OverClocked ReMix

(Redirected from Djpretzel)

OverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix or OCR, is a website dedicated to reviving the computer and video game music from yesterday, and re-interpreting it with new technology and capabilities. This site's mission is to prove that this music is not disposable or merely just background, but is as intricate, innovative, and lasting as any other form", as explained by the site's mission statement.

The webmaster of OverClocked ReMix is David Lloyd (djpretzel), who began the site in late 1999 as a spin-off of his 3-D webcomic, OverClocked. The comic primarily covered topics relating to gaming and emulation. The site grew, and many other artists submitted ReMixes to Lloyd's site. Currently, there are over 1,300 ReMixes hosted on the site, ranging in genre from classical to heavy metal to hillbilly. Aside from his role as webmaster, Lloyd also writes arrangements ("ReMixes") that can be found on the site.

1 Purpose
2 Submission process and site standards
- 2.1 ReMix removal and lockdowns
- 2.2 Controversy and reform
3 Community
4 Projects
5 History
6 External links
- 6.1 Site-related
- 6.2 Community-related

Purpose

Opinions on the purpose of OCR are mixed, a controversy mainly centered around the definition of ReMix and the originality or level of composition involved. Much confusion has resulted over the word remix, which in musical terms typically involves minor changes or musical alterations. Lloyd himself has said that this is unfortunate, since the site is dedicated to original rearrangements of classic themes, not merely changing minor details or plagiarising the work of others. However, he notes that OverClocked Rearrangements is a less catchy name, with none of OCR's history. For this reason, he coined the use of the word ReMix to refer to an arrangement, as opposed to a remix.

Submission process and site standards

The submission process at OverClocked ReMix is a two-tiered system, consisting of a preliminary evaluation by David Lloyd himself, followed by a more thorough review by a judges panel. In the preliminary review, the potential ReMix is examined for violations of submission guidelines (detailed below) and immediately rejected if a violation is apparent. Conversely, particularly outstanding ReMixes or those produced by well-known artists in the community may be approved before reaching the judges panel.

In most cases, however, a submission will pass on to the panel of judges. This panel, as of May 2005, consists of analoq, Daniel Baranowsky, DarkeSword, GrayLightning, Harmony, Israfel, Liontamer, Malcos, The wingless, Vigilante, zircon, and zykO. These members are usually either accomplished artists or contributors to the community. After receiving either four "YES" or "NO" votes, the submission is either rejected or accepted and posted on the main site. Voting can be extended up to a majority decision of six "YES" or "NO" votes if necessary. If a submission is a clear standards violation after reaching the panel, a judge has the power to "NO Override" it, although no judge can "YES Override" a piece. David Lloyd rightfully also has the power to veto a judges' decision, although instances are very rare. The judges' decisions are viewable on the site forums.

ReMix removal and lockdowns

Due to human error and increases in site standards, there have been many ReMixes that have been removed from the site over the course of its history. During a "lockdown", all ReMixes between a certain minimum and maximum identification number are reevaluated for submission and standards violations. Such violations can include MIDI rips, stolen/unoriginal music, covers, overly-liberal arrangements, or obvious sub-par execution.

There will also be times where a ReMix will be removed at the artist's request. When a feud over administrative decisions caused virt, prozax, Mustin and mp, as well as several others, to leave OCR, they demanded that their ReMixes be removed. Others who left asked for their works to stay, although they would not submit future works anymore. Lloyd complied with this, and these mixes, along with other "OC ReMoved" songs, are considered a collector's item by some. After this, however, some who removed their ReMixes from the site requested to return, and this was granted with the provision that they not remove their work from the site again.

Controversy and reform

Oftentimes, the addition, removal, or rejection of a ReMix will be questioned by the community of OCR. The community will often pressure DJP and the Judge's Panel to reform his policies, and when suggestions are not immediately considered then extensive debate and even flaming will ensue. Some catalytic or controversial ReMixes include but are not limited to "The Italian Plumber", "Dezoris Winter" and "Far Away Memories".

Community

The OverClocked ReMix community consists largely of video gamers and musicians. Members are part of a typically youthful demographic, perceived by some to be a source of irritation and immaturity. Despite this, there are many accomplished artists and programmers among them. There are two primary congregation points for members of the community: the OverClocked Remix forums and the official IRC channel, #ocremix.

The discussion forums are where the vast majority of community interaction occurs. It contains sub-forums including General Discussion, Reviews and Technical Assistance, as well as many that are musically related, including a Work in Progress forum and ReMixing help. More controversial is the UnModerated forum, which is free of all but the most basic restrictions in terms of netiquette. UnModerated, known as UnMod, is quite laden with guro, bad taste in humor, and flavorful personalities. With the exception of the Judges Panel (invisible to everyone except the Judges), Judges Decisions, Site Projects and UnModerated sections, the forums are currently moderated by site members GrayLightning, Xelebes, Smoke, DarkeSword, zircon and Liontamer.

The IRC channel, located on the Enter The Game network, was created by Children of the Monkey Machine and is frequented by a comparatively small group of people, generally around fifty. The channel itself was originally almost unmoderated, and treated the same way as the UnModerated forum on the site. During late 2003, David Lloyd brought about a reform of the channel, citing its general unfriendliness to newcomers and negative reflection on the site as a whole.

Projects

Many projects have been undertaken by the OverClocked ReMix community. Some, such as an official OCR Winamp skin and download manager (called "OverClocked ReCollections") have been unsuccessful or abandoned after long periods of inactivity. Among the successful projects, however, has been an internet radio stream called "Ormgas" and large BitTorrent distributions of ReMix archives.

A recent trend among ReMixers has been towards the creation of "collaboration projects", ReMixes of entire game soundtracks by multiple artists working in a team. These are typically published in the site's "Spotlight" section. Recent projects include the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 project, called Hedgehog Heaven, the Donkey Kong Country project, called Kong in Concert, and the Super Metroid collaboration, called Relics of the Chozo. Uncompressed CD-quality versions of these can be found on the OCR BitTorrent site.

History

The site was started in late January 2000, as a spin-off of the OverClocked webcomic.
Originally, it had a bright orange interface, and was hosted on a limited-bandwidth site, meaning that downloads were often unavailable except during the middle of the night.
Moved to a blue/grey interface dotted with classic videogame characters called "OCR2".
Feud with long-time member virt, who created another site called VGMix. Many people left with him, most of whom returned not too long afterwards.
Moved to ZTNet, essentially covering bandwidth costs with advertising costs.
Moved to a PHP-driven blue/purple design, called OCR3, along with changing from the classic WWWThreads forum to a phpBB forum.
Installed the Judges Panel, to evaluate ReMixes faster.
OC ReMix mentioned on page 30 of the July 2002 Issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (Issue #156), in a blurb which (now incorrectly) mentions how djpretzel hand picks each song himself, as well as mentioning 'Little Mac's Confession' by GameOver and sgtRama's 'ContagiousEyeInfection'. This is immediately followed by a wave of new visitors.
Reached 1000 ReMixes, and performed a "lockdown", hunting down old low-quality mixes and removing them, and offering a chance for ReMixers to change their names or names of ReMixes they created.
Remixer Charles Blachly dies from a brain hemorrhage in April 2003.
Created two Bittorrent files to allow people to download mixes 1–500 and 501–1000 through this system to lessen the server's load, as well as giving the option of bulk downloads rather than having people go through each page separately.
Moved to the current silver and orange design, called OCR4.
Remixer Christopher Powell (Avien) dies in September 2004 in a car accident.
Reached 1250 ReMixes, and performed a second "lockdown" on the 1001–1250 section to remove mixes that violated submission guidelines, but weren't caught by the Judges Panel initially.
Created a third Bittorrent file for mixes 1001–1250.

External links

Site-related

Community-related

Categories: Music websites