Posted 2013-04-08, evaluated by the judges panel


Holy hell, it's mellogear!!

We last heard from Jon Delvaux in January of 2002, well over a decade ago, making this one of the longest (if not THE longest) hiatus-breaking mixposts thus far. That's a huge chunk of time, and while Jon's arrangements back in the day were diverse, this Skyrim arrangement that was featured on the Bad Dudes' 2012 MAGFest Sampler album is definitely a new sound from him, channeling aspects of post-rock & employing a lot of texture in a clean, refreshing rock/folk arrangement that maintains the pacing and gradual build of Jeremy Soule's GORGEOUS original. It's a fantastic, challenging source to have chosen to arrange in the first place, and this approach really breathes & does it justice. Speaking of Mr. Soule, there are FIVE DAYS LEFT on his kickstarter for an original album/symphony; check out the interview he did with Emily Reese on Top Score & contribute if you want to support his work, which I'm sure won't disappoint! Back to the mix, Emunator nailed his decision and quoting him at length conveys a lot of my own, shared sentiments:

"I'm really stunned here. I've been listening to a lot of Sigur Ros and Death Cab for Cutie lately and this feels like the immaculately-conceived lovechild of the two styles. So, right from the start I feel like I've already got a personal investment, so to speak, in this mix

I wasn't familiar with the source, but I have a general idea of how the Skyrim soundtrack sounds so I was curious how you could have adapted that kind of material into a mix like this. However, as soon as I listened to the source, the connection became undeniably clear, despite the fact that much of the source usage is chord based. If I can listen to a source that I've never heard before and I can instantly feel the connection to a remix I've only listened to once, that's pretty strong in my eyes.

I think my favorite part about this is how delicately you handled the arrangement. It takes a lot of restraint to pull off a slow-burner like this but you really seem to have a good sense of when to bring in each new instrument or when to ramp up the energy of the song in order to create the strongest effect. The mix of acoustic and distorted elements is pretty seamless, and the mixing is pristine, right up there with what I'd expect from professional bands that employ this style."

Quite right; great to see artists return with submissions after so long, and great to see those submissions feature so much creativity. Skyrim is a wonderful example of a modern game soundtrack that is timeless, complex, beautiful, AND memorable, and Jon's arrangement takes 'Whiterun' in a new direction while still capturing that distinct soul & essence.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Brandon Strader
on 2014-05-29 00:14:53

I've been listening to this like 3 times a week.. it is glorious. One of the best remixes on the site.

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BONKERS
on 2014-05-26 23:33:03

Much better than the source in some ways. TES music always leaves so much to be desired in vanilla form for me. This works.

I actually hummed to this.

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Mythezza
on 2013-05-14 19:38:12

So very post-rock.

So very beautiful. 3 Love it. Need more jazz, more blues, and now more post-rock remixes.

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Magrias
on 2013-05-01 20:51:38

You have shown me Sovngarde, friend. You are truly a worthy Nord. Thank you.

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The Orichalcon
on 2013-04-15 09:57:36

This is cute. You should join the Bard's College.

Way too 'hopeful' sounding to fit into the game. It sort of has an "everything will be all right" sound to it. Maybe this is how Whiterun's music sounded before the Civil War.

I like it, anyway.

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The Xyco
on 2013-04-15 09:25:41

Great track -- except for the first 10 seconds I thought there was a mosquito in my headphones. No joke.

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Krug
on 2013-04-10 00:23:34

Not what I was expecting but beautiful all the same! Very much reminds me of Explosions in the Sky in instrumental style. Awesome!

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liquid wind
on 2013-04-09 19:04:27

One of those remixes you can just loop forever, my favorite Skyrim song too :)

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Mockingbird
on 2013-04-09 12:09:42

I am really pleasantly surprised by this! I wasn't sure, since I love the whole Skyrim soundtrack so much, but it really, really worked. Good job!

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Crulex
on 2013-04-09 11:49:08

Wow. Pretty nice work with the atmosphere of this ReMix. Sounds like it has a pretty sweet fuzzy quality that brings out the melody quite a bit. Interesting ReMix.

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urdailywater
on 2013-04-08 23:02:07

Wow this is super good. I'm loving the ambience here, it helps all the instruments together very well.

Don't know the source, but I do like the arrangement of this song. At some points I was expecting things to get extremely epic.. but this song took its time and stayed with the peaceful flow it had and it's much better for it. Great performance, too!

No complaints from me. Awesome remix!

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Emunator
on 2013-04-08 21:14:08

Yup yup. As I said in my Judge Decision, this mix is stellar and has risen to the top of my "Most Played" remix list since I wrote that decision :-) It's really one of my favorite mixes I've ever heard, and from one of the last people I ever expected to hear something like this from.

Cheers on your return to remixing and for the amazing song that will definitely stand the test of time.

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Vesh
on 2013-04-08 19:17:32

More than acceptable. Pretty damn sweet, actually. Makes me want to break out some Mogwai, of course. I guess that's not a bad thing. =D

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OverCoat
on 2013-04-08 16:52:58

Holy crap! I've been waiting for someone to arrange this, and it turns out to be Mellogear. This is one of my favorite videogame tunes in recent memory. I pretty much have to tackle this myself too, but for now this rendition is pretty amazing. Thanks Mellogear!

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djpretzel
on 2013-04-08 15:32:44

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

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks , 2011, WIN)
Music by Jeremy Soule
Songs:
"The Streets of Whiterun"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Ambient,Rock
Mood:
Mellow
Instrumentation:
Acoustic Guitar,Electric Guitar,Electric Piano
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Elder_Scrolls_5_Skyrim_Whiterun_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,365,737 bytes
MD5:
b8e3da14a0fb4b0b6375e4cb722b8422
Bitrate:
224Kbps
Duration:
4:55

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