OCR00884 - Tekken 2 'Incantation'

[Disco Dan]

Tekken 2 'Incantation'

Site speeds are kind of poopy right now, so I'll just put this up here for anyone else who wants to review it.

UPDATE:

This song is typical kick-ass djp work. Great percussive lines, with a knack for putting the right piece of percussion in the right place at the right time. I haven't heard the original, which is good, because if I had, I'd be bitching and moaning about how the chord progression was butchered as I usually do, but this is very pleasing to the ears as is, so if you are a collector and fan of the djp catalogue, do download this. Also use getright, as you'll have better luck actually finishing the file that way.

DC

[DaleNorth]

I have never reviewed anything EVER before. But this was so great I had to.

Certainly lots of stuff going on. And its all good stuff. Busy but a great kind of busy. I picture DJP spinning around in his chair- knobs and hands flying everywhere. I felt like claping when it was over. Like it was a performance.


Now correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not BTW)- but being a SUPER MEGA HARDCORE ANIME MUSIC FAN (pry bigger than game music now) I'd have to point out and applaud your inspiration:

Taku Iwasaki's Witch Hunter Robin. My favorite anime composer and one of my favorite soundtracks of all time.

Mucho bravo on how tekken's music was blended with Iwasaki's style from WHR. Even the instrumentation was very similar. Impressive! (altough Iwasaki-san is ALL UP IN THEM KORGS ;) )
I was hoping it would end with a cello solo, but thats probably just me. I use cellos too much anyway.

Great stuff.


Dale North
dale@oneupstudios.com

[djpretzel]

Now correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not BTW)- but being a SUPER MEGA HARDCORE ANIME MUSIC FAN (pry bigger than game music now) I'd have to point out and applaud your inspiration:

Taku Iwasaki's Witch Hunter Robin. My favorite anime composer and one of my favorite soundtracks of all time.


Good call - actually, a mix of that and .Hack/Sign, both of which I've been into lately. WHR not only has great music but also amazing character designs. Thanks for the props.

[DaleNorth]

Ah! Didn't catch that at first.
But your musical style has a lot of similar elements to Yuki's- I can see it now that I listen again. Good to hear you're into WHR as its one of the best things I've seen in awhile- Art, music, story.
As for .hack, while i've been into the music- I find myself waiting for March '03 for the DVD release. I HAVE to have the dvds for something this big/great.


2 things:
1. get my mix?
2. seen ep21 of whr?

dale

[djpretzel]

2 things:
1. get my mix?
2. seen ep21 of whr?

dale

Got it, will be posted before Xmas, and no, I just watched eps. 10 - got a ways to go :)

[m68030]

It really pisses me off that DJP's remixes are such neat stuff but that
I just can't ever really get into them. Lots of really neat stuff going on in
this one, has DJP written all over it, including the characteristic
superhighrange mastery, even if it is a little more reasonable this time
(Yoshi's Island 2001 Elastic New Year anyone?).

Overall it's some damn neat stuff though. Nice work.

[mDuo13]

Chalk up another one for the Pretz! (don't hurt me) An amazing mix of synths, some cool whispering (a la mp's Xenogears 'TransientSands~Dazil'). There are some very incredible synths, and some of them are so very DJP that it's hard not to recognize him right off. One of them even sounds like a sitar! :mrgreen: The melody is done well, with some unrecognizeable string patch, with plenty of layers behind it. There are so many instruments, many of them quiet (like the groovin' piano starting @ 2:43). It's a great mix, and one that you should listen to at least once.

[Majin GeoDooD]

I just got one comment right now as I'm currently on a 28.8 and the remix isn't done downloading yet.


.hack//SIGN and Witch Hunter Robin own you :)

Will review when I get home.

[Evilhead]

You worked hard on those drums and it shows. Great work again DJP!!

[EmptyMy]

Yeah, great stuff.
I like your jazz and pop oriented pieces more, though.
Oh.. and hah, if I'm not mistaken, the original had this really cool organ thing in it. I sorta missed that in the remix. And also, it featured some female Swedish whispering (!).
I've been thinking a lot of making my own Tekken 2 remix. I would have remade the intro music. I always dug that piano break when they showed Nina Williams sitting in a bar.
Or perhaps I would have made a medley, and try to catch that Tekken spirit.

But this is lightyears from what I can accomplish. I love it.
It sounds good, and it inspires.

Long live OCR :)

[Fyrewave]

Great work.
Still runnin the greatest site.

Fyi. If anybody listens to CNET radio...
I got through last friday on "Free plug friday"
and spoke to desmond Crisis. I plugged OCR and he went there on th air and spoke to me a little, he actually shortened me up (politly) and after asked if the site was legal. well hell i dont know or care.

as stated above by a reviewer... Long live OCR.


FyreWave@hotmail.com RE: free plug

[sgx]

In the beginning, I love the piano, whispering, and the strings....nice, atmospheric. I'm thinkin this will be awesome. Then the drums and bassline bust in: sweet! I can see this going places. Bassline is kickin and the drums are sweet. String parts sound real good too. This is quality throughout. But, during the second half of the song, I keep expecting it to get a bit more badass. I get a little tired of the main melody also. A section with just the bass, drums, and electronic sounds would break stuff up a bit and probably contribute to the badassness of the song. Is it just me, or is the song a bit too loud? Bass drum hits kinda sound messed up. Could be just me. Super good, quality stuff here though. Nice work.

[Kamikaze Noodle]

I love this remix, but most especiallyI love that crazy synth that comes in at 1:05 it's about as different as you can get from the cello deal that plays directly before it. I'm always into contrast within songs.

[Ceracryst]

Mmm~ I just listened to it for the first time... and I think it's rather tasty. ^^;

I haven't seen Witch Hunter Robin, but I have heard Yuki-san's work in Noir and .Hack//SIGN... both of which are really^15 awesome sounding. The part that I recognized was basically-- the solid melody line backed by an awesome fast moving bass and driving drums. ^^;

If I have any complaints at all, it'd be that the general mood doesn't change much from the in-your-face techno, but as far as the techno goes, it kicks some heavy ass.

I'm lovin' it!~

[Dark Heart]

nothing to say...except that this song is..........
>_>
<_<
>_>

10/10!!! wow...

[Vig]

Very very strong work. top quality production and i really like the whispering. (i'm interested to know whether that was synth or a live recording of various psychotic mutterings.)

Personally i think it goes on a little too long. i've got nothing against long songs, not at all, but i think this particular song gets a little tedius after a few minutes. not enough variation to keep it interesting for long periods of time.

but that doesnt change the fact that this is a well done and cool mix.

[djpretzel]

Very very strong work. top quality production and i really like the whispering. (i'm interested to know whether that was synth or a live recording of various psychotic mutterings.)


Live recording of yours truly muttering some pseudo-Japanese and nonsense words. It actually loops if you listen closely, and includes the word "Kudasai" or "please" for no real reason. There's mucho effects on it and it's meant to sound like . . an incantation 8O

[losc]

congratulation for this mix djpretzel, that I have listened in loop for 2 weeks

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

Normally I find your work DJP to be... well... with the exception of a few songs... the same kind of stuff... that may come as a bit of surprise since no one would say you're 60+ songs are really alike, but it shows that a lot of them came out of the same studio set up and genre preference.

However, this is one of those exceptions. A very very tasty little piece you've got here. It's aaaaaaaallll about the bass on this one. If it wasn't for the bass, I'm convinced the song would diminish 20-fold.

But you DID have the bass. Yay!

9/10

[Fyrewave]

just thought id come back and say im STILL listining to this track. noice! :)

[M@GO LoBEL [<0>]]

This remix remember the #06 Hagakure - Mitsurugi, of the OST Soul Edge. Please listen and coment.

[jayt11]

tekken 2 had the best music in the series, we need more remixes! awesome!

[Kurokun1293]

Interesting intro...whispering voices...But i cant place the tune. I wish someone would remix the opening. I dont know exactly whats being remixed here, but i like it. Tekken 2 had some good music for some stages. But i dont think the songs did the game justice. This is something that would be played in Tekken now. Nice.

[Frictional Antidote]

A favorite of mine from djp. I don't get tired of this mix. It doesn't particularly evolve throughout, but it is just a good chill track. I think what saves it from becoming mundane is that it ends at just the right point. It certainly doesn't go on too long. Thank you for the quality remix.

[Fraggy]

I love you DJP. I do, I do, I do. I love the beat you lay down in the beginning. It makes me shake my money-maker. Though, I think the beat destroyed the creepy-whispering-japaneise-ambience vibe. It didn't transcend very well. You should have had it just transcend to the next beat a little slower. I think the little trancy sound in the background that sounds like a harpischord on crack and doing scales is really annoying. Make it stop! And the whole whispering japanese is no where to be found after the beginning. That kind of saddened me. I wanted to hear more of that. I think that since you only did one part of that it kind of destroyed the "incantation" vibe. Boo!

8 out of 10

[OA]

Really interesting intro that leads into some great groove-based stuff. I love the bass synth and it's super vibrato parts. Good production, a nice combination of solo strings and synths, and some good transitions.
I missed this mix the first time around, but it's definitely held up well, and has some great features. It really does have a strong WHR vibe, and there's a lot of care put into it.
'
One of my favorite DJP mixes.

[Polo]

FACT: djp's intonation summons maximalist amounts of awesome in 46 seconds. (Also, 0:15 sounds like "Donut, donut, donut...") I like how it acts as a shout-out to the whispering (see what I did there) evident in the original song.

In such a bountiful sound field, the flute, strings, and piano gently paint the groove a pleasurable color. (The cello sample has a faint jitter-inducing loop set upon it, but it's only noticeable at the start, so it doesn't detract too much.) One of the pervasive pads sounds like one's ears are ringing (odd choice, but charming). When the flute sings a sad/longing verse at 1:51 and 3:29, I'm filled with awe and wonder. Meanwhile, 2:27 employs some liberal synth and drum synergy, like a complex network of pipes assembling themselves. And I'll never get tired of that hot spring-bubbly bass synth.

Finally, it makes me smile when I come across a "speaksynth" that djp gleefully employs in some of his older mixes; here, it pops up at 1:05, displaying style, spunk, and sleekness as it warps its mind and body for the good of the groove.

[metalsnakejuice]

A really interesting remix, the instruments fit well and the opening was excellent in my opinion.

[Lint]

Very electronic. I really like how each song segment is overlapping, so many of the parts seem to rise to the front and fade to the back at different times.

[yosefu]

Interesting how it starts off with people whispering and it starts to kick in i never expected it to be very electronic but over all i love this mix.

[deksar]

I have never listened such an amazing remix before! Guys, this is wonderful! I am a very big fan of Tekken II. This remix remembers me my beautiful Tekken memoirs.. good old days.. what an amazing track! It really sounds Tekken! It really smells Tekken!! Congratulations. Many thanks for this. Amazing!!! Thank you very very much.

[Nutritious]

I know it's kind've the point of the song, but I'm not sure I dig the whispered voices to start things off. Cello felt a bit hot compared to the levels of the elements - that is until the beat kicks in. THAT'S the point where this track really picks up well (you had me worried there DJP). Nice crunchy bass and beat do a lot to bring up the level of this track. The cello isn't as bad of an offender at this point, but still feels loud in the mids - maybe some eq love would've helped here.

Some cool synths here to compliment our newly founded energy as well. I would've liked to hear that lead at 1:25 more prominently as it's pretty cool sounding. Maybe I have sensitive ears, but there are some super high freqs at 2:09 which are bugging me as I listen to it. I'm not entirely sure what the culprit is, but it drops out at 2:30. The section following feels slightly aimless, but it works as a contrast to other sections. Things circle back to the melody around the 3 minute mark nicely. In general, everything's clicking nicely throughout the track with only a few very minor issues. Probably one of DJP's stronger tracks, IMO. Good job.

[SubNormal J3]

After djp's last three neo-pretzel ReMixes, this hearkens back to the more classic djp sound. We get a killer drum and bassline throuhout and some familiar resonant leads. Some nice modulation improv at 1:00. We also get a neat buildup at 2:50. I'm really digging the snare hit at 3:45. If you like djp's older stuff, you'll feel right at home here.