ReMix: Seiken Densetsu 3 'At First Innocence'
Download MP3
- Game: Seiken Densetsu 3 (Square, 1995, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): zyko
- Composer(s): Hiroki Kikuta
- Song(s): Innocent Sea
- Posted: 2006-12-10, evaluated by the judges
This one caused a bit of a ruckus on the panel: feelings were hurt, tempers were raised, and yes, lives were lost. Well, that's a slight exaggeration, perhaps, but zyko's latest SD3 mix generated some concern about guitar tuning, or lack thereof, which resonated differently with different folk. It's definitely a legitimate observation - it doesn't take perfect pitch to notice the lack of subscription to Pythagorean purity. This bothers some people terribly and others could care less; as someone who's got a fondness for The Clash, The Velvet Underground, and The Strokes, I personally am willing to accept all manner of imperfections as part of an artist's intentional aesthetic, whether it be a consistent "sound" or an approach to a specific track. In other words, even on headphones, zyko's tuning on this track didn't bug me... much.
So, let's talk about the track itself, outside of scandalous tuning buzz; the feel here places more emphasis on atmosphere than zyko's usually action-packed jams. This is a slower, more ambient affair, with a really interesting pan flute performance that's intentionally tentative and punctuated when playing solo, but legato during harmony passages. Layered acoustic guitar drives the piece, however, with a smattering of repeated arpeggio, solo melody, and quickly repeated strumming of a single note for that mysterious dulcimeresque effect. There are male and female choral elements that come in selectively; some sound like samples, others sound like they may be Waleed himself, but they're tasetfully applied in either case. Percussion stays out of the way for the most part, but what's there is good. There's a curious bit of what sounds like electric wah guitar at 2'54" that disappears before it becomes a fully-realized part; peculiar arrangement decision, but certainly adds more unique character to a piece that already has a lot. Someone mentioned that the guitar tuning gives it a bit of an "Old West" feel, akin to the traditional detuning of a saloon piano. I see that; ultimately, I think the tuning should still have been a little cleaner than it turned out. Not pristine by a long shot, but there's a couple moments where it crosses my internal atmosphere threshold into problematic waters. Nevertheless, Weed had a vision here, and its unique realization, if troubling in some ways, is transporting and creative in far more.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the Nobbynob Littlun;247910 wrote:
However, I think there are some improvements that can be made. For example, the music box and flute seem to always be at either 0% or 100% volume. Binary. On/off. I'd say that the flute could benefit greatly from some fades in and out, and the music box - well, you can't exactly make it do anything but go "ding!", but you can make it vary in how hard it dings.
For example, at 1'03-1'05 there are three dings. Up... down up... Try putting those notes at, say, 100%, 20%, 60% volume.
A nice detail would be to have each note - Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si - with a seperate volume, so whenever it hits that note it is always muted to the same point, like a worn-out old music box.
that is quite profound. my genuine thanks
- zyko on March 21, 2007
This song immediately gained a special place on my playlists, for much the same reason.
However, I think there are some improvements that can be made. For example, the music box and flute seem to always be at either 0% or 100% volume. Binary. On/off. I'd say that the flute could benefit greatly from some fades in and out, and the music box - well, you can't exactly make it do anything but go "ding!", but you can make it vary in how hard it dings.
For example, at 1'03-1'05 there are three dings. Up... down up... Try putting those notes at, say, 100%, 20%, 60% volume.
A nice detail would be to have each note - Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si - with a seperate volume, so whenever it hits that note it is always muted to the same point, like a worn-out old music box.
- Nobbynob Littlun on March 20, 2007
- Darklink42 on February 14, 2007
- NegaNova on January 17, 2007
Outside of the interesting guitar line, the flute sample kills those first 5 seconds for me. If it weren't for the fact that I know some good guitar work was coming in the next 10 seconds, I'd probably have to stop the song.
- viewtyjoe on January 11, 2007
The ending, however, was a bit lame; it just faded out, and it did so too fast. Though I have to admit that I have no better idea...
I dig this. I really do.
- Martin Penwald on December 25, 2006
I can see why some of the judges would have had a problem with it, (and the fact that the remixer can post in his own decision thread isn't exactly normal), but I'm glad I got to listen to it. Great stuff.
- Fishy on December 16, 2006
The un-tuned guitar is far enough into the background that it doesn't annoy me, unless I'm listening for it. And even then it's not too bad. Overall, I'm liking it.
- Darklink42 on December 15, 2006
I won't be reading all those reviews before this one, although I did catch that many don't like the song, and I can see why.
Personally, I love it.
At the first listen, I was confused and apalled, then I told myself to sit up straight and close my eyes and actually listen, and it almost brought tears to my eyes.
It seems like one of the usual RPG remix ballads with pretty sounds and pan flutes and choirs. But it isn't in my eyes. It seems desperate, not cozily sad or so. The song it remixes is called Innocent Sea. When I hear this, I imagine cold, hungry people sitting in a small boat drifting aimlessly across a dark lake. The instruments are shivering. It's as if they're played by people whose hands are too frozen to time the music perfectly. This music made by the forsaken people on the boat mixes with the music of the sea itself... and basically it's all very depressing and goosebumps-inducing.
Short version: <3
- Fawriel on December 14, 2006
zyko wrote: i'm curious - what timing issues? you can't be seriously telling me that time is absolute to the point that you can tell me that the flute has bad timing
who invented years? months? days? hours? minutes? seconds? the only discernably consistent measure of time is our own heart and i doubt you know the pace of mine :)
this is why the community needs more zyko - some of y'all REALLY are in desperate need of some out-of-the-box.
We definitely need more weed so we can think out-of-the-box like zyko.
- Geoffrey Taucer on December 13, 2006
- Karrde on December 13, 2006
While I do agree with some of the criticisms regarding the intro/outro, and perhaps the need for some selective reverb, this mix is very cool and thoroughly enjoyable Zyko. Pulling out a tune like this takes a certain type of musical courage that I think I need a little more of in my own work. I’m not referring to the courage to stand up to the inevitable criticism, or to intentionally keep a guitar “11 cents” out of tune. I mean the personal courage required to have a musical goal in mind, to craft and perform the piece and then to sit back and take it for what it is. I for one would have probably tweaked, equalized, pitch-shifted and quantized my way into a cookie-cutter masterpiece; an achievement that I don’t think should be anyone’s goal.
Nice work. Zyko ++
- Harmony on December 13, 2006
That said, my opinion of the mix is that it was great! I couldn't quite tell it it had a Far East on-a-chinese mountain feel or if it were a lonely wild-western desert feel to it. Either way, the way the guitar was used seemed to add emotion which I thought was great. I didn't like the "music box", however, as it sounded too MIDI to me (especially when everything else sounded more natural). Someone also mentioned timing issues in a few places which I also didn't like. Those kinds of things would be acceptible to me if they were more consistent, but they were spread out thus causing a distraction.
Anyways, this is a great submission and I'm glad it ultimately came through - even if the process was painful. Good source track, good emotional appeal, good choice of instruments, good atmosphere; good stuff.
- apoc on December 13, 2006
- Poga on December 13, 2006
Content Policy
(Submission
Agreement and Terms of Use)
Page generated Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:28:02 -0400 in 0.0551 seconds
All compositions, arrangements, images, and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Original content is
copyright OverClocked ReMix, LLC. For information on RSS and JavaScript news feeds, linking to us, etc. please refer to resources for webmasters. Please refer to the Info section of
the site and the FAQ available there for information about the site's
history, features, and policies. Contact David W. Lloyd (djpretzel), webmaster, with
feedback or questions not answered there.
