VG Frequency

OC ReMixer SGX Wins OurStage.com Grand Prize; zircon/Goldin and Audix finish top 15

By: Larry Oji, larryoji@ocremix.org

May 3, 2008

College Park, MD — Danny “SGX” Adler, OC ReMixer, emerged victorious in OurStage.com’s April 2008 Music Finals. Adler’s Electronic channel-winning song “Coactive” bested fourty-three other channel winners out of a pool of over 27,000 entries to claim first place. Along with the $5,000 Grand Prize, Adler (www.sgxmusic.com) is also eligible for several other prizes and awards offered by OurStage and its partners.

The full version of Adler’s “Coactive” is the opening track of his original Electronic album, Chroma, available from his website, CDBaby.com, and Apple iTunes. SGX’s OurStage Music Finals victory follows up the previous month’s win by OC ReMix judge Jillian “pixietricks” Goldin with her original New Age/World track “Hajime.”

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.

“At 11PM, I was resigned to getting 20th. […] Seriously, you guys are the best! Thanks for sitting there clicking a web page for hours for me!” said Adler to the OC ReMix community moments after learning of his win. OverClocked ReMix provides support for developing artists for both game music arrangements and original music. Along with several other OC ReMixers, Adler’s music has been featured in Synthetic Light Studios’ popular web-based rhythm game Flash Flash Revolution.

Fellow OC ReMixers Andrew “zircon” Aversa & Jillian Goldin (as a duo) and Greg “Audix” Michalec also placed fourteenth and fifteenth in OurStage’s April 2008 Music Finals after wins in the New Age/World and Techno/Club/Dance 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 April 2008
*Danny Adler (SGX) at OverClocked ReMix
*Adler’s track “Coactive” is featured on the original album, Chroma
*SGX’s music store, Protagonist Records
*Andrew Aversa (zircon) at OverClocked ReMix
*Jillian Goldin (pixietricks) at OverClocked ReMix
*Greg Michalec (Audix) at OverClocked ReMix

Mustin’s always working hard trying to gain recognition not just for himself and his work with The OneUps, but for VGM in general. He’s looking for your help to make an impact in the 13th annual Northwest Arkansas Music Awards. Voting ends April 11, so drop by and show your support:

I am nominated for a couple of Northwest Arkansas Music Awards (NAMAs). With The OneUps under “Best Electronic/Groove” and myself as a Producer under “Best Studio/Producer” (Mustin Productions).

You can vote here:

http://www.freeweekly.com/vote-nama-xiii/

Please vote for me if you enjoy the music I make.

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

Cool stuff seeing Andrew “Hope Fails” Luers improve his game. The artist also known as OA took home the gold Zelda trophy for the latest Dwelling of Duels competition, focused on the Kirby franchise.

Hope Fails‘ first place track “Puffball Promenade” tackled Kirby’s Dream Land 2 from the Game Boy. He’s really come a ways from earlier material in his game arrangement career, so it’s really nice to see that growth validated with the win here.

As we anticipate next month’s competition, a Sci-Fi Games theme, be sure to get your DoD fill this month and download these tracks inspired by the pink poofer:

Hope Fails: Kirby’s Dreamland 2 (Gameboy) - Puffball Promenade
Musically Inspired, Jabo: Kirby Superstar - Thanks For The Help, Knuckle Joe!
foXdiE: Kirby’s Adventure - Roy G Ambivalence
Fourth Place - Scaredsim: Medley - Pink Like a Bubble Gum
Fifth Place (tie) - ionvortex: Kirby Superstar - Save Cabin Getaway
Fifth Place (tie) - thesamareaye: Kirby’s Adventure - Smooth Like Butter
Seventh Place - Corax, Zachariasmith, hodded: Kirby 64 - Baby Blue Toque
Eighth Place - Noise and a Beat: Kirby Superstar - Gourmet Race of a Thousand Flames
Ninth Place (tie) - Millenial Fairs: Kirby - Kirby’s Nightmare
Ninth Place (tie) - Shnabubula: Kirby’s Adventure - OMG U SUXX

From one band to another, VGM rock band Year 200X are encouraging people to swing over to GotCast and vote for Push Start’s Leo Camacho in a contest determining who gets to join G4 as a Tech Correspondant. The contest ends on April 4, and Leo already holds the lead in voting so far. But things could change if you don’t get out there and show some support.

Head over to Leo’s GotCast page, sign up, and throw your vote in to potentially secure a video game music fan (and musician) a great television opportunity in joining G4.

Early this week, the regulars of SoundTempest were treated to a surprise when legendary Commodore composer and demoscene enthusiast Jeroen “WAVE” Tel showed up to participate in SoundTempest’s regular compo series, CompoST.

zircon, SoundTempest’s creator, hollered at me to come on over, and CHz and I joined in the discussion while OverCoat and other ST regulars got along famously with Tel as well as Peter “Skaven” Habja, who also stopped by briefly.

In the 1-hour time limit compo featuring a factory theme, Tel competed alongside OverCoat, madbrain, Nario and Coda, scoring the victory with his track “Industrial Factory”, available from the CompoST 72’s archive.

Anyone can join in future original music compos with CompoST by joining #soundtempest on the EsperNet network via IRC. Thanks to OverCoat, you never know who will show up!

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

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!

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.

The final day of MAGFest would seemingly be when things died down, but right after day 3’s concerts, the peoples were awake, and they were still busy. Immediately after the conclusion of the Smash Bros. set, Paragon conducted the annual tradition of announcing the results for this month’s Dwelling of Duels. SnappleMan did a great job in winning last year, but musicalman took it home this year with the gold trophy. Props to everyone who participated, good or bad. There were so many participants this go, it was impossible to keep track of them all, but I made sure to congratulate guys like Danimal Cannon, Hope Fails, and norg for being part of the reason the competition was both strong and interesting this year. Afterwards, Mustin did the honors of snapping the yearly photos of the Shizzies gathering for MAG this year.

Afterward, it was time to hang with some OC ReMix peeps as we watched the Hellgate: London trailer bustatunez scored before moving on to other flavors of the internet. You put a bunch of people in a room who’ve seen it all, and of course 2girls1cup and 2girls1finger are just two of the many new staples of grossout internet memes of the past year.

SnappleMan later joined the room and kept it real (as always) talking about the dramas of MAGFest, including police situations, helping run the audio for the concerts, dealing with the drummer of The Advantage, Spencer Seim, nearly walking out of their performance (twice), mig50 getting thrown out of the hotel for not paying, housethegrate also getting the boot, the audio crew watching hardcore porn on via laptop and mortifying Select Start’s Elaine Li when she discovered it, and his overall thoughts on all the performances. If you haven’t already befriended this man, you need to. Just talking with Andy for a hour, he makes MAG worth the entire trip.

D-Lux and I rolled over to the VGMix room to chat with tumult, Matt Pollard, Shawn Phase and Shnabubula about the chaos of the festival, as some of us were complaining about possibly losing the hotel for next year due to this year’s craziness. Just like SnappleMan, shooting the shit with Matt and tumult is great when you wanna talk with no bullshit. Shawn actually made a good point about how he didn’t get wasted at MAG so he could enjoy as much of the event as possible, but Matt had been drunk from the moment he got there!

As night turned into day, myself, D-Lux, Joe Cam, Wire and Maximo Lorenzo stopped by the MAGFest staff room (a sea of tired bodies) and made our way to the staff’s private jacuzzi. Isn’t Joe Cam getting married? Well, that didn’t stop him from climbing in the jacuzzi with Wire. They all had their clothes on. Let me never see Cam in white boxers ever again! Maximo drew pictures of Wire and myself for her as little mementos for the trip. It was definitely an honor being sketched by Max, who’s done some cool stuff with Tokyopop and constantly strives to up his game.

After I left the staff room, I walked around the hotel for a few minutes until I ran into virt, SnappleMan and OverCoat chilling in the lobby, with Shnabubula coming over later to shoot the shit. It was definitely great just getting to hang out with those guys further. With so many personalities around, and friends from across the world to hang with, it’s impossible to see everyone you want to, even in 4 days. You’ve really gotta be content with what time you do get.

Ironically enough, I tried staying awake all night in order to attend ThaSauce’s rescheduled panel. So of course, when I got there…I fell asleep. Across four chairs.

Attending Kroze’s machinima panel was quite the educational experience, including the debut of the trailer for Eden: The Zhang Chronicles, featuring bustatunez handling the score. Once that wrapped up, we amassed more signatures for the deadly OCR guitar in the lobby, where most of the people said their goodbyes and got their last time in socializing. Injury and Mustin snapped a photo in the lobby, always a great contrast with a short lady and a tall man!

Afterward, lots of the OCR crew headed over to Popeyes for the best friend chicken in the world. OA and AeroZ both got to sample Popeyes wares for the first time to some very satisfied results. (Love that chicken.) Most of the crew then said their goodbyes and headed off for parts unknown while those who remained headed back to the hotel for closing ceremonies. It was good being able to listen to Brendan (Mr. MAGFest) thanking everyone on staff who made the event such a huge success, as usual.

Shuttling back home from the hotel (I live close), I got to meet cacomistle for the first time. He’s done some nice chiptune material for Mega Twerp, and also participates in Dwelling of Duels, but I never had the pleasure of getting to chat with Brian until right at the end of MAG on the way home. What did I tell you about not having enough time to get to hang with everyone? Nonetheless, definitely a pleasant surprise.

Once I got back home to my sick lady, I bought her a big cheeseburger from Johnny Rockets and exhaled. You probably wouldn’t want MAGFest to be a week or your entire life (who could process it all?), but for any gamer and especially video game music fan, the 4 days of MAGFest are worth their weight in gold. It’s the right way to start off any year. Down the line, we’ll supplement the blog with pieces of MAGFest 6 nostalgia, but for now all I can say is you have to make it out to this yearly event no matter who you are. You’ll always be glad you went.

After a lengthy nomination phase, the Gamingforce Forums kicked off its first ever “Best Doujin Contest” yesterday as 256 fan-made (a.k.a. “doujin,” a Japanese term) video game music arrangements are pitted against one another in community voting until only one track is left standing.

The contest is initially broken up into eight brackets, each bracket containing eight matchups with four arrangements in each matchup. To help weed out many of the outliers, the top two from each matchup will advance and the 128 remaining tracks will be randomly reseeded.

Doujin video game music from all over the world is represented in the contest with music from OverClocked ReMix, Remix.Kwed.Org, Dwelling of Duels, and dozens of other websites and album releases from North America, Europe and Japan. For a great chance at getting exposed to a ton of fan-made material you may not be familiar with, stopping by Gamingforce for this competition is an absolute must.

Gotta give it up to this man again. Andrew “zircon” Aversa is sponsoring a competition to remix either (or both) of two tracks from his recent original album, Antigravity. Announced at the OC ReMix forums, as well as several top audio message boards, “Warhead” and “Mindbender” were selected by zircon as the tracks du jour.

Did we also mention prize$$$? Lots of excellent music-creation software is up for grabs as well as presets created by the man himself, with the lucky winner also landing on a future album of zircon’s, including profit-$haring. One would have to infer that a slew of good entries could facilitate the creation of a separate album as well if all goes well. The deadline is January 31st, so you may want to get cracking. Without further adieu, zircon provides all the needed details:

Hey everyone - since I released my third album Antigravity earlier this year, I’ve gotten a bunch of requests from people asking if they can remix some of the tracks. So, here we are. :) I’ve compiled remix packs for two of the songs, “Mindbender” and “Warhead”, and you can download ‘em for free here (plus the original songs):

www.soundtempest.net/zircon%20-%20Warhead.mp3
www.zirconstudios.com/Warhead%20Remix%20Pack.rar

www.soundtempest.net/zircon%20-%20Mindbender.mp3
http://www.zirconstudios.com/Mindben…mix%20Pack.rar

Even outside of the actual contest, you’re free to create AND distribute your remixes, provided;

1) There’s no commercial interest - eg. you can’t sell them. If you want to do this, contact me privately.

2) You credit me as the original artist. Most remixes have a naming scheme like this: “Original Artist - Song (remixer name/remix)”, eg. Fear Factory - Cyberdyne (Junkie XL Remix), or The Crystal Method - Name of the Game (Hybrid’s LA Blackout Remix).

If you’d like to enter the contest, simply email me (admin at zirconstudios dot com) a link to your finished remix. You can do it in whatever style you want, and you can use as little or as much of the original audio files as you want, provided the end result is still recognizably “Mindbender” or “Warhead” in some fashion.

On February 1, 2008 I’ll pick the best of the bunch to be featured on my next album, and the winning producer(s) will of course get a cut of the sales as well. If there are too many entries, or I simply can’t decide, I’ll open up the voting to the public.

Post questions, comments, feedback here… and happy remixing! ;)

NOTE: You can enter more than one remix!

—

PRIZES

11/23 - Urs of u-he software fame has graciously offered up a copy of my favorite synth, Zebra 2, as a prize in this contest as well. I’ll also be throwing in all of my custom presets including my two current commercial banks (128+ sounds.) Considering it’s my weapon of choice, it seemed only appropriate. Please give a big thanks to Urs for his generous donation!

11/25 - Thanks to IK Multimedia and eSoundz, I have another excellent prize to offer: the T-Racks mastering suite! T-Racks is my mastering software of choice; I’ve used it on virtually every remix and original track I’ve ever made since 2005 and it’s just awesome. It consists of four low-CPU, analog modeled plugs - a compressor, limiter, EQ, and channel strip with all of those. This software is produced by IK Multimedia, one of the top VI developers in the biz, and distributed by eSoundz, a big audioware retailer which has a massive selection and fantastic deals for loyal customers.

ALSO included are 50 free loops produced by Sonic Reality, another company I love. I used R.A.W. material all over Antigravity, including on Mindbender. :)

Even if you don’t win, definitely hit up both IK and eSoundz next time you’re looking to make a purchase, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find some awesome, innovative gear at sick prices.

—

This contest is also posted on…

Nu Skool Breaks
KVR Audio
Reeemix (vote it up!)
Laptop Rockers

The beginning of a new month means another shot of Dwelling of Duels results, this time focusing on Enix (the precursor of even bigger heavyweight Square Enix). With Dragon Warrior, Terranigma, Soul Blazer and more, the company was well represented with its crop of entries.

Master Hatchet took home top honors in the live performance compo with “Union Alpha” an excellent arrangement from the all-too-rarely tackled Valkyrie Profile, while Scaredsim followed in second place with the Brain Lord/Illusion of Gaia combo mix “Will is the Lord,” featuring some good 8-bit style leads before segueing into more serene leads for the Gaia section. norg was, in my opinion, the story of the month with his 18+ minute evolving super-medley of Japanese-exclusive Famicom release Just Breed entitled “Abduction.” Ryan8bit and Hat helped round out the top finishers in a solid turnout.

Wanted to throw special props out to Hope Fails for the Terranigma arrangement “Afternoon Tea with SnappleMan’s Mom,” which finished tied for 8th place, not just for a funny title, but a great composition as well, which I didn’t feel got enough support. It could have sounded a bit more polished, but the execution was fairly strong and had some good orchestration ideas rarely heard in DoD.

You look like you could use a breakdown. Don’t forget to check out how DoD rings in 2008 when this month’s Free Month competition creation phase wraps up late on New Year’s Day:

M-H: Valkyrie Profile - Union Alpha
Scaredsim: Brainlord, Illusion of Gaia - Will is the Lord
norg: Just Breed (Famicom) - Abduction
Fourth Place: Ryan8bit: Dragon Warriors 2, 4 - Wayfaerer
Fifth Place (tie): Hat: Soul Blazer - Get to Town
Fifth Place (tie): Riders, Ranger-X, ShinerCCC: Brainlord - The Audio Dragon
Fifth Place (tie): thesamareaye, The S.P.O.B.: Star Ocean 3 - Red Leaves of Autumn
Eighth Place (tie): Hope Fails: Terranigma - Afternoon Tea with SnappleMan’s Mom
Eighth Place (tie): Hydrasphere: Terranigma - Just for a While
Eighth Place (tie): Josiah Tobin, XMark: Brainlord - Master Of The Platinum Site Of The Tower Of The Abell Civilization Ruins
Eleventh Place: Theo Confidor: Paladin’s Quest - Wielding a Holy Sword
Twelfth Place (tie): bjkmenu: Bust a Move - hiroshortykittyn
Twelfth Place (tie): Bucedric Nosnik Rionediamn: The 7Th Saga - The Runes Ruse

With Halloween now nothing but a memory, the top of month means Dwelling of Duels results. Of course October spookiness goes well with VGM, as OneUp Studios already showed a few days ago, so what better way for DoD to work throughout the month than with Castlevania Month?

SnappleMan got the duke with a quick effort from Akumajo Dracula, “Thrashard in the Cave”. But don’t take MY word for it. Results! And don’t forget November’s new compo as Enix Month is underway: (more…)

Kyle “KyleJCrb” Crouse has been busy with being a loyal Shizzy as well as project director of the upcoming Tales of Phantasia/Tales of Symphonia OC ReMix album Summoning of Spirits, but the one thing missing from his plate was his old webradio show Nitro Game Injection.

As of last Sunday however, Kyle and NGI has returned with 3 hours of VGM goodness. And now with twice the whiteness, with Norwegian firebrand Audun “AkumuHau” Sørlie joining the show as co-host. Akumu, who’s engaged to Dwelling of Duels/OC ReMix guitar god(ess) LuIzA and runs the authoritative Nintendo soundtrack destination Akumu’s NSF Archive, adds to the mix through his extensive knowledge of the Japanese doujin VGM arrangement scene as well as his own friendships throughout the VGM arrangement scene and demoscene.

One of the key features of the show remains the monthly Dwelling of Duels feature at the end of each month, as anonymous entries from the recently concluded creation phase of that month’s DoD are spotlighted. Fans and competition regulars frequently come by to listen to the show and get their point spreads ready to help determine the upcoming winners.

You can check out Nitro Game Injection every Sunday evening from 6-9PM EST by streaming http://kngi.servegame.com in your media player, and chat with the hosts and other listeners live via IRC at #ngi on the irc.esper.net server. Keep an eye on the Nitro Game Injection MySpace page for archived editions of each show as it makes its way to the masses.

I was randomly watching some stuff on YouTube this morning, mostly NESguide videos of Tim Follin games (to view some of his work in the context of the games), and CollegeHumor’s Street Fighter II: The Later Years, when I happened upon an interesting dance video.

So it’s tangentially got some VG. It’s certainly got some M. Ergo…VGM? Hence, this footage from the 2005 Korean Salsa Competition & Festival, featuring Ryu & Chun-Li.

Even though there’s no Street Fighter II music involved, there are some character poses and occasional sound effects. And The Lady would like it. Enjoy.

If anyone has more information on the competition or competitors, please let us know.

With a new month having arrived, Dwelling of Duels has released the results for the latest competition. With the usual Free Month for every third competition, any and all games were free to arrange.

Lots of rock up for grabs, though take note of thesamareaye’s Metroid piano cover “The Rise of Samus Aran” taking 5th place. The top two spots were marked by lengthier pieces, always a good bet for a strong finish as long as the skills are present. QUICKSHOT secured 2nd place with a 7-minute Little Nemo medley, “Nemotherapy,” featuring an A-B-C layout of sorts with violin, rock, and piano to close things out. Meanwhile, Kidd Cabbage led the pack with “Unbridled Ambition” a near-16-minute adventure game epic from a trio of titles.

Castlevania Month is underway for the month of October, sure to be a huge draw as arguably the best game series for rock and metal arrangement in the history of video game music. Keep next month in mind as you check out September’s entries:

Kidd Cabbage: Wizards & Warriors, Dragon Warrior, Willow - Unbridled Ambition
QUICKSHOT: Little Nemo the Dream Master - Nemotherapy
TheoConfidor: Power Athlete (Genesis) - What a Run!
Fourth Place - Scaredsim: Ys IV: Mask of the Sun - This Mask is Burnt
Fifth Place - thesamareaye: Metroid - The Rise of Samus Aran
Sixth Place - Paragon: Final Fantasy 8, Ys 3 - Violins and Violence
Seventh Place (tie) - Hydrasphere: Sonic 2 - Run or Die (sonic 2 medley)
Seventh Place (tie) - Noise and a Beat: F-Zero - Quiet Town
Ninth Place (tie) - Melodies of Gaia: Lagoon (SNES) - Nasir, Champion of Light
Tenth Place - Nario: Chrono Cross - Time’s Scarred Up Pretty Bad
Eleventh Place (tie) - Six-Stringed Flamberge: Lightweight Ninja - Lightweight Warrior Project
Eleventh Place (tie) - tibone: Phantasy Star 1 - Motavia
Thirteenth Place (tie) - Cacomistle: R. C. Pro-Am - Remote Controlled Professional Amateurs
Thirteenth Place (tie) - DeathBySpoon: Super Metroid - Speed Run
Fifteenth Place - Rasgar: Makai Kingdom - Impenetrable Fortress
Sixteenth Place - Jade Puget: Guilty Gear X - Still in the Dark
Seventeenth Place - Burreonomicosis: Zombies Ate My Neighbors - zombies ate my…

Niels “DarkMessenger” van der Leest announced via MySpace bulletin that he was notified of his victory in Dutch magazine Interface’s latest competition, Sound Game Contest 2007 [note: in Dutch], with his entry receiving The Public’s Choice award garnering an impressive 46.4% of the votes.

Niels, along with other entrants, worked to rescore the cutscene “Ghost Story” from the 2004 Xbox release Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2, developed by Red Storm Entertainment.

The competition was co-sponsored by Streamline Studios and QANTM College, with voting for The Public’s Choice being featured in the upcoming Interface issue #112. We’ll keep you posted if and when DarkMessenger’s winning effort goes public, and congratulations to Niels on his popular victory, which will hopefully provide him some of the spotlight.

I knew I was forgetting something! The August results are out for Dwelling of Duels, with this month’s theme being PC games.

There are some real gems here from a lot of games that receive little-to-no coverage in the community. Always a plus for someone like me that likes to hear something new. That top seven in particular looks really strong, so be sure to swing by and give DoD your monthly look. And of course, be ready for next month’s Free Month when results go live on October 1st: (more…)

I haven’t formally introduced Dwelling of Duels around here yet (of course, I have during my radio shows, but the blog is new territory). It’s a usually monthly compo where artists are encouraged to predominantly perform the arrangement live, usually via live instruments rather than sequencing, gravitating toward rock. \m/

Every month at DoD features a different theme based around the world of gaming. Usually franchises, occasionally with broader concepts, always with cool customized game art (see below). Songs are released anonymously near the end of the month, accompanied by a listening party for community regulars. Voting takes place in the following days via a point spread of the voter’s choice, and on the 1st of the new month the results are unveiled along with the new theme for next month.

So just a quick one with this past month’s results, where anything from the Donkey Kong franchise of games was up for grabs.

There are so many new faces that first come to light into the video game music arrangement community via The Shizz’s Minibosses message board and Dwelling of Duels, so it’s no surprise that a relative newcomer like Scared Sim was able to walk away with the gold, with an arrangement of Donkey Kong Country’s “Aquatic Ambience” called “Swimming Monkey”.

I’d include direct links, but then you wouldn’t visit the actual site. Results follow below, and keep an eye out for DoD’s current PC Month competition for the month of August :

Scaredsim - Donkey Kong Country - Swimming Monkey
Paragon - Donkey Kong Country - Fibonacci Factory
thesamareaye, aklmfreak - Donkey Kong Land - Templo de la Fantasía
Fourth Place (tie): Bobby Winston, pingosimon - DK: King of Swing (GBA) - Jumping and Swingin’
Fourth Place (tie): Kodiak Attack - Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong 3 (NES) - Grizzlies Crush Rolling Barrels and Beehives
Sixth Place: Corax, Zachariasmith, Ryan Bennet - Donkey Kong Country 2 - Stickbrush Brambles
Seventh Place (tie): CB+ - Donkey Kong Country 3 - Unrefinery
Seventh Place (tie): tibone - Donkey Kong (NES) - Monkey can´t tune!! Monkey need bananas!!
Seventh Place (tie): Vegeroth, Battlerager - Donkey Kong Country 2 - Tides of Darkness
Tenth Place: AFM SwordBreaker - Donkey Kong Country 2 - Instigating Whispers

2005 has been another eventful year in the video game music arrangement community. Now that we’ve reached 2006, join us for an informal retrospective at some of the important goings-on in the scene last year.
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Royal Sefton III, frequently known as rs3 and a member of Hellven since its second incarnation, released Hellven’s first solo album since the netlabel’s return earlier this month. Featuring artwork by Kenji Bliss, st rotfest and the death monastic is a 10-track, nearly 25-minute techstep album whose darker mood reflects a departure from much of Sefton’s previous work.

Originally released as a part of Ubik’s Auld Lang Syne 2 album “competition,” Sefton fully remastered his entry before officially releasing the completed album at Hellven. The album’s ever-present harmonies and no-pause/continuous format are described by Sefton as one’s experience during the last half-hour before the impending end of days.

The Dwelling of Duels results for August are in (August’s theme was racing games):

#1 SnappleMan: F-Zero X - Break the Silence (34)

#2 norg: RC Pro Am - Deadly Plastic Vroom Vroom Machines of Doom (31)

#3 Master Hatchet: Road Rash - Concrete Kiss (29)

For complete list of results (including a slew of F-Zero mixes) and discussion on September/October’s special Tornado of Solos competition, head on over to the thread @ the Minibosses’ message board.

For a complete list of downloads visit http://dod.the-core.gr. The DoD@VGMix mirror should be coordinated in the next few days.

Not too much for me to go through means that I could knock this out in a couple of hours, which is not only good for you and me, but good for America. The summer rundown gets back on track with material from June 12th through 18th.
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