ella guro

This fucking rocks. AWESOME, awesome percussion. Nice use of jazzy instruments to juxtapose the crazy beats going on, and cool use of reverb. Towards the end I have a few gripes with the lower-register strings and the fade out, but overall this mix just floors me. Spectactular work by ziwtra - without a question my favorite of his mixes.

Are interviews usually that long? Not that it was boring, just long.. yeah, they are usually pretty long. I guess it is a lot more interesting when you're one of the people involved in the conversation...heh. That one could've been about as half as long, but I'm glad you didn't find it boring.

Well...that call-in was fun. Hope to do it again sometime. I'll see if I have something else to say besides self-bashing and discussions of the John Jay's historical ineptitude next time...

Awesome as always. I'm just bumping this to...be a gigantic dick. There you go...

edit: link no longer works, sorry This is the original .it file, compressed (to 6.86 megs) because it's pretty big and I was really inefficient with the samples. I recommend that you use MODplug tracker (http://www.modplug.com) to open it instead of winamp, because with modplug you can view the actual notes and it plays .it files better anyway.

I like this. It is pretty minimal, and is more a bunch of improvised stuff over the original bassline than actually a remix of the melody, but the original emphasized the bass over everything else, anyway. The jazz piano solo at 1:07 seems kind of out of place with everything else, but it's extremely well done. And Sine manages to do a lot of neat stuff with just a simple filtered synth as the lead, although there are a few places where it seems to stay on a note that doesn't agree with everything else going on (like 2:41), but they eventually resolve. But yeah, this is nice. Definitely a keeper.

Firstly, the bass is eww. I know DS was going for something different than the standard "DUH DUH duhduh DUH DUH duhduh DUH DUH..." bassline, but the octave jumping kind of turned me off. The percussion is pretty nice...I like those little rolls that are thrown in there to give it a more realistic feel. I also like some of the backing, but the instrument that plays the lead is a little too...weak. I would've liked something a little dynamic and a little less synthy warbly. I think that's a stylistic thing, though. It doesn't really go anywhere beyond the main melody until 1:22, which is a nice change of pace (the garbled synths are pretty neat). The flute solo, which soon comes in, is the highlight of this mix. Once I started to feel that it was getting a bit mechanical, the rhythm would change up a little...which is a nice touch that's sort of hard to show people how to do, but makes the instrumentation sound soo much better. One thing, though. I never thought I'd say this, but the flute's frequency seems to be a little too high, 'cause that thing is piercing my ears at a couple of points in the mix. Otherwise, the mix resorts back to its normal melody, and (thankfully) the flute comes back just one more time to assist in finishing the mix. Overall, this is nice. I think it could be refined slightly in several places (especially that slap bass), but I'll certainly take it.

This is cool. Not much else I can say besides that. Nice guitar, nice reverby effects...it's definitely not something driving or uplifting, but it's great "flowy"-type background music that also kind of evolves like a story. Nice work, zyko.

Yes, it does emphasize the same beats as Mission Impossible, but that is also generally the way 5/4 is done anyway. I always counted it as if I was counting in 10/8...so it'd be like 12345678910. That's just generally the way it's been done...Mission Impossible is really just the most famous tune in 5/4, so everybody usually associates it with that. One of the drum riffs is pretty similar to the drums Radiohead's "Morning Bell" though. Anyway, thanks for the compliments.

The original is awesome (imo), and this remix enhances an already great tune and makes it stand out more, which is what Mazedude does greatly when he's at his best. I especially like that part with the vibes and the crunchy distortion sound...I just love vibes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EDIT: or maybe it's a xylophone. I like that, too. Anyway...chalk up another one for Mazedude.

Thanks guys! I didn't figure that everyone would like it, but I figure that there's so much normal-sounding stuff out there, it was time to do something a little different. The track is pretty simple - I did about 2/3 of it in one day (because it was for a contest), and if I were submitting it now I'd definitely EQ it and add some more on the low end. Umm, but yeah. The intro sound was just me breathing into the microphone with tons of delay (and speeded up a little) and the drums are just riffs that I had floating around in my head. They do sound looped, and I really should've done more to vary them. At that section that starts at about 1:54, I just had two different drums that I fiddled with the volumes to make a weird effect. Most of rest of the stuff is pretty basic...some arpeggios w/the piano and I added some violins in there so people wouldn't go insane listening to that extremely flanged and overdriven guitar lead for the whole piece. The way djp describes it, though, it sounds like a friggin masterpiece. Glad he liked it. Enjoy.

Just stfu, Star, and be glad that you are awesome Anyway, copied from the WIP forum because I'm a lazy bastard: This song is great. And I'm sure all of your future groupies in here will agree. The distorted drums are just perfect (especially the ope hi-hat sound that's always panned to the right) and get your attention at the beginning of the remix while feeling lo-fi and robotic. The panning for the drums is very nice, also, though it seems to get lost in the shuffle when the beef of the mix comes in. But then again, I like it to be beefy as possible. The mix itself is very synthy - sort of like a high fi enhancement of a vintage .mod file or something. That's good thing, though - the whole old technology theme is something that I really love. The lyrics are astoundingly fitting. Even though they're simple, they're sung with the appropriate amount of emotion yet peppiness like a robot. And, thankfully, you didn't feel the need to flex your badass samples and slap string parts all over the mix - it's much better this way. Towards the end of the mix - the marcato violins are impressive, but the piano sounds a little dry and staccato for such an epic pop song. It doesn't stick out too much, though. Overall, there are some clipping problems here and there but it's hardly noticible. Otherwise, this is probably my favorite thing of yours, StarBLaSt. Keep up the good work!

I agree with him there. Continue your discussion in a pm or something else, please.

Whoa, whoa. A little extreme there, don't you think? There's 40000000 billion other Zelda mixes, and it's not like you paid to listen to MoMG and you don't have to visit the UnMOD if you don't want to. MoMG is just a goofy remix, that's all. If you want something serious, look at 99 percent of the other remixes on this site. Please, let's not turn this review into a flame war. Talk about it somewhere else...

I'm going to rip my review from when I judged in this IMC10, the contest it was featured in...because I have absolutely nothing better to think of saying (and I'm assuming this is same since the IMC one I have is the same length, size, and bitrate): "Popular OCRemixer Beatdrop nudges his way into the contest with his entry, which although good, doesn't really seem as astounding or interesting as many of the above entries. Semi-repetitive hardcore techno electronica, a style that Beatdrop has proven himself over and over again to absolutely kick pure unadulterated ass at, is the name of the game here. I'm having a little trouble writing this here description, though, so maybe someone can help me out here and tell me what the hell is wrong with me: This remix is solid techno, but I've not really gained any feeling or emotion out of the music in the many times I've heard it that makes it as addictive to listen to or as fun or as creative as other entries in this contest. It just seems to be along the basic lines of standard hardcore techno, a genre that was done most often for the remixing of this particular tune (probably, anyway). And, there are a few things that sounded odd to me (particularly the section at 1:20 where the little chromatic riffs are played over a previous section), but I don't feel too qualified to attempt giving advice to a person who is much more experienced than me with remixing. Lemme put it this way - I don't think I can tell Beatdrop anything he doesn't already know. And I'd go into a description of each section of the song, but many other judges do that in their mix reviews, so I don't feel a reason to do so myself. However, there is a small section in this remix that adds a drop of coolness, and it's that little build up at 2:20. Otherwise, I see straightforwardness with sections of the melody broken up and played over a loud drum loop, and some reverberating bleeps and bloops. I heard this was the very first mix submitted to the contest, which makes me feel that Beatdrop could've taken his time to do something more interesting or innovative. It's pretty much the standard techno hardcore remix I'd expect from someone, but at least this is well done stuff." All in all, I wish he would've taken the time to make this a more interesting remix. Maybe it's just because I don't like the absolute standard type of techno that this is. It just feels rather boring, and not really like something that's creative or anything out of the ordinary to grab my attention. It's solid, but I would've liked something more...

Yes, Wolfenstein was pretty much a glorified cartoon. Hell, take a look at the pacman maze in episode 3, level 10. Not exactly the most realistic thing you've ever seen, eh? And yes, I never understood how it gave people an authentic WW2 feeling that's caused pretty much any remix of it to be orchestral and emotional piece of music with Historical quotations when the game itself didn't exactly have the most involved storyline or a super realistic feel. But it was a DAMN FUN GAME, so you ain't gonna be taking any of my prized childhood memories playing it away from me...hehe. Seriously, though, don't worry about it. No one was trying to attack you. Now, back to the reviews...

Um... ... This is the reviews forum, please take the debates somewhere else.

Mazedude is one of the best remixers on the site, and I only know about 4 people who are more into the original Wolfenstein than I am, so needless to say I was psyched when I saw this remix on the WIP boards about a month back. Unfortunetely, after listening to it, I left with a sour taste in my mouth. Part of it is how I envisioned the theme to be - the Hitler speech at the beginning was great, but the french horn sounds rather odd - very legato and plain for a part that was faster in the original (the slowing down may be part of it...). The little touches like at :37 with the violin tremolo crescendos were great, but the lead instruments all sound a little strange - everything is slowed down, simple, and legato. It seems like there's almost a lack of emotion in the lead...and considering that this is something that Mazedude did, I was really suprised there. The arpeggios in the background were nice, but I never thought that something as crazy as a Mazedude-style remix would really fit this tune. Wolf3D was a very simple game, and while it was kind of dark, it never really gave me the traditional feeling of World War II...it was pretty damn far-fetched, is what I mean. And it's not exactly the prime example of a realistic in a game. I always liked it because the levels were fun - not really that it gave me the emotion of seeing a Nazi concentration camp or anything (although episode 2 level 2 comes closer). I just pictured something minimalistic with tons of emotion for this piece. So yes, some of it has to do with personal preference. But when I hear the horns blare loudly a simple rythym (...can't...spell...that...friggen...word), it seems odd everytime. I have no backgrounds in a band, so you'd think I wouldn't notice something like that. Furthermore, for being 4:29 and being as climactic sounding as it is, it really doesn't go anywhere from where it started. Part of that is just the nature of the original melody, but I would've liked a little more progression instead of --> Hiter, buildup, melody, buildup, different part, Hitler, melody. I just think it needed some more work... EDIT: and to anyone who said that Wolfenstein's music was "unremarkable" or "unnoticable", you obviously haven't listened to some of the tracks in the game. They're simplistic, maybe, but there's a lot you can do with a simple melody (and the title track remixed here just needs some variation and good instruments to make a good remix out of it).

This is amazingly cool stuff from Vigilante, although I don't really like the first section as much (in the full version) - the recorder synths were the only thing I really liked, and the rest of the strings, etc. felt rather muddy. Pretty top notch arranging, though. It's all pretty smooth and relaxing while still having lots of atmosphere and mood. The jazz section starting at about 3:50 is even better, with great piano playing and and even cooler jazz guitar. The percussion feels a little strange to me, though - but I never liked that quiet "crack" sound that's in a lot of softer jazz. It starts to pick up momentum at about 5:39 again, and it this point the percussion feels a little more unusual, plus it seems just to be more something to put in between the past jazz and the Kraid theme. The Kraid theme is good, yes, but I felt like I was listening to The Wingless' Teardrinker all over again. Of course, the chords actually match with this mix, but, like Mustin and Russell Cox, I feel like changing the chords really modified the mood of the original in an awkward way. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but it didn't feel quite right... This is an extremely awesome mix, though. If this is any indication of what your future mixes will sound like, Vigilante, you'll probably be one of my favorite OCRemixers. Keep up the good work!

Heh. Within the first :20 of this mix, I immedietly thought "Hey...this sounds A LOT like Portished". And apparently I was right on. Kinda weird, considering that I've heard very few of their songs. Anyway, BenCousins had this up on his original mp3.com site awhile ago, and I thought "are those vocal samples from the game?? He can't have recorded it himself!" But he did. That's insane. And this is insane - insanely great, of course. Download. Now.

Thanks a bunch, guys. You have no idea how happy I am right now...considering that this was put together for a contest in a short time span. Djpretzel did say "slapdash", which is true. I could've definitely made some transitions a lot better...but I felt like I just wanted to go crazy and do everything that came to mind with the tune. I just picked out random samples and started remixing. Certainly the most fun thing I've done... And someone mentioned Radiohead - I love 'em! One of the keyboard riffs is similar to part of "Morning Bell"...at least a little anyway. Thanks again, guys

Ok...let's see. I don't remember this one sticking out as spectactular or bad. I just didn't like it too much. So I'm going to listen very closely to see why it is I don't like it that much: Hmm...after listening, I don't notice anything particulary bad. There's a real reverby piano, some nice panny sparkly synths playing descending notes. And then it goes in a sorta new agy section with a flutish lead and minimal that kind of turns me off. But that has to do with my extreme distaste for new age music - reverby pianos have always unnerved me because they just never sound right to my ears. Then the harp brings it into a new section with some blippy synths along with some warmish pads that eventually gains some church bells and another piercing synth playing overtop. The percussion is again minimal...and kind of unnerves me with its gated-ness. So yes, I don't know what to think. On the one hand - pretty much everyone loves this one, including MUSTIN (of all people), and I sound like a hypocrite if I criticize it. On the other hand - I just can't find any reason to like this or anything to hold onto when I listen to this style. Every thing flows in and sounds lovely, but then quickly slides out of memory upon it's completion. It may be beautiful, but it seems as if it's simply designed to be relaxing and not be listened with ears wide open. In short - it's not something that's very catching in any regard. It's nice work - but still, for a mix to be this hyped...it left me feeling empty. As for the very end - I love it. It's perfect. I just wish I felt the same way about the rest of the remix.

I'll edit with my review later, but why do you say "Chaos" as the remixer name in the description, while it's listed as Psychrophyte? Just curious...

I've always thought this was great...although it makes me wish I had the money to fork over for samples like that. And it is a more "enhanced" version of the original, rather than a real different arrangment...but that's all it intends to be. And it does it awesomely (if that is a word).

I'm sorry, man, but I got to say this: While this is a good remix, this theme (title screen) has been cheesed up way too much. DiscoDan mentioned the limit of instruments that was imposed on all NES games' music. And of all the themes that would sound soo much better with a little more instrumentation, I don't think the title screen is one of them. Just think of it - this game is set in space with a dark and empty feel, plus the title screen is sort of plain, and yet this empty theme still manages to be one of the best tunes on the NES. I don't think I'd appreciate it near as much if it wasn't empty-souding. It's just something that I feel shouldn't be layered and produced over because the feel that I get from the tune will never be done justice. However, this is still a well arranged remix. It's encoded a little quiet, though.