Liontamer ⚖️ Posted May 28 Posted May 28 Artist Name: zykO Hello there. Back from the outer rim with offerings; it's been some time so let's cook. The source sorta fell randomly into my lap, the sort of serendipitous flurry of inspiration that spurred this whole video game remix thing for me all the way back in 1998; June Chikuma's Bomberman 93 Blossom Planet tune popped up on a YouTube playlist and I was running over myself to fire up the ol' furnace. I've been studying ancient Egyptian music for the past few years as an Egyptology grad student in Cairo and, as a part of my exploration into wonderful new things, I've also been studying the Arab musical tradition proper (leading to such experimentation as my most recent album, the Dune-inspired "Long Live the Fighters," for example). So stumbling upon Chikuma's masterclass in the form was well met. Around the same time, President Trump suggested that he intended to SimCity the Gaza Strip and "do a job with it." Political leanings aside, treating the Levante as if it were a map pack for Civ VI is bizarrely ambitious at best… even if most of us wish the world was more like a video game. In that sense, this tune is meant to serve as the spiritual successor to 2017's "The Long War," although the two songs deal with fundamentally different scenarios and contexts despite both describing geopolitical quagmires in the MENA region. Of course blowing shit up isn't exactly the solution for any of the Middle East's problems either and I did find it darkly ironic that the source tune comes from a Bomberman game. So I juxtaposed the whole thing by opening with a classic Egyptian folk tune by the famed late-19th century composer Sayed Darwish called "El Helwa Di" which some may recognize as Egypt's theme from Civ VI. It's a simple song about the sunrise and the good day to be had no matter one's circumstance. It's the sort of idealistic work song that is commonplace and deeply ingrained in the Egyptian cultural memory and a form that actually dates all the way back to the earliest days of dynastic Egypt. It's the sort of scene, I think, that reminds us that simpler, calmer times did and still do exist and they are the things worth fighting for when the bullies come knocking. The orchestration is fairly straightforward oriental fanfare: darabuka, daf, riq and shakers make up the percussion section while a ney and organ lead the way atop a bed of strings including an acoustic guitar. If I haven't lost you by the end, you'll catch the nod to Sonic 2's "Oil Ocean Zone" to close us out. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy. Dig it. Games & Sources Bomberman 93 just the first bit:
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted June 9 Posted June 9 (edited) opening sure sounds sampled from civ vi's audio. the strings and percs add a lot to the work - actually sounds a lot like the medieval version of the civ vi original. 1:06 is the first hit of the bomberman '93 track, and it starts in an inauspicious manner - with an enormously clipping power hit. there's some funky organ alongside the the flute and percs, but the whole thing is hitting the limiter visibly in the waveform. we get some korb-esque guitar at 1:20 that would have sounded right at home on the Bastion soundtrack, and the organ (which sounds hand-played and not quantized) has a really earthy quality to it that i really like alongside the very robust lower strings. there's a bit of a break at 2:31, where the melody slows down and it's more a focus on a slower feel in the melody. there's some interesting expansion in here. there's an actual break at 3:30, and some noodles to navigate the space before the guitar beat starts back up. this noodles around before a more intense ensemble section at 4:45 that is right on the edge of being too loud. this functions as a full recap before the outro which starts at 5:20. we get an extended section of strings here, very slowly navigating the modal scale some more for over a minute before it's really done. this is a fun ride! it's too loud for me personally, but i only hear clipping in that one first spot at 1:06. the rhythmic focus and really strong melodic basis carry it well though. fix that clip and i'm on board. CONDITIONAL (1:06 clip) edit 6/27: it's still crunchy, but the updated version doesn't literally explode at 1:06. so i think this is probably good enough. YES Edited June 27 by prophetik music
paradiddlesjosh ⚖️ Posted July 9 Posted July 9 This is like Marcin Przybyłowicz, Jesper Kyd, and Darren Korb distilled and aged in an oak barrel, served neat in a Moroccan old-fashioned glass: texturally rich, addictively rhythmic, and well balanced. The groove established by the vamp at 1:23 has an undulating, organic feel to it. The strings and the guitar fuse this engine to agile, playful, and conversational ney and organ melodies. Love the shift at 3:30-3:48 before pushing right back into the dance. The bookend of "El Helwa Di" at the intro and the "Oil Ocean Zone" quote at the outro wrap the whole thing in a cinematic bow. My only criticism is that it's loud, and even then, it's not even close to being a dealbreaker. Nice work, zyk0. YES
pixelseph ⚖️ Posted July 10 Posted July 10 Hot damn, this one is a fun journey! I didn't even realize 5 minutes had passed before arriving at the outro - very exciting, danceable piece that keeps shifting and swaying like an auditory mirage. I'm not certain what is and isn't sampled, as it's all presented in such a way to make me not care about such things! Excellent work, dude! We goin' glib so we can get this outta here! YES
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