Groboclown

Early Version 2 available now: https://groboclown.net/10-music/108/locked-mirror-preview-v2

I started working on this today after the song, and its two variants in The Book of Hours, became stuck in my head. https://groboclown.net/10-music/107/locked-mirror-preview-v1 It currently has the basic ideas I'm looking to explore. Update: Early Version 2 https://groboclown.net/10-music/108/locked-mirror-preview-v2

Here's my latest remix, another one from the classic Little Big Adventure, "The Quest", by Phillipe Vachey. "The Cool Quest" Remix on Soundcloud. The original:

I came back to this tune and tried my hand at yet another variation: https://soundcloud.com/groboclown/the-kzer-za-chill This one is more of a down-tempo tune.

An early attempt at creating a dub sound for the Little Big Adventure 1 Theme (called Relentless in the US release), written by Philippe Vachey. http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/big-adventure-in-dub-v1 The original:

I just noticed this thread. I posted out a remix of: Little Big Adventure 1 (it was released as Relentless in the States) and Star Control 2 Both need a lot of love, though.

Yes, it definitely needs more work. At this point, I'm playing with the structure and the general sounds of the instruments. Here's an updated version. Again, it's still really, really rough: http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/surfing-the-village-2 I'm not sure how much farther I'll be able to go in replicating a good surf guitar sound, though. I think part of my problem is just getting a better emulation of the actual play style, rather than tweaking effects.

That's the kind of crazy I like I used Schism Tracker to convert to Impulse Tracker (.it) from the .xm (Fast Tracker 2) source files that I created with MilkyTracker. Apparently, Schism Tracker has a common bug with the playback of .xm that causes some of the sounds to not fade out correctly, so it's not a perfect translation.

Thank you very much for the thorough review, Rozovian. You certainly gave me quite a bit to consider. I can see all the things you mention there as needing work on this piece. I'll pull it back out.

Yes. This was my last edit. I'm altering the main post to move this up to mod review.

This is a really early proof-of-concept at attempting to remix the classic Little Big Adventure 1 (or "Relentless" as it was called in the states) tune "The Village". I'm looking for feedback to see if I'm on the right track here. http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/surfing-the-village-1 Original by Philippe Vachey:

Looks like I'm at the end here. http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/kzer-za-from-the-future-2

I switched the tune around. This time, it's a much more electronic rendition of the tune. Some of the same ideas are there. http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/kzer-za-from-the-future-1

... and another revision http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/kzer-za-stomp-v7 This one improves some of the instrument balance and cleans up the drum lines.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. I've been slowly working through it all, and I think it's near the final version. http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/kzer-za-stomp (with an updated link on the first post) I've found a place for the bridge part of the original, I've tried (struggled, really) to reinforce the parts that show off the main theme, and add a bit more range to the instruments, so it fills up more of the register in different parts. Again, all feedback is much appreciated.

I really like the direction you've taken with this tune. You've captured the mood very well. In my opinion, the song becomes repetitive at 1:35. Perhaps shrinking that, up to 1:45. Or, introducing a variation to the high pitch voice might work. By 3:19, though, I've got the family dancing.

Thank you for all the great feedback. I've updated the track with the suggestions, along with some fixed nits of my own. http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/kzer-za-stomp-v3 The big part I've been playing with is the bass that starts at the :20 mark. I think this current one mixes well with the timpani, once it starts in, but seems a bit out of place at the start. I may have overdone the kick drum at the 1:20 mark, but it really depends upon what system you're playing it on. As to the unrecognizable theme, I attempted to make the bass line and melody from the source stand out more at the 1:45 mark. I couldn't find a good place to add the transition/bridge from the source, so you won't hear that part.

Another style on the tune, this time in downtempo / drum-n-bass. https://soundcloud.com/groboclown/the-kzer-za-chill (Original Post) As soon as I heard the Ur Quan theme, back when Star Control 2 first came out in 1992, I recorded it on cassette and listened to it again and again. I wrote several piano transcriptions and re-interpretations, and then forgot about it. Now, twenty years later, I finally returned to it. The current version is a purely synth piece put together with LMMS. The earlier versions were made in Milkytracker. The main change in this is turning the theme from a 6/8 time to 4/4, as well as lengthening the original 30 second song. I assembled the original versions in Milkytracker. I've taken it through many different turns, and I think it's closer to a final version now. Link to the source: Link to the Remix: http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/kzer-za-from-the-future-2 (style 2) http://soundcloud.com/groboclown/kzer-za-stomp-v7 (style 1)