Nearly a year of work, dozens of mixes, a handful of awkward titles and here we are. MeowMeow & BowWow a Link’s Awakening tribute written and produced by Spamtron and myself.

What can I say that hasn’t been said on our Bandcamp, press release, or Facebook page… This album was both a challenge and wonderful fun to work on. Spamtron is an incredible composer and I began to love his covers of the Link’s Awakening OST almost more than the originals. The level of detail and commitment in his programming is astounding, it was nothing short of a delight to mix. The medleys he programming in Sword Search and The Woods are so fluid, I almost don’t notice when he transitions the source material.

Certain songs, like Ballad of the Wind Fish, were a serious challenge. This is a very emotional track in the game, a repeating motif that serves as both congratulations for completing a dungeon and the heartbreaking finale of the story. Spamtron re-wrote this song three times, in an effort to capture the subtly and emotion of original. I went through nine distinct mixes of the ballad before the version that made it on the album.

I created a mini-game within the album’s music, playing off the title. Hidden in each song on the album is a Meow and a Woof. This was my attempt at personifying the NPCs Madam MeowMeow and BowWow (her “dog”). These samples can be heard clearly on the introduction of Mabe Village. Can you find Madam MeowMeow and BowWow in each track?

This album went through a very serious mixing and mastering process. At the beginning of August (when Spamtron and I had believed the album was done) I found myself researching some of the most technical areas of sound engineering. I made discoveries that blew my mind, so much that I purchased new plug-ins and re-mixed every track in MeowMeow & BowWow. For the sound engineers out there, I discovered the benefits of linear-phase EQ, 32-bit floating-point renders and the limitations of mixing at 44.1khz.

The excitement culminated last weekend at our release party, 8-Bit Lounge, held at the historic PhilaMOCA, originally owned by world-renown music producer Diplo. To extend some of the celebration online, I’m selling the remaining commemorative badges from the event, each containing a download of the album thats set to last ten years.

The album is available on music.GameChops.com, streaming it its entirety on YouTube, and will be available soon on iTunes and Loudr. It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience working on MeowMeow & BowWow. This album serves as a spiritual successor to Bagu and the Riverman, the Zelda II tribute Spamtron and I completed in 2011, which later became the seed for The Triforce of Bass, our first #1 album on Bandcamp.

I hope you enjoy MeowMeow & BowWow as much as we enjoyed making it. And to anyone who buys the album or shares it with their friends, thank you for your support. This would not be possible without you.

>B]

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