I remixed 12 tracks this year - one a month - what next?

[Dino Kid]

This year, I set myself the challenge or releasing a new remix each month to my YouTube channel in an attempt to get me making music more, finishing more, and posting more. Overall I enjoyed the challenge, I certainly feel I got better at working faster, and the overall quality of things like sound design and arrangement have improved too.

If it's not considered too self promotiony (and hopefully not in the complete wrong place on the forum) I'd like to share the links here: 

1. Stella's Departure by Max LL from Spiritfarer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S98TkKgkp8Q

This is a slow moving hip hop kind of thing, I think I was mostly drawn to this to use some nice sounding instruments to cover a lovely piece of music (a theme we'll see a few times here).

2. Red Rock Riveria - Sea Power from Disco Elysium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSU77UsUxmA

This one is a kind of UK Garage inspired thing that I came up with playing on the Novation Circuit Rhythm and had to see the idea through to its completion. It's messy, but I found that the more I refined it the further it got from my original idea.

3. Dire Dire Docks - Koji Kondo from Super Mario 64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNdPFHUJ7QU

You can only do so many remixes before doing a Mario track, (Zelda too, we'll get there!). This one is a soft ambient piece that makes use of grain synthesis and filtering to create that underwater holiday feel. I might submit this one (if you agree). 

4. Ape Escape Theme - Soichi Terada from Ape Escape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7GpczQnW7g

I have vivid memories of playing this one on Playstation which are evoked everytime I load up the soundtrack for this game which is fantastic. I took it one step further on the 90s nostaliga and turned into an old school drum and bass piece. I think this is the best of the lot and would look to submit it based on feedback.

5. City of Tears - Christopher Larkin from Hollow Knight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgsoLLoiN1I

Another ambient one here. I've remixed the Hollow Knight soundtrack before, and struggled to pick which piece I wanted to do, so it was easy to come back and do more. The way harmony is created in this score is charmingly eerie, and this piece in particularly lends itself really well to the space needed for an ambient piece. My remix is perhaps a little dull though.

6. Panacea - Disasterpeace from Hyper Light Drifter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beOsqG-nM7o

I've always loved this song and wanted to do something with it. Being pushed to get it out in a month made me settle on house which I generally find fast to put together, I'm glad it did, I think it suits the peace quite well. 

7. Zorras Domain Night - Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata and Hajime Wakai from Breath of The Wild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6uubvpQJ2k

Here's that Zelda remix. This didn't turn out as well as I hoped, and when you're on a deadline you kinda just have to make the best of what you've got and move on. A good thing really, better than getting stuck too deep in it if it could only ever turn out so well. 

8. Out of Tartarus - Darren Korb from Hades

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHVUJk2oao

This one is a bit silly, This took a look of recomposing and adjusting time signatures, something I shy away from but fully embraced for this. I think this is the most "remixed" track on this list. 

9. Glider - Japanese Breakfast from Sable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpVwN-zVrHQ 

Got to work with vocals, thanks deezer algorithim! This one came out quite well but I don't think its anything too special. Another example of "here's my version of this". 

10. A Moment's Peace - Yuji Takenouchi from Dark Souls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1pZIhuOjnQ

I've always admired the music in these games, but remixing them into the sorts of genres I work in has always seemed a bit far away. It's really just the way this melody makes me feel that made me stick with this one and put my own spin on it. 

11. Fight On - Nobu Uematsu from Final Fantasy VII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3H8tBIFzhE

Another nostalgia trip for me, I wanted to do something other than breakbeats because this list is already heavy on them. Initially I was thinking funky and slow, but you just can't deny the energy of this piece, so I leant into it. The ending is a bit rushed. 

12. Mysterious Destiny - Takahiro Izutani from Bayonetta 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GifLff5cEbc 

Speaking of rushed... I somehow heard this track playing out as a Christmas song in my head a couple of months ago and I decided to try and make that a reality. It got a bit messy, especially as I had to balance this with finishing a large freelance project, but having this challenge made me push through and at least put something out to finish the collection. 

If you made it this far (and if this post is allowed to stay up) then my sincere thanks to you. I realise I probably enjoyed writing this more than anyone will reading it. I'm wondering what to do next, whether I should polish some of these up for submission or move back to creating some more original pieces to take forward what I've learned. Suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

Tom

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Dino Kid

[Eino Keskitalo]

Cool goal and congrats for achieving it! I can see how with such a goal both the speed and quality would come up. Do you think you'll keep up a regimen like this? It sounds like you were able to keep it fresh for yourself for a year?

[Dino Kid]

Thanks! 
I was thinking I might switch to one every two months or something, but I'm also quite keen to spend some time working on original material so it might depend on how that goes. 

As you say keeping it fresh is the appeal, if I've got an idea I think I'll be more keen to see it through as a result of this.