Shadow Wolf

I don't have any mixes posted to the site, but for me, I spend months on a mix. I'll spend a few days on the beginning of a mix, just transcribing, modifying, etc. I'll get tired and run out of really good ideas, then set the mix aside, or move over to another mix for awhile. I might come back to it weeks later, make some modifications, realize that something I did before downright sucks and needs to be changed... the point is I never mix until I really really want to. It would be harmful to the mix to do so, to just push on it until it's done. If I'm not on a deadline, I'll be damned if I'm gonna can my creativity to make one. Not only that, it frustrates you. If you're going in circles and out of ideas, STOP. The projact will still be there whenever you come back to it. So, in a year or so, when I have a finished mix that I'm completely satisfied with, I might submit it.

Seriously, if the game was released for any system that people have heard of, you can go for it. By that token, anything for SNES is completely fair game. Hell, if Makke can do a doo-wop mix of an NES game most people don't know exists, a remix of a game based on an awesome cartoon from your childhood will do just fine. I mean, Mazedude did a mix of a 7-up game for Christ's sake. You're fine.

WOW. I happen to have Prayer and the Ocarina of Time OST, so I went back and had a listen. Have to agree with Dhsu on this one. It's the exact original melody with a looping preset over it. On the other hand, I think Jill's vocals stand very well on their own, and I've already stated my stance on vocals in other languages. Had I been judging, which I obviously was not (nor was anyone else) I probably would have sent this one back for a little more imagination with the arrangement. That's a tall order though; the Forest Temple theme is an extremely daunting bit of music to remix, as it's barely music in the first place. I'd call it more of an ambience track, and Jill certainly did a better job than I would have. So in summation NO (resubmit) I've always wanted to do that.

Before going any farther, keep in mind that this is coming from the perspective of a listener who doesn't know much about music. I almost never care for metal in any form, but this is probably my favorite Bloody Tears mix. First off, the repetition you referred to is part and parcel of the metal genre. Metal is about presence, force and power, and not so much development of melodies and the like. So it's not uncommon to hear one kickass melody carried through a whole song from beginning to end. Thats not across the board, but if you listen to Dragonforce, for example, you'll hear the same set of riffs repeated several times, up to 8 and 9 minutes. Second, the arrangement. All of Bloody Tears is featured in this mix, with a different chord progression coming in for the verses. The chorus is, I think, the most amazing mixup of that bit of little bit of music ever. It's raw power and it just kicks ass. But the point is that every bit of Bloody Tears is there, all be it not necessarily in the expected places. Finally, the lyrics. Metal without screaming is not metal. I have never ever heard metal without screaming. I hate screaming. Except in this song, because I read the lyrics and they're intelligent and amazing and perfectly tell the story of Castlevania. I have to give huge props to anyone who can use the line 'frivolous time serene' in a song and have it make sense. Overall, from a listener standpoint, I think this is one of the better Castlevania mixes on the site, and perhaps the best Bloody Tears mix, although Bloody Hell is right up there. It's good metal. It eats your soul and pounds your ears and doesn't apologize. Mikey likes it. I also COMPLETELY agree with harmony. I actually prefer listening to music in other languages. It allows you to hear the voice as part of the music, as an instrument. Listening to English lyrics over music is like listening to 2 conversations at once for me. Your mind is trained so that the left brain, which controls speech, logic, and analysis, almost ALWAYS takes dominance over the right, which controls imagery, melody, and pretty much anything artistic. If there are lyrics in the song in your language, the left brain will automatically dominate the right to understand what those lyrics are saying and interpret meaning. We're hard wired like that. If you listen to vocals in a language you can't understand, or simply listen to instrumental music, your left brain has no idea how to interpret it. So the analytical, coldly logical part of your brain sends the music over to the artistic, emotional side of your brain, and you're now listening to music with the half of your brain that was designed to hear it and enjoy it. So you fall into the music. That's the reason instrumental new age music and chanting is used in certain therapies, because it can turn off the side of your brain causing all the stress for awhile. This is scientific folks. No shit. Note that screaming doesn't do that. It hurts my ears. At some volume level both sides of your brain are going HOLY SHIT TOO MUCH TURN IT DOWN!!! That's what metal does. I was just making a scientific point about the voice as an instrument.

That Bioshock review is made of fucking win. Pure awesome.

Yeah, I've definitely noticed that. You're writing for something that sounds kind of like a cello, but it has all its own qualities. (Or disqualities, if you prefer.)

Oooooooooooooh. Gotcha. The soundfont itself had a legato cello, it wasn't anything I manipulated in FL.

Kickass mix, and if the pace of the writeup was any indication, Dave may STILL be making out to it.

That is the SAUCE. I lamented the fact that Okami wasn't gonna be a Wii game from the second I heard of it. I also wondered why Clover (or cloverleaf or whatever the name is) decided to put something that amazing out for a dying system, it didn't get NEAR the attention it deserved.

Goddammit, I was hoping someone finally made a full on Final Fantasy spoof. Fail. Epic fail.

Xenon: Thanks for the clarification. Snapple: ROFL, and I have realized my use of the term was incorrect since I posted it. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure the fart I just blew was a b flat. Or b flatulence. Sorry, I had to.

Hell yeah. You wanna go to Darkesword's webpage and download Yatta Yatta Yoshi. It may be the most ridiculously happy song I've ever heard. Also, Summertime, by Hale-Bopp. It's on the site somewhere.

My Ph.D. in sarcasm is obviously wasted here. I know it's not funny. It became so true that it ceased being funny. What is funny though is that the responses made me think of that episode of Family Guy where Olivia calls Stewie the weakest link. "I love how you took that culturally relevant bit that we all knew... "You ARE the weakest link!" and you changed the context... and you used it to refer to me! Like, what I just did there! You're funny! Do you wanna crack any Titanic jokes while we're talking about recent developments in entertainment? You're funny. Do you write your own stuff? Because you're funny. Ha! Aha ha! Ooooh.... my.

Wait, what? I wasn't joking.

It's about time you all got your fix. I personally can't stand fighting games, so I may be the only person in the whole wide internet that doesn't give a shit. I'd rather they erase Megaman X 4 through 8 and fix that series. Street Fighter Lost me at Street Fighter 2: Ultimate Champion Sparkly Shiny Uber l33t Insane Unbelievable Mega Huge Armageddon Sweet Ass Apocolyptic Regurgitated Edition. There were quite a few more after that as I understand... So thinking technically, this SHOULD be Street Fighter 287.

Correction. Richard Adams wrote the book first. The movie was alright, but compared to the amazing awesomeness of the book, it still falls flat. Strangely, Watership Down was the only book I ever liked from Adams... he's a very strange writer. Plague Dogs was weird, and Shardik was absolutely bizzare.

I didn't really 'figure it out' per se, that's just one of the ways a cello can be played. Legato is very smooth, with a consistent sound, for example. Pizzicato is plucking muted strings. Detache is quickly touching the bow to the strings while it's moving back and forth, which gives a quick, sharp note, but not as quick as pizzicato. Tremolo isn't a bow technique, rather the cellist (or any string musician) wiggles their finger on whatever fret they're playing while they steadily draw the bow back and forth, which gives a trembling quality to the note. So they're all just different ways of manipulating the sound from the same instruments. Now you know.

LOL, office-standard epic paperweight made me think: WTS [Dreamcast] x1 PST One for all the WoW fans out there.

The Sega Dreamcast is famed the world over for it's astonishing success in the role of a paperweight. So are its controllers, incidentally.

I actually have to disagree with Pixie for once on this one... I really like the solo cello in the intro. In light of the rest of the mix, I'm fairly certain it was supposed to sound alone and out in the cold. The patches used for this mix really grabbed me too, they were very realistic, and it added a lot, so props for patch selection and production. Hope to hear from you again!

Holy sweet baby Jesus. A-Ron?!?! Are the glory days returning?

Wall. Of. Sound. There is a LOT of mix here. Somehow you managed to separate channels enough to keep things from muddling into each other. This is an extremely powerful mix, there's a lot going on. I hear at least 4 to 5 different channels at any given time. But the beat is definitely driving, very energetic. I appreciate the breather at 4:05. Oh. EXCELLENT use of sound effects. They somehow fit in with the music. This is a great example of loop layering and variations. Good work all round, and I hope to hear from you both again.

Woah, it's been a long time since Club Del Toro. Glad to see the signature style's still there. The breakneck speed and completely unashamed use of very synthetic patches... it really brings a ton of energy to the mix. I liked the slow lead in before you beat the hell out of me with the backbeat. Maybe it's just me, but the entire mix has a sort of echoing, call and response feel to it, like it's bouncing off a cliff wall or something. Makes for a really interesting beat. The chopped notes and voices added a nice touch as well. Good stuff. Maybe someday I'll know enough about music to say something truly useful; until then, rock on!

First off, love the lead. I'm usually not fond of sound effects, but you actually established what the music was referencing, then literally made it feel like I dove underwater. Very nice. There's a lot of energy here, but it's also subdued and chilled out. In light of the original theme I think that was an important aspect of the music to hold on to. I also really liked the timpani and slap sticks (I think they were slap sticks ) in the chorus. It was a nice accent. Overall the mix does exactly what electronica should do: carries me smoothly from one variation to another, and feels like a cohesive whole. Nice work Dan, and welcome back!

Holy crap, it's Prot. It's been a LONG time. This kicks ass. It's not quite as full on as some of your other pieces have been, it sort of backs off the top end of the EQ (Comparitively, at any rate). But there's a lot of variation,layering, and a great sonic variety. It's reminiscent of Neighburgers, which incidentally also kicked ass. Great work, and welcome back!