OCR04417 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask "A Cursed Land"

[Emunator]

Remixer Contact Information

Your ReMixer name: shieldeater
Your real name: Chris McGee
Your email address: 
Your website(s): https://shieldeater.bandcamp.com/
Your userid: 7727

Submission Information
Name of game(s) arranged: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Name of arrangement: A Cursed Land
Name of individual song(s) arranged: Southern Swamp
Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: 

 

This is my take on the tune that plays in the troubled lands lying in the four cardinal directions from Clock Town. For me, this is the piece that best embodies the strange and desolate atmosphere that makes Majora's Mask one of the best games ever. I began with electric piano and gradually added instruments until it became something both sinister and funky. Hope you enjoy!  —Chris

 

[Emunator]

Oh, this is so delightfully weird and dissonant. I never would have thought about taking this source in a direction like this, but now that I've heard it, I can't imagine a more appropriate way to take on Southern Swamp. The rhodes performance invokes some of the more idiosyncratic tendencies of Kid A/Amnesiac-era Radiohead for me, and immediately sets the tone for the rest of the song, but this arrangement really hits its stride when the saxophone enters the mix. The more tranquil, melodic outro is such an inspired touch, too!

Admittedly, some of the instruments here, on their own, are not perfect in terms of tone and expressiveness, and the drums and bass feel especially dry, so the more layers you bring in, the more it masks those imperfections and builds a fully-realized soundscape. I'd love to hear more gel and cohesion between the instruments, but this easily gets by on the strength of the arrangement and adaptation, in my opinion! 

YES

Edited February 28, 2023 by Emunator

[MindWanderer]

Dark jazz isn't really my thing, but this is clever and well-executed.  Sound quality may not be perfect, but it's well above our bar IMHO.  I have no complaints.

YES

[prophetik music]

about 3db headroom, artificially from the looks of it.

neat initial hit at 0:10. the bass is pretty obviously fake right away and the quant on the drums feels really rigid, but the keys feel great right away. brass comes in at 1:21, and it sounds great as well. the rhythmic echoes in the rhodes behind the brass stuff is a great accent.

the piece plods some from 1:50 to about 3:00, since the guitar, bass, and drums mostly do the same thing the whole time, but adding in some brass stabs helps. the abrupt transition at 3:00 is unsupported, but it's good to get away from the first several minutes since they were pretty repetitious. there's some really fun sound design in the last minute, although most of it is an extended fade.

this is a neat idea and executed competently. i'm not as effusive as emu but i think this is a pass.

 

 

YES

Edited February 24, 2023 by prophetik music

[Liontamer]

Did a quick source usage check just to be sure for myself, but it's way way over. Love the source tune choice, and the arrangement choices here, where you get elements of rock, jazz, and eerie weirdness for the finish. Issues aside from the tone/realism of some instruments, the overall result's cohesive and varied enough. I didn't feel the piece plodded, especially comparing it to the source tune and understanding the intended mood; there's obviously enough going on with the instrumentation to be clear how the piece isn't repetitive in the presentation. If you had told me M Benson had submitted this, I would have believed you. Nice job, Chris, welcome aboard!

YES