OCR01333 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 'Prayer' [Archive]

PassivePretentiousness

03-22-2005, 05:51 AM

Gorgeous remix covering difficult source material. The use of in game music, vocals, and synths is cohesive, I can't see how this would be construed by any as a boderline case (I can see some people rushing to compare this to other remixes with the originals "rapped over"). Of course, the highlight of the mix is her voice. The fact that she inmitated the synth choir from the game I simply find amazing.

For qualms, I think a slightly less buzzy synth could have been used to carry the harmony. Some warm pads would have been better intergrated into the mix. And although djpretzel suggests the lack of climax is natural in a piece like this, I really have to disagree. A slight upping in intensity, even if it was subtle, would have done wonders for the mix. I also think a little bit more could be done with the percussion, but that's probably just my mind subconciously forcing comparison's to "Frame of Mind", with which this mix holds some similarities.

Wonderful mix.

olanmills

03-22-2005, 06:01 AM

Liontamer

03-22-2005, 06:07 AM

Navi

03-22-2005, 06:14 AM

krispy

03-22-2005, 06:19 AM

Great soundscape, it was a good demo of your vocal skills as you said and a lush sonic enviroment to boot. However, I don't think there was enough drama involved here to warrant a foreground song persay, but somehow I doubt that was your aim. Nice job.

Zero Infiniti

03-22-2005, 06:28 AM

excellence all around! :nicework:

Tanaric

03-22-2005, 07:18 AM

I hate to be so critical since I have no creative talent myself, but it really irritates me that the lyrics are in Japanese even though that is not native to the performer. It's as if it's supposed to be cooler just because it's in Japanese. I think the lyrics are actually quite lame, but being sung in Japanese is supposed to make it sound amazing and deep somehow. Essentially, there doesn't seem to be a good justifiable reason to sing it in Japanese, making it more like a gimmick in my opinion.

Disregarding the lyrics and their tranlsation, I like the singing and the way it works with the original source. It sounds very nice. I just wish the writing was better.

While I am often inclined to agree with this sort of thing, the Japanese was entirely justifiable in this case. This song was designed for and by Western ears (presumably the vast majority of the visitors to OCR are Western). When you listen to something in a foreign language, the mind does not attempt to realize each word and acertain its meaning. Thus, by using Japanese in this track, she made the voice layer something warm and ambient; this ambience would have been impossible with an English language track.

I didn't read the translated lyrics, nor do I care what they say. This song sounds great, and the remixer is pretty damned talented. Job well done.

arias

03-22-2005, 11:19 AM

As mentioned; the song does have a terrific soundscape. The vision of the artist writing the background music is great -- the sounds are inventive and they come together as a whole pretty well. I have not much complaints about the Japanese pronounciation, although they're not very clear, they work. Could be better, though.. if the articulation of the words were clearer.

The "hoo hoo hah hah" vocals at 3:30 are slightly off tune, distracted me for a tad.

My main complaint about this song is how the voice doesn't "ride" crystal clear above the background music. Now, maybe it's just my half-functional ear-phones, when I replace them later this week I'll know for sure. But for now it seems like the vocals are just mixing around with the background music: I can't hear the singer's voice distinctly. [edit: I verified this abit later -- the balance is FINE. Sorry for the blooper.]

Now that I hear the voice clearer (see edit above), I have to comment about the voice.. the Japanese doesn't sound too forced, but it quite obviously comes across as a non-native speaker of the language singing it. There are a -few- parts which I think the crescendo/decrescendo in the singing is too exaggerated; in band we used to call that "swelling". It's pretty distasteful when it's not used well; but it only happened once in this song.

So basically - to the singer - I like your voice. You can sing, but cut on the swelling (for example, "kashite soshite" at 1:55) and if you're going to do more Japanese tracks, work harder on making it sound more natural. In general, I likes.

Song doesn't change much in mood/tempo, which could give one the impression that it's "flat"..

Well, good work. Keep trying.

TCK

03-22-2005, 11:58 AM

Been listening to this since it came around in the WIP forums, and seen its many revisions. This is probably the best version out of the lot.

It's not as dark as I'd of liked (like the source track) but hey, that's what this site is all about, reinterpreting the originals differently, and it does that pretty well, and uniquely too.

It's a keeper.

DJ NapHouse

03-22-2005, 01:22 PM

All the samples from the temple itself make the mix for me. The only thing that kind of throws it, is the usage of Garageband loops. Not that there;s anything wrong with that, but I've gone through those loops and used them in short demo songs whilst trying out Garageband's power. I've heard those loops so often, that hearing them in this song was a distraction for me. Nothing you did wrong at all, and otherwise, sounds good.

Redfenril_Jedi

03-22-2005, 02:00 PM

It's amazing the hidden talent within these folks.

And I ain't too fussy on the music that was selected, since it uses the music from the Forest Temple.

It was a difficult one to do. It's not perfect, but it is OCR material. But it was really really difficult.

Kudos for the effort!

NEG

03-22-2005, 02:18 PM

Truely captured the feelings of the original for me. The lyrics worked well. Fantastic job.

Txai

03-22-2005, 03:22 PM

bIzArRe, but is a very good ReMix. Japanese voices as well.

Theowne

03-22-2005, 04:41 PM

The music itself sounds good, but I'm afraid I also didn't like the Japanese, although I really tried to. It just didn't sound natural. And mind you, I listened before I read any descriptions, so it's not like I was expecting it or anything

Oh but still the song itself is excellent and the occasional vocal chantings sound great

SosusOCR

03-22-2005, 05:34 PM

Easily one of the best remixes Ive heard in a very long time.

I loved it, I cant think of any faults, it all blends together in a very nice way and I like the voices, its very Macross'ish'

Its very welcome in my WinAmp collection

FunkyPoopMonkey

03-22-2005, 05:57 PM

Fantastic mix of one of the most underappreciated tunes in Zelda history. Now can we get a remix of "The Final Labyrinth" from Zelda 1? :)

03-22-2005, 06:04 PM

Now this is impressive. I've been going through the Ocarina of Time soundtrack for a project I'm working on, and I always thought the Forest Temple music was cool, but pretty much unusable for a remix. Damn, was I wrong.

Fieari

03-22-2005, 06:06 PM

Yes!

I'm so glad to see this made it onto the site. I was one of the people suggesting little tweaks here and there while this was still a work in progress. The last WIP version of this I have still had a tiny little... coherance problem at the very end, in which I told you that I thought the peice needed to return to the beginning a bit more in order to suggest completion, and while you didn't do that exactly as I suggested, by layering it behind the final verse, you achieved that completion perfectly without unduely extending the mix. Awesome!

As I've said numerous times in your WIP thread, your voice is beautiful, the lyrics sublime. The alternating sections between lovely and creepy are fantastic. The beginning in particular works wonderfully well, with the non-lyrical vocals.

I particularly love the way that your voice placed over top the creepy little motif latter on in the piece gives it a little... playful feeling. Making light of something that was intended for darkness. It's a wonderful little feeling for me. I love it.

Wonderful stuff. I'm thrilled to have seen this make it.

Well done indeed!

Fritz the Cat

03-22-2005, 06:40 PM

I preferred the original remix. It just sounded better emptier.

Raz the Raver

03-22-2005, 08:38 PM

Fantastic mix, the Forest Temple theme is actually my favorite track in OOT. I listened to this mix before reading the review too as the other dude stated. I am highly impressed by how well the Japanese vocals are...I couldnt believe it at first that it was song by someone who's really way into Japanese culture and not actually Japanese. You kick ass :) I still got goosebumps.

jordex

03-22-2005, 10:18 PM

I've been waiting forever for a Forest Temple remix or extension but this wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

Its a good song, just not what I was waiting for.

I like the sort of dry, chorus marimba echoed but I think the "Oh-eh" part sounds terrible!

Cool percussion at 3:45 I must say.

I wish the original strings could have stayed in.

For the vocals, I'm not sure what they're saying but I'm pretty sure its creative and thoughtful. The actual sound of the vocals isn't too bad either.

Anyways, yeah, it's an okay mix, just not what I was hoping for

icycrispcow

03-22-2005, 10:25 PM

I do love what was done with this. I completly forgot what this track sounded like until I started listening. I agree though that the "Oh-eh" vocalized part in the middle before 3:45 was a bit off. The disenance didn't seem too fit and the vocals seemed a bit too overpowering at that point. The rest was wonderful and deffinatly chill

HalcyonSpirit

03-23-2005, 01:39 AM

I don't know if anyone else noticed (maybe it's just my copy), but right at the end, at 4:45, all the sounds stop completely. It sounds like it was cut off. Then it plays the final note of the song about a second later. Is it supposed to do that? It sounds very odd, and doesn't seem to belong in there.

Other than that, great song. I really liked it. It's very... relaxing. But in a different way than other mixes. I can't place my finger on it, but something about the music and the voices put together in this makes the music very relaxing for me.

Great job!

MaGi_TekK

03-23-2005, 01:45 AM

whoa, I like this mix. It's good and your remixing skills must be too, to garner a rare MaGi_TekK vote of approval. That oh eh stuff does get a bit irritating when you loop the mix though. I think I'll use it to piss people off when I'm arguing with them. I'll be like, "yeah well go Oh Eh yourself."

DreamOfTheRood

03-23-2005, 02:12 AM

If I shut my eyes, I can still see those stinkin' spiders.

This is excellent.

The Roots have a very inventive approach to their hi-hop music in that they use rapper BlackThought's vocals as just another instrument in the mix. It creates a highly groove-oriented type of music.

In this case, the same kind of thing is going on. By singing in Japanese, Jill Goldin creates an ambient kind of atmosphere that becomes another layer in the mix. I don't think the focus is as much on her voice as it is the mood that is created by the piece. That's the focus, and in that, it works. I could have been more dynamic in that middle section, sure. But I don't think the piece is affected too badly by the lack of dynamics.

Very nice work.

Wanderer

03-23-2005, 04:59 AM

If you guys really want to hear her AMAZING voice, go check out "Amor Mio, Caro Bene," a remix of the opera theme from Final Fantasy 6 over at VGmix. While the arrangement didn't turn out to be OC-worthy, the voice in that song is absolutely incredible.

While this particular remix didn't floor me like her previous vocal performance, it shows me that she has the skills to make a song on her own, which all but guarantees that she's going to be a legend in this community if she keeps submitting stuff. You're saying that she can sing in more than three languages? Unbelievable. Helen Trevillion, you now have a rival. I eagerly await your next submission Ms. Goldin.

Artificial_AI

03-23-2005, 05:13 AM

Ever go to a drugstore or museum, and they have those little listening booth set ups with the variety of different cds that you can sample with a push of a button? This reminds me of what I might here when I push the "natures sounds" button.

It doesnt really excite me at all. It seems to try something different with the song structure, but instead of hitting a new peak in excellence, it ends up staying level throughout.

I wouldnt mind listening to this if I wanted to get some rest, but if I wanted to enjoy a piece and get into it, I would listen to something with more guts.

endblink

03-23-2005, 06:03 AM

CrapUgh. Next time keep your ignorance to yourself.

I enjoy the mix, probably 'cause I don't know the original source material.

But, as a singer myself, and listening to someone who's obviously got more training than I do, I'm very, very, very surprised you didn't re-record 3:15-3:40. The concept is good, but you go offkey a few times. The only reason it stands out so much is because you're very solid for the rest of the piece.

Solid, but I would suggest a closer attention to detail for the next one.

PassivePretentiousness

03-23-2005, 06:29 AM

I like the sort of dry, chorus marimba echoed but I think the "Oh-eh" part sounds terrible!

It does get a little screwed up around 3:40, but she's imitating the synth in the game. And ridiculously well. If you can drag your mind bag to 1998, it sounds almostly precisely as the effect in the forest temple. I'm not trying to claim that it is instantly enjoyable, but I think it is somewhat of a musical accomplishment.

I agree though that the "Oh-eh" vocalized part in the middle before 3:45 was a bit off. The disenance didn't seem too fit and the vocals seemed a bit too overpowering at that point.

Except that was precisly done at one point in the source. It could have been better with a re-record, but this is not an issue with arrangement. The phrase in the original is the closest thing in the original to a "climax" . For such an important aspect of the orginal, I would have rather seen it leveraged more, not less.

Blah.

Arek the Absolute

03-23-2005, 09:09 AM

I remember this same person asking if someone was able to help her with lyrics in the forums *mainly because how the thread was alligned....I believe it read "Need japanese translating ass..." heh*. Evilhead stepped up and helped her, which I think was nice *even though she already said thanks in the mix submission*

Anyhow, the music of this peace is great. The music flows perfectly.......the singing....thats another thing though. The vocals sound more of a background rather than the dominant part of the song. It needs to be a bit more noticable for it to be recognized the way that they should be. Other then that, I have no complaints what so ever. Good mix!

The Damned

03-23-2005, 01:16 PM

I call shenanigans on this. There's no way that isn't a professional vocalist. :D

I suspect that pixietricks may be getting some requests from our other remixers to do vocals for future projects.

Dhsu

03-23-2005, 02:31 PM

I like the sort of dry, chorus marimba echoed but I think the "Oh-eh" part sounds terrible!

It does get a little screwed up around 3:40, but she's imitating the synth in the game. And ridiculously well. If you can drag your mind bag to 1998, it sounds almostly precisely as the effect in the forest temple.
I think "almostly" [sic] is the key word here. In music, "almost" isn't enough. A quarter of a semi-tone is all it takes to turn consonance into dissonance. Or I guess in this case, pleasant dissonance into unpleasant dissonance.

The marimba was also in the original track, along with the "oh-eh"s. In fact, I believe those are the only two elements that distinguish this as a Zelda64 "arrangement" and even then they are reproduced virtually verbatim.

Like several others, I found the vocals slightly gratuitous, however pleasant they were to listen to. However, I feel this song would be more at home in an "originals" section on her site, considering the new lyrics and composition were obviously and heavily in the majority of the piece. I believe djp direct-posted this for a reason, as he knew not everyone would share his perspective. And that's entirely within his rights and power. I trust his judgment enough to believe that "omg bewbs!" was not the deciding factor.

Less Ashamed Of Self

03-23-2005, 05:07 PM

I suspect that pixietricks may be getting some requests from our other remixers to do vocals for future projects.

Understatement of the year. I agree, this is some good quality stuff... the recording quality of the vocals is very high as is the talent.

Patty Schmitt, host of the CBC radio program Brave New Waves uses a word to describe music that I think this song falls into the category of: touchy. The sounds don't just reach your ears and create an emotive response... they sound as though they actually touch something with in your ear physically.

Nice work. Can I join your fanclub?

Aetherius

03-23-2005, 07:05 PM

It's worth the listen, but I wouldn't listen to it again.

While the idea is interesting, it might as well not have been a remix, and she could easily have cut out the whole background and just called it her own song.

That is to say, it's less an arrangement than a reinterpretation, which, clearyl isn't a problem according to djp.

Anyway, personally, I really like the background hoohaas and such. Especially the filtered lo-fi oohs and such you can just barely hear.
The main vocals on the other hand seemed a bit like...what it's like to watch someone do interpretive dance/singing to some stupid christian RnB song while doing American Sign Language.
...and since you probably don't know what that's like, It's as though she's just singing what someone else wrote out for her, without knowing how to pronounce the words. I mean, it's not enough to know what sound the syllables make, there's also an inflection or a way of saying the sound that's just as important. Kinda like when japanese people say an english word with a silent E on the end, and they go 'Euh.' Amusing...

er, that said, It didn't really warrant another listen, simply because I lacked interest, and possibly also because my dumbass roommate has been playing Coheed and Cambria all day, and I just want to shove an icepick into my ear.

P.S. I want her to sing for me.

PassivePretentiousness

03-23-2005, 07:25 PM

In music, "almost" isn't enough. A quarter of a semi-tone is all it takes to turn consonance into dissonance. Or I guess in this case, pleasant dissonance into unpleasant dissonance.

When I said "almost" I meant how well she imitated the synth, not how close to the tone.
I'll be the first to tell you that I don't have the musical ear the differentiate a quater of a semi-tone. The dissonance was in the original, and I don't think that was being acknoweldge. If it still is off considering that, then that is a perfectly legitimate strike against the mix.

The marimba was also in the original track, along with the "oh-eh"s. In fact, I believe those are the only two elements that distinguish this as a Zelda64 "arrangement" and even then they are reproduced virtually verbatim.

Well except for how the chords found at the very beginning in the song (and are subtly repeated during the mix) are an integral part of the original.

All three of these aspects (the "oh-ehs", the marimba, and the introductory chords) are incorpoated into the new material as well as could ever be expected. Listen to how this chords that I mentioned are then transformed into the beepy synth (which I said before isn't the best choice in the world for this mix).

If this is still a reinterpretation rather than an arrangement, there is no way to arrange this song.

and give me a break about "almosty"... I wrote that 2:30 in the morning.

I almost pre-emptively apologize for butchering any musical terms.

Jillian Aversa

03-23-2005, 10:59 PM

Thanks for the comments, everybody! ^_^

I just wanted to take a moment to clear up the whole "out of tune" oh-eh thing. I hate to sound like a diva :oops:, but those are the correct pitches. If you listen to the source material (where the climax is) and compare my recording, you'll see. Admittedly it's not a pretty sound. I thought about that when I was recording, but decided to stick to the source; such piercing dissonance must have been written for a reason.

As you guys have noticed, it's a pretty laid back track. I caught the New Age wave when I was growing up, so many of those artists (Ayman, Enya, Solas, Yanni, Vollenwieder) have influenced my style. It's not for everyone, but I really dig the mystical, soaring quality of New Age, and I always thought the Forest Temple theme embodied that. So yeah, I wouldn't describe it as "nature sounds," to quote Artificial_Al, but I can definitely see where you get that impression. They tend to group all the World Music, nature sounds, and New Age in one big "hippie" section! :wink:

P.S.
whoa, I like this mix. It's good and your remixing skills must be too, to garner a rare MaGi_TekK vote of approval. That oh eh stuff does get a bit irritating when you loop the mix though. I think I'll use it to piss people off when I'm arguing with them. I'll be like, "yeah well go Oh Eh yourself."
Hahaha, yessss!

-Jill

BlueMage

03-23-2005, 11:57 PM

Japanese lyrics.....I swear, if it's Japanese lyrics for the sake of Japanese lyrics :evil: ....

Well, I must say, the vocalist is quite talented. Let there be no doubt in anyone's mind - the vocalist is talented. But the lyrics themselves....eh, not sure it's my cup of tea. Maybe if it were more of a background effect, it would fit better.

Garde

03-24-2005, 03:54 AM

Just to let you guys know, Japanese words are often mistpronounced in songs. I don't know why you guys are so anal about the pronunciation. I have over 50gb of jpop, jfunk, jrock, and jrap on my computer, and all of them mispronounce words a lot of the time. Her voice actually reminds me of Utada Hikaru, a lot. Some of the words seem forced, but I think she did an excellent job singing those words. It sounds like a japanese singer to me.

This mix is incredibly creative. Layering a melody of a completely different mood and feel on top of what the original song was is amazing. And the transitions are incredibly smooth. The "oh-eh" that people are bitching about is actually really impressive. It's been a while since I played OoT (about 6 months) so I didn't really notice the difference until my second or third listen, when I realized that wasn't from the game itself.

I don't feel that there should be a climax in this song, it's a very mellow song. It sounds almost like an American Indian song, except for the synths and the lyrics. But the way it's sung and the overall mood of the song definitely seems like it could be a tribal dance worshipping a god (or 3 goddesses, in this case), which it is. Very nice in execution.

And there is a perfectly fine reason for singing in Japanese. It gives it an ethnic feel, and sort of seperates it from a lot of us, since most of us do not speak Japanese (I speak very little, a lot of my friends speak fluently and are native born Japanese people, so I hear correct pronunciation a lot). Another reason she could have sung it in Japanese was to pay tribute to the people who actually made the game. As much as some people might want to believe it, The Legend of Zelda series is a Japanese series owned by a Japanese company. It gets translated so the Japanese illiterate in the Americas and Europe can enjoy these wonderful games. Quit trying to tear this mix apart and stop being rude.

All of you people bitching about the mix that are just bashing it should think of giving constructive criticism instead of "I don't like it," or "Japanese lyrics suck if you're not a native speaker," etc. That's what these review threads are for.

Dhsu

03-24-2005, 04:10 AM

I don't feel that there should be a climax in this song, it's a very mellow song. It sounds almost like an American Indian song, except for the synths and the lyrics. But the way it's sung and the overall mood of the song definitely seems like it could be a tribal dance worshipping a god (or 3 goddesses, in this case), which it is.
Mmm...these (http://www.folkways.si.edu/search/AlbumDetails.aspx?ID=1164#) are American Indian tribal dance songs. I think you might be stretching the comparison a bit. ;)

Sounds more like something that might fit in an anime, or perhaps a Zelda vocal collection album. Maybe that's part of the reason djp took such a liking to it.

Karrde

03-24-2005, 04:15 AM

First off, no reason to complain about the use of japanese lyrics for the sake of japanese lyrics. Hell, I've been studying the language for several years now, and know enough that most people are annoyed only when people over use stupid phrases they picked up watching nothing but anime. These phrases, which are not used every day like they are in anime, get heavilly overused by non speakers. Anyway, that aside, I think Japanese fits as it IS a remix of a Japanese composer's song. As for mispronunciation of Japanese words, yeah, it's common, but far less so in more serious stuff. Someone compared this to Utada Hikaru (I totally agree), and her language is much cleaner than say Gackt or Miyavi. Slurred up lyrics would just sound out of place in this song.

As for the song itself, I don't know if I can say anything bad about it. While most people I know seemed to be annoyed by the forest temple theme, it's always been one of my favorites, especially the echoy oh-eh sounds. I think you did a really nice job in replicating that effect. Nice and calming like the original. I'm looking forward to seeing more work from you, and seeing you doing vocals for some others. 'd imagine you might make a nice fit with Jeremy Robson, Nigel Simmons, or maybe even Zwitra. Keep up the good work.

*Edit*

Yeah, agreed, native american comparisons are a bit much. I'd be more likely to argue Enya does Polynesia or something :P

-Karrde-

Garde

03-24-2005, 04:23 AM

Hm... Dhsu, you're right... What was I thinking of... It still feels like it has an American Indian feel to it... I'm just weird... Maybe instead of tribal dances, I'm thinking of songs?

But yeah, this reminds me a lot of Utada Hikaru, especially her singing for Sakura Drops. The songs are completely different, but the tone and quality of voices are very similar.

Again, good job! :D

Karrde

03-24-2005, 04:26 AM

Gharde = mind reader. Exactly my thoughts about the relation. Before I even read any of the posts it did really remind me of certain aspects of Sakura Drops.

Raza Bloodfire

03-24-2005, 04:29 AM

I for one found this song absolutely wonderful! While I don't know the first thing about the techical parts of music, I do know good stuff when I hear it, and this is some very good stuff.

A job well done, pixietricks. Your voice is very beautiful. I hope you plan to try more OoT songs in the future! ^_^

Oh, and all you people about the "Oh-eh" stuff, CHILL. >_< She's wanting to stay with the song and I thought she did an awesome in doing so. And as far as the lyrics in Japanese, I'm with Garde on it. In fact, I felt that it was a very respectful move to have the lyrics in Japanese than English anyway.

Garde

03-24-2005, 05:07 AM

You know... I think I found the reason why I related it to American Indian songs...

If any of you are familiar with Enigma, and the song "Return to Innocence." The singer in the background. I dunno why, but this song sort of reminds me of some part of that song. I'm weird, I know. But there's just some quality to this song that reminds me of that singer in the background of that song...

Maybe it's just me...

Artificial_AI

03-24-2005, 05:32 AM

Jillian Aversa

03-24-2005, 05:54 AM

Evilhead

03-24-2005, 09:15 AM

Given that it is a remix, a certain amount of leeway is granted. For the purpose of the enjoyability of listening, wouldn't it be appropriate to "correct" the off-key part of the source material that is detrimental to the remix? At least it is my opinion that it is more important to make a remix sound good than to stay really close to the original material.
That's certainly a valid question. But I think my decision not to change it is justifiable. I wanted to contrast the more spooky, ethereal parts with an uplifting melody...a prayer arising from darkness. Hence the scary breath stuff and thumping in the beginning. If I had changed the source material for the mix, I don't think it would have been as powerful.

Yes, I'm going to have to agree here. Dissonance, tension, and release are key parts to just about any kind of music from jazz to punk rock. A homogenious soundscape quickly gets boring, and the parts as sung definitely serve a purpose and were obviously intentional.

And I'll also defend her pronunciation. As a few other people mentioned a lot of singers "mispronounce" Japanese in their songs. The reason being Japanese is for the most part a quite monotonic language without much vartiation in volume or pitch. In order to lend Japanese to song, a lot of singers take some liberties with the language and use the sylabry in a more liberal way. Japanese hip-hop is a great example of this. I sometimes find myself cringing at the English accents of some Japanese rappers. They sound like 1st or 2nd year American Japanese language students (no offense guys!). But the reason for this is that they are imitating the rhythm, accents, and flow of American rappers, and distort the language according accordingly. As someone who is fluent in Japanese and speaks it all day every day, I have to say I was impressed at how well Jill pulled this off despite her limited experience with the language. Great job!

frashpikass

03-24-2005, 09:18 AM

Just one word:

AWESOME!!!

Nocturnal Sorrows

03-24-2005, 10:03 AM

This song is awsome... now on of my favs by far nicely done indeed i wish i had the talent you remixers have all the songs I have heard so for were very good... hats off to all of you

Setsuna

03-24-2005, 05:21 PM

this remix is so cool ^^
i wait a long time for such a remix,more of them please :wink:

Chrono721

03-24-2005, 09:59 PM

At First, I thought this remix would be a bit weird because of the weird chords people sing in the beginning, But after, I found this to be beautifuly done. The singing is fabulous, and I like it very much. I have no clue wether you created the text or not, but the way you sing is absolutely amazing. I look forward to your other remixes. ^_^
-Charles

Burger Deluxe

03-24-2005, 10:11 PM

wow....this is excellent! Taking a very low-key song like the Forest Temple theme and adding some meat to it is always a challenge in itself. But, this is a great finished product.

An amazing voice, too. One that makes you wanna sigh collectively, just cause it pulls you into the clouds and keeps you there throughout the whole song. Yeah, maybe not pitch-perfect, but that in no way deterrs from the ethereal atmosphere its putting out so well. Hope to hear more of this voice on other mixes, well done. Kudos, Ms. Goldin. :D

Artificial_AI

03-25-2005, 12:09 AM

I was actually referring to the parts between 3:15 and 3:40 that were not entirely on key :p The other "oo-eh" parts were fine.

icycrispcow

03-25-2005, 02:37 AM

Actually, listenign through the mix a second time the 3:15-3:40 section does make some bit of sence. you can tell she was tryign to do something because the same off-key progression is repeated. Maybe there was a goal of disanance but it didn't play out too well because of the mastering volumes.

Jillian Aversa

03-25-2005, 03:02 AM

I was actually referring to the parts between 3:15 and 3:40 that were not entirely on key :p The other "oo-eh" parts were fine.
Those are the parts I am talking about, too.

http://www.fayhaven.com/Forest%20Temple%20Original.mp3

Above is a link to the source material. For any of you out there who still think I'm singing out of tune, please download it and then listen from 1:16 to 1:30. That is the spot that corresponds to 3:26-3:40 in my version. I assume that those are the funky pitches you are referring to. If after listening you're still not convinced, here's a little theory lesson.

The piece was written in E Major, which has four sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#. So the notes that "belong" in the key if you were to go up the scale are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#. The "oh-eh" voice in the weird section sings a pattern like this:

B, Eb, A, C# -- B, Eb, A, C# -- Eb, Eb, C#, C# -- Eb, Eb, C#, C# -- B, B, A, A etc.

The repeated E-flats are not part of the key of E Major; one would expect E-naturals instead. That's why it sounds like I'm out of tune to you. You think I'm under pitch....that I'm not quite reaching those E-naturals. Well yes, I'm not! Because the E-flats were actually *intentionally* written in the original. They create a feeling of tension and instability because the usual tonic triad of EG#B is now EbG#B, making it an augmented chord. This is one of the tonal devices that makes the Forest Temple so creepy. Quite smart on Koji Kondo's part.

Now do you believe me? Hehe. Never accuse a classical singer of being out-of-tune unless you are absolutely sure. :wink: (But hey- the fact that you noticed that it sounds strange means you have a good ear!)

-Jilly

Evilhead

03-25-2005, 03:34 AM

You guys just got PWND. :P

Dhsu

03-25-2005, 04:36 AM

Actually, I have more of an issue with the C#. It's probably not even anything on your part...I'm not sure if it's the effect of acoustics or the presence of unexpected overtones due to the self-harmony or even if it's possible that the original track is the one that's actually out of tune. But there's just an additional amount of dissonance that wasn't in the original. Whatever the reason, you don't have to automatically assume everyone else is wrong. Have a little more faith in your critics and give them the benefit of the doubt once in a while, eh? ;)

arias

03-25-2005, 04:48 AM

Now do you believe me? Hehe. Never accuse a classical singer of being out-of-tune unless you are absolutely sure.

-Jilly

I'm not looking for flames, but talk about ego. :|

Perhaps that strange note isn't your fault, and you chose to copy the original sequence.. well, nice of you to provide the original sample. Anyways, I think you should regard these comments positively. There are posters who rose vehemently to your defence, but nobody's bashed you at all. It's pretty ridiculous. Regardless, hopefully you'll continue improving and produce even better works in the future.

//edit: After listening to the original, I'll agree with Dhsu that the dissonance in your remix is more than that's present in the original. I listened to it very carefully again.. it might be the same notes as they were in the original, but they certainly weren't synthesized in the same context -- in the original it played as a counter melody/contrasting counter I believe.. but yeah, I listened carefully and well, it didn't sound so bad after all. But to the person who's listening casually, it can be pretty distracting.

Also, I take back my words of praise that you had a magnificent vision for the soundscape.. it's basically a reprise of the original, with better samples and nicer sounds and little additions. However, I would like to add praise that the adding of the melodic line for your vocals is pretty damn brilliant. I love how you could think of fitting such a great line into such a strange original.. I think you have a lot of promise.

Just two pointers as I have aforementioned - cut on the swelling ("kashite soshite") and MAYBE fine-tune the balance a little and let your voice "sit" on top of the music.

Looking forward to your future works.

Jillian Aversa

03-25-2005, 06:04 AM

Now do you believe me? Hehe. Never accuse a classical singer of being out-of-tune unless you are absolutely sure.

-Jilly

I'm not looking for flames, but talk about ego.

Aw, c'mon. You left out the ":wink:" that immediately followed that statement. I was actually trying to poke fun at *myself* for having made such a long spiel. I meant it like, "This is what you get when you diss a singer. Hahaha...oh, singers..." because of the reputation we get for being divas. I didn't actually mean it seriously...I'm sorry! :cry:

Anyway, perhaps it does sound a little different in the acoustic setting. I just assumed that Artificial_Al and the others who commented on that part thought it was off because those E-flats were supposed to be E-naturals.

-Jill

ChibiFirewraith

03-25-2005, 06:51 AM

Fabulous mix; I adore your voice. And it was awesome that you explained the entire set-up of notes from the key signature. :lol: I'm a vocal major myself, and it's nice to see there's a few of us left who also understand music theory and don't just go all "diva" on everyone. :D

The Japanese was lovely, too. Only a couple of words sounded forced, and I didn't even notice them until they were pointed out. The vocalizing was very impressive...it was nice to hear clear tones. Those are difficult intervals to hit without scooping the notes.

Just wonderful. I hope to hear more from you. :D

Evilhead

03-25-2005, 08:16 AM

I can see both sides of the argument here, and something similar popped up way back when with GrayLightning and a particular mix he submitted. Basically it boils down to intention. If critics say, "this section kind of rubbed me the wrong way" and the artist doesn't really have any justification for it, then it's critisism that should probably be heeded. But obviously she knows what she's doing and intended the dissonance. Maybe even adding a little more! Just like many of you would go to a Butoh performance and say, "What the hell? Why is that old man wearing a torn nighty and convulsing on stage? Is he some insane bum?" You might not like it, but what he is doing is very intentional, probably in order to stir up emotions such as the ones you would have. Same kind of thing applies to this mix!

almondray

03-25-2005, 04:49 PM

ok, i've been lurking around ocremix for over a year now and this has quickly become one of my favorite remixes. i finally registered in the forums just so i could say this to you.

your interpretation of the forest temple song is imaginative, pixie, and your voice is pure and touching. how refreshing to hear!

now for any of you dudes who responded negatively to her explanation, give this girl a break. i'm a composer and i've worked with alotta vocalists. if you tell a singer she's off-key, most would respond by either exploding at you or bursting out in tears. the fact that pixie took the time to explain why that dissonance is there through ::music theory:: sets her way apart from the bunch. this chick is no diva.

so yeah...really nice work, pixietricks! :D

Cyan_Ide

03-25-2005, 04:58 PM

Wow. Great Song, very ethereal. Almost as if you stumbled upon a cave full of faeries, but instead of just floating around above a pool of water nonsensically like they always do, they're worshipping the three goddesses. I didn't really have a problem with the "oo-eh's," especially when you listen to the original track, it was very well in keeping to the original, which is one of my favorite tracks. Very nice, something i could fall asleep to....but in a very, VERY good way. Keep 'em coming.

Raza Bloodfire

03-25-2005, 08:32 PM

Go, almondray! Someone finally socks it to'em! All of these nit-picky people are getting on my nerves with their dissection of pixie's song.

If you negative people don't like the way it is after she explains the WHY part of it, then don't listen. No one's making you download the music and listen to it.

My own mother, who is a rational woman and knows a little bit about music, gives this song full recommendation.

To pixie: My mother loves your voice and actually wants to hear more remixes in the future. ^_^ You've got two votes of approval right here!

To the negatives: Get a life. If all you have time for it to tear a good piece like this apart, then you've got too much time on your hands. And as a side note, this song would appeal more to the Zelda fans who have played through the Forest Temple than it would people who just listen to the music.

Dhsu

03-25-2005, 09:05 PM

To the negatives: Get a life. If all you have time for it to tear a good piece like this apart, then you've got too much time on your hands.
Actually, a good artist would gracefully show gratitude to people who put time into giving critiques. Do you think Jill spends so much time and money for vocal lessons to hear her teacher rave for an hour about how perfect her voice is and how there's nothing to be improved?

Get a life? For some people, being good at pointing out faults is how they make a living.

arias

03-25-2005, 09:23 PM

Again, I *MUST* emphasize.

NO ONE is tearing this piece apart. NO ONE is bashing her. Why is everyone so defensive of pixietricks? Who're the ones needing a life here? :p Anyways, as far as I see, there are much positive comments here, and those who made negative comments have pointed out on where to improve. I thought that was called constructive criticism.

Jillian Aversa

03-25-2005, 10:11 PM

Oy. I think it's time to make peace, everybody!

Thanks, almondray and Raza Bloodfire, for rushing to my defense. I do appreciate your intentions. But don't worry, I can take a little criticism. It's all part of the business, as Dhsu and arias said. This is how I improve for next time!

The constant comments about the "out-of-tune" dissonances were starting to bog me down, yes, which is why I wanted to explain how they were intentional. I'd just rather be receiving new comments and suggestions instead of hearing the same old thing about something people seemed to be misunderstanding.

The only thing that irked me a bit was when I was branded "egotistical" for trying to explain those notes. But I think I got that response mostly because of the joke I made at the very end, which was taken literally. I should have been more clear that I was really trying to poke fun at myself. 8O

In any case! For all you critics out there... I *am* taking your comments to heart. I thoroughly appreciate the suggestions. Here are some things I'm keeping in mind for next time:

- Pay attention to synths and other choices of instrumentation. Stuff that maybe fits the style a little better? Perhaps that lead one was a little *too* 80's.
- Less "swelling" in the vocal lines. I definitely see how I went a little overboard there, hehe.
- Mixing the main melody a bit louder so it "rides on top of the arrangement"
- A better sense of climax. Though I don't feel that was as necessary in a piece like this, it is something I should keep in mind for the future.
- Soundscaping. This was my first attempt at remixing, so I still have a lot to learn!
- More attention to detail in foreign languages. I stand by my choice to sing in Japanese, but I could have made more effort in the pronunciation. The only person I asked for help there was Evilhead. He approved, so I assumed perhaps too quickly that it was fine. Next time, I will also find someone locally to give me a little language coaching.

Yep yep. Good stuff, guys. I'm really getting a lot out of this experience. ^_^

-Jill

Wanderer

03-25-2005, 10:12 PM

[Nevermind.]

GrayLightning

03-25-2005, 10:58 PM

- A better sense of climax. Though I don't feel that was as necessary in a piece like this, it is something I should keep in mind for the future.

I agree. I would throw out such comments like yesterday's trash. :lol: In all seriousness, the above criticism is more of a personal taste issue, rather than one grounded in technical merit. That's my take on it anyway. One has to considering this context, genre and source material. Not every genre must obey rules observed in other genres. Ultimately though it's up to you to decide which comments you consider here of value and which are just ridiculous (of which there are many).

Garde

03-25-2005, 11:31 PM

arias, you definitely posted constructive criticism, and a good deal of it.

However, others did not (mainly the first few pages) and were just insulting her or her mix because she chose to sing in Japanese, or that she mispronounced words (when in fact Japanese pop artists tend to mispronounce just as much as pixietricks does). A few of her words were a little forced, but it did not deserve the negative attention it was drawing from people. In other words, they could have said things in a much more polite way to illustrate their thoughts on the song.

I wouldn't want her leaving the mixing scene because people were bashing her for singing in Japanese. She has an incredibly beautiful voice, and I'd like to hear more of it, especially in more mixes. How can you expect someone to want to keep doing something if people continually throw insults at a person who is trying this out for the first time? That is why a lot of people jumped to her rescue. We want her to stay and make more mixes, and we don't want some rude peopel that think they know everything about Japanese scaring them away (when in fact, it was they that were mistaken/over-critical about singing Japanese).

I think I will post up Sakura Drops, or at least a piece of it so you can hear the similarity of the singing.

Edit:

http://members.cox.net/garde/Utada%20Hikaru%20-%20Sakura%20Drops.mp3

I am posting this merely as a reference, that is all.

And if you're wondering where you've heard her voice before, Utada Hikaru sung for the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack.

TCK

03-26-2005, 12:17 AM

Evilhead

03-26-2005, 02:00 AM

On the subject of singing in Japanese, I saw little criticism of Star Salzman's Hebrew/Arabic singing in Pillar Of Salt (great mix, check it out if you haven't already), and the mispronunciations that there inevitably was in his singing.

Just seems to me that people are ragging on pixietricks singing in Japanese because it's Japanese. Maybe I'm wrong though.

No, I think you're right. Japan is the flavor of the month lately, and of course anything popular will gather hate from everyone else simply due to the fact that it is popular. The the rest of us non-Yugi-Oh fans, Japanese is a beautiful language!

I do have to say that her pronunciation WAS quite good. Honestly when she posted her first recording of it I was almost wincing before I played it because I thought she would butcher it. I have many American friends here with AWFUL Japanese pronunciation, and it drives me completely insane. Poorly spoken Japanese is a real pet peeve of mine, actually. But when I heard it I was surprised at how good it sounded from someone who had never been taught it formally before. A few other posters and myself gave her some tips on how to improve and she heeded the advice right very well! She mentioned finding someone locally to help her with the pronunciation, and that would be great help as well. Nothing can really beat having someone right there helping you. Hopefully you can find someone Jill!

arias

03-26-2005, 02:41 AM

My last addition to this thread, which has spawned much posts that detracts from the purpose of this thread.. is that I don't believe that the criticisms here would have deterred her from continuing to make remixes. Interference in the form of the vehement defence of pixietricks was totally unwarranted.

Listened to Sakura Drops.. I'm not totally sure what the similarities are -- Utada voice is closer to a low tenor and has a distinctive timber, as well as an "airiness" in her singing. Anyways, for your information, Utada is not -really- a native Japanese speaker; she was educated mostly in the U.S. In fact, in an interview from a few years ago, she claims to write her lyrics in english first, and translates them to Japanese later.

Anyway, good to know pixie, that you can take such criticisms. Get working on your next work -- many of us look forward to it.

Dhsu

03-26-2005, 07:07 AM

Poorly spoken Japanese is a real pet peeve of mine, actually. But when I heard it I was surprised at how good it sounded from someone who had never been taught it formally before.
The key word being "spoken" Japanese. ;) A lot of inflection/pitch qualities of a language are lost when singing it. Although, of course, there are still plenty of little nuances left over to make it a considerable accomplishment.

Anyways, for your information, Utada is not -really- a native Japanese speaker; she was educated mostly in the U.S. In fact, in an interview from a few years ago, she claims to write her lyrics in english first, and translates them to Japanese later.
Hm...interesting. I guess that would explain why "Simple and Clean" sounds so natural.

Get working on your next work
And be quick about it! Hyah! ;)

Garde

03-26-2005, 11:00 PM

I did not know that about Utada... I don't know what it is about pixietricks' voice and Utada's voice that is similar or how to describe it, I just know that when I listen to Prayer, it reminds me of Utada Hikaru. There's something about it, maybe the way some words are spoken, I dunno... I wish I were educated in the ways of voices to be able to describe it.

Sporknight

03-27-2005, 12:40 AM

I enjoyed this mix alot. At first, it didnt seem like anything special, but if i need somethin to just chill to, this one is very relaxing and soothing.

Although its been a while since I've played OoT, this mix sounds like something that could be used in place of the original theme. Although that may annoy some people (it dosent deviate far enough from the original, etc), it dosen't stop me from liking it!

blackmyst

03-27-2005, 05:21 AM

Personally, I don't care whether the language is correct. It sounds great, that's good enough for me.

You don't see the Japanese caring about anything other than the coolness factor of the English language do you? *cough*engrish.com*cough*

I must be honest and say that the "ooah's" sounded a bit strange at first, and I feel that maybe replacing only those (not the "hah's") with an instrument, would have been good. That said, after repeated listening they felt to be blending in with the rest of the music better.

BIGBen

03-27-2005, 09:00 AM

I love this song VERY MUCH. I give big respect to pixietricks, cause it sounds very good and she has a cute voice. At least it is ZELDA. And thats GREAT! :D

ENGLISH FOR THE MOTHERLAND, MEIN FUHRER.

Are you damn crazy?! What do you mean with that crap? Mein Führer, that sounds like you are a nazi. That isn't funny, you fool.

Souldier

03-27-2005, 09:21 AM

Wow I actually came to this site about the same time this song got posted!

As a largely untrained singer, I must say this song is great. I hardly noticed the "dissonence problems." That might be because I remembered them in the game or maybe I'm just stoopid.

My constructive criticism is, if you choose to do another song in a language that you aren't familiar with do some work on the accent. That was the only thing that I felt took away from the song. But you are already mentioned finding a local coach for next time.

<joins fanclub>Souldier</joins fanclub>

Eagerly awaiting your next song.

majin_lyndon

03-27-2005, 06:50 PM

I thoroughly enjoy this mix. The Forest Temple is the one song I thought would NEVER get remixed. I don't know how you did it, but excellent work! I have no problems with the sound, dialect or "hoo hahs". To each their own I guess.

ENGLISH FOR THE MOTHERLAND, MEIN FUHRER.

I think he was mocking the fact that people had a problem with an English-speaking person singing in Japanese. Why the Hell not I say? Get working on your next song now! *please be NiGHTS* :P

Raza Bloodfire

03-27-2005, 08:44 PM

The only reason I was being so adament about all the critism was because it was still being said AFTER she had explained herself.

But with all of this emotion now in the open, let's just leave it at that we all hope her next remix will be even better.

Fashykins

03-27-2005, 09:38 PM

While I am often inclined to agree with this sort of thing, the Japanese was entirely justifiable in this case. This song was designed for and by Western ears (presumably the vast majority of the visitors to OCR are Western). When you listen to something in a foreign language, the mind does not attempt to realize each word and acertain its meaning. Thus, by using Japanese in this track, she made the voice layer something warm and ambient; this ambience would have been impossible with an English language track.

I didn't read the translated lyrics, nor do I care what they say. This song sounds great, and the remixer is pretty damned talented. Job well done.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm very happy that the lyrics were in a language that I don't understand. I can just more fully realize the soundscape. Also, I think the language sounds more beautiful. An African language might have made it even cooler, though. :) Still, I'm very impressed with the whole ensemble of atmosphere.

I don't remember the Minuet of Forest being in the original temple music, but then again, I was never a fan of any of the temple themes. So if that was added, kudos. It sounds very nice in the context of the ambience.

As a few others said, the dissonance around 3:30 was a little unnerving (Edit: I am referring not to the singer's pitch but rather the emphasis upon it at that point)... but on the second and third listen, I began to appreciate it more, and it grew on me. I think with time it fits and improves the total work.

As for the pronunciation of the Japanese lyrics - give me a break! Have you heard _professional_ Japanese music in English? It's a joke! A good example is "403 - Southern Cross" - an awesome song, but the lyrics are TERRIBLY pronounced. I didn't even realize it was English for about 20 listens.

Not knowing a lot about Japanese pronunciation, it doesn't really phase me much, and I prefer to just think of it as some non-understandable language with some sort of mystical meaning. When I do, I recognize it for the clear quality it has rather than someone trying to a sing in a non-native language. Anyways, judging by the style of the music, I think there should be plenty of phonetic leeway. Music so flowing should be able to have "stretches" in pronunciation. I know in English it sure does.

That oh eh stuff does get a bit irritating when you loop the mix though
I remember the original temple music being significantly annoying in that aspect (one of the reasons it's not one of my favorites), so I wouldn't necessarily blame this mix. It was faithful to the original there, and I support that. In fact, I think it may been a bit more tolerable (and even appreciable) in the redux.

... I wrote this as I was going forward through the thread, and I now see that basically everything I said has already been said (and answered). Meh.
ENGLISH FOR THE MOTHERLAND, MEIN FUHRER.

Are you damn crazy?! What do you mean with that crap? Mein Führer, that sounds like you are a nazi. That isn't funny, you fool.
ROFL. He was making fun of a certain attitude that many people shared. Most of us understood it, it's a pretty common little meme on the internet. ;)

djpretzel

03-27-2005, 11:47 PM

As for the pronunciation of the Japanese lyrics - give me a break! Have you heard _professional_ Japanese music in English? It's a joke! A good example is "403 - Southern Cross" - an awesome song, but the lyrics are TERRIBLY pronounced. I didn't even realize it was English for about 20 listens.

I think this is an excellent, excellent point that totally deflates most arguments/criticisms of the pronunciation. In almost every other J-Pop/anime closer and many video game pieces with vocals you hear attempts at English e.g. "Pick me up foxy night game" or "Never farring down" that - while still musical - don't exactly cut the elocution mustard. Those whining - and forgive me, because it comes off that way in most cases - about pronunciation here and elsewhere (Tom Cruise in Last Samurai, Uma in KB) seem to me to simply be flaunting their knowledge, however extensive or otherwise, of the language. However, the Japanese themselves clearly have no problem including poorly pronounced English in a good percentage of their own music, much of which the SAME people enjoy without a single bitch or moan. Hypocrisy? Methinks yes.

Furthermore, music has never been the place for exemplary pronunciation, even in singers' native languages, as words are often stretched to their syllabic limits in the interest of fulfilling a triplet or completing a musical phrase. And singing in a language other than one's own dates at least as far back as Mozart's time, where Italian and German were the only commonly accepted languages for operatic work. So get over yourselves and, if you wish to illustrate your keen knowledge of Japanese as learned in high school, college, or even via the more credible path of extended immersion, do so critiquing news broadcasts or Japanese-English translations, where such analysis makes more sense.

At any rate, I don't seek linguistic perfection in music. I seek musicality.

the_mayor

03-28-2005, 12:02 PM

I never really cared for the original. I do however like this mix. The vocals sound great and the whole song works musically. This one's a definate must download.

gregfrost

03-29-2005, 12:05 AM

I've always felt partial to the temple themes, and was sad none of them showed up on the official CD. This mix has excellent production and the singing is on. Using vocals for the intervals is especially clever.

As for the actual singing, Pixietricks has a pleasant voice which is well applied to this material. The Japanese pronunciation is good, and to me sounds comparable to that of several native Japanese singers. Bonus points for that.

Now this is impressive. I've been going through the Ocarina of Time soundtrack for a project I'm working on, and I always thought the Forest Temple music was cool, but pretty much unusable for a remix. Damn, was I wrong.

I've had a desire for some time to make something dark and smoky out of the Spirit Temple theme, but I haven't made any progress.

Dark Monkey

03-29-2005, 12:52 AM

This is one of the best remixes posted in a while. It's very inspiring to play this while I'm writing.

benevolensaurus

03-30-2005, 12:13 AM

It's good. I suppose I'm kind of ignorant here (monolingual, I swear sometimes it seems like I'm the only person like that in this whole state), but her voice didn't sound noticably different than any other Japanese singer's voice to me. For Japanese being a secondary language, that's pretty damn good.

Now, I can't think of a good way to say this without sounding kind of offensive, but oh well... I don't see why this piece is getting so much attention as compared to everything else that makes it on the site. I don't recall many other things getting up to 90 reviews so quickly, and there's lots of other good stuff getting submitted around here. Now, don't get me wrong, this is good... I don't know. I'm just not seeing anything particularly stellar about it. Maybe it's because my mind's grouping it with all the other Japanese music I've heard.

Tiberiansam

03-30-2005, 12:39 AM

To start, all I can say is that's great stuff we have here! Not my favourite remix (sry, Mustin, Bladiator and McVaffe r still #1 in my heart! :wink: ) but good enought to say that anyone who think this remix is crap is a fool! :mrgreen: And the voice! Oh my! :!: How come you are not rich and famous with thoses talents of your? :P Celine Dion is and her voice isn't half as beautiful as yours! 8) (I'm very serious by the way!) For the rest, I can't say anything cause I only know a few basic japanese words (such as baka, neko and (bi)-shoujo/shonnen). :oops: And for the musical part, I can't even less criticise since I can't even read music sheets! (Double :oops: ) But isn't music more about feelings than theorical? :puppyeyes:
__________________________________________

http://azumanga.thoughtdump.net/images/icons/kaminekoinnocence.jpg
Komineko

DarkFrog

03-30-2005, 07:51 AM

Great work! Definitely a great step in adding greater variety to what's available in this site's collection.

And about the eeh-oh parts, while my initial impression was a little bit negative, I grew attached to them as nostalgia took hold. The return of memories of feeling truely unsettled, after being lost in a dungeon, feeling alone in the cold early morning, were truely priceless.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to your future submissions!

-Austin Spafford

03-30-2005, 09:49 PM

Excellent track.

I really enjoyed the work on ambience and that recurrent percussion roll in the back is a great great touch. While the synth used for the back melody was a cheesy pick, it ended up being an adequate, lighter complement to the rest of the soundscape.

Good work with the bells and last but not least, your voice is lovely, and your approach in vocal effects was just AWESOME. While some parts were borderline (although I'm more of an "artistic preference" guy than a "anti-offtune fascist" when confronted to such), I honestly thought that the staccato vocal parts were great and fitting. I was just more or less bothered by one or two spots in the japanese-sung parts were there seemed to be unintentional deviations in your voice.

It is important to be wide opened about this, and while there are some annoying "offtune" newbie tries, the possibly "offtune" parts I found in this track were - as far as I'm concerned - interesting and adding to the surreal atmosphere the composer was going for. You techno/rock-only listeners should lend an ear or two to more ethnic or challenging ambient/experimental tracks. Ambience and oddity can be a most inspirational and interesting factor in music. :)

While this track is not exceptionally challenging, its execution and work on mood and different layers are quite novel and welcomed for the OCRemix audience. I'll be sure to listen to this quite a few times, I really enjoy this track's mood. Thumbs up!

Monobrow

04-02-2005, 09:56 AM

While I am often inclined to agree with this sort of thing, the Japanese was entirely justifiable in this case. This song was designed for and by Western ears (presumably the vast majority of the visitors to OCR are Western). When you listen to something in a foreign language, the mind does not attempt to realize each word and acertain its meaning. Thus, by using Japanese in this track, she made the voice layer something warm and ambient; this ambience would have been impossible with an English language track.

I didn't read the translated lyrics, nor do I care what they say. This song sounds great, and the remixer is pretty damned talented. Job well done.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm very happy that the lyrics were in a language that I don't understand. I can just more fully realize the soundscape. Also, I think the language sounds more beautiful. An African language might have made it even cooler, though. :) Still, I'm very impressed with the whole ensemble of atmosphere.

I wholeheartedly agree here. I have come to appreciate songs where I cannot understand the lyrics...Sometimes I don't want to think about what someone is saying, I just want to get the jist of what they are evoking...They become a part of the song, atmospherically.

I use one of my favorite Japanese-sung songs, "The Real Folk Blues", as an example, because it has the exact same affect on me...I can't understand what is being said, but I am into the singer's voice, and the emotions she is evoking with her music accompanied by the background...I don't care how it is pronounced in "her" language, as long as it sounds good to me. Later, if I really dig the song, I will start to wonder what those lyrics really mean...the same goes with so many other songs sung in different languages. The lyrics and the music are sometimes so set apart, (especially in another language) that neither can be directly associated with each other when interpreting a song, and yet how they sound, in reference to the mood of the song, and what they make you feel, leads to the listener determining what and how those lyrics they heard, mean to them in the end. (whew)

I also have to say that I am glad this was insta-posted...I was wondering what happened to it after it was in the WIP section. And to pixietricks, I'm glad you combined the ohh ohh's with your main vocals at the end of the song...I was waiting for that.

I am sure this was a difficult piece to arrange, and I'm also sure many people who have tried to tackle it have given up, or just not made the cut, because the song is practically meant to be one big beautiful annoyance. I like how this mix was kept simple, and to the point, and I beg to differ about the climax...I feel there is one...it's right at the end of the song, where everything that's been there previously comes full circle...Not everything has to be plain as day to be "good", to me at least...I agree that is all just a matter of taste.

Anyway, if I had a hat, it would be off to you, for this inspiring and original piece, that sets itself apart from so many others on this site.

SuperNomad

04-02-2005, 07:08 PM

Excellent remix, you have a great voice and I like the mood of it.

Petara

04-02-2005, 08:17 PM

I always thought the original song was really weird, yet strangely satisfying as far as establishing an atmosphere. I got the same feelings for this mix mostly because she used some of the same samples and effects, but add her voice and it makes this mix pretty. Still, the prettiest OoT remix has to be RiverofTime.

A-RoN

04-02-2005, 08:52 PM

This seems like an expanded version of the original, but dang! 8O That voice has me sold! I'd love to hear more music from Jill in the future.

Sword_Chucks

04-03-2005, 03:17 AM

One reason why I like this song is because the style is a lot like Martin O' Donnell,:lol: and I start adding a different percussion line everytime I hear it come up in my playlist. Then I just listen to the original lyrics that were created for this song and think how cool this would be in an actual Zelda anime. Good Job Jill andpixietricks!

Jillian Aversa

04-03-2005, 06:35 AM

Good Job Jill andpixietricks!
Two names, one being. ;) And thank you!

-Jill (a.k.a. pixietricks)

JC83

04-03-2005, 12:07 PM

Personally I didn't like it. Nothing against you or your musical style, just my own tastes. I always hated the Forest Temple and the music that went with it. So I found it an odd choice all around.

At the same time good effort, it looks like plenty of people enjoyed it!

Hachiryu

04-04-2005, 09:05 PM

I heard this mix early on, when it was going through make-overs on the WIP boards. I liked it then and I like it now. Great singing.

BlueMage

04-04-2005, 11:11 PM

Right.....after repeated listenings....this track's really grown on me. Disregard anything I said in my previous comment (aside from the vocalist being very talented - that stands). Well-made track.

viperfang

04-10-2005, 01:30 AM

I am completely speechless after hearing this som many times. The Japanese lyrics fit this song well. The best remix I've heard, ever.

willow-whisp

04-10-2005, 02:37 AM

Pixietricks: I'm totally impressed with the way you've taken the criticisms and usual mouthing off in these forums. You're obviously a centered, dedicated artist and if you keep improving from your crits, you will go quite far. :)

P.S. - Hello fellow Masshole! ^_^

Brim

04-13-2005, 01:14 AM

Great and very relaxing song. I don't care about the lyrics, but they do sound nice.

Nobbynob Littlun

04-18-2005, 10:23 AM

Ooooooo....
Ahhhhhh....
Swoooooonnn....
Swayyyyyyyy....

=)

Wait, turning up volume... is that crying in the very beginning? It makes me sad =(

At 1'57", do I hear you doing a wee bit of backup singing for yourself? If so, yes please and thank you! Otherwise, I guess it is a recording fluke, and nice subtlety, that you might want to try for in future endeavors!

- A better sense of climax. Though I don't feel that was as necessary in a piece like this, it is something I should keep in mind for the future.
I would dispute this! At least for any Japanese or otherwise Asian-esque song! The importance of climax is an artifact of Western culture.

Eastern culture (i.e. Japan's) is largely rooted out of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. In both cases the world is a continuing cycle of rebirth. In fact, in the case of Buddhism, nothing ever dies or is born, as it contends everything to be a pattern of energy - nothing is an actual thing, but simply complex patterns of motion that ebbs and flows, even us! The patterns that constitute a human is simply able to have perceptions and ideas which are themselves simply flows of energy... well anyway. This is quite different from a belief in Creation (intro), life(climax), going to Heaven(anticlimax), etc.

Naturally this philosophy would work its way into their daily life, and would be reflected in their music. Listen to the real classics of theirs, and you'll hear it. They don't have big climaxes like we do, sometimes none at all, sometimes lots of little periodic ones.

I think I shall attempt to meditate with this music at some later date.

Platinus

04-23-2005, 02:17 AM

Damn that's beautiful. You have a wonderful voice. That is the voice of a siren. Please don't lure my ship and my sailors to their deaths. Please I beg of thee,mercy! You have a very wonderful voice. I would come to your rocky island just to listen to it...i would swim so my ship didnt break up and cause many a men their deaths. I would listen to you forever. So nice...::stares with a glazed expresion...::so nice...

Brim

05-15-2005, 05:22 AM

Zellfreid

06-14-2005, 10:13 PM

Wow...

I've been given an ENTIRELY new appreciation for this song...

I used to hate that anoying sound in the background in the game.
But this... o_o; *tears well up*

Thank you...

Scufo

06-15-2005, 04:27 PM

I'll get right to the point.

I hated it.

Better luck next time.

Dhsu

06-15-2005, 08:41 PM

At least you're honest. I respect that.

synthetic_realities

07-28-2005, 06:30 PM

When I first heard this, it knocked me flat on my ass! I had to listen to it again! I always loved the ambience of the music from the Forest Temple, and she took it and added her fantastic vocals to it! I think that if this was the song used in the game, I would have never gotten through the forest temple because I would just find somewhere green and quiet and listen to it the whole time! This is most definately one of my favourite songs ever, let alone remix. Keep up the absolutely breathtaking work!

Aurora

08-04-2005, 08:58 PM

this is such a beautiful mix... gorgeous vocals... incredible.

DistantJ

08-14-2005, 02:28 PM

I thought this was "Overclocked ReMix", not "Overclocked sing in foreign over the top of some videogame music"? This is nice, though. It's nice and chilled. And the vocalist is pretty good.

But you know what this reminds me of? Nu-RnB. You know, like, the stuff where they take some background music from somewhere else and sing over it - and the tune which they're singing in sounds almost as if it's been improvised.

Okay there are changes in the background music, though, I actually think that it would have been better without them. The Forest Temple music is a FANTASTIC, atmospheric minimalist piece which I feel is somewhat overlooked because of the symphonic qualities of the other songs in the game. The take on it here is nice, and the idea of turning it into a song with vocals really appeals to me, but the new instruments and synths added into the background music kind of degrade it, and kill it's atmosphere, as they're very digital sounding, which eat away at the original's quite acoustic, wooden, pseudo-natural sounds. The new percussion is VERY nice, though.

The choice to sing the lyrics in Japanese reeks of pretentiousness to me, though. Yeah, the vocalist can sing. Pretty damned well. But I think this song could have been much more of a killer if it was sang in the original language of the writers (the writers of this remix, not of the original piece) because the Japanese just comes across as pretentious and silly.

Jillian Aversa

08-14-2005, 06:30 PM

I'm sorry you feel that way, DistantJ; the Japanese wasn't meant to come off as pretentious. As a classical vocalist, I sing more often in other languages because most opera and art song repetoire comes from Italy, France, Germany etc. So I guess it just felt like second nature.

I chose Japanese for this mix for a couple reasons:

I didn't want the lyrics to detract from the overall ambience of the piece. Since they are supposed to be sung from the point of view of fairies, I was going for a mystical quality, and Japanese is a language most people on OCR probably don't know.
The original composer (Koji Kondo) is Japanese. ^_~
I've been studying the language, and also some Japanese art song, in preparation for a performance I just gave in Japan. Mixing in it = more practice, and fun!

I hope that gives you a better understanding for what I was trying to do, even if you still don't like my choice. ^_^

Jetstream

08-16-2005, 05:13 AM

Wow. Just, wow. Just went on a big downloading kick and I caught this one. I was dubious when I read the description but as I read it... Good lord. It's creative, interesting and, if I might say, madame, you have an incredible voice. Bravo. :)

Princess_Of_Memories

08-16-2005, 05:28 AM

Where can I get the translations?
I would love to know everything she is saying (that is just the way I am)
please?

FaintGlow

08-16-2005, 09:02 AM

DistantJ, everyone's entitled to their opinions about this remix, but is it really necessary to attack the artist like that? You made some very rude and incorrect comments in that post:
I thought this was "Overclocked ReMix", not "Overclocked sing in foreign over the top of some videogame music"?
This is a bad attempt at being clever. I thought it was supposed to be Overclocked ReMix too. But then you comment about the new instruments and synths degrading and killing the atmosphere of the original mix and that contradicts your above quote. This isn't the original mix, it's a remix, and therefore is going to have different instrumentation and feel to it, in whatever style the artist wants.
The choice to sing the lyrics in Japanese reeks of pretentiousness to me, though.
If you checked out the artist before making this statement, you'd find that Pixietricks has a more than adequete understanding of the language and culture to merit singing in it. But she's already stated that, more eloquently than I care to. If anything's pretentious it's your review, in which you clearly don't understand remixing.

Princess_Of_Memories

08-16-2005, 09:06 PM

Nicely done faint glow!
That was super honest and I like how you explained that calmly while attempting not to insult someone, althugh I think you may have it was kind of necessary.

Ænru

08-17-2005, 05:00 AM

I am really happy that someone decided to remix the piece from the Forest Temple. I fell in love with the music there, and tended to take my time in that place.

I love the singing, even though I don't understand any of it, I can see what the artist was aiming for.

It's far less distracting from the atmosphere and feeling when I don't have to try and figure out what the lyrics mean.

And I hope I'm not intrusive, but I followed you to this forum, Princess, which led me to this song, and I'm so glad I did. Now I have another favorite in my playlist. Thanks again.

p.s. I noticed that my boldening of words got a little out of hand, so I'm gonna see if I can keep it to the necessity.

Princess_Of_Memories

08-17-2005, 05:55 AM

I like the bolding, keeps it intresting!
I have no problem with you following me to this forom.
It was a good remix.
Well worth it i'm sure.

BooM

08-28-2005, 04:40 AM

Yes, id be interested to know the lyrics too.

Im not a big song downloader, but i must say that of those i have downloaded, this one is at a tie for favourite.

I love the mysticism this song generates. I can close my eyes, and listen to it and i can be somewhere, walking through that forest, feeling the eyes of the faeries on me.

Ive always believed that what makes a good song is one of 3 things.

- Either it can change your emotion, and make you believe that you were in that mood all along.
- Or it can make you absorb the words and feel like you can relate and understand, almost like you lived the story.
- Or finally, it can transport you to a place, wherever it is our minds choose, and you can fully believe, that for just a few mintues your there, and the song fuels that feeling. What happens when your there is altered and changed with the beat and speed of the song.

That last one is exactly how i feel when i listen to this song. I wont bore anyone with the details of where i escape to when i hear this song, but it makes me want to listen to it again and again.

I seriously hope you do some more remixes Pixietricks!!

DrumUltimA

09-10-2005, 08:07 PM

HI JILL I LIVE LIKE 10 FEET FROM YOU

Jillian Aversa

09-10-2005, 08:34 PM

HI JILL I LIVE LIKE 10 FEET FROM YOU
lolz omg DOUG HOLY CRAP I HEAR YOU PLAYING THE VIBES RIGHT NOW!!!!! :lmassoff:

Aetherius

09-10-2005, 08:52 PM

I love how people are still going on about the pretensiousness of japanese like...9 pages later. No one DESERVES to be able to sing in japanese. If you can sing in japanese, sing in japanese when you feel like it. While I find her pronunciation to be...like an english person speaking japanese, which bothers me, it doesn't make her less worthy of the language.

Meanwhile, I'm sticking with my original story, that while pixie has a lovely voice, it doesn't make up for how long, repetitive, and otherwise unimaginitive this turned out to be...But who really gives a crap? Everyone starts somewhere.

p.s. poofy reviews abound in here. "I love how magically you manage to flirt with the ideas of mysticism and flowers and pretty shineys! Give me your pancake!" Carebear central.

maestermatt

09-21-2005, 11:32 PM

i can picture link exploreing the forest temple with this song. you should go professnel pixetrix.

BooM

10-12-2005, 11:57 PM

I would die to know the lyrics. Im the sort of person who always has to sing along to songs, and i just CANT sing along to that :cry: hehehe

Darkmetamorphasis

12-01-2005, 11:04 PM

I dont know if I'm one of the only ones who didnt really find anything bad with this song, I mean hell look at most other artists, they dont know the language but they tend to sing it anyway, I obviously heard that she didnt really sing it as if it was a first language, but hey, I didnt really care, I actually appreciated the song, and well I liked every minute of it, so I dont know why people are getting so upset by this fact, when in fact it is a remix, and if someone wants to make one the way they'd like it, by all means go ahead, but for now, I want to enjoy whats been given to me, namely this remix, so good job, I liked it alot!

Zipp

12-02-2005, 10:02 PM

What? I didn't comment on this?

This is one of my favorites off of OCR, probably because it's the kind of stuff I love. I think Japanese singing works better here than English would. Granted, I generally don't like Japanese Pop, but this isn't pop, this is more classical, and for that Japanese works better than many languages in my opinion. Or at least, it works better for me.

I didn't notice anything wrong with any of the pitches or anything like that, and Pixie pointed out why perfectly in her post a couple pages back.

This mix was a brilliant take on the original theme, very innovative. I give it 5/5

jake_conner

12-17-2005, 03:50 PM

awsome song im defenitly burning this to a disk and i was just wondering i cought some beats from garageband did you use garageband?

OmegaDonut

12-17-2005, 07:13 PM

awsome song im defenitly burning this to a disk and i was just wondering i cought some beats from garageband did you use garageband?

She did, in fact, use Garageband. Good ears.

Come to think of it, I haven't thanked pixie yet for ReMixing one of the most haunting melodies from Ocarina of Time and turning it into an even more beautiful piece. So... thanks, pixie!

Jillian Aversa

12-17-2005, 08:09 PM

You're welcome! Haha... wow, I can't believe this mix is still getting comments. Thanks guys.

maestermatt

12-23-2005, 12:29 AM

I would die to know the lyrics. Im the sort of person who always has to sing along to songs, and i just CANT sing along to that :cry: hehehe
Same here. Pixietricks I LOVE YOU.

Jillian Aversa

12-23-2005, 04:33 AM

Lyrics are on the page writeup: http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01333/

Zombie

03-01-2006, 07:13 PM

I like this remix alot! The japanese lyrics are cool.

Zipp

03-15-2006, 10:19 PM

I'd just like to add to my earlier comments that pixitricks is an inspiring young artist whose voice carries with it an otherworldly weight that cannot be denied nor ignored. The presence in her songs is unique.

offthewall234

04-23-2006, 05:28 PM

I don't care what anyone says, Prayer is just great! It's like Canon from Grand Turismo 4, you have to listen to it when you are wanting to relax. The vocals are very justifiable, since some songs sound very crappy in english, like the KH2 theme. >.<

So, I give this great ambient and vocal tune by Pixietricks a 10/10! =^-^=

WesPip

05-20-2006, 06:14 AM

As a brief prologue, I'll state that I like on a fairly heavily treed street, and I work fairly late.

So anyways...
I'd just gotten off the bus on my way home today, and this song came up in my mp3 player.
It's a nice night, but quite dark aside from the occasional streetlight. Also, there happened to be a light rain tonight.
As I was walking home, this song just fit the mood perfectly.

Only shortly after it ended did I remember that this also happens to be quite akin to the mood in the Forest Temple itself [only with more ghosts and hands falling from ceilings].
I think when a song can either provide perfect background music for a situation like that or make you recall moments like those, it's succeeded in what it's trying to do.
So..good job Jill.

YellowYoshi1

07-16-2006, 07:23 PM

Ooo, I very much love this. It captures the ambience of the temple, but manages to make it more holy sounding than creepy. Very good work. It would be cool to see what you could do with the Fire Temple theme. :lol:

Dhsu

02-14-2007, 07:04 AM

I just remembered what song the synth reminds me of.

http://www.icompositions.com/auditorium/showphoto.php?photo=4317

You have to wait until 7 seconds to hear it.

I truly do not think anything was stolen, but it does sounds almost exactly the same. Its too off-chance to hear this song, and then think about remixing a Zelda song and just happen to fit the synth into that Zelda song. Just thought it was interesting.
I was just going through old review threads again and noticed this post. Checked it out and I have to say the resemblance is uncanny...literally note for note, except for a key signature change. And the other dude remixes game music too! Perhaps it's some sort of GarageBand preset?

Then again, have David Easthope and Jill Goldin ever been seen in the same room together? HMMM...

admeister

08-19-2007, 01:32 PM

I think this remix is excellent, Jill has a very nice voice which suits this track perfectly. I always liked this theme in OOT, it set the atmosphere nicely, and this has only been amplified by the great work that has been done here. The Japanese lyrics (very beautiful by the way) add a holy, slightly foreign feel to it, and it's all very true to the original, including the sound effects. :lol:

Great work.

Liontamer

10-31-2007, 08:03 PM

Good guess, but not quite the proverbial tobacco.

Although I just realized the mix was actually direct-posted, so it doesn't really have a place in a discussion about the judges. My bad, carry on.
He's saying "Prayer" by pixietricks.

zircon

10-31-2007, 08:10 PM

He's saying "Prayer" by pixietricks.

Ah yes, another display of cunningly site (staff) criticism from Dhsu. He really could have picked a better example, as we've passed more coverish things.

Liontamer

10-31-2007, 08:31 PM

Ah yes, another display of cunningly site (staff) criticism from Dhsu. He really could have picked a better example, as we've passed more coverish things.
I can get annoyed, but I still like when David does that; nothing wrong with keeping us in line. I could be wrong on the track implied, but we'll see. For the 1500 lockdown though, we voted on "Prayer" and let it stay due to having some interpretive merit, but myself and the panel at the time came to the consensus that we wouldn't have passed it in the first place had it went on the panel.

zircon

10-31-2007, 08:37 PM

Yeah, but it's not really 'keeping us in line' when we didn't evaluate it to begin with. Not to mention that objectively speaking, it's not a MIDI rip with vocals on top, so those would be two reasons why it doesn't defeat my statement that you can't sub a MIDI rip with vocals and have it pass.

I would have backed him up if he was hatin' on AmberTrance though. ;)

Dhsu

10-31-2007, 08:53 PM

Yeah, but it's not really 'keeping us in line' when we didn't evaluate it to begin with.
Which I already admitted. Again, I apologize for bringing it up, since it was no fault of the judges per Larry's elaboration.

Not to mention that objectively speaking, it's not a MIDI rip with vocals on top, so those would be two reasons why it doesn't defeat my statement that you can't sub a MIDI rip with vocals and have it pass.
You're right. It's a MIDI rip with a GarageBand preset and vocals on top.

I can get annoyed, but I still like when David does that; nothing wrong with keeping us in line.
I critique because I care. :)

djpretzel

10-31-2007, 09:25 PM

You're right. It's a MIDI rip with a GarageBand preset and vocals on top.

Yeah, but they're GOOD vocals, and they constitute an original melody that's pretty creative...

Even still, I feel that if we'd known this was a GB preset, since it was already close, it probably wouldn't have been posted. I love the melody Jill added, but I think this is a case of the standards evolving, and I don't think it would be posted today. However, it's not egregious enough to remove, either, and was spared by the last and hopefully final lockdown, if I recall correctly.

Shadow Wolf

11-01-2007, 12:49 AM

WOW. I happen to have Prayer and the Ocarina of Time OST, so I went back and had a listen. Have to agree with Dhsu on this one. It's the exact original melody with a looping preset over it. On the other hand, I think Jill's vocals stand very well on their own, and I've already stated my stance on vocals in other languages. Had I been judging, which I obviously was not (nor was anyone else) I probably would have sent this one back for a little more imagination with the arrangement. That's a tall order though; the Forest Temple theme is an extremely daunting bit of music to remix, as it's barely music in the first place. I'd call it more of an ambience track, and Jill certainly did a better job than I would have. So in summation

NO (resubmit)

I've always wanted to do that.

Dhsu

11-01-2007, 02:10 AM

Yeah, but they're GOOD vocals, and they constitute an original melody that's pretty creative...
Well, you won't get an argument from me on that front. :)

Jaybell

11-24-2007, 10:14 PM

Woooooaaaaaaah this mix has a lot of reviews.

So uh yeah! Forest Temple is a bitching song from Ocarina of Time. So it's great that it got coverage.

I really really really love ambient songs, so I love this mix as well! The staccato vocal things caught me off guard at first, but they've since grown on me. Nice work!

Jillian Aversa

11-25-2007, 08:06 PM

It's not a MIDI rip; there was no MIDI involved whatsoever. I sampled the rolling mallet percussion background from the game, and wrote an original melody to carry the piece somewhere other than strict ambience, interspersed with different re-hashed sections from the source.

It's the exact original melody with a looping preset over it.
Actually, the only "melody" in the original lasts about four bars, and there are layers upon layers of tracks in this remix even excluding my vocals, so you can't boil it down like that.

Prayer was not only my first remix, but my first hand at computer music-making period. Sure, the standards have evolved since I first joined this community, and I'm much more familiar with them now (hence being a judge). I wouldn't submit something like this today, but I still consider it a great first step in my musical journey. :>