OCR00896 - Super Mario World 'Ghosts of the Marble Hall'

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[TimberWolf]

I think that i'd like to chime in here to say that i love this piece, and it's truly a work of art. I'd also like to add it's the second IMC song to make it to OCR. Translation: This was made in just a week.

Psychrophyte is the man. :)

(And yeah, i think he knows how i feel about the song, lol.)

[Disco Dan]

the good and the bad:

REALLY nice samples. Like, fuckin inCREDible samples.

Usage of those samples is done very well.

the bad side is, it (to me anyway) sounds unfinished, or like half a song. Granted, it was conceived in a week, but it might have been nice to expand upon the intial ideas a bit more. As it is, it's mostly a very high quality version of the original (with a bit of variation in the voicings here and there).

DC

[Yakushi]

it sounds like a origional Mario Orchestral!
good job, Koji will be proud :wink:

[Konino]

Makes me think to a music you can listen to in some circus!It's funny...

Well done. :)

[ella guro]

I've always thought this was great...although it makes me wish I had the money to fork over for samples like that. And it is a more "enhanced" version of the original, rather than a real different arrangment...but that's all it intends to be. And it does it awesomely (if that is a word).

[DarkeSword]

Very nice work. The chorale at the end is the clincher, no doubt. Awesomeness.

[Daikun]

Wow! This is fantastic! Wonderfully done. Now, if this was only released on Halloween...

[DarkeSword]

Fun Fact: This outstanding mix was an entry in the IMC Halloween contest!

[dfcentre]

it make me very happy:D
Great stuff Psychrophyte

[Trance-Canada™]

I LOVE IT!!!!!!

I relly envy you for having suck kick @$$ samples, I have no money at all to afford samples like that, saying that I have bill after bill after bill to pay, and my recent payment for a new kick @$$ computer and a Gamecube, ok, back to my review, I love it, and this is simply the quality I wish I had when I made my Tetris remix.

Tetris Overture '1 - March' (http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2834/2834329.html)

[DJNikManic]

Ok, wow, Even if this is pretty much the way the original went, the original did NOT have the quality or beauty this remix flaunts. I think anyone who can pull off a symphonic/orchestronic (yes i made that word up) piece is talented, but this, this is more than just pulling it off. It is like he sat down and totally rewrote the song to handle a large epic sound. Great great job. One of my fav pieces so far!

[DarkeSword]

...symphonic/orchestronic (yes i made that word up)...

The word you're looking for is orchestral. ^_^

[Russell Cox]

Overall it's not a bad mix. The samples are pretty decent (either Fluid or Squidfont I'd say). There's a very minimalistic sound to it, which is either good or bad depending on your preferrences. I would have liked to have heard a little more fleshed out sound, though not full. This sounds fairly empty overall, but that's just my take on it.

The horns (I'm assuming that's what they are) around 2:00 are a little too quiet in comparison to the action that's occuring in the rest of the orchestra and I believe it should be louder for two reasons:

1) Since there's only timpani, contrabass, and violin, the horns would easily have overpowered the rest

2) The horn line is the melodic intent for that section and should be the loudest anyway


Not a bad piece, but I think there's a little bit more you could have done to it.

[Mindcooler]

It's TOO SHORT! :P

[Rufous]

Great stuff; atmospheric, and takes its time about things. I've rediscovered the original track now, which hadn't struck me as something special at the time. This puts it in a new light, those great violins in the background and that yearning main melody...

[crimsonzeal]

Thanks to everyone who has posted criticism; I enjoy reading it.

DJP was dead-on when he said that the song was envisioned and then executed to the end... with the deadlines on the contest I wrote this for, it's almost a necessity.

This was my first real attempt at something orchestral, and I feel that all things considering, it came out really good, and I can only get better from here on.

I'll definalty keep your comments in mind the next time I attempt another piece of this style, Russell. And yes, it was Squidfont.

[Bass Clef Man]

Strong mix... creepy too. I could've sworn I saw a Boo pass by me just now... AHH!

[bigbigbutt]

This is indeed quite the quality tune. However, to look at DJPretzel's introduction to the piece, I thought it was a remix of the MAIN theme to Super Mario World. Instead what I got was a remix of the ghost house music. Still, good stuff. And yes, the tune as a whole could have gone on longer without losing the listener's interest.

[Wanzer]

I'm a sucker for orchestral songs. My favorite part is when the strings enter at 1:24. The intro and ending flow great. I just wish it was longer.

Keep 'em coming!

[Aureolius]

This is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Professional production quality, a grand atmospheric pressence, and a very developed ear for music are all abundant here.

I have no problem with the length of the piece, and the fact that it loops so well is a welcomed plus.

[OC3Boi]

Wow, VERY good remix. Shows off the underlying theme very well. At 1:24, is anyone else reminded of the opening theme to Babylon 5 by this? (well, ONE of the themes at least, different one per season).

All in all, one of my current favorites...
And dfcentre, that's an AWESOME image in your sig.

[NSR::Neko]

Astounding. Truly beautiful piece here. Epic in every sense of the word. The buildup works for me EXTREMELY well, and I can picture a wide variety of scenarios for this remix. Whether it be the classic ghost house scene... or what I pictured...

Armies. Armies of insects. (think starsthip troopers here)... behind a hill... you can hear their feet coming closer and closer. ( 0:30 ) You look over the hill you cower behind and see nothing and get back down as a blast of weaponry flies over your head ( 0:51 ). You and your teammates continue cowering until the rapid blasts stop... then you look up to see what you didn't want to see ( 1:48 )... bugs. Marching over the hill in an unorganized manner, not stopping for anything in their way. You look behind the ones that are still in the distance... and see more just making their way over the upwards slope. You know it's all over, and you remember your family for a few moments... ( 2:30 )... you remember your wife, your kids, and how they said if you didn't come back, they'd know you died for a good cause... a tear streams down your face... and you choke the rest back... you turn, blasting anything in your way, your life flashing before your eyes while you kill... then slowly... painfully... a sharp pincer pierces your throat... and you fall to the ground. ( 3:00 )

SIMPLY ASTOUNDING. Now, read that as you listen.

[OC3Boi]

8O

I'm going to have nightmares now, thanx.

:lol:

[Steffan Andrews]

The execution and form of this piece is consistent, to say the least, yet holding that fact true, it's consistent in being very minimalistic. I did enjoy this track but was a little disappointed. There is nothing wrong with this piece, but I was expecting more body to this, and a larger instrument base in the more active parts. If reworked, this track could be excellent but in my opinion it is not finished yet. There's a lot more that could be done with this, as I was just taking note in my head as I was listening, more than several instances where there could have been much needed additions to the score. Keep at it though, what you have here is nonetheless commendable!

[Kamikaze Noodle]

This is freakin' awesome! It's creepy, epic, sad, and powerful all at the same time! I never even really thought about the ghost house theme as so truly amazing, but then, I guess that's what remixers are for.

[Jugulator]

I love the melody and the remix is done very well. Really nice work :wink:

[MacDaddy Mike]

A fleet hangs silently in space. On the bridge of one of the ships you see the captain and all the lieutenants scrambling around to get ready for battle. Suddenly the captain notices something on the vid screen and everyone goes silent, staring in awe. Very very slowly, a starship of incredible size uncloaks in the middle of the fleet and begins to open fire. Ships are launched and a large space battle begins. We follow all the main characters in the vision until the control ship explodes. Suddenly the mood gets dark, and in slow motion you see many of the pilots crash, or watch a fire start in their cockpit and overcome them. One by one, they are all eliminated.

At least that's what I see. This song started off really strong, with a beautiful, subtle eerie feeling a la Voodoo Dance. The percussion before the brass kicks in sounded very out of place, but I was blown away by the brass and didn't pay as much attention when I first heard it. The chords following were perfect, and the strings provided a great fast effect that made you envision all sorts of action. I thought the brass could have been a bit louder when they re-entered, and once again I thought the percussion seemed wrong when they finished off. The break was long; not that long, but a little over how long I felt it should be, but the re-entry was amazing. The strings sounded beautiful, and displays a lot of emotion for the piece. Although it was a bit short, and could have been elaborated on, I love this piece. I'd love to see more orchestral work from Psychrophyte.

[Nigel Simmons]

Man, this is one of my favorite arrangements, if not the favorite, on this site! I absolutely love it! Two problems I have, though, is the French horns seem to be too low in the mix and there's a little too much reverb. Other than that, it's beyond great!

[GrayLightning]

As everyone has said, this is top notch. The reverb size is perfect too. Well done.

[PassivePretentiousness]

I'm not enjoying this nearly as much as everyone else. Sure the samples are great, but that doesn't make the song by itself. The utterly massive pauses are obviously there for affect, but there simply too long, especially considering that they happen 18 times. When the melody comes back the first time it's neat enough and the remix would have been short and sweet had it ended right there. But it doesn't. It basically repeats the first two parts again with the same instruments again, which just gets annoying. When you're listening carefully to this song you might be able to enjoy it as is, but I guarentee you it will be lucky to stay on your playlist for that long. 4/8.

[playingtokrush]

My GOD! This is my favorite orchestral song at OCR. This is just so well done. It seriously beats the living shit out of me every time I hear it. Way to go Psychophryte.

[danny B]

Sorry yall, but I really don't see what the big deal is about these samples. Some of them are certainly good, but by no means great. The attacks on the string ensembles are still too drawn out inbetween notes, and the timpani, i'm sorry, is just horrible. Some timpani samples work fine, like at :21, but each other one is simply too harsh and mechanical. And i'm pretty sure a different method of arranging them would have helped tremendously, such as softer dynamics or usage of roll samples.

:49-:51 absolutely made me cringe; it was incredibly mechanical and lifeless. Once again at 1:48. Ouch. The crash cymbal sample is also thin and papery, and sounds much more like a techno/trance cymbal than a set of orchestral plates. Maybe i'm being a little harsh on the percussion, but playing these instruments for 9 years gets you somewhat used to how they should sound and be utilized, and this is pretty off. I don't mean to sound cocky, i'm just trying to establish where i'm coming from on this.

If the arrangement had also strayed more from the original in terms of chord structure or melody usage, all would be forgiven. But, aside from a few minor tweaks to the harmony, and a simple (albeit effective) marcato violin lead over the more active points in the song, it sounds nearly identical in composition and instrumentation. While the horns are actually quite impressive, they are shoved into the back of the arrangement and forgotten. This, among the other issues, causes the whole song to feel unbalanced.

I also agree with DarfaceX about the constant stopping/starting. It really breaks up the momentum, and doesn't really lend much suspenseful appeal.

I understand it was made in a week, but there is still obviously a lot of work that could have been done prior to submission. As of now, like Disco Dan said, it sounds very incomplete. Good ideas and attention to atmosphere (reverb is done very well), but as it stands now, this doesn't last in my playlist.

-SM

[Son Goten]

Man, if there was a remake of this game for the GAME CUBE, THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT REMIX of the stage, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! :D

[DCT]

There was a time when I considered making an orchestral version of Super Mario World's Castle theme. What I started would not have in any way come close to this piece. Good stuff by Psychrophyte. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way is that extended pause at 2:34. Other that that, I am a real big fan of this mix.

-DCT

[TCK]

I liked this track when I first downloaded it, and I still appreciate the beauty of this track. Impressive that it was made in a week too, but it does show. It seems rather muted compared to other remixes, but that is a minor problem. However, from 1.15 to 1.30, I feel that the lack of sound is not good. Sure, a fade into the main part of the piece would of been effective, but I feel that it started up from a VERY low volume, and takes too long to complete the fade in phase. I'm also not sure about the samples (but what would I know, I don't remix).

Goodness wise, the main structure is fantastic, and very powerful, especially the middle section, and it was a brilliant idea to make an orchestral version.

It's still worth downloading definitely, especially for SMW fans, but do take into mind that it was constructed in a week.

[Uberwulf X]

I want to think that the timpani samples are muddy due to the "concert hall" reverb. But I actually like that sample here... it just seems to fit. The strings are beautiful, from the violins to the bass (and being a bassist, I'm a fiend for 'em). I agree, that 5- second pause at the end is irksome, especially when you're sitting there looking at the counter with so much silence passing. Extra points for doing this -ism in a week.

8.5/10 is "What you get".

[The Xyco]

This song made me scared... I don't mean it like "Oh yeah it was creepy." or, "Yeah it sounded scary-esque"....

No, this song actually made me too scared to walk around my room when it was dark after hearing it. This is the first song that I wouldn't listen to after a certain time for I knew it would leave me with insomnia. Though by now, after hearing it several times, it's much less scary and much more awesome.

The note hitting near the end about 2:58 has the perfectforeboding sound to it (I know there is a musical term for it, but at this point in time I know not what it is known as).

Truly great material. Would make excellent cinematic music.

[Uberwulf X]

I put this song on a CD with other OC faves, and let people listen to it. Someone actually told me that her nightmares have this music playing in the background. If that's not telling of the direction, the emotional leading, I don't know what is.

[Bren]

A
W
E
S
O
M
E!!!

[Brim]

Wow, it captures a sort of creepy mood (or creeping?) and truly a memorable mix because I also remembered that song from my childhood days (not that I'm that old).

[KarethGamer]

My first system was the SNES, and my first game? you guessed it. Now, I loved these levels. I would sit for hours laughing at the ghosts (yeah, ADHD at it's best). Anyways, I loved this theme, and this reendition was amazing!

[Inu-chan]

I love this remix! It's eerily calming, yet keeps you a little nervous. I remember being afraid to go into the castles on the original Mario games. ^^'

[Dionyseus]

I love love love the castle theme. I like this remix a lot, but I wish it were much longer, like at least 8 minutes long, but even then the ending must not be handled the same way it was handled in this one, perhaps a better ending would have been to let the castle theme slowly die out.

[Tsunami18]

I am a french horn player, so I am automatically a fan of this grand work, not simply because the centerfold of the piece is the horn part, but also because this piece brought out what I had envisioned the piece should have been. I always believed that a great theme like this had such potential but Psychrophyte brought out every element in the theme. The only major downside to all this is the fact that it's WAY too short to trully live up to expectations. Regardless, it's still masterfully done and major props to the ReMixer.

9.5/10 - Still in my Top Five! :D

[Fratto]

It sneaks up on you and then fades away and then comes to kick your ass again. It's pretty much amazing. I kind of like the ending, actually.

[HoboKa]

Damn man I don't know how you managed to compile this masterpiece. Did you use FL?

[Dafydd]

This is kick-ass.

[DragonAvenger]

I've always really enjoyed this mix with the wonderfully creepy feel it has. It stands out as one of my favorite SMB mixes on this site. I do wish that it was expanded, both in length and instrumentation, but even as it is I think it is a solid piece of work that I can listen to and enjoy. Even after the time since release the samples are still pretty good, it's defiantely withstood the test of time. Nice work.

[Marmiduke]

The SMW ghost house theme is one of my favourite Mario tunes ever, because it has that classic Kondo hook, but it also injected that really dark ominous sound that was an extreme contrast to anything heard in the series previous. The strength of the tune is proven on OCR from the amount of really quality mixes made out of, this one included.
I really like that this one shies away from the wall-of-sound approach others take with the source material. Instead of blasting each section of the melody, this one leave a lot of open space, exposing the skeleton of the piece. I really love the strings that come in at 1:25 and continue on for most of the track; they really keep the mix moving while sounding great at the same time. And while there's nothing very new brought to the original, it is still a very successful exaggeration on the mood created by the game level and its soundtrack. If there is one mix that represents the source material most faithfully, it is this one.

[Crulex]

Anyone paying attention knows how much I enjoy these dark ReMixes, and it's hard to get even darker than combining the haunted house (I was afraid of these levels when I was five because of that music :-P) and the Castles from SMW. This is brilliant and screams evil fortress or lair. The fading ending works well.

[OA]

Some pretty epic stuff, but it has a lot of room to breathe. I really liked the false ending, and the intense string arpeggios before that. The samples aren't stellar, but they are very well used, and the piece as a whole is balanced, and has a good deal of energy and suspense. The kettle drums specifically were very well used to create tension and atmosphere.

Pretty damn fine work.