I’d like to take a venture back today to the times when the only way to buy game music CDs was to find the odd one or two gems among the long lists of import items from Japan, streamed out on the black and white pages of a booklet no bigger than a Christmas card; 3 A4 pages folded in half with the consistency of toilet paper, and held together by a staple that was short a gram of tin. You were even lucky if you got a dot-matrix photocopy of Lupin Sansei on the cover.

Well back in those days was when I ordered Seiken Densetsu: Omoi wa Shirabe ni Nosete, and was blown away by how a gameboy soundtrack could be taken to the heights of orchestral greatness. I freely admit that it was the first time I had experienced such a rich treatment for a videogame soundtrack (in particular for a handheld, monochrome, 4 chiptune channel RPG).

A track that brings together an excellent example of the variety of sounds on this album, and also put me most in mind of a film soundtrack, is Parting, the fifth track on the disc. Starting off with Dungeon 2 meeting Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, moving through a passionate flamenco setting for Fight 2, then mellowing out with a flute and piano build up for In Sorrow which leads directly into Let Thoughts Ride on Knowledge for another rollercoaster of emotion.

Exquisite. If you haven’t grabbed a copy of this yet, you really should. And just to give you a taster and further prove that you’ll love it, this piece is today’s MMM. Enjoy!

[MEDIA=139]

OK, so sorting through files and messing around with stuff I happened to concoct this piece of madness using a MIDI and a chiptune generator. The result? Well, the theme Sorceror from Secret of Mana (aka the Dark Lich theme) as it would sound like with an slightly boosted NES (so basically, this is using the basic sounds of the NES, but more simultaneous channels that the NES would be able to handle, so it is cheating just a bit).

On the other hand, the sprite you see to the left does fit in with NES specifications… mostly… Number of concurrent colours, and the palette itself match, but I think this is slightly bigger than most sprites you would see on the NES.

So overall, this really is nothing like what the battle would be on the NES if Secret of Mana had been released back then, but you know what? It’s still fun! And you’re getting it early (for once)!

[MEDIA=138]

This week we bring you another track from the doujin album by project-Delta, Forest Tell Us, which is a remixed vocal rendition of What the Forest Told Me from Secret of Mana’s OST.

Now while you enjoy the music (btw, we always love to know what you think, so please drop us a comment), just to let you know that although we seem quiet, we have been working behind the scenes on touching up a few things here and there content-wise, which is one of those long processes that takes time, sadly. But we’re getting there.

Trust me, I’m a doctor.

[MEDIA=137]

Yes, Monday! Your calendars are right, you are reading those very words, and this week Mana Music Monday happens on Monday. And that’s not all that’s being worked on!

But more on that later. For now, and coninuing with the MinamoTrance album, here is another track called DangerZone by RedAlice, which, surprisingly enough, is a remix of the track Danger from Secret of Mana.

Enjoy!

[MEDIA=136]

This week’s excuse is work and play both getting in the way at the same time. After a 12 hour night shift finishing at 7am, the company party started at 11am, and went on until midnight, meaning that I was not home before 2am. And let’s face it, none of us are at our brightest after 35 hours of sleep depravation, meaning that once more it is Tuesday, and the music arrives only now.

In view that I was bombarded with more dance/pop music than I care to ever listen to again in the millenium, it seems only fitting that I finish off this long trawl of madness with a Techno/Trance remix of the track Meridian Child from Seiken Densetsu 3. Yes, you heard me right. This is from the album Legend of Square, by Minamotrance, which brings together several Square themes remixed in a Techno fashion. Some of them work quite well. Other Mana tracks on the album are High Tension Wire, and Danger from SoM, and it was released at Comiket 73.

On a separate side-note, the message board has really been alive lately, so I wanted to take a moment to thank all of those of you who are on board with us for making this a great community to be part of, and at the same time invite anyone reading who hasn’t already joined to join the ride!

[MEDIA=135]

OK, I know, I’m making this far too much of a habit, but I have been working on stuff, I promise. Anyway, as proof of that very thing, you will find another Doujin album added to our Soundtracks section, entitled Sanctuary of Mana, by project-Delta. An excellent up-beat arrange album that not only revisits the tracks from Seiken Densetsu 2/3 instrumentally, but adds lyrics to them from the hand of Saori, as well as some short Drama lines to some of the tracks.

Not only do we have short samples of every track available for you to listen to on the doujin page, as well as a description of each track (there’s only 4 so it didn’t take that long), but as part of Triple MMM we bring you the whole first track for your acoustic delight. Fear’s Night starts with a rhythm section that evolves into a xylophone and violin rendition of the latter part of Premonition from SD2 and builds up to an upbeat arrangement of Angel’s Fear, with lyrics.

[MEDIA=134]

OK, I’m late with this again, I’m sorry. Yesterday was… well, it just was. Today is another day and I have the energy to deal with trying to do something. I’ve had my tea today, so I’ve manage to NOT delete any posts involuntarily, and bring to you instead a new Mana Music clip for Mana Music… Tuesday.

The track in question this week is one that I once used as a starting point to write a song about 8 years ago, and still remains one of the strongest tracks in the Seiken Densetsu saga soundtrack to this date.  The track is from the third instalment of the original series, and is composed by Hiroki Kikuta: Delicate Affection. Enjoy.

[MEDIA=133]

I’m sorry, I totally fat-fingered the managing of the media files this week, and as a consequence I mistakenly removed the last MMM post as well as the last MMM file. And this is, again, why I should not be allowed near a computer when I’m way too tired to do anything sensibly.

Sorry Sheexy. And apologies to Liontamer too. We really appreciated your comment, thank you!

Moving onward and upward, I’ve been gnawing my way through the Star Wars novel “Darth Bane – Path of Destruction”, so I feel that this week a suitably dark piece should be in order. Enter “Dark Palace” by Tsuyoshi Sekito, from the Seiken Densetsu 4 (Dawn of Mana) soundtrack.

[MEDIA=129]

Secret of the Spram – JAXX, Kassie! and Mustin
[MEDIA=124]

This is one of my personal favorite Seiken Densetsu remixes. Remixing the Secret of Mana track “Eight Ringing Bells” seems to be pretty popular, lots of remixes are out there for this track. This remix is really epic sounding, and man do I love strings.

If you like this track or you want to find more just head over to the Remixes page and you can find this track and others from various Seiken Densetsu games for your downloading pleasure. If you’re feeling adventurous and looking for remixes from other games be sure to check out OverClocked Remix for an awesome selection of music.

The most cliché place to go for summer vacation is to the beach, so the Legend of Mana track To the Sea is a pretty fitting Seiken Densetsu tune for the summer.
To the Sea by Yoko Shimomura
[MEDIA=123]

Er, my updating spiel kind of died… new updates are still coming, just slowly as I’m trying to get my sleeping disorder nailed down again.