ReMix:Secret of Mana "Beyond Comprehension" 4:43

By McNoods

Arranging the music of one song...

"Leave Time for Love"

Primary Game: Secret of Mana (Square , 1993, SNES), music by Hiroki Kikuta

Posted 2004-02-04, evaluated by the judges panel


If McDonald's marketed "noods", they'd probably be called McNoods, which happens to be the name of our newest ReMixer, who's brought us a very respectable, creative if at times repetitve SoM mix of "Leave Time for Love". I'm posting this mix from a hotel room in Horsham, Pennsylvania, where I've been learning about the wild, wonderful world of Documentum in my training this week. Pretty cool, but alas I also have resumed college classes and am currently reading for one English course quite possibly the worst "classic" author I've ever experienced, Marcel Proust. He is pain. Avoid his books. "No."

"Yes," however, to McNoods' mix; introing with the familiar delayed piano, synths and particularly good hi-hats come in shortly thereafter, followed by a synth bass that repeatedly does a nice little up-down slide. The drums are actually similar to those one might find in a boy-band style track, but later on get fashionably distorted in an edgier section. GrayLightning writes:

"I remember hearing this while in its wip stages. I always found the end product pretty good, and even after these many months I still feel the same way. Interesting combination of reason synths, piano and drum work. Bell synths do a nice job in accentuating the melody, coupled with a very groovy bass line. Nice bass bends as well. The first half drags on a little bit, but the second half is easily the best sections of the mix. I particularly dig the section where the drums become subtle, and allowing the other sections to come more into focus. I feel the drums are at times a bit too heavy for this kind of mix."

Sounds about right - not a perfect mix, and could have used a couple elements (in particular, a single synth solo somewhere to add some melodic mojo) to set it over the top, but what's here is a fun, rhythmic, brief arrangement that does it's thing well enough, which SoM/Kikuta fans should enjoy in particular.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Emunator
on 2009-12-19 02:54:24

The beats are really good when they get going, I'll give this mix that! The non-electronic instruments start off feeling really rough but they get better. It actually grew on me as I listened to it more and the song gained a bit more depth, though the articulation on the bells and piano still feels really robotic.

Not a bad song by any means, though it feels like it needs a bit of polishing around the edges to make it really stand out.

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DragonAvenger
on 2009-12-18 21:56:56

While this mix never stood out to me, it certainly has a decent number of good things going on for it. The writing is pretty solid for what it's done, though it does get repetitive after a while. The bass slides are pretty cool, easily what I think is the best part of the mix. For the most part the percussion does a decent job of backing up the mix (couple times where they are overwhelming, a bit). I would have liked some bigger changes throughout to keep my attention a little better, and things overall could have used some smoothing out, but this one is by no means a bad listen.

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TwilightBlade6117
on 2009-10-29 08:12:24

I've enjoyed this song since I first heard it. I'm not familiar with the technicalities of remixs so I can't point out specific details, so apologies for that. Just wanted to say I really enjoy this remix and thanks for making it McNoods!

Ha, it's actually been my phone's ring tone for a year now.

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OA
on 2007-12-06 15:06:35

A little rough around the edges in a few spots, with some sections which really need some filling out, but it does have a certain charm that makes it good enough. I agree that it does tend to drag a bit and suffer from a bit too much cutting and pasting, but it's otherwise a good track.

I like the crunched beats throughout and if the piano isn't exposed, it sounds really nice; the beginning notwithstanding.

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Bummer
on 2006-02-25 10:16:35

It disturbed me a little that I haven't reviewed this remix, I downloaded it a year ago and my opinion haven't changed a bit. For having piano in it, it sure sounds alot. Beats, hard drums and rough synths fills the air between my speakers and ears, and at some points it just sounds chaotic. However, I somehow like the sudden switches between piano pop and synthic roughness, especially the change-over at 2:22, the melody turns onto a new course and then the beats and synth tags along. It's both beautiful and annoying at times, but mostly pretty good, very good if I might say.

This is WIP-material that crossed the border to OCR land, it is where this piece belongs. Nice work, Noods! :D

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Hawkwing
on 2005-11-21 21:45:11

With the bass pumped all the way up on my 9 speaker system this song kicks everything elses ass. Hands down my favorite mix on the site.

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Nateconq
on 2005-09-23 14:23:22

Great techno feel at the beginning. Good beats. I loved when the music faded out and the drums did a solo sort of thing, it picks the song right back up on its feet and gets it moving again.

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Yentab
on 2004-02-07 12:46:45

Really great mix. I have always wondered how a great remix of this song would sound and it seems McNoods was right on.

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Xatos
on 2004-02-06 04:50:42

One of my favourites now! I really like the melody of this song and the instruments used.

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jessthemullet
on 2004-02-05 22:11:12

I haven't played this game much, and I haven't played far enough to hear this song. However, I do like it. It's mellow, but not boring. It's quiet, but still is musically active. Good stuff. I'm gonna share it with my friends.

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sgx
on 2004-02-05 17:11:01

teh win! SGX and McNoods are the roomates of remixing powah!

This is a good first mix and its like, what, your third song you've made in Reason? Nioce. The drums are unique: they bring a bit of a hip hop flava to the mix. I really like the ending. Very kewl. These are h0t jamz.

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Nase
on 2004-02-05 16:45:20

i love the mana fortress theme. i find your remix quite cool too, but probably im exspecting something closer to the original because i like it that much. well, thats my fault. the drum programming you did is very wild and cool, i dont think it fits in that well when it gets wild, but it rocks :)

what i really miss is that part

http://www.leoloewe.net/abi2005.de/upload/givelove

to me this ending/ last part before looping was the most outstanding thing of the tune, but i cant think of a way to include it when i look at the different mood of your version.

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Lunevalkyrave
on 2004-02-04 23:24:16

Well this is an interesting piece, it has many good points to it, such as the seemless flow, or the dramatic beggining, but it seems to be missing something that I cant put my finger on. Dont get me wrong I think it a great mix, and ill probably put this on my regular list, it just seems to drag on too much half way through the song....

Oh well, they all cant be perfectly awesome, with a bit of ridiculously sweet on the side now can they?

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Dhsu
on 2004-02-04 23:17:05

...I really can't think of anything special about this mix. It just sounds so WIP-ish, compared to most of the other mixes on the site. No real direction, minimal dynamic variation, some off-key-sounding segments, and an unresolved ending for no apparent reason to top it all off. Even a fadeout would have alleviated the incomplete feeling a little.

I think my favorite part, though, was the pitch bends at :27 and other similar places. Those were pretty cool.

Other than that, it was pretty neat, although not completely groundbreaking. I recommend Secret of Mana fans give it a listen or two.

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djpretzel
on 2004-02-04 23:01:18

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Secret of Mana (Square , 1993, SNES)
Music by Hiroki Kikuta
Songs:
"Leave Time for Love"

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File Information


Name:
Secret_of_Mana_Beyond_Comprehension_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,952,165 bytes
MD5:
2cd84a749104a25e772184e2c88e62f2
Bitrate:
165Kbps
Duration:
4:43

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