ReMix: Wild Arms 'Visions of Kin'
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- Game: Wild Arms (Sony, 1997, PS1)
- ReMixer(s): James George
- Composer(s): Michiko Naruke
- Song(s): 'A Sister's Thought'
- Posted: 2006-12-03, evaluated by the judges
James George (known as Maestrodeclure back when he had his first mix posted) writes:
"The orchestration is deliberately minimalistic, except for the mid-section. Creating it was mostly a learning experience for me with my new hardware and software. I hope to create more complex mixes in the future. I think one WIP member used the word "intimate", which I think is the best description so far. Again, thank you for your consideration. "
Harp arpeggios that channel Uematsu's (in?)famous FF prelude intro the piece with a flowing string part and some oboe on melody, but things slow down around 0'50" as a harp cadenza of sorts leads into an arpeggiated piano pattern with tasteful, minimal percussion. When James alluded to more "complex" mixes above, I'd say that's a fair enough assessment - this isn't too rhythmically or compositionally intricate - but by the same token, simplicity can be beautiful, and this mix has moments, particularly when the ensemble strings come in with their slow attacks to flesh out the melody, that I'd say qualify. To me at least, the whole thing has a rather timely Christmas feel to it, with echoes of Silent Night and other tonally nocturnal, melodic pieces; I think you could put it on an orchestral xmas mix CD without incident. In fact, I just might. Larry says:
"Short and sweet, it seemed liked it wasn't gonna be too interpretive at first, but once James changed the rhythm up substantially at :52, I saw he was indeed planning on putting his own unique spin on the source.
Loved the small orchestra setting. You definitely achieved the intimate sound you were going for, with a nice full soundscape despite the small amount of instrumentation going on. Fairly organic-minded presentation overall; even when some of the samples weren't overly realistic sounding, they're sequenced and produced for a very natural result from the performance side.
Great job on this one James; good to see you back with another release here after so long. Beautiful atmosphere, sophisticated dynamics, and a very creative arrangement of Naruke's original material. Some people thought this sounded aimless. Some people also just don't get it. :-)"
Despite the terribly emasculating effect of the punctuating emoticon, I'd tend to agree with Mr. Oji's assessment. I wouldn't call the piece aimless; while it doesn't have razor-sharp focus and juggernaut momentum, it perambulates meaningfully, and sounds good doing it. James rejoins us after a 3+ years hiatus, just like NoppZ, and just like NoppZ, he returns in style.
Discussion: Latest 11 comments/reviews; view the With that said, I had a hard time recognizing it, but it could be that I've only been recently acquainted with the music. I'm impressed with the delicate approach the mix takes though - it's quite moving, so it accomplishes that goal excellently.
- Bahamut on October 2, 2009
- DragonAvenger on November 17, 2008
- Radiowar on December 17, 2007
Some of the samples fall a little flat, most notably the solo cello , but ensemblewise, things are nicely blended. Once the soundfield gets full near the middle it sounds very good.
The best for last is the final 12 seconds or so. The piano and harp phrase itself is worth the price of admission, and is strong evidence that harp, piano, and heavy rubato have some secret seratonin-boosting effect on me. Absolutely phenomenal. I could seriously listen to the last phrase on loop all day, and an entire mix in this style would be amazing.
- OA on June 21, 2007
I actually felt an illusion of a presence within that piece... :oops:
:cry: :cry:
or am I just schizophrenic?
- Jabberbox on December 28, 2006
The whole atmosphere makes me think of a deep forest, a place where no human being has ever been before. Very laid back.
Good work.
- Martin Penwald on December 25, 2006
Contrary on what others think, this gave me a great sensation of my own experience in the game. The way the instruments are handled in the production is what warmed me, very soft and gentle tone. Samples blend with great effect. Around 2:45, the brass was suddenly very dry sounding, I felt this broke from the mood a bit :( giving a sort of, cheesy TV effect if you know what I mean. That's my only down side to this song.
The arrangement is certainly endeering, very cinematically brought forward, good enough for a quality anime if I might say. Nicely brought together, emotion and atmosphere is definately limelighted.
Nice one!
- RoeTaKa on December 6, 2006
- Miletus on December 4, 2006
Besides all that jazz I got a one sentence review prepared for this:
It is tasteful, exsquisite, and flows like a fine wine.
- avaris on December 3, 2006
- Barnsalot on December 3, 2006
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