OCR00003 - Ecco the Dolphin "Dorsal Dub"

[Joe Redifer]

Ecco the Dolphin 'Dorsal Dub'

This is a ReMix from the CARTRIDGE version of Ecco the Dolphin, which, in my opinion, did not have memorable music. It was very scratchy and almost irritating. The Sega CD version was fantastic, though. I am not too familiar with the "dub" genre (I think it means to copy something and lose quality in the process). djp captures the annoyance of the Genesis version's music here, only it doesn't sound scratchy. Not much of a melody, but if you listen close you CAN find one!

[JamPaladin]

This mix starts with a very cool sounding sonar ping, which holds the beat for the rest of the mix. Unfortunately, the sonar ping is probably the best part of the mix. It's very jazzy -and if you like jazz like me it's certainly quite listenable, and its ambiance makes great background music. There's no real melody, the way jazz should be. It's almost as if the tune was devised based on some visulisation type thing watching a marble roll around while tilting the platform its on. On the whole though, if you're not looking for backgorund music, but rather somehting to actively listen to, this might be a tad bit boring.

Subjective Ecco-Online-Sonar-ping-time-O-Meter:

For background music: 7.2/10

For listening actively: 5.3/10

[cobaltstarfire]

Well I like the mix, although I can't figure out for the life of me what song it is from the game.

And being an avid fan of Ecco, (the old ones atleast.) It drives me partualy insane trying to figure out exactly what song or level this is a remix of.

Otherwise I like the mix, not my fav in the world but it works.

[jordex]

The begginning is so cool I listen to just the first 10 secs then start the song over

But I have listened to the whole song before

I sorta recognize the tune, I haven't played Ecco for about 7 years or longer

I like the drums, how they have the same rhythm as the melody

[OceansAndrew]

The sonar in this track gives it a somewhat underwater feel, but everything else is a little too dry to complete the mood. There are some pads that get the feel across, and the drum sound is good as well.

One issue, however, is that the rhythm on both the drums and electric piano seems really uneven. It sounds more like a sloppy performance than a conscious descision, IMO. Though it is both detracting and distracting, there are a lot of elements in this mixthat are well done, especially for such an early work.

[DragonAvenger]

The sonar is a nice touch to the piece, and I like how it fits throughout the entire song.

The song is very meandering, which isn't a bad thing, though I would have liked more of a...purpose...for lack of a better word. The song falls too much into a catagory of something I can really through into the background and ignore. From the sounds of it, however, the original music wasn't much different, so it's hard to fault DJP on that.

I like the jazz feel, and sometimes background music is nice to have. I'll keep this one.

[anosou]

I can't believe I didn't review this before. I listen to it a lot, both because I'm a fan of Ecco and because it's a great remix.

The EP is both played well and has a sweet sound. As OA pointed out it's a little on the dry side, but I tend to like that.

The only thing bothering me is that this is NOT dub Otherwise, give it a listen, it will not dissapoint.

[Rozovian]

This is really cool. Starts with a breathing sonar ping, which is pretty cool even on its own. Cool, soft, a little uneven tho for something from 2000 it's still great. It's easy to find stuff to appreciate in this, tho there are some detracting production things. Still, it's certainly worth a listen or two.

[Lint]

Hmm.... this mix is a really pretty piece of keyboard work with drums that feel like they're trying to accent the atmosphere. There's parts in it where I feel like the drums throw me off (mostly at the intro), and then there's parts where they're sucking me back into the mix (from 1:15 - 2:00). After that I feel somewhat meh about the whole piece. It's alright, but I definitely don't feel like it's any of djpretzel's best work.

[Kizyr]

Pretty good ambient jazz track. Admittedly there's not a lot going on, and it starts to sound a bit meandering. But, it still works well as background.

I'm sort of surprised the sonar ping works so well despite being repeated for almost the entire track. The rest of the melody kind of dances around that and the percussion, so it has a pretty cohesive feel to it. All in all, it's a fun track, even if it does feel a little aimless. KF

[42]

The echolocation pings for the intro and ending really set the tone/place for this mix; they immediately tell the listener that this is in the solitary dark depths of the ocean.

I like the lazy, laid back feel to it. Very good music to listen to while studying/reading.

It's a cool mix and worth listening to.

[Marmiduke]

Vintage pretzel is like cold pizza or soggy cereal. Some people love it and some people just can't get past the way it is supposed to be eaten. Or in this case, listened to.

Would this have sounded better if djpretzel concieved this mix today? Of course. But does it sound great regardless? To me, it's hot.

I relay all the praise for the sonar sound effect; this gives the mix a gimmick, which is helpful in instantly remembering the song after it gets lost in the vast shuffle. Drums get a little spastic in relation to the keyboard melody, which is also get quite manic. At times, it sounds as though one thing is happening completely detached from the other, which throws me a little. However, then you have moments like at 1:17 - 1:45, which is just ubercool and very slick.

Being a track from the first days of OCR, this mix proves that the fun was always there, but also the quality has always been there too. This mix still sounds fresh, interesting and ear-pleasing even after 9 YEARS! And that's a tough thing to do, I imagine. Mind boggling.

[Polo]

Sounds like a ReMix of Opening Theme, from what I can tell. The persistently changing melody is a bold choice and a commendable strength of Dorsal Dub.

As others noted, the sonar is a slick touch, but I think it loses some of its mysterious vibe while other synths are in play. On the other hand, if it played three more pings at the end, the mix would wrap up on a more satisfying note.

I like the whistles (1:38 - 1:44); it's like they're calling out to the abyss. Before that, the brief minimalist lapse (1:28 - 1:31) could be a bit longer to distance itself from - and better emphasize - the rather offbeat percussion. Speaking of which, the popping drums, muted rubber band pluckings (that's what they sound like), and other percussive tidbits are a treat.

[metalsnakejuice]

This brings back memories. l like how it fits with the atmosphere of the ocean and how it really is great to listen to when you want to relax.

[Tables]

Obviously the sonar is great, but the rest of the instrumentation feels a bit dry. Still some cool keyboards going on (although they seem a bit frantic sometimes for the mood I think you're going for), and the drums are interesting throughout. Feels like you could squeeze another minute or two out of it, but perhaps the same could be said of all songs of this genre with no real melody. Overall, I dig it. Another decent early mix.

[Crulex]

That sonar was so good! Perfect backing for this track, and for such a simple idea, that sonar was probably the cherry on top of this mix. I gotta say, I'm becoming more of a fan of jazz with every ReMix I listen to that has some form of it, and I kinda dig the ambient jazz that lets it switch up the melodies without crashing. It feels like it's meant to bring up images of the sea, and considering the game and source, that's a plus.

[Gario]

Sexy funky electric piano. That about sums up the review - everything else is a nitpick, in comparison. No, really, the electric jazz piano pretty much dominates the entire track, and it's worth listening to based on that alone.

The background harmonies are pretty neat, as well. Unfortunately, there's no real satisfying bass to complete then ensemble, in my opinion. It makes the track sound more empty than it is.

The drums are a little eclectic (and not in a good way). They're a regular set with basic bass & snare on the one hand, and crazy compressed SFX on the other. They don't mesh well when they're together.

The arrangement is a bit meandering, though that might come with the source not really having as much direction. I'm not familiar with the source, and DjP mentions that it's more of an ambient track, anyway, so I'm going to take his word for it.

Fun track, even if it does just wander around a bit. Certainly seven dolphins out of ten.

[Brandon Strader]

I can hear the edges of the looping drums! Almost as if the tempo of the song is just the slightest bit different to allow the smallest pause between repetition. I do think the sounds are pretty dry here and could use some reverb. Especially the right-panned ePiano seems very dry as well as being very right-panned. There's also some sour notes here and there in some of the chords. I definitely think some reverb would help complete the atmosphere that is going on -- maybe brighten the string pad a bit (or chop some low-mids) as well as adding reverb. Widening the string pad just a touch would have been great -- not to the extreme that the ePiano is, just a little bit.. maybe L35. I think if the ePiano and String pad had a similar panning, the sound would be more effective. The bass instrument could have come up as well, possibly as much as 4db.

[swansdown]

This is music that could easily fit into an Ecco stage. A bit more energetic than most Ecco tracks, but a boss battle or chase, surely.

[Tables]

Oh man why did you have to point out the 'edges of the drum loop' thing now I can't unhear it. And also gotta agree with the other things mentioned like the dry weirdly panned piano and the lack of bass (!!) being a problem. But hey.

I like when djpretzel tries to emulate styles, say whatever else you want but I did get those vibes of Entroducing so that was nice. So were the some of the jazzy piano bits. Not something I'd listen to on the regular but a nice effort. I feel like with more finesse a song like this would be very very successful today!

[BladedEdge]

This is absolutely the first really good mix posted to the site. I played this over and over back in the day. It absolutely could have appeared in-game. Those sonar pings are really the icing on the cake.
Took me many years before I noticed the sort of hard stop on the drum loop, like they don't actually loop and are instead just stopping and starting over. Makes for a great effect.

Never listened to any DJ Shadow myself, so I can't compare it to that stylistically. Only ever seen DJ shadow mentioned twice that I know of, the description for this mix and an aside comment by Fred on one of the megatokyo rants around the same time I first started getting into OC remixes. Weird the sort of oddball meaningless things that form memories.