ReMix: Secret of Mana 'NightTime Evolution'

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Secret of Mana

Newcomer Harmony (in real life, mild-mannered Brandon Bush) sends in a Secret of Mana ReMix with plenty of it. The ReMixer writes:

"Piano and guitar always do it for me and this mix has plenty to spare (with a piano sample that I love). I like knowing what equipment people are using so…this song was recorded with:

- a Casio CTK-551 (the kind with the keys that light up…my Motif is still at the store)
- Cakewalk Sonar 2, Fruity Loops 3, Cool Edit 2000 Pro
- My trusty acoustic guitar"

Even sans Motif, Brandon's put together a slick mix, with lots of interesting processing decisions and hybrid breakbeat/orchestral/acoustic style that well suits Kikuta's undulating patterns. Right out of the gate, spacious, high-quality bells are set against a warm acoustic on the underlying, trademark Kikuta triplet pattern; with repeating patterns, especially, it's important that the instrumentation be dynamic, otherwise something reiterated so often, even as an accompaniment, can lose its lustre post-haste. Brandon avoids that pitfall here with the aforementioned "trusty" acoustic guitar, which amply proves said trust is not misplaced. Rolling, syncopated break snares and hats dance over a kick that very selectively adds low-end to the percussion line. The award for coolest single effect in the mix goes to the uber-slick filtered choo-choo-choo-choo-chooooooo at 1'35" - 's wonderful, 's marvelous, etc. Piano, flute, a solo cello, and a warm bassline that keeps things moving round out the arrangement. The cello is the one element that does get a bit exposed, cutting early at the very conclusion with audible looping and pitch-bending beforehand in a cool arrangement decision that nevertheless made the sample a bit more vulnerable. That's a nitpick, and the world is certainly populated with far lesser cello samples, but when things are sonically solid overall I'm left with only smaller line items to point out. Larry echoed these smaller and larger sentiments:

"The ending tapered off fairly well, although that last low string hanging until 3:09 didn't sound good. Even going for a delicate approach where things slow down and various instruments drop out as the piece winds down, the ending should have possessed a more satisfying resolution. Overall though, very nice work and a pleasure to listen to, Brandon. Good work creating some dry yet purposeful and satisfying percussion work, a relaxing atmosphere, and some well-executed arrangement ideas."

Last impressions are important, but moreso I think in novels and films than in songs; regardless, a slightly underwhelming ending can't nix three plus minutes of good mixin', which Harmony provides with his Darwinian take on the moonlit hours. Slick stuff, mellow but with motion, and some individual details that are memorable and which while brief add vital expression make this mix an excellent first sub from a promising mixer who'll hopefully get his Motif from the store in one piece and submit more like it.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
This is Brandon's first ReMix? Definately a good start. I can hear his style throughout. Very slick, and a great choice of instruments. Percussion fits very well, I like the dryness of them, as well as the variation Harmony adds to keep them fresh. Guitar work is smooth, very nice.
I never noticed the ending until I read the write up and reviews. I agree now that it is a bit ubrupt and the cello doesn't end all to well, but overall it doesn't detract from the mix as a whole. Great job.

- DragonAvenger on August 20, 2008
Harmony;362984 wrote: Hmm, surprisingly, I haven't thanked everyone yet...what kind of jerk am I !?
Hoping that it's never too late, I'd like to throw a hearty Thank You out there to everyone who's taken the time to comment on or listen to NightTime Evolution. Hopefully you all will continue to enjoy for a long time to come :)

Shit, I never commented on this!
One of my favorite memories of my VG Frequency radio show was actually not on the show, but getting dropped off by The Lady at WMRE one night and playing this song for her while we drove down. The fact that it was nighttime wasn't any sort of cosmic coincidence, but that was welcome too. Paige enjoyed it, one of the few tracks around OCR that she outright was feeling as she learned more directly about my hobby in VGM. This was one of the first tracks that really illustrated to her how something seemingly inaccessible like VGM could be interpreted and made to speak to others who weren't fans in the first place. Brandon debut mix always has a special place in my history here, as I had no idea who he was, and wouldn't truly realize just what kind of talent OCR had landed until his follow-up mix, "Live at the Springyard." Excellent stuff.

- Liontamer on January 7, 2008
Hmm, surprisingly, I haven't thanked everyone yet...what kind of jerk am I !?
Hoping that it's never too late, I'd like to throw a hearty Thank You out there to everyone who's taken the time to comment on or listen to NightTime Evolution. Hopefully you all will continue to enjoy for a long time to come :)

- Harmony on January 6, 2008
Hmm, suprisingly, I haven't commented on this one yet.
This is a great showcase of Harmony's amazing flow. I love the percussion in this piece and how it livens up the very mellow melody.
Whatever you call the echoes (reverb?) create an excellent ambiance for this piece.

- Broken on January 6, 2008
At first listen, I felt that the song was, while charmingly magical, a bit unsubstantial, having exciting layering at the beginning only to end on a more quiet note. However, now that I listen to it again, I'm quite satisfied with the beauty of how it ends, and I don't feel that it's too repetitive as I used to. It's an enchanting remix, and I applaud your work.

- windkirby on August 22, 2007
I have had this remix in my collection some time now, and have also listened to it many times. It's only natural that you grow tired of a song if you listen to much to it, but when I'm listening to it now, I realize how good it really is. The guitar is well played, same goes for the piano(or was that a sample? :? ). Anyways, it still makes me impressed, I think I'm ready to listen to this beautiful arrangement once again.
Good stuff Harmony.

- Bummerdude on April 14, 2006
that pitchbending trick on the cello at the end is pretty slick sir

- SirRus on January 9, 2006
This is GORGEOUS!!! ^_^ I love it!! The piano work is great and the little wind down around 1:39 is a nice touch. I also like the little trick with the beat at 1:50 as well!
The acoustic guitar is so soothing...:D
You've done great work here!!! I feel like I could just go jump into a game and wander around in a forest or something, heh! :wink:

- Mini Mog on January 8, 2006
I initially had difficulty pinning what song this was based off of, though when I did find what it was I abruptly realized that this is an example of a great remix. I could suddenly hear where the original piece from the game was interwoven with the rest of the remix - it was neither a direct copy nor straying too far. Excellent work, in all.

- Durinthal on October 4, 2005
Great for just keeping on loop when you're trying to relax.

- Kaede_X on September 25, 2005
It has a certain "dreamy" quality to it. Indeed, the acoustic guitar is impressive right from the word go. Harmony has certainly proved his worth since this song (and it was only 5 months ago!), and this was and is a great start. Mellow is definitely an appropriate term.

- watkinzez on September 19, 2005
Somehow I missed this one before... Beautiful work! Crisp, mellow, haunting- this is one of those tracks that puts me in a pensive mood, and I really like it. ^_^

- pixietricks on August 25, 2005
This reminds me of a night rainstorm. It's very soothing and mellow, but there's enough motion with the percussion and that awesome acoustic guitar base that everything just flows.

- quoda on June 1, 2005
Never got to play the game but great remix.

- Super Metal Mario on May 6, 2005
Playful and elegant, this one will stay active on my playlists for a long time.
The percussion is simply delightful, allowing one's attention to lie soley upon it for long periods of time. And the pauses also feel right at home, and at least for me, keep the song fresh.
I can see how the cello feels a little out of place at the ending, but to me that's almost necessary in order to not have the song simply drop out.
Thank you for contributing this excellent song!
-Austin Spafford

- DarkFrog on May 3, 2005

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