ReMix: Ecco: The Tides of Time 'Hypnotica'
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- Game: Ecco: The Tides of Time (Sega, 1994, GEN)
- ReMixer(s): Mak Eightman
- Composer(s): András Magyari, Andy Armer, Attila Dobos, David Javelosa
- Song(s): 'Fault Zone'
- Posted: 2012-06-26, evaluated by the judges
Newcomer Mak Eightman (Max V. Kravchenko) sends us our first Ecco mix in over two years, an electronica arrangement with some acoustic elements and a darker, industrial vibe. I love his candid, stream-of-consciousness submission email almost as much as the mix itself:
"Experiment.. Again. Damn.. I'm not sure in anything here. Combination of electronic and acoustic drums will be a common thing in my future mixes, i suppose. Guitars? When i listened that "solo" at the end of the mix, I thought.. HOLY SH*T!! THATS NOT ME!! But don't expect something special about that:D It's not) Arrangement is simple, as always. Source usage is ambiguous, as always. What else? At 0:50 rhythms comes in and kinda muddying the mix. But it doesn't bother me.
Time to say something about the source. Ecco has amazing music and i think lot of ppl think the same. I played this game just few times when I was 10-11, cause my bro knew the cheat to open option menu with music, but I still remember all of the tracks. Dunno why, but Ecco's music fists to me. And I'll make more remixes for it in future.
Thanks to Clem, Emunator and Level99 for feedback and reviews. Special Thanks to Modus for EPIC COMMENT!:D Best of whatever guys! Bye! P.S. Sorry for my english, if I said something weird."
Well, the "fists to me" came off as either a little babel-fish or a little S&M, depending on how you meant it, but your English is far better than my Russian (or Ukrainian?) will *ever* be, so it's all good. Nice layering with this mix, which starts off with acoustic drums but gets progressively more industrial as things progress, especially with the addition of some searing, distorted electric guitar action. Jesse writes:
"Today I learned Tides of Time had completely different soundtracks on the Genesis and Sega CD. Anyway, this remix keeps the feel and spirit of the original certainly. What this remix brings to the table is a palpable (hah) anticipation and powerful dynamics. It's quite powerful. What I would have liked to hear is a little more harmonic complexity in the denser sections. I'm also not super thrilled with the lack of an ending. However, this track has serious personality, and great dynamics."
halc adds:
"tough vote. the source is great, and this is a great arrangement of it. I agree with the production concerns; the guitar struck me as being really dry at first, the bass and acoustic drums feeling thin/dry, but as the song progressed things really came together and I found myself enjoying the soundscape quite a bit."
Ditto all that - this isn't perfection, but it develops nicely and provides a creative interpretation of a cool source tune from a VERY unique soundtrack, giving it a bit more form & structure (and DRUMS!) in the process. Good stuff from Mak, looking forward to hearing more!
Discussion: Latest 7 comments/reviews; view the While both versions give off a sense of danger, Mak's remix feels a lot more urgent and powerful whereas the original stays more or less at the same strength throughout the entire track and there's no real climax. (Almost like being trapped in the same stage and over and over and over again failing to get passed the monotony...) Mak also seemed to emphasis the little contemplative section (1:00 - 1:10), which is one of the best, stand-out parts of the original.
And you want to make more Ecco mixes?! :D YEH just awesome! ^__^
- Fun on August 24, 2012
This track one of my favorite, still it has lot of issues.
First of all, incorrect balancing. Drums sounds badly in front of the mix. Rhythms borrowed. Lead and background(swell) guitars obviously out of tune(strings timing issue), as a result dissonance.
Can't say anything about instruments choice. I don't care about genre and what instruments "should" be there. If I like something, I use it.
Overall I'm kinda surprised. So many issues.. Still, posted.
but listening other later remixes, i understand why
Once again THANKS EVERYONE, who said such kind words here, who helped me, who posted this and who listened!
I'll try to improve myself a bit more.
SFME
- mak on July 5, 2012
The song seems to do what it was intended to do in a solid manner, giving off a gritty feel with its mechanical beats and atmospheric use of the guitars. Mak has improved quite a bit since I last heard a WIP from him - keep up the good work!
- Bahamut on July 4, 2012
- Swifthom on June 27, 2012
Awesome mix.
Just a bit abrasive in some spots but otherwise very cool.
- Garpocalypse on June 26, 2012
