Posted 2017-05-15, evaluated by the judges panel


It does (or at least can) mean a thing, because it does have that swing... Gario (Greg Nourse) gives us an upbeat, bouncy EDM/hip-hop blend of Castlevanian themes:

"I feel like I need to abuse my privilege for a bit, so suffer listening to my arrangement from the Castlevania compo at the beginning of this year. It's an arrangement of "Beginning" from CV3 (the Castlevania X version of "Beginning" is the version I pulled most from, because it's just a better version...) and some plant area... thing from Castlevania 2 for the Game Boy. I put in some "Bloody Tears" (Castlevania 2, NES) for good measure, as well.

The original ReMix had issues having a very dull sound (no highs, lacking lows), and the organ tended to sound like a square wave, so I beefed the high end and gave the organ more space in the arrangement, and it sounds pretty awesome now. It's pretty bouncy, by the way."

Gotta beef that high end... and give the organ more space. Sounds like a euphemism... but for what?!? Let's not stick around to find out; our preceding Gario ReMix sounded like it COULD have been a Castlevania arrangement, but this one (rather unmistakably) *is*, with a not-dissimilar blend of organ & chip, paired with an ALMOST motown-philly (but not quite) bouncy (swung) drum beat that slaps you in the face with early 90's verve. Quoth the Oji:

"Cool to hear this theme done in a such a bouncy style. Good use of the CV 2 GB and NES themes as the introductions to the Dracula X version of "Beginning." The textures were a bit busy for me personally, but the mixing was solid and the elements all sounded sharp. Won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I drink transformative tea."

Judges were unanimous on approval, but all agreed on the busyness critique; DragonAvenger writes:

"Creative use of synths to really make this track bounce and pop. I enjoyed listening through, and while I did feel like it got a little busy at times, I found it to not be too much of an issue on headphones. Melodies remain clear and forefront, which is always a good thing. Nice work, good sir!"

Gario often embraces a maximalist aesthetic, and at times I think he could apply some subtractive edits to his arrangements; we talk a lot about dynamic contrast, but "complexity contrast" can sometimes be a thing. Not a huge issue here and not remotely a dealbreaker, just something worth pointing out, as the judges did. It's a little disconcerting to hear Castlevania melodies, which I think of as gothic & often precisely quantized spirals, being set to a beat with this much swing on it, but I like that juxtaposition; strikes me as unique. I might have gone full Boyz II Vampirez and worked in some orchestra hits or turntablism while slowing the tempo a few BPM & bumping the drums up a bit, but either way it's a fun, fresh, & funky take on CV; enjoy!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 6 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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evktalo
on 2017-06-18 23:48:52

The combination of the chip arps, tastefully reverbed simple organ and such a bouncy swing in a Castlevania rearrangement is a distinct combination. Fun stuff!

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DimeTower
on 2017-05-23 00:56:06

I checked this out after hearing the author's amazing FF IX remix, and found this to be a fun listen! I'm not sure I've ever thought Castlevania was 'jaunty', but here we are - and I'm happy we made it. Upbeat and catchy - a fun time!!

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YoshiBlade
on 2017-05-17 13:17:19

I see you there nn19, I do enjoy 2 things in this world Reason and Castlevania...This track fulfills both.

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timaeus222
on 2017-05-15 17:41:12

I like the drastic amount of swing rhythm on the mix as a whole, though the apparent delay/echo on the drums (particularly the kick) is a bit weird for me. A bit busy in the midrange, but hard to avoid that with simple waveforms. Overall, I liked how the sources were well-blended together, and the shifts in rhythmic style (main rhythm - just kick - drumless) were smooth as well.

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Chernabogue
on 2017-05-15 16:07:49

Interesting that remix got labeled as a Dracula X one when all three original tracks are from previous games.

Nevertheless, it's a real nice arrangement and the sources are well mixed together. Solid production as well. Nice job, Gario!

avatar
Liontamer
on 2017-05-11 00:09:46

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (3 Songs, 3 Games)


Primary Game:
Castlevania: Dracula X (Konami , 1995, SNES)
Music by Harumi Ueko,Masahiko Kimura,Masanari Iwata,Tomoya Tomita
Songs:
"Beginning"
Additional Game:
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Konami , 1991, GB)
Music by Hidehiro Funauchi
Songs:
"Ripe Seeds (Plant Castle BGM)"
Additional Game:
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Konami , 1988, NES)
Music by Kenichi Matsubara,Satoe Terashima
Songs:
"Bloody Tears (Street-day time-Stage BGM)"

Tags (9)


Genre:
EDM,Hip Hop
Mood:
Energetic,Funky
Instrumentation:
Chiptune,Organ,Synth
Additional:
Arrangement > Medley
Origin > Competition

File Information


Name:
Castlevania_Dracula_X_The_Bloodline_Bounce_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,142,079 bytes
MD5:
bcc2c67b75cb4f3f5744712fdf7df41d
Bitrate:
216Kbps
Duration:
4:21

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