ReMix:Castlevania "Wicked Six" 4:18

By Juan Medrano

Arranging the music of one song...

"Wicked Child (Outdoors BGM)"

Primary Game: Castlevania (Konami , 1986, NES), music by Kinuyo Yamashita, Satoe Terashima

Posted 2005-09-25, evaluated by the judges panel


The primary issue with newcomer Sixto Sounds' ReMix of Castlevania's Wicked Child is that, on the scales of production and arrangement, it's a bit lopsided towards the former. There's definitely a slick, produced rock/metal vibe going on, with punch on the geets and drums and solid integration of organ and other keys for the timbral variety angle, and I think the overall sound has the type of energy with musical control that a lot of people should dig. However, the judges were unanimous in citing similiarity to the source material as the dominant concern, and in true largely-symbolic-Vice-Presidential style, I stepped in to tiebreak, after a fashion. It wasn't an easy call, but there were several important factors to consider: when we talk about arrangement, as stated before, that can take the form of genre-shifting, tempo-shifting, instrumentation, altering the original melody/rhythm/etc., adding new stuffs - the list goes on. The operative question was whether there was enough here to constitute arrangement that could be weighed in combination with the contrastingly solid production to meet our standards. There's plenty of people out there who think we should just post whatever sounds good, and I can understand that perspective, even if I don't share it; they're free to say what they will of our process, policies, and panel. I feel like all three have been working fairly well, however. So, back on track: when I considered the drum track, which refactors the original rhythm into something more appropriate for rock, the minimal-but-still-important changes made to the lead melody to optimize it for electric guitar, and most importantly the last minute or so, which does eventually get around to adding some soloing and original bits in, I agreed with the majority of the panel that this was an example of a mix that, lopsided though it may be, could be posted. SS could have made all our lives easier had some of the soloing been dispersed more evenly throughout the song, and a couple more conspicuous changes made to avoid following the original structure for so long. But he didn't, we were left with a judgment call, and we made it. My guess is that many won't care how the mix got evaluated and will simply be happy to download it, some others will feel that the panel should have been stricter, some looser, and that perhaps (?) a handful might see the inherent difficulty in these types of calls and be thankful there's people willing to spend hours discussing them ;) That's a whole lot of rambling from me, and Jesse managed to get straight to the point in a couple sentences, so here's the reader's digest version:

"the arrangement is somewhat straightforward, but the instrumentation is very cleverly thought-out, making it sound like more than a cover. would be on the line due to the conservative arrangement if not for the solos, which push it over the edge. what can i say? those solos werent in the original."

Pretty much. Apologies to Sixto for littering this writeup with judging esoterica, but it was key in why the mix took a bit longer to post, and key to how we look at mixes of this nature in general, so I thought it was pertinent. All you really need to know, in the end, in addition to what Jesse said, is that this is a kickin' rock/metal ReMix of Wicked Child, an already-badass original, that Sixto Sounds has added some serious beef to, and even thrown in a small helping of tatos, precious (PO-TA-TOS). So, regardless of the context, this is some fun shredding and verve-tastic Castlevania work from Sixto.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Mirby
on 2011-12-26 01:33:59

Ah, Sixto's first mix. It's not bad, even by today's standards (and comparing it to his more recent mixes), and it's an enjoyable listen. It is a bit too conservative, but I think that gives it some of its charm. Good job here though. :3

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Magellanic
on 2011-12-06 07:15:41

What a fantastic debut. Very close to the original, but its such an enjoyable mix. Really captures the feel of the original source but seems to highlight a longing and melacholic emotion. The steady tempo definitely contributes the most to that feeling. Regardless of there being less personal interpretation arrangement-wise than newer mixes, there is still a hell of a lot of sixto's personal touches here. There is no denying it holds his characteristic style. I think any Castlevania fan would spend quite a while with this on repeat.

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Dark Vagabond
on 2011-03-25 09:43:21

THUS BEGAN HIS THOUSAND YEAR REIGN OF SHRED.

demoknight.png

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MtM
on 2011-03-11 03:45:26

The way I see it, a good remix is a good remix, regardless of how changed it is from the source. Disqualifying this remix solely on the grounds of arrangement just seems idiotic to me, because this is a fantastic remix.

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SonicSynthesis
on 2010-11-21 19:09:27

This is still the best thing i've heard on OC. Sure the melody's are straight from the source material but it really doesn't matter. If i'm ever to post a remix on here i would want it to sound along the same lines as this. Rock on \m/

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WillRock
on 2010-07-02 19:37:16

Ah, Sixto's debut.

This mix is a bit of a landmark point in ocr's long history for this reason. :P

This is pretty rocking, as per Sixto's usual as we came to find out, and the source is a classic if not slightly unoriginal (castlevania music lends itself to rock making it a very obvious style choice to a remix) :P

However, I wouldn't say this remix is sixto's best work by a long shot. The remix is a slightly slower tempo than the source for a start, which makes the track pod along at a fair pace, but it doesn't get me excited particularly. The nature of the arrangement will however cause a lot of people to enjoy this one as a cover with good production and impressive solos is all many will want, and in this respect, this remix succeeds brilliantly.

For some reason, the drums are particually loud in this remix, too much so as they can distract from the technically impressive guitar solo later on where this remix really starts to shine. However, for a debut remix, this is great stuff.

A solid debut mix from Sixto, but nothing jaw dropping imo.

Reccommended if you like castlevania music or rock music :nicework:

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nicholai_maelstrom
on 2010-06-22 12:08:23

This is a very awesome song, and it's saying something seeing as how I've not posted something in a very long time from the different downloads that I've gotten from this site. At points in time -and I'm not sure why- it is very Sonata Arctica-esque. Good use of power chords and the organ is wicked. I haven't checked out many of Sixto's mixes before, but now I know I'm going to have to. Keep up the excellent work, man.

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LuketheXjesse
on 2010-02-03 14:22:53

Great tune, this is what a Castlevania remix is meant to be. Granted, the production values aren't up to par with Sixto's newer songs, and that snare is annoyingly loud, but these are minor complaints in the grand scheme of things. Another favorite of mine.

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Sir_Downunder
on 2009-12-03 01:06:21

Classic Sixto, I love it. Come to think of it, this was the first Sixto track I downloaded as well. \m/ (Whoo! Useless nostalgia!)

This has the usual Sixto level of production, which to say: high-level as always. Good to see that the organ was heavily co-ordinated with this piece along with the guitar. That being said, both solos made to rock out. A little to the original track in terms of arrangement, but who cares? It's Sixto, and it's awesome.

\m/

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OA
on 2009-12-02 15:46:52

woah, debut sixto?! Slick production, as per usual, and some well chosen sounds to go with the metal guitars. Basically this is exactly the sort of professional, but mostly by-the-book sound that i'd expect to hear in a really good official arrange album. Actually, compared to the Dracula Battle official series of album, i'd say this track outshines the competition. Great original organ solo and then guitar solo. Conservative arrangement, but damn does this track kick ass.

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JP_Wright
on 2009-07-11 01:10:35

I've looked on Sixto's site and wasn't able to locate the revised version of this track. If anyone has it would you let me know where I can find it? Maybe you can email me?

I think, on the whole, I'm a bigger fan of this song than most as I have a fairly robust aftermarket speaker setup in my car and the production on this song simply wailed. ("Crucial Taunt? They Wail! Yea, the lead singer's a babe. What about The Shitty Beatles? They suck!")

So I became a fan of production despite arrangement. I'm glad the decision to post this was made. Considering it was Sixto's first submission I side with the line of thinking that future submissions would only be better, and given this starting quality, that is a good thing.

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KyleJCrb
on 2009-06-18 04:36:50

The new version of this track that Sixto did is much better than this (though this is still awesome, of course). Too bad he doesn't have it posted up anymore...

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moonra
on 2009-06-18 03:39:34

When I saw this one on Sixto's list of remixes, I thought "Wow, this song's awesome, Sixto's a hell of a guitar player, so it's probably be one of his best works"

It turned out that I didn't liked it that much and I still prefer MegaDriver's version, but it's a great song anyway. It's Sixto's after all, you can't go wrong with him.

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LuckyXIII
on 2009-02-21 12:57:29

How did I miss this before? I've had it, but I haven't really listened to it. I have iTunes on random right now and that opening drumhit woke me up. The guitars sounded familiar, I ctrl+tabbed over and it's WICKED SIX! Sixto Sounds! Here I thought I had heard all his stuff and "random" hits me over the head with this piece of sonic awesomeness.

The organ surprises me, but it works. I love hardcore, loud organ stuff and I love hard guitars. It's like putting chocolate and mint together in an ice cream that blows your head off with a sawed-off shotgun as you hurtle to the canyon floor from the highest heavens. But it's a holy shotgun and the solo at 3:21 breathes life back into you, causing a new head with WINGS to sprout from your necky stump and you go flying off into the setting sun where your body is vaporized but your essence becomes part of the universe.

Yeah, I like this mix.

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DramaNoMore
on 2008-06-12 16:51:43
Damn, am I the only one that really digs the organ sound on this?

Nope... Me too!! Even more than the guitar... Major paradox, because I'm a big fan of Sixto as a guitarrist.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Castlevania (Konami , 1986, NES)
Music by Kinuyo Yamashita,Satoe Terashima
Songs:
"Wicked Child (Outdoors BGM)"

Tags (3)


Genre:
Rock
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Castlevania_Wicked_Six_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,219,029 bytes
MD5:
129e556b19b929f46d03cbf7956b87be
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
4:18

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