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Through The Glass, Looking IN by Dragonfoxing

(This post originally comes from my Wordpress blog @ http://dragonfox.net/wordpress/ - if you want to see more of my entries, check it out.)

So I do a lot of VGM remixing (such intro). One might think that this would be all fine and dandy – after all, I do a fairly good job taking a game and slamming it through my hammer of interpretation…

There are some games that it works well for. Sonic games, for example, are generally just drum and bass with some unique melodic elements. Games that have a base formula that make it easier to develop music for. Even Mortal Kombat’s unique theme is fairly easy to remix, especially since it just gets stuck in your head until you can’t get it out again.

Unfortunately, this simply doesn’t work quite right with other games. I’m working on a Metroid remix album and I really, really wanted to focus on the Prime Trilogy. I tweeted earlier about this, so to be lazy and save some writing:

The Dragonfox ‏@dragonfoxing 13m
The more I listen to Metroid Prime 2 + 3 soundtracks for inspiration, the less I hear music and the more I hear ‘battle battle battle’

The Dragonfox ‏@dragonfoxing 7m
It’s like Metroid Prime Trilogy should be renamed in order, “Exploration” “Escalation” and “Imminent D00m”.

I made these comments because as a producer who is trying to remix tracks from 2 and 3 as well as 1, it’s actually rediculously hard. After Prime 1, which was really focused around exploration as a theme with beautiful melody and hidden harmonies, the entire trilogy slants and drops you into “battle battle battle oh-look-it’s-an-ambient-theme battle”.

I can still do it, and do it acceptably well, but not to my personal standards of quality. The game that I have in the back of my mind while writing this post though is Shadow of the Colossus. I really, really-really-really want to smash it with my hammer of interpretation. However, I’m also doing it as a request and so I took some input on the game itself and was shocked and horrified to find out how much of the game was about EPIC-BATTLE-THEME-EPICNESS.

So you’re telling me that a game that has the most depressing story in the history of Teen rated games (personal opinion) is more focused on the epic battle with epic colossi? I suppose I can see why – they emphasize the hugeness of the colossus with demo videos and promotional images, but…well…

I want to smash it with the hammer of interpretation and put a huge focus on the sadness of the story. Especially since two of the colossi you fight are PEACEFUL.

I guess the overarching problem here, is I don’t know if I should try to mimic the style of the game or go ahead and smash it with interpretation. Does it matter? How much does it matter? Do I insult the entirety of the fan-base for a game if I do something that doesn’t sound like the musical formula for that game?

This, guys and gals and gender-binary-defying-people, is what rolls through my head when I do VGM remixes.

Through The Glass, Looking IN

Dragonfoxing

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    Some people get annoyed when I do covers in my own style. You know what I always say? Screw 'em. They want to listen to the original song, they know where to find it. They follow my work and my style, and want to enjoy how I pay homage to music that I like and/or inspires me? Fine by me. Use your hammer how you want. The music will never be yours unless you make it yours.