OCR02125 - *YES* Ristar 'Fiesta Amongst the Trees'

[OA]

Remixer Name: Strider Yoko
Real Name: Dustin Cubit
Email: dlkcubit@hotmail.com
User ID: 940


Game: Ristar - The Shooting Star
Song title: Dancing Leaves
Platform: Sega Genesis
Composer: Tomoko Sasaki

Dancing Leaves OST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CYz8kE9IIY&fmt=18
Remix Title: Fiesta Amongst the Trees

Dustin Cubit aka Strider Yoko- guitar: Main Melody, Solo 2
Scott Inumerable - guitar: Rhythm for Melody, Solo 1
Marco Lopez - guitar: Rhythm for Melody
Ryota Machida - Rhythm for Melody and solo section
Nikko Nobleza - guitar: Main Melody
Jon Polansky - electric bass
Fernando Gomez - drums
Etienne Argoud - timbales
Soran Dalawi - percussion
Justin Grinnell - Band Director/Arranger

Alternate Links for Download

Band Website: http://www.justingrinnell.com/afrocubancd/

We are all college students with the exception of Justin Grinnell who is the Professor / Band Director for the SouthWestern College Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble


Halfway through last semester we had only rehearsed 4 songs out of 8 for the end of the semester concert. We were in need of some tunes to play and Justin had asked me earlier if i had wrote anything playable for the class. I took up his request and started a basic preliminary arrangement of Dancing Leaves. When i first played this game back in the mid 90's this was one of the tunes that made the score stick out for me. I was a sucker for any jazz tunes in a game with a walking bass line. Ive also been a video game arranger for 10 years so I always keep my ears open when im playing a game. Dancing Leaves I thought had a great melody to fit the Afro Cuban style of Jazz. The the arrangement I came up with was very basic. I wrote it all out in Finale which is a music notation program. I hit a few snags and I couldn't figure out the harmonic progression during the bridge. My preliminary arrangement also had a harmonized melody but it was scrapped due to our bands lack of a brass section. Justin did some amazing things with the arrangement and it became a total new one. He fixed the Bridge and added some flavorful hits. Also my arrangement contained all of the original melody and by hearing the tune some of the melodic passages were well above our playing level. So he shot for accuracy over virtuosity. The Final Lead sheet ended up being 4 pages long! which is not what I'm used to seeing in non Big Band Jazz.


We performed the tune in concert and at toward the end of the semester we were told some disheartening news. Justin announced the the Afro-Cuban Ensemble was going to be cut next semester. The good news was that he wanted to plan a recording session and cut a cd using the band trust fund. He also wanted to use the CD as a presentation to the SWC Board of directors to show them what they were going to loose by cuting this class.

On Dec 9 2009 we recorded Dancing Leaves and 7 other songs at Studio West Located in San Diego. It was a great first time experience for me and some of my fellow Band/Classmates.

[DarkeSword]

Man, I love this remix, though it maybe just be Ristar-bias on my part, seeing as how I played the crap out of this game when I was younger. One of the best Genesis soundtracks ever, bar none.

This mix is a bit on the conservative side, but I think it does enough to expand the source theme in terms of part-writing to just get it over the bar. Rhythm guitars are especially nice with the comping chords and arpeggios, and the percussion has a lot more going on. Plus there are all these phrases where the entire ensemble locks together for a syncopated statement. Very nice.

Great relaxation music. YES!

[DragonAvenger]

I think Shariq's right here. I'm sorry that the band was cut from the program, because it would have been nice to hear some more arrangements from you guys!

Overall this is pretty close to the source, but the overall style shift and what arrangement there is is enough to squeak by in my opinion. I love the relaxed feel throughout.

Live performances are always great, and this one has a lot of charm. My one nitpick would be the few times where the guitars weren't lining up as tightly as they should have, but it's not really noticeable to the casual ear.

Now I want to go to the beach...
YES

[OA]

Great feel, and a good length makes this a pretty great and breezy track; OCR could definitely use some more Afro-Cuban. I was a little underwhelmed by the guitar solos, but in the melody parts, they were pretty on. The rhythm section was solid all the way through, however. Nice work, comrades!

Production is clean and balanced, and the entire live feel really helps this feel like I am enjoying some sort of delicious beverage at Club OCR, down on the beach.

The arrangement is conservative, but there are enough difference in tone, and performance to get this over the bar. I enjoyed it a lot. :-)

Yes

[anosou]

This is really nice. Some things keeping it from being all it could be. Some of the lead guitar parts aren't the tightest, it's a bit conservative and the solos were slightly underwhelming.

Still, it's a great performance. It's mixed well and there are enough small details and stuff to separate it from the source. Really like the unison syncopated statements and the drummers great groove. Overall a nice track!

YES