ReMix:Mega Man 2 "Flash Man and the Sorcerer's Stone Man" 5:12

MEGA POTTER!! ...or perhaps... HARRY MAN?!? Yeah, I like that better. From newcomer Deedubs (Mike DeWeese) comes a truly inspired orchestral/cinematic arrangement of "Flash Man" from Mega Man 2 & "Stone Man" from Mega Man 5 in the style of - you guessed it - John Williams' superlative score to the Harry Potter films!

I love it when a plan comes together, and Mike's concept to arrange these two themes in this specific style is really executed to the nines. When the first HP film came out and that simple celeste motif played, I remember thinking that while it reminded me of the impercial march from Empire Strikes Back a bit, it still represented yet ANOTHER memorable, stirring melody from a modern genius, and with each film more new ideas & pieces popped up that confirmed JW's continued mastery. Deedubs done did a delicious job of exploring the familiar "Flash Man" theme & less familiar "Stone Man" while working squarely in the atmosphere Williams created:

"Hedwig's Theme" from the soundtrack of the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone movie is my favorite track from the music of the series. A few months ago, while listening to the Mega Man 2 soundtrack, I got the idea to arrange the "Flash Man Stage" theme in the style of "Hedwig's Theme." It wasn't too difficult to change the original 4/4 meter into 3/4. However, "Hedwig's Theme" has three distinct sections: a main melody in 3/4 time, a second melody in 4/4 time, and then an outro recalling the 3/4 theme. What proved to be difficult was finding another Mega Man track to arrange for that second section that could fit well with the 3/4 Flash Man theme, yet still have a Harry Potter feel to it. Coincidentally, the music from Stone Man's stage from Mega Man 5 proved to be a nice fit, albeit more upbeat than the Harry Potter music I was attempting to imitate. I close out the arrangement with an intense return of the Flash Man theme. I used several sample libraries from Cinesamples, Cinematic Strings, and EastWest when making this track."

Levels are a little low so you'll wanna turn it up a bit, but keep in mind that Mike delivers on a finale that does escalate & elevate the "epic" factor. Hallmark celeste enters and right off the bat, if you're like me, your brain will be hearing BOTH Mega Man and Harry Potter simultaneously. It's like... magic. Seriously, really works quite well; some of that is the inherent strength of the concept, but a lot of it is in the execution, and DURN does the artist have fun with runs! So many runs! RAD STRING/WIND RUNS! I like the blend of ensemble and solo part-writing; clarinet & horn, among others, poke out of the fray at just the right points, and when that full ensemble horn section hits towards the end, it's just classic Williams. Chimpazilla writes:

"I'm pretty impressed with this, it really feels like Harry Potter while being very true to the source tunes. Flash Man is very easy to recognize, Stone Man is a little trickier but it's still there, with some bits of original material stringing everything together. Terrific use of the samples! The glock has a bit of resonance here and there but I'm over it. I'm transported away to Hogwart's!"

There's always a certain novelty of hearing "X" familiar theme arranged in the style of "Y" other familiar theme - it's an accessible way to get attention on YouTube & other venues that tend to reward almost any such recombination - but in my mind the merit of such pieces boils down to whether they deliver on the full potential of the concept & also whether the two themes (in this case three) actually lend themselves to the process. I did this myself, recently, with hopefully some degree of success... Any two pieces of music will allow such an approach, but when it's truly facilitated ("meant to be") AND the arranger can take that opportunity to its fullest extent? That's when you get some awesomeness happening, and that's what I think Deedubs delivers, here. Great debut that channels the best of both worlds; definitely a ReMix I'll be coming back to often & one that has me looking forward to any future submissions!