ReMix: Guilty Gear X2 'Destroy Movements'

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Guilty Gear X2

... and we're back! Much has happened since we last posted anything: our Otakon panel rocked out for a second year, I met Mr. North and many others for the first time, discovered the 1 liter long island at Houlihan's, beat Larry yet again in Third Strike (before getting absolutely stomped by someone who, unlike us, actually knew how to play), we discussed all sorts of plans for future convention panels, I met and chatted with the personable and very down-to-earth Piano Squall, I introduced Andy and Larry to the fantastical world of Melty Blood: Act Cadenza, and we spoke and ate with the excellent and very old skool gentlemen from Mad-Gear. And that's just Otakon... yesterday I turned 28 (thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone), and my beautiful, wonderful, amazing girlfriend got me a PS3, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and other goodies as well. It was more like xmas than any birthday I've previously experienced. Suffice it to say that I'm a happy dude.

If you've recently discovered OCR as a result of our panel or promotional fliers distributed at Otakon, this'll be the first new mix posted since your initial visit - welcome! I mentioned to some at the con that our first mix from the Guilty Gear series was on its way, and indeed, newcomer CHIPP Damage is here to deliver. I've been playing, and loving, Accent Core recently, but before AC and the series more recent incarnations, there was GGX2. When I think GG music, I think metal, so it's interesting to see our first mix take the high-octane shredding the series is famous for and put together an energetic orchestral arrangement, complete with harpsichord. Actually, it's more than just a token element - harpsichord features heavily in most of the composition, adding a very Gothic feel that can't help but channel some Castlevanian vibes. The "movements" bit in the title isn't misleading, either: Jahan segues VERY adeptly from section to section, and the piece covers a formidable array of tempos and tones in its 4'26". The ReMixer writes:

"This is my second resubmission of the my remix of the song Writhe in Pain from Guilty Gear. It's a collaboration this time. Arrangement by me, CHIPP Damage and production by George James. Despite Liontamer's encouraging words about me having what it takes to get this mix on the site, I totally didn't know what else I could do to make the sound quality any better than it was. In fact, I must have a messed up ear for this kind of thing because I was thinking that those were the coolest sounding horns ever. But then ALL of the judges said, "The horns have got to go." Hahaha. Anyway, this is my last hope. After getting help from George James, who has a remix or two on the site, if it still doesn't make it, then I may have to accept the fact that I wasn't cut out for remixing. We'll see what happens. Sorry that I don't have the source material for you and please forgive any Sv3...Whatever-they-were-called ID mislabels. I cannot understand those things. Hahaha. If this DOES make it in, then I hope I can become a more active member in the OC community. I'll be watchin'."

Good thing the collaboration with James George helped the production enough to persuade the judges panel; a final volume tweak was all that was needed to put things in order. The arrangement does employ a good variety of instruments in difficult, exposed contexts, so sample quality was more essential than it might have been otherwise, making the collaboration key. Hopefully Jahan picked up some pointers for future mixes, because from an arrangement perspective he's doing amazing, intricate work already. The staccato brass bits in particular are the type of compositional touch that's effective from a pure arrangement perspective, but requires pretty decent samples to avoid sounding like a misplaced salsa band. There were tons of GG cosplayers at Otakon, and the game is known to have a loyal following, so I'm guessing many have been waiting for a GG ReMix of some kind for a good while now. CHIPP and James deliver with something that is very mature, developed, and multifaceted, taming the original's metal roots into a domesticated but still surly musical beast. Heaven or Hell! Duel 1! LET'S ROCK!!

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Very subtle rendition of the theme, and pretty well executed, though I think I'd have preferred some additional counterpoint lines in some of the sections.
I like how there are several distinct sections, though I think the transitions were a bit weak between them. some of them seemed to be a bit too abrupt, specifically the transition the the fast segment. I think a bit more buildup would have done it good.
Overall a pretty liberal mix, but it works well, and I think it is within the bounds of the site, as the connections are apparent throughout. Nice work guys. :-)

- OA on March 21, 2008
Very beautiful... I'm loving the incorporation of the Flute...
Please make one of Dizzy'z theme - Awe of She
I'll be all over that lol

- Ranch Doritos on January 31, 2008
I don't know if I'm aloud to post a reply to a review in the review forums or not, but I'll go ahead and do it and see what happens.
James George, dude, your production job was totally sweet in my opinion. While it indeed lost some heaviness, you don't have to apologize, man. It never would have been passed without you. And yeah, I thought it was pretty cool how it went from freaking quiet to pretty dang loud. It's that OCR Pop factor. ^_^
Tavernero, thanks, man. I too love playing Guilty Gear and Millia is one of my favorite characters and has one of my favorite themes. I'm happy that you approve.

- CHIPP Damage on September 8, 2007
you've done great justice to the millia rage theme! as a player i must say: REALLY well done!

- TaVeRnErO_RuDd on September 6, 2007
Gratz Jahan! ^^ I guess mixing this thing like a dozen times paid off lol. The comments have been educational. I'm surprised many aren't liking the brass. Contrary to what some have guessed, they are professional VSL samples. I'm going to have to look closer at the sequencing to see if I can improve the realism. I actually just upgraded to the epic horn package and the performance tool that comes with it, so hopefully that will solve some of the sequencing and ariticulation issues for future mixes. I have to apologize to Jahan for losing some of the original assets of this after the 1st submission; I could only correct the volume issues with some subtle compression (big no no for orchestral imo). I personally loved the original broad dynamic range, kinda felt we neutered it. Oh well, glad it was enough. Good feedback thanks.

- Ronyn on September 6, 2007
Excellent work taking this tune in a direction other than hard rock. The samples (sans the brass) all sound great. I don't really see what the problem was there. My favorite parts of this are the intro and the ending. There is an excellent build-up to the fast section. And like the arrpegios and the percussion runs at the end.
I always love to hear fighting game soundtracks remixed, and GG is a game I recently picked up, so it's doubly cool. Great debut, both of you.

- Broken on July 30, 2007
Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews. I'm really glad that I could get the first Guilty Gear remix on the site. I've been playing Guilty Gear riffs since the very first Guilty Gear game came out in 1998. That's over 9 years yo! Anyway, to review my own remix: I tried to make it sound kind of brutal like a metal song. The sound that I originally had was pretty heavy, but apparently the judges all thought it sounded way too fake (although, I thought it sounded freaking great). So I got James George to use his sweet sounds and do some producing work on it for me. He did a good job if you ask me. I also tried to make it vary a lot so that it wouldn't feel like it was "dragging on." The final thing that I thought about was the fact that there aren't any metal songs being remixed as orchestral songs on the site yet (at least, not any that I know of) but there are lots of orchestral ones that get turned into metal. Castlevania, anyone? Hahaha. Now that I've finally gotten my first mix accepted, I'm gonna continue to make more. I've already got a Valkyrie Profile mix in the works (hopefully it will also be a first for the site) as well as a Xenogears one.
Now that I've made my debut, I want to be more active and well-known in the OCR community. So, please feel free to message me on OCR or on AIM or MSN to talk about games, remixes, whatever. ^_^

- CHIPP Damage on July 29, 2007
Hahaha...odd....usually I prefer orchestral pieces because they don't drag on compared to dance/rock/whatever.
Good job with the piece!

- Prasa_U. on July 28, 2007
As grateful as I am for seeing a different game being introduced to the list here and that the remix is in a completely different style of music of the source material, I have to say this one's rather boring. Not because it's not fast and hard like the orginal track, but because it drags on. Then again that's how alot of orchestral peices are.

- The Instrument of GAWD on July 28, 2007
This is great, I'm surprised it was almost rejected. One of my favourite pieces to appear on OCR recently, which is saying a lot considering the standard of recent submisions.
The percussion in particular really adds energy to the piece, it would feel very empty without it. The harpsichord is nice, though the capabilities of the instrument aren't really exploited as they could have been. I would have loved to hear some continuo or something in there somewhere. The writing for the orchestra itself is brilliant and original. Nice work.

- Pietro on July 27, 2007
I've always always always loved Guilty Gear's music - even when it was practically chiptunes I loved the arrangement. This is a great cover of Writhe in Pain, and honestly if they were to make a Guilty Gear Anime this would be the music.
Beautiful reinterpretation. Masterful.

- Mirai Gen on July 27, 2007
It's an original and well-written interpretation of the source, and it manages to retain a lot of the energy of the original heavy metallish source.
I really wish the brass didn't sound so General Midi-ish though..but apart from the sample quality, even the production is very decent. It's really a smashing example of how you can make the best of what you have, without needing expensive sample libraries, good job.

- Tensei-San on July 27, 2007
Aside from it being a good remix, all the individual instruments sound very clear and well equalized to my ears.
Nice job.

- Barnsalot on July 27, 2007
Great mix guys. I gotta be honest it took me a couple listens to get into it. I always loved the intro (1st movemen) it took me a few more listens to get into the others sections. The cinematic feel is def a nice tribute to all that is the complete bad assery of Guilty Gear. If I had to add one thing is that the 2nd movement could have used some nice sustained chords especially where everything starts to tail off. The dynamics of the piece are great. :) It always nice to hear a mix with a nice dynamic range. Harpischord FTW too.

- avaris on July 26, 2007
Finally. I fell in love with the Guilty Gear XX soundtrack two and a half years ago, and finally it is here on OC ReMix.
And in just the way that I'd have hoped: it's a broad piece that diverges from the source material. I figured that if I were to rearrange a GGXX song I'd have to do my own heavy metal version of it, but you've done what I thought too difficult: you've taken it completely out of its normal context and developed it into another strong piece of music. Congratulations.

- Linearity on July 26, 2007

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