Emunator Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Comments: Last October I visited my longtime friend and one of my favorite musicians of all time, Theophany, for a weekend and we had a chance to speak at length about our creative processes and some of the tricks he uses to create such organic, one-of-a-kind soundscapes. That visit gave me a huge burst of inspiration, and almost immediately when I returned home from the trip I began to work on a new remix. Roughly 50 hours of work later, this is what emerged. It features plenty of my signature bells and pads and a heavy focus on atmosphere, as always, but I think you'll agree that this is far different from my usual style. I wanted to create something dark, brooding, and extremely dramatic to really capture the larger-than-life spirit of the Chrono Trigger storyline. I took a lot of inspiration from film scores like Inception, post-rock bands like Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and of course Theophany's own music. One of my challenges here was to create a track with a cinematic edge that could fit in with a movie trailer, without actually using any traditional orchestral instrumentation but still maintaining a heavily organic sound. I leaned heavily on ethnic instrumentation such as a shakuhachi, dulcimer, bells, and a bowed acoustic guitar, as well as various electronic percussion/pads to achieve this. At the time of writing this, the final 2-minute climax of this track is my favorite thing I've written to date for any song. I was particularly proud of the modulation of Schala's theme into the proper key at 4:22, as well as the distorted bowed guitar section that follows after the final climax, which was inspired directly by the live performance insanity of Sigur Rós, who is far and away the most intense and magical live band I've ever seen. I'm very proud of this remix, hope you all enjoy! Sources: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Places where I recognized source - :35-2:37.5, 3:30.25-3:42.5, 3:46.5-4:55.5 (quiet) I didn't readily recognize "The Day the World Revived" much, but it didn't matter. I ain't tellin' this guy nothin'. Nice work, Wes. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 This track is not dark nor brooding, sorry to say. It is however an awesome arrangement with some really great ambiance. Cinematic is a good word to define it, as to me it evokes feelings of something epic. I liked how the original cues were adapted in different ways throughout the track, as the oiginal bell melody is transformed several times before we reach the end. The electronic drums work well in conjunction with the cinematic hits, just as well as the synthetic pads work with the orchestral cellos and other strings. Overall, this was not only a great marriage of two sources but of synth & orchestral elements. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMonz Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 This is amazing! You really have a gift for creating engaging atmospheres. There's so much attention to detail in all parts, it's insane. Every instrument is handled with a lot of taste, and the SFX are beautifully placed and contribute incredibly well to the ambiance. The way the structure keeps flowing in multiple directions kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire duration. The subtle shifts in the harmonies are super clever. The sudden drop of energy around 2:38 was a nice, refreshing surprise. And when things pick up around 4:25... Wow! (Also, source definitely isn't a problem.) Truly amazing. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Hey, a Schala mix. <Insert snarky comment here> Solid work here. Plenty of source use throughout. Melodies and backing patters from the original are used very creatively throughout. Nice soundscape here and very clear production. After a while, the middle section (1:45 - 2:38) felt like it was droning on a bit without much in the way of changes to the core pattern or sounds used. Next section was a nice breakdown transition from it, though, so no biggie. 3:33 melody felt overly quiet compared to the other elements. Even if it's supposed to be subtle, it just sounds like a sequencing mistake. Great use of percussion elements to nail down the atmosphere. You squeezed a lot of energy out of the mix, especially as it progressed further. The buildup to 5:05 was very cool. Great track. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 On 3/21/2016 at 8:37 AM, Liontamer said: Places where I recognized source - :35-2:37.5, 3:30.25-3:42.5, 3:46.5-4:55.5 (quiet) I didn't readily recognize "The Day the World Revived" much, but it didn't matter. I ain't tellin' this guy nothin'. Nice work, Wes. YES Larry, just to clarify - my usage of 'The Day the World Revived' can be found in the shakuhachi melody from :52 - 1:15 and 4:35 - 4:50, and also, the flute melody from 3:04 - 3:22 is from :07 in Schala's theme (the string pattern.) Pretty marginal, and like you said, the Schala bells are all over this thing (sometimes reversed) so it should check out on source usage regardless, but I wanted to point that usage out because I don't think a lot of people will notice the part at 3:04 Cheers everyone! djpretzel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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