video game arrangements
i had a day free so i decided to occupy myself with another vg cover/arrangement. this time i held a raffle. i let people suggest songs to cover and styles to cover them in, and drew one lucky winner out of 17 different suggestions. i got to choose the style for this myself, and decided to go with something i haven't done a lot of.
took me about 6.5 hours to make and it was fun, but in retrospect i feel like i could have extended and expanded it a bit. that is, if i had had a week or so to work on it. but i had already decided that this would be a one-day thing.
some time ago AkumuHau posted links to a complete PC Engine HES (sound file) archive & Winamp plugin on the messageboard at theshizz. so i downloaded them and gave a few random games a listen. this was among those games. immediately upon hearing this particular tune i knew what had to be done. and now you can hear it, too!
i participated in the november 2006 DoD(external link) with this song, and ended up sharing third place with Ryan8bit. this is a pretty straightforward cover, not much arrangement done. however, i'm pretty pleased with how this song turned out, mixingwise and all. for once.
when i first heard the Silent Hill 4 OST about 18 months ago, i said to myself: "i'm going to make a power metal cover of this song! .....one day." then, when i saw that this month's (september 2006) theme at DoD(external link) was Silent Hill, i knew what had to be done. and did it. with this song i also secured my first DoD win!
the style here is kind of like on Justice Ninja, only faster. some synths are included: strings, piano, harpsichord (of course) and choirs (naturally). the mixing is kind of terrible, and i got really frustrated when mastering this piece, but i guess it turned out okay(ish). this is the exact same version that i entered DoD with, only retagged.
my entry to may 2006 DoD(external link) (placed 9th). one day i had this idea to download every NSF at Zophar's domain with "ninja" in the title, and that's how i came across this song. when i listened to it for the first time, i immediately heard it in my head like you hear me performing it now. sure enough it did take me a while, maybe a year or more (can't remember), to actually get started on it, but here it is!
i was going to re-record the vocals, but that didn't seem to work out too well so i left the original vocals in. there's a few mistakes and some out-of-tuneness in them but you'll just have to live with those.
by the way, this is not the same mix that i entered DoD with. i tweaked some stuff a bit. mostly subtle changes. also, i don't know much about the game, as i have played it only for a minute or two, but the lyrics are about what i imagined the game could be about :P.
instrumental version of the above, for those who can't stand the vocals. or something.
arrangement of the main theme. my entry in february 2006 DoD(external link). placed sixth. this is doomy metal with piano, some strings and choirs. also includes a solo piano section. on my scale this was a rush-job, and I didn't have enough time to arrange and yadda yadda. it's still quite okay, though. I especially enjoy the reverb on the snare and the clean guitar sound.
my first vg arrangement that is based on only one song and that is not a straightforward cover. now some of you might you go something like "what about True then??", to which I will reply "well it's really a quite straightforward cover."