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OCR01042 - Legend of the Mystical Ninja "Asian Twilight"


djpretzel
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Really great to see this get posted so quickly. With this, the recent Dezoris Winter remake and the collab. with Freemind, I can honestly say that in my opinion GL is creating some of the most musically interesting mixes currently on scene.

He labels himself "new age," but pieces like these really seem to transcend mere "genre work" and instead stands as a very unique and personal musical vision.

GL has evolved as a composer at an astonishing rate and I eagerly look forward to his future works. Those looking for serious, honest music that doesn't pander to genre conventions or audience whims should really start to take notice of GL's work.

And I know it sounds like I'm just gushing here, but these opinions have been a long time in the making- I really think we have something special here.

Congratulations man. :D

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and thus I am drawn back to OCR to make one more post.

the other folks are right in their assessment of Gray's latest offering as more melodic than his previouf efforts. And I have to admit, when he first shared it with me in the WIP-stage, I was impressed with it for certain, but not that taken with it--I attribute that to a sort of narrow-minded bias against pieces with a more eastern (specifically, Japanese) bent to them. Even if I'm not able to appreciate this aspect of the piece, I can appreciate the musicianship. Gray's integration of all the insturments is beyond commendable, and this is amazingly convincing and euphonous use of the ethnic flute--at least the most thoughtful application of it that I've heard from a remixer.

I'm also highly impressed with the fullness of his strings (which I've brought to his attention on another certain remix...!). Granted, some may view professionalism as sort of a superficial characteristic to seek; but nothing shows a beginner like a composition that sounds thin or hole-ridden. Gray has done precisely the opposite, and I mean this with particular respect to the strings, even though all the instruments coming together give the work a sought-after lushness.

congratulations!

MC

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I still don't understand all the hype about this piece, maybe GL's other new age stuff just appeals to me a lot more than most people, but this one just didn't seem to sit as well with me as a lot of his other stuff :P

But my comment from the WIP was,

It could use a bit more fleshing out, and maybe a little EQ work on those higher frequencies, and the composition in general probably doesn't flow as smoothly as some of your other works. But it is an enjoyable listen and it certainly shows a lot of talent and professionalism.

Not my personal favorite GL piece, but :nicework: nonetheless!

Can't wait to hear that Gray/Freemind Battle of Olympus collab get up here! Now that's good eatin' :)

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Much thanks and appreciation to djp for posting this. I am surprised it made it to OC so quickly. ^_^

This is one of my favorite mixes of mine, but it probably will not appeal to everyone. It's very mellow and atmospheric. All I can say is give it a listen and keep an open mind. ^_~ Thanks for the comments and well wishes everyone. ^_^

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This....is....

What can I say, I am envious. You have some interesting sounds in here. Actually this song reminds me of Pearl Harbour for some strange narcotic-induced reason...the ethnicity...yeah.

That tongued flute is awesome (first time I've heard a tongued flute in an OCremix) and the little percussive things.

The whole thing just reeks of class and has an awesome atmosphere.

I like. It'd better get accepted. =)

Yes, I said that, and I stand by it. Graylightning, you are one master remixer, hands down. All who deny must be blind. Download now people!

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Wow, when you told me of this today, I didn't remember you telling me last week or maybe several weeks ago that you were working on a new mix. When I saw what game it was from, I remembered that you mentioned you had started working on something from this, and from your on review of it to me, I felt confident I would like it. So far, you haven't steered me wrong in anime, video games, OR remixes, and you've still got my trust after this excellent mix.

This song is full of all kinds of cool stuff, and it definitely shows your growth as a remixer. It sounds similar in style to your previous mixes, but it also sounds..... better composed. There's a lot of dynamics going on, and they go together wonderfully (some of your previous mixes, when compared to this, have dynamics, but not as smooth as this mix).

It also has an ethnic side, and those cool PDO clips from More Than A Weapon OC ReMix, giving it a more.... I don't know, light, breezy feeling, I guess. It's really nice to listen to, I've been listening to it for hours now, trying to figure out what I want to say about this.

Well, I really don't know what I want to say about it, but it's definitely in your top 2. It reminds me a lot of Drifting Through the Stars, except it's.... better. The style is very similar, but I think you constructed this one to sound more..... I don't know the word, it sounds more professional to me (guess I did know the word afterall :P).

I guess, as closing remarks, I'm gonna follow up with same old same old, keep up the great work Gray. You never cease to amaze me. I'm glad you've let us all listen to this wonderful piece!

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Dude! This song really is sweet. So many great sonic textures running around in here its always interesting to listen to. I dig a lot. Nice job.

EDIT: Oh, yea...and who gave you those PDO voice samples? ;)

The super duper SGX! As I said in the wip SGX was kind enough to share his PDO recordings with me. You can hear more of them in his excellent PDO mix on OC. ^_^

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Freemind said it best "revolutionary"

Gray is really evolving right now as one of the elite mixers on this site and this mix is no exception! :D

Wow its got everything it seems a real nice ethnic atmospheric feel and a very nice touch on the voice sampling you have going on in this.

I think its great that the drums dont overpower it they are done really nicely I noticed that right off the bat.

This I am sure is only the start of his creativity and I am so looking forward to all future mixes.

Great job and very nice work Gray! :nicework:

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Well i got ahold of a computer for a second so gotta say my mind about this song. This song makes me feel as if i was in a asian garden. It's so soothing and well, ninja like. I'm glad that GL showed me the wip before the song was posted on the website. This like all of GL's mix's, is just alwsome and beautiful. This is a must dl. :o

NightwalkerTwlightlogo.txt

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Gray, this one is prolly my fave piece with you so far.

I love the voices in the background, I must say.

it has a really nice feel.

like elroyK says, it is a little engima like, but it is certainly your style.

you have improved alot :)

Congrats on your fifth remix gray

- your devoted fan since your second remix on ocr, Akuen

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reminds me of enigma. quite good. first listen i didn't know what to think but it intruiged me so i kept it and gave it another listen today. i'm keeping it. it just sounds so... you know.. more than it seems at first glance.

My mixes have a lot of subtle layers, and often may take several listens to appreciate if you aren't familiar or appreciative of the new age/ambient genre. If available, I suggest good headphones for listening. ^_^

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well, this song i think had wonderful potential, and i may have been overjoyed about it, seeing as how it is one of the TWO remixes of one of my favorite games that i grew up with, except for one detail...

There's no melody... the whole thing is just ambience... there is no melody, and what song is it supposed to be? I went through the entire soundtrack of mystical ninja and found no song that sounded like this, and beside that, i CANT find a song that sounds like this because there is no melody!

It is not a bad song, and i like it, but i cant find HOW it is a remix.

:-(

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Au contraire! ;) I am glad there are more Mystical Ninja players around.

This is the Cat Kurobei's theme. It's titled Cat on the spc files. The melody is actually there and quite apparent to my ears, but that may be because I spent weeks on and off working on this. :lol: The style of the melody has been changed significantly throughout most of the mix. To satisfy other Mystical Ninja followers who prefer a close interpretation, I also incorporate the melody extremely closely, with variation. This can be heard best at 1:40-2:28, and again at 2:40 until the end where the flute and violin/strings are playing the melody. I would definitely agree this is a somewhat great departure over the original as that was my intention. But at the same time at least 70% of the original's melody is intact. The rest of the mix also uses sections of the melody throughout, such as the beginning flute sections. It just is used very differently compared to the original. I hope this helps somewhat. ^_^

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For days I've been experiencing some sort of mental/reviewer's block when it came to trying to review this song and today it finally became clear to me why! During my first few listens of this song, I have no bloody idea why or what drugs I was side stream smoking the past few days but I thought the song sounded alot like a medley. With Medleys the structure doesn't remain consistent and changes often to introduce various other parts. I thought the song elements changed quite a bit during the mix and I just couldn't put my finger on the song well enough to formulate an opinion of it. BUT then today I listened to the song and it sounded like 1 smooth flowing complete song to me, lol... Guess my brain's a little wiser today.

Everything about it sounds really high quality.

Loved the sparkling intro with the very nice rhythmic percussive clicks.

The processing on that Shakahuchi-mama instrument sounds pretty good, I'm tempted to infiltrate Graylightning Headquarters and steal them!

The intro just kicks a whole lotta a$$! I don't know what that instrument is that's playing the soft distant melodies alongside the beautiful strings but I kept rewinding the mini-disc just so I can keep experiencing it over and over again. It's pretty dreamy and gives off a wonderfully distant feel, almost like you're escaping into the sewers, err, I mean clouds!

Loved the atmospheric nature of the song with its many multi-ethnic influences. The echoing Panzer Dragoon voice samples are very well placed throughout the song and add very nicely to the song's dreamscape style.

As a huge fan of bells and catchy melodies I was very pleased to see, err hear that both went hand in hand in this mix.

The one word I can think of that describes this mix is the word MAGICAL...

Once again, my only gripe would be that this song doesn't have the PHAT TekNo BeAts and sub-woooFa destroying Bass that a real remix needs!!!! ;) (kidding!)

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