OCR03960 - *YES* Chrono Cross "Hydra Shadow"

[Gario]

RebeccaETripp
Rebecca Tripp

http://www.crystalechosound.com/
ID: 48262
Game(s): Chrono Cross
Song Title: Hydra Shadow

Songs Remixed: Hydra’s Swamp/Poison Pond
Comments: I sent this yesterday but it somehow didn’t go through and isn’t in my sent messages box.  I’d really appreciate it if this could count as a “March 16” submission!

 

[MindWanderer]

Solid Tripp production, as ever.  A fairly straightforward arrangement but the orchestration is sufficient.  It's not a terribly memorable arrangement, sort of half-ambient, but it gets the job done.

YES

[Sir_NutS]

This is up to Rebecca's usual production standards so that's good, however, this one feels pretty different from her other works due to the unique instrumentation.  There's more of an exotic adventure feel with this one than the usual soft and dreamy mood we get from her arrangements, and I think that's great!  The arrangement as a whole works well and I enjoyed the change of scenery.

YES

[Liontamer]

Excellent personalization per Rebecca's usual arrangement approaches. Some of the lower string sequencing strained for credibility during brief moments, but it wasn't anything that stood out in a huge way, just something small I noticed. Nothing but love here.

YES

[prophetik music]

what a delightful opening. shades of Music for Prague 1968's first movement in the solo flute amidst a sea of percussion. i also really appreciated the zither's false-clumsy atonality going on - i would love to see you explore that kind of really weird stuff more. the arrangement outside this opening section felt really 'safe' for me - you do a great job of passing the melody around and maintaining a clever balance of spacing and ensemble scoring, but there's definitely not much here that wasn't already said in the original.

the brass at :22 are pretty bad. but you make up for it almost immediately with a lot of attention to the continued ostinado in the low strings and reeds. there's a bit of uncanny valley at :56 with the clarinets, but again, you clear that up quick with that great winds section right after at 1:01, and nice transition into the flute melody with tambourine and percussion.

i absolutely love 1:29's three-against-two section. playing with time in a chrono cross remix is such a great example of using the source context to inform the remix, and to be honest listening to this part is what made me know that this was gonna be an OCR. it is instrumented perfectly, combining plectral and winds in such an expressive way.

1:47 brings us back to earth a bit - the trombones and bassoons both are a bit clumsy and remind us that they're not real. the use of (what i think are) concert toms or rototoms at 2:10 to atonally mirror the melody is a nice transition, though, and the higher bassoon solo section really speaks well. 

2:22's hearkening to the famous extended arpeggio in the harp is a nice touch to ground that section into the rest of the work despite the significant tone shift. the subsequent ritardando and ending are also well-executed and show subtlety.

if i had to really complain about anything, it's that the arrangement, which does a good job of exploring a strongly melodic source in a variety of timbres with good scoring elements, is too safe. the remix is skillfully done from a production standpoint (albeit quiet), and it's demonstrating a firm grasp of how to use the standard orchestral suite. i would encourage you to continue to always think outside the box on your remixes to ensure that you're not settling into a groove. this track is a great step - it's significantly different from your usual style, and it explores some fun new instrumentation. continuing down that pathway of aural exploration can only be a positive for your future work.

YES