AE3 - Hide n’ Seek Forest (MnP135)
Outline
Congratulations to TheVideoGamer (Me) for winning the last round! As a result, I get to choose this month's MnP source! Here's what I have to say about my pick:
"I did promise a whole host of Ape Escape sources on the off chance I would win. I decided to move on to the third game in the series just so it doesn’t get neglected as this too has a incredible score (No hate to the 2nd game, but personally it sounds a little too MIDI ‘sound-fonty’ for my liking) This one also goes by the name of Monkeypiece Theater, Monkey Forest’ However ‘Hide n Seek Forest is more easier to remember. This is the 2nd main stage in the game, ignoring the mini games, and is honestly just a very vibrant piece. I don’t know how to exactly describe it other than, Folky DnB? It’s got a good ol’ Yodel, a harmonica and an accordion, as well as a dynamic French Horn like melody, all seasoned with some extremely thick synth basslines, and a whole host of breakbeats. It’s sounds like a whole host of fun, no different to any of the Sonic Team’s ost (Even though it’s completely different). The first game sounds very much like 90s Jungle, like it screams PS1 jungle. In this case not only does it sound more modern, but the instrumentation is more traditional as well. Like representative of the time period. I’ve talked way too much, hope you do this awesome piece justice!”- Me
GAME: Ape Escape 3 (PS2)
SOURCE: Hide n’ Seek Forest
Deadline: 20th September @ 1PM
Closing Date: 22nd September @ 1PM
Vote Ends: 29th September 1PM
MnP ARCHIVE - made by Trism 
Resources
Rules
MISSION STATEMENT
The goal of Compo: MnP is to promote that "meat and potatoes" conservative approach to remixing: this includes the mood and composition of source tunes. It is up to the remixer to create their own personalization, or to simply give it a sound upgrade. Moreover, the compo is a great opportunity to hone your remixing skills and give video game music the respect that is due. SOME reinterpretation is recommended, but not required.
MnP Instructions/Guidelines
Rules for Picking a Source:
- All video game sources are limited to the 6th generation of video game consoles and earlier. This was due to community consensus, where people preferred to remix more retro games, than newer games. 6th generation includes: GameCube, Xbox, PS2 and Dreamcast.
- I'm now restricting big name franchises (Such as Zelda and Mega-Man) to one source per year. This is to encourage more obscure games, that not many people will know about to be picked.
- Make sure you provide me both a video and a MIDI of the source in question.
Guidelines:
- Modifying the Source is fine, so long as it doesn't sound completely separate from its original intent.
- If you're gonna do a genre change, at least make sure the original aspect of the source is not lost.
- Tempo changes are fine, as long as it's not a big change. I'm talking like, going from 80bpm to 140bpm.
- Submissions must be at a maximum of 20mb (keeping in step with ThaSauce's file size max), and submitted as a MP3 file.
- Only 1 entry per participant. Previous winner cannot participate but can submit a BONUS entry.
- Try to avoid making quality-based comments on submissions until after the Round is concluded. It is to avoid a Bias in Votes.
MISC/TIPS
- When picking a source tune, make sure it has a MIDI to make people's lives easier.
- In-game sound FX are permitted, so long as they don't comprise the whole track (i.e. replacing entire MIDI tracks with just sfx)
Entries (5)
Well, I'm not gonna lie, this is pretty different in tone and pace than the original. I wanted to be conservative at first but then I kinda went west into the forest and wanted to see what I could see! With the beautiful midi made for us, I went and eventually just found this image of celebration. Didn't know what to celebrate initially but I wanted a much less...crazy jungle! One that reminded me more of like a Lion King or Ferngully. I had this image of the cute monkey babies being born and this traditional celebratory festival. Lots of greenery, people (monkeys lol) laughing and playing. Eating beautiful food and drinking lots of fruit juice. All to celebrate the recent births in the monkey tribe! The end result is something much different than the original but the same DNA is there. The melody, harmonies, structure is pretty much all the same, albeit slowed down and more relaxed. Just a fun siesta all for the newborn, beautiful monkey babies!
One day wondering in the forest, as one does, a chance encounter occurs. There is a cradle up on a tree top. There is no explanation for why, it is just there. Soon enough a gust of wind blows. For inexplicable reasons sounds are heard as the cradle rocks it appears as if the bough is going to break. But there is little worry that the cradle will fall with the bough because the sounds cause a whirlwind that spins the world around. Begging the question if the cradle and bough falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, did it actually occur?
THIS A BONUS DO NOT VOTE! I MEAN IT I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU VOTE FOR IT!
I have continued in my quest to present a handful of Ape Escape sources to be remixed, and so far i have succeeded. I won't be doing it every round obviously, i might relax it a little, because Ape Escape has been dominating the past few rounds (And i don't always win, just remember that. Democracy for the win lol), however you can't deny just how good of a score it is. What draws me in is just how fun it sounds. Even with it's heavy electronic edge, the melodies are just bright, cheerful and very cartoony. I often call this kids music with a grown up edge to it lol. It's just hard to describe it it's that good.
The third game is more traditional, in comparison to the first game. I mean the first game was very much PS1 Jungle, like there was no denying it had that sound. However in this one, the breaks and bass remain, but we get more of a traditional instrumentation kind of vibe. Tubular bells for the snow sections, Jaw harp's and Banjo's in the western sections, and in this case for the forest we have a Yodel (Which sounds like it came from the Goofy Disney shorts. More on that below), a French Horn melody and a Harmonica as well as an Accordion, so it has
a folk tinge to the piece.
In terms of remix, i just took the 2 minutes and made it into closer to 6 minutes. I split the track into bits, which then get sprinkled in and out (After the initial run) as a way to return to the familiar bits, whilst also adding new bits of my own. I was really expanding it. The style hasn't really changed (Keeping in MnP tradition), and the sounds are both my own and similar to the original. The Yodel (As i said earlier), is a combination of a flutey like synth and Goofy's infamous Yells from the Skiing cartoon, which i careful position to make sure they were somewhat in key. Some of the yells don't have a pitch, whilst others do. So it was balance really.
I've rambled for far too long, hope you enjoy this one, as much as i enjoyed making it!