Deus Ex: Sonic Augmentation Comments from album director Larry Oji (Liontamer) and ReMixers Album available at http://augment.ocremix.org How do you know the original Deus Ex is a special game? Even today, people joke that when they're reminded of it, they immediately have to go and reinstall it. That's how infectious it is. A critical part of the game's indelible impression is the music, which is why I was excited when Kyle Augustson-Stallock, then Deus Ex: Human Revolution's community manager, floated the idea of us creating a ReMix album back in October 2010. When I asked the OCR staff and community to come up with an arrangement EP, I knew everyone would do a great job capturing and expanding on the feel of the DX series in their own unique, interpretive ways - after all, sonic augmentation is what we do! Even if you've heard other music from all of the contributors here, all ten artists presented ideas and sounds different than what you're used to hearing from them. Get ready for a different side of these talented composers and arrangers, as well as a different side to Deus Ex. With a focus on the original game alongside representation of both sequels, AND Alexander Brandon himself being involved, there's a little something for every DX fan. Special thanks to Kyle Augustson-Stallock for originally commissioning the album and establishing the framework for us to work with. Kyle is great to hang with in person, and it's always an honor to collaborate with legit OC ReMix fans in the games industry who know we're passionate about what we do. A big thanks to Eidos Montréal's André Vu, Adam Badke, and Valérie Bourdeau for seeing Sonic Augmentation through to completion and working hard to get this music into your hands. Special thanks also to Alexander Brandon (two-time contributor here, how awesome is that!) and Michiel van den Bos for enjoying the album, as well as Deus Ex: Human Revolution audio director Steve Szczepkowski for his kind words on the project. Much love to the artists for their seemingly limitless creativity, Andrew "OA" Luers for some really slick album art that I did my best to augment, my wife Paige for her patience and encouragement, and David "djpretzel" Lloyd for starting OC ReMix, a place where video game music is celebrated as a true form of artistic expression. Last, but not least, thank you to you the fans who listen to OC ReMix and go out of their way to spread the word. We like you the best of all. ;-) - Larry Oji (Liontamer) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. zircon (Andrew Aversa) & Jillian Aversa - "The Search for Ambrosia" Source: Deus Ex - "NYC Streets" Original Composer: Alexander Brandon zircon: As with the entire Deus Ex soundtrack, "NYC Streets" is extremely atmospheric and creates a wonderful, dark mood. With this remix, I wanted to expand on that feeling and create a sense of motion, energy, and action befitting of a cyberpunk adventure. Jill lent her voice to the track with airy pads, solo improvisation and melody to help add even more of an organic feel to the heavily electronic instrumental. Lyrics: Deus ex machina 2. halc (Drew Wheeler) - "Human Soldier" Source: Deus Ex - "UNATCO" Original Composer: Michiel van den Bos halc: I love the subtlety and simplicity of the "UNATCO" theme, so trying my hand at a somewhat minimalistic house arrangement seemed obvious at the time. The beginning to 1:45 is :23-:57 of the source (the arpeggiating line, bassline and chords). 1:46-2:29 is :58-1:09 of the source (this is when the motif from :01 of "UNATCO" enters; also note the bass fill at 2:28 is supposed to be the little three-note fill at :32 in the source). 2:30 to the end is 1:20-1:32 of the source with an original melody (note the chords). There is pretty much source the entire song, it just seems slightly marginalized due to the fact that the original song has like zero melodies, and I more or less just added my own on top. Should be plenty over 50% either way. The original track has a ton of variation, but not much of a lead melody, so I added a few of my own over the ever-evolving groove... it was definitely a fun source to work with. Enjoy! 3. Alexander Brandon & Jimmy Hinson - "Siren Synapse" Remastered by Torley Wong - http://torley.com Source: Deus Ex - "The Synapse (Hong Kong Streets)" Original Composer: Alexander Brandon Jimmy Hinson: So I had been following Alex's blog for a while, and since he seemed so down to earth and approachable, I kept thinking how cool it would be if I could get him to collaborate on a remix. When I purchased Era's End, I actually had a brief e-chat with his wife and told her as much, and she said he'd probably think it was cool, so I should just ask him. So long story short, I did, and Alex was mad cool about the whole thing, even in spite of my initial lengthy, gushing, fanboy email, haha. For the remix, I knew it had to be "The Synapse (Hong Kong Streets)" from Deus Ex - that entire OST is amazing, but it was that track in particular that turned me onto the game a few years back when a friend emailed it to me like, "Man, you gotta check this song out." It also seemed appropriate since Alex once said he was partial to that particular track. All in all, this was a truly humbling (and exciting!) experience for me. Alex was not only very cool, but also very humble, and that in turn was humbling for me! I can't thank him enough for the collab, and I earnestly hope that perhaps we'll see more of this sort of thing (collabs with original game composers) in the future. Alexander Brandon: John Romero introduced me to OCR about nine years ago. Since then I've been continually amazed by this whole "ReMix" thing, and to collaborate on this piece was a hell of a lot of fun. I'm so proud of it (with the little that I did, BGC deserves a huge lion's share of the credit) that I'm going to tell BT about it and see what he says. It's the first electronic piece that really feels like it'd be right at home as a major release. So Jimmy and David, thanks for bringing so much awesome music into the game industry and giving me the chance to be involved. Torley: Almost whenever I'm exploring cyberpunk cityscapes in Second Life, I put on Alexander Brandon's Deus Ex soundtrack. It never gets old and captures the seminal nuances of such vibrant, immersive nightlife. Big Giant Circles did the "Siren Synapse" remix which takes the original majesty of the Hong Kong theme and uplifts it with clubbier beats, percolating arps, and lots of changes and even a sweet 1-bar stutter break @ 3:32 — just what I need, and makes me wish BGC (a.k.a. Jimmy Hinson) remixed the entire soundtrack. Needless to say, Alex enjoyed it, and I thought the best parts — including the smooth bassline and swirling percussion — would bask in more punch + spark. So, I remastered it to amplify the awesome. 4. Level 99 (Stevo Bortz) - "Tears in Rain" Source: Deus Ex: Invisible War - "Seattle - Lower Seattle & Heron's Loft" Original Composer: Alexander Brandon Level 99: "Tears in Rain," as implied by the title, was inspired by Blade Runner. Deus Ex has always had the feel of a Ridley Scott movie to me, and I derived inspiration from that as well as from the soundtracks of Thomas Newman, particularly Road to Perdition. There's this abject hopelessness throughout much of the series, and I tried to capture that here. While I didn't play Invisible War as much as the original Deus Ex, this song always stood out to me as being especially gorgeous in its mystique and sound design. 5. Alexander Brandon & Jimmy Hinson - "Ma Chérie Nicolette" Sources: Deus Ex - "DuClare Chateau," "Main Title" Original Composers: Alexander Brandon, Michiel van den Bos Jimmy Hinson: Another rad track by teh sexiness that is Alex Brandon and BGC! 6. Nutritious (Justin Medford) - "Distortion HQ" Source: Deus Ex - "UNATCO" Original Composer: Michiel van den Bos Nutritious: Such a good game with an awesome soundtrack. Originally created for a People's ReMix Competition, this was my first foray into the dubstep genre. I was fortunate to get the opportunity to have the mix accepted as part of the album. I'm a big fan of the game series, so getting a chance to be a part of an album effort is especially rewarding. Special thanks to zircon for his feedback helping me bring the track to the next level. Hope you enjoy! 7. Dj Mokram & DusK (Dustin Branscum) - "Adapt Evolve Survive" Sources: Deus Ex: Human Revolution: "Return to Hengsha," "And Away We Go," "Detroit City Ambient," "Opening Credits," "Everybody Lies," "Icarus" / Deus Ex: "UNATCO," "Main Title" Original Composers: Michael McCann, Michiel van den Bos, Alexander Brandon Dj Mokram: "Adapt Evolve Survive" is my tribute to Deus Ex: Human Revolution from a long-time Deus Ex fan, arranging several songs from the captivating soundtrack composed by Michael McCann. With memorable in-game locations, characters and events in mind, I've set to reinterpret several tunes and combine them in an effort to depict my vision of the world of DX:HR. Following in the footsteps of Michael McCann, I've mixed elements of electronic and acoustic music, with orchestral and ethnic flavors, as well as some ethereal vocals, in an effort to depict the conflict between man and machine. This is my interpretation of Adam Jensen's struggle, who constantly threads a fine line between clinging to what's left of his humanity and succumbing to the power that his enhancements provide. It was a real challenge to create this arrangement in such a short timeframe, but I've pushed myself to the best of my ability as a (deaf) musician and had a blast doing so. The following songs were referenced: "Return to Hengsha," "And Away We Go," "Detroit City Ambient," "Opening Credits," "Everybody Lies" and "Icarus." Discerning listeners may also notice motifs from the "UNATCO" and "Main Title" themes from the original Deus Ex sneaking in stealthily like Adam. Hope you'll enjoy this audio tribute to one of the best game of 2011, if not of all time. Mad props to Eidos Montréal for bringing back Deus Ex to its former glory, and then some. :) Arrangement created in Sonar and mixed with Sound Forge. Thanks to Dustin "DusK" Branscum for jumping in at the last minute to help me replace VST guitars with live ones. And last, but not least, here's the source breakdown: 0:00-0:06 - "Return to Hengsha" (the very beginning) 0:07-0:30 - "And Away We Go" (build up, then from 1:31 in the source) 0:31-0:48 - "Detroit City Ambient Part 1" (beginning) with bassline playing a motif from the Deus Ex "UNATCO" theme (:23-:34 in the source) 0:49-1:14 - "Icarus" and "Everybody Lies" (beginning of both mixed), with koto playing another motif from the Deus Ex "UNATCO" theme (:03-:12 in the source) 1:15-1:29 - "Opening Credits" (from 0:21) and "Return to Hengsha" (the four-note progression from :27-:40 in the source, which I'm referencing several times in the arrangement) 1:30-1:59 - "Return to Hengsha" (middle section from :48-1:01 and 1:36-1:50) with little Asian folklore flourishes 2:00-2:12 - "Return to Hengsha" (from 2:03-2:16 plus the four-note progression and the beginning koto roll), with the "Icarus" motif played by the bass 2:13-2:14 - Break 2:15-2:36 - "Icarus" main motif with semi-original guitar accompaniment 2:37-2:44 - "Return to Hengsha" (four-notes progression played by the sequence synth) 2:45-2:50 - "Icarus" motif played by the koto (with some sequencing tweaks), and from 2:48 the guitar plays a motif from the Deus Ex "Main Title" (from :29-:33) 2:51-2:57 - The sound of 2027 :D 8. Vig (Jesse Taub) - "The God Machine" Sources: Deus Ex - "Liberty Island," "Lebedev's Airfield," "NYC Streets," "UNATCO," "DuClare Chateau," "Return to NYC," "Enemy Within," "Versalife" Original Composers: Alexander Brandon, Michiel van den Bos Vig: Deus Ex was a landmark first-person-shooter. Its ground-breaking incorporation of RPG elements, sprawling open-ended environments and epic storytelling made Deus Ex a truly enduring and immersive release. It came out in 2000, but it is still one of my two favorite games of all time. I don't play video games very much these days, but I keep coming back to this particular soundtrack. Composed by the incredibly talented Alexander Brandon, the music in Deus Ex struck me from the very first time I played as one of the most immersive and memorable video game scores in recent memory, and now years later, I still listen to it regularly. For years, I've wanted to make my own arrangement of some of my favorite themes from the game. This song was two years in the making, and I'm incredibly excited to finally be finished. I can't remember all the different incarnations this remix has had, but I'm finally satisfied with the finished product. I hope you enjoy it. Well, this was a pain to analyze. Hopefully, I didn't miss anything. Eleven distinct melodic elements from eight source tracks. Intro (0:00-0:45) Pad (0:16-0:30): "Liberty Island" (1:55-2:03) Chords: "Lebedev's Airfield" (3:15) Verse 1 (0:45-1:26) Bass: "NYC Streets" Melody: "NYC Streets" Guitar: "UNATCO" Chorus 1 (1:25-1:35) Piano: "DuClare Chateau" (1:43) Triangle synth: "DuClare Chateau" (1:43) Bridge 1 (1:35-1:46) Chords: "DuClare Chateau" (0:23) Verse 2 & Chorus 2 (1:46-2:28) Same as Verse 1 & Chorus 1 Drum Break (2:28-2:40) Guitar: "UNATCO" Part 1 Tag (2:40-3:00) Melody: "DuClare Chateau" (0:00) Acoustic guitar: "Return to NYC" (0:35) Part 2, Vamp 1 (3:00-3:30) Acoustic guitar: "Enemy Within" Electric guitar: "Enemy Within" Part 2, Bridge 1 (3:30-3:45) Melody: "Versalife" (0:37) Part 2, Vamp 2 (3:45-4:10) Vocals: "Versalife" (0:50) Acoustic guitar: "Enemy Within" Triangle Synth: "Versalife" (0:37) Rock Interlude (4:10-4:35) Flute: "Versalife" (1:15) Triangle synth: "Versalife" (0:37) Guitar Solo (4:35-5:00) Melody: "Versalife" (0:37) Flute: "Versalife" (1:15) Vamp 2 (5:00-5:26) Acoustic guitar: "Enemy Within" Outro (5:26-6:23) Melody: "DuClare Chateau" (0:00) Acoustic guitar: "Enemy Within" Lyrics: I now have full access to your systems