OCR00670 - Escape from Monkey Island "Metal Monkey"

[Ginnsu]

Escape from Monkey Island 'Metal Monkey'

This mix is excellent, classic rock guitar, and awesome drums. Its not often that we hear well done guitar around here, so when we do get it, it's a real treat. The drums might be a little load and a repetitive sounding after a couple of bars, but beyond that I can't complain at all. Excellent piece of work, Ryan8bit, I want more of this... please.

[Mustin]

I wouldn't call this guitar work "well done." It's pretty raw, actually.

Focus that sound so it's not so hissy. Then bring it up in the mix. Chorus and compress the bass so it doesn't take up so much of the spectrum.

I didn't "agree" with the arrangement, really, but I've never really liked any of the songs I've heard from this series of games.

Ah well.

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[krispy]

Maybe its me, but that guitar was really ruff and chinky sounding. The bass was kinda nice although it got repetitive and same with the drums. I never played the game, but there seems to be alot of guitar wailing songs comming from it, which I'm not a fan of. I give it a 6/10

[Ryan8bit]

Maybe its me, but that guitar was really ruff and chinky sounding. The bass was kinda nice although it got repetitive and same with the drums. I never played the game, but there seems to be alot of guitar wailing songs comming from it, which I'm not a fan of. I give it a 6/10

Actually, it's a piratey game... I went in a whole different direction that's bound to either please or totally disgust.

I wouldn't call this guitar work "well done." It's pretty raw, actually.

Because it's not the quality of your FF6 "The Atomizer"? I guess you'll have to define raw for me.

[skulkrusha]

Interesting bass, but hard to hear... And there's an annoying beating sound (not the drum part) that keeps on recurring through the song, similar to the sound you might get from hitting a rebound pad. For the lead part, I'd try using a different distortion patch (if you're using an FX pedal, that is). While I admit it's a good lead part, the distortion you chose spoils it a bit.

Now, as for the bass, it sounds a bit too clean, more like an acoustic guitar (and I know you can get acoustic basses, they're just damn expensive). It's best if you can get your hands on a bass amp, it sounds best then (ignore that if you have one already). Also, maybe the bass sounded a bit empty in places. I tend to have the bass level on my amp around medium-full, then with middle and treble close to medium. That gives it a nice high-bass sound. Some people put all their settings on medium, that gives it an even texture, which can sound good, but here it sounds like you put the bass down too low, with the treble and middle getting the most attention. Or perhaps you used a normal guitar amp... Also, the rhythm guitar and the bass guitar should be around the same volume. If you really don't want the bass overpowering the rhythm, the bass should only be playing the root note of whatever chord the rhythm part's playing. That would also give your power chords a heavier feel (although you'd have to have your bass level turned right up).

Apart from that, It's a good mix overall, with only a few flaws. If you'd spent a bit more time playing with it, it could have been excellent.

[Ryan8bit]

Thanks. Yea, it's just that I played with it for what seemed like such a long time... I guess for my next mix I'll post it in the WIP forum and you guys can help me.

And yea, I have a bass amp, but it's nothing special. And what I had was a high bass, a low mid, and a medium treble setting... I think it was my post equalization that took away that low feel. I think I turned a portion of the lower bands down just because the bass was overpowering and rattling.

I'm not sure what you meant about the annoying beat throughout... the only thing that really remained constant was the open hi-hat. I know you said it wasn't the drums, but was that maybe it?

Also, which distortion patch would you have used? On my preamp, the best setting (or at least to me) is the grunge one on full gain, but if you think there is one (or should be one) that was/is more suitable, I'd definitely keep it in mind.

[Lomion]

I agree with skulkrusha on the bass thing. I think it is too...dominant to tune it that low. This way it is a little disturbing in my opinion because it never really overpowers the rhythm, but catches the ear and distracts the attention of the listener. You have already explained why you did it this way. This is just a piece of my mind.

[EmptyMy]

First of all, Monkey Island is one of the best games I've ever played, and I absolutely adore its music. I've tried many times to remix one of the tracks, without result. So when I saw this remix I downloaded it immedietly.

I really dig the intro, it felt very heavy. When the melody kicks in, and the characteristic metal Iron Maiden-ish guitars started chomping, I was somewhat dissapointed. I'm no big fan of metal. But that's not a flaw with the remix, just a conflict with my personal taste.

I like the song, because it's a well done Monkey Island remix.

[Fieari]

I'm going to have to agree with EmptyMy here.

In my opinion, part of Monkey Island's charm was, and I quote from the back of the carboard CD-case... "Ear splitting reggae music!"!!!!! Somehow metal just isn't as much fun. I'd really go for a live performed reggae rendition of Monkey Island though... I really want to hear the Steel Drums go at this music.

[Ryan8bit]

True, but a Monkey Island mix more towards what the original style was can be found here at OCR (the one by AmIEvil). I just wanted to go for something that no one else would likely do; something more original.

[djpretzel]

I wouldn't call this guitar work "well done." It's pretty raw, actually.

Focus that sound so it's not so hissy. Then bring it up in the mix. Chorus and compress the bass so it doesn't take up so much of the spectrum.

I didn't "agree" with the arrangement, really, but I've never really liked any of the songs I've heard from this series of games.

Ah well.

Interesting - see, I would counterpoint that guitar work can be both "well done" and sound "raw" at the same time. I don't think everything in the world needs to sound overproduced and slick, and that's what I like about many mixes that make it through that have elements like this singled out.

A dead-on, perfectly articulated guitar that was more in keeping with Van Halen or something like that would have been inappropriate, to me - this mix is raucous, and the guitar should reflect that attitude. That's actually what I liked most about the mix, on repeated listening.

As a sidenote, compressing the bass should make it take up less of the spectrum, but chorusing would do the exact opposite - make the sound fatter and louder and more dominant. That's sort of paradoxical advice, though I agree a smudge of compression alone would have helped.

[Ebonyks]

It's one of the most raw pieces on overclocked playlist, second to only jivmasters mix from way back. I like it, it's a bit too hardcore, and the base is too clean, and there are a few balance issues, but it IMO captured and morphed the theme of monkey island

BTW, the curse of monkey island was the best game in the series, hands down. The only problem was that long-winded insult dueling part

[Shadow789]

Monkey Island is one of my Favorate games. I play guitar and always wanted to play the theme song. I've been looking for a long time but can't find ANY Tab for it. Could anyone give me this tab or have a link to the CORRECT tab?

Thanks in advance,

Shadow

[Pagerot]

I simply love this one; I listen to it all the time! The bass should kind of be put behind the guitar, and I thought the guitar sound was kind of weak, but the bass was strong, which I believe would be better the opposite. Secret of Monkey Island ruled, one of the best games I've ever played which I still play to this very day. Good job on the remix, though it's actually more a metal theme of the song, but oh well. Two thumbs up, I simply love it.

[Nineko]

I like this.

it has power, it's amazing how the monkey theme can sound.

I'd give this a A+.

kthxbye.

[Bummer]

Hoo boy, this was........rough.

I can give Ryan some extra points for trying to make something new and individual, but I couldn't enjoy this remix as much as I would. It sounds like it was recorded 6 feet away from the microphone, and the guitar and bass almost blended into each other. A true guitar fan would appreciate this, even I can hear how good the guitar is played, but it's too much for me.

[OceansAndrew]

An ancient 8bit track, you can tell his playing was as good back in the day, but the production is very rough, and the drums are super plodding.

Some of the tapping and background shredding was nice, but it was buried.

Ryan is a real guitar force now, so it's cool to hear that he had to go through all the work too and didn't automatically know exactly how to do it all.

[Bahamut]

Oh jeez, talk about rough recording quality. Song is short, although the ideas aren't bad. The ending is pretty weak though. Ryan is definitely capable of much better these days.