GoldenEye 007 "Spiral Deepens" 4:53

Michael Hudak goes GoldenEye, giving us OCR's first GoldenEye 007 representation in nearly 15 years! That's quite a long time, especially for such an amazing score, but Hudak explains that away by being lost in the "Caverns":

"The source tune here is the "Caverns" theme from GoldenEye 007 by Graeme Norgate. I always wanted to do something from GoldenEye, and "Caverns" might feature the most melodic content that isn't the Bond theme -- though that song is featured in the source and in my version -- making it a suitable candidate for an OC ReMix. The game's OST is kind of like the original game remix album: Graeme and Grant Kirkhope reinterpreted Monty Norman's classic theme in so many distinct, different styles, and even toward the end of the game, the music never felt repetitive despite the player hearing the same few motifs over and over.

Arrangement-wise, I wanted to make a techno song with sounds that were overall less synth-y and more organic. There's a kick drum throughout, so I obviously couldn't make the whole track into some found-sound, ambient adventure, but I do like the extended section in the middle where things start to sound extra incidental. The main lead is just a simple monophonic piano sound with a lot of deep reverb. The bass kind of wobbles back and forth in the stereo field, and also up and down in level, which is maybe a risky approach, but I don't think it's distracting as much as it is interesting. It has a granular send set an octave up to simulate low strings and that same send effect is also on a few midrange instruments, simulating a middle strings section. I made these strings swell by ramping the send volume up using automation. Lots of LFOs connected to all kinds of things via (virtual) CV, making constant (sometimes barely audible) changes to timbre and pitch. Different sounds coming and going. 134 BPM.

0:00-0:49 in source is 0:00-1:11 and 2:59-3:50 in mix.

0:49-1:47 in source is 1:11-2:44 in mix (some of which is the Bond theme but the arpeggios, et al., are still there).

The last 35 seconds of my mix have some subtle callbacks to earlier in the track as well.

Big thanks to everyone who continue to keep OCR going strong."

A big thank you back to Michael, who continues to keep things musically interesting for our community with his wonderfully experimental interpretations! This piece goes in Hudak's melodically conservative column, yet that didn't mean any less creativity or novelty according to judge prophetik music's analysis:

"opening is heavily filtered. bell instrument that comes in has a ton of automation on it which is pretty neat [...]. there's a shift at 0:58 that cleans up the soundscape and has some interesting swells under it too. [...] there's some neat verb effects at 1:40 under the bell and backing elements. the section after this has a lot of washes of sound - it almost wanders but doesn't quite get lost in there.

things start to fade down around 2:45, and we get a transition into a more angular feel at 2:51. this really reminded me of some mass effect soundscapes initially. it noodles through some more expansive synth elements before hitting a hard transition at 4:18 and then slowly dissipating. [...]

this is a pretty understated track overall. the subtle variations in backing elements are pretty neat once you pick up on them, and the more ambient approach is refreshing when presented alongside a consistent beat like this one has."

Speaking of understated, what a quiet yet effective escalation to the transition from :50-:59, almost a nod to gaseous sounds from a cave. Even when going a more minimalist route, Hudak's sound design skills give listeners lots to hone in on, according to fellow judge Hemophiliac:

"This is minimal in a maximalist way. Do the most you can with as little as possible. Sparse, dark, and subtle. The massive reverbs fill so much space that you can use very little but maintain fullness.

The departures from the source are welcomed as the original is mostly sparse and doesn't do much dangerous.

I really liked the kick drum dropout for the final ~20-30 seconds or so as it was going relentlessly throughout. A change-up in that kick pattern sooner or a dropout could have added some textural contrast, but you also did kind of achieve that by making 2:44-2:52 drop down in velocity and maybe a slight high-pass filter on it too (hard to tell). [...] It's not the main focus but a driving force to move the song forward.

Enjoyed this one!"

The mood is also strong with this one, maintaining Norgate's mysterious chords all while Hudak's establishes a colder, even more desolate feel that later includes added tension from 2:56-4:18. Be careful with this cavernous descent; don't let intrusive thoughts on being trapped win out or the spiral deepens!