Whee, new format-ish thing! It's actually not completely new: all I did was make use of the dark and gold marble backgrounds that were here when I took over three and a half months ago. And I've been experimenting with the sidebar/information box to the right, so now each of my past and future updates will have that nifty little toy, making things easier for you all to find your way back to the most recent music update. G'head, drop your cursor over the update links for a few seconds.

Okay, so it's not that impressive. I think it's just nifty. Lots of other things are on my agenda for working, including the dreaded ARCHIVES, of which I'm extremely fearful, since there's just so-o-o much music through which I must sift. I'm also going to work on getting some of the other features of the music section back online, including a revitalized guitar tabulature section, a restored artist archive (replete with 'Sumbit your information!' form), ancient 'how-to's and interviews, and perhaps a competition with a possibly rewarding reward.

All this may take some time, and I ask for your patience. I suffer from a self-diagnosed 'Tremendous vision but poor action' disability, so the next few months will be an experiment to see if I can appropriately and effectively budget my time between composing, practicing, updating, archiving, gaming, schooling, living, and sleeping, although not necessarily in that order.

Post-New Year celebrations have evidently taken their toll on everyone, and as such, I can only present two new works this week. My request now is that over the course of the next week or two, I encourage every patron of the Sound Test to make a short remix of a piece from their favorite game of 2003; a thirty- to forty-five-second piece will please me beyond measure. If you are unfamiliar with the process of arranging through any medium, post a message on the message board and either one of the regulars or I will probably be more than willing to assist. Those interested in MIDI are reminded of the Basic MIDI tutorial I wrote a couple of months ago. I can personally field specific questions about MIDI through email. Notice (09 Jan 2003): Former Sound Test curator Ross Bemrose has graciously offered two threads at the VGMusic.com message boards for assistance in the creation of MIDI files.

I just hope this isn't one of those 'Tremendous vision' things again. Anyway, I've introduced a new genre this week (New Age), since I had trouble placing one submission in any of the categories previously available. I don't even think the genre I chose is appropriate either.

Music Submissions - music@rpgamer.com

This week's audio selections Alkaiser's Theme (SaGa Frontier) Matt Bryant Using a choir lead accomponied by wind instruments, I tried to make this sound a bit heroic. Bursts of trumpets pop in every now and then to give the mix a little kick, and a harp is used for soft transitions. The Beautiful Traveller (Starlight Mix) (Chrono Trigger) DarkeSword - website This is a remix of Schala's theme, featuring oboe, choir and horn, with a cool ethnic beat in the opening and a dance beat in the middle. It's meant to evoke a 'nighttime overworld' atmosphere. Enjoy.   Most Wanted Remixes from your favorite RPG of 2003