Arranging the music of one song...

"Zangief (U.S.S.R.)"

Primary Game: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Capcom , 1992, ARC), music by Isao Abe, Yoko Shimomura

Posted 2008-12-05, evaluated by djpretzel


Alrighty then... totally meant to post this sooner and get back to n00bfl00d with mixes from games that don't rhyme with "Beet Sighter," but work's been busy and we had some downtime yesterday, and yadda yadda blah blah, etc. This Zangief mix by Jimmy Circles is kinda like my Honda ReMix in that it wasn't selected for use in the game (Capcom went with Grammar instead)... in this case, I'd say BGC's mix was more appropriate for actual in-game use, but I really like the stylistic variety Shael & co.'s selection added. Woulda been a shame to have kept this one in the dark with a diet of only bread and water, when it deserves to breath and flourish, so we compelled Jimmy to bequeath the 'Gief and put together a version appropriate for OCR.

Larry was really digging the fast arrangement (or "heavy damage") that Jimmy also put together, so he suggested combining the two. The initial merged track had some trouble pulling off the required tempo transition, but BGC worked in a sweep effect that made things less jarring, and the rest was history. It's named 'Fiddlesticks' cause, well... Jimmy was understandably disappointed it wasn't included in the actual game. But hey, he got his Guile track in, and we get a cool mix, so these are *positive* fiddlesticks. It actually SOUNDS like fiddle/violin at 0'30" as well, after the slap, dynamic drums/perc, and synth fx come in. Jimmy went for a more synthetic, flashy approach, channeling chic Moscow style as opposed to cold, rough Soviet discipline. Most of the lead is covered by electric guitar, but following the drums alone is fun, as he really works in a lot of ornate fills, flams, riffs, and bams. The bandpass transition at 2'09" is sweet, and the following key change helps build the way to the eventual introduction of the faster rendition. For the faster parts, I'm not 100% sold on the sawish lead synth; feel like a nice PWM lead with some sync'd delay might have filled things out more, but the overall arrangement is elaborate, has a lot of impact, and pays special attention to using backing, gated synths to accompany and transition lead melodic action.

Not much else to say; like my own redone Honda first draft, I feel like this is a worthwhile approach that works well as a standalone OC ReMix. In Jimmy's case I think his track also could have worked fine in HDR itself, but I do think his take on Guile was stronger overall, and made more sense for the gung-ho patriotic U.S. military context. Grab it and hear the smoother side of Zangief for yourself, and grab the entire HD Remix soundtrack if you haven't already. If that's not enough SF2 for ya, we'll definitely have more in the future, but for now it's back to welcoming some fresh new faces & music as part of n00bfl00d '08.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
WesternZypher
on 2013-03-13 12:00:53

Zangief-dance-yes.gif

Woot :D

avatar
Crulex
on 2011-09-06 12:29:28

That electric guitar was amazing and I really like the intro. I got to say that game or no game, this is a fantastic track. The faster arrangement was sweet and sold me this mix even more than the rest of the ReMix. It's interesting to hear a ReMix that sounds like two different mixes when compared to the beginning and end of it, but it was unique.

avatar
Sir_Downunder
on 2009-12-02 02:10:52

More power to ya BGC for having the double bassline, I had to listen a couple of time before I could clearly hear the both of them being played. The whole mix is as slick and smooth as ice in vodka. Really started to dig it when it went into HD part of the great.

Great work BGC! :nicework:

avatar
big giant circles
on 2009-05-21 02:32:57

lol, not sure I can hear that connection, but I WILL say that EDF is like, one of the most fun games I've ever played. As ridiculious/silly and overall B-movie-like as it is, it's an absolute blast. Dang, I want to play it now...

avatar
DarkFrog
on 2009-05-20 23:06:20

Man, the intro to this song reminds me so much of Earth Defense Force!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Defense_Force

Sorely miss that game...

Good work!

-Austin Spafford

avatar
Hy Bound
on 2009-02-02 10:38:22

Monsieur Giant Circles, tis a travesty thou hast not... I can't keep that up. But that really should have been the song used in SF2HDRTUSFBIXX. This is a seriously awesome song. I love all of the detail and little quirky sounds throughout that make multiple listens not only great but necessary. One of your best in my opinion, and so from you, that means its one of the best songs ever written by man. Great work!

avatar
42
on 2009-02-01 22:52:36

This is like "the power of techno", so as the theme theme of a bear wrestler from Mother Russia, I'm going to have to disagree with djp in regards of this mix and in-game use.

I do agree with him, however, that it was an extremely good idea to release this one to the public. It does makes me wonder, though, what other gems like this became hidden in the shuffle.

Anyway, this is a great mix and worth listening to.

Very nice.

avatar
SwordBreaker
on 2008-12-23 17:42:10

Loving this. Very catchy. Would've made a nice in-game alternative to Red Cyclone. Nice guitar sounds as well...the first minute and half really reminds me of a lot of Motoi Sakuaraba and the music of Mega Man X SNES series, especially when the guitar comes in.

avatar
evktalo
on 2008-12-13 14:33:56

Great track with plenty of energy!

Props for having two basslines going at the same time, hehe. :) On my first few listens I felt the string lead sounded either too fake or not fake enough, but even then when the harmony came in, it sounded extremely good. Now I don't seem to mind the single lead part either.

Overall I like how the structure builds quite quickly up to the leads, gets intense with the guitar, and then cools off a bit, before having another go with the guitar. The transition to heavy damage works quite well in my opinion, even while I do believe if you feel you could have done a better job. It's pretty good as it is! I don't like the long power chords (I generally don't), they feel a little stiff, that would have been a great opportunity to throw in some subtle filters or tremolo effects, glitchy stuttering, or something to spice them up. Not that they bother me *that* much. The HD part fits together very well, while having a different feel. It feels like it's over too soon, but I guess I'll just press play again!

--Eino

avatar
Lucentas
on 2008-12-08 23:56:59

A very cool mix, awesome job.

avatar
OA
on 2008-12-08 11:22:29

Man, is Zangief the next Ice Cap? Seems like just a few days ago I heard a Zangief mix.. ;-)

The beats are as hot as a Russian wrestler's love, but I can't say I was feeling that bass and string sample right away. Just sounded a little dated, though the buildup was well handled.

Even moving to the synth guitar was a big improvement, and you know how I feel about synth guitar leads. I do have to admit that it's some of the nicest synth guitar i've heard in awhile so nice work. That section also had the extra panned percussion. Sounded awesome.

Transitions were sick; that full track gate made me all ":nicework:". The transition to the heavy damage was pretty strong I thought, despite comments on the contrary. I think it could have been extended a bit to smooth it out, but I think it worked well despite it's seemingly abruptness.

Overall this mix is pretty great, but yeah, no more laziness allowed!

avatar
Project R2K
on 2008-12-07 15:13:41

Man, we're getting some awesome Zangief remixes lately. Always been a big fan of your work BGC. Can't wait to see what you'll come out with next.

avatar
WillRock
on 2008-12-06 12:52:44

This is just awesome, the bass line is killer, but when joined by those groovy as hell drums... just epic.

I also love the leads that you chose, that guitar synth rocks.

Even the ending was awesome, although unexpected.

Basically, awesome. Not got anything bad to say here, downloading now =D

avatar
big giant circles
on 2008-12-06 12:47:57

Thanks for the reviews guys and gals.

Thought I'd throw in some fun trivia/explanation as well. This mix was actually made (well, most of it anyway) over a year ago. It started out as a candidate for SF2T HD of course, so therefore, it was pretty much a straight up cover, and obviously not very OCR-passable.

The first minute and a half (pretty much until the *good* electric guitar comes in) is exactly the same as it was back then. There's a pretty obvious difference between the synthetic electric guitar in the first part of the song and the electric guitar at 1:30 or so. That's because the first one is simply the "inferno" preset in FL's Sytrus plugin :)

I did not at that time have nice things like Guitar Rig and my new nifty plugins that I've acquired in the past year, otherwise, I'd have probably used the same guitar patch for that instead of Sytrus. Turns out I was just too lazy to change it when Larry and Dave asked me to revise the track to accommodate the OCR criteria a little better. Let that be a lesson, kids. Laziness is going to score you more complaints than praise :lol:

Anyway, moving on, the transition/fast part was actually again, the "heavy damage" version of the song intended for in game use. Larry dug the track, so he suggested I fuse the two together. So I did. I know it's not a *perfect* transition, but eh, I have to admit, I myself was fond of the fast portion, and rather than it either not get used at all and recede into the realm of projects forgotten or whatever, I decided to go ahead and shamelessly tack it onto the end.

And that's... the REST of the story![/paul harvey] :

So lIeK, tHaNkZ 4 LiStEnInG GuYz!!! 3

avatar
Duokun
on 2008-12-06 11:47:20

Say what? A remix by Big Giant Circles? Oh you have my attention already!

Stunning, stunning, stunning! The introduction made me have to replay it to make sure it was real and that my brunch pancakes weren't making things sound sweeter than they should be. How wrong I was, as I only loved it more the 2nd time! The guitar in this ReMix is absolutely beautiful sounding and goes well with the toughness of the track. The guitar sounds a lot like "The arena" from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

LOVE the pace change near the end. It was so well transitioned into that I didn't even notice it happen when I was typing this review with half a pancake flopping out of my mouth.

To sum this ReMix in 2 works?

You just couldn't! Beautiful stuff BGC.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Capcom , 1992, ARC)
Music by Isao Abe,Yoko Shimomura
Songs:
"Zangief (U.S.S.R.)"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Electronic,Strings,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Street_Fighter_2_Fiddlesticks_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,409,996 bytes
MD5:
fd0678b4db7e08afdaf8c0840ae8066b
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
3:42

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes