OCR00974 - Secret of Mana 'Secret of Spram (8 Bells Mix)'

[djpretzel]

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

[Dj Orange]

The violin caught me off guard the first time through, but after repeat listenings, it grew on me. :P

Needless to say, this is great acoustic stuff.


Although I never liked the original theme...

[SsaiskK]

haha i was contemplating whether or not to make a post regarding this song when it first came out. well im glad its made another home here, its definately a very well done piece. a must for any som fan.. and just dl it neway even if ur not an som fan. this stuff rocks!

[bradsmith]

Awesome stuff. Just great.

(Well, maybe the violin could use a little bit of tuning, and a little bit of reverb or a cut filter on the high end a touch to make it blend more. It seems (this isn't exactly a complaint) is if everyone here has the same set of piano samples... I'm sure I've heard these keys in at least three different remixes here. How odd.)

That stuff is all in brackets because these are tiny, tiny complaints. This remix made me quite happy. Mmmmm.

By the way, is this the same Spram of Blimpo Warrior notoriety?

[DM Lee]

I can imagine this as like a love boat the movie theme, lol.

Great stuff. This shows extreme talent here. I only hope one day i can do something of this quality.

I love it to put it simply.

[Ronyn]

This is a very well done mix, good voicing and full of motion, but to be perfectly honest, it wasn't very inspiring. For one, as a violinist, I absolutely hate violin fonts. The use of this font was cleverly executed, allowing the notes to taper off before it achieved a whiney vibrato, but it still suffers from the other weakness of violin fonts: harsh attacks (the attack at 3:31/32 for example is outta control), and ambiguous tuning. Still, big kudos to anyone with the skill to push a violin font up to this level of quality. Also, when the guitar comes in I just want to sit back and groove. Unfortunately it's a bit quiet, possibly because of the sometimes uneven and late strumming. Seriously though, I'm nitpicking, these are little things, but it was enough to keep me from jumping out of my chair and lauding this piece.

[Gman]

Mustin AND JAXX? cant go wrong with that. Its very chill and nice. I don't really know if someone could point out anything wrong with this song. The instruments used are great and they are used well. I loved the little violin part, nice little break from the rest. If there would be a secret of mana remix, this would be great for it :p I don't know who Kassi is or what she/he had part in this song, but good job too. I'd write up more stuff....but usualy long reviews are all the mistakes in the mix and what should be changed yadi yadah...But its great the way it is.

-Gman

[Protricity]

Too repetitive for my tastes. Had a nice feel, but I'd like to have seen far more variety. It repeated 3 times, I think, with nearly no changes.

[gilead42]

Man, that was very cool. I like that. Good job. :D

[ckain]

I can only describe this by one word: Professional.

[Qonas]

This remix was excellent, EXCEPT FOR THE FRIGGIN BASS. I basically registered so I could let this be known, there is waaaay too much emphasis on bass and fake electronic crap nowadays. Now I'll leave the electronic stuff alone, I realize it's a form of music, people like it, I should be open-minded, blah blah blah, but the bass issue remains as even supposed rockers are being sucked into this phenom. This remix would've been gold, if the "thump-thump-thump-ta-da-THUMP" bass was taken out, so we could actually hear the melody. But that's just my gripe, less bass and more orchestral/rock.

Hey djpretzel, are you fat with a 'ph'?

[SnappleMan]

The only thing I like in this is the guitars. Everything else is just repetitive.
I don't think this is a worthy collaboration.

[Legion303]

This remix would've been gold, if the "thump-thump-thump-ta-da-THUMP" bass was taken out, so we could actually hear the melody. But that's just my gripe, less bass and more orchestral/rock.

I'm guessing you've never really listened to music from the 70s.

As for other peoples' complaints about this being repetitive...I just don't hear that, sorry. Yes, the melody reprises, but that's what most songs do. I think there are enough changeups and differences in the sections to save it from being repetitive--this obviously isn't a cut-and-paste job.

JAXX is a musician; he might be down and out right now, but I have a feeling we will hear more from him just because he has no say in the matter. :P

-steve

[Baldrash]

Wow. Just wow. Rarely do I like a song this much on the first listen. And although I agree the bass could be turned down a LITTLE, it's still a high-quality piece that everyone should download.

*Sets it to loop.*

[dPaladin]

Muahaha! this is the 2nd OCRemix I've gotten before it was on the site, and I like it. It's a little repetitive and that's all I can say against it.

[snarfoogle]

You call this a SD3 mix? DO YOU?!

[bradsmith]

Awesome! Hey Spram! I used to be called Rane around #verge. Blimpo Warrior was my favourite verge game ever! I will play this new game soon! Mwaaahaahaahaahaa!

[Clayton]

Dj P. said


I know we've got a lot of Secret of Mana fans out there

you know it man, and you know what? Theres alot of secret of evermore fans out there too, that are S.O.M fans, or factioned with them. Now, why I do not see very many S.O.E. songs, I do not know, but I hope there will be some more at the very least...

In my opionion you guys or/and girls did a very good job, possibly the best S.O.M. remix that touched me.

[nem-x]

I don't know about you all, but I loved the bass and funky guitar. :)

[*MP*Evil_Cartman]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. Professionah!

[Qonas]

I didn't mind the guitar, guitar is GOOD, what pissed me off was the overemphasis on bass. It would've been a beautiful remix otherwise.

BTW, I'm one of those Evermore/SoM fan hybrids.

[dPaladin]

Ah, I see. Overemphasis on bass. Do you dare defy the Children of the Light? :wink:

[Rodin]

I don't really find the bass to overpowered at all....seems to add a nice background beat.

This remix is really fabulous, and its of my favorite SoM song :) This one's going into my playlist.

Now all we need is a Mana Beast remix, and my SoM collection will be complete :)

[bradsmith]

I've got a "Steel and Snare" remix in the works, myself. :)

[Shhteve]

There's a part in the beginning that sounds a lot like the song "Let Me Fall".. Not sure who it's by though, since I've only recently heard it at a choir performance at my school. Anyway, the violins were really catchy in this mix. All I have to say is that I love this, brings back great memories of Secret of Mana, and the Ice Land. :)

[Compyfox]

Hm... Nothing against the Crew of "OneUpStudios". Jaxx is a great guitar Player, Kassie a really good piano player (check out another collab with Mustin on this site) and Mustin knows a lot in producing. Please don't get me wrong, the song is good, but there are some things that are bugging me a bit. But listen to this song for yourself. Perhaps you have an own opinion about it.

First of all the "70ies" thing:
Okay, Master Pordon was right with the fact that the bass was louder at that time, but it's still a tad too loud. The next thing is the drumset. It's nice arranganged and all, but still too synthetic. If Mustin choosed to use perhaps another set (or the all so loved "Soundfonts"), perhaps this one had a bit more of "70ies Feeling". Not to mention the guitar, for this style a bit too quiet in my opinion. This can really destroy the overall mood sometimes.

To the song itself:
It's well produced - nothing to say against it. I also read two times the words "just professional" on this board. But there're some major problems with volume issues. Especially if some instruments get lost in the volume/compression mumbo-jumbo. A pity somehow.


And Dark Paladin was right. This Remix is not only aviable on "OneUpStudios" but was on VGMix (while it was still up) too.

[Kuja]

This is oh-so-smooth... and I love it. I appreciate that extra bit of 'love' (attention to professional production) that went into it. Even a musical illiterate like me can tell. Also, I agree with the 70's soundtrack assessment, though to me it seems it would be just as at-home on a Stereolab record.

I understand this is not new, but it's new to me, and just may be my new favorite OC Remix. Thanx guys.

[Jakob Dorof]

Oh man, was this song ever fantastic. That violin really makes it. Thanks to the three who made this one, total 10/10 if you ask me.

[CarlosTheDwarf]

This gets better everytime you listen to it. Awesome!

[StealthRPGcat]

When it started it was like ok... but after the first time is nice and catchy.. great song!

[Kuja]

This is the mix to listen to on an evening like tonight. Thunder rumbles closer and lightning strikes the sky, bahaha! A silver flash illuminates the dull grey of the world for one perfect second, half-remembered, and is gone.

[Transdecimal]

This is excellent!

A melodic slow start, you think it's going to be a mellow harmonic piece - and when the beat increases and draws you in... you can't get enough.

The wind instrument tune feel like a summer day in a garden. I mean, really - that's the picture I get EVERY time I listen to this remix.

I love it!

[MrNemo]

Man, this is how a remix should be done. The pads are just so effective. And the ocassional space between the bass guitar riff works so well. Man, when that song comes in, I can just see Shaft around the corner. Very talented remixer, great sequencing, good mixing, pretty good sounds, overall one of my favorite SoM remixes. It definitely sounds like it could have been on an authentic Squaresoft remix of SoM. Love the acoustic guitar.

[Durinthal]

To be honest, this is probably one of my favorite remixes. It's one of the very few songs I have that simply makes me want to crank up the volume when I hear it (which I do if no one's around).

I don't believe I had heard the original theme before first listening to this, but after I compared the two I like how this works with it. Good stuff.

[Bummerdude]

I would appreciate a specific number of how many instruments that was used to create this remix, I'm very curious. It sounded a little weird in the beginning when it suddenly decided to release everything at once after the bass and piano, but you got into it pretty quickly. I can see other's point about this remix being repetive, since when the real stuff begin, they go two rounds about it. The guitar session after it was swell, it hit the spot precisely. A new round came straiht afterwards, but I don't bother so much about it. The wide selection of samples and instruments copmensated it, it was amusing to give it a listen.

Too bad that this was JAXX's last OCR debut, but it seems like OCR has survived that loss. Maybe I'll need to listen to more of his work, DyluckComeHome (http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00403/) was actually quite good.

[ChloroPhil]

hahaha YES, as Mr. Nemo mentioned, when I heard this song just now I was like man, this sound just like Shaft! hahahaha. Very good music guys good work.

[Katsurugi]

This is one of my favorite remixes from Secret of Mana. I find that didn't already post a fan review of the song already. The intro is executed well and goes into a catchy tune. The play between a number of instruments especially with a piano highlight every once in a while is handled very well. I will have to agree that there is some repetition in the remix but only gets mildly annoying when listening to it a number of times consecutively.

[uagrenadier]

i frickin love this remix



notice: game music in-game is way more repetitive than any remix on this whole site. it's an easy and overused critique.

imo. considering all the repetition i get while playing the actual game, any remix on this site is nowhere near close as repetitive as who many times you will hear themes looped in game...

[OA]

Some of the samples are a bit dated now (specifically the violins), but the live performances are great. The mixing is also a little bass heavy, but I can dig it. No one ever got fired for adding more bass into the mix.

Overall pretty good, and very unique- these kinds of collabs are very cool to hear some new directions that mixers otherwise wouldn't have normally taken.

[ZealPath]

This is definitely one of my favorite sources from SoM, so, like the article mentioned, I'm glad I finally got around to checking this out. Much more upbeat than the original, with much different instrumentation, and yet it works so well. As usual I'm going to have to say that the flute parts are probably my favorite, aside from the intro, which I absolutely love.

The intro really reminds of, also like the article, go figure, an oldschool movie, or perhaps even TV-show intro. I can picture it cutting to a bunch of characters doing their thing so coolly and calmly, with credits rolling, if you can visualize what I mean.

Always nice to find old gems, and there are still so many I'm sure I haven't found!

[SubNormal J3]

A must download for anyone that enjoys the retro "OneUps" sound. That alone sums up the quality of this track which cheers up the original source.

0:00 short bass line building up
0:26 drops here with the drums, really full sound
1:00 the familiar melody on violin followed by flute
1:50 more violin
2:08 vamping on the original chords followed by another buildup
2:55 another drop with more variety that carries through to a classy string chord ending