Emunator Posted November 28, 2021 Posted November 28, 2021 Hello! I submit to you my remix of the main theme of the game "Metal Gear Solid" (PS1) which is composed by Tappy. My remixer name (and my real name) is Amaury Sabau. My email address is : My user id is 37398. I don't have a website but a Youtube channel that I just launched : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqZvWfhj4hXnfE_lahRiexQ Name of game arranged: Metal Gear Solid Name of arrangement : Solid Name of individual songs arranged : Metal Gear Solid Main Theme ; Mantis' Hymn ; The Best is Yet to Come. Credits : Original arrangements and composition : Amaury Sabau Scoring mixer and mastering : Maxime Marion Guitars : François Kukla Vocals : Lydie Berthet I spent my teenage years listening to Hollywood action scores. Trevor Rabin, Hans Zimmer and Mark Mancina were my pop stars. This remix is a tribute to these guys, but also to a kind of music that’s been part of my life for such a loooong Time. The remix is mainly using the music of Tappy's theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD8HkzG-h08 It's developed in several parts : 1)The overture, combining orchestral and electronic elements, is an original arrangement. After a few seconds, it introduces MGS main theme with an electronic vibe (0:55-1:10). 2)Then, the theme is displayed in an orchestral and anthemic version, « 90’s Hollywood action scores-style », with the guitar of my collaborator François Kukla (1:10-1:43). 3)The track goes darker, and introduces the theme of Psycho Mantis in a massive orchestral and choral version (1:44-2:17). Mantis Hymn, original version : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMasLUmBzkc&t=114s I wanted to remind the listener of the fearlessness of Mantis, and how dangerous he is. 4)The next part is an original arrangement of the beginning of the song "The Best is Yet to Come": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6miaTf1gF4g with the voice of my collaborator Lydie Berthet. (2:17-3:48) This song is one of the highlights of the soundtrack, and I wanted my arrangement to keep its dramatic and elegiac signature. I added a bulgarian choir to back up Lydie’s beautiful voice, building in intensity, and leading to the finale of the track. 5)The main theme comes back, first in a dramatic form on piano, accompanied by vocals and sound design. It then evolves to glorious and solemn territories, with additional guitar and vocals by François Kukla and Lydie Berthet. (3:48 to end). For your information: I initially made a longer arrangement (7:47) but I thought it might be a bit too long for listeners. So I edited out 2 minutes of action-oriented music in order to keep highlights only. If you’d be curious to listen to the extended cut of the track, please let me know! A word from Maxime Marion, the scoring mixer : I’ve been working with Amaury for many years now. He’s been the composer on several animated shortfilms and webseries I directed. I love his way of working, doing every project with commitment, craftsmanship and enthusiasm. When he submitted to me his very first demo of the MGS remix, I knew I wanted to be part of it, help him on the mixing and production. I also immediately thought « Overclocked Remix ! » I’ve been a regular visitor of the website for the past 20 years, and thought that, maybe, this remix would find a warm welcome here. There it is! Sorry for this exhaustive explanation. I hope you will enjoy this track as much as I enjoyed producing it! Best regards! Amaury Sabau Sources: Main Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD8HkzG-h08 Mantis Hymn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMasLUmBzkc&t=114s The Best is Yet to Come: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6miaTf1gF4g
MindWanderer Posted January 24, 2022 Posted January 24, 2022 Epic synth-orchestral, delicious. The addition of Mantis is an unusual choice, but it works really well. Good ear for hearing the potential of mixing it into this. The instruments aren't the most realistic, but they aren't painfully fake, either, for the most part. The staccato horns at 4:03 are pretty bad. Everything is mixed a little quietly; I had to raise my volume to 90% to listen at a comfortable level. But at least it wasn't 100% like several of the last few mixes I voted on. My one notable production concern is that the soundscape is pretty thin. I tried two sets of headphones to be sure, and there's not a lot of low presence at all. The highs aren't very robust, either. Still, these aren't huge issues, and the arrangement is killer. I'd love to hear another mastering pass, but I won't insist on it. YES
prophetik music Posted January 31, 2022 Posted January 31, 2022 this appears to be the 7:47 version, not a shorter one. times don't really match up at all. agree that it's very, very quiet in the opening section at least if not later as well. needs some overall compression to level out the dynamics without taking away the drama created by them. this has a good handle on what makes these tracks fun to listen to. there's a lot of rhythmic work to keep it moving forward, and the group overall sounds solid. i appreciate the melodic content moving around the group. i think there's too much in the lows for at least the first 1:50 and it sounds muddy as a result. mantis's hymn was very surprising in how well it worked in. i think the shift at about 2:15 to no drums was great. very powerful. at 3:35 the dropoff and build is nice, and the different focus on synths there is an interesting adaptation as well. the transition at 4:25 is quite sudden, also. i really liked the sound design around the solo singer's voice, too, although i found her voice to be pitchy (in a negative way, not a folky way). she's also a touch ahead of the orchestra at 5:30. the piano at 5:57 is pretty dull sounding, but i love what it's doing. the build and orchestral blow after that is great, too - big and emotive, and the chimes and brass swells after that are great (feels really Gregson-Williams). guitar at like 7'10" is great - wish it was louder! the ending isn't really sudden but is somewhat unexpected, and the polytonal vocal wandering sounded very strange to me. i called out a ton of nitpicks. i'd love to hear this with less distance between peaks and valleys since you did such a good job with letting your orchestral timbre reflect what should 'sound' loud and soft. that's really the only complaint that isn't very small, though. you did a great job with your ensemble scoring especially. great work. YES
DarkSim Posted May 31, 2022 Posted May 31, 2022 Settle down, this is a long'un! We begin, and those ‘horses’ hooves’ sound a bit odd in the very low end. In the percussion, the tubs are pretty loud! At the 1 minute mark I was worried this was going to go into some kind of Eurodance cheesiness with that synth bassline, but thankfully it steers away from it. Odd choice to include that, as with the glitchy ‘stutter-stall’ transition at 1:10. I feel like those synth elements should be committed to more, if you’re going to use them. As it is, they don’t work for me and I wouldn’t miss them if they were removed. There’s some tasteful synth work later on, though. Guitar at 1:12 seems a little washed out by the reverb, which is a shame because it’s a live performance. A little more clarity and a smoother tone might have been a better choice. It’s similarly difficult to pick out later on, as prophetik already mentioned. Great drama from the choir leading into the strings and brass at 2:30. The arrangement seems to really be finding its groove at this point, and the story begins coming through more clearly. At 3:52 there are definite Mark Mancina vibes. Perfect 90s action movie sound here, with those short synth stabs. 4:55 amazing vocals; sounds lovely. The deep low sounds contrast beautifully with the high, sweet female voice. Great segue into the piano at 5:58 as well, and the whole finale is a triumphant crescendo. That guy on the tubs really needs to chill out though! Sounds like Christopher Walken is in the next room telling Chumbawamba he needs “More Tubthumping!” Listening to the source afterwards, I can hear the percussion is pretty loud relative to the rest of the instrumentation, so I get why you’ve gone for that here, but I think the tubs in particular would benefit from a gain reduction. I much preferred the last 5 minutes to the first 2 and a bit here. I read your writeup after I listened, and I’d be really curious to listen to the ‘radio edit’ version with 2 minutes cut out. If they’re cut from the beginning this would be a much easier decision for me. On balance I’d say it passes, but only by the mercy of the length of the track. There’s more than enough to like in here, that I’m willing to overlook my misgivings about the synth usage and otherwise stop-start nature of the track in the first 2 minutes or so. YES, but… It may be worth reaching out to the remixer to hear their edited version - if the right bits have been cut out, the overall quality could be much better.
Liontamer Posted January 11, 2023 Posted January 11, 2023 Just sanity checked it for dominant source tune usage, which wasn't remotely a problem. 2:30-2:44 may be taken from the MGS2 version of the main theme, since that stuff's not found in the first one, AFAIK. Nice development throughout; no repetitive sections to be found in this lengthy exploration of the MGS main theme with some other themes thrown in to help color the overall arrangement. Didn't have any issues with this feeling overlong. Count me in! YES
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