N-Philes

Interview with OCRemix's djpretzel

Posted February 16th 2006 by John Ondrey.

Page 2

djpretzel: The answer is different depending on who you are - for some, it's the memories associated with a game, or the period in their lives when they played that game; there's definitely an element of nostalgia to it. As far as my own personal appreciation for it, well, I'm a melody nut - if forced to create a list of the aspects of music that I enjoy, a good, original melody would be at the top of the list. Especially in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, melody almost always came first in videogame soundtracks. There's literally hundreds of great, unique melodies out there, some in popular games that are well-known and others buried in sleeper hits that people can rediscover through ReMixing, and that's what I love in particular.

As far as what makes Nintendo stand out... well, they have Koji Kondo ;) Kondo is to console game music what Miyamoto is to console game design: a giant. Obviously, you've got Hip Tanaka, and for a good, long while Uematsu was solely composing for the NES and SNES due to Square's exclusivity agreement, and there's tons of other names as well... but if you're trying to distinguish what makes Nintendo's music *tangibly* different from other companies, the man who scored Mario and Zelda is gonna be at the top of your list.

N-Philes: In what ways are musical scores from the 8-bit and 16-bit era better and worse than the musical scores we see in today's video and computer games?

djpretzel: The capability for redbook audio that optical media brought along with it, or playback of mp3 or ogg files for that matter, means that a game can have any soundtrack its designers want - the sound quality and production are no longer limited by the hardware. Granted, many composers continued to use the built-in functionality of systems like the PS and even PS2, but redbook audio scores are much more common. However, there's something to be said for working within limitations - while having limitless sonic potential might mean that you can make an orchestral piece more realistic, for example, sometimes the creative process is altered when you have fewer voices to play with or fewer simultaneous timbres you can output. I think some of the limitations of 8- and 16-bit technology were conducive to composers focusing more on melody and originality as opposed to trying to sound 'impressive' - there was more heart and soul, even if things weren't as polished. Of course, this is a generalization, and there are plenty of great composers still doing amazing things... again, there's also a subconscious nostalgia at play when you hear a chiptune.

N-Philes: According to your profile, you say "one day you will unlock the secrets of the universe and document them in eloquent and precise prose." N-Philes would like to know how that's going.

djpretzel: Slowly.

N-Philes: Do you have a favorite Nintendo soundtrack and Nintendo composer?

djpretzel: My favorite Nintendo composer would most certainly be Koji Kondo; my favorite soundtrack would probably be Zelda 64.

N-Philes: What Nintendo remix are you most proud of creating?

djpretzel: That would be a tie between my first Earthbound mix and my second Zelda 64 mix - they're very different in style, as I try to switch genres with every mix that I do, but I had a lot of fun working on both.

N-Philes: Is there a particular Nintendo remix written by someone else that stands out as well?

djpretzel: There's TONS ... since I've mentioned Zelda already, EVERYONE and their grandma should check out Disco Dan's ReMix of Zelda 3, 'Triforce Majeure', - I came up with the mix name, but the music is all Dan, and it's amazing.

N-Philes: On a scale of 1-10 (10 being most), how important is music to the overall experience of a videogame? Does it depend on the type of game?

djpretzel: For an RPG? *DEFINITELY* 10... same goes for platformers and adventure games; anything that tries to immerse you in another world, take you somewhere else, and where that immersion is a primary focal point of the gaming experience. It's not as important for fighting games, racing games, and sports games, I'd say, because those genres are (with numerous exceptions, of course) usually less about immersion in an alternate reality and more about competition and execution. Of course, there are some folks out there who could care less, who might even play with the volume turned down while listening to commercial music. But for myself and a lot of other people I know, it's almost always a 9 or a 10.

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