ReMix:Chrono Trigger "Sunrise" 2:50

Ivan Hakštok follows up his Gunstar Heroes mixpost debut from September 9th with fan favorite Chrono Trigger, offering a mellow rock ballad arrangement of one of the game's lesser-known & shorter source tunes:

"I started doing this one for the Jingle Month on DoD, but I had couple of exams at college and couldn't finish it on time. I began working on it again in April, and it was basically a 2-and-a-half-minute guitar solo over the same 3 chords over and over... not a good thing, I know xD, so after some time, I decided to do it from scratch, but less guitar-oriented. I struggled a bit with finding the right e-piano samples, synth sounds and guitar tone, but in the end it turned out better than I expected.

Since this is based on a 6-second source, I think the judges deserve a breakdown:

• 0:00-0:37 - original intro
• 0:38-0:56 - synth solo, plays the source 4 times (4th time, the source is played off-beat)
• 0:57-1:14 - repeating the intro but with more instrumentation, glockenspiel plays the source off-beat on the 2nd and 6th measure
• 1:15-1:32 - guitar solo, plays the source 3 times, then plays a lower harmony to the source once
• 1:33-1:51 - synth solo no. 2, plays the source 3 times with the 3rd time being a minor variation, then the e-piano plays the source once off-beat
• 1:52-2:10 - synth solo no. 3, similar to the first one
• 2:11-2:50 - original guitar solo with the source played on the e-piano in the background

I hope you'll enjoy listening to it as much as I do. :)"

Think skygazing, uplifting, inspired-sense-of-wonder rock ballad with glide synths & guitar jammin' - just enough rough edges to lend a casual, impromptu vibe. Larry writes:

"This quickly reminds me of Joshua Morse, Mustin & Diggi Dis's hidden track on the Bad Dudes' Chronotorius album, which was a masterful arrangement of "Prayer" in all of its 3-note glory. It was really exciting seeing "Good Night" as the source and wondering if Ivan could pull off something substantive with a mere 7 notes to work with.

As I waited for the download to finish, I did worry a bit on whether he could get the mileage and variation out of the theme that we're looking for, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. Ivan was easily up the challenge, expanding upon the base of the source, varying the notes, adding a bassline following the chord progression, and integrating smooth original writing with the electric guitar behind the lead to round things out."

I got more of a Dale North/Kaijin sorta vibe, as they both love them some ballads, but this definitely has a rougher, rock attitude with the guitars + some loose timing where it takes on a different character. Great job expanding on a minimal source; the fade at the very end is quite abrupt, and is probably my biggest nitpick, but otherwise this is a heartfelt take on the lesser-explored side of Chrono Trigger and a thoughtful adaptation of a short-but-sweet Mitsuda classic!