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OCR01485 - Secret of Mana "Dueling Consoles"


djpretzel
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I know I said it before but I am quoting for supreme emphasis: Shnabubula is the Terry Pratchett of remixing.

I honestly don't like the first moments of this song, however, around 0:25 I am totally dragged into a tornado of amazing melodies and counter melodies. Of course, at 2:00 the songs starts to do some serious ass kicking.

I need five minutes of silence after I listen to this tune. Just to come back to this planet.

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I don't really know what to say here, but I had to say something...

It's not just that it's so creative, or that the execution is so pristine - but it's so much FUN! :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

The opening makes you think "clever", the progression with the trade-off makes you think "cool", and then 0:49 comes and it blows your mind... and then it just keeps going. What I'm most speechless with is the way this manages to keep the listener's attention with so much MATERIAL. The variety of sounds, textures, and the sheer number of notes and the disparate patterns and articulations they happen to be arranged in... the high tempo coupled with the 5 and a half minute running time... I can barely imagine working up the gumption to write all this material and arrange it in such an ingenius way without giving up in anticipation of the frustration.

I think maybe it has to do with confidence - if you simply have confidence that you can write harmony to the melody you are writing, that the final mix will turn out as you envision it no matter how complex you make it, that it won't be too boring or too short, then you can just write without second-guessing, and simply slide along...

Or maybe that's what "planning" is for... well, uh, either one probably works :P

Just plain awesome... immensely fun to listen to, fantastically impressive in execution and especially in scope, and rather more easily digested than I seem to recall most of Shnabubula's work being.

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I heard this mix a while ago and made a blog entry specifically about it:

For those of you that could possibly enjoy a good chiptune, I highly recommend you check out Shnabubula's latest, and dare I say best work. ... This puppy is mandatory listening. If you can take the time too, I recommend getting under a pair of decent headphones ready and alotting the attention deserved it's glorious 5 and one half minutes. Listen to the source first if you're unfamiliar; the main boss theme from Secret Of Mana for the SNES. Then sit back, open your ears, try to relax, and let a Nintendo and a Sega Genesis duel, morph, and sing in perfect harmony for you. If done correctly by about 2:25 your brain should liquify onto the floor in wonder. I know mine did. I'm going to burn a CD of just Sam's work... I don't use music CDs often, but I just want it so that I can have it.

Sam is brilliant. My favourite remixer. I told him once that I think he, outside of video game composers, is the best thing to happen to video game music. Brilliant song in concept, nearly perfect in execution, and god-like in all musical respects.

If the judges no'd this I'd find them all and kick each of them swiftly in the groin.

THANK YOU OCR, THANK YOU SHNA.

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hate this source. it's finely written but the sounds themselves make me want to hurt myself.

this one is awesome though. the mid-range harmonies (the ones that change every time it repeats the phrases that start at 2:00) totally own.

actually though, i agree with liontamer...i like espergirl 2a03 better...though my favorite shna tune is actually "junkyard fairy glitter" ;o

were this an actual dual, my beloved Mega Drive would be the Burr to Nintendo's Hamilton

hahahahahaha, classic.

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What's to say? Sam just rocks, and Duelling Consoles is no different. An original remix idea, astounding execution, amazing experience. It's sad that Figaro Chiptune and Espergirl 2A03 aren't around to complement this one, but I understand the reasoning behind the rejections and accept them. An excellent triumvirate.

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Hooboy, what to say? The samples are pretty much 100% chiptunes, so far I know what I'm talking about. However, although they are chiptunes, this doesn't sound like a low quality MIDI, more like some sort of electronica. I liked how the music went from one speaker to another, the music itself corresponded good with the melody itself. Beats and synths flinged all over the scene, you could really tell that there was a tremendous battle going on between two rivals. Never thought it would be NES and Genesis though.

This is one of those special remixes, it doesn't sound very beautiful but the creativity used to make this makes it worth being downloaded. I know I will. I just hopes NES wins, it should flip over Genesis to inflict massive damage.

Great stuff Shnabubula. :D

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Awesome. Very creative use of chiptunes and having the Genesis and NES 'duelling' is pretty neat. It starts off a little slow, but it goes insane in due time; I don't think you could of picked a better song to use for this concept. Bit later in the song I'm reminded of your other remix, Hunter's Community Chest, which I also enjoyed immensely. Sort of makes me think of Zelda versus Crusader of Centy. I love this remix, heh, it's like you drew awesome out of the weave to craft this.

I'd suggest that anyone whom likes this should also check out Hunter's Community Chest. They are similar to me, although H.C.C. is a tad more mellow.

And finally, Bummerdude, perhaps the name should of been "GIANT ENEMY CONSOLES" or something, eh? I guess we will just stick with a giant enemy Mantis Ant for now.

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Ahhhh, finally! This was submitted in like... February =P. 4 months... jebus. Oh well, at least it got there in the end. Well played Sam! I really enjoy this, which of course goes without saying, and I'm glad it's finally got the chance to be exposed to the populace of OCR. It's one of the most entertaining vgremixes I've listened to. One of the most amusing and intriguing mix concepts too, haha. It's one of those things where you just think "bah! I wish I'd thought of that". Though even if I had, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to pull it off so well.

Indeed, it's hard to believe someone could concentrate so intensively, filling a composition with so many intricacies for 5 and a half minutes, constantly chopping and changing, modulating, never repeating (at least not verbatim, if at all) for the whole deal, throwing in dynamic use of effect processing and god alone knows what else. I wonder how many hours actually went into this exactly. I shall have to ask for an approximation. It's things like this that make my mental image of Sam, UNTIL HE CORRECTS IT, some old eccentric mad scientist with swirly glasses and huge toothy grin, going mad on his Sonar and midi controller. Really, what a frickin' nutcase.

I was happy to be an inspiration for this, that's for sure. I know I probably harped on about remixing Danger! (or other SoM material) at him for too bloody long but hey I suppose nagging pays off, evidently. I thought about remixing this track myself too, though haven't bothered starting for aforementioned lack of confidence fears. You can get that whole "oh bloody hell this looks like one huge chore" feeling and it's offputting. And since tracks like this are somewhat close to the standards I set for myself, I don't settle for what I make being too inferior. Maybe my own standards need to be lowered in order for me to get something DONE. But anyway, enough of being self-centered here.

It's sadly rare that a boss battle BGM will match the intensity of Danger!, and it's great to hear this mix keeping the intensity high. Though if anything, for the most part, I think this mix is LESS intense than the original. If I were to approach remixing it, that'd be something I'd do differently. I'd want to make it even more ominous and intense, personally. But yes, I enjoy Mr. Kikuta's music muchly, aswell as Mr. Ascher-Weiss's, so put them together and I'm a hapston chapston.

I notice the judges criticised the chaoticness mostly. I don't see that as a concern, and I think such a thing is largely subjective. There are some concerns with sounds coliding and the mixing suffering as a result, though compositionally I don't believe there's anything fallable about that. It's not going to be to everyone's tastes, largely due to the intensity and dissonance of it all, but I think OCReMix listeners need a nice challenge now and again! Maybe it's one of those mixes which tends to be appreciated more by music makers than music listeners? Just a thought... although Gray and Larry are also musicians, so maybe that's not quite the best avenue to go down. OH WELL, there's probably an explanation here somewhere. But yeah... chaoticness isn't inherently bad, just often hard to digest and enjoy unless you're 'into' it I suppose.

I've said enough. *teleport*

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chiptune battle + SoM + slack-jawed yokel intro = smiles!

Oh man Sam, I can only imagine the hell it must have been to decompose the wonderful chaos of Kikuta’s Danger! and remold it with a calculated chaos all your own. Technically stunning throughout but I especially love the changeup at 2:42 and the finale from 4:50. Nice, nice work.

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