ReMix: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 'Inverting the Tower Temple'
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- Game: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo, 2000, N64)
- ReMixer(s): GSlicer
- Composer(s): Koji Kondo, Toru Minegishi
- Song(s): 'Rockvale Temple (Outside)'
- Posted: 2007-05-10, evaluated by the judges
I actually cast the tiebreaking vote on this during the most recent OC ReMix meetup in the fine, fine city of Baltimore, MD. We all hung out at Jill's place, played a little Apples to Apples, jammed, and - taskmaster that he can be - Larry insisted we also get some judging done since we had four judges plus yours truly in the same room. Half the panel was concerned about the level of arrangement involved in this Majora's Mask sub by newcomer GSlicer, and the other half thought it was adequate if not overwhelming. I think the crux of the issue was that the melodic components involved were largely unaltered, and that certain sections are repeated verbatim. And, well, both of these things are in fact true: the melody is extremely close and there's some repetition that feels a bit lazy. What DOESN'T feel lazy is the bassline; it's jumpin' all over the place and alternates between a straightforward octave pattern and a far more interesting groove very effectively. Did I base my entire vote on a bassline? Nope. Could a bassline, however, be strong enough to compensate for other aspects of a submission that weren't as strong? Depends... I wouldn't rule it out. In this case, in addition to a funky bass, there's a funky groove and accompaniment, which contextualizes the melody in an entirely different fashion and makes for a great dance track. Yes, it's not the ReMixing equivalent of Mozart, but it's a solid take on the theme, competently produced, and has salient + less common positive traits that compensate for melodic conservatism and structural repetition. Plus it got my head bobbin' and my toe tappin', an alternative litmus test for such works. Jill summed this one up nicely:
"This is solid. Nice groove, decent production, and plenty of variation to keep things interesting. I'll agree with Larry that some of the countermelody seemed a little off, in the section from 2:01-2:32, but there weren't any actual sour notes... just... strange voice leading. I'd rather not read into things too deep with this one, though. It's enjoyable as is, and exhibits some great effort all around."
Basically, read the judges decision thread and see what you think. Odds are that if you're into zelda and electronica of any sort, which has to cover a rather ginormous demographic, you'll probably dig one way or the other, but if you're particularly invested in the inner workings of our decision-making process, it's a good read. In order to understand why a piece like this, which is enjoyable enough and sounds pretty sweet as well, would necessitate a tie break and have difficulty passing, you basically need to understand the emphasis placed on arrangement vs. production, and how various criteria play into that. This is a good mix to illustrate that dichotomy... plus it has a funky bassline. Good first effort from GSlicer, who hopefully will add a few tricks to his bag and follow-up with a sophomore mix that remains just as fun and groovy but fleshes out the rest of the anatomy as well.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the - GravitySuitCollector on October 12, 2011
I LOVE this track. Sure, it gets repetative, but it's short enough that it doesn't get annoying. The beat is infectious and I love how the bassline moves around so much & interacts with some of the pluck synths later. It sure keeps a lot of interest in the oft-neglected lower end of the mix.
- Nutritious on May 20, 2011
it's repetitive but who cares the beats are thick and juicy I'll have more any day
- chenjesu on April 11, 2010
- Conan on January 30, 2010
I liked the production on this, and overall, despite the repetition I think it's decent enough. I enjoyed it at least. :D
- OA on December 10, 2009
Looking forward to more stuff from you. :)
- SwordBreaker on March 2, 2008
About the Stone Tower Remix though:
The track is pure goodness! Absolutely love it! Personally, I think the track has all the punch it really needs, bassline is incredible as the judges pointed out.
I especially like it around the 2:09 mark, it's very upbeat, accompanied with a great melody from the game.
You've got me extemely motivated to finish my remix of the "Song of Healing"
Excellent track Gslicer!
- PhiJayy on February 28, 2008
i love the stone tower theme. i used to always listen to the midi before i discovered mp3's. this remix brings back a lot of feeling and fun i had when i was in the stone tower for the first time.
much energy is packed into this piece from the theme to the end, which makes this even more enjoyable. i made this the finale on my playlist xD
- GreyMage on November 16, 2007
Radiowar;296238 wrote: i don't know if anybody caught this but they used this song as a sort of intro thing for nintendo's zelda ds demo at E3
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77XKcUvaZJY"]link[/URL] (it's a couple minutes in)
yeah they only used like 2 seconds
sort of cool though
edit: looks like the video got taken down...[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXwzqjg-tp0"]here[/URL] is another one, though it only plays for 2 seconds.
Wow! I didn't even know people at nintendo listened to fanmusic O.o
Kinda cool, eh? I hope eventually the whole business will have some respect for OCR. Maybe feature songs on events, the composers remixing themselves and that kinda stuff.
Weee!
- anosou on August 30, 2007
"i don't know if anybody caught this but they used this song as a sort of intro thing for Nintendo's Zelda DS demo at E3"
That is friggin amazing. :mrgreen:
Good job GSlicer.
- Darklink42 on August 29, 2007
After awhile though, it really started getting my attention, and I discovered that it had been one of my most played songs o_O. This song might not pull you in at first, but it's very catchy and will probably stick in your head for a good deal of the day, if not THE WHOLE day.
But yeah, variation would have been nice, but damn just having a MM remix, and especially one of the Stone Tower Temple is already good enough.
I guess I can summarize my thoughts by saying it wasn't too spectacular when I first heard it, but it grew on me and is enjoyable.
- SynthesizedStampede on August 7, 2007
Onto the mystery of who got the song in there...and did anything else of ours end up getting used...
- Liontamer on July 18, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77XKcUvaZJY (it's a couple minutes in)
yeah they only used like 2 seconds
sort of cool though
edit: looks like the video got taken down...here is another one, though it only plays for 2 seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXwzqjg-tp0
- Radiowar on July 18, 2007
- merrell on June 25, 2007
