Play cover tune
Arabesque Revival (SFEX cover song)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Pulse🫀 | #10 | 4.273 | 4.273 |
| Rime❄️ | #22 | 3.818 | 3.818 |
| Tremor😬 | #25 | 3.545 | 3.545 |
| Overall | #35 | 3.491 | 3.491 |
| Grave-itas 🪦 | #65 | 3.091 | 3.091 |
| Reason 🧠 | #67 | 2.727 | 2.727 |
Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team Members
rosko vair, Wassim Rahmani, BYM Music Group
What was the origin story?
The original version of this song from 1996--composed by Takayuki Aihara--appeared in the game Street Fighter EX (search "SFEX Arabesque" on YouTube to listen), possibly the first-ever 3D game in the Street Fighter franchise.
The SFEX soundtrack had a big influence on me when I was growing up. Then in March 2022 I played ARIKA's more recent release, Fighting EX Layer, which includes many of the SFEX characters. This conjured up a whole bunch of nostalgia, and I started thinking about how I would compose level music for some of the SFEX characters. For this character (a Saudi princess who seeks revenge against the corrupt international Shadaloo order for brainwashing her beloved grandfather), I wanted to go with a less cartoony, more serious style than the original, and I was influenced by some of the Arabic-language pop artists I follow. I got busy in summer 2022 and dropped the project, but I picked it back up for this jam, worked with two musicians to record live performances, and produced the project.
I achieved two big goals in this jam: working with performing artists and getting more experience/knowledge about mixing and mastering.
Here's a link to the gameplay video: https://youtu.be/UnDIyAt_hT4
Thanks for checking it out!
-rosko
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Comments
AWESOME! Again well done Rosko... you have amazing range! How did you get Joe Satriani to solo for your track?
Thank you, Lowlande52! This project really brought me a lot of joy.
And I have plans to work with this same Mr. Satriani on another project I’m working on which you may have heard of… ;) Stay tuned.
This sounds also like something you'd hear in a desert/desert village!
A rockin’ desert village! 🤘
As always, your music is amazing!
Thank you!! I hope I get to collab with you on a project again soon.
This is a really cool project. Now I'm curious about arabic pop music. What artists do you recommend?
Growing up I listened a lot to Cheb Khaled. He comes from Algeria and sings in Arabic and French. “Didi” is a classic of his from the 90s. For more modern stuff, I recommend Mario Karam who comes from Morocco, and Mia Haddad who comes from Lebanon. They are both pop artists with very clear, expressive voices. I could listen all day. And thanks, I’m glad you liked it!
That is actually a perfect example that games aren't the only thing that can be revived!
I never played Street Fighter EX but when I watched the video that you posted with the awesome beat playing in the background I was really entertained! I tried to listen to the original and it was good but I honestly just listened for like 30 seconds then came here to download the song.
Good job!
I’m glad you liked it! I worked with really great performers on this, so I hope you enjoy their playing!
Interesting take on the original. It's certainly more organic sounding, since the first one had a lot of other strange instruments in the mix. I kind of miss the parts where it goes out of tune though, might just be me lol.
Yeah, traditional Arabic music uses microtones (the out-of-tune stuff). You can actually hear some of that in the oud playing, especially the improv solo in the last 30 seconds of the track. But by and large the composition sticks to the western system of 12 semitones. Thanks for listening!