ReMix: Tetris Attack 'Final Panic'

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Tetris Attack

Newcomer Tweek, colloquially known as Brian Arnold, gives us our first coverage from the SNES's popular permutation of Pajitnov's puzzler Tetris. Brian writes:

"This is Bowser's theme from his stage in Tetris Attack. It is a remix of both his normal stage and his panic mode. The song is a mixture of percussion inspired from Tan Dun and orchestration from Klaus Badelt. I'm actually quite happy with how the fusion worked."

Interesting amalgam of influences; I added in links to IMDB specifically so you can check out each composer's oeuvre; Dun in particular I've been a fan of, even though Tiger should never beaten Gladiator for best soundtrack. He's got a very percussive style that's very particularly Eastern, and I think Arnold gets that completely, and succeeds in channeling it. This essentially sounds like the Tetris Attack source material if it had been written for a large Zhang Yimou / Gong Li epic with sweeping vistas, prolonged shots of the Forbidden City, and beautiful-but-impractical martial arts that eschew gravity. Seriously. Anyone into Asian cinema, particularly of the epic variety (see this film if you haven't, btw), has my back. Or should. Larry writes:

"Who are you and why haven't I heard of you before? The orchestration is excellent, the part writing sophisticated. Brian's got a really strong sense of dynamics here, varying both the instrumentation and intensity of the track many times over the course of the 4 1/2 minutes. The woodwinds from 1:50-2:15 were excellent, and I loved the brass and piano doing their own iterations of those phrases immediately afterward. Nice change in the intensity at 3:18, moving into the very active drums. The arrangement was relatively straightforward, but you see how Brian really built new ideas and phrases from the base of the original to really expand the piece."

Production's no slacker, but the arrangement here is where it's at - it's a novel approach, and results in a unique composition that simultaneously pays homage to Tetris Attack as well as Asian cinema, or at the very least its plethora of quality epic soundtrack work. Very smart, but also very enjoyable first sub from Tweek; definitely looking forward to future submissions.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Hah, I'm such a sucker for Eastern-influenced orchestra work...
This one is great.

- Lucentas on December 6, 2008
The production on this is really nice, with several levels of texture , and plenty of space for them all to peek through. The sound is nicely balanced, and the space is well defined through panning. Some of the woodwinds and piano seemed to be a bit mechanical in regards to the velocity and could have been smoothed out, most noticeably the flute during it's 8th note run at 1:54, but that things sounded nicely organic. The layered percussion was excellent.
Interpretation was very strong and personalized, with some really good additions to the source. Theme and variations can oftentimes get drawn out, but everything here is kept exciting throughout the instruments, and the varied intensity is a big reason.
Ending was great, it was a very satisfying and exciting finish.
Recommended. :-)

- OA on June 2, 2008
I'm not actually farmiliar with the song, but I really like what you did, it's awesome!

- nonsensicalexis on March 28, 2007
This was fantastic!
I'm a huge Tetris Attack/Panel de Pon fan (barely edged out the beloved darling in a best-of-9 brudge match yesterday) and when I saw that this was a remix of the final boss stage, I couldn't imagine how anyone could get anything out of the original music, which is very mediocre compared to the rest of the tunes in this game. But wow -- this really does have that ancient-China vibe going. Love it.
Now how about remixing the Phoenix (Magikoopa? First boss) and Selene (can't remember the TA name; lunar background) music? Those are great!

- DaBubba on March 24, 2007
Nice work. It really does have a movie-score-ish atmosphere to it, and I can definitely see why you would associate the music of the far east with it.
However, the first point I mentioned is also the song's weak point. Movie scores (usually) tend to stay in the background, improving the atmosphere. For a stand alone song, however, this doesn't really work.
What I want to say is that I really miss some kind of climax in this one. Which is really sad, considering that the drums had a lot of potential for some mad crescendo...

- Martin Penwald on March 3, 2007
KabukiDude;240822 wrote: But do I hear an incredibly overdriven FL keys organ at around 3:00-ish?

Considering this track was made in Reason, I doubt it. To be honest, I'm not even sure what you're referring to :).

- tweek on March 3, 2007
Hate to be nitpicky.
And believe me, I really do.
But do I hear an incredibly overdriven FL keys organ at around 3:00-ish? Oh, and I love the piece by the way. Damnit Bowser!

- KabukiDude on March 2, 2007
Ahh, this bring back old memories. But this time, the music has grown up. You've turned it into something truly serious and suspenseful and you never let up as you continue to build your idea up to 3:15 where things really pick up. This sounds like something straight out of a good RPG dungeon where you explore and finally get to the boss battle.
Great work and don't stop mixing!

- lady zelda on February 20, 2007
I remember despising the music to Tetris Attack, mostly because I had a roommate that played it for a few days almost non-stop. This pretty much killed my hatred for the game and I broke out the SNES to play it. I also really like the panic ending.

- Fratto on February 20, 2007
This is like what Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon would have been like if they hit each other with huge foam tetris blocks instead of swords.
/nicework

- Villainelle on February 19, 2007
very interesting, in the begining of the song it has a scary, mysterious theme(which it keeps throughout the song)and its quality is very premium(it sounds similar to a movie soundtrack theme). essentially, i can see why the judges passed it. very good job! -The Lone Ranger

- The Instrumental Light on February 18, 2007
Wow. I didn't know what to expect when listening to this, but when it got started I was amazed. Probably the first clever over-dramatic symphonic super film style arrangement I've heard of a video game tune. In fact, this piece is very well done. There's a lot of originality in this.
I'm not too keen on the ending, though. It's too abrupt, but that's probably just my desire to hear more speaking.

- artemisjaeger on February 18, 2007
This mix surprised me. I didn't expect to like it when I downloaded it, but I love it. It has sort of an Arabic sound to it, which makes me think of Aladdin instead of Tetris. I'm not complaining, though.
8.5/10

- Ness757 on February 18, 2007
"Tweek" wrote: The song is a mixture of percussion inspired from Tan Dun and orchestration from Klaus Badelt.

Man, is that true! I can hear both, plain as day - and what a pleasant blend of seemingly amalgomous ingredients. Even though I am unfamiliar with the source piece, the end result is knock-you-on-your-back dramatic and blessedly lacking of the abused atonal high strings in most pieces of similar genre and mood. The melody is there, and the harmony is supportive. This piece has all the good stuff - a quality submission.

- Rainman DX on February 18, 2007
Nice stuff Tweek. The best thing about this song is all the variation and give and take between each instrument. It makes an otherwise repetative melody not so repetative. Awesome drums and atmosphere. The drums even rip through the soundscape at low volumes.

- avaris on February 18, 2007

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