ReMix:Mega Man 9 "Waltz of the Wind God" 2:12

A short, delicate, & somber solo piano waltz arrangement of "Tornado Man" from Mega Man 9, with a bit of a backstory to it; this piece was initially rejected for being too sparse, but a conversation with arranger Laura Platt on social media prompted Larry to revisit it & double-check the panel's consistent application of our standards & general bar for submissions. On reevaluation, the mix was accepted, and while it's definitely on the shorter side and has a minimalist vibe to it, I'm glad the call was reversed, as in its brevity it's still both interpretive & very moving:

"This is probably the most interesting solo piano piece I've worked on before, and definitely the most I've ever changed an original track to create an arrangement. This is definitely one of the harder things I've tried to achieve with an arrangement -- creating a standard 3/4 waltz from a 4/4 source. That switch from 4/4 to 3/4 is much harder than it sounds, and as a result I had a lot of fun giving the piece a completely different feel. While the first few phrases came quite easily, a couple of the main motifs don't lend themselves to 3/4 incredibly well without quite a lot of adjustment to make it sound more natural. As a result, I feel like the extra effort that I put in to make the track flow a bit more helped a lot in giving a more flowing and fragile side to the original, quite chaotic and fast-paced theme. Just for notice, the entire track was recorded in a single session. Mega Man 9 has some fantastic music, and I'm sure I'll end up creating more piano covers of its tracks in the future!"

While clocking in at two minutes & change, the arrangement and its performance create a frozen melancholy and re-imagine the source in a far more solemn moment, which reflects the thought Laura put into the construction. As part of "Team Take Two," MindWanderer's decision struck a chord with me:

"The emotive playing, the transformation to 3/4, the subtle twists - more than enough to both hold the listener's interest and make this stand out as a ReMix. It also certainly isn't lacking in dynamics; changes in loudness and pace are used to good effect to control the emotional state of the piece. It might be "quiet" from a waveform perspective, but it isn't hard to hear at normal headphone volume. And it's over 2 minutes, with no filler - short but by no means too short. As a sad, evocative piano solo, I feel like this hits all the marks."

I wouldn't disagree with the observation that this could easily have been longer, but I also concur with the second round of evaluation that a mood is established & developed, the arrangement itself is clearly transformative (and creative - I dig 3/4 adaptations, and this is a good one!), and the overall listening experience is substantive in a way that eluded, for whatever reason, the initial evaluation. Would love to hear more, but either way, I'm glad this is on the site and feel like Larry's decision to revisit, which is bound to come up every once in a while, was the right one. Lovely work.