ReMix: The Legend of the Mystical Ninja 'Asian Twilight'

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The Legend of the Mystical Ninja

I think if I played an ethnic, Asian instrument other than the shakuhachi, I would secretly harbor a hatred/jealousy of shakuhachi players... the sheer number of tracks the shaku has popped up in, from the intro to Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer to Enigma's Sadeness, has to make it one of the most gratuitous "ethnic" instruments ever. However, on OCR, it's not all that common, and GrayLightning puts it to good use in this ambient-but-melodic ReMix from Legend of the Mystical Ninja. Also featured are lush strings, low-impact but effective drums and percussion, a variety of synth effects, a plucked, kotoish timbre, and extremely well-incorporated vocal samples from Panzer Dragoon Orta. I say "extremely" because the tempo matches up and they're used almost rhythmically, while also adding ambience and atmosphere to an already atmospheric composition. This is more melodic stuff than we sometimes see from GL, and is probably my favorite of his mixes to date because I think it strikes a very nice balance between atmosphere and compositional substance - it's still more of a "setting" than a "narrative", to use the literary metaphor, but it's a place that tells a story, which is a combination that works really well when the ingredients are all there and mixed with nuance and precision. The original is, as GL noted in his email, more "Japanese", and not quite so serious - this arrangement takes a fairly indicental theme and raises the drama and scope, creating an enveloping, transporting soundscape that's also got a musical endoskeleton to match the pretty surface. A different type of ambient mix, and a truly interesting interpretation. Recommended.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Still a hidden gem, this one has held up pretty nicely. Good for relaxation.

- Liontamer on November 13, 2008
This is just a badass song, plain and simple. This remix is so superb, you'd think it came straight off a brand spankin' new PS2 soundtrack, and not off an SNES game that's as old as some of the folks that frequent OCR.
GL, you never fail to impress me with your work.

- Atomic Dog on October 1, 2005
Oooh I love all the ambient pieces GrayLightning's been submitting! Such a laid back feel with light but interesting asian type percussion. This is just such a great song, awesome job Gray!

- jordex on May 3, 2005
Hell ya man!! Goemon was the shit, I LOVE how he's made his way into OC_ReMix!!! Great recreation, great additions, great work!! TY!! :)

- Vash the Stampede on May 8, 2004
A very beautiful and relaxing piece. Great strings, great effects. I love this song. Highly recommended.

- Sleepy Emp on April 17, 2004
Gray Lightning has been one of the most underrated mixer's for a long time and im glad to see from the reviews in this thread that he's getting alot of recognition. I love this mix, my favourite so far. Great atmospheric ambience and structure. The use of "Eastern" instrumental soundings is extremely credible. The build up from opening till the ending is done proffesional and workman-like. The thing i like about GL is he makes his ReMix's sound so serious, proffessional and they all have a certain aura about them. This is a ReMix that everyone should download, it has so much to it. People may not like ambience but this is a beautiful piece of ReMixing. Great stuff GL ^_^

- the warlock on October 11, 2003
GrayLightning is like me.
He's totally awesome. 8)
Anyway, I already told you what I thought of this piece dude. Great stuff; lots of nice asian influences, and a really unique percussion part. Excellent.

- DarkeSword on October 9, 2003
For days I've been experiencing some sort of mental/reviewer's block when it came to trying to review this song and today it finally became clear to me why! During my first few listens of this song, I have no bloody idea why or what drugs I was side stream smoking the past few days but I thought the song sounded alot like a medley. With Medleys the structure doesn't remain consistent and changes often to introduce various other parts. I thought the song elements changed quite a bit during the mix and I just couldn't put my finger on the song well enough to formulate an opinion of it. BUT then today I listened to the song and it sounded like 1 smooth flowing complete song to me, lol... Guess my brain's a little wiser today.
Everything about it sounds really high quality.
Loved the sparkling intro with the very nice rhythmic percussive clicks.
The processing on that Shakahuchi-mama instrument sounds pretty good, I'm tempted to infiltrate Graylightning Headquarters and steal them!
The intro just kicks a whole lotta a$$! I don't know what that instrument is that's playing the soft distant melodies alongside the beautiful strings but I kept rewinding the mini-disc just so I can keep experiencing it over and over again. It's pretty dreamy and gives off a wonderfully distant feel, almost like you're escaping into the sewers, err, I mean clouds!
Loved the atmospheric nature of the song with its many multi-ethnic influences. The echoing Panzer Dragoon voice samples are very well placed throughout the song and add very nicely to the song's dreamscape style.
As a huge fan of bells and catchy melodies I was very pleased to see, err hear that both went hand in hand in this mix.
The one word I can think of that describes this mix is the word MAGICAL...
Once again, my only gripe would be that this song doesn't have the PHAT TekNo BeAts and sub-woooFa destroying Bass that a real remix needs!!!! ;) (kidding!)

- Homo Pocket on October 1, 2003
okay, okay, i hear it now...
Great Job!

- ElementZero on September 26, 2003
Au contraire! ;) I am glad there are more Mystical Ninja players around.
This is the Cat Kurobei's theme. It's titled Cat on the spc files. The melody is actually there and quite apparent to my ears, but that may be because I spent weeks on and off working on this. :lol: The style of the melody has been changed significantly throughout most of the mix. To satisfy other Mystical Ninja followers who prefer a close interpretation, I also incorporate the melody extremely closely, with variation. This can be heard best at 1:40-2:28, and again at 2:40 until the end where the flute and violin/strings are playing the melody. I would definitely agree this is a somewhat great departure over the original as that was my intention. But at the same time at least 70% of the original's melody is intact. The rest of the mix also uses sections of the melody throughout, such as the beginning flute sections. It just is used very differently compared to the original. I hope this helps somewhat. ^_^

- GrayLightning on September 25, 2003
well, this song i think had wonderful potential, and i may have been overjoyed about it, seeing as how it is one of the TWO remixes of one of my favorite games that i grew up with, except for one detail...
There's no melody... the whole thing is just ambience... there is no melody, and what song is it supposed to be? I went through the entire soundtrack of mystical ninja and found no song that sounded like this, and beside that, i CANT find a song that sounds like this because there is no melody!
It is not a bad song, and i like it, but i cant find HOW it is a remix.
:-(

- ElementZero on September 24, 2003
My boxes are more than sufficient :)

- elroy on September 24, 2003
elroyK wrote: reminds me of enigma. quite good. first listen i didn't know what to think but it intruiged me so i kept it and gave it another listen today. i'm keeping it. it just sounds so... you know.. more than it seems at first glance.

My mixes have a lot of subtle layers, and often may take several listens to appreciate if you aren't familiar or appreciative of the new age/ambient genre. If available, I suggest good headphones for listening. ^_^

- GrayLightning on September 24, 2003
Gray, this one is prolly my fave piece with you so far.
I love the voices in the background, I must say.
it has a really nice feel.
like elroyK says, it is a little engima like, but it is certainly your style.
you have improved alot :)
Congrats on your fifth remix gray
- your devoted fan since your second remix on ocr, Akuen

- Akuen on September 23, 2003
reminds me of enigma. quite good. first listen i didn't know what to think but it intruiged me so i kept it and gave it another listen today. i'm keeping it. it just sounds so... you know.. more than it seems at first glance.

- elroy on September 21, 2003

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