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Metroid II - Return of Samus

Nintendo Game Boy

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Metroid II - Return of Samus

Post by ValleyBell »

TitleMetroid II - Return of Samus
ComposerRyoji Yoshitomi
SystemNintendo Game Boy
Tracks19
Playing time32:58
Pack authorsherpa
Pack version1.00
Last Update2015-02-18


Pack author's comment
A brooding sense of danger. Interesting juxtaposition of silence and sudden tension. This is probably the most challenging pack I have worked on to date. I spent hours looking for pure loops, trying math, reripping tracks, only to conclude, after pouring over midis and text files, that there wasn't one. First time I came across polymeter in a game. Lots of long waits, and each voice seems to have a separate length..I doubt this will ever be performed live, some features are easily produced in electronic music. This showcases the sound capabilities of the gameboy very well..with a wide variety of textures. Some clicks and pops also, which may not have been intentional. Most vgms have simple forms, very few of these tracks do. I aimed for the best spot to trim in the absence of a real loop, aiming for a matchpoint where at least 2-3 voices aligned and the rest were off by as little as possible.

13 Omega Metroid area - cut in a period of silence 3/4 second before the melodic line starts its new cycle. This is during a long period of silence, so it is not very noticeable.

14 Metroid nest -music has unsymettrical patterns, so the loop is forced
15 Metroids hatched - forced loop/cut just before main voice starts new loop
16 Metroid Queen area - <1000 samples difference in timings (between original and loop)
17 Metroid Queen fight - less than 200 samples difference between timings, nearest points in txt2vgm were over 8000 samples off, not bad considering on either side the sample waits were 2000+ and 17k+
18 Metroid hatchling - hatchet job, displaces drum sample by 6 beats, drums displaced by 16th forward every time the other voices line up…may come very close to proper alignment bt 7-8 min, but i did not attempt to find a pure loop point since this was the last track i worked on and finding exactly where voices align is very time consuming, maybe someone may wish to try.

There are a few others. Now I know why I could never find the loop point when I listened to this as a younger kid. I thought it was just the lack of catchy or obvious melody..but some tracks do take a while to actually loop. I doubt my ear would have noticed anyway.

Enjoy.

Post by vampirefrog »

I love your review and analysis of the music. It looks like you put in a lot of work, thanks!

I guess the overlapping tempos are obvious in Metroid Queen fight, but that really sounds like a song over repetitive ambience.
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