[Liontamer]

ReMixer name : Scaredsim
Real name : Simon Sternis
Email address : scaredsim@hotmail.com
Website : http://ssternis.free.fr

Userid : 20011

Name of the remix : Will is the Lord
Name of games ReMixed : Brainlord, Illusion of Gaia
Name of individual song(s) ReMixed : Road to Toronto (brainlord), Town & South Cape (illusion of Gaia)

Brainlord chiptune : http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=brld

Hi,

This song was used in my Enix Month for Dwelling of Duels. I re-worked it for OCR, especially the first part, in fact. It's cleaner, I removed the synths and played the melody at guitar. I recorded again the accoustic guitars of the second part, too.

Thanks,

- Simon

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http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=brld - "Road to Toronto" (brld-13.spc)
http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=iog - "Lively City" (iog-02a.spc)

I recently replied to some thoughts from Ryan8bit at The Shizz at how he gets the impression that OCR discourages covers:

Originally Posted by Liontamer (1/18/08)

As for what Ryan was talking about, stylish covers can be good on OCR, they just have to be pretty stylish. And yeah, there's more leeway, at least IMO, on retaining the structure of the original in live performance because you have to actually learn the parts, which definitely means something.

For covering 8-bit stuff, for example, it's about being stylish in what parts you cover and, just as important, being creative in what new part-writing you add to fill out the track. When you sum it up as "something has to be different", new supporting ideas are a good way to do it and help add your own style to the piece while keeping the tempo/structure/melody of the source. Even if the guitar work was incredible, if you had vanilla drum patterns underneath that weren't interesting, then you have a weak cover.

So, yes, "something has to be different". With that said, however, I thought Simon's arrangement here was exactly the kind of creative cover that I was talking about. This isn't literally the most blowaway performance I've ever heard, but it still sounded all sorts of good to me. We've got other cover-ish mixes in the same vein as this, with Star Fox "Space Cowboys" being the best example, IMO, of doing a cover yet substantively adding to the structure to present something unique.

It was very interesting hearing how Simon reworked this with more real instruments compared to the DoD version that took second place for this past November's Enix month. While I miss the synth lead from the last section, I'm feeling how cohesively the acoustic and electric guitars fit here.

I thought the transition from Brain Lord to Illusion of Gaia at 1:13 was excellently handled, including the near-total style change. The arrangement had good percussion writing, good harmonizations, and loads of added parts, instrumental variation and stylishness in the performance to make this a unique presentation of the two Enix source tunes. Solid stuff, Simon, looking forward to more as you continue to improve!

YES

[CHz]

You know, I've never checked out the Brain Lord soundtrack before listening to the source for this mix, and that track is pretty good. Definitely going to listen to the rest later, so thanks for that.

Right off the bat, I'm liking the percussion more in this version than the DoD one. Nice introduction of the melody on guitar, which sticks pretty close to the original, but has a couple of changes. The multiple guitars were used pretty effectively, especially at the climax. Not a whole lot more in the way of new material in this section.

I didn't really like the transition between the themes in the DoD version, and the same is true here, but I think that's probably as good as it'll get. Follows up with some original stuff with some hints of the Illusion of Gaia source before hitting with obvious usage at 2:39. Pretty straightforward use of the melody, but the feel is completely different, and wow at the guitar addition at 2:51. I absolutely love it. Nice stuff in the ending, although the piano is weakest here. Thought the cadence at 3:51 was pretty abrupt; it sounded like that section wanted to go on for a bit longer.

Overall, the sound is good. The piano is the weakest element, but the guitars and synths sound fine, and the percussion works. The bulk of the source usage is pretty coverish on the melodies, but there's good additional writing and original material to flesh them out, and the style adaptation of the IoG track in particular was good. There's enough here in the arrangement. Good improvement on the DoD version, which was already good to begin with.

YES

[Palpable]

Haha, Toronto? It doesn't evoke the same sense of magic and wonder that a town name in an RPG usually does.

Wasn't digging the transition, but otherwise, great arrangement. Very different feel to the material, and I thought the melody wasn't even that coverish, with some flourishes and harmonizations. Love the last third of this song, which combines the first two thirds in many ways.

Production wasn't perfect, but certainly no dealbreakers here. The guitar at 1:26 takes up more room than it should and masks the piano; little more EQ would help. Just keep it in mind next time, ya crazy kid.

YES

[big giant circles]

Coverish this may seem, there's a lot of instrumental expansion that I don't feel the need to clarify on. The drums are absolutely wicked throughout. Expertly sequenced. Lots of energy, and I love the whole Van Halen/Journey feel of the Brainlord portion. I was actually really happy with the transition. Not many people pull off such a quick transition so well, especially when the style and mood changeup so completely.

I've been voting for a couple hours straight now. I'm going to wrap this up lazily and go get some food.

YES