The Mustin Collection / The Mustin Collection / The Mustin Collection

- Track information

01 Mega Man 3 - Blue Bomber Forever

  Source(s):
  Game(s): Mega Man 3
  Composer(s): Bunbun

  Track notes:
    If you made it down this far (or if you're smart and started at the bottom), welcome to my very first video game remix.

    In 1999, my family got a computer. We were very poor, so this was a pretty amazing thing. And we got hooked on the Internet. When I graduated High School, my buddy got me a program on the computer called Midisoft Studio Six for a graduation present. I really enjoyed messing around with it. I imported some of my MIDIs I had written on a friend's Yamaha Clavinova in High School, and even began writing new songs. Then someone had pointed out to me one day that you could emulate video games on your computer. I ended up with an emulator and a copy of Mega Man 3. Oh, how the memories flooded back. I had never owned this game, but rented it often. I realized that I knew every song but had forgotten how fantastic all of the music was. Using my Midisoft Studio Six program, I began to transcribe the music from the title screen. Then I wondered if anyone else had tried to make a MIDI of video game music.

    This brought me to www.VGMusic.com. At that point, I began downloading MIDIs of all kinds of video game music. They weren't too interesting, for the most part, and I decided to make my own arrangement. I had figured out how to import digital audio and did some sampling, which I had never done with my original music at that point. A few weeks later I had "Blue Bomber Forever." I showed it to my friends and I was proud of what I had accomplished.

    A while later, I thought it'd be fun to do another song, and I revisited the VGMusic site. When I was there, I came across a banner for OverClocked ReMix. I clicked it, and found myself overjoyed. Nearly a hundred different video game arrangements from people all over. I pulled up Bonzi Buddy, exported a .WAV, tacked it onto the beginning of my arrangement, and submitted it to OverClocked ReMix.

    I guess you could say the rest is history. But it's been an amazing ride (after the arrangement was posted, I found myself at VGMusic.com again, found out about "Project Majestic Mix," and that it was happening only two hours from where I lived...). It's pretty amazing to listen to my first arrangement and to go through them all chronologically. I'm always learning more - I never stop learning. I'm always raising the bar for myself. Even on a joke arrangement, there's always something I get out of it that I can take to the next work.

    I hope you've enjoyed at least a few of my arrangements of music from video games. I hope that my arrangements can find themselves in the hands of people who may not appreciate video game music - and change their minds. I hope that my arrangements offer nostalgia and meaning to people other than me.

    Thank you for listening.

02 Final Fantasy VI - The Atomizer

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Final Fantasy VI
  Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu

  Performer(s): Mustin (guitar, saxophone)

  Track notes:
    This is my second video game remix. And I think it's a pretty big departure from what I first did. I was still pretty new with digital music. And back then, I had very limited resources, and I think I was a bit more creative. I really wanted to capture the way this game made me feel, especially when I first reached the Atma Weapon. It must have been three in the morning on a school nite, having played since I first got the game very early that previous morning. Chocolate wrappers everywhere and I became delirious. When I first ran into the monster, I stood up - I had not seen an enemy take up this much of a screen before. Anyway, in my arrangement, I used a lot of audio samples and actually played live guitar and saxophone. A little known fact - the guitar took me 76 takes. The saxophone took 3 [laughs]. Can you guess which I'm used to playing?

    People still talk about this arrangement to this day. Back then, I'm pretty sure it was very unique having a remixer playing two different live instruments, using the in-game sound effects, and creating an audio drama to accompany the arrangement. I'm glad people enjoy this song and can indentify with the feelings I was trying to capture. The Atma Weapon ended up not being very hard, but I died out of shock and fear the first time. No matter. It makes for a good arrangement.

03 Gauntlet - GAUNTLET!! (with Nate Cloud)

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Gauntlet
  Composer(s): Hal Canon, Earl Vickers
  Arranger(s): Mustin, Nate Cloud

  Track notes:
    Fans of the original Gauntlet game should really enjoy this. Nathan McLeod and I spent a few hours playing an emulated version of the game on the computer (despite having the original lying in the other room) and decided to arrange this particular piece because it was so zany. In less than 24 hours we came up with this. The samples are crude - my first four arrangements with MIDI came off of the on-board sound chip. It does happen to be an XG synthesizer, which isn't as bad as it could be. Still, I love to listen to this piece. Not too many people doing orchestral back when Nathan and I arranged this song, so it was fresh. Definitely short, but sweet. And we threw in a few measures of the main title screen just to tease people. Hope you enjoy it.

04 Super Mario 64 - Haunted Hell (IncuCujoKondoD.Bros Mix)

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Super Mario 64
  Composer(s): Koji Kondo

  Track notes:
    This is probably the only technical "remix" that I've done. There is a little bit of sequenced MIDI in the introduction and outro, but the rest is all sampling, including the original song. "Haunted Hell" was a Christmas present to all of my fans (to show my distaste for the Christmas spirit). Alas, it's ended up on many-a-horror/Halloween mix CD. And I'm very proud of the fact that people are distrubed by the music here. I do appreciate the fact that I have enough talent to cover many genres and do them well - from Latin jazz, to soul, from ambient horror, to classical. I had someone tell me he made his girlfriend cry with this. I smirk at the thought.

    There is a lot of gratuitous sampling here - my apologies to the copyright owners, and to all of the composers who would not appreciate my use of their artwork. Samples come from the movies Blair Witch Project, 12 Monkeys, Pet Sematary, Alien Resurrection, and Charlie Brown Christmas. Music loops and samples come from Cujo, Incubus, the Dust Brothers, and of course, the Super Mario 64 OST. Many thanks to all of the original artists who made this possible.

    Have a merry Christmas.

05 Mega Man 3 - Needles (with nyKad, Dale North and Nate Cloud)

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Mega Man 3
  Composer(s): Bunbun

  Credits:
    nyKad: Original Concept, Vocals, Direction
    Dale North: Arrangement, 88 Keys, Fender Rhodes, Vocals, Producer, Sound Engineer, Direction
    Nate Cloud: Alto Sax, Flute, Vocals
    Mustin: Arrangement, Tenor Sax, Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Audio Drama Introduction Production, Direction

  Track notes:
    "Needles" is a milestone in Video Game Music arranging. This piece featured a collaboration of four people (an unheard of number at the time), with live instruments, and an audio drama which featured other people's VGM arrangements. This track truly raised the bar and expectations of video game remixers everywhere.

    This piece spawned many imitations. It's important to know what came first in the VGM remix scene. Download this arrangement and hear for yourself.

    Note: I get a lot of requests for sheet music for this piece. I'm sorry, but I do not have any sheet music for any of my arrangements. Again, sorry.

06 Chrono Trigger - Team Gato (with Dale North)

  Source(s): Gato's Song
  Game(s): Chrono Trigger
  Composer(s): Yasunoi Mitsuda
  Arranger(s): Mustin, Dale North

  Track notes:
    It's very hard to explain this one. I think Dale and I were riding on the immense success of "Needles." Feeling incredibly goofy one nite (as we often were late at nite), we began talking about an audio drama featuring a nite club act called "Team Gato" that performed arrangements of the 4 measure "Gato" theme from the Chrono Trigger Video Game. I ended up going home, and the next day I had the first part of this song, and Dale had the second part of this song. Then we met up and worked together on the third and fourth parts. Thus, the song was completed and the legend lives on.

    This arrangement garnered some major attention. John Romero, creator of Doom and Commander Keen loves the track and played it around the office often. We've had many, many eMails from all kinds of people all over the world praising the insanity. Unfortunately, it was encouraging, which lead to the "Legend of Zelda 2002" arrangement (see number 11 above). Regardless, "Team Gato" has been labeled a "Video Game Remix Staple" - a must have. With inside jokes a plenty, it seems everyone remotely interested in video game remixes/arrangements comes across this song.

07 Super Mario Bros. 3 - La Samba de agua

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Super Mario Bros. 3
  Composer(s): Koji Kondo

  Performer(s): Mustin (nylon string guitar, djembe, maracas, egg shakers, claves, tenor sax, trumpet, flute, bass clarinet, bass guitar, melodica)

  Track notes:
    Ah, "La Samba De Agua." Quite possibly the most important piece of music I've ever arranged. I really enjoy this one because I really pushed myself. I went around asking all of my friends to loan me their instruments and what not. It took me hours to go around town collecting them all. Then, I came back to the house and started to record. Beginning with the main rhythm guitar part, I built 13 tracks and this whole song with live instruments and recordings. I didn't cut out any mistakes or anything, just used one microphone to record each part at a time. Then I returned all of the instruments. Only took me about two hours to record the song. Took me all day to collect them and then return them [laughs]. For reference, the instruments are: Nylon String Guitar, two Djembes, Maracas, Egg Shakers, Claves, Tenor Sax, Trumpet, Flute, Bass Clarinet, Bass Guitar, and Melodica

    I've always loved this Latin style of music, and this marks the first time I actually made it. Not bad for a first timer. This piece is also very important to me because it brought me a very special lady, Erin. She's a big Super Mario Bros. 3 fan, came across the song on OverClocked, and eMailed me. Something happened, and it spawned an amazing relationship. So a big thanks goes out to Koji Kondo for writing such beautiful music, and to Al Gore for inventing the Internet.

    Note: I get a lot of requests for sheet music for this piece. I'm sorry, but I do not have any sheet music for any of my arrangements. Again, sorry.

08 Secret of Mana - Cry From the Forest (with Kassie!)

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Secret of Mana
  Composer(s): Hiroki Kikuta
  Arranger(s): Mustin, Kassie!

  Performer(s): Kassie! (piano, flutes, strings)

  Track notes:
    This is a very pretty medley of two themes from Secret of Mana. Kikuta really did some fanastic work on this game. The two themes here really blend well thanks to Kassie!'s keen arranging. She's performing the piano, flutes, and strings (on the keyboard). I did everything else. I haven't done a lot of moody pieces like this, but I love the style. It's very beautiful, but always reminds me of a very beautiful, but sad girl, sitting alone in a forest.

    Unfortunately, there are some mastering issues here, and a lot of noise. We had a lot of technical problems with the piece. But that doesn't detract from the overall experience. I sure hope you enjoy this. It's a little gem that I often forget I did, but upon rediscovering it, I tend to listen on repeat for some time. Many thanks to Kassie! for her contributions.

09 Metroid II: Return of Samus - Metroid Sonata - Movement II (with mellogear)

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Metroid II: Return of Samus
  Composer(s): Ryoji Yoshitomi
  Arranger(s): Mustin, mellogear

  Performer(s): Mustin (piano)

  Track notes:
    mellogear had started arranging some songs from the popular Metroid series. We had decided to make a three movement arrangement. We released the second movement, but never the first or third. Who knows, maybe we will in the future. I'm playing piano here - mellogear did everything else. It's pretty spacey and might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's worth checking out. Some nice ambient music with some familiar themes.

10 M.C. Kids - po! kidz

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): M.C. Kids
  Composer(s): Charles Deenen

  Track notes:
    First installment of remixer tributes. My favourite remixer is po!, and I always wanted to sound like him. So I picked an obscure game (because I wanted to do something not so mainstream) and found a song that I thought would lend itself to the laidback stylings of po!. po! gave me the "po! seal of approval" and it's been a favourite ever since. I'm glad so many people enjoy this track. I sure enjoyed making it.

11 The Legend of Zelda 2002

  Source(s): See track notes
  Game(s):
    The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
    The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (composed by Kazumi Totaka, Kozue Ishikawa, Minako Hamano)
    The Legend of Zelda
    Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
    The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
  Composer(s): Koji Kondo, except where noted above
  Arranger(s): Dale North, Mustin

  Track notes:
    Featured music From:
      01. Morning Song - LoZ:OoT
      02. Lon Lon Ranch - LoZ:OoT
      03. Mini Boss - LoZ:LA
      04. Inside the Egg -  LoZ:LA
      05. Dungeon - LoZ
      06. Temple - LoZ:AoL
      07. Overworld - LoZ:LA
      08. Dark World Dungeon - LoZ:ALttP
      09. Battle With Gannon - LoZ:ALttP
      10. Ballad of the Wind Fish - LoZ:LA

    Dale North and Mustin start 2002 with a bang. At midnite on January 1st, 2002, Dale and Mustin unleased their almost 12 minute audio drama spanning five games in the Legend of Zelda series. Never before had anything like this come along. This is a true treat for Zelda fans. A bit hokey at times, and very self-aware, this medley was a mixed bag for many. But this piece is still heralded as a landmark in video game arranging.

    We hope you can enjoy this piece for what it is - a radio drama featuring many wonderful songs from the first five Zelda games: Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda II: Adventure of Link, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

12 Mega Man 3 - ProtoVaffe

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Mega Man 3
  Composer(s): Bunbun

  Track notes:
    Second installment of remixer tributes. This time, I pay tribute to the style of McVaffe, a well-known remixer in the VGM community. I did my best to try to mimic his style. I hope this pays proper tribute to McVaffe's style and to the man himself.

    Note: I get a lot of requests for sheet music for this piece. I'm sorry, but I do not have any sheet music for any of my arrangements. Again, sorry.

13 Sim City - String City

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Sim City
  Composer(s): Soyo Oka

  Track notes:
    I think there are some really overlooked and very underappreciated scores. Sim City for the SNES is certainly one of them. This game really does hold one of my favourite scores of all. Every piece of music in this game is fanastic. I wanted to feature some of them here. One day, I hope that this music will be performed regularly enough so that everyone can have a chance to hear it. This is part of the reason I picked a string quartet for my instrumentation. Another reason, is that I wanted to try out my new samples and see how well they work. It seems they're pretty darn good. At that point, they were very new, and many people believed this track was really performed (thanks in small part to the fact that I took a live audience clapping from a performance of some of my original work in 1999).

    Regardless, I hope you can listen to this and appreciate it on a whole new level. Video Game Music is indeed worthy of attention and praise.

14 M&M's Mini Madness - virt's Madness

  Source(s): BGM #04 / Q!Dina [Stage 3]
  Game(s): M&M's: Minis Madness / Q-bert
  Composer(s): Jake Kaufman

  Track notes:
    Third installment of remixer tributes. But this is not a tribute to style like the previous two - this is a tribute to VGM remixer and actual VGM composer, virt (Jacob Kaufman). Starts of with "Stage 4" from M&M Mini's Madness on GBC, with an interlude of "q!dina" from Q*bert on GBC. This is also the first time I've attempted this style of "beatnik" jazz. Enjoy. (P.S. - The coffee interlude will probably only make sense to the very hard-core virt fans)

15 Super Mario World - Super Mario's Sleigh Ride

  Source(s): Sleigh Ride / ???
  Game(s): Super Mario World
  Composer(s): Leroy Anderson / Koji Kondo
  Arranger(s): Mustin, Dale North

  Performer(s):
    The OneUps:
      Chris Strom (drums)
      Mustin (bass)
      William Reyes (guitar)
      Dale North (piano)
      David Embree (trumpet)
      Nathan McLeod (alto saxophone)

  Track notes:
    Dale and I arranged a fun mix of the traditional "Sleigh Ride" and Kondo's "Super Mario World" score to make a fanastic The OneUps track for the Christmas season. Or just any time depending on how jolly you may be. The OneUps featured here are Chris Strom - Drums, Mustin - Bass, William Reyes - Guitar, Dale North - Piano, David Embree - Trumpte, and Nathan McLeod - Alto Saxophone. We certainly hope that Leroy Anderson and Koji Kondo would appreciate this piece.

16 Secret of Mana - Secret of Spram (8 Bells Mix) feat. Kassie! & JAXX

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Secret of Mana
  Composer(s): Hiroki Kikuta

  Performer(s):
    JAXX (guitar)
    Kassie! (piano)

  Track notes:
    Way back in 2001, I asked people to make some artwork I could spruce up my studio with. In return, I would make a custom remix. The only one to take me up on the offer was the legendary Spram. He sent me an acrylic painting of Bubble Man from Mega Man 2.

    JAXX came down from Portland, Oregon for a while to hang out with the OUS crew. When he was down here, I showed him my budding arrangement for this song, and he wanted to do some Issac Hayes style guitar over the track. So we hooked it up and he laid it down. Later on, Kassie! was over listening to my progress and decided to sit down and add some fanastic piano parts. It took me about a year, but I did eventually finish the track and sent it so Spram. He did enjoy it, and now I share it with you all. Obvious inspirations from Issac Hayes, Barry White, and the gang. I hope you enjoy it.

17 Bubble Bobble - Bubble's Decision

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Bubble Bobble
  Composer(s): Tadashi Kimijima
  Arranger(s): Dale North, Mustin

  Track notes:
    Dale and I created a song out of our appreciation for the esteemed "Judge's Panel" at OverClocked. These "highly qualified" individuals approve remixes with a big "YES" or "NO." And more often than not, it's a "NO." So, we feature Chicken Fah-Jite-Ahs, my friend's cat, in this wacky joke mix. We sent it to OverClocked to see if they'd approve it. Alas, it never made it up to the main page. And such a shame...

  Download this remix, but beware - your ears may never recover. Or you might not stop laughing.

18 Final Fantasy IV - Uematsu-san Just Wanna Have Fun (with Ailsean)

  Source(s): ???, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
  Game(s): Final Fantasy IV
  Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu / Robert Hazard
  Arranger(s): Mustin, Ailsean

  Track notes:
    Ailsean and I put together a ridiculous breed of Cyndi Lauper and Nobuo Uematsu. The end result is ...funny. Not too serious of a mix. But people seemed to enjoy it enough. Now-a-days, people are expecting too much. Leave it to Ailsean and me to lower the bar.

19 The Legend of Zelda - No Way Out

  Source(s): Labyrinth
  Game(s): The Legend of Zelda
  Composer(s): Koji Kondo

  Performer(s): Mustin (keyboards)

  Track notes:
    This is a piece I did in about an hour in December of 2003. Just sat down at the keyboard and played what I was feeling. I imagine it's how Link must feel when he finds himself stuck in a dungeon. But we all know Link will prevail and I'm sure I will too.

    Obvious inspirations of Bethoveen, Kondo, and Glass in the arrangement. But I really do love this piece. This marks the fifth time I've arranged the "Labyrinth" piece from The Legend of Zelda. And I'll be arranging this song more in the future. After "Secret of the Forest," this is my favourite video game piece ever. I hope you enjoy it.

20 Mega Man 3 - Spark It (with Joshua Morse)

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Mega Man 3
  Composer(s): Bunbun
  Arranger(s): Mustin, Joshua Morse

  Performer(s):
    Mustin (piano)
    Joshua Morse (Rhodes piano, piano)

  Track notes:
    I've really enjoyed Joshua Morse's work for a while now. Chatting with him one nite, I decided we should do a remix together to see how it goes. In about 24 hours we come up with this (aside from the mixing/mastering, which took me another day).

    JMorse works really fast. And efficiently. We did this track by sending a General MIDI back and forth. I did all of the final rendering, mixing, and mastering. JMorse is doing the solos on the Fender Rhodes and the Piano right after that. I'm doing some of the lighter piano stuff.

    We both have the Neo-Soul bug, which you hear in this track. Lots of Two-Step and House influences. Hope you enjoy it.

21 Super Mario Kart - Racing Rainbow Road feat. William Reyes

  Source(s): Rainbow Road
  Game(s): Super Mario Kart
  Composer(s): Soyo Oka

  NOTE: William Reyes has a uncredited role.

  Track notes:
    Ever since I was a kid playing Super Mario Kart I've had the basic idea for this remix here stuck in my head. I've been wanting to do this since I first started remixing. Only now was I able to complete it. Still, it's not as grandioso as I'd like it to be (for one, a real orchestra would be nice), but then again, as much as I love this song, I don't think it'd make much financial sense to have an orchestra perform it.

    Out of all of the amazing Super Mario Kart pieces of music, this has always been my favourite. Soyo Oka also said that this was one of her favourite pieces that she's ever composed. I hope this track pays proper homage to her and the original.

22 Mega Man 8 - Search Me feat. Anthony Lofton

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Mega Man 8
  Composer(s): Shusaku Uchiyama

  Performer(s): Anthony Lofton (piano)

  Track notes:
    This is a track I did pretty quickly one day for a now abandoned Mega Man 8 remix project. Enough people liked it that I thought I'd throw it up here. This features Mr. Anthony "Tones" Lofton on the piano solo. He's always great about coming into the studio and laying it down, though this one was a little tricky for him. Some funky chord changes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

23 Super Mario Bros. - Happy Birfday DCT (with Joe_Cam)

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Super Mario Bros.
  Composer(s): Koji Kondo
  Arranger(s): Mustin, Joe_Cam

  Performer(s): Jared Dunn (synths)

  Track notes:
    Note: There is some strong language in this track. Please be advised.

    DCT turns 21! Joe_Cam, who was staying at my house at the time, and I decided he needs a proper Birfday Tribute from a couple of guys like us. So here we deliver a hot beat with some tite rhymes and all-around wackiness. Thanks to Jared for laying down the funky synth solo and to DCT for not dying thusfar in order for us to have given out this tribute track.

24 EarthBound - Flying Man

  Source(s): The Jolly Flying Man
  Game(s): EarthBound
  Composer(s): Akio Ohmori, Ritsuo Kamimura

  Performer(s): Mustin (vocals)

  Track notes:
    I did this track in about three hours for Joe_Cam's Bound Together EarthBound Remix Project. He said he was going to start the project and only invite the highest profile remixers on board and I couldn't resist. Other than Kaijin, I was the first person done. I also helped out a lot by mastering most of the tracks and being there most for most of the major twists and turns.

    It's not too often that I sing so if you're down with the vox - rox. My girlfriend thinks I sound like Jack Skellington. I'll take that as a compliment. Dale's wife, Carissa, says, "Have you heard Mustin sing? ...run"

    I'll take that as a compliment.

25 Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Lest Ye Be Judged

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
  Composer(s): Yoko Shimomura

  Track notes: For Almasy Marquis' "Graceful Assassin" Remix Contest - 6.23.2007

26 Final Fantasy VI - OUSWTFBBQ5

  Source(s): ???
  Game(s): Final Fantasy VI
  Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu
  Arranger(s): Crazy Crakaz

  Performer(s): Crazy Crakaz (Mustin, Joe Cammisa, Devon Riley, Shael Riley, Jesus)

  Track notes: Created during the Fifth Annual OneUp Studios BBQ

All songs arranged by Mustin, except where noted.