ReMix:The Guardian Legend "Red Spiders" 2:01

By Shnabubula

Arranging the music of one song...

"Labyrinth: Area 10"

Primary Game: The Guardian Legend (Broderbund , 1988, NES), music by Masatomo Miyamoto, Takeshi Santo

Posted 2004-07-18, evaluated by the judges panel


From newcomer... Shnabubula... comes a very original, crafty little Guardian Legend ReMix that's sonically different from anything else on the site, not in that it melds orchestral with electronica (which many mixes do), but in the WAY that it fuses the two. The ReMixer uses a lot of grainy synth patches and mucho DSP such that the vibe is always changing, and a solid beat never really gets established. This has the repercussion of making the mix something you can't exactly tap your feet to, sure, but it's got a very hypnotizing, schizophrenic sway to it, and both the electronic and acoustic elements are very organic and seem to coexist in the same universe, feeding off one another; at two minutes, it's quite short, yet seems to take the listener to several discrete locations and express myriad musical flavors. Shariq writes:

"The style is kind of crazy, but the piece manages to stay coherent at the same time. I really like how it switches back and forth from acoustic to electronic."

Right from the intro you get an idea of the particular timbres and effects being used, which aren't too common and actually sound like some of the old transwave patches I had for my Ensoniq ASR-10 and used (and abused) back with certain pieces; they're being used tastefully here, however, and the juxtaposition with much smoother and fairly high quality orchestral tones works well, sort of like moving from sand paper onto a polished porcelain surface and back, but in a good, calculated way :) Won't be everyone's cup of tea, but with a fair number of Guardian Legend mixes in existence, this one certainly takes extra care to be different, is spontanoues without being prohibitively erratic, and shows technique in several arenas simultaneously. Compelling, original first submission from Shnabubula; it'll be interesting to see what the follow-up will sound like.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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ella guro
on 2010-03-21 12:29:26

I remember seeing this on the front page when it was posted, and just downloading it because I thought "Shnabubula" was a funny name. I was pretty blown away, like another world had opened up. I didn't find this difficult either - I definitely had a visceral reaction to it, like I had discovered a new band that I knew I would an avid fan of from then on. It's like, one of those things you always wanted to hear but weren't aware of that fact until you actually hear it. It's the reason I keep trying to listen to mixes by new artists on this site, hoping that I'm gonna discover another gem like this. But that hasn't happened.

Just the self-contained completeness of this song, despite the fact that it's only like 2 minutes long. Some of the ideas may seem pretty silly and tossed-off compared to a lot of Sam's other mixes, maybe, but I still like it a lot.

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Marmiduke
on 2009-06-03 11:07:28

Despite being pretty out there, and probably clashing with the expectations of someone who is after a bit more of a refined listen, I actually believe this is one of the most accessible Shnabubula tracks. It's almost like a Mazedude track for me. And that is in no way a bad thing, obviously.

The backing orchestral stuff is absolutely brilliant, and totally unexpected. The cliche "This is something you've never heard before" really rubs me up the wrong way, but for this I have to make an exception. It's quite a unique blend of elements.

Far too short though, and the ending is one of the most abrupt in recent memory. But these are minor gripes to have when the mix in question is so damn cool and interesting. Kudos.

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OA
on 2008-04-09 13:06:16

Harcore VS. Casual right here, folks.

What I love about a lot of Sam's work is that you frequently need to listen a few times to even begin to figure out what is going on. Usually it's pretty rich in random visual imagery as well. Sometimes he has hooks in plain sight, and sometimes they are a bit more difficult to find, like in this track. Part of it may the underdeveloped transitions.

The amount of interpretation here is great, and things never stay static, though I am not really a fan of the weak transitions, as they don't flow at all. It's like there was this huge rush to show off all the sections, and thus not enough time was spent on each. The sections come in fully-formed, and evolve later on in the track, but not in a linear way. The fact that the beat comes and goes is a bit baffling as well. This is more like a remix quilt than anything, which is pretty cool and unique, but really makes it a high barrier to get over to enjoy the music.

The sounds used are pretty cool, super lofi synths and pretty nice orchestra samples give it a very unique duality. Sort of like like a planet with lots of spread out highly technological cities spread out, with organic wilderness separating them.

Overall a cool and interesting track, but don't expect to like it at first. It's one that will take awhile to grow on you.

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quoda
on 2008-01-06 00:27:57

Okay, so, I like this remix. It's very original, very different. I like you use such a simple little melody in about a billion different ways. It's really trippy and a lot of fun.

However, this isn't my favorite... something about it I can't quite put my finger on... I am not terribly fond of the ending, for one thing. I suppose it would be hard to end the wild crazy ride anyway, but I'm not digging that ending.

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Liontamer
on 2007-05-14 02:16:29

Ah come on, what the hell is this doing on the last page of Reviews? This is some straight up gold. It's also the last mix posted before I joined the panel, just to put it in some time-related context.

Having seen Sam become one of the more popular arrangers within the community in the last few years, I'm just surprised his first mix around here doesn't get more attention.

So back in the day when I'd never heard of Sam, this mix definitely came out of left field. If I recall right, Prot bitched about the piece not being developed enough. Maybe when you first hear it, sure. What I liked about this, however, was that Sam was so effective in varying the style of each verse that the track felt like a much longer, much more fleshed out piece of music. It actually says a lot in a short amount of time.

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A-RoN
on 2004-11-16 17:14:39

This mix isn't what I call great, but the samples and the execution of it are done nicely.

The string stab chords between 1:37 and 1:40 are messed up....just like alot of this mix. I enjoyed how the synths are rearranged, but the composition itself goes all over the place and is very hard to follow. :?

Sorry. Not my thing, but I'll keep an open mind when I see your next mix.

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SixthFlyingMan
on 2004-09-25 01:19:48

Whiskey tango foxtrot, over? I mean that in a good way. By no means like ANYTHING I've heard before. I downloadededed it. Heh... Downloadededededed.

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Jean Quad Van Damage
on 2004-08-26 16:49:38

: DDD This is one sick song. Everytime it comes on my playlist, I wonder Wth kind of song is this?! The intro is so nice. The rest of the song backs it up. I've always felt like this song it pretty short, even though it's just a bit over 2 minutes. I guess that this ride is so damn fun it seems to fly by...^.^

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flipt
on 2004-08-26 12:18:31

This is good and original, I like it. I cant keep this on my playlist, though. I dont know why but it would get annoying on a playlist. However, its a very original mix none-the-less and theres no better game to remix imo than Guardian Legend. $$

7/10

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DukeNukem007
on 2004-07-19 21:24:13

Man, I was always hoping this one would get remixed!

I like most of the effects and instruments, and there's a decent amount of creativity (it could use a little more, though--it gets a little repetive at times.)

Grade B+

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ShiroSynth
on 2004-07-19 20:40:02

interesting mix, although it felt scrambled together with no clear objective. tried some interesting things here and there, and made do with the material.

only objection i have is the fact that there is no intro, and just thrusts you into the song.

on repeat it sounds really awkward because of that.

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Kaleb.G
on 2004-07-19 18:26:57

Very good stuff here! A lot of it reminds me of the type of sound in Ratchet Clank 2 (which has an awesome soundtrack, GET IT NOW!). I wish this song were longer!

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Snyderman
on 2004-07-19 17:17:04

Hmm... some of those effects are a lot more tasteful than DJPretzel's abuse of them.

A very good mix, of a track that's not yet covered (though I intend to do the Forest theme, the flying level where you fight the dragon). Very cool stuff from Shnabubula. Hopefully more to come.

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Xelebes
on 2004-07-19 13:46:23

Uhhhhhh.... ok. It's like MIDI-based turntablism... or a hybrid of turntablism and casiocore with a.... uhhhh... yeah.

Ok. Um. Yeah. To me this really ... uh... ok, damn it. I'm lost for words. But it gave me a few ideas, none the less.

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djpretzel
on 2004-07-19 10:32:59
Well I liked the beat, higher quality could be nice cos some sounds really shine. The only thing, I can't saywhen I hear this song in the game. I got 6 songs from the original soundtrack, maybe I missed some.

But for a game no one was talking about in the days, it rules.

Track 15 of 68 on the provided NSF file, FYI.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
The Guardian Legend (Broderbund , 1988, NES)
Music by Masatomo Miyamoto,Takeshi Santo
Songs:
"Labyrinth: Area 10"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Mood:
Goofy
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth,Woodwinds
Additional:
Time > Duration: Short

File Information


Name:
Guardian_Legend_Red_Spiders_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
2,024,039 bytes
MD5:
25d8531b70aeb6a33b0507e6687e27b8
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
2:01

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