ReMix:Fittest "Contrapuntal Field" 2:52

Congrats to Andy & Jillian Aversa on the purchase of a seriously schnazzy new home! To celebrate we've got a ReMix of Andy's music to XB360 shooter Fittest from timaeus222 (Truong-Son Nguyen) that mixes in some Sonic 3 "Hydrocity" for a delicious blend of funk & EDM:

"So, as usual, I was inspired by zircon (hope you're listenin', man!), but I think Joshua Morse, Kruai, and Pentatonix got thrown into the mixture too. Andy's Dungeonmans livestreams were very helpful in that they provided insight into harmonic interplay and interesting scales (e.g. octatonic, whole tone, etc.). I incorporated some of those in a few fills here and there. The JM influence is indirect; Andy was inspired by Josh on "Morsecode" and maybe "Fusion Master," and I was inspired by Andy, so, naturally, I must be inspired by Josh, right? LOGIC! ;) Listening to Kruai's stuff made me want to incorporate some dubstep with the jazz and the ambience. Lastly, Pentatonix was probably why I even tried so hard on the bass. Dare I call this... funkstep?!

Throughout this track, there was something that actually surprised me. There are two key changes, and I wasn't aware of either of them until I went back and analyzed my own ReMix. I had to sing out the melody I was thinking of in the current key and compare it to how it was in the other key to realize that I had modulated to a new key using harmonic shenanigans I couldn't even explain (secondary dominance or something :V). That aside, I really wanted to highlight the bass here, making it sound as if it were alive. That was tough by itself, let alone nestling it in an enveloping convolution of wobbles, electric piano, glitched acoustic piano (1:58, 2:16), cowbell, flexatone (the new cowbell! :D), and synth leads. It involved some very meticulous automation and part-writing to get it to punch through cleanly, but I thought it was worth it in the end. :) Alright, I hope you guys didn't doze off reading this, because listening to the actual track will definitely wake you up (I promise there's no Auto-Tune, if you get my drift)! Get ready for some funkstep!"

This is definitely some of timaeus' best bass work yet - funky, flavorful, and track-defining, it's got the swagga & it works overtime to make this arrangement shine. Palpable writes:

"This is a pretty out-there song, even given that it remixes some, uh, music theory-heavy songs. The arrangement starts with some jazzy chords and funky bass, before leading into some dubby growls that pave the way for Hydrocity, which is a welcome addition to the source stew. I hesitate to ever describe dubstep elements as tasteful, but let's say what's here is as tasteful as it gets while still clearly being dubstep. There's some chord changes and strange detours, but overall I can follow what Timaeus was thinking and enjoy the journey. I especially dug the ending, which ends on an unresolved chord and beautiful arpeggio."

Larry writes:

"zirc's work on Fittest was already funky, with "Fusion Master" in particular bringing me back to fun times listening to John Baker's ToeJam & Earl soundtrack. Look through Truong-Son's extensive notes in the MP3 tags for his source tune usage breakdown so you can fully appreciate the arrangement. I'm not sure why or how timaeus bridged the connection of the two Fittest sources with "Hydrocity Zone," but the back-and-forth between the three themes flows naturally, almost channeling the game-meshing sixth sense that Dj Mystix is known for. It's a deceptively short track that packs a lot of energy and artist-love into the near-three minutes. zircon, Joshua Morse, Kruai, and Pentatonix (call us!) have all been done proud, and timaeus makes his comfort with funk music seem like second nature. Excellent stuff showing off his range! :-)"

Nothing else to add; great stuff, congrats to timaeus on his funkiest bass yet and congrats to the Aversas on their new home!