OCR03959 - *YES* Metroid Prime 2, Zelda: OoT, MP3 & Zelda 1 "Enantiodromia"

[Gario]

Respawn Collective - "Enantiodromia" (attached to email)

sources:

Hirokazu Tanaka - "Title" (Metroid)

Kenji Yamamoto - "Darkness ~ VS. Dark Samus" (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)

Koji Kondo - "Middle Boss Battle" (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

Kenji Yamamoto - "VS. Dark Samus" (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)

Koji Kondo - "Title" (The Legend of Zelda)

(You seem to already have the soundtracks for the NES games and Ocarina of Time on OCR, so we haven't included links to those.)

source usage:

0:07-0:53 Metroid title theme, subtle Dark Samus noise elements
0:53-1:09 Metroid title theme, Dark Samus melody
1:09-1:24 Dark Samus melody
1:24-1:39 Dark Samus melody, OoT miniboss melody A, MP2 Dark Samus percussion*
1:39-1:55 Metroid title theme, Dark Samus melody, MP3 Dark Samus ostinato
1:55-2:25 Legend of Zelda title theme
2:25-2:29 MP2 Dark Samus opening
2:29-2:37 OoT miniboss ostinato, Dark Samus noise elements
2:37-2:56 OoT miniboss ostinato, probably inaudible MP3 Dark Samus ostinato
2:56-3:42 OoT miniboss theme, minor Dark Samus noise elements
3:42-3:58 Dark Samus melody/noise (also in bassline), Metroid title theme/not Hazy Maze Cave
3:58-4:05 Dark Samus melody/noise, OoT miniboss melody A/ostinato
4:05-4:28 MP3 Dark Samus strings/choir, MP2 Dark Samus guitar solo/intermittent alarms
4:28-4:44 Dark Samus melody/harmonies, OoT miniboss melody A/ostinato
4:44-4:59 Dark Samus melody/ostinato/noise, OoT miniboss melody B
4:59-5:07 Metroid title theme, OoT miniboss ostinato
5:07-5:22 Metroid title ostinato, OoT miniboss melodies A and B, subtle Dark Samus melody
5:22-5:53 Metroid title melody/ostinato, indecisive Dark Samus melody can't stick with one key
5:53-6:24 Metroid title ostinato, Dark Samus melody/ostinato/guitar/noise, OoT melodies/ostinato
6:24-6:39 Metroid title ostinato and drone, Dark Samus white noise thing

* The vaguely chromatic high-resonance percussion from Metroid Prime 2's Dark Samus theme is in most of the song after this point, so I've omitted mentioning it in subsequent timestamps for reasons of redundancy.


First off, I apologize for the length of this submission email. Obviously you don't have to quote most of this in the write-up if the ReMix is accepted, but it seems logical for the judging panel to be privy to the rationale behind the various musical decisions and less obvious design elements. I tend to overthink things.

Right, starting at the beginning. After Yargami, the youngest member of the Respawn Collective and our most active gamer, discovered that Samus and Link had Dark Samus and Dark Link color schemes in the fourth Smash Bros. game, he informed me that we needed to have a duel between the two (which we still haven't gotten around to). As I started to compile a playlist, he humorously pointed out that their themes could almost fit over the top of each other (and, as we later discovered, are both at 125 BPM), and I took him... slightly too seriously. This has been a collaboration between the two of us, since NuPharazon (the third member of the Collective) had a heavy workload at the time, although she has subsequently provided valuable feedback on how to make the concept more accessible without compromising the various noise elements that form an integral part of the Metroid Prime vibe, as well a consistent demand for the guitar solo at 4:06 to stand out from the otherwise basically atonal section (her favorite part of both this ReMix and the original song).

The title of the ReMix refers to the Jungian concept of opposing an concept or group with such ferocity that one begins to unintentionally adopt its qualities as a sort of emergent "shadow" (not dissimilar to Nietzsche's "he who fights monsters" concept, in some ways). On a superficial level, this could describe both bosses' unusual (for their respective series) tendencies to analyze your attack pattern and use it against you, but it somewhat literally describes the titular Metroid Prime's repurposing of its archnemesis' armor at the end of the first game and Samus' gradual metamorphosis into a Dark Samus clone in the third. Additionally, the better-known Jungian concept of the shadow fits Dark Samus' status as an inexorable Chozo-tech-wielding hunter who specializes in planetary-scale genocide (a description easily leveled at Metroid's protagonist), as well as Dark Link's apparent physical derivation from Link himself (reading between the lines a bit there - the Zelda series isn't generally known for its in-depth explanations, apart from the timeline they released a few years back).

Since the NES Metroid and Jean-Michel Jarre's Rendez-Vous came out around the same time and both started with big spacey drone notes, I had a strong childhood association between the two (an impression I evidently shared with the modern series composers, considering how much influence Jarre seems to have had on Yamamoto's Metroid Prime work), so I wanted the opening Metroid title part of the ReMix to have that same space-music vibe, albeit updated for modern tech. Thus, the drones at the beginning are loosely inspired by the opening notes of Rendez-Vous, one of the more shimmery synth choirs has similarities to an instrument from Équinoxe, and one of the pads is somewhat reminiscient of the phased Eminent 310 Unique from Oxygène, although it's mixed with enough other soundscaping that it's probably not noticeable unless you're specifically listening for it.

As for the actual workflow, I put down a sort of space music/industrial noise music foundation, then Yargami crafted a number of unique melodic textures to cut through all the ambient soundscaping I'd inevitably be doing... and also snuck in a bouncy synth bass that veered the song abruptly into DnB territory, which has ultimately made the end product less excessively ponderous and a lot more fun than my initial conception of it. Based on those elements, I did the overall arrangement, noise elements, and general production, during which time the song divided into separate movements and became a great deal longer than we intended. The minor-key NES Metroid part starting about five minutes into the song, in particular, I included as a joke because we had already mutilated the NES Zelda title theme earlier, but Yargami insisted that we leave it in. I suppose that's appropriate payback for my roping him into a huge ReMix he only facetiously proposed in the first place.

On a final note, I'm not sure if there's a specific process for deciding where to list ReMixes with sources from multiple games, but if artist intent is a factor, we recommend putting this one under Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, since most of its general vibe and a significant percentage of its musical content hails from that game. Thanks for your time, and we hope you enjoyed the music.

- Apollyon, Respawn Collective Unit Alpha

 

The Respawn Collective consists of Apollyon (user ID 18130), Yargami (user ID 28292), and NuPharazon (user ID 35368)

 

 

[Liontamer]

Production-wise, this was pretty flooded from 2:10-2:24, and the phasing effect from 4:14-4:27 was unpleasent as well, but I'll live. Otherwise, good instrumentation choices and mixing that led to a lot of tension and purposeful battle between different themes/elements.

As far as the arrangement, smart stuff throughout that morphed around a lot with creative interplay and transitions between the source tunes. Very impressive stuff!

YES

[Rexy]

This arrangement is fantastic!  I had fun listening along with the timestamps and hearing the different elements in place, so thank you for that.

It's especially amazing to hear points where one source worked alongside another.  They contributed to an arrangement that never tires out and retains familiarity almost all the way through - almost as if it's rhapsodic.  I felt especially floored at 1:55, where the Zelda theme got adapted to fit the more ominous minor key shifts and set the scene leading up to the groove's introduction.  It's a visible sign that the sources were used, played with, and retained a consistent vision.

The production values are also potent as well.  This sound design feels like a fitting homage to the Metroid Prime trilogy's overall score and the early work of Jean-Michael Jarre.  Everything's well balanced, clear to pick out, used reverb effectively to create ambiance, and even experiments with different timbres to pull the listener into the immersion of deep space.

All in all, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be on the front page.  There's excellent playing around with themes to simulate the vision of an epic duel, the presentation is meticulously crafted, and a result like that can also mean great teamwork.  Amazing job!

YES

Edited August 4, 2019 by Rexy

[MindWanderer]

Yeah, there's definitely some overcompression in the louder sections.  The sidechaining in 4:13-4:26 is especially painful because the deliberate pumping is amplified by the overcompression. However, overall the production is solid and the arrangement is stellar.

YES

[prophetik music]

there is some really expressive ambiance in the beginning of this track. i was so digging the vibe and energy that you built, and then suddenly you've got 1:55 which is so well handled. what an incredible transition. all of these transitions are so well done. i'm normally super leery of medleys with a ton of tracks because they usually don't lend themselves to real exploration, but you found ways to subvert my expectations of each theme's usage. i particularly liked the consistent usage of 'corrupted' versions of the themes to keep my ears active in a track featuring many varied styles. bravo. this is an easy vote for me.

 

YES