ReMix: Super Metroid 'Norfair (Frailty Awaiting)'
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- Game: Super Metroid (Nintendo, 1994, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Children of the Monkey Machine
- Composer(s): Kenji Yamamoto (I), Minako Hamano
- Song(s): 'Norfair - Ancient Ruins Area'
- Posted: 2003-08-23, evaluated by the judges
Everyone seems to have an opinion when it comes to Norfair mixes, and most tend towards the critical. Judges liked CotMM's take on it, though: "Ambient, minimal, dark, and slow" in the ReMixer's own adjectives, Matt's developed Norfair into a thick, truly formidable wall of pulsating, ominous sound. This type of track is right up CotMM's alley, as it's ambient, moody, and melodically spartan to begin with, thus gaining much from the sonic makeover and twisted, contorted textures he so adeptly conjures and applies. Judge Digital Coma sums it up nicely: "Soft and distant is right. The windpipe-sounding belltone connotes a sense of agony (which would be all too real if its pitch was any higher), and balance well with the slumbering bass plus pads. The steel guitar brings in a few more chords and this all just goes to hell, and that's no put-down. Not too much in the way of variety, yet this clearly succeeds at what was envisioned with Norfair." - pretty much, and also accurate in that variety may be the spice of life, but it's not the spice of this mix. If you're familiar with the ReMixer's work, often of pieces by Yamaoka, then you should know about what to expect. It's a no-brainer for Matt to arrange this specific piece of BGM, and everything clicks nicely. Someone needs to develop an easy way of hacking SNES roms to trigger MP3 audio at certain points in games, in place of the original soundtrack, as this ReMix would lend an extra dimension to the already deep world that Super Metroid offered up. Good stuff, very atmospheric.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the Not my style at all, but it is very well put together. I can
appreciate the care that went into this one. Crazy soundscape, but
very meager melody. You'll either love or hate this track. :-)
- OA on June 23, 2009
- OA on June 23, 2009
It does bring back the Norfair feel, but in my opinion, it needs to
be more...epic. There isn't a real super duper 110% awesome copy of
this particular tune. But eh, it's still OC material. Good job
mate.
- HoboKa on April 28, 2007
- HoboKa on April 28, 2007
hb pencil;262654 wrote: people who think ambience is just downtempo trance would do well to listen to this mix
real ambience, very well done
props
:banghead:(I fall victim to that sometimes too)
It's so easy to throw down tempo beats over ambient music. Of course the timing with the FX is the hard part.
I can def see how some people felt this song was one long extended note. The changes are subtle and the textures stay very mucht he same until 2:45. This does create a very stirring atmosphere and emotions, which IMO is the whole point to ambient style music. The mix is def not for everyone but it accomplishes what it sets out to do.
- avaris on April 22, 2007
people who think ambience is just downtempo trance would do well to
listen to this mix
real ambience, very well done
props
- Radiowar on April 22, 2007
real ambience, very well done
props
- Radiowar on April 22, 2007
If you didn't know the source theme, it's easy to wonder what, if
any, structure is here. That is some serious
ambience. Not one I'd listen to a lot, but IMO a great track for
looping if you want to lose focus.
- Liontamer on April 22, 2007
- Liontamer on April 22, 2007
Very interesting. It is a very similar style to many of CotMM's
works, but still conveys it's own individuality. I believe that
this is music on the verge of a painting.
:roll: Uh... i'll explain that. Here's how I see it. If Picasso were here today and logged onto ocremix.org (highly improbable, but you get the picture), he would be proud. The sound seems to bleed out of my speakers and into my ears and gives me the feeling that I AM Samus, alone, far away in space with no company but the scanner in my visor and constantly on the lookout for the unexpected. While not the best music to play Soul Caluber 2 to (okay not at all fighting music :) ), this definitely fits the feel of the Metroid series.
- SmudgeTheFirst on June 26, 2004
:roll: Uh... i'll explain that. Here's how I see it. If Picasso were here today and logged onto ocremix.org (highly improbable, but you get the picture), he would be proud. The sound seems to bleed out of my speakers and into my ears and gives me the feeling that I AM Samus, alone, far away in space with no company but the scanner in my visor and constantly on the lookout for the unexpected. While not the best music to play Soul Caluber 2 to (okay not at all fighting music :) ), this definitely fits the feel of the Metroid series.
- SmudgeTheFirst on June 26, 2004
I'll go ahead and say I don't like much ambience. Rarely do I find
a minimalistic piece I find enjoyable. Perahaps I feel that the
large gaps of space between "notes" on your typical piece distracts
from the structure of the song and weakens the impact of the whole.
But that's just me. In recent memory, I'd have to say that my
favorite minimalistic track is the Dungeon theme from Zelda: Wind
Waker, and even that loses impact when taken apart from the game.
So past all that, I guess it won't come as surprise that I didn't
enjoy this ReMix one bit. I've heard very similar combinations of
sounds several times applied elsewhere, and without any melody to
fall back on, it seems to slip into obscurity and redundancy. When
creating a minimalistic song, the choice of samples, and the
meticulous application of them to define the mood, is the keystone.
I didn't find this apparent in the ReMix in question.
- Kaleb.G on September 2, 2003
- Kaleb.G on September 2, 2003
:twisted: thats what i think about this song :mrgreen: which an't
bad but is it a song or a bgm??? :whatevaa: this makes me
wonnder!!!! :banghead: and i just can't figure it out even after
playing 10 times in a row :sleepdepriv: well i think it should be
in Freddy Vs Jason 2 or something cause that song alone would make
the movie Scary as freaking :vomit: hmm..... i just don't know this
song is freaking out my Brain :cry: won't it stop!!! the song
echo's in my head as if i where in metroid all alone in a dark room
:puppyeyes: with demons from every game and anime i can think of
just wanting to eat me!! 8O ok well i think i am freaked out enough
i'm going to run now :arrow: bye bye!!!! :tomatoface:
[img]http://www.geocities.com/shido_lohart/shidoweb.jpg[/img]
- Gren-Lohart on August 31, 2003
- Gren-Lohart on August 31, 2003
His ambient Chrono mix is ten times better than this. I agree with
Prophecy, except it sounds like four to five notes repeating over
and over again instead of one. I can't believe I am saying this,
but I'd really like to see this get on if no one knew about CotMM.
I know I shouldn't be talking like that here, but I like to talk a
lot and my post seemed like it needed something more, kinda like
this song.
Certain seconds would fit with metroid, however; mainly the parts with the slight percussion.
- Oddity on August 25, 2003
Certain seconds would fit with metroid, however; mainly the parts with the slight percussion.
- Oddity on August 25, 2003
Ambient music is all about setting a mood. Whether you liked the
minimalist melody or not is beside the point--CoTMM was very
successful at setting up a mood (hopefully intentionally) of
despair with this piece. Excellent work.
-steve
- Legion303 on August 25, 2003
-steve
- Legion303 on August 25, 2003
I really didn't expect this track to gather so much attention.
(:
For those who don't check out ID3v2 tags, this started out as a concept
track for Protricity's Super Metroid super megahuge mix project. However
early on in the development it was made clear to me that this was almost
the complete antithesis of what he wanted. Norfair 1 was hot and violent,
my concept was the effect of that world on it's viewer: a shrinking away
from reality, of sorts... Detaching from one's self as you realize the futility
of escape (unless of course you're Samas Aran, but if we were all
super hero women with bitchen space suits then the whole thing would
be moot).
I was really glad to see people accepting GreyLightning's track just a
short while ago. I think there's a serious lack of ambient/soundscape
type stuff on OCR. I feel as though people see OCR as a bunch of 'techno'
remixes. Of course not EVERYONE, but enough that it's might not be the
image we want people to get. I hope that tracks like this one
(a more extreme case of minimalism, possibly even treading into the
so-called "lowercase" genre) and like GreyLightning's "Drifting Toward the
Stars" will show that we're open to more than four on the floor fluff.
I really didn't want this track to be my first track after almost 7 months of
not having anything for submition to OCR, however with the way things
had been going in my life I knew that if I wanted to wait to release any
of my other works in progress first, this track would then have been
waiting for at least another 4 or 5 months, easily. The few other remixes
that I've squeeked out this year were to satisfy the ambient kick I get
on every now and then. Don't expect to be seeing my 8+ minute
Xenogears ambient track on OCR anytime in the near future. (:
Thanks to all who listened. Hope not too many of you sat down for an
intense listen with your full attention on the track. From the very get go
I wanted this to be an 'afterthought'... something just soft enough to
let you know it was there and let your mind interpret the rest. I found
while listening to the original at softer levels, while doing something
else, such as reading or chatting, that I thought I was hearing more to
the song then was actually there. The slightest hints of melody, moving
counter melodies and harmonies... Things I knew for a fact were not
there in that SPC. I wanted to capture that feeling of something ephemeral
and just below the surface. I'm not sure I fully realized my goal, but I'm
pretty picky about my own stuff. I'm sure at least a few of you got the
sensation I was going for. A few people I talked to early on even picked
out the exact imagry I was going for (check the ID3v2 for more details),
so that left me pretty satisfied with the end result.
Unrelated side note: Septic Dreams is still on schedule for a Winter 2003
release. This is of course subject to change, so don't hold me to that,
but for those of you who have been waiting patiently, keep your hopes up.
At over an hour long, a mix of ambient and industrial, I think you'll
be pleased with the end result.
- m68030 on August 25, 2003
For those who don't check out ID3v2 tags, this started out as a concept
track for Protricity's Super Metroid super megahuge mix project. However
early on in the development it was made clear to me that this was almost
the complete antithesis of what he wanted. Norfair 1 was hot and violent,
my concept was the effect of that world on it's viewer: a shrinking away
from reality, of sorts... Detaching from one's self as you realize the futility
of escape (unless of course you're Samas Aran, but if we were all
super hero women with bitchen space suits then the whole thing would
be moot).
I was really glad to see people accepting GreyLightning's track just a
short while ago. I think there's a serious lack of ambient/soundscape
type stuff on OCR. I feel as though people see OCR as a bunch of 'techno'
remixes. Of course not EVERYONE, but enough that it's might not be the
image we want people to get. I hope that tracks like this one
(a more extreme case of minimalism, possibly even treading into the
so-called "lowercase" genre) and like GreyLightning's "Drifting Toward the
Stars" will show that we're open to more than four on the floor fluff.
I really didn't want this track to be my first track after almost 7 months of
not having anything for submition to OCR, however with the way things
had been going in my life I knew that if I wanted to wait to release any
of my other works in progress first, this track would then have been
waiting for at least another 4 or 5 months, easily. The few other remixes
that I've squeeked out this year were to satisfy the ambient kick I get
on every now and then. Don't expect to be seeing my 8+ minute
Xenogears ambient track on OCR anytime in the near future. (:
Thanks to all who listened. Hope not too many of you sat down for an
intense listen with your full attention on the track. From the very get go
I wanted this to be an 'afterthought'... something just soft enough to
let you know it was there and let your mind interpret the rest. I found
while listening to the original at softer levels, while doing something
else, such as reading or chatting, that I thought I was hearing more to
the song then was actually there. The slightest hints of melody, moving
counter melodies and harmonies... Things I knew for a fact were not
there in that SPC. I wanted to capture that feeling of something ephemeral
and just below the surface. I'm not sure I fully realized my goal, but I'm
pretty picky about my own stuff. I'm sure at least a few of you got the
sensation I was going for. A few people I talked to early on even picked
out the exact imagry I was going for (check the ID3v2 for more details),
so that left me pretty satisfied with the end result.
Unrelated side note: Septic Dreams is still on schedule for a Winter 2003
release. This is of course subject to change, so don't hold me to that,
but for those of you who have been waiting patiently, keep your hopes up.
At over an hour long, a mix of ambient and industrial, I think you'll
be pleased with the end result.
- m68030 on August 25, 2003
I thought it was rather enjoyable. It reminded me of the Myst
soundtracks (which I enjoy), only with a darker tone, and it does
seem to fit Norfair rather well. The only things I didn't
particularly like were how the melodic parts reminded me more of
the intro to the Battle with Magus theme than anything from Super
Metroid (I guess I need to hear the original again), and the way it
suddenly gets quieter around 3:40 is kinda strange since it almost
sounds like it's fading out but it still keeps going for more than
a minute afterward. Otherwise, it's a nice listen.
- Tansunn on August 25, 2003
- Tansunn on August 25, 2003
I love this type of mood music.
COTMM have made so many great pieces that I just had to grab them all. They have a fantastic feel about everything the creates tension.
- XseCrystal on August 25, 2003
COTMM have made so many great pieces that I just had to grab them all. They have a fantastic feel about everything the creates tension.
- XseCrystal on August 25, 2003
Ghetto Lee Lewis wrote:
That's funny Vigilante, I don't seem to see any "judge attacks" going on here. Who is "GL", anyway?
Vigilante is commenting about Al's post. I'm GL. :wink:
- GrayLightning on August 24, 2003
Either you hate it or love it..I'm one thats a part of the latter
category.
This literally fits just right for Metroid,there's alot of tension.Plus the fact you're all alone in your quest.So you never know what could happen next.
The song makes it seem like a dark place where you can only get by the sounds..great work on this tune.
- Kadosho on August 24, 2003
This literally fits just right for Metroid,there's alot of tension.Plus the fact you're all alone in your quest.So you never know what could happen next.
The song makes it seem like a dark place where you can only get by the sounds..great work on this tune.
- Kadosho on August 24, 2003
