ReMix:Zombies Ate My Neighbors "Heart Beats" 3:08

By Mazedude

Arranging the music of one song...

"Titanic Toddler"

Primary Game: Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Konami , 1993, SNES), music by George Alistair Sanger, Joe McDermott

Posted 2013-04-03, evaluated by djpretzel


The news broke today that Disney has shut down the legendary LucasArts studio; while apparently the name will still be used to license titles, the studio itself will no longer develop games. This is a gut punch to the world of video games & the art of storytelling, and feels like the end of an era - probably because it is. LucasArts is a name I grew up with, a company that has produced so many great games and made such a name for itself that even if you ignore every Star Wars game they've developed, the depth, breath, and creativity of their worlds & characters is still quite mind-blowing. ReMixer, composer, and fedora connoisseur bustatunez did some amazing audio work for them (they were lucky to have him!) and zircon & some1namedjeff both contributed to LA projects as well. At a moment like this, you've gotta quote Old Ben:

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

It has; I can't write a love letter to the LucasArts of my past that would truly capture the totality of what they meant to gaming and what they meant to me, but OC ReMix will continue to shine a spotlight on the music that so many talented composers have contributed to their games over the years. In a pinch, to mark the solemn occasion, we've gone out of cycle to bring you this Mazedude ReMix of Zombies Ate My Neighbors - published by Konami but developed by LucasArts - from days of yore. It's quirky not ONLY in the traditional Mazedude sense of the word, but also in the instrumentation employed, which is rather heavy on organ, you might say:

"An experimental track for a 'Zombies Ate My Neighbors' remix contest, this track consists of samples made entirely from heart beats. Won 3rd place!"

We actually posted Mr. Pacaud's winning mix back in 2006 (!), and it's still quite the hotness, but Chris always delivers, and the range of timbres he's able to coax from cardiac cycles is a testament to his ingenuity & sample-mangling prowess. One can only imagine what this guy could do with the entire spectrum of human bodily noises, but that could get ugly fast, plus the purity of concept here is part of the point. We've now got a mix made from beer bottles and a mix made from heart beats, so let it never be said that zillion-dollar sample libraries are required to please the judges panel - all you need is a Heineken or a pulse ;) Chris' arrangement is swirling, spooky, percolating, and makes the most of the reduced ventricular palette.

Great, completely unpredictable stuff from Mazedude, marking the end of an amazing run for a studio that stepped out from the shadow of its largest license and made an indelible dent in the medium - for all the artists who worked at LucasArts up until today, or in years past, we at OC ReMix appreciate the heights that you elevated the art form to, the wonderful music you wrote, and the adventures you took us on.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 10 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Esperado
on 2013-04-06 11:15:28
Ohhhhh man. I wouldn't have said that. :lol: That scary part is not even that Chris might DO that, it's that he'd do a great job, and we've have to listen to fart music. :-)

DO IT DO IT! I love his consistently creative uses of sampling. I think everyone can take a page from this man's creativity.

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BlackPanther
on 2013-04-05 17:43:32

This is pretty awesome!

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sci
on 2013-04-05 05:39:16

I was actually pretty surprised to find this posted on the front page.it's been a long, long time since I've heard this.

for perspective, I started making music in late 2005, inspired by Mazedude no less. a few months later, I found this song on his site, though I didn't add it to any of my circulating playlists.

7 years later, I find this song again. it's practically a completely new song now. I can actually hear subtleties now that were completely outside of my comprehension when I first listened.

7 years. I had barely any knowledge of music, much less the process of making music. now I listen to an album a day, and I don't go...I can't go a week without making at least one song.

I have two OCRemix posts to my name, and I've been contemplating finishing and submitting a third song.

heh, I kinda feel bad that I can't even listen to the song for what it is. I can only hear the sound of time. A tangible artifact to show how much I've grown in otherwise intangible ways.

I think I'll embrace this as a reason to finish and submit my third remix.

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Crulex
on 2013-04-04 15:34:10

Wow, heart beat sampling in a ReMix like this. Pretty good use of creativity for an interesting song. Goes from menacing to chippy and weird in no time and completely works. Nothing but greatness from Mazedude.

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Draconiator
on 2013-04-04 14:37:02

One thing's for sure, I'll link someone to this page if they ever want an example of ORGAN MUSIC

HAR HAR HAR

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timaeus222
on 2013-04-04 11:49:22

He would need to remember to sample some burping noises and process them like Infected Mushroom seems to have done in Frog Machine. =D

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Liontamer
on 2013-04-04 09:55:54
Mazedude is awesome. I hope he makes a Boogerman mix made out of flatulence noises next.

Ohhhhh man. I wouldn't have said that. :lol: That scary part is not even that Chris might DO that, it's that he'd do a great job, and we've have to listen to fart music. :-)

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Draconiator
on 2013-04-04 03:22:13

Mazedude is awesome. I hope he makes a Boogerman mix made out of flatulence noises next.

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Liontamer
on 2013-04-03 19:54:10

When djp asked me if there was anything from LucasArts we could post as a nod to this, I knew exactly who to reach out to. Much love to Chris for submitting this (been a fan of it for 7 years), though I wish the closing of LucasArts wasn't the event that prompted it. :'-(

It's really a great, ultimately pretty timeless concept piece that's works incredibly well. A great tribute to Joe McDermott and the Titanic Toddler!

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djpretzel
on 2013-04-03 19:25:45

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

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Konami , 1993, SNES)
Music by George Alistair Sanger,Joe McDermott
Songs:
"Titanic Toddler"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Quirky,Spooky
Instrumentation:
Electronic
Additional:
Origin > Competition

File Information


Name:
Zombies_Ate_My_Neighbors_Heart_Beats_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,816,987 bytes
MD5:
8e2373f8c49121eac18982ec74253961
Bitrate:
201Kbps
Duration:
3:08

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