OCR04404 - *YES* Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition "A Truth Found in Storms"

[Emunator]

Name: Michael Hudak

Website: https://michaelhudak.bandcamp.com/

Game arranged: Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Played it very briefly on Switch but I know it came out for PC and Xbox years before the Switch version came out.)

Song arranged: "Ori, Lost In the Storm"

ReMix title: "A Truth Found in Storms"

 

More "manual" granular synthesis; lots of micro-editing of different piano clips playing the original tune (some at normal pitch and others an octave down). Many grains are only a few dozen milliseconds long, just long enough for your brain to figure out the tone. Others are shorter still, only 1-2 ms, and only sound like tics. I wanted to use these tiny slivers to act as the raindrops in a storm, while other noises act as other stormy elements. It's meta, but that's the gist of it: to have the arrangement technique itself represent the environmental context of the original song, with the melody repeatedly appearing and dissolving like the rain itself (or perhaps thoughts?). I thought this was more interesting than adding rain and wind recordings to the background while a more traditional piano piece played, which I did toy with as a coda (similar to the 2nd half my Dire, Dire Docks ReMix), but scrapped. I guess this is the most similar to the Conker mix I did, which makes sense looking back, as I started both of them around the same time...but this one ended up being finished a couple of years later. 

 

 0:22 - 0:31 in the source is repeated several times in my arrangement, and sometimes 0:22 - 0:36 as well. There are 5-6 different iterations of that melody which appear in my mix at different speeds, pitches, and in various states of chopped-up-ness.

 

0:01 - 0:07 in the source starts appearing in the background of my mix starting at 1:51, 2:10. & 2:27, then finally at 2:44.

 

That's it!

 

[MindWanderer]

So... I get what this is going for.  It's very intentional.  But to me, it sounds absolutely horrible.

As I did the last time Michael sent in one of his experimental remixes that I just couldn't stand, I'm going to abstain from voting.  I just can't evaluate this based on all our usual criteria when the fundamental sound of it is so off-putting.

[DarkSim]

Well, I've been mulling this one over for 3 days. There's a certain sound in there that I recognise, but can't for the life of me remember where I've heard it before. I felt like I'd be able to provide better feedback if I could dredge up that connection from the recesses of my memory, but after hours of searching, I'm coming up empty. The sound I'm referring to is that reversed tail from the piano that starts to appear around 1:10, and is particularly evocative from 1:20-1:28 as the detuning starts to take effect.

My closest guess is that I've heard it on the soundtrack to a David Firth cartoon (the Salad Fingers guy), and looking at their soundtracks I can believe it was something by Boards of Canada or Aphex Twin.

Anyway, all this rambling and head-scratching may be relevant to me making some sort of point here regarding Mr. Hudak's offering. Michael often challenges the listener with his experimental style, pushing the limits of what may be considered music in some cases. Here we have a very recognisable (and pleasant!) melody throughout, that's been chopped around so as to provide a rhythmic texture in lieu of traditional percussion or effects. For the first minute or so I wasn't sold, but once the reversed samples come in and the timbre feels a little darker, then I was hooked.

Like the association with something I've heard but can't place, this track just teases and tugs at the melody, forcing the listener to go off on tangents of imagination, trying to piece things together. It's both intriguing and maddening at the same time, hearing delightful, sonorous piano chords that then vanish in an instant, and knowing that there's a beautiful melody in there somewhere that's never quite played how you'd wish to hear it.

The increasing white noise from 2:04-2:37 I don't think was a good choice, as it seems to stick out from the rest of the composition both in terms of mixing, and stylistic choice. The majority of the other sounds are a few seconds long at most, so to have white noise ramping up for 33 seconds without any chopping or changing felt strange to hear. You mention in your writeup that you intentionally didn't want wind or rain recordings as a backing, instead preferring to use the short chops for texture. I think that was largely achieved, so I have to ask why the white noise (which sounds a bit like rain) was needed?

Once again, fascinating stuff from Michael. I think I'm in a similar headspace when it comes to some of his tracks, however I do have to be in the mood to listen to them. This one definitely isn't going to be for everyone, but I just can't help but give it a

YES

[prophetik music]

great original. the audible action on the piano at the beginning and mirroring the voice with crotales/glock gives it such an intimate quality despite the lush orchestral sounds. ori's soundtrack is very good.

the concept here is very interesting. the heavy manipulation of the melodic content via slicing and use of negative space is much more evocative than i expected. i generally don't like the clipping artifact that you get from slicing without regard to the end of the waveform but it acts as a percussive element to keep track of what's going on. regular changing of the soundscape between heavily verbed and very in-front also helps to differentiate and focus the melodic recollections.

i particularly like the progression you get around 1:03. there's a very legato, drawn-out set of chords that slowly gets more warped as the (now-familiar) stutter pattern above it shifts more and more towards slices so short that they have no tone. that progresses in the opposite direction after about 1:29, and rather than focusing on the syncopation and stutters from the beginning, forms more of a ballad/chorus section until it gets washed out by the amp feedback. the following section is pleasingly regular and forms a good coda for the work. there's some silence there to trim but it's no biggie.

this is, as most of michael's works are, simultaneously engaging and challenging to listen to. there's a clear arc and journey to the song's structure (as ori is mostly about the journey, this is a great example of the game influencing the music's arrangement), there's a clear technique used throughout in a variety of ways, the original track is visible throughout, and it's mastered intentionally and with a deft touch. this is a great remix.

 

 

YES

[Liontamer]

It won't be for everyone, but a fun musical pointillism exercise incorporating the source tune throughout.

Knew prophetik would dig it, he gets the weird stuff.

YES

[Chimpazilla]

Clicks, pops, reverses, dry and wet sounds together yet so separate.  Soundscape is empty yet full.  Luscious piano mangled all to hell.  Rain.  Oh gosh I love this weird style.  It sounds to me like the track is being broadcast through some experimental new radio that receives sonic transmissions from an adjacent dimension.  Music being crunched through some unimaginable electric device.  It definitely isn't for everyone, but for me, it gives me goosebumps on top of goosebumps with all the weird feels.  Source aplenty; let's do this.

YES