ReMix: Raptor 'PlectraSubCity'
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- Game: Raptor (Apogee, 1994, DOS)
- ReMixer(s): The Orichalcon
- Composer(s): Matthew Murphy, Paul Radek
- Song(s): 'Listen to the Cries of the Planet'
- Posted: 2006-06-01, evaluated by the judges
Well, it's late and I'm beat, but I wanted to get a mix in before I head off to Philly this weekend for Video Games Live; spoke with Tommy Tallarico for a good half hour yesterday and it sounds like it'll be a blast, plus I'll hopefully get the chance to meet him and a few other notable game composers as well. I remember playing the shareware demo of Raptor back when Apogee were making waves in the PC game publishing world - anyone else remember Rise of the Triad when it originally came out? Cool stuff. Anyhow, TO sends in our first Raptor mix, recalling the glory days of DOS gaming, long before even the initial 3DFX/voodoo push had begun. The ReMixer writes:
"Tried building a climax, but doesn't work for this style of piece. I decided to get rid of the call to "wake up" halfway through the mix and just let it evolve naturally and serenely through the second half of the mix. I kicked up the strings another level about 3 minutes in and boosted the bass since I thought it sounded flat last time. The vocals are a tad louder since some mentioned that they were subdued last time. They're intentionally subdued in the second half of the mix, they're supposed to take a background role there, where-as they're a focal point in the first half."
You read that right, vocals - no lyrics, per se, but instead vocalizing that plays more of an ambient than straight melodic role. Jesse took issue with the progression/intervals at 2'30", but while it might not be orthodox, it's far from dissonant. Other judges noted the general structural simplicity, but felt that to be an aspect of a groove-oriented genre, and that enough development was present to avoid any auto-pilot syndome. Gray writes:
"One thing I can see some judges possibly having a problem here is the lack of dynamics and building, but for these types of genres, constancy is the name of the game, so I don't have any problem on how this was executed. Definitely reminds me of the early electronica/new age composers like enigma or tangerine dream (to a lesser extent). Having had the opportunity to look at TO's project file, I have to say I came off impressed by the creativity he has in using his tools. A lot of the sounds he used are rather unique and in a solo instance don't sound anything too interesting, but combining all these various elements together makes one one outstanding soundscape. For example how TO made the bell synth sound like a chorused electric guitar."
Generally laid-back, atmospheric piece, where the salient component is really the vocal element that, while not mixed to the forefront, still attracts the ear; I could easily see TO perfecting this sort of addition and adding live vocalizing, or even lyrics, to future mixes, if the arrangement called for it. As it stands, this is a great chill piece that's filled with electrified, organically "squishy" layered percussion, multiple synth elements, a cool little guitar harmonic distortion blip, vocals, and ethereal pads. My biggest complaint is actually that the fade at the very, very end of the mix curves too quickly at 3'47" - felt like it needed just a couple more seconds, on a more gradual decline. Timing a fade perfectly is actually harder than it sounds, however you'd only really notice the (arguable) truncation on headphones, listening closely. Good stuff; transporting in its aesthetic as well as its source material, which deserved the attention.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the The vocals work great with the material, and that little guitar sting at the end of the tail of each of those sections kept things interesting and fresh for the whole piece. It establishes a new theme in its last third, which I think was a necessary move and I'm very glad it's there. As it stands now, there's no hollowness despite a semi-minimalist approach.
It's darkly reflective; always a great combination for when you're alone writing videogame remix reviews at midnight. Sort of a niche market that one, but this definitely has the potential to corner it.
- Marmiduke on September 23, 2009
Some cool vocals as well; I can't discern lyrics, but really it's about the sound and the atmosphere, which works really well.
I think the snare is a little too loud, but otherwise, no complaints at all. Awesome work! I love it. :-D
- OA on March 23, 2009
- Lep666 on December 6, 2007
Liontamer wrote:Vidilian wrote: I'm confused. Is this song, "You can hear the Cry of the Planet" in FF7 and Raptor?
Of course.
The harp is playing the theme from "You Can Hear The Cry of the Planet" in FF7, but the majority of the song is based on a song from Raptor that has no name apart from "Level 2" or something.
- The Orichalcon on December 19, 2006
Vidilian wrote: I'm confused. Is this song, "You can hear the Cry of the Planet" in FF7 and Raptor?
Of course.
- Liontamer on December 19, 2006
- Vidilian on December 19, 2006
I was listening to it heavily after first downloading it, but then I shifted it back as new songs became available. But after a couple of weeks, the vocals just kept getting stuck in my head, and I had to track down where I they came from. :)
Great work, keep it up!
-Austin Spafford
- DarkFrog on July 16, 2006
- Brim on June 27, 2006
I [i]like[/i] the song (note the stress on "like" - it doesn't go beyond that). It has a "rainy day" feel to it, and I really like that style. It's a great ambient groove song.
Now, it's not the best ambient groove piece I've ever heard, so I can't say it's my favorite. I'm not sure why, really: it just doesn't rank at the top for me. I do know for certain that I don't like the way it fades out, and the two-minute marks falls apart to my ears. Other than that, I can't really point out a flaw that I can say is the absolute reason I don't put this song in the top ranks. I want to blame it on the samples used, but I can't even be certain of that. Sorry.
However, I do enjoy it despite its flaws, and will be adding it to my playlist.
[img]http://www.flagmandesign.com/files/ratings/086.jpg[/img]
- MedHead on June 9, 2006
(* Gamepad callibration and support software)
- Arro on June 4, 2006
Great job, you are my alternate Enigma :)
- Souliarc on June 1, 2006
- SirRus on June 1, 2006
- SosusOCR on June 1, 2006
Dhsu wrote: Reminds me of the song they used for "Kid's Story" in the Animatrix.
That's actually pretty ironic that you pointed that out. Some of my music influence has come from Peace Orchestra (The guys who did the song in Kid's Story.) I really liked their laid back, and yet bass/distortion driven style.
And for the record, the source is labelled as "level02.mid" in my archive. However I'm not sure if that links up properly either. It's definitely one of the songs in the shareware version as well as the full version.
Thanks for the comments so far.
- The Orichalcon on June 1, 2006
:wink:
- Red Shadow on June 1, 2006
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