OCR04871 - *YES* Kid Icarus: Uprising "Aurum Borealis"

[prophetik music ⚖️]

Collabers: Jabo (on guitar), Newmajoe (on sax ensemble), AarekMG (on trumpet).

Yet another DoD month, yet another submission. Hot from Alien month in october 2024, the theme was to pick a source/game related to aliens. I picked "Aurum Island" from Kid Icarus: Uprising, a game (and soundtrack) very underrated by the general videogame crowd. This theme plays in a random alien invasion arc in the game so it was eligible! I've loved it since I played the game, since it's a random smooth jazz track in what's (generally) a soundtrack composed of bombastic orchestral arrangements. For my take on the track I decided to keep part of the original's instrumentation, recruiting Joe and Nathan to make a fun ensemble. I added, as usual, electric guitars in the form of frequent collaber Jabo. Since the DoD theme was "Alien" I decided to pick some less expected sounds to finish the soundscape, like a synth bass instead of a real bass, electronic toms on the drums and several random SFX like weird sounds and glitches. I think the arrangement came out with a fun and fresh sounds because of that. In terms of arrangement, outside of chord changes here and there the main variation I did over the original was switching some parts from 4/4 to 7/8, but I'll detail that later. Track ended up coming 4th, a good result in what was a very stacked competition!

Breakdown:

0:00-00:30: Intro, the goal here was to introduce the main elements of the soundscape. It's kinda based on the source intro's buildup but I added an original chord progression.

00:30-1:15: Main melody of the source. Here I switched the main arpeggio to 7/8 for the fun aspect, although there's some bars that return to 4/4.

1:15-1:25: Original riff based on the main arpeggio.

1:25-1:46: Based on the second main melody of the source (played by the synth lead).

1:46-2:05: Another buildup with toms and fun chords!

2:05-2:24: Just like in Waka Waka, Aarek gets to shine with a jazzy solo!

2:25-2:38: Saxes and guitar play the main melody over a constantly moving chord progression.

2:38-2:49: This riff closes each loop in the source, I made it more metal here and it sounds really cool IMO.

2:58-3:38: Repeat of the second main melody but now much more similar to the source. Followed by a sax solo on a transposed version of the same chord progression.

3:38-end: Metal riff returns but now with awesome sax over it! Makes for a powerful ending!

Hope you enjoy!

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Games & Sources

Game: Kid Icarus: Uprising

Source: Aurum Island

[prophetik music ⚖️]

this is a really surprising and weird original.

fade-in with some arcade cabinet samples alongside the saxes and kit. sax parts sound straight out of a 50s floor band, love the tone. 0:30 the guitar comes in (feels a bit loud) and the main melodic concepts make their first appearance. i get what's going on, but 0:58 felt a little disjointed. 1:15's a bit of a shift to provide some contrast. i didn't like the stutters at 1:21 despite usually liking that kind of thing given how verby everything else was - really sounds forced in there.

1:25's break with the keys and smooth synth is really nice, you nailed the style there. there's a build into some solo content, and i love aarek's tone on this solo. i also appreciate how much they lean into the wonkiness available in the chords - it's very angular and fits surprisingly well. section after this at 2:25 is again a bit heavy on guitar, but i like the continuing focus on goofing with the background chords to mix it up.

great solo at 3:20. this whole section feels a lot more fusion with the guitar and synth bass, so the really aggressive sax tone fits super well. ending squares up the beat and melody, and there's one last big fall before it's done.

this is a slam dunk. i love the mix of genres, the approach with the live instruments alongside the obvious synth elements, and the shape of the arrangement overall. excellent work.

 

 

YES

Edited November 6, 2024 by prophetik music
forgot the YES lol

[Liontamer ⚖️]

That's a cool source tune; hey hey! Gonna have to check out the rest of this soundtrack at some point. Kid Icarus wasn't the most iterated upon franchise, so I have 0 conception of what its audio signature, so to speak, would be. From the sound of it, neither did Nintendo; never would have thought a track like this would be in a modern Kid Icarus game. Has a semi-stealthy vibe, so I'm interested in what jnWake could do with it.

Arrangement opens with pew-pews and the foreshadowing that this was going to go in a jazzier direction. Rocks out and Fs with the time sig at :30; a subtle yet cool curveball. The overall style approach has a great deal of swagger to it.

Always down for some FM synth spices sprinkled in there, even if it's just a little bit. Nice energy to the geetar at 2:05, giving more energy to the source melody compared to past iterations and interplaying well with the brass.

Not gonna play-by-play the rest, but smart stuff per jnWake's usual. The intelligence of the arranging will make you feel smarter, it'll get the brain juices flowing.

OH SNAP, sax solo at 3:19! Don't hurt 'em, newmajoe! Jabo, Aarek, Joe, a tip of the cap for bringing Wake's wildness to life. :-)

Bruh, this is FUN.

YES

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

Wow, more please, and how is this still in the queue? It's awesome.

This is all kinds of weird and unexpected that I've come to expect from the mind of jnWake. There's even some new ear candy tricks that you implored to great effect here. Those glitch-slicing transition into a phaser was awesome.

I gotta give props to Jabo because they're mostly relegated to a supporting role, but was handled so well. Not in your face when I know they have the capability of really shredding and shining. Joe is always excellent and this one is no exception.

Really digging the arrangement as the source is immediately apparent, but with all of the awesome interpretation goodness all over. All of the performers sound great, with excellent performances. With a crystal clear mix of everything. The only danger was approaching very busy parts in the mid-to-high range could potentially step on toes. You all managed to avoid that though. I'm left asking why no bari sax in there too? But that's just a fun idea :)

Absolute aurum. Great work.

YES