djpretzel Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Remixer Name: Vurez Remix Info: Remix Title: Grana Vallis Turbo Style Name of Game(s): Ys VI The Ark of Napishtim Name of Individual Song(s): Mountain Zone It's a little depressing to see a lack of Ys arrangements on this site, considering it's pretty much a cult classic series known especially for it's soundtracks. There is only one posted on ocremix at this time. Anyway, I decided to remix Moutain Zone from Ys VI (the latest in the series). Some might have heard my other Ys remixes that I posted on vgmix a while back. This one is somewhat similar to those in that I was trying to capture the feeling and sound of the Ys games that were released for the Turbo Grafx CD. Ever since Ryo Yonemitsu (the arranger of the Ys games that were released on the Turbo) left the game music world, the Ys games have suffered in the music production quality area. Falcom's latest soundtrack still doesn't compare to what Yonemitsu was able to do over a decade ago. The original Mountain Zone track just plays through once and then loops forever. I think the tune is nice but the quality of the instruments (especially the leads) are lacking. Anyway, I gave it a full makeover, used powerful synth hits similar the Ys games released on the Turbo, added some variation and some solos. This song might be a little bit different than what most people are used to hearing on this site. I hope you guys understand what I was trying to do here. I uploaded the original, if you want to hear it when evaluating - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 I've heard some of Vurez's material before off VGMix and have played it on VGF. I'm sure we'll see him posted one day, but it won't be with this. I think the opening lead synth (:00-:18) was really poorly chosen, despite the fact that Don was trying to emulate the Turbo style as it were. Wasn't a big fan of the synth electric guitar here, but that may be a personal choice, so it didn't affect my judgement. Most of the elements here lacked enough clarity and distinction; the sound was pretty cluttered most of the time. It was mostly reinstrumentation that I heard, though I'd hazard to say if it were a sound "upgrade"; I honestly felt the original was better. Heard some brand new ideas at 2:15 finally, and those basically lasted until the end. This still came off as too conservative of an arrangement. It retained the tempo and feel of the original so much that there was nothing present that particularly distinguished it from the source tune itself. This needs more personal flair and interpretation that what you've got right now, as well as clearer sounds. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 this is such Ys music. the arrangement rocks to high heaven and i hear ryo yonemitsu all over it. considering the source material of this tune doesn't sound like him AT ALL, i am very impressed by this arrangement. i think for judges to appreaciate this track, they have to understand what it is that Vurez is doing here. this is falcom sound team to the max... with dancing synths, interchanging guitar and organ solos and a decidedly synthetic feel to the whole thing. i can't and won't critique based on realism because that isn't what's goin on here - this is a tribute to the original composer of Ys games and i think this does this flawlessly. ACE. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 A bit muffly. Other than that, oh man, what a great texture. I love that old school japanese melodic synth/rock sound going on here. I love that section at 2:02; I feel like I'm watching the last episode of some outerspace space anime from the early 90s and the one hero with blue spikey hair flies into a swarm of alien invaders BY HIMSELF and totally blows tons of alien capital ships up. Great arrangement, great texture. Nice work. I was too hasty in my initial evaluation. Upon further reviewal, I can see that much of this song follows the original much too closely. A lot of what I like about this song is actually strengths of the source material, not the remix itself. Not a bad listen, but much to close to the original, and like I did say, a bit muffly. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 I have to agree with Larry that I'm not seeing much of a rearrangement or reinterpretation here. Lots of sound changes, some variations in there, but the original is unmistakably present in the rhythms, synth timbres, and overall structure. The production is just fine outside of a little dullness on the synth guitar, but the great feel overall doesn't justify the lack of a substantial arrangement. While this is very enjoyable, I think it sticks too close to the original in not only notation, but general style as well. I would love to see this resubmitted with a more interpretive arrangement, though I can understand if Vurez wants to keep this as more of a tribute or cover than a rearrangement in our sense of the word. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wingless Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I think this is one of the *very* few time where adherence to the original is the remix's greatest strenghth. I completely agree with Zyko on this one. In fact, I'll go right ahead and say I can't *rightly* judge this song because I'm horribly biased towards Y's sound tracks... come with me, won't you, on journey of self-discovery and reflection... The year was 1993 or so, and on alabaster-white christmas day, young John Allen opened a large present to reveal the resplendant ebon casing of the Turbographix 16 CD-rom. A thing of power. Of beauty. Of wonder beyond all wonder that can be conceived of in human thought, feelings, or action. And in my 12-year old innocence, I was at peace. And then I loaded up the fucker, and found out it was broken. Beyond that, Toys-R-us had no more CD-roms in stock, and would not have them for, quote, "Some time". My world, what remained of my world, was ripped asunder. Annihilated. From that day foward, I knew neither love, nor fear. From that day foward, I was born of darkness. And yet, one tiny, nigh-imperceptable point of light twinkled in the air that year. My cousin, then 23, had a turbo-graphix 16 CD-rom. For one single, shining, and yet, horribly bittersweet day, I kissed the face of God. I got to play Ys III (which in hindsight, turned out not to be the face of God, but Satan's Ass Polyp in turns of gameplay). Fin The point? The point is he nailed the style, the timbre, the *essence* of the Ys sound right on the head. And it takes me back to those glory days of yore when men were men, and the women were damn glad of it. In terms of sheer replication and nostalgia, it's quite remarkable. Certainly, this will raise issues of whether a remix is intended for replication or reinterpretation, but I will not expound upon that. As Foucalt once wrote, "Sit yo' ass down, nuggah". Muddled? Yes. Few variations in dynamics and density? Certainly. But beyond that, there are no real glaring sins against music in this piece. Not enough to warrent a resubmit I think, but then again, please bear in mind, on this song, I must plead total and complete obedience. YES Next week on Wingless, I'll tell you how I lost my virginity to the Oakland Raiders... Every single one of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Next week on Wingless, I'll tell you how I lost my vriginity to the Oakland Raiders... Every single one of them Even Al Davis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 There is arrangement going on here, but not exactly in the way some of the judges/OCR is looking for. More work needs to be done on the compositional level, structural or form changes, rhythm changes, or melodic/harmonic expansion. In this regard, I don't think the mix is up to that bar. However in another regard it still has a lot of new twists. The biggest change I think is more of the arrangement changes zyko mentioned. I think it takes quite a lot of talent to pull of this certain sound. The synth design, composition is very emblematic of the the style Vurez is going for. Great work in that regard. But unfortunately the sum of it requires more expansion that I detailed in the first paragraph. Mixing issues are also there, I think there's too much reverb/delay. EQ work would also help the muddy sound. It's not too bad nor a big detraction, but I think you could do some EQ roll offs in the lower mid ranges, and a few treble boosts to give it some clarity before it hits the reverb/delay in your chain. You have talent, and I love your synth work, so I hope to really see you either resubmit this or continue submitting with some of the arrangement requirements in mind. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 As there are no further votes on this mix after this much time, the vote is closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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