ReMix: Age of Empires 'Realms of Africa'

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Age of Empires

Protricity expands his sound significantly with this Age of Empires ReMix, our first from the popular series. The sheer definition of the instruments - their presence & power - in the intro alone bodes well for the rest of the piece. Loads of ethnic percussion, a variety of plucked, bowed, picked, and wind instruments can't help but lend an otherwordly, global mystique to this very transitive arrangement. The title suggests passing through various lands, perhaps sharing one or two instruments in common but having a different overall musical culture / vibe. Not to be too retentive, but most of this doesn't strike me as all that "African" - I'd say our world-weary traveler unwittingly wanders off the continent into the far east for a quick snack a couple times - but there's chock full o' pitched and unpitched percussion to give Mr. Asulin's title some weight, amongst other elements. I particularly liked the intro here - it's very broad and expansive, hinting at possibilities and creating the right atmosphere for pre-safari thoughts of potential wonders lying ahead. Or maybe I've just stopped on the Discovery Channel one too many times whilst channel-surfing :) Another kudos would be the intonation and articulation - this isn't the type of "world music" that just uses exotic instruments in an otherwise Western compositional context - Prot has some legit shtuffs going on, which results in a culturally flavored ReMix the likes of which is pretty unique to OCR and a well-appreciated deviation. Recommended.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Listened to this today for the first time. The melody is great too.

- metalsnakejuice on September 25, 2009
I have loved this mix since I first heard it. Man, I keep wishing we'd get more AOE mixes, but this keeps me happy!

- duskvstweak on September 23, 2009
AnotherOneBitesTheDust;8248 wrote: You really have to listen to the whole thing to appreciate it. It's one of those songs that takes you on a journey. Opens up with nice atmosphere to show what's going to go down. No distinct melody or pattern is present until 1:15. It continues in it's growth from there to 1:48 where something loud is noticable and you can get "into it".
About half way through things stop.
Another melody seems to be growing. I am reminded of various places from the game Terranigma. Things keep growing in this second half until it hits 3:35 where my favorite part comes in. A slow string guides you through the rhythm with the melody at the same time. Something very dramatic and eerie about this part. I like it a lot, same goes for any other song that successfully pulls that feeling off.
The drums vary, mostly being either absent or blended perfectly in the background, nothing techno about this at all. 5 minutes? Seems like 2.

Yeah, it does have a Terranigma feel to it. Speaking of which, we need more remixes of that game AND Age of Empires :D

- HoboKa on April 28, 2007
As one who has the Redbook audio from every AoE disk made, I like this mix. It's not 5-star, but i'll give it a four because it was done /right/, not just 'done'.
Thanks, Protricity.

- Kapyrna on April 27, 2007
Still one of the best mixes on this site.

- myf on May 19, 2006
Prophecy wrote: I have been mixing for ten years and have created 200+ songs.

OMG.
And I also love this mix. It sounds like a sad music in some transitions. The effects created by Protricity are very nice. Cool placement of percussion. Everything here is well placed. But personally the effects are my favourite thing in this work.
Excellent job.

- Txai on November 4, 2005
Even though it really isn't, I usually associate this song with Ari's earlier works. That is, before he [i]really[/i] started kicking ass with his DKC2 songs. Not to say this one is poor, but actually quite good. Was the source in Age of Empires II? I've certainly heard it before.
Very well done transitions, and the choir specifically was interesting to me.

- watkinzez on October 19, 2005
Nice remix, protricity I luv ya!..nvm... Make a StarCraft Remix!!!! This game rock, someone please!!

- DiamondBerg on May 6, 2005
It's rare that I download a mix that is from a game I haven't played. I just don't have the connection to it the same way that I would otherwise. Occasionally I like it. This time, I liked it. A lot. Makes me really wish someone would do a Star Craft remix (please? anyone?)
What drew me in was defenitely the begining. It transported me to the Jungles and Deserts of unexplored terrain. Having never heard the original, the piece loses interest for me after somewhere in the middle, but it's still very listenable and gets points for simply going to so many different places, quite like the Morrowind mix, "Isle of Edges." Great work.
Zipp

- Zipp on March 4, 2005
Awesome work! Now we need MORE AOE remixes! :D

- remline on December 11, 2004
Great stuff man!! AoE had some kickass tunes, but I never would have expected to hear an OC_ReMix of one of them!! I love it man, BRAVO!! 8)

- Vash the Stampede on May 8, 2004
I wish there were some more remixes of RTS games, especially the Age of Empire series. Good job!

- Taisuru on March 1, 2004
Well unfortunatly this one didnt catch me, not my favorite type of music. Very townish, not beat...but more of a feel. Well I do commend the artist though, this is a very hard game to make a good remix from. You wouldnt think so, but they sound to much like the original piece if you know what I mean.... Overall I give this piece my regards and let stay on my not ragingly kick @$$ list. :?

- Lunevalkyrave on January 29, 2004
Bit more of the East than South in this song, as mentioned before. Very laid back in the beginning, then it picks up the pace a bit, eventually coming into a nice bit just before 2:00.
The song changes a good deal, even if it may not feel that way at times because it seems so short at the end. To me, this song paints the picture of a traveler on the road, dusty and tired but with an iron will.
Something that I'd like to listen to on a daily basis, but not constantly.

- Durinthal on December 15, 2003
This song succesfully uses the Asian style string instruments along with a superb wind pipe. Altough it doesnt portray the styles of african music it is one of my favorites and a must hear.

- jenova x on February 18, 2003

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