake Perdue

bogusred : Susie Sahim, aka BogusRed, has drawn cavemen for Google

BrandonBush : Brandon Bush, aka Harmony, former OC ReMix submissions judge

brfuk : Richard Whitelock, aka richBRF, co-creator of Super Mario Bros. ‘Dirty Mix’, photographer

brightflashes : Kassi Kennedy, aka Kassi/Kassie!, wife of The OneUps‘ violinist Greg Kennedy

choweee : Joseph Liao, aka Fatty Acid

CoolCoreAudio : Cool Core Audio, Swedish game audio by OC ReMixer Fredrik Häthén and Calle

cotmm68030 : Matthew Newman, aka Children of the Monkey Machine, former OC ReMix submissions judge, photographer

cyborgjeff : Pierre Martin, aka Cyborg Jeff

DaleNorth : Dale North, former member of The OneUps, News Editor at Destructoid, Editor-in-Chief at Japanator, Editor-in-Chief at VGM news blog Original Sound Version

DiggiDis : Frank van ‘t Ende, aka Diggi Dis

DJComet : Alex Morrow, aka DJComet

drjaxx : Patrick Jacks, aka JAXX

DrumUltimA : Doug Perry, aka DrumUltimA, Percussion major at Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute, son of Principal Violist of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra Sharon Dennison (MomUltimA)

fatpollard : Matt Pollard, aka mp

Feanyx : K. Dani Davis, aka Cuddly Battleship Kattywampus

ffmusicdj : Haroon Piracha, aka FFmusic Dj, sound designer at High Impact Games including Secret Agent Clank and Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, former QA

Freijman : Sebastian Freij, aka AeroZ

frizico : Aurora, television meteorologist

GamerSymphony : Gamer Symphony Orchestra, University of Maryland student performers

halc9bit : Andrew Wheeler, aka halc

HaleaciousB : David Ryan Clark, aka Hale-Bopp

hardgrove : Craig Hardgrove, aka tycho, Marathon enthusiast, geophysical research student

hatebunny : Rab Townsend, aka Aetherius

Hornpipe2: Greg Kennedy, aka Hornpipe2, violinist of band The OneUps

HyBound : Tyler Carson, aka Hy Bound

ikadmium : Jesse Higginson, aka Kadmium

Jason_K : Jason Koohi, aka Strike911

joecamnet : Joe Cammisa, aka Joe Cam, EarthBound: Bound Together album director

Kumeelyun : Andrew Babb, aka Zelig

kwix29 : Dustin Kulwick, aka k-wix, Cave Story Remix Project album director

mainfinger : Jesse Gregory, aka Main Finger

markedone : Steve Olofsson, aka GaMeBoX

mikesacco : Mike Sacco, aka Shonen Samurai, Game Master for Blizzard’s World of Warcraft

moonove : Reynald Deliens, aka moonove

Nailhead : Eric Fullerton, aka Faze (see also: Nailhead_Gamer)

nicole_adams : Nicole Adams

nintendometal : Elisabeth Pezouvanis aka Wire, lead guitarist of band Game Over

nonsensicalexis : Alexis Kitchen, aka nonsensicalexis

nykad : Mike Klinkhamer, aka nyKad

philstrahl : Philipp Strahl, aka texx sound

platonist : Jonas Loman, aka Platonist, creator of netlabel Reuniverse

RansomRath : Ransom Rath, member of band PlanetSkill

roggah : Roger Matthews, aka Roggah

RyoLion : Ryo Takahashi, aka Ryo Lion

schlr_physcn : Oli Horton & Steve Dawson, aka A Scholar & A Physician

SketchHurricane : Paul Ford, aka metaphist

sgtrama : Doug Arley, aka SgtRama, creator of VGM news portal ThaSauce, immortalized in EGM (R.I.P.) #156 for his Kirby Super Star OC ReMix ‘Green Greens (Contagious Eye Infection)’

sgxmusic : Danny Adler, aka SGX, creator of electronic music label Protagonist Records

SonicSkillz : Duane Thorpe, aka DCT, creator of hip-hop/R&B netlabel Urbanizm Music

starlainjury : Starla, aka injury

subtonic12 : Dan Studnicky

suzums : Ty Guenley, aka Suzumebachi

Tansunn : Tansunn

terhechte : Benedikt Terhechte, aka Zeratul

thabisnit : Martin Binfield, aka Binster, artist & animator at SCEE, co-lead animator for Sony’s Heavenly Sword

thegirlnextdork : Candy Bullard, aka Juverna

the_junk : Marc Junker

themegas : Mega Man tribute band The Megas (Eric von Doymi [MEGAEric], Greg Schneider [ megasgreg], Josh Breeding [ breeding], Mike Levinson [ MegasMike])

THE_Real_Chako : Trevor Fulton, aka DjChako

TheoryOfN : Dustin Lagaly, aka Theory of Nonexistence

therks : Rob Saunders

thesaxprophet : Bradley Burr, aka the prophet of mephisto, Radical Dreamers: Thieves of Fate album director

TheWingless : John Burnett, aka The Wingless, former OC ReMix submissions judge, user interface artist at EA’s Pandemic Studios, former user interface artist at Midway

TimSheehy : Tim Sheehy, aka Kaijin, Contributing Writer at VGM news blog Original Sound Version, former customer service rep at Blizzard

tumult : tumult, member of band PlanetSkill

Ubik2501 : Brian Davis, aka Ubik, dressed as Karnov for MAGFest 7, spits hot fire

vergo890 : Philip Schwan, aka Tepid

wdelgenio : William Del Genio, aka munky

Willrock07 : William Harby, aka Willrock

YellowArcher : Kevin Stephens

younghahn : Youngjin Hahn, aka Ziwtra

zyk0 : Waleed Hawatky, aka zyko, former OC ReMix submissions judge

More video game musicians:

Atsushio : Atsushi Ohara, arranger

beefyness : Keith Moore, aka Beefy, member of nerdcore band The Grammar Club

binary1230 : Dominic Cerquetti, aka binary1230, Programmer at Firaxis Games, creator of JamSpace music performance area for MAGFest, member of band Rare Candy, road member of band Temp Sound Solutions

c64glen : Glen McNamee, aka c64glen, Commodore music arranger & enthusiast

cacomistle : Brian Vanek, aka cacomistle, chiptune musician

computeher : Michelle Mitchell, aka ComputeHer, chiptune musician, wife & musical collaborator of Seth Sternberger (8 Bit Weapon)

danbrownpiano : Dan Brown, aka Kareshi

DevonRiley : Devon Riley, cast member of ScrewAttack’s The New Adventures of Captain S, brother of Shael Riley

dezolorfien : Johan Hedlund, aka Dezo, bassist for band Machinae Supremacy

dj_skitz : Paul Hadrill, aka Dj Skitz, Commodore music arranger & enthusiast

doctoroctoroc : Levi Buffum, aka Doctor Octoroc, creator of 8-Bit Jesus VGM-inspired Christmas chiptune album

GenesisTribute : Brian Davis, arranger

glenncase : Glenn Case, co-composer for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, former member of nerdcore band The Grammar Club

GrantHenry : Grant Henry, aka Stemage, creator of Metroid Metal

Infamousuk : Christopher Bailey, aka Infamous, Commodore music arranger

jason_vincion : Jason Vincion, arranger

KirbyPufocia : Mike Molnar, aka Kirby Pufocia, road member of band Metroid Metal

KyleJCrb : Kyle Crouse, aka KyleJCrb, Tales: Summoning of Spirits album director, creator of VGM radio show Nitro Game Injection

lidbjork : Henrik Lidbjörk, aka Lie Mutherpluckin’ B, creator of Sex, Drugs N’ Nintendo & Nintendosploitation albums

megadriver_bass : Rubens Stulzer, bassist for band MegaDriver

MegaRan : Raheem Jarbo, aka Random/Mega Ran, underground rapper, creator of Mega Ran, American Gamer and Mega Ran 9 albums

MissTrueStar : Kristi Kaufman, kickass knitter, wife of VGMix founder & Konami’s Contra 4 composer Jake Kaufman (virt)

pongball : Shannon Clark, aka Pongball, chiptune & MIDI musician, former VGMusic staff, wife of David Clark (Hale-Bopp)

q_pa : Jon Heiman, aka q-pa, VGM club DJ

raublekick : Andrew Rauble, aka Rauble, guitarist for band Armadillo Tank

richtaur : Matt Hackett, aka Richter, Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Hedgehog Heaven album director, Senior Frontend Engineer at gaming social platform Raptr

RyoOhnuki : Ryo Ohnuki, arranger

shawnphase : Craig Jakubowski, aka Shawn Phase, creator of band Temp Sound Solutions, former drummer of band The Smash Brothers

shotanakama : Shota Nakama, director of Video Game Orchestra

skyriser : Lix/Skyriser, arranger

SOU1 : SOU1, arranger

spamtron : Guerin McMurray, aka Spamtron, chiptune musician and arranger

sumppi : Juha Kaunisto, aka sumppi, Commodore music arranger, web developer

thanatos_hn : Thanatos, arranger

WaveTheory : Wave Theory, electronic/hip-hop band led by Alex Esquivel (AE)

Wizwars : Kevin Hagge, aka Wizwars

xocnosaj : Jason Cox, aka Xoc, multi-talented arranger, creator of album SMW

Yamajet : Yamajet, arranger

ZenAlbatross : Joshua Kopstein, aka ZenAlbatross, chiptune musician

Video game music events/news/PR/radio/education:

Aktrez : Becky Young, aka Aktrez, Events Director for Video Games Live concert series, host on VGM webstream Game Music Radio, creator of the Girls Entertainment Network

appiani : Thomas Boecker, executive producer of Merregnon Studios, producer of concert series Game Music Concert, Drammatica, Symphonic Shades

arcubalis : Jayson Napolitano, Managing Editor at VGM news blog Original Sound Version

Axtuse : Brett Wooley, aka Axtuse, host of Meteor Radio at KBYO 92.7 FM (Monroe, LA)

C64Takeaway : The C64 Take-away, created by Remix.Kwed.Org founder Jan Lund Thomsen (Kwed)

cocoebiz : CocoeBiz, VGM retailer founded by Kahori Ezaki (Coco)

CocoVader : Kahori Ezaki, aka Coco, founder of VGM retailer CocoeBiz

dekubar : dekubar, creator of VGM news blog dekunology

ffdistantworlds : Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds, international concert series featuring the music of Nobuo Uematsu conducted by Arnie Roth

Gameodactyl : Patrick Gann, Associate Editor at VGM news blog Original Sound Version

genoboost : Anthony Ruybalid, aka Genoboost, creator of VGM and VG-inspired music news blog & netlabel Game Music 4 All

hexWarrior : John Carter, aka Hex, creator of nerdcore music news blog & concert series Nerdapalooza

hipsterplease : Z., man of mystery, contributor at Wired.com’s GeekDad, creator of nerdcore news blog Hipster, please!

Jeriaska : Jeriaska, creator of VGM news portal Nobuooo, freelance writer for Siliconera and GameSetWatch, microlender & futurist

justinj212 : Justin Johnston, former PR Director for the University of Maryland Gamer Symphony Orchestra, host of VGM radio show 8-Bit Radio at WMUC 88.1 FM (College Park, MD)

MAGFest : MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival), yearly 3-day Washington, DC-area festival/convention/concert celebrating gaming & game music, created by Brendan Becker (Mr. MAGFest)

Music4Games : Music 4 Games, VGM news portal, created by Greg O’Connor-Read

Nerdapalooza : Nerdapalooza, nerdcore music news blog and concert series

Nobuooo : Nobuooo, VGM news portal created by Jeriaska

Sitorimon : Simon Smith, creator of VGM news blog Higher Plain Music

siven7 : Kenley Kristofferson, aka siven7, creator of academic VGM podcast Into the Score, music teacher

slayradio : SLAY Radio, VGM webstream featuring live shows, focused on Commodore arrangement community, created by Kenneth Mutka (Slaygon)

SpiritofGamer : Carl Larson, staff at VGMdb

superquarky : Stephanie Prader, Guest Coordinator for MAGFest

thasauce : ThaSauce, video game music new portal created by Doug Arley (SgtRama)

TheSIDStation : The SID Station, Commodore 64 radio stream created by John “Dr. Bongo” Taylor

vgmdb : VGMdb (Video Game Music database), world’s largest catalog & information source on video game music albums, run by Ken Moore (Secret Squirrel) and Gigablah

yaku : Yaku, Administrator of VGM news blog Noctilucence

Hey guys,

If you enjoy game music enough to take a quick survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=HFyUHjM0BHA8lH_2b_2bgR2j5Q_3d_3d), your answers will help University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student Chris Russell for his ethnographical study of OC ReMix and game music fans like you!

The survey is brief, asking about your favorite game music, composers, thoughts on being a musician (if you are one), as well as where you fit into the OC ReMix community. If you’re not a musician, just fill in “N/A” (not applicable) for any questions you don’t need to answer. If you’re a lurker or long-time holdout, it’s OK; share your answers on game music, and swing by http://www.ocremix.org again! 1,600 ReMixes strong, and we’re still free.

If your responses are good, your answers may be quoted in Chris’s ethnographical study of OC ReMix, both in his paper as well as his presentation at next month’s Art of Record Production conference!

Now Chris is going to hijack my message to tell you a little bit more. Have fun answering the survey, and thanks as always for listening to our community’s music and supporting OC ReMix!

Larry “Liontamer” Oji
Assistant Soundtrack Director, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Head Submissions Evaluator, OverClocked ReMix - http://www.ocremix.org
Creator, VG Frequency - http://www.vgfrequency.com
Staff, VGMdb - http://www.vgmdb.net

—————————————-

Hi everyone -

My name is Chris Russell, a graduate student in Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In about a month, I will be presenting a paper about OC ReMix at the Art of Record Production Conference, a joint academic/industry conference in Lowell, Massachusetts. I’m hoping to ask you all, the OC ReMix community, to help me represent you at this conference by taking a brief survey.

The survey should take no longer than 20-30 minutes, and is intended for all members of the community - whether you’ve got a ReMix up on the site or not. Please take a moment to assist me in this endeavor.

The survey is available at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=HFyUHjM0BHA8lH_2b_2bgR2j5Q_3d_3d

Thanks in advance for your time.

Chris Russell
Master’s Candidate in Music Theory
Department of Music
University of Wisconsin - Madison

Just another great day in #ocrjudges. You can view the full post for our conversation a few minute ago on this Wisconsin Kia dealership commercial, featuring original track “Inferno” by zircon:

(more…)

Hey, I know we just recently sent out a mail on OC ReMix doing the soundtrack for Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Thanks for checking out our E3 week feature about it on Ars Technica: http://digg.com/gaming_news/Fans_go_pro_how_OC_ReMix_put_its_stamp_on_Street_Fighter_II

I’m actually mailing because today, July 25th, is the birthday of OC ReMix founder David Lloyd, better known around these parts as djpretzel!!! He also recently got engaged to the lovely Anna, which was revealed on OCR just a couple of days ago!

To help celebrate, I’m asking you to take a few moments out of your day to wish djp a happy birthday! You can make his B-day a good one by doing any or all of the following things:

***Well, djp started it all, so throw some birthday greetings to djp right here: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17434

***Buy a copy of this month’s issue of Game Informer magazine (with Wolfenstein on the cover), which features an interview with djp about OC ReMix and spotlights the video game arrangement community: http://www.gameinformer.com/Magazine/

***Buy a T-shirt, hoodie or stickers from the OCR store and fly the colors: http://www.ocremix.org/store/
***Purchase ANYTHING at Amazon through OCR and have (a much-appreciated) 6% of the sale donated to help pay for our sizeable bandwidth at no extra cost: http://www.ocremix.org/amazon/

***Leave a Review for any OC ReMix on the site. Comments don’t have to be essays, but let djp, or any OC ReMixer, know how you felt about a ReMix you enjoyed. Any ReMix is fair game, and it’ll make their day: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14

***Complete your OCR collection by downloading the ReMixes you don’t have. The only mistake I ever made when I first found OCR in 2002 was to only download about 30 mixes just from games I knew. If that’s like you, you’re missing out on free GOLD: http://www.ocremix.org/torrents/

***Join OCR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2210239078
***Become a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/OverClocked-ReMix/7350358374
***Join OCR on MySpace: http://groups.myspace.com/ocremix

***Last, but not least, just encourage 10 friends to check out OC ReMix. OCR is what it is today, because people like you have been kind enough to spread the word on the site, the 100% free music we offer (1500+ tracks and counting), and the amazing creativity of the ReMixers who take time out to honor video game music. Anyone who likes games, game music or just awesome free music should swing by and see what we’re about, so tell everyone you can!

THANK YOU as always for supporting OverClocked ReMix, downloading the music, and being a part of the OCR community. We appreciate it! And happy birthday, Pretz!

Larry “Liontamer” Oji
Head Submissions Evaluator, OverClocked ReMix
Creator, VG Frequency
Staff, VGMdb
www.ocremix.org
www.vgfrequency.com
www.vgmdb.net

Cool stuff from Greg “Audix” Michalec and Brian “Tweek” Arnold, as they just released a music video of their OC ReMix collaboration, Mario Kart 64 “Day’s End”. Audix kept it brief on the OC ReMix forums:

Just finished up a “music video” of sorts of this track, featuring clips of me and Tweek playing parts on guitar and keyboard, Mario Kart shortcuts, and FL Studio playthrough footage.

Check out the sweet powerslide up the ramp at 2:02. Did that on the first take. ;)

Nice work compiling the footage, with a great combinations of features. You get your nostalgia fix via the Mario Kart 64 footage, along with a nice look at the guts of the mix in the sequencer (arranging the work of Kenta Nagata), and performance shots of both ReMixers. Fun stuff, and nice to see these two go the extra mile.

By: David Lloyd, dlloyd@ocremix.org

“Whether I’m writing an original or remixing something from a video game, my inspirations never change. My music listening history is one big collage, and I try to pull on all of that.”

- Dain Olsen, OC ReMix Interview

June 21, 2008

Fairfax, VA — OverClocked ReMix today published an interview with OC ReMixer & Dance Dance Revolution musician Dain “Beatdrop” Olsen, in addition to posting a brand new ReMix of his from the soundtrack to Capcom’s Mega Man X3 for the SNES. Dain talks about the creation of his latest mix, his approach to mixing game music, and his involvement with Konami’s DDR competition, which landed him a spot on the soundtrack to Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2.

The interview is available online at:

http://www.ocremix.org/info/ReMixer_Interview:_Beatdrop_%28Dain_Olsen%29

Mega Man X3 ‘Revolutions’ is available for streaming and free download at:

http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01727/

About OverClocked ReMix

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

By: Larry Oji, larryoji@ocremix.org

“A good tune is a good tune. That’s basically it! If a melody can stand the test of time when it’s being played with a one channel sine wave, then it can stand being a fully orchestrated piece of music. I guess really it’s substance over style.”

- Tim Wright, OC ReMix Interview

June 5, 2008

Fairfax, VA — OverClocked ReMix today published its first video game composer interview, with pioneering British VGM composer Tim “CoLD SToRAGE” Wright. Wright helped usher electronica into professional game scores with his work on the landmark racing title Wipeout, released in 1995 by Psygnosis for the then-emerging Sony PlayStation. The interview touches on other career highlights such as Wright’s days composing for the Commodore Amiga, his development of popular music creation programs eJay and MUSIC (a.k.a. MTV Music Generator), and his upcoming original album, CoLD SToRAGE HD, which functions as an unofficial soundtrack to Sony’s latest title in the Wipeout franchise, Wipeout HD for the PlayStation 3.

The interview is available online at http://www.ocremix.org/info/Composer_Interview:_CoLD_SToRAGE_%28Tim_Wright%29.

Conducted by site staff, OC ReMix interviews cover major aspects of a composer’s career, featuring targeted questions unique to each subject, as well a standard list of questions that specifically delve into a musician’s formative years, creative inspirations, and views on the current state of the game music industry. This unique format presents both a contemporary look at a composer’s recent activities as well as more comprehensive questions about the nature of video game music composition.

About OverClocked ReMix

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

Links

• Composer Interview: CoLD SToRAGE (Tim Wright)
• OC ReMix interviews
• Tim Wright Composer Profile at OC ReMix
• The Official CoLD SToRAGE Website
• Purchase the albums of CoLD SToRAGE
• Wright’s company, Tantrumedia Multimedia Solutions
• CoLD SToRAGE @ MySpace

We think you need to. For the past two years, we’ve been attending this event called MAGFest (that is, the Music and Gaming Festival). Short of knocking on djpretzel’s, zircon’s or my (Liontamer’s) door, this will be one of the best chances to not only meet us, the crew behind OC ReMix, but also to meet a whole ton of OC ReMixers. Not only that, but you’ll get to spend New Year’s weekend with us and party it up. This will be the seventh time they’ve thrown this shindig!

If you’re at all into video games and music, this will be the place to be this upcoming year. There’s so many fun things to do, you’ll wonder where your weekend went! Video game composers like Howard Drossin (with several Sonic titles to his credit) and Jake “virt” Kaufman (Contra 4 and TMNT on the DS) will be around. And Friday and Saturday nights are filled with concerts from video game bands! The Advantage, Minibosses, and NESkimos have all performed there in the past. This year’s lineup of bands will be out soon, including some familiar names from OCR.

The best part is that even after all of that, you haven’t even experienced half of the event! You can hit the video room and watch game movies and cartoons, buy stuff from the people in the marketplace, go to video game panels and discussions (including our own OC ReMix bash), or just play games the whole time. There’s over 10,000 square feet of just console, PC, and even arcade games, and it doesn’t close AT ALL during the entire duration of the event. If you want to play Rock Band on a stage for hours on end with José the Bronx Rican, you can! Or if you wanna challenge James Rolfe, the Angry Video Game Nerd, go ahead and call him OUT!

Here’s what me and some other folks had to say about last year’s MAGFest:
* http://www.vgfrequency.com/magfest-6-from-alexandria-va-13-day-1-report/
* http://www.destructoid.com/magfest-vi-highlights-65679.phtml
* http://revver.com/video/625357/magfest-vi/
* http://www.megatonik.com/2007/12/18/we-rock-hard-we-play-hard-magfest-cometh/
* http://gamemusic4all.blogspot.com/2008/01/magfest-vi-wrapup.html

Now that you want to go, lemme mention the important stuff:
- It’s in Alexandria, VA, in a 5-star Hilton, which is a quick ride from DC (Reagan National Airport).
- It’s Thursday-Sunday, Jan 1-4, 2009. If you’re not free on New Year’s Day, you can come Friday and not miss too much.
- Like many good things, it costs money. But $40 isn’t too bad for all weekend!

And here are a few links for you:
* Their site: http://magfest.org/
* The info on the hotel and directions: http://magfest.org/info/
* The preregistration page: http://courtwright.org/magfest/preregistration

Preregister for MAGFest soon to make sure you’re there! Their hotel is already accepting room reservations, and they even got the rates down for us that aren’t so lucky in the money department. It’s only $99 a night to stay at the hotel MAGFest is in, and come on, it looks like the Citadel! Split it with a few friends and that price goes down VERY fast. If you’re already sold on it, call them up and reserve a room at 703-845-1010 any time of day (they’re a hotel, ya know).

Let them know MAGFest and OC ReMix sent you (and make sure to be at the OC ReMix panel), and we’ll see you there!

Larry “Liontamer” Oji
Head Submissions Evaluator, OverClocked ReMix
Creator, VG Frequency
http://www.ocremix.org
http://www.vgfrequency.com

I’ve spent tons of time recently manually reuploading the entire OCR library of mixes to www.last.fm, organized by ReMix ID in sets of twenty so I can manage them better. We went from missing Last.fm previews for over 350+ tracks to missing under 40, and some tracks whose previews were broken or only 20 seconds long should now be fixed. The remaining tracks need to be fixed here on ocremix.org first, since most of them are not to standard 44.1khz frequency specification, which we require and which Last.fm requires as well.

Furthermore, for usability I moved the previews from the download tab right to the main writeup page for each mix. I really feel like this makes it easier to read about the mix and listen at the same time, and in general should make the site friendlier to the type of exploration we encourage. I’m going to try to keep things in sync and upload to Last.fm for each new mix that’s posted, which again I personally find useful. Hopefully you will too!

As a side note, this was extremely monotonous work that took hours, but it was made a lot easier by seeing the support we’ve been getting this month. Thanks!

• Interview
• ReMix

‘Nuff said.

OC ReMixer Jillian Goldin Wins OurStage.com Grand Prize; SGX and zircon finish top 5

By: Larry Oji, larryoji@ocremix.org

April 5, 2008

BALTIMORE, MD — Jillian “pixietricks” Goldin, OC ReMix judge and ReMixer, emerged victorious in OurStage.com’s March 2008 Music Finals. Goldin’s New Age/World channel-winning song “Hajime” bested thirty-six other channel winners out of a pool of over 30,000 entries to claim first place. Along with the $5,000 Grand Prize, Goldin (www.jilliangoldin.com) is also eligible for several other prizes and awards offered by OurStage and its partners.

Goldin’s “Hajime” is the opening track of her original New Age/World album, Origins, which will be available April 22nd through her website, CDBaby.com, and Apple iTunes.

OurStage (www.ourstage.com) was launched in 2007 to increase the exposure of independent musicians and filmmakers through its democratic “battle” voting system, where users are able to judge each entry against all other competitors. OurStage winners earn cash prizes, along with the potential of other perks including magazine coverage, opportunities to perform at concerts and festivals, and mentoring sessions with established musicians and filmmakers.

“I will also be making a donation to the community of OverClocked ReMix, because my friends and fans there have given [me] so much over the years,” said Goldin in an interview with OurStage’s Quinn Strassel. OverClocked ReMix provides support for developing artists for both game music arrangements and original music. Goldin has performed vocals for 2K Games’ Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword soundtrack as well as session vocals for composer Christopher Tin.

Fellow OC ReMixers Andrew “zircon” Aversa and Danny “SGX” Adler also placed third and fourth in OurStage’s March 2008 Music Finals after wins in the Techno/Club/Dance and Electronic channels, respectively.

About OverClocked ReMix

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

Links:

*OurStage winners for March 2008
*Jillian Goldin interview with OurStage’s Quinn Strassel
*Jillian Goldin (pixietricks) at OverClocked ReMix
*Goldin’s original album, Origins
*Andrew Aversa (zircon) at OverClocked ReMix
*Danny Adler (SGX) at OverClocked ReMix

Making the rounds on Digg this past week was “What Super Mario Galaxy Would Look Like on the SNES,” featuring 16-bit sprites gathered from Super Mario World and several other sources to recreate the instant classic in the image of old school. Integral to the Digg’ed video was Ben “chthonic” Briggs Super Mario 64 OC ReMix “Fleeting Ecstacy.”

Originally created with music and sound effects from Super Mario Galaxy, someone took the video and inserted chthonic’s arrangement, doing a good job of upping the energy level and overall appeal. Remind me to kill whoever didn’t follow the OCR Content Policy in not crediting the ReMix as part of the video.

Meanwhile, do it the Mario Galaxy way and give this a spin:

Michael Gluck, more commonly known as Piano Squall (www.pianosquall.com), spoke with Andrew Aversa (zircon) recently about his album GAME and some of the logistics involved in licensing and royalties when it comes to selling game music arrangement albums:

“If you decide to release your own album, remember that royalties are only one of the many expenses involved. You also need to consider retailer margins, production costs, advertising costs, website development, photography, packing, shipping, inventory space, PayPal/merchant fees, and manufacturing costs. And of course, an album can take months to create, so you need to prepare for a substantial time investment.”

The full interview is available at:

http://www.ocremix.org/info/Interview:_Michael_Gluck_%28Piano_Squall%29

We at OverClocked ReMix thank Michael for taking the time to provide some very valuable information on the commercial side of game music arrangement!

- djp

OC ReMix Announces Voices of the Lifestream Music Video Contest Results

For Immediate Release
February 24, 2008
Contact: David W. Lloyd, dlloyd@ocremix.org

FAIRFAX, VA–OverClocked ReMix announced results from its music video competition for Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream (ff7.ocremix.org) today. This was the first official competition held by OC ReMix, with 17 entries in three categories: “FF7″, “Anime”, and “Original.” OC ReMix partnered with Piano Squall (www.pianosquall.com), and eStarland (www.estarland.com), to offer prizes including signed limited edition promotional copies of Voices of the Lifestream, signed copies of Piano Squall’s album GAME: Game & Anime Music Emotions, Final Fantasy VII merchandise, and OverClocked ReMix shirts & hoodies.

A complete, streamable listing of all music video entries is available at:

http://ff7.ocremix.org/videos/

Voices of the Lifestream Director Andrew Aversa expressed his enthusiasm at the fan-made music videos this fan-made album has elicited: “The average level of quality and creativity among the videos was really outstanding. I’m glad that the entrants were so inspired by the music of VotL! Congratulations to all entrants on amazing work!”

Winners in each category are as follows:

- Final Fantasy VII Category -

• Winner: “Compiled Memories” by sayde (David Lee)
• Runner-up: “Black-Winged Angel” by slkdragon (Chris Cook)
• Honorable Mention: “Wheels of Lifestream” by Big Paul (Paulo Augusto)

- Anime Category -

• Winner: “Final Moments of Clarity” by Mindeffects (Saša Tarbuk)
• Runner-up: “Sweetest Embrace” by Phantasmagoriat (Chris Studer)

- Original Category -

• Winner: “Stone Eyes” by Zethzen (Ian Cofino)
• Runner-up: “Lunatic Hero” by backseatstuff (Matt Furbush)

Videos are available online at http://ff7.ocremix.org/videos/ and will later be distributed via bittorrent in higher quality. Entrants will be contacted shortly with details regarding prize distribution.

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

OverClocked ReMix judge and director of the Final Fantasy VII tribute album Voices of the Lifestream (http://ff7.ocremix.org) Andrew “zircon” Aversa was recently voted the winner of SquareSound’s (www.squaresound.com) “A Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu” Arrangement Competition. The winning participant out of 53 entries with his Final Fantasy VI medley “Dirt Devil,” Aversa earned a combined score of 96.22%. zircon walked away with the grand prize of a limited edition promotional copy of Voices of the Lifestream, and two VIP tickets to the March 1, 2008 performance of Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy (www.ffdistantworlds.com), including the official concert program and limited edition CD, performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The tickets to the Chicago concert include entrance to the exclusive meet-and-greet with Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu following the performance.

Emerging as runner-up was Kenley Kristofferson, who runs the Into the Score podcast (www.intothescore.com) dedicated to the academic study of video game music, with his own Final Fantasy VI medley, “Hundreds of Voices (Swinging in Unison!).” All of the entries are available for download on SquareSound’s website, and Aversa’s winning piece was recently posted to OverClocked ReMix (www.ocremix.org).

Larry “Liontamer” Oji, OC ReMix’s head submissions evaluator and among the competition’s four judges, noted the prestige of what was at stake: “It was definitely a privilege to judge such an important competition from SquareSound, with a very meaningful first prize on the line. Having the opportunity to meet any composer in person, let alone Nobuo Uematsu, and express one’s fandom and thanks is something a lot of musicians in the community don’t have the good fortune to experience.”

zircon will be attending Distant Worlds with girlfriend and fellow OC ReMix judge Jillian “pixietricks” Goldin. Having created Voices of the Lifestream, Aversa hopes to present his awarded copy of the album to Uematsu in person: “Both Jill and myself are really excited to see Distant Worlds and meet Mr. Uematsu, even if only briefly. We’re huge fans of his music; between the two of us, we’ve remixed over a dozen of his compositions. I personally consider him to be my all-time favorite video game music composer. It will be a dream come true if I can personally hand him a copy of Voices of the Lifestream.”

Links:

*SquareSound: Andrew Aversa Wins Our Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu Arrangement Competition!
*SquareSound
*Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy
*Andrew “zircon” Aversa at OverClocked ReMix
*Kenley Kristofferson at Into the Score
*Larry “Liontamer” Oji at VG Frequency
*Jillian “pixietricks” Goldin at OverClocked ReMix
*Nobuo Uematsu (????) at OverClocked ReMix
*Voices of the Lifestream

I’ve added small (PNG, 2kb or less) cropped mugshots of VGM composers, where available, to all lists of composers (main list plus filtered lists).

• http://www.ocremix.org/composers/
• http://www.ocremix.org/system/c64/composers/
• http://www.ocremix.org/organization/id/1/composers/

I also intend to integrate them into detail pages later today, if there’s time.

This seems like a small thing, but pictures can say a thousand words… my hope is that these icons will help people more readily identify a given composer with his or her works through visual association.

We’ll be working on tracking down missing images where possible.

Thanks,

-djp

Tim Maxwell of SquareSound has publicized the final set of prizes for the Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu Arrangement Competition, with the all-important tickets to Chicago’s upcoming performance of Distant Worlds hanging in the balance. Well, I’m helping to judge this bad boy, so let’s hope you’ve got what it takes:

The prize packages for the winners of the Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu Arrangement Competition have now been completely finalized. The grand prize isn’t changing obviously, but we finalized some other details. Here’s the rundown:

The grand prize winner will get:

• Two VIP tickets to the Distant Worlds concert in Chicago on March 1, 2008
• A free concert program
• A free Distant Worlds CD
• Entrance to the meet-and-greet with Nobuo Uematsu after the concert
• One copy of the OverClocked ReMix exclusive Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream CD set

The first runner-up will receive:

• A free Distant Worlds CD
• One copy of the OverClocked ReMix exclusive Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream CD set

The 3rd through 5th place finishers will receive:

• One copy of the OverClocked ReMix exclusive Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream CD set

In the event that the grand prize winner is unable to attend the concert, that person will receive a copy of the Distant Worlds CD hand-signed by Nobuo Uematsu. We will try to film the signing of this album for the winner, but we cannot guarantee this. In addition, this person will receive a $100 gift certificate from our store. The tickets will then be offered to runners-up in succession until we find a contestant that is able to attend the concert.

Once we determine who has won the tickets, we will arrange for them to be placed at the will-call window at the concert venue (the Rosemont Theater) for pickup prior to the show. Tickets may not be sold or transferred.

That about wraps things up! Today is the last day to submit arrangements for those who registered, and the winner should be announced within a week. Good luck everyone!

I’ve spent some time redesigning our store and incorporating it more with Amazon. You can take a look here:

http://www.ocremix.org/store/

The new layout and organization highlight certain items at Amazon that we either believe are excellent tools for ReMixing, or that we think just plain rock. You can also search the entirety of Amazon using our interface, and each time you buy through Amazon via our store, you help pay for our bandwidth/hosting costs. Our ads have decreased lately, bringing in less than enough to cover the costs of hosting the site, so we appreciate all the help we can get.

I also redesigned the gateway links to eStarland for buying OC ReMix shirts and hoodies - it should be more intuitive now, with direct links to sizes that shouldn’t present intermittent empty search result pages like we saw previously.

We’ll be restocking on hoodies soon, so be on the lookout!

Thanks,

djp

Troy, NY - OverClocked ReMix will participate this weekend as one of several guests at Genericon, an anime/science fiction/gaming convention held by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Site staff David “djpretzel” Lloyd, Larry “Liontamer” Oji, and Andrew “zircon” Aversa will be representing OC ReMix, holding a panel, giving away prizes, and joining in the festivities. Other guests include Al Lowe of Leisure Suit Larry, King’s Quest, and Police Quest fame, musical group Echostream, and Rob Balder of the webcomic PartiallyClips.

The OverClocked ReMix panel will be held at 3:00pm on Saturday the 26th in DCC 308.

Genericon is being held January 25-27; more information is available at http://genericon.union.rpi.edu/.

Brazilian foursome 8 Bit Instrumental have released their newest album arranging the Mega Man 2 soundtrack. Entitled Beat the 8 Super Robots with 8 Bit Instrumental, the new album is the most focused effort from the band yet, who follow up their previous albums The Song Remains the Game and Altered Bit with their take on a sin

In the tradition of Arm Cannon, vertexguy and Select Start, 8 Bit Instrumental has also performed at Video Games Live through the invitation of Tommy Tallarico. Check them out performing from Metroid and Street Fighter II when the concert stopped by Brasilia, Brazil this past September:

Of course, you can also check out their debut ReMix at OverClocked ReMix yesterday with their Top Gear arrangement from the Altered Bit album, “Rockabilly ~ Dark Gears ~ Surfing Gear” (lovingly titled by me from the names the band gave each section). They’ve got more material coming OCR’s way, so keep an eye out for these guys as they continue to represent Brazil, the bastion of video game music fandom in South America.

Our friends over at SquareSound are holding an arrangement competition in tribute to Final Fantasy musical legend Nobuo Uematsu. The winner will receive two VIP tickets to the upcoming Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert in Chicago on March 1, 2008. The VIP tickets include prime seats at the concert, a free concert CD and program, and the ability to attend an exclusive meet-and-greet session with Mr. Uematsu himself following the performance.

OverClocked ReMix has donated copies of Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream as prizes, and head submissions evaluator Larry “Liontamer” Oji will be assisting with submissions evaluations.

In order to qualify, entrants must submit their own unique arrangement of any of Mr. Uematsu’s compositions. Registration for this competition is open until Tuesday, January 22nd and the finished arrangement must be submitted by February 8th.

For more details and to get registered, please visit SquareSound’s Competition Page.