OCR01205 - Shenmue "Dreaming While I Wake"

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[Blood_Hawk]

I like it, it has an odd feeling to it that sort of makes a touchy feeling.

[I-n-j-i-n]

Wow. Very surreal mix. It's as if Moby worked on a Shen Mue track. Which would be a very high praise in my opinion.

I loved how the entire theme of Shen Mue was stretched out. Also, the techno makes the melodies sound trendy and modern, yet the theme makes it sound nostalgic, like how much of Shen Mue felt as a game.

Surprisingly smooth for a flatout techno remix.

I enjoyed this A LOT. Very unique even for OCR standards.

[Shhteve]

No comment.. Other than the fact that I loved this. The only thing that I have against this track is that the lyrics don't fit too well with the song.. Oh well, can't always have your cake and eat it too, right? Great job, Arkimedes.

[Jarrid]

You really do not find too many remixes like this one. It was smooth and nice to listen to. Lyrics went alright with the mix, but overall, good stuff.

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

First;

The Bad:

The lyrics have an akward rhythm at times... I couldn't get used to it, I also thought the message behind the lyrics (at least at the beginning) was rather dry, why should we care about you playing games till 3 in the morning? Because it leads to your dream? I found it hard to care about that section.

The lifting horn sound at 1:01 has an undeniable moment of static, likely gain related... similar vocal static at 1:38ish...

Finally; the 'hunh' at 1:30 is mediocre... it works but it doesn't.

The Good:

GOOOD! GOOD GOOD DGO OGODOOGOG!

It's not bad it just has a few issues I can't not acknowledge... if you're like me and hear everything wrong with your own mix, then I'm sure it stings to hear me pick them out... sorry.

The instruments and effects are awesome, the vocal talent is perfectly suited for the mix. The mixing itself is great, and the vocal effects are perfectly timed in their execution.... the delay effects, the cutting and panning, the vocoding(?) sounds great.

The feeling of the mix is great, it really expresses your emotion well. The message is well delivered and best of all, it is unlike any other mix on OCR, a huge plus in DJP's books but a massive plus in mine. Clone songs annoy me.

What you have here is a completely original take and it has been developed beautifully, whatever length of time it took you to make this track, not a second of it was wasted.

Good job Arkimedes. This is your moment.

[sgx]

One of my fav Ark tracks. Awesome stuff. Very moody.

[TheRedBob]

Regardless of any issues with "speaking rather than singing" or anything like that, I really really enjoyed this piece.

I think the lyrics go very well with the music. I also simply love the lyrics...gonna be singing this one for a while. Excellent work.

By the way...I'm a little iffy as to what's being said at the section around 1:30 - 1:43. If someone could clarify for me, i'd be most appreciative.

[Navi]

I've had this since someone pimped it in General Discussion a while back. Very nice stuff. Reminds me of Moby's work. Nice job ,Ark!

[Ventrex]

When this track opens, it reminds me more than a good deal of The Postal Service style electropop. Which is a pretty good thing as it is. As it progresses, it drifts further and further away from that style. So far, so good. I've been mulling this mix over all day, and I think I've finally found the words needed to describe it: This is no mere remix. This is the song as it was meant to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is the song as it was intended to be by the original composer, but rather that I enjoyed this song far, far, far more than the original in-game song, which was rather bland, I felt. Instead of rehashing that same blandness, this song transcends its own original. And that's everything remixing is about to me. At first listen, I couldn't even make the original out, and I mean that as a compliment. This song stands on its own two feet much better than most remixes, game or otherwise, I've ever heard.

[Zaphlin]

hey, that was pretty good. Not a bad job on the singing either. Not only is it hard to come across game remixes with lyrics, but it's even harder to come across a game remix with lyrics and a good singer.

[Joe Redifer]

I do like the music, but I agree that sometimes the vocals get out of sync with the beat (or at least that's what it sure seems like). The vocal also sounds like it was recorded over the telephone (or at least a bad mic). It has potential, though. Don't let my comments stop ya. Get a better mic and a recording booth and you could probably sell this, if not for the legalities.

[ShiroSynth]

I particularly enjoy this song. Its so different and radical, plus it pulls off some interesting things no one else has done before on OC. I appreciate the original qualities; however, the emotional aspect of the song definately shines.

The lyrics might be uninspired every now and then, but its still very consistent.

Great song and addition to OC.

[Elazual]

Wow.. Not much I have to add that hasn't already been said, cept this is amazingly beautiful. VERY original, a breath of fresh air to OCR. Many thanks! Considering that Shenmue is just about my favorite game of all time only makes this better. I look forward to your future submissions.

[RoeTaKa]

I have left this on repeat for the last what...maybe...6 hours god. Yup i think it has very unique edge about it like none other. And the lyrics, hey im not gonna have a gooooo at those since ive been singing them for a while and they just flow so damn well. Well this inspired me to get on doing some music and i did something pretty cool. Expect em to post it in the WIP other section. Thank you Arkimedes fantastic stuff.

[Dhsu]

I think I've previously mentioned my thoughts on this mix...although it's a great piece of music, my main issue is that the source material really doesn't seem to be the focus at all. It's more of an original with a slight cameo of the Shenmue theme (the ReMixer also admits it's a little "subtle"). In fact, the theme isn't even present in its entirety...the entire second half of the original melody has been omitted. And when it finally shows up about a minute into the song, it's more of a background thing...an accompaniment to the main song. Other than that, this mix is pretty much entirely original material. Not that there's anything wrong with that (the guidelines only require a "recognizable resemblence"), I just wish the game music would've had a more prominent role in this piece.

I don't mean to sound whiney or nitpicky...that's just how I feel, is all. And I did enjoy Arkimedes Halo mix, in which the source material was the actual focus. I hope he releases more like it soon.

[Fray]

Very dreamy and absorbing. I think the vocals sound great

[AJitator27]

nice mix. but i would like to hear this mix without the vocals (and maybe a little longer). i bet it'll be 10x better.

anyone know where i can get the minus-1?

-

AJ Pardilla

AJFLIPDESIGN.com

[NeoDestiny]

Excellent. I can't think of many other words to describe it, but when I think of lyrics being put to a game song, I'm either bias against it immediately or I take the time to listen to it and kick myself in the face for not being bias against it immediately. But this is completely different.

I'm not a remixing expert, nor am I experienced in the infinite technicalities of using the software required to remix music, but I'd like to point out how difficult it would be to add lyrics, effectively, to any musical score originally written for a game. This score carries with it predetermined emotion, a set of events, characters and a tone that's all preset by something a musical artist, no matter how good, could never present to you - a scene. Pictures. Graphical beauty.

Could you imagine trying to add words to the Aeris theme without destroying the moment that it captured?

I, personally, think the vocal track went along very well with the music. Remember, it's extremely hard to think up these things, so you have to understand where this guy's coming from, you know?

Someone commented earlier on how the words something didn't fall right on a beat, and that they felt sort of crammed in or out of place. This, I agree with, for the first time listening to it. But after you listen to it again, you notice it's sort of set in a "I couldn't care less about all the technical stuff, I'm just trying to convey what I'm feeling here" attitude, hence the "spoken-word" soundtrack and not a glorious, opera chorus track or something of the sort.

As for the lyrics themselves, it's hard to tell whether or not this guy's trying to focus in on a single subject, or if he's trying to leave the song more universal. I don't know the artist, personally, so it's hard to say how deep he'd try to delve into the exact wording of the song.

Well, if you're reading this and you're on a Beta version of AOL 1.4, connecting from a Pentium 0.3 Dell and you're considering an investment of multiple days to download this piece, I'd definitely recommend it.

~Steven

[Rayagon]

Very glad to see this on the front page. I've had this bad boy since it was shot up onto vgmix, and I've always thought of it as a great piece.

Here's an insight on how cool I think this is: on my mix CD (dorkily titled "RAD MIX") I have this track right before Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. It takes a really strong song to lead in to Comfortably Numb, many songs can't handle it. This one does the job perfectly, and that is high praise.

I have no beef with the lyrics at all. Maybe at a few times they can be a little cheeseball, but definitely not cheese factory. The "lone wolf / battle plan" section that DJP had issues with I had no problem with.

Overall, the track is an almost transcendental experience (I don't know if I'm using that word right and I don't even care). Very surreal, very cool. Flowing and beautiful -- like the aforementioned "Numb".

This track gets top props from me.

[Mocha]

I've never really understood why this remix gets so much attention wherever it appears. If I had wanted to listen to a seemingly half-conscious insomniac drone on about how much better their life could be, I would have paid attention to my 9th grade science teacher who spent her time popping pills and talking about her chronic headaches.

[Keii]

Well, to not be a jerk about a remix I don't really like... Honestly, I have to say once again that it seems like the Shenmue theme is hardly the subject here. It sounds decent but the entire..purpose of the remix seems to draw your attention to the vocals. And no offense to the artist, but they just do not tickle my fancy whatsoever. I don't have anything against this type of thing, but the lyrics just sound...incredibly stereotypic to me, sadly, and after being spoiled by the lords of everything that are "The Postal Service," this whole half dreaming voice thing doesn't cut it for me. Sorry.

[Indrid Cold]

The only real positive thing about this mix is that the vocals, although they don't belong, were at least sang in a way that matched the motif I feel the remixer was shooting for. As stated before, there really isnt anything "Shenmue" about this. This was wasn't really anything more than putting a good name on a bad attempt.

[The Instrument of GAWD]

It's been mentioned, that the Shenmue Theme should've been more present. I feel the same way, but that doesn't stop me from listening to this on repeat every other night when I'm trying to sleep.

[Phil1450]

Well, here I am listening to it at 2:08AM, while not the first time I've heard it I felt it was worth commenting on for whatever reason now.

The vocals/lyrics I didn't have a problem with and I love the instrumental stuff in the back. Anyway, I just wanted to let the creator know that the 1:30 section gave me goosebumps, which is certainly a good thing. Really dig the song man, thanks.