ReMix:Cave Story "Escape Route" 6:37

By Corran

Arranging the music of one song...

"Gestation"

Primary Game: Cave Story (Studio Pixel , 2004, WIN), music by Pixel

Posted 2006-10-04, evaluated by the judges panel


As you may have already seen from our homepage announcement, we'll have an official presence + meetup for the first time at this year's MAGFest, a gaming and game music festival that occurs, this year at least, about fifteen minutes from where I live, in Vienna, Virginia (USA), from January 4th to January 7th - check out www.magfest.org/ for more info; it's an OCR meetup, festival, and game music concert all roled into one. Very cool.

Moving on, our latest submission is from Corran, aka Bryan Garris, who's sent in mixes previously but finally gets past those troublesome judges with this ReMix from a little game called Cave Story. For those of you unfamiliar with this game, it's a homebrew Japanese platformer for Windows that took five years to make and was created entirely by one guy, including the music. Sugoi desu, ne? If your Nihongo is a little rusty you might wanna try the English patch that's been released, so you can understand what's going on, which is sometimes helpful. This game has an avid Internet fanbase, so it's perhaps not entirely surprising that k-wix was able to build up critical mass and create the Cave Story Remix Project, completed 6/24/2006, that this ReMix from Corran is part of. Check out the project site for more excellent music and project artwork.

This piece is an interesting combination of slower, brooding rock and more energetic, rhythm-guitar driven, Jethro Tull flute soloing rock. There's an interesting drum solo about halfway through that's rather fun, and also exposes the heavy gating effect being applied to the drums, which we don't hear all that often (see Paul Simon's Graceland for tons of examples of gated drums). Guitar and synth get melodic dominance, but there's also synth textures and, sometimes but not all the time, an electric bass. zyko sez:

"this track is very nice. it does start off very conservatively and then migrates out. very good idea, too - given the source material, i don't think it would have been easy to swallow, otherwise. the transitions are smooth and do a good job to never give the impression that he was starting to go on a tangent... slick in bringin the original melody back, too. the flute work is beautiful. then again, this is corran and i expect that. the instrumentation is great, the reverse cymbals do their trick. the upbeat section is awesome."

JJT and Vig both pointed out, and I concur, that when the bass is absent, things can sound a little thin... but that also achieves a sort of floating, meandering feeling which isn't altogether misplaced, either. Good stuff from Corran - fourth time was the charm - which represents OCR's first ReMix of a homebrew game. Check it out, then check out MAGFest, followed be the Cave Story Remix Project. That should keep you busy for awhile.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Black_Doom
on 2014-01-27 13:07:31

The first part is so mellow, it brings a lot of nostalgia. The drum solo in the middle is very impressive. And of course, the guitar part makes this track 200% perfect. Awesome, 'nuff said!

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StreetFlare
on 2012-04-07 07:13:46

Aww....I wanted to know if the other tracks on the album were as awesome as this....but the site is no longer with us....let us share a moment of peace in farewelling, while I try to figure out what to do now.

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Cadmus
on 2010-03-14 16:32:54

This is a stellar piece of music. Perfectly captures the nostalgia of Cave Story - such a mello, emotional, yet distant feel. This is really well done.

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Subz1987
on 2010-01-07 01:02:41

This is easily my favorite song on the album. Gestation was already a cool theme, but you took this theme to new heights. Awesome work, dude.

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Corran
on 2009-01-09 01:23:00

Hahaha, awesome, thanks for noticing Rexy!!!

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Rexy
on 2008-11-28 07:33:42

I've had this track on my on-the-go playlist for a while now - clearly one of the best on the Cave Story Remix Project.

But that's not what got me interested to jump in here - is it me or was I the only one that noted a hint of Corran's passion for all things Star Ocean in there? Specifically, I detected the melody line for the series theme "Star Ocean Forever" creep in at 6:11. I found it odd that no one else sensed it within its 2-year existance :P

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OA
on 2008-10-02 12:48:19

A really extended and varies piece with a lot of great sections, and a few that didn't really do it for me. The flute and guitar section at the end I really liked, but I think a bit of editing overall would have made this a little more memorable for me.

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evktalo
on 2008-04-21 04:26:38

Along with Tackle's Ball of Balos, this is my favourite track from the CS remix project.

It perfectly channels Cave Story (the intro makes the hair on my arms stand!), but the whole flute-rocking vibe is completely original, fantastic playing! Like someone said before, for all the length the piece has, it never gets boring. I love it when the bass drops out for extended periods of time - like djp said, it adds a floating quality to the track. And when it kicks back in, whoa!

--Eino

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viewtyjoe
on 2007-01-01 22:30:07

The flute work seriously reminds me of early King Crimson, some of those runs are almost identical to those in "In the Court of the Crimson King". Other than that, the only thing I didn't really like was the sudden change-up in beats around the three minute mark. Brilliant, brilliant flute work.

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Martin Penwald
on 2006-10-29 17:56:31

This is a wonderful song. Despite being over 6 minutes, it never gets repetitive or boring. Very nice flute playing, especially in the metal-ish part. Nice beat, too.

I liked this from the very first listen I gave it. And this is rather rare.

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k-wix
on 2006-10-12 22:23:32

Hey Corran - congrats man, glad to see this monster track made it - its definitely one of my favorites from the project. Also thanks to DJP and the judges for highlighting the project, we talked about it for awhile and there was some initial problems with the quality of the mixes from the judges perspectives, but it seems to have worked out. Thank you very much guys.

And to all the Cave Story fans out there, if you havent checked out the project yet please do so :) lots of other slick remixes to be heard :)

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Fiendofthenorth
on 2006-10-12 11:49:33

Never heard of Cave Story before this remix, but I very much dig this remix.

The flute/rock session point was interesting, didn't really feel as in tune with the rest of the song, but I very much enjoyed how I can listen to this remix and very much imagine a little 2D guy running around in a cave, exploring the darkness, quickly and urgently searching for an exit as the remix increases in intensity. 8/10 song, definitely one I'd listen to when I'm in a good mood.

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The Unsung Plumber
on 2006-10-10 11:08:45

First of all, I Love the guitar intro, it gets the song going smoothly.

The flute at :46 is very upbeat, like Pink said "It's a rather enjoyable piece that just seems to keep bouncing along all the way through.".

Call me a sucker for breaks like the one at 1:02. From then on the melody just flows into the flute/synth solo at 1:48, and a very well placed solo at that.

I like the feel in the second part of the solo, around 2:09, it feels like your floating.

3:00 another break, followed by the beat.

3:28 the synth comes builds back in. with the flute breaking in at 3:52, and stays in the song at 4:09.

4:32 interesting flute/rock session, I've never heard a flute and a rock band before :wink: .

5:35 the main part of the song returns for one more time.

The ending with the flute bringing the song out fits perfectly.

All in all, this is a great song that everyone should download IMO.

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wormguy
on 2006-10-09 23:57:16

Hehe, I knew Corran could do it! This was one of my favorite tracks from the Remix Project. Keep up the good work.

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JustinShaltout
on 2006-10-09 04:59:41

This remix succesfully captured the feeling played in the game during that part... although the original theme was all chiptunes I almost feel this is exactly how I heard it as I played the game.. everyone who used to see me play the game kept telling me the "music is bad" .. good job on unlocking the true essence of the games music ^___^ .. honestly I didnt' expect to find a remix of Cave story that was quiet a surprise, and even a better surprise that it was done this well!! :D

I'd be happy if there were remixes of the more exciting tracks near the end too.. 2nd version of the Egg Corridor :) .. and Final Cave :D

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Cave Story (Studio Pixel , 2004, WIN)
Music by Pixel
Songs:
"Gestation"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Piano,Synth,Woodwinds
Additional:
Time > Duration: Long

File Information


Name:
Cave_Story_Escape_Route_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,031,332 bytes
MD5:
e08f8fab2413b668b7cd04c1ac88c076
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
6:37
Featured on album...

Cave Story Remix Project


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Published 2006-06-24
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