OCR04153 - *YES* Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Red Version "999 Knives of Yellow Magikarp Orchestra"

[Rexy]

Remixer (and real) Name: Michael Hudak 

Link to my SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-513303599

Name of my arrangement: "999 Knives of Yellow Magikarp Orchestra"

Name of games arranged: Pokemon Sun/Moon & Pokemon Red/Blue

Name of songs arranged: From Sun/Moon it's the "Malie City" themes (both the day and night versions), and from Red/Blue it's "Caves of Mt. Moon". 

 

Hey there! Thanks again for all your hard work. The explanation for this is a tiny bit complicated because there are TWO versions of "Malie City", and TWO versions of a classic track called "1,000 Knives", which were hugely inspirational in the making of this new track.

 

As for the breakdown of source usage, I mainly used the "Day" version of "Malie City", which for my money is the best 1-minute loop of anything from the Pokemon series. My arrangement uses it from 0:00-1:12, 1:48-1:53, and 3:08-3:44. The first 5 seconds of the "Night" theme has a little part I love that I included in my arrangement from 1:31-1:47. The main riff from "Caves of Mt. Moon" from Red & Blue I used in my song from 2:33-2:37, 2:42-2:48, and 3:44-4:34. The noise at 0:58 is the original Magikarp cry.

 

In regards to the title and the inspiration (other than PKMN-related stuff), Ryuichi Sakamoto's "1,000 Knives" is one of my all-time favorite songs, featuring great Eastern melodies played on some very old-school synths, as well as an awesome extended guitar feature. Sakamoto was also in the now-legendary group Yellow Magic Orchestra, who later arranged their own version of "1,000 Knives" in 1980. Theirs featured a serious analog perc line and the very first usage of the Roland TR-808 in a recorded song! So, I've got the Pokemon stuff mixed in with a guitar feature (which is a bit loose purposefully, to humanize the programming a little), plus bass arps, classic synths (plugins!) perc runs, and big drum sounds, all to pay homage to the incomparable Sakamoto-san and those early 808 tracks, like "1,000 Knives" and "Searching for the Perfect Beat", by Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force. I mixed it for a more retro effect, too. Hopefully it all works for OCR, because I love this one!
 

[Chimpazilla]

Ah, the source is easier to hear on this one than on other remixes submitted by Michael (whew!).  What an interesting mixed approach here.  This mix has an 80s vibe too it, as well as a gorgeous Asian flair and also a chiptune feel.  The synth guitar adds even another element to the feel of the track, and the humanization of the guitar is done well.  I like the various percussion and white noise blasts.  What an eclectic mix of sounds.  Super fun!

YES

[Jivemaster]

Nice rendition with good choice of instrumentation. Good usage of the L/R channels for bouncing SFX and blips. The guitar portion at 2:00 was fun. That bit crushed synth elements were slightly distracting at times, likely due to their occupying higher frequencies. The glitchiness works well across the track. The outro is a tad weird, taking a while to wind down. Nothing wrong with weird though. This is quite an original take, you’ve done well with the arrangement choices here. Production is good, with a nice level of clarity between parts. Nice work.

YES

[prophetik music]

this is a real weird one. there was a lot that i liked, like the guitar solo and the way that you used the source. i also liked the different percussion ideas you had going on. the main body of the track felt really dry, though, like it was missing a part. this was really noticeable to me at around 0:38ish and subsequently around the 1:00 mark. it's a complaint we've had on other tracks you've done too. the ending was weird, like jivemaster said, but it wasn't a problem, just very different and unexpected.

i think ultimately while this really isn't my style of music, it's competent and does a nice job of carrying the melody and doing interesting things in your ears. so i think this one's a pass.

 

 

YES

[Rexy]

Thanks for the source breakdown, Michael.  The notation checks out, and with over 65% BGM space accounted for, integration is a non-issue.  From the day version, I heard the A and B sections with unique writing flourish variations between uses, the first five seconds of the night version made eight times slower (!) at 1:38, and all incorporations of Mt. Moon used straight.  I also find it cool that you placed all the sources on an entirely different minor scale - 4 tones up for Malie and 2 for Mt. Moon.  And yet, they naturally adapted to your writing approach, where even the original writing kept that fusion between minimalism and Eastern inspirations.  

The sound palette is an interesting one.  The balance is tight with no parts sticking out, but a lot of that is down to the restricted instrumentation.  It makes sense as you set out to emulate YMO's style, keeping the palette to bass, percussion/SFX, melody, and occasionally a secondary melody.  So while I can understand Brad's concern about wanting another instrument to fill out the roster, it's not needed if it is intentional.  I would, however, recommend you to look out for your kick writing.  It feels uncanny hearing them act as a complement to the snare rather than an underlying rhythm that typically starts a groove at the beginning of a bar.  It's more of an annoyance than a dealbreaker, so consider it as something to keep an eye on for future projects.

All in all, it's a more accessible presentation than what I usually hear from you, and yet it still has its quirky moments on the arrangement and palette sides.  The way you're educating *us* in more unknown composers and styles feels refreshing, and so it makes me feel any of your projects from this point on can still be unpredictable (in a positive way).  Solid stuff!

YES