Video Game Music That Never made it to NG — Part 2

Finally. I am writing this. Sorry it took so long. But first off, I would like to say: WOW! Thanks for the view spike! 27 hits in one day! It may not sound like much, but my last two blogs I had were lucky to get 3 hits in a day! Thanks a lot people for reading! It really helps motivate me to write these. Anyways, here’s part deux, enjoy.

Teehee Valley Theme (Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga) — I liked this one a lot. Didn’t take me long to make neither. The lead is a synth string combined with a flute, and it begins with some marcato strings too. The percussion is some conga samples I found searching the netz.

Ayla’s Theme (Chrono Trigger) — SNEEK PEAK GUISE!!! This one I shall upload this one to NG very soon. Why not now? I want to upload it when Chrono Trigger DS comes out as an homage to it. I am very pleased with the overall outcome…except for the compression. The trumpet is in the -3DB no-safe zone for starters, and I didn’t even throw in Limiter or Maximus. Maybe I shall change that before I upload it to NG.

Big Blue (F-Zero Melee Remix) — A remix I did…for a remix. I made this one a long time ago, and as you can tell, the age shows. It’s not horrible, worth a listen, but that’s about it. You might like it better than I do…A lot of people have. You can’t beat that guitar solo, but man, if only I knew what I know now… I could make it sound so much better. I could always go back and update it, but I rarely do that, because I have a firm belief that once you finish it, it’s done.

Zeal Palace Remix (Chrono Trigger) A little hip-hop, synthy remix of Zeal Palace. Another homage I’ll be uploading to NG soon for Chrono Trigger DS’s release! So here’s your sneak peak. The sitar is recorded midi. If only I could afford Sounds of India…

Some Kirby 64 Theme — Yeah, I don’t remember what it was! LOL! I made this is one a long time ago so that’s why! How do you like the synths though? Are they delicious? Hm? Hmm? HMMM? Mah wooden synth is delicious!

Metroid Techno (Brinstar Melee Remix) — You can understand why I don’t upload remixes OF remixes, right? Anyways, this one is just awesome! It works so well! I would kudos myself, but then I would look like an arrogant fool. My only complaint is that weak snare…but I think everything else makes up for it.

Alright! That’s it! I guess I should upload some of my OWN work now huh? Then the haters won’t get mad me… Well, look forward to that soon!

Analyzing: Wind Waker Ocean Theme

The first 8 measures at least. I’m pretty sure it’s 8 measures.

One thing I do for fun, as you know, is try to recreate music. Some themes like the Wind Waker Ocean Theme are pretty complicated, so for those, I just do one part. In this case, the intro. And I must say, this intro is genius. Kudos Koji Kondo, kudos.

First off, let’s break it down. If you have the game, fire up your GCN and set sail and start listening to the theme…lol.

Okay, so the main thing you’ll notice is that repetitious string theme. It repeats eight times, once per measure, before it goes into the brass part. I must say, these 4 notes — just 4 notes — are played so perfectly and fit so well with the game it’s absolutely incredible. If you want to play it yourself, the theme looks like this:

Holy fucking shit. A wave. A fucking wave. What in this game is not a damn wave?!

Can you believe that the theme is actually a wave? A fucking wave?? What in this game is not a damn wave! Everywhere you look — waves! Yes, the main intro theme indeed resembles an ocean wave…Wow. That is so awesome on so many scales. And it sounds so good. Damn that Kondo; damn that man!

When I heard it using headphones, I noticed it was panned about 25% to the right; however, it had a very “full sound” to it. After some further, deeper listening, I noticed there was a deep brass playing the same wave theme about 25% to the left. Pretty sure that’s a tuba, but it could be a very low brass ensemble.

Of course, the same thing repeated 8 times does get dull, even if it is awesome. Some strings were added as harmony to negate this and establish mood. And the mood was set pretty well. The chords gave it a very “It’s a bright and glorious day!” kind of thing, lol. These were panned pretty extreme to the left, like 50-60% probably. To put the icing on the cake harmony, a french horn plays on the extreme right. Very extreme. 70 to 80% territory no doubt. It plays a constant note, A probably, and kind of sets a feeling of…peace. It plays on the third wave melody thing, and then restarts every two wave melodies…if that makes any sense, lol.

Lastly, what better way to represent waves crashing against the boat then with percussion! Both involve hitting something, after all. The timpani plays a simple “dummm” every measure, and on every other measure a “du-dummm” which really gives a feeling of hard waves hitting the boat. It is also accompanied by a snare drum, which emulates the lighter waves hitting the boat…all while retaining awesome music!

Can you believe that not only did Koji Kondo create such an awesome tune, but one that fits so well with its setting?! I mean, wow. Pretty damn awesome.

I took the liberty of remaking this first part too. Not quite as good as the actual theme, but I did try.

Video Games: Zelda Philosophy Book

Fucking yes!

Okay, so this has nothing to do with me or music, but I still figure it was worth a good mention. So for those of you whom do not know me, then you do not know that besides making music, my favorite hobbies are video games and cyber-culture. As if my video games remixes didn’t point that out! Lol. And when it comes to video games, I’m like a rabid sports fan…except, I play video games. Anyways. More specifically in video games, I am a HUGE Zelda fan. And I really do mean huge. You can find me theorizing about the timelines and Hyrule’s culture and even constructing the language of each tribe and whatnot. Yeah I know, I need a girlfriend.

I was browsing The Hylia, a Zelda fansite, hoping that their soundtracks page would have finally updated and actually worked — but it didn’t of course — when I noticed some interesting news…

What’s this?! A book on Zelda?? Zelda philosophy?!!! My nerd penis has never creamed so hard in my life! Disregard that. Oh man. Once this book is out I am totally buying it. The only thing that worries me is that the author seems to discuss more philosophical views in general about gamers, and not the fictional elements of Hyrule and Link and etc. Still, it looks like a good long read. So I am fine with it.

You can check out the book here

Video Game Music that never made it to NG Part 1

Believe it or not, I have tons of remasterings that never saw the light of NG, and but now, you will be able to hear them. I will be using wordpress, so let’s see how this works, shall we? WordPress doesn’t allow mp3s, so I shall be using Music Uploader instead. It deletes its files every 30 days so hopefully by then I will have found a better host.

Bike Race Theme (Chrono Trigger) – I told you I would “re-remaster” this, right? Well, I did. I could do even better now, but it’s already good enough. I’ve come a long way, huh?

Taradacty Land Boss Theme (Banjo Tooie) – Yay for awesome name music. I love this one, except for that French Horn. Way too deep. Everything else is pretty good. I simply must upload this one to NG…

Boss Battle (Chrono Trigger) – This one is okay. But some things like the toms needed work. I think that French Horn is pretty awesome, don’t you?

Grunty Industries Boss Battle (Banjo Tooie) – Another pretty awesome boss battle theme. Enjoy. I need to upload these themes to NG.

Hyrule Field, (Twilight Princess) – This one could use some more work. It’s also a victim of The Loundess War (what isn’t these days?) but overall still pretty good. I still think the original was better. Just me trying my luck with it. In the game, the theme is very dynamic. There’s 2 main themes, one for horseback (this one was for horseback), one for walking, plus a quiet theme for when you’re not moving, and a few others, all seamlessly connected.

Paper Mario Theme (remixed) – How would describe the mix of this? It’s not really orchestra, since the bass adds a jazzy feel. Whatever. It kind of stops half way, I don’t know why, but that’s just a loop anyways. Enjoy.

Burn! Bobonga! (Chrono Trigger) – I originally used a prehistoric flute as the melody, but it didn’t work out well. I don’t really have any complaints for this one. But maybe you do, heh.

Zelda 1 Theme NOT REMASTERED – Don’t be baffled that this sounds like the exact same theme as Zelda 1. It isn’t. I actually made this one myself, using three oscillators (two squares, and a triangle for bass). I also layered a few samples and upped their pitches to emulator white noise percussion. This one really doesn’t deserve an upload, but I did anyways SO WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT. Hopefully the intro doesn’t destroy your speakers and ears. Heavy square and saw waves tend to do that.

Castle Theme (Link to the Past) – Boy, I haven’t listened to this one in a while, I really worked on the brass for this one. Did it sound real? A big help goes to the third party plug-in, DSK Brass (can’t remember URL), but it’s a great plug-in. Very realistic. The only problem, is that it takes TONS of virtual memory. We’re talking over 200mb!! If your ram can handle the crunch, by all means use it.

WHAT! There’s more?! Yep. Quite a bit more. I make remaster a lot of these. Part 2 will cover the rest of ‘em.