ReMix: Super Metroid 'Ashes to Ashes'
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- Game: Super Metroid (Nintendo, 1994, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): zircon
- Composer(s): Kenji Yamamoto (I), Minako Hamano
- Song(s): 'Norfair - Ancient Ruins Area'
- Posted: 2011-10-31, evaluated by djpretzel
- Album: Featured on Harmony of a Hunter
Mo' wubstep VGM, this time from zircon, off of HoH:
"Dubstep! I don't know how this genre managed to completely blow up in the last year or two, but while I was reluctant at first to give it a chance, I eventually came around. I've done several original songs now with dubstep elements, but this ReMix is the first track I've produced which could probably be 100% classified in that genre. It's got the slow, huge halftime drums, aggressive synths, distortion and, of course, copious wub-wub-wub. To achieve the huge variety of synth sounds (particular basses) I ended up using over 50 synth plugin instances, including 27 of Zebra 2 and 15 of Massive!
As for its relation to the game and source, I should be honest first that I was never really fond of the original Lower Norfair theme. There have been some great arrangements of it, but I think it sounds a bit puny and repetitive. Nonetheless, when Darren (leader of the Shinesparks Metroid anniversary project) said it was open, I thought it would be a nice challenge and rolled with it. I'm proud of the energy of this mix: I wanted to avoid being really repetitive, while also using the source in neat (but different) ways throughout. I hope you like it too!
0:15 - 1:13 - Source A (0:11 riff with various rhythmic changeups)
1:14 - 1:28 - Source A bass (sparse as it is, 0:00)
1:29 - 1:42 - Source A (1:09 descending riff) layered with Source B (0:00 intro riff)
1:43 - 2:13 - Source A (0:11 riff again)
2:20 - 2:35 - Source B (0:00 intro riff)
2:38 - 3:08 - Source A (0:11 riff). This one is not as prominent but it's just playing a triplet version in the background - Ab Ab Gb Ab Ab Gb Ab Ab A B C B. The original riff is Ab Gb Ab Gb Ab A B A etc. The bass dubsteppy stuff is in front but the synth chords are 100% source."
Damn, that's a lot of plugin instances! It was certainly worth it, though, as the track is besieged on all sides by a veritable snake pit of entangled, vicious synths. Lonely, reverberant monophonic piano line never had a chance! The real evil playground starts at 1'14" with a breakdown of everything AND the kitchen sink, but I also like how Andy paid attention to the quieter, melodic bits with nice low-end pizzicato & harp, and ends the whole enchilada that way as well. Guitar textures pop-up here and there & are similarly well done, adding a thicker midrange wall of angry to the animalistic bass growls and ephemeral, floating melodies. Gut-busting bass, dressed up to the nines, works rather darn well w/ 'Norfair - Ancient Ruins Area' - zircon showed up big for Metroid's 25th anniversary, and he brought his arsenal of synth basses with him, so in the modified words of Tony Montana: say hello to his huge friends.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the - Crulex on November 16, 2012
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This remix leads us in with a nice wah-wah bass and some slow drums with the perfect touch of reverb. There's no sudden volume jump, which is nice. Then the melody comes in, which gives an eerie feel. Then of course the wub-wub comes in, and I expected some variation soon; heh, I didn't know what hit me. I loved that there's always a sense of progression in this. There's nothing we can skip. :O
Then at 1:00 a bass from... Massive? I think I may have used this one before! It could be the Dynamite Breaks preset with some modifications to make it short and to remove the automated panning. That's a kewl preset. Oh, and I think I sense some dBlueGlitch and GrossBeat in here. :D I'm also seeing some ArtsAcoustic Reverb! :}
2:39 - This is such an insane section. I could listen to this for weeks and still not discern all the esoteric complexities that interweave within this monstrous masterpiece. xD
2:50... That bass that feels like it's closing in on you... What is that? That is awesome, and it really stands out at the right moment.
And of course, it ends with no tail. :P This is a remix to remember for ages to come.
- Timaeus
- timaeus222 on April 7, 2012
I've been rarely disappointed by Andy's music, and this mix is no exception. It doesn't use the wubs as a crux for the whole song, and does some more intricate things here. My only real letdown here is how the song ends - it's lame!
- Bahamut on December 2, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA-r_sTk8SE
Hope you enjoy, your mix is f..AWESOME!
See ya!
PS: i'm a big fan of metroid and rockman...
- RodrigoKun on December 1, 2011
- Kadosho on November 17, 2011
pH
- Phonetic Hero on November 6, 2011
- CC Ricers on November 3, 2011
- docnano on November 2, 2011
- Yami on November 1, 2011
Which isn't knocking the track at all, it's quite dark and very delicious... just... why can't we call it: 'dark electronica with dubstep-like warbling bass' or 'dark wub wub electro' instead of just 'dubstep'? This really doesn't sound like any other 'dubstep' out there... probably to the delight of many. :roll:
- Less Ashamed Of Self on November 1, 2011
Its taken techno and done more rhythm and really works well.
Great stuff zircon
- psychowolf on November 1, 2011
- BlackPanther on October 31, 2011
Also, as is the case with all of his other mixes, this one gets better and better as it goes along, Andy doesn't use all of his tricks right off the bat, which I immensely appreciate. A lot of electronic music is structured in a way that you can fast forward through the first minute of the song and cut it short after the first chorus and you don't feel like you've missed anything of worth. That's not the case here.
Creative, detailed, and expertly-crafted. That's what I like to hear :-D
- Emunator on October 31, 2011
- Magellanic on October 31, 2011
- big giant circles on October 31, 2011
