OCR00258 - Tetris (NES) "Techtris Type Z"

[m68030]

Tetris (NES) 'Techtris Type Z'

An interesting electronic rendition of the familiar Tetris music. Drumming

bassline and explosive snare bits blend with a minimal synth array

of sounds flying around left and right in the stereo image. Interesting.

[mDuo13]

First off, this isn't a mix of the classic Tetris song. It's a different, less-addictive original song. This mix, however, has its own advantages.

It starts with a deep humming synth and a few sound effects to create a kind of ambient atmosphere. Then, the bass synth kicks in, followed shortly by a main synth. Throughout the arrangement, there are a couple of synths as well as some slightly cheesey drum samples.

The samples here vary in their quality and effectiveness. The most ugly sample is the central drum sample, which fortunately doesn't play nonstop. An occasional ochestra hit sample is also more annoying than anything else. There are some more and less interesting synths: the bass synth is incredibly boring; the main synth, while a little better-sounding than the bass, could've come straight from a SNES box. Some of the ambient sounds, though, are quite interesting (chirps, whistles, and moans, among other things) and there is also a cool echoing piano and a haunting string synth.

The arrangement of Techtris TypeZ is best described as inconsistent. It starts out with a creepy soundscape feel, but soon delves into some very dull techno that is probably very close to the original theme, plus a very repetetive bass loop, and the aforementioned fake-sounding drums (also in a repetetive loop). Then, nearly halfway through, there's a more haunting scene again, which sounds very cool -- the moaning strings with the echoing piano and some odd sfx to add depth and unpredictability, and the bass loop even sounds good with it. Then, unfortunately, it lapses back into the boring, generic techno. The ending is also quite abrupt and generic.

Those of you who know Danny B's "Awakened Fears of the Gerudo" mix from VGMix.com will recognize the haunting style that is this piece's strong point. However, unlike that mix, Techtris TypeZ is ruined by a stale and repetetive central passage. This mix had a lot of potential, but in the end it turned out only mediocre.

[OceansAndrew]

This mix starts out with a great ambience and some super low bass hits before the theme itself comes in. The synth is a little mushy, and the snare sounds very mechanical, but just when you are ready to write off the track, a beautiful breakdown with a ton of ambiance and subtle orchestral elements arrives, though just when you start to enjoy the change of pace, the theme comes back verbatim.

This piece does have some merits, certainly, but it really does show it's age with the orchestra hits and snare rolls.

[jmr]

First off, I like the ambient introduction; pretty good use of the stereo field.

With the end of the ambiance and the entry of a (slightly grating) bass synth at 0:15 comes the beginnings of the recognizable NES Tetris music. Following this, we get the introduction of a drum track. It seems alright at first, but it quickly descends into a fairly basic kick-snare pattern for a period of time. To make things worse, the snare sample is not that great (and that's putting it lightly!). Simultaneously we are treated to a near-verbatim cover of the melody (although, there are some small changes that work well, such as in the last few bars of this section which facilitate a transition into the next part).

Following this, we go into an original section, which despite sounding very little like the Tetris theme we were just listening to, is pretty enjoyable. The percussion is essentially non existent for this bit. However, the artist starts building up layers of synths and sound effects, creating what I guess could be considered the climax of this piece. Even though it isn't half bad, I think it would've been nice if there was some sort of building, driving beat to go along with this.

We now return to the Tetris theme, which is essentially the same as before. The only real difference: in addition to the bad snare sample, we now have a bad orchestra hit sample on top of everything else. It simply continues like this until the lackluster ending.

Even though I like the original NES version of the theme, I find that the original sections are the highlights of the remix. If the Tetris theme sections were arranged to be more like the artist's original parts, than this would be great. Instead, we're left with the good original section sandwiched between two identical slices of the Tetris theme served with a side of bad samples.

[DragonAvenger]

Unfortunately this piece shows it's age through it's sample use. That's the biggest drawback, in my opinion. The lack of real arrangement doesn't help, however.

As stated before, the breakdown of this piece is the highlight. More of that would have really brought up the piece.

[Kizyr]

I always liked the "B" theme more than the more-familiar "A" theme (GB) that everyone recognizes. So I already liked this mix for that reason.

Anyway, the first part of the mix until it hits about 1:20 is all right, nothing too spectacular. But the bit that comes in at 1:23 and, then, when it gets back to the main theme at 2:39, those areas both were done really well. Had more of the song been like that, I would've had almost no complaints, I think.

Probably the main drawback is that I thought the bass and percussion were a little heavy and sounded a bit repetitive. But, it's overall a good mix. KF

[Eino Keskitalo]

Intro and the middle part are indeed the best thing about this ReMix. However, after the middle part, it seems to me that the tetris riff has some extra momentum, it actually sounds much better than the first time around, although it hasn't really changed (except for that awful orch hit.. or is there actually some slight buffing of the synth riff sound?). So, the arrangement definitely has it's merits! Unfortunately, the samples are pretty awful and mar the track badly.

--Eino

[42]

When I first listened to this, it was like Manheim Steamroller covering Tetris.

It's not an exact match to them, but the resemblance is like "...whoa..."

The only thing about this mix is the tempo is too slow, but other than that, cool remix.

[WillRock]

I like the others like the intro and the main section.

I do think that this is arranged well and it certainly has its good points, however, it hasn't aged well

The lead synth sounds very dry and unprocessed, and the snare sounds mechanical, and a lack of velocity changes in the drum rolls give me the impression of a machine gun, not a snare

The orchestra hits aren't great either tbh.

Not a bad arrangement, and it has its good points, but it also has bad points that bring down what could have been an excellent mix.

[justinj212]

It had its good points, I just feel like it lacks the driving force behind the original. Overall I thought it was a good effort but I just don't get the same feeling I get from the original.

[Bahamut]

Unfortunately this piece shows it's age through it's sample use. That's the biggest drawback, in my opinion. The lack of real arrangement doesn't help, however.

As stated before, the breakdown of this piece is the highlight. More of that would have really brought up the piece.

Pretty much sums it up. Poor, aging samples, and the gaping hole of arrangement really holds the track back. There's so much more that the track could've done, but...we get nothing .

[Marmiduke]

I don't want to slander this mix anymore than it already has been, so I'll keep this pretty brief. The ancient samples are horrid, I won't lie. They suck and its a real shame. I actually think this mix does some really cool things (possibly even ahead of its time on OCR) with deconstructing the melody and creating expansive, atmospheric sections out of a short chiptune. There are really cool ideas that are actually nicely executed in this piece..... but of course, it's all bookended by some awfully dull electronica that could pass off as comedic homage these days.

For the things it does right though, I wont classify this with the worst the site has to offer. It's not good, but it had what it took to be.

[Rexy]

Sometimes, Tetris mixes are hard to really trust in regards to source tune. I believe that there needs to be a proper separation between the Nintendo and Tengen sources here, as the tune here is actually the B music from the Nintendo version and isn't present in the Tengen section. Just saying.

That fickleness aside, it does start out strongly with the strings and a swift and gradual interpreatation of the source. The samples may show their age now, especially some of those MIDI sounding synths (the squares and drum kit in particular), but for what's been handled for the purpose it feels quite chill to me and fits the source quite well. The middle part was cool with the ambience as well, so credit where credit is due for some strong bridge work.

Other than that, it's an old arrangement that may have been hampered a bit by the trials of time, but the weak processing and humanisation in general has also made this one age significantly more than going by arrangement. You could look it up if you're a fan of the source, but again due to the rising standards over the years your enjoyment out of it may vary.

[MangaX]

Greetings everyone!

 

This is my one and only OCRemix, and I wanted to thank everyone for the many positive comments and constructive criticisms.

I've done very little music composition (roughly 7 complete works between 1999-2002), so I consider it a huge privilege to even be here.

 

Tetris has always been a favorite game of mine, and I was extremely pleased with how 'Techtris Type Z' turned out (at the time). Most notably, with the completely original, ambient/piano composition between the main theme (especially since I never learned to read music).

 

Unfortunately, as many others have observed, it hasn't aged well.  Featuring the sound fidelity of a 1990's techno track, it pales in comparison to the countless examples of amazing talent featured on OCRemix.

 

Nevertheless, considering that it was created in 2000, using nothing more than a Gravis Ultrasound sound-card (that had a 4Mb memory stick for samples), and Cakewalk Studio -- I'm still somewhat impressed at what I was able to accomplish, and extremely honored to be here.

 

Thank you.

[Crulex]

Alright, so obviously age and samples didn’t do this mix any favors, but I do have to say that the intro and the overall feeling of the mix still reached my ears well enough. I got an idea of what the vibe was, and I appreciate when a ReMix can remind me of the technical progression music samples have made since then. Always fun to see Type B’s music get mixed.