Inanis.net

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1. Larry "Liontamer" Oji says:

   January 31, 2010 at 2:45 pm

   Re: http://www.inanis.net/blog/index.php/2007/04/27/i-really-dislike-ocremixorg/#comment-2305

   If your ego was dramatically hurt, Joe, and you took away from it that “the world was telling you” you shouldn’t make music, just keep in mind that it wasn’t anything our staff said, it was how you chose to interpret and deal with the judgement. Several members of our staff have been rejected several times, before eventually joining us as judges. It takes time, enthusiam, devotion and the ability to accept criticism to become a good musician. For that particular hobby, you didn’t have those traits. For IT, it seems that you did. And that’s fine that music didn’t work out, there’s no shame in that, and we can’t be highly skilled at everything. So if the rejections helped you focus your energies toward what you had a legitimate passion for, that’s great. But it’s not our fault you were so discouraged by being rejected. There are so many ReMixers who submitted worse music, and were a lot more upset than you were, but had more perseverance and a thicker skin, and are now making strong music.

   As for the “holier than thou attitude”, we don’t have that. But on the flip side, you’re casting it as if anyone who arranges a piece of game music and does a half-decent job is now entitled to having their music featured. You’re right in that the acceptance bar is high enough now where you have to be pretty skilled to get something passed. That takes time, and a lot of people don’t objectively think about their skill level when they submit something. They just think it’ll be cool to get something posted on the site and want to be featured.

   “I apologize if we didn’t have access to Pro-Tools, a mixing board or professional studio monitors.” Again, this is projection from you based on what you assume we wanted. Flaws are expected and unavoidable; we’re a hobbyist community. Rather than “a professional and properly mixed and produced manner,” we’re perfectly fine with music made in “a reasonably mixed and produced manner,” if that makes sense. We have Workshop forums (technical questions) and Works-in-Progress forum (music feedback) to help people of all skill levels ask questions and receive feedback. We also have resources for people who want to make music with free or mostly free tools (e.g. DarkeSword, Blake Perdue). They make high-quality music because they learned how to use their tools well, which takes time, enthusiasm and devotion, not because their tools were pricey and unobtainable.

   No matter if you have free software & tools, or own lots of instruments and higher-end gear, we do not and never have required professional quality to have something posted. We’re a hobbyist community. Your opinion reflects how you chose to interpret and deal with the judgement and your impression of our music.

   We haven’t “dropped support” for those who want to ReMix and have fun. Inadvertently or not, you’re framing them as mutually exclusive, and that you need to sacrifice fun to get something posted onto the site.

   Maybe for you that’s the case with music, but it’s obviously possible to work diligently to become good at it and have fun while doing it. If we lose people who are easily discouraged, can’t enjoy improving their music and treat the effort as a chore, that’s unfortunate but unavoidable. But we do provide the resources to have fun while becoming a better musician. All other things equal, it’s more about the attitude of the artist than anything else.

   Sorry you felt bad on our account and don’t want to enjoy our music any longer, but all’s well that ends well. Best of luck for your career as well!

   Larry “Liontamer” Oji
   Head Submissions Evaluator, OverClocked ReMix – http://ocremix.org
   Assistant Soundtrack Director, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

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   • inanis says:

     January 31, 2010 at 9:18 pm

     I don’t really have much to add to your comment. However, I will keep everything you have said in mind and if I ever change my mind or have free time, perhaps I will rethink my position on this subject.

     I was very immature back then. I must still have some growing up to do (at 30 years old?!), because I still had this ax to grind about the situation – and from seeing you reply with gracious patience, it makes me wonder how immature I must still be.

     OCRemix, or at least you, are now neutral in my book – as if discovered anew.

     So, do we kiss and make up, or what?

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