ReMix:EarthBound "Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Scientist Boy (and the Magical Monkey)" 2:56

On 2/24/2009 at 5:14 PM, herograw said:

...not sure how I never commented on this mix, as it's one of my favorites, and that's about all I have to say.

True then, true now

Ooooo I really get into this one. I love the drums! I often find myself disliking the cymbals in a given song because they either distract me or cover up the other instruments I'm trying to listen to, but for whatever reason, I have no trouble separating everything out in my head in this remix even though they're quite bombastic.

I saw this thread was bumped so I re-listened to this remix again recently. It's always been one of my favorites on the site, and I feel like some of the original material I've done with Marshall Art might owe itself to the noisy, abrasive sound and chaotic drums of this remix.

I kind of want to do my own version of this source at some point, but then I listen to this and realize how hard it'd be to make something I like more than this.

On December 15, 2009 at 2:54 AM, ella guro said:

So perhaps some context for this might be good. (Yes, this is AB. Like the name/sex change?)

This was originally intended to be for an Earthbound project that was never finished. A few other mixes that were supposed to be for it made it here on OCR, I can't remember exactly which ones.

Anyway, by the time I did this one I had just got to college and felt kind of like I was done with the community there was no reason for me to be doing remixes anymore for various reasons. But I had some left over WIPs and decided to finish this one up because the original tune is one of my favorite pieces of videogame music.

I was pretty sure this was gonna be my last remix, so I decided to try some things that I wouldn't normally try. I intentionally made some sounds ugly and clash with other sounds, and there are a couple of places where there are two different things going on at once in different keys/time signatures, that kind of stuff. I was really into Captain Beefheart at the time, so that was part of it. Part of it was also wanting to do justice to the Earthbound soundtrack.

It was fun to do all that stuff because I felt like I was really pushing myself into more unexplored territory, and I felt that it paid off for me. I came up with something that sounded unique, that I felt like no one else could have done. I didn't know if this would get rejected by the panel or not, but I decided that I had nothing to lose anyway so I submitted it and was happy to see it get on the site.

==============================

Anyway, the point is this: my hope was that someone would hear this and be inspired to do something out there or experimental, in the mold of Shnabubula's early remixes or something like that. Or maybe not even that, maybe just get someone to think about trying a new approach. And I'm not talking about crazy time signatures or putting a whole lot of distortion on everything. Those are just ideas, and on the surface they don't add up to anything. I'm talking about creating a world. Different combinations of different ideas helps bring people into a different world. What I mean here is that my intention was never to show off compositionally. The point wasn't "hey guyz listen to my drumz". I was just trying something different. Trying to blur things together until all you can see is the overall picture, maybe even have some sort of emotional experience come out of it, rather than just see it as just a bunch of a little elements someone entered into a sequencer. I wasn't doing all this consciously. I don't think I realized what this and the kirby and donkey kong remixes on were about until way afterwards. I guess the point in the end was that I hoped to make something that existed in a world of its own: outside of me, outside of my sequencer, outside of my computer, and hopefully people would react to it in that way.

So anyway...I think people are gonna like what they're gonna like. A lot of people don't like a lot of the choices made, so they're not gonna like this mix, simple as that. But I'm most proud of this one because I felt like I really did reach something this time. It's not perfect certainly, but I do feel proud that there is a mix like this on OCR...I just wish that more people were willing to try stuff like this.

BTW, the ending is supposed to be a more optimistic epilogue to the darkness and disorientation of the mix. It's kind of an inverse of the kirby mix which was mostly happy but then ended with this kind of mysterious section that fades out at the end. I did think it was gonna be my last thing on OCR, after all, so I wanted to end it on a happier note. And it's Earthbound, fer godsakes.

I don't really know how many people out there really try to think deeply about videogame remixes. I think a vast majority of remixers just do it for fun, and most listeners don't try to think that hard about why they like something, they just know what they like. Sometimes I think there's something wrong with me when I try to deconstruct stuff like this and give it a higher purpose. In the end I guess I really don't know what purpose remixes have beyond entertainment or nostalgia. My best guess is that maybe both games and game remixes (and by extension electronic music) are about creating worlds that have their own self-sustaining ecosystems. Earthbound certainly had its own unmistakable and strange little world. And with electronic music, maybe like Brian Eno did with Another Green World, though I never heard that album until a year or so ago. There are an infinite number of possibilities of sound that we will only ever barely scratch the surface of, so my view is that we might as well put them to some interesting use.

Ella, no idea if you're still on the fringes of this community, but I just wanna say thanks again for submitting this piece. It's one of the few I remember from my time on the judges panel, because it was really, really important to me that it got passed. I wanted challenging, experimental music to have a place in this community, and this mix was such a breath of fresh air, that had an influence on my later work. All these years later, I still love it.

I LUV THIS SONG!

I think the drums are the best part (especial when playing this song on beat hazard or audio surf)

But for a while I didn't download this song because I didn't think I would actually listen to it that much but now I listen to it every day because its so unique and different.

Brilliant!

So perhaps some context for this might be good. (Yes, this is AB. Like the name/sex change?)

This was originally intended to be for an Earthbound project that was never finished. A few other mixes that were supposed to be for it made it here on OCR, I can't remember exactly which ones.

Anyway, by the time I did this one I had just got to college and felt kind of like I was done with the community there was no reason for me to be doing remixes anymore for various reasons. But I had some left over WIPs and decided to finish this one up because the original tune is one of my favorite pieces of videogame music.

I was pretty sure this was gonna be my last remix, so I decided to try some things that I wouldn't normally try. I intentionally made some sounds ugly and clash with other sounds, and there are a couple of places where there are two different things going on at once in different keys/time signatures, that kind of stuff. I was really into Captain Beefheart at the time, so that was part of it. Part of it was also wanting to do justice to the Earthbound soundtrack.

It was fun to do all that stuff because I felt like I was really pushing myself into more unexplored territory, and I felt that it paid off for me. I came up with something that sounded unique, that I felt like no one else could have done. I didn't know if this would get rejected by the panel or not, but I decided that I had nothing to lose anyway so I submitted it and was happy to see it get on the site.

==============================

Anyway, the point is this: my hope was that someone would hear this and be inspired to do something out there or experimental, in the mold of Shnabubula's early remixes or something like that. Or maybe not even that, maybe just get someone to think about trying a new approach. And I'm not talking about crazy time signatures or putting a whole lot of distortion on everything. Those are just ideas, and on the surface they don't add up to anything. I'm talking about creating a world. Different combinations of different ideas helps bring people into a different world. What I mean here is that my intention was never to show off compositionally. The point wasn't "hey guyz listen to my drumz". I was just trying something different. Trying to blur things together until all you can see is the overall picture, maybe even have some sort of emotional experience come out of it, rather than just see it as just a bunch of a little elements someone entered into a sequencer. I wasn't doing all this consciously. I don't think I realized what this and the kirby and donkey kong remixes on were about until way afterwards. I guess the point in the end was that I hoped to make something that existed in a world of its own: outside of me, outside of my sequencer, outside of my computer, and hopefully people would react to it in that way.

So anyway...I think people are gonna like what they're gonna like. A lot of people don't like a lot of the choices made, so they're not gonna like this mix, simple as that. But I'm most proud of this one because I felt like I really did reach something this time. It's not perfect certainly, but I do feel proud that there is a mix like this on OCR...I just wish that more people were willing to try stuff like this.

BTW, the ending is supposed to be a more optimistic epilogue to the darkness and disorientation of the mix. It's kind of an inverse of the kirby mix which was mostly happy but then ended with this kind of mysterious section that fades out at the end. I did think it was gonna be my last thing on OCR, after all, so I wanted to end it on a happier note. And it's Earthbound, fer godsakes.

I don't really know how many people out there really try to think deeply about videogame remixes. I think a vast majority of remixers just do it for fun, and most listeners don't try to think that hard about why they like something, they just know what they like. Sometimes I think there's something wrong with me when I try to deconstruct stuff like this and give it a higher purpose. In the end I guess I really don't know what purpose remixes have beyond entertainment or nostalgia. My best guess is that maybe both games and game remixes (and by extension electronic music) are about creating worlds that have their own self-sustaining ecosystems. Earthbound certainly had its own unmistakable and strange little world. And with electronic music, maybe like Brian Eno did with Another Green World, though I never heard that album until a year or so ago. There are an infinite number of possibilities of sound that we will only ever barely scratch the surface of, so my view is that we might as well put them to some interesting use.

I can see this one rubbing a lot of people the wrong way, and truth be told I don't think I'll be downloading it for repeat listens just because it's so weird, but I really thought this was a fun trip that felt so much like Earthbound that I couldn't help but smile as I was being assaulted with crazy drums and (what sounded like) detuned synths. Really clever interpretation, even if I don't really find it listenable alongside the other music I've got on my playlist.

I miss your music!

Okay, I listened to this again after years and years, and I have to say I really love those drums. Awesome work!

Aggro cymbal stomping madness of joy!

why does everyone complain about the drums? i have heard worse things in my life.

this is one of my old favorites - the sound design is fantastic and the percussion really drives this mix for me.

This is amazing from a sound design perspective, one of the most creative I've seen on the site. Shades of Brian Eno and Mr. Bungle, though I think the connection there is more in spirit than sound. It could stand to be more cohesive structurally, but I really like it nonetheless!

Wasn't feelin' it. Those drums hurt my ears, especially the cymbals. Sorry dude.

I loved the warm opening textures though.

...not sure how I never commented on this mix, as it's one of my favorites, and that's about all I have to say.

the drums are sick

not sure about the rest of this song though...synths sound too similar to the original which i was never really a fan of

one other thing, like rellik said this isn't "experimental"

man people really like abusing genre definitions here

I'd say that when a remix comes up in my playlist, if it makes me actually want to stop what I'm doing and go play the game it's from, then it's a damned good remix.

I'm going to be up all night playing earthbound.