ReMix: Wave Race 64 'Serenity's Wake'
- Game: Wave Race 64 (Nintendo, 1996, N64)
- ReMixer(s): Sole Signal
- Composer(s): Kazumi Totaka
- Song(s): 'Main Theme'
- Posted: 2010-02-12, evaluated by djpretzel
Sole Signal (formerly Audix and always Greg Michalec) writes:
"This remix marks my arrangement of one of my favorite game themes. The style is a little more reserved than what I usually do, and reminds me somewhat of Disco Dan's Riptide mix. I just redesigned my website and realized that I don't have half as many remixes actually released as I have halfway done sitting around on my hard drive. Hopefully this submission (and others) will help to rectify that. :)"
Nice to see some Wave Race action up in here, specifically Wave Race 64; I was unfamiliar with this source, but figured since it's Kazumi Totaka it pretty much has to be good. Turns out I was right, so thanks to Greg for shinin' a light on it. Mix intros with some rain and ambient pads, then a small synth melody starts off and gradually grows into something bigger. Very major-key, upbeat vibe, with cross-panned bongo riffs on top of a straight four-on-the-floor dance beat, and tons of filtered, shiny synthesizers. Love the dropout section at 1'45" with mellow piano chords underneath... it feels like a watery oasis, which is completely appropriate given the source material. Greg definitely panned a lot of the synth leads pretty hard left and right on mixdown... occasionally, on headphones, a couple synths went too far left for my taste, but the opposite - dumping all elements into the center and essentially ignoring the stereo spectrum - is a hundred times worse, so kudos to using that space.
What I specifically dig here, beyond the solid groove and straightforward, enjoyable arrangement, is that the production has an overall sheen to it that gives the highs a lot of breathing room and emphasis, making the whole piece seem like a light breeze on a cool, refreshing shore. In other words, the production really syncs up with the atmosphere of being near the ocean, and I think that adds an intangible benefit to what's already a strong track. Great work from Sole Signal, good to see his first submission in 2010 and our first Wave Race mixage, and looking forward to seeing what else he has in store for us this year!
- DJ_BATTLETESTED on July 24, 2010
- Rozovian on May 28, 2010
Nice work.
- Martin Penwald on March 7, 2010
Sole Signal;649706 wrote: For fans of the music, just happened across this cool video; it's an Owl City cover of the main theme. Pretty sweet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSKrRuYWRN4&feature=related
Awesome, thanks for sharing!
- Geoffrey Taucer on February 25, 2010
For fans of the music, just happened across this cool video; it's an Owl City cover of the main theme. Pretty sweet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSKrRuYWRN4&feature=related
- Sole Signal on February 25, 2010
- Bahamut on February 17, 2010
the song takes away the original atmosphere of the OST and makes it sound...robotic.
yeah that's my feeling. i love wave race's music (well, everything by Totaka), though in this arrangement the things i originally liked are all... gone :( the laid back latin feel and lush instrumentation. and where are those glorious jazzy harmonies hiding? admittedly the title music isn't the best example of this on the OST though.
regardless, it's a convincing arrangement, and has some slick production. solid execution for what it is.
- Dave Harris on February 15, 2010
- Swordfyre on February 13, 2010
Glad to see the mixer of my favorite song [URL="http://ocremix.org/forums/../remix/OCR01706/"]Day's End[/URL] back in business.
This is an absolutely awesome mix. Calm, confident, and sounds gorgeous.
- Igami on February 12, 2010
Really great upbeat stuff, just my thing, and having it done so well is awesome. Nice work indeed! :-)
PS.
Another great version of this theme was done a few months back at DoD by Scaredsim and Harjawaldar. Really nice stuff as well, but very different.
[url="http://dod.vgmix.com/past/2009-08-august/01-Scaredsim,Harjawaldar-WaveRace64-Sand-DoD.mp3"]here[/url]
- OA on February 12, 2010
- Emunator on February 12, 2010
- Geoffrey Taucer on February 12, 2010

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