ReMix:Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu "People Made of Stone" 4:06

By Mattias Häggström Gerdt

electronic synth chill world

Arranging the music of one song...

"Syrus Village"

Primary Game: Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu (Crave Entertainment , 1998, PS1), music by Kimitaka Matsumae

Posted 2007-10-08, evaluated by the judges panel

Mattias has become a very active member of OCR relatively recently, with multiple contributions to Voices of the Lifestream and participation in our forums. He subbed this track before the VotL madness ensued, and it represents our first coverage of the Nausicaa-esque Jade Cocoon. The ReMixer writes:

"This is really a soundtrack I respect. I played this game for half a year when I was about.. 11-12 and I never forgot the great music and atmosphere. I looked for the soundtrack for almost 3 years without success and then finally found it. Now I wanted to pay my respect to Kimitaka Matsumae's perfect soundtrack. I was trying to capture the feeling from the original game with the percussion and ethnic elements and then went overboard with loads of synths and som phat drums. Since I love to fit different styles into my remixes I went even more overboard by finishing off with a more slick general rock (no guitars though) version of the theme. Everything was, as always, done in Reason 3. I am really proud of this one and I hope everyone else will enjoy it too."

Reason 4 just came out, with a new synth and (perhaps more importantly, for me) an improved sequencer, but even with versions three and prior, it's always been possible to coax varied and professional results out of Propellerheads' baby. If, with version 5, they finally added VSTi host/instrument capability ala FruityLoops, so I could stop dealing with wonky "ReWire" (nice caps, though!) shizz, I'd be prepared to kneel down and worship at their altar. My main hangup with using Reason as a standalone package was always its sequencer, and it looks like v4 beefs this up big time, so while I could recommend it previously, now my endorsement is all the stronger - for those looking to start out in electronic music, Reason and FL are the two best options at the moment.

It's especially cool to hear Reason leveraged against non-electronica genres, which it is perfectly capable of handling, despite occasional pigeonholing to the contrary. Here, Mattias is blending tribal with rock, combining ethnic riddims with an acoustic kit, giving a monoglide synth lead melodic dominance. The overall feel has ambience but also momentum; it's open, but it's moving in a specific direction. Jesse says:

"Really nice remix. Hadn't heard the original before. The remix has strengths in its texture, dynamics, and layering. The harp + xylophone sounds great, and the backing synths and groove compliment nicely. Great escalation around 1:25."

With Shariq adding:

"I really like the tribal atmosphere in the beginning, and the evolution into the heavier electronic stuff works really nicely. This mix has a really cohesive feel to it, especially when you mix that tribal sound with the electronic stuff."

Jesse did add that he felt the ending was underwhelming, and Mr. Ansari didn't like the pan flute lead, but none of the judges had enough misgivings to prohibit their approval, and everyone seemed to agree that the mix was strong on both arrangement and texture. With a pseudonym like "Another Soundscape," this is an important criteria to be achieving, and Mattias has done so consistently with his first mixes. Hopefully he'll be around with the same enthusiasm for years to come. For those on the lookout for a Jade Cocoon mix, or just a cool ethnic/rock fusion piece in general, be sure to check this action out.

― djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Skidonti
on 2012-03-19 23:00:01

This is the mix that first brought me into the site a year ago, and it's still one of my very favorites.

I have no ability to discuss composition, but it's tribal sound and easy melody really grip my imagination. The diversity is great, and transitioned well, I think.

Truly a "soundscape". (:

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WesternZypher
on 2010-12-19 14:42:41

Ah, chill, electronica, ethnic, synth - these tags describe my favorite remixes. Another Soundscape lives up his name, because that's what he creates best - beautiful, enveloping, encompassing, expansive soundscapes. Just listening to this puts me into a sort of reflective, ponderous, negative thoughts-turned-positive trance everytime.

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Emunator
on 2009-12-11 18:16:55

AnSo's debut mix is still one of the most impressive ones, and it's up against some really strong internal-competition with his other songs! I love the instrumental variety that unfortunately feels kinda lacking from some of the songs I've heard from him as of late :? I definitely wanna hear more stuff like this in the future!

I can totally see this being used in a variety of different contexts and having it fit great in any of them. Epic final battle, car chase in the streets of Japan... I dunno, but it's a great multi-faceted remix that should not be left unnoticed! :-D

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Ben Steed
on 2009-12-10 20:56:20

The amount of nostalgia I felt when I heard this remix for the first time was incredible. A beautiful version.

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Platonist
on 2008-09-29 19:31:14

still my favorite AnSo remix ..

(don't get me wrong man, but this is just so epic, and i haven't even played this game ^^)

i want MORE anso! (and experience tells me i will get)

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Eskimo00
on 2008-02-20 03:58:39

This is an amazing AMAZING remix! I love jade cocoon! Brings back so many memories of my childhood when me and my friends would play out the game in the forest. lol we were dorks! **we are dorks!

I just bought the soundtrack off ebay. worth every penny! You need to make more! *searching for jade cocoon tracks was actually how I found this site and why I joined it lol! so thank you!!

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DeepChild
on 2008-01-22 17:29:30

I just rediscovered this track when I finally got around to loading up all the remixes into my player to go back over them again. Being a musical know-nothing I can't really comment on the technical aspects of the piece, but I can say without hesitation that this song is incredibly enjoyable. I love the way that it seems to envelop the listener with the ambient deep bass, and yet it continues to drive a nice beat all along. I can't really put the rest of my comments into any semblance of competent critique, so I'll have to settle for offering a round of applause, and a hearty bravo.

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Theory of N
on 2007-11-14 21:09:21
I'm totally digging the ethnic-techno stylin's. Kinda like zircon's "The World Circuit". It's come a long, long way since I heard the WIP you sent me, and it went from "awesome" to "ZOMGKICKASS". (Yeah, I still have the wip on my HDD)

Keep up the good werkz anso!

(And I'll beat Psychonauts one of these days. I swear it.)

Seconded. Except I don't have Psychonauts.

But I'll beat it someday!

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anosou
on 2007-11-14 17:30:10
I'm totally digging the ethnic-techno stylin's. Kinda like zircon's "The World Circuit". It's come a long, long way since I heard the WIP you sent me, and it went from "awesome" to "ZOMGKICKASS". (Yeah, I still have the wip on my HDD)

Keep up the good werkz anso!

(And I'll beat Psychonauts one of these days. I swear it.)

YOU BETTER! Psychonaaaauuts! wooo!

also, thanks ;)

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SonikBoom
on 2007-11-14 16:58:20

I'm totally digging the ethnic-techno stylin's. Kinda like zircon's "The World Circuit". It's come a long, long way since I heard the WIP you sent me, and it went from "awesome" to "ZOMGKICKASS". (Yeah, I still have the wip on my HDD)

Keep up the good werkz anso!

(And I'll beat Psychonauts one of these days. I swear it.)

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KrafN
on 2007-11-13 12:55:59

Truly one of the best remixes I have ever listened to! Keep em coming, dude.

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anosou
on 2007-11-04 14:18:54
OH SWEET GOD OF JESUS.

Erm well, I just saw and listened to this remix and felt an urge to register here just to tell you how AWESOME this remix is! I love this game and the music (PSP ftw), and this is one of the best tracks ever. Been looking for Jade Cocoon remixes a lot before but not until now did one show up... very good job!

I hope you can bring us more JC sweetness. :) As good as Sirus Village is, I think the main theme is even better. But it might be hard to remix...

And in case you haven't seen this special remix of Sirus Village, check it out:

;)

LOVE to you man!

Wow, that video made me all happy :D I'm glad there are others like me out there.

I will try to remix the main theme soon, it's one of my all-time favorite songs, but I'm very caught up in other projects and school at the moment.

Anyway, thanks a lot for your support! Expect new remixes by me soon enough ;)

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Freezard71
on 2007-11-04 01:53:53

OH SWEET GOD OF JESUS.

Erm well, I just saw and listened to this remix and felt an urge to register here just to tell you how AWESOME this remix is! I love this game and the music (PSP ftw), and this is one of the best tracks ever. Been looking for Jade Cocoon remixes a lot before but not until now did one show up... very good job!

I hope you can bring us more JC sweetness. :) As good as Sirus Village is, I think the main theme is even better. But it might be hard to remix...

And in case you haven't seen this special remix of Sirus Village, check it out:

;)

LOVE to you man!

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anosou
on 2007-10-31 06:16:48
Just wanted to let you know that this ReMix impressed me so much that I actually bothered coming to the review topic to say how much I actually liked it. It rocked dude, and so did your stuff on the album - I'm really looking forward to hearing more from you in the future.

Thank you very much, from the bottom of my heart.

Expect some new remixes soon enough ;)

EDIT: Damnit. I have to stop thanking everyone. This review thread is 50% me saying thanks :(((

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LuigiFan
on 2007-10-31 01:59:01

Just wanted to let you know that this ReMix impressed me so much that I actually bothered coming to the review topic to say how much I actually liked it. It rocked dude, and so did your stuff on the album - I'm really looking forward to hearing more from you in the future.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu (Crave Entertainment , 1998, PS1)
Music by Kimitaka Matsumae
Songs:
"Syrus Village"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Chill
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:
Regional > World

File Information


Name:
Jade_Cocoon_People_Made_of_Stone_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,990,262 bytes
MD5:
c4223dff3b18c5ffe59fb6f3785b47cd
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
4:06

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