Liontamer Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 Contact Information Username: timaeus222 Name: Truong-Son Nguyen http://soundcloud.com/timaeus222 https://timaeusmusic.com/ - NEW DOMAIN AYO ID: 24526 Submission Information Games: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky ReMix Title: The True Final Fight! Consoles/Platforms: Nintendo DS OST Composers: Arata Iiyoshi, Hideki Sakamoto, Keisuke Ito, Kenishi Saito, Yoshihiro Maeda Source Tunes: "Vast Ice Mountain Peak", "Dialga's Fight to the Finish!" (attached) ReMix: - MP3 - WAV Comments: Something I had been meaning to do for a while was to load some good music into my phone, and among those included the Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky OST. One night, I had that on shuffle and randomly came across 'Vast Ice Mountain Peak' and started jamming to it (this is the theme that plays during the 5th Special Episode dungeon). I also recently have been watching videos from 8-bit Music Theory, and the one about how Octopath Traveler music changes keys was on my mind (I highly recommend you check that out!), so I latched onto that aspect of 'Vast Ice Mountain Peak' (0:36 - 1:11), and the gears were turning (see what I did there?). From what I gathered, 'Vast Ice Mountain Peak' seems to dance between two keys that are a perfect 4th apart (something Octopath Traveler does a lot), and bounces two different motifs off of each other (one that rises and one that falls), which both maintain their intervals in the new key. There were also cool descending chord progressions which still manage to return to the original key. So, the main thing I did at 0:35 - 1:10 is riff on those two motifs, but in a different sequence/structure than in the original. I also used the 'Time Gear' motif from 'Dialga's Fight to the Finish!' as a hook (1:11 - 1:28, 2:31 - 2:48) that was layered with the chorus (1:28 - 1:46, 2:48 - 3:06), mixing in a few other lines from that song (EX: 1:06 - 1:10). I kept the general structure from the original for the most part, at the climax (1:46 - 2:31), because it was just too good. Among the tools I used were the usual culprits --- Zebra2 primarily (pads, bass, arps, leads), with accomplices being Super Audio Cart (flute), Resonance: Emotional Mallets (Pipeharp), Juggernaut: Cinematic Electronic Scoring Tools (sweeps/risers), and Black Octopus Leviathan (drums/sweeps). I also utilized stuff from kiloHearts Essentials (Bitcrush + Ring Modulation on the drums), as well as SNESVerb (on the snare). One of the notable things I did from the sound design side was automate the ring modulation frequency on a snare to create that sweep at 0:26, something I picked up from zircon's Arcology livestream in Mar 2023. In a way, this immersive take actually hearkens back to an old submission I sent in to OCR regarding 'Dialga's Fight to the Finish', wayyy back in 2010, but dramatically improves upon it in a harmonically-striking fashion. This now became probably one of my personal favorite ReMixes I've ever done! With that, I hope you enjoy, Pokémon fans! Extra Info: Source Breakdown: 0:00.00 - 0:35.59 = Vast Ice Mountain Peak + rhythmic variation (0:00.00 - 0:35.59) 0:35.59 - 1:04:21 = Vast Ice Mountain Peak riffing (0:35.59 - 1:11.15) 1:04.21 - 1:11.15 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish riffing (0:11.35 - 0:16.13, 1:05.08 - 1:08.32) 1:11.15 - 1:46.71 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish Hook + Chorus (0:19.89 - 0:39.36, 0:00.00 - 0:16.13) 1:46.71 - 2:31.15 = Vast Ice Mountain Peak Climax (1:11.15 - 1:55.58) 2:31.15 - 3:06.71 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish Hook + Chorus (0:19.89 - 0:39.36, 0:00.00 - 0:16.13) 3:06.71 - 3:24.50 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish Outtro (0:19.89 - 0:39.36) 35.59 + 28.62 + 44.44 = 108.65/216.67 = 50.15% Vast Ice Mountain Peak 6.94 + 35.56 + 35.56 + 17.79 = 95.85/216.67 = 44.24% Dialga's Fight to the Finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 what excellent originals these are! i've never listened to this OST, clearly i need to now. neat opening. the downbeat isn't immediately clear which is neat, it requires active listening to catch where it's going. bass tone is great. there's some call and response going on with the lead elements which is a neat idea. the tinkling synths behind the section at 1:11 were also really delicate, i liked the nuance that provided. there's a break around 2:05 that shifts the vibe significantly. with no beat, it's all around rhythmic elements in the lead and pads, and it does a nice job driving it forward still. we get some filtro drums at 2:31 and that builds back to the melodic content of FttF at 2:49. after once through there, there's an outro fade-out. what a great track. i love the variety of synths used to represent the different tracks, and particularly like the attention paid to the excellent melodic material for both and how you interweaved them. the mastering is of course crystal-clear as is expected, and everything's mixed well so it's easy to hear what's what without anything getting covered up. excellent job YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted September 18, 2023 Author Share Posted September 18, 2023 Solid combination of themes; the tradeoffs provided some good textural and dynamic contrast. With such a thorough source usage breakdown, I just needed to quickly see that it made sense and then enjoy the production. Good meat to the beats here and a spacious soundscape throughout. You can just chill out to this. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 As usual from timaeus, I wouldn't even have known this was two sources if he hadn't told us. Smooth, elegant, and clean. Perfectly appropriate use of a fade-out. I really don't have much to critique here. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 I know if timaeus submits a track he's going to include a detailed timestamp, not that there's ever a doubt with his arrangements that there is enough source use. Thanks timaeus! Great intro, the bass does sound awesome, solid and huge right away! Lovely lead sounds, bells and plucks, and I'm loving the off-beat drum groove. The mix has a luscious, full feel. Mixing is great, mastering is appropriate although I suggest lowering your ceiling to -0.5 or -1db to avoid any possibility of clipping. Great mix of the two sources, totally seamless. I'm not a fan of fadeouts generally, but it works here since it is faded out after drums and leads have been dropped out. Fun listen! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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