ReMix:Banjo-Kazooie "Wallachian Prince" 2:53

By OceansAndrew

Arranging the music of one song...

"Tooty's Theme"

Primary Game: Banjo-Kazooie (Nintendo , 1998, N64), music by Grant Kirkhope

Posted 2009-11-30, evaluated by the judges panel


Let's keep it going strong - one more month left in 2009 after today, but still plenty of great mixes to be posted! OA hits us with some hybrid orchestral/rock Banjo-Kazooie action; for those of you who may have missed it, check out our interview with composer Grant Kirkhope for some excellent reading. I'm a little short on time today, so it's up to our trusty judges to fill out the writeup - Vinnie writes:

"What I like most about this song is that even though you've transposed the song to a minor key (which is already a cool idea), if you take out the guitars, it sounds pretty much like something you'd hear in the game, maybe when Tooty gets kidnapped. Yet it's original and has your distinctive touches all over it. What I like second most about the song is the slyly creeping strings in the bridge - that's sick. Sometimes the writing gets crowded but that's the only negative I can give you here, this is great."

For some reason "Tooty" always makes me think of IHOP's "Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity," which I always feel like an imbecile when ordering. Larry adds:

"The guitar work was pretty meaty, fleshed out the track nicely and de-emphasized any issues with the sequenced stuff. I really love how all of the elements came together, especially because the other instrumentation was a small ensemble rather than grandiose symphonic rock. Cool approach."

Pretty much; awesome, gypsy-style minor take on the source, with heavy-hitting guitars & drums and silky, ornate orchestral backing, featuring soaring violin, flute, piano arpeggios, castanets, and more. Definitely one of my favorite BK mixes, but also one of my favorite pieces from Mr. Luers.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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TillyFun
on 2014-05-09 19:17:02

The original is so cheery. What did you do to Tooty? XD

Hahaha it's awesome. Kick ass and classy. :3

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Crulex
on 2011-12-20 13:19:47

This is pretty fun ReMix to listen to. That combination of guitar and violin was awesome and had a very cool mix of orchestration and rock that I wasn't really expecting. It's the perfect length, the instruments sounded good and I'm loving the direction you took this in. Really great work on this ReMix.

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Diodes
on 2010-12-17 15:45:49

This is a pretty badass remix. It's very catchy, actually I've gotten it stuck in my head a number of times .) Guitars sound awesome of course, as do the orchestral elements. I never heard the original, but this minor key version sounds very natural to me, as if it was supposed to be written that way.

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DarkSim
on 2010-12-04 19:45:17

Every now and then OCR throws up something you just don't expect at all, and that's one of the reasons I love it. This is such an ambitious and experimental track, given OA's own admission, but the execution is masterful. It seems the challenge was an excuse to try something new, and it definitely paid off.

The short source is quite a challenge to make a song of any decent length, so I think even getting it to nearly 3 minutes is a good effort. In addition to that, going for the Hungarian gypsy-style is a stroke of genius in that that genre relies on repeating melodies, similar to celtic and irish music. The couple of breakdowns and solos just serve to enhance the full whack of the main melody when it comes in again.

I especially like the drums in this track as well - there's a really nice hi-hat sound in there, and they're just excellently sequenced. Also nice to hear some castanets(?) in there!

Overall a completely fresh take on a short but sweet source, in a genre that's exceptionally hard to get right.

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Skinner3D
on 2010-11-06 10:46:45

I can't actually put my finger on why I like this song. It's really fun to listen to, but other than that I don't know how to describe it. :D Worth downloading? Definately especially if you played the game.

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SaltShaker
on 2009-12-28 10:48:39

Awesome. That's just perfect.

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metalsnakejuice
on 2009-12-12 09:28:04

Cant remember when i downloaded this but i decided to listen to it today. My god why dint i listen to this ages ago, it has a nice feel to it and the guitar is done well.

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YoshMaster
on 2009-12-12 03:11:58

My god this song is crazy good!!!! I just can't keep listening to it!!!

I love hybrids of orchestral and electronic and rock as much as I love life itself!!! ;)

Thank you for making this awesome track!!!

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OA
on 2009-12-11 18:32:34

Some background on the track besides the fact that it was the freshly baked remix challenge track assigned to me:

* I used the orchestral samples so extensively because I wanted to break away from my typical synth leads. I think it worked pretty well, but I wish that I had more time to polish some of the exposed parts to make them sound more natural. It's better than I usually do, but usually I use orchestra as BG.

* I think the world would have exploded if I did a song this happy in major. It needed to be in minor.

* I like the breakdown the best; the violin lead is still a bit fakey, but I like the parts there.

*ending is a bit weak, and i've learned from it. Usually my endings are a lot stronger- i dropped the ball here.

*everyone should try the freshly baked remix challenge next year, it was fun. :-)

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Martin Penwald
on 2009-12-11 16:35:26

I'm getting a certain Castlevania vibe from this. Nice.

Unlike some other posters, I don't think that this is too short. Considering that the main motif is repeated fairly often (as was pointed out above), making the remix as short as it is makes sure that it doesn't become boring/repetitive.

Overall, nice work.

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Arcana
on 2009-12-08 00:45:45

I actually like the strings. The guitar parts seem a bit sudden on entry. A lot of hits. Guitar's very good though.

The string parts sound a bit thin, especially the strings at 1:11-ish. But I don't feel that they're as mechanical as some of the others have reported.

The main theme motif is repeated quite often. I think the two breakdowns really help with the variation. It does seem a bit short because the ending is a bit abrupt - the main theme is repeated four times, almost verbatim after the last breakdown.

I enjoyed it, definitely worth listening to.

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42
on 2009-12-05 21:58:05

I like the mix of violin and electric guitars; it gives the mix a distinctive feel. Admittedly there's not much of an intro here; while I feel it would benefit from a more developed intro, I don't think its current status harms the overall mix either. Huh....

This one's interesting to listen to because it plays with the stereo. It reminds me a little of something Trans-Siberian Orchestra might perform in both theme and concept, except a little more tame. Very nicely done.

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Bahamut
on 2009-12-02 17:59:34

This is a fairly odd take on the original source. I have to agree with some of the others on this though - it definitely does seem too short. I think the main cause of this is that the song repeats a particular segment of the original motif, but doesn't develop it as fully as one might desire.

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Nearly
on 2009-12-02 14:59:04

It's just too short. I was left wanting more. That often is the case with heavy orchestra and symphonic rock pieces. But they do take a lot of work.

There was not a second of this that I didn't like.

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Palpable
on 2009-12-02 11:37:05
Also, fun fact: there is a brief rendition of Tooty's theme in minor during the opening story sequence of the game, when Tooty gets kidnapped.

Ha! I own the game and had forgotten, though maybe on some level I remembered.

I stuck this song on our Halloween party playlist this year and it fit right in.

It could be, I might have just misidentified a key change when in reality I was hearing something else. Either way, something sounded different about the melody to me when I first heard it, I just assumed it was a key change since I'm pretty new to this music vocab stuff :tomatoface:

It's dropping from a major key to a minor key, but I dunno if that's usually called a key change. The root stays the same.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Banjo-Kazooie (Nintendo , 1998, N64)
Music by Grant Kirkhope
Songs:
"Tooty's Theme"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Rock
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Orchestral,Strings
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Banjo-Kazooie_Wallachian_Prince_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
3,966,838 bytes
MD5:
b7ff9f9aca7e68d22adcb9d84269721f
Bitrate:
179Kbps
Duration:
2:53

 

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