ReMix:Seiken Densetsu 3 "Memories of the Sea" 2:39

By Joe Bommarito

Arranging the music of one song...

"Innocent Sea"

Primary Game: Seiken Densetsu 3 (Square , 1995, SNES), music by Hiroki Kikuta

Posted 2003-08-07, evaluated by djpretzel


Wow - especially when compared to Kikuta's original, which while a great melody doesn't stand out for its instrumentation - this arrangement of "Sea of Innocence" from SD3 by newcomer Joe Bommarito is quite an eloquent, developed, well-realized ReMix. Anchored by an articulate, detailed acoustic guitar, the work intros with ambient ocean noises, then a bass joins in, the ocean fades out, and a flute comes in with the very sorrowful, reticent melody. Drums naturally follow the melody, with some great fills varying in subtlety - I love the oscillating presence the percussion track has here, sometimes taking the forefront for a lead-in or fill but often pushing the track forward more indirectly. There's great strings and a cool electric piano that at times doubles the melody and adds some nice ornamentation to it as well. The instruments all blend exceptionally well; the production and the fact it's a well-arranged ballad remind one a little of some of Kaijin's pieces, which is a great mixer to be likened to on a first submission, I would say. There's also a great piano solo to boot - all in about 2'40", a length which some might find a little brief but which allows for quite a developed musical statement in this case. Ending is a little anti-climactic, though I like how the bass hangs over, very low such that you have to listen for it to even know it's there. Great first submission; everything's there, it takes a relatively spartan but quality original track and builds on it in a lot of unique and musical ways, mixing is clean, and from the drums to the guitar to the piano, performance is human and flowing. Recommended.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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dirtywhitellama
on 2013-04-16 00:25:06

Love this track, I enjoyed it at the first listen but it didn't stand out all that much to me, good enough to end up on my flash drive though and it came up the other day on my way to work and I havent been able to listen to it enough times since, can't get it out of my head. Its just beautiful!

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sphexic
on 2012-10-14 23:01:13

I've never played SD3, but this has a great atmosphere. It calmly expresses a deep kind of anguish. Loving the sudden increase in energy at 45", and the subtle pitch bend added to the flute adds a nice nuance. I agree that velocities could've been played with more, but every instrument has volume and clearly audible. And that bass (oh so ubiquitous in SNES RPGs) provides a great contrast to the higher instruments.

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OA
on 2008-04-30 11:41:15

Some of the samples are a bit fakey, like that guitar. I think it wouldn't stick out so much if there were more velocities. Despite this, this is a pretty nicely done mix. The bass part is interesting, and the drums are tastefully done.

This is more of an upgrade rather than a complete re-imagining, but it works very well and the thoughtful touches like the sea sound effects and varied lead instruments make it great on repeat listens to just chill to.

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avaris
on 2007-05-09 11:09:45

This is defiantly one of my favorite source tunes. I have been listeniing to this mix for months now. The instrumentation compliments the compisition perfectly in mind. The 16th notes in the melody really add extra character to the feel of the song. Overally a very relaxing piece of music.

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Bummer
on 2005-09-09 10:59:01

Very touching, reminds me very much

of chrono trigger, but hey, this

is good stuff too.

It´s good that you chose flute and piano,

you can´t have a song with "memory" in

it´s name without those.

I give you 5 of 5 points for this.

Keep them coming Bommarito!

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Alex2007
on 2003-11-30 17:56:32

very nicely done. If I hadn't stolen the ROM from my sister, i never would have ever even looked at this one. It feels very sad and wistful. The flute/recorder thingy solo is excellent, but i thought the ending kind of...dropped off into nothingness.. i'm not sure if that what you were going for. nevertheless, great job on your first work. one more thing, i like the melody a lot and the guitar hidden in there!

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Paragon
on 2003-08-08 18:54:09

Ahh. . .is there any non-battle VG song that doesn't sound awesome with acoustic guitars playing the melody? The bass is a little loud at times, but it's not enough for me to call this mix anything less than great.

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Starblaze
on 2003-08-08 08:14:24

Personally, I thought there could have been a bit more going on throughout this. Although the arrangement is overall enjoyable, it seemed too spread out and understated.

Everything else I have thought has already been said.

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SamuraiFoochs #Reload
on 2003-08-07 20:09:28

I definitely like this......it's got a nice serene feel to it, yet at the same time it doesn't lack strength and emotion. The transitions between instruments is done very well in my opinion. I look forward to seeing more of this mixer.

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nostalgic gen
on 2003-08-07 20:06:52

A really nice, tranquil piece. I particularly like the care taken on the flute patch to expressively add tremolo, vibrato and pitch bend.

The only possible complaint I might have is that the drumkit sounded hard panned. This is probably because I was listening through headphones though. Not the best medium for analyzing a stereo mix :P

So yeah, ignore my false alarm ^_^

Nice work on this. I think it's acomplished everything that could be expected of it :)

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Joshua Morse
on 2003-08-07 17:00:00

Yes! I'm so happy to see Joe up here! Nice work Joe!

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Mr. Merc Kage
on 2003-08-07 07:57:17

theres a romantic appeal to this song to me and I guess it appeals to that deep down part of me..good rhythm..not forced and just a cool feel to it. Nice

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Eccles
on 2003-08-07 07:55:41

Beautiful...thats the word that describes this...beautiful.

I notice at some points the flute sounding instrument sounds as if it has a synth playing along with it...which I actually found to be enjoyable ^_^

As Matt said, the guitar work here is brilliant, though I disagree when he said more could have been done to make it sound real..it sounded perfectly fine to me.

The piano piece was excellent as well, which is great and as has been previously said, I kinda expected some sea sounds or something to come in, but its no big that they didnt.

While the track is perfectly long enough I found myself thinking "aww...is that it? Where's the rest?" cause I kinda expected more.

On the same vein, I dont really like the ending...

Though now I listen to it a second (and third ^_^) time, I find it to be okay...though I would have preferred something else (and once again I am at a loss to explain exactly what)

Overall a really good track...good for chillin out or usin as study music or somethin..nice work ^_^

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Shhteve
on 2003-08-07 04:36:50

Hum.. This isn't bad at all. Bear with me because I'm half asleep here, it's 1:35 AM right now but I felt like checking OCR to see the new stuff. I really love the guitar work and the guitar bassline work that was done in this Joe. I really hope that someday I can learn how to make an arrangement that sounds anything CLOSE to this. Once again, great work, I'm jealous. :)

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mp
on 2003-08-07 03:45:22

:22 totally pulls me in--the lead is delicate and gorgeous. the attention to detail on the guitar (complete with fretting noises) is quite excellent, although some could be done to make it feel more like a live performance (more attention to velocities, "imperfections" in playing). when the transition is made into :44, it sends chills down my spine. the accentuating bells scream kikuta and perfectly complement the haunting melody.

the guitar solo that begins at 1:06 moves us deeper into the piece--i think some ambience (sea or outside) could've spruced up the overall "feel" here, but the instrumentation and composition is great. the drumming is human and elaborate and that snare has just enough reverb on it. the original material meshes incredibly well with the piece, and i think the piano playing is natural and realistic, bringing the arrangement back around in full circle.

engaging, subtly gorgeous, well-produced, and an overall awesome first submission.

-m

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Seiken Densetsu 3 (Square , 1995, SNES)
Music by Hiroki Kikuta
Songs:
"Innocent Sea"

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File Information


Name:
Seiken_Densetsu_3_Memories_of_the_Sea_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
3,264,087 bytes
MD5:
bad59ffece532d97e4848820cf74607b
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
2:39

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