ReMix:Pokémon Red Version "Drowning Blue" 3:13

By Ben Briggs

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"Pokémon Center", "S.S. Anne"

Primary Game: Pokémon Red Version (Nintendo , 1996, GB), music by Junichi Masuda

Posted 2011-03-03, evaluated by the judges panel


As the week draws to a close, so does our Missingno mixflood, ending with a couple themes that seem appropriately sweet and "ending theme-ish". First up is B. Briggs:

"when I found out the pokemon project was basically accepting any and all pokemon remixes, I had to jump on it. I have always loved the ss anne music, and I think it is probably one of the more memorable tracks from the OST (considering how much time one could potentially spend on the damn boat). as always, I basically had no plan at all when I started this mix, and I just let my natural memory of the theme guide the arrangement. clarinet, banjo, chiptunes, and a whole lot of pop-rock inspired chord changes are crammed into a fairly short time span, and I think it works pretty well. you could say it's a "concept" mix of sorts because the ending is designed to give the feeling of sinking/drowning, though that may be a stretch :P"

Not a stretch at all; I hear it. The ending also just works really well musically, and the entire arrangement has a nice playfulness to it, shifting tempos, ritardando, gated breaks, emulated instrument synths & all. Especially with the tempo fluctuations, it turns the "little" instruments employed into larger, fully articulated lines, superimposing some pop structures over a traditional VGM style. OA writes:

"Really nice chip sound here, it's clean and a little heavily compressed, but overall has a nice sound, and a lot of strong rhythmic interest, and a really nice melody. These is plenty going on throughout, and the sections are well-linked, but varied."

Fishy adds:

"Just echoing the above really. Good chippy fun. Some iffy sounds but that's kinda the point. Pretty inventive and expansive arrangement with some great rhythmic displacement and glitchy fills and texture.

You properly drowned that sucka at the end. Brutal."

Love the mix, love the style... sure, it's a sugary, chip-dominated track that's pretty easy to like, but the arrangement and additional instrumentation make it a bit quirkier and give it intrigue and depth that warrant revisiting.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 11 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Rexy
on 2011-12-10 10:38:16

S.S. Anne! If the version in FireRed was of any indication, it's a wonderful source to lend one's style to for a remix.

So the track starts out fairly faithful, but in true Ben Briggs fashion it uses the progression as a foundation to manipulate over a more original structure, complete with some very interesting synth work being placed throughout. Even the little downtempo/syncopated part at 1:25 moving to the source's B theme helped to break the monotomy somewhat here and the gradual build back up to regular tempo also helped really give in a strong sense of color. That ending with the increasing echo/reverb space and the hi-passing does sound somewhat of a strange note to end with though, but it still shows another hint of testament towards Ben's skills as a producer.

I may understand that you might've leaned a lot towards halc's style in this particular track, though the one thing I might advise you to work with is with your manipulation of your polysynth pads; they do kind of start to feel stale after a while. But after sensing your guys' work as Insert Rupee I can understand that you've learnt a lot in regards to texture to really focus on these little details, so I have a lot of trust in you. :)

Hence, another neat Poke-mix! I'm all up for seeing future developments from you even though you've been focusing on more original material lately :)

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Cybermouse
on 2011-08-04 02:24:08

This is probably my favorite Pokemon tune and I was really happy to see that someone went after it for a remix. I'm also very pleased with the results! Excellent work. It does my heart good to see a great tune given the proper appreciation and attention it deserves, and done so well too!

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Crulex
on 2011-03-09 12:20:22

I always loved the St. Anne theme. I thought it was beautiful and elegant, especially remastered. It's a shame that the only time it played was when you were on a boat that lasted maybe fifteen minutes to a half hour if you wasted time battling everyone. I almost missed the Poke Center bit you put in there, but it was a nice touch. I also enjoyed the drowning out ending to the ReMix. Overall, you gave it a good chippy work over and it added that playful sense of fun to it. Great job.

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Overdriven
on 2011-03-05 10:32:42

I actually like this track. Don't know why, but I do. Maybe that's my Pokemon fanaticism, but then again it is a very nicely done ReMix.

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Benjamin Briggs
on 2011-03-05 03:55:56

In hindsight I should have titled this remix 'Drowning BLUE'

and I am very much kicking myself over this

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psychowolf
on 2011-03-04 20:33:53

Looking at the game version this remix is classified under, it sounds like the main character is holding his rivals head underwater. O.o

Annnnyway this remix is really great the ss anne is the one part of the game you can't ever return to (unless you cheat of course) so weirdly the source sticks in your head and so does this remix,

love the slow breakdown which then brings it back.

Very good remix and thank you for including it in the album.

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meboeck
on 2011-03-04 13:06:06

This is one of my favorites from the album. Very nice as usual. And I love the quick homage to the Pokemon Center.

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Brandon Strader
on 2011-03-03 23:23:53

This sounds fantastic, thanks for updating it... not that the old one didn't sound fantastic too, it totally does.

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Benjamin Briggs
on 2011-03-03 22:01:35

just want to go ahead and echo something I said in the album review thread:

the mp3 that was included in the album torrent is not the correct version; it is OLD and got mixed up during bundling

the mixposted version here is CORRECT, as is the FLAC version on the album, and has much improved mixing/mastering/EQ compared to the mp3 in the torrent

thanks for listening and thanks for the mixpost :3

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yosefu
on 2011-03-03 21:54:55

Funny enough when i saw this song on the site the song had just started. Well from start to finish this song is a great tune to listen to and it will be played for a long time. Great work Mr Briggs.

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djpretzel
on 2011-03-03 20:50:29

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
Pokémon Red Version (Nintendo , 1996, GB)
Music by Junichi Masuda
Songs:
"Pokémon Center"
"S.S. Anne"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Happy
Instrumentation:
Chiptune,Electronic,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Pokemon_Red_Version_Drowning_Blue_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,486,385 bytes
MD5:
fc1204c1dc20db3447d63aabfd8335d9
Bitrate:
223Kbps
Duration:
3:13

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