ReMix:Wizardry "Medieval Magic" 2:36

By Mark Vera

Arranging the music of one song...

"Theme"

Primary Game: Wizardry (The Edge , 1985, C64), music by Mike Alsop

Posted 2002-11-26, evaluated by djpretzel


Newcomer Mark Vera (aka Jouni Airaksinen) makes his OCR debut with a great ReMix of the old venerable RPG classic Wizardry (c64 incarnation, to be specific) - we needed a Wizardry ReMix to round out our RPG mixes as it really is considered one of the monolithic classics of the genre. I was always into more story-driven than dungeon-focused RPGs, myself, but you gotta give props to the old school. Though brief, this is a well-done piece that takes the original melody from the SID chip and fleshes it out into a neo-medieval light jam with a deep sub bass, great cello-heavy strings, good beat with varied percussion, and panflutish dual leads on the melody. The way the snare rolls on the drums is especially nice, and the sound quality on the strings helps the whole piece out. There's little details going on in the background as well - subtle, but important. A solid mix of new and old elements, this is a coherent, concise, and enjoyable update that captures the old school appeal of the classic but brings it up-to-date for the 21st centruy. Recommended, and a great first piece by Mark Vera - hope to hear more.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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DarkCecil13
on 2014-10-31 23:07:20
Wizardry ftw. Why does Wizardry not get more love than it gets? :(

Even if you haven't heard of Wizardry or played it, you should check this one out. It's a good mix with a mood to it that I rarely hear in songs.

Could not agree more. Entire series needs some love!

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Otakatt
on 2009-12-02 11:56:30

Wizardry ftw. Why does Wizardry not get more love than it gets? :(

This is a very catchy tune, which is to be expected given the fact the original is catchy as well. I like that the title isn't misleading either - this song has a sort of medieval flair to it that makes it all the more enjoyable to me. The strings at the beginning leads into the song effectively, which doesn't deviate too much from the original. There isn't much variance from there, but it is kept pretty short so I can't really complain about that. Normally I'd say that the song should have been longer, but I think this is an instance where the shortness works.

Even if you haven't heard of Wizardry or played it, you should check this one out. It's a good mix with a mood to it that I rarely hear in songs.

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Marmiduke
on 2009-02-16 06:08:28

This is pure, unadulterated win. Perfect medieval synthpop, if there is such a genre. And if there isn't, well... maybe there should be. This mix should be a revelation to people that repetition is not something to be scared of IF you have the wit to harness it. Make something interesting enough, and it won't matter if there's 20 iterations of the same thing, they'll always want more, never less. At least, I know I did.

Fantastic intro as well. Really loved all the instruments that were chosen. There is so much done right with this mix. Good job.

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42
on 2009-02-01 22:09:06

This is classy stuff.

I really like the techo/medieval flute.

I can almost imagine some epic medieval ballad to go along with this.

It's kind of repetitive and there's a section here and there that I don't really care for, but the bottom line is I like the mix and what's going on here.

This is worth a listen.

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OA
on 2006-12-28 10:35:37

Great percussion! It's panned all over and headphones make it even better.

I am inclined to agree that part of the charm is the repetitive nature of the song, and it ends before things get out of hand, but I personally like a little more variation from the source. The harpsichord that comes in is a little loud, but otherwise everything else is excellent. Very catchy flute melody, and the strings sound good.

Recommended.

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jordex
on 2005-03-11 00:10:59

Whoo this is good stuff, very medieval-esque

The main flute-ish instrument is so unique and there's that awesome bass backing it up

Mark here has some how fit military snare into this groovy beat

Kudos on this one!

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Moogle!
on 2005-02-12 20:59:33

YES! YES! YES! I finally found the source of the goddamned song after two years of searching with nothing but an SPC and two obscure MODs!

I can't compare this to the orginal, as I don't have it, but the other versions sound awesome, and this does two. And for good reason. It's a wicked song.

*crosses arms* Nice work.

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Bren
on 2004-11-07 13:53:28

My god...this song is legendary. Its easily one of my favorites on OCR.

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mDuo13
on 2002-11-27 23:11:29

Darn it, I wanted to be the first to review this ReMix! I absolutely love the cellos, and the cool percussion (it makes me think of a bunch of people messing around in an alchemy room, dinging on vials and such...). It's a little repetetive, but I barely noticed because the song is so well done. A little more length and improvisation would've made it even cooler, but as it is, it's great anyway.

Now you've inspired me to go experimenting with cellos...

*disappears into his FL music lab, banging some beakers along the way*

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Mark Vera
on 2002-11-27 19:09:15

Thanks for the comments guys. I'd like to say few words too.

My friend requested this one couple of months ago. He had searched for good Wizardry remixes, but couldn't find that good ones (and I must agree with him). So I created this.. Back then I didn't even know this site existed 8O One of my friends told me that I should submit my remix here, so here we are.

My goal was to get the feeling of the original version. To keep the sprit as I see it. That comes in with the sample choice, especially on the melody leads and percussion. The cello strings were actually an accident, though it was good one :)

What comes to the repetive part.. the original is actually as repetive as this one. I didn't want to "spoil" good original version with my originals. My opinion is that the charm of this song comes from it's repetive nature.

The length? This remix is actually longer than most of the Wizardry remixes have heard! Those usually end with simple fading at point 1:30. So, the ending is actually only thing original from me. I felt that slowing down the tempo at the end would fit perfectly with the sounds (the cellos especially).

Your suggestions are nice, maybe I'll remix this remix (heh) someday. :wink:

You might want to know that there is one other of my remixes waiting in the queue.. I submitted it week after this Wizardry remix, so I'd expect it to show up at some point.. :roll:

Thanks for the comments. Really makes me want to submit more remixes here in the future :)

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SsaiskK
on 2002-11-27 17:38:54

hey this is pretty good =) dont really have time to say much, but i enjoyed it. keep it coming!

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Emjay
on 2002-11-27 13:59:26

Mark Vera did a good job with this remix. It's an upbeat sort of tune without being annoyingly so. You would think that would be even harder to accomplish for the fact that the song is heavy on repetition of a few notes. However, the repetition is well-spaced, and the one that occurs the most often is such a good arrangement (and nice choice of a sample) that it fits nicely into the song.

This is just my personal opinion, but I think making the strings stand out more by increasing the volume of them (even if it were only towards the beginning and end of the song) would have added to it.

But my only real beef with this remix was the length. This has been happening with a few remixes lately. I'll just be getting into it and suddenly it just ends (although that doesn't retract from the nice ending this remix has). I'd like to see this same remix, only about :30 to a minute longer. Other than that, this was a well done mix.

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neostormx
on 2002-11-27 13:52:04

Yea, about time someone submitted a remix for one of the best rpg's ever created.

Good stuff, and brings A LOT of memories back listening to this. I felt like some more innovation could have been done, but its good sounding and quality instruments anyway. I like the percussion selection, gives a more medival feel to it. This tune was the first game remix i ever worked on (dont ask :)). I love Wizardry!! Download this remix, and get some Wizardry lovin! good job Mark! keep em comin

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Theogrin Haphand
on 2002-11-27 13:32:50

Very nice, and a remix that really makes me wish I had played the original game. (Yes, I know, I'll see if I can get my hands on one.) As DiscoDan had said, samples are extremely high quality...repetitiveness is rather high, but with just enough flavour between reiterations to qualify as something other than pure background music.

I give 7/10 in total quality; a touch more length would have been excellent, with perhaps a bit more in the way of variations on the theme.

And for the record, this reminds me of Trapezoid's magnum opus as well; I can't imagine why aside from the obvious reasons of instruments, beat, and how it's set up... :wink:

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Disco Dan
on 2002-11-27 09:58:11

Wizardry 'Medieval Magic'

First impressions: High quality samples. Not sure how much is different from the original as far as notation goes, but what I hear I like... glad I used "save target as" on this one. The intro reminds me a bit of Monkey Island for some reason, maybe it's just the instrumentation. Ok, this is really a creative mix. Some one else say something good about this, because it sounds really cool and I can't think of anything else original to say about it. A little more variety might have been nice, I can easily hear a solo going over this music, but on the positive side, this mix DOES have an ending. A REAL one.

DC

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Wizardry (The Edge , 1985, C64)
Music by Mike Alsop
Songs:
"Theme"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Mellow
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:
Time > 4/4 Time Signature

File Information


Name:
Wizardry_Medieval_Magic_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
3,048,472 bytes
MD5:
8c0ab379580480960d4bc3ebc3db7d5d
Bitrate:
151Kbps
Duration:
2:36

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