ReMix:Super Mario Bros. "Water Main" 1:59

By Brad Smith

Arranging the music of one song...

"Underground BGM"

Primary Game: Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo , 1985, NES), music by Koji Kondo

Posted 2003-03-31, evaluated by the judges panel


Brad Smith seems to have a thing for ReMixing water-related music from SMB; first he gave us the drifting, lovely AquaticInterlude, and now returns with a peppier, rockin' take on the underground theme. Not particularly water-related, perhaps, but there's lots of pipes, hence 'Water Main' seems an apt title. Guitar-heads take note - this mix is guitar-based, and features some nifty improv work 'round the middle portion. At only two minutes long, it's pretty brief, but so is the source material, and there's enough expansion, modification, and new shtuff to make this well worth your while. Disco Dan elucidates: "ok satriani... No seriously, I can see this ending up on Kazaa as 'Joe Satriani - Mario Underground Theme.mp3' Anyway, this is high quality and well played, though pretty damn short, but I suppose that's ok too in this case. Interesting to see how you took a 4/4 song and turned it into 6/8. Good stuff." - there's a few renditions of this theme available here on OCR, and UnderworldRock is also guitar-based, but this is still a distinct and welcome take on a classic. Check it out.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2023-08-12 01:54:36

This certainly feels like the start of something awesome that could have been expanded on, but for what is here, it's a short and sweet jam. Not bad.

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Mikeaudio
on 2012-09-03 12:32:22

I agree with willrock and OA on some points with this, however I can also hear the artistic idea behind it. Personally I think its nice to hear something thats a bit rough and ridget but yet not horribly mixed. Its mixed differently than the typical yes, but its not horrible in any sense. The only things I have qualms about are; that you only touch the surface with this idea, but you never actually dive into it. And that the solo is pre/post mature, as in hinting to more material to come or previous material heard that doesn't actually exist. So to summerize, this mix sounds like an awesome idea that never had a chance to develop. Regarding the mix job itself, some things could defintely be tighter, but I think more development (variations) on the theme would make the bigger difference. Also great job on reflecting the title within the music!

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WillRock
on 2009-12-02 12:54:14

I gotta say that OA hit the mark with this piece... I'm not sure if the guitar is real or synthetic either... it has mechanical characteristics, i'm sure i'm hearing the exact same guitar part more than once, but that could be editing, and the solo doesn't sound sequenced... its not precise enough.

Lol at disco dans satriani quip. This is not Joe satriani, and never will be :P

That said, this mix just sounds... empty. The solo gets muddy because there is delay feedback once per bar, but only do that if your going to harmonize (brian may anyone?), here it just sounds messy.

I think this does have something for those that like a crazy guitar tapping solo, but other than that, stay away from this one. Sorry, didn't like it all that much.

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OA
on 2006-12-18 14:03:52

I can't tell if the guitar are real or synthetic. If they are synthetic, nice work. If they are real, time for a new amp. :(

I found this too be too sparse and hollow for my taste, as well as it being the melody verbatim with a wanktacular solo stitched on.

Now i'm as guilty as the next guitarist of cranking the wankitude up for solos, but this one seemed excessive and even sloppy.

Sorry, this mix just wasn't for me at all. :(

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engine_num1
on 2004-04-23 13:00:08

the drums on this song kick major ass. the addition of the guitars hrlped give this song some depth. the guitars going crazy with a solo part was just right. kudos. A

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blackmyst
on 2003-04-13 09:09:29

I'm not an expert on any of the technical stuff. But I can say one thing: 00:38 gives me the chills. :o Worth adding to my collection if only just for that part.

I really like the whole piece though.

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bradsmith
on 2003-04-02 04:11:49

Heyo. I didn't know this was up already! I guess I don't have much to say about this in reply except that a "water main" is a kind of big pipe, hence why I thought it an appropriate name for music from the level you take a big pipe down into. Also, in the first Super Mario Bros. it was already in a 6/4 (or 3/4) metre. It didn't become 4/4 until they redid it for Super Mario Bros. 3. (By the way, 6/8 usually means two triplets per bar, which really doesn't describe this piece at all.)

As for comments on the guitar work, I really, really don't deserve any comparison to Satriani, but I will agree that the guitar is very noisy and rough (the way I hoped it would sound :wink: ). I don't know what people find so odd about the drums (maybe the snare processing and distortion? maybe it's just the fact that it's an mp3?).

Anyhow, thanks for all the comments everybody!

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fisherman
on 2003-04-02 02:59:39

Rockin'! Worth the download. Quality guitar work.

The drums and such don't sound too strange to me... djpretzel's joke that it might end up getting re/mis-labeled and thrown out on Kazaa isn't too unrealistic, it sounds not unlike a good loose/jam session-esque cut.

This is one of those tunes that just amazes me when I think that it was written for the NES, especially the last part of the melody before it loops back on itself.

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Daikun
on 2003-04-02 00:03:36

...So, let me get this straight...

...THIS is the water main theme?!?

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Ryan8bit
on 2003-04-01 21:39:40

Perhaps this could've been encoded a tad higher? The beginning had a few of those tiny encoding glitches.

Some interesting improv in the middle. But the guitar sounds like its coming from one of those little amps. Now, I'm not one to talk about guitar sound or anything, but these probably could have used some more low EQ, and maybe a bit less mid EQ. Or perhaps it was because it was a little empty behind the guitar (just drums).

But, I did enjoy the piece.

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square-x
on 2003-03-31 21:13:16

I really liked it, short and to the point. That scratchy guitar solo and drum beat had my 'rockin' to tha beat'. Really nice, I hope to hear more stuff like this from you.

-sx

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Mario Buu
on 2003-03-31 17:43:40

Hrm. This peice was very odd sounding. The drums sounded a little funny, as well as the guitar being a little scratchy. But other then that its pretty good for the most part.

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flipsideshooze
on 2003-03-31 16:31:08

I really like this as well... but for someone, i can't get off the drums... they just sound...off... to me...

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Mikey
on 2003-03-31 15:47:47

I really like it...But...It's not the Water theme really...It's the underground theme...Maybe a link was mixed up?

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Cuddly PyramidHead
on 2003-03-31 11:47:16

For me, the real problem with this mix was the low quality of the audio, especially the drums. The guitar work in itself is quite good, but the drums sound so strange that it's really distracting.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo , 1985, NES)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Underground BGM"

Tags (1)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Additional:
Time > Duration: Short

File Information


Name:
Super_Mario_Bros_Water_Main_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
1,986,491 bytes
MD5:
067f9d77a31be40466e9401a0f0c3bf1
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
1:59

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