ReMix:Skies of Arcadia "Brain Sound Tilt" 4:35

By Guifrog

Arranging the music of one song...

"Ramirez's Theme"

Primary Game: Skies of Arcadia (Sega , 2000, DC), music by Tatsuyuki Maeda, Yutaka Minobe

Posted 2019-07-25, evaluated by the judges panel


Brain Sound Tilt, indeed! Guifrog sends us a genre-spanning glitch-hoppy cinematic jazz/funk/hip-hop EDM jam, from Arcadia Legends:

"This Modus guy first hit me up on Facebook during a time when my psyche wasn't very salsa n' samba. It took it a while to start dancing again, but when it did, he immediately noticed and messaged me once more, and there was this very almost completed album to which I thought "k, c'mon, let's keep it up" and PAM -- I chose Ramirez's theme. I've admittedly never played Skies of Arcadia, but when I heard that tune, it somehow clicked and I went curious to learn more about its background. Apparently, Ramirez's mind went by a twist after some events, running from love to hate, judging a whole nation for the acts of individuals, whereas putting all his trust in one single person, who died afterwards, etc...

All in all, it was the perfect moment to explore a psychology-themed mix, so this one's my attempt to emulate Ramirez's inner self: there's a dark environment, with some grits, glitches, distortions, dissonances, and a dancey chorus that attempts to make it brighter and brighter, until it fails on the last chord, biased by those interferences only to be overcome by darkness again.

Thank you Modus for the approach, and Darkflamewolf for the opportunity you've created!"

Very unusual, but effective, incorporation of dissonant jazz piano, Gothic organ straight outta Castlevania, some funkier synth bits, a lightly-swung hip-hop/dance groove, wubs, flutes, ominous choir & bells on the outro, and who knows what else... it's a smorgasbord, to be sure, but an darkly enjoyable one, thanks to Guifrog's colorful & crisp arranging and production. He mentions focusing on psychology, which is funny, because this actually reminded me a little of the soundtrack to Crush, a psychology-focused puzzle platformer I ReMixed a while back - similar aesthetic, especially with the intermittent dissonance. Newly-anointed judge Rexy has some detailed insights:

"It's got the same structure as the original's 3-minute loop, but there are a lot of additions made that benefit it. There are more lively chords in segments with the most major motif (0:19-0:39), a new chorus section that adds more life from that part as mentioned earlier (1:09-1:49), new backing instrumentation writing over the top and a shuffle groove as opposed to the source's straight rhythms. He knew what he was doing when interpreting the BGM - and while not as expansive as previous submissions, it's still a well-personalized take that knows how to grab attention."

Not all the Arcadia themes are particularly easy to arrange, for various reasons, and I think the artist did a fantastic job with conceptualization & building a palette and corresponding arrangement around psychological instability and friction. Very cool!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 3 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Modus
on 2019-07-29 21:27:06

Well, I gave Guifrog "Biolizard" from Sonic Adventure 2 as a reference because, as he hinted, I felt it had that 'psychological confusion' aspect. That ended up combining with his penchant for upbeat vibes.

Being a massive fan of Guifrog's work and who he is as a person, just someone who has been through struggles and finds joy and reprieve in his creative work.. I was uplifted and amazed with what he came up with. Gui is one of those artists I hope to meet some day. There's just something really kind-hearted and honest about him.

Thanks so much Gui for being a part of this.

avatar
Darkflamewolf
on 2019-07-29 14:08:41

I was unfortunately hands off for most of this track actually. Modus was the primary middle man when it came to contacting and recruiting Guifrog. In fact, it wasn't until the final weeks of track completion that I was able to talk to Guifrog directly on instant messaging. So, most of the feedback going between us went through Modus, so this turned into more of a track where I had little involvement in terms of critique and input on overall direction. Despite this, Guifrog was phenomenal in turning something that two other remixers struggled with and made it his own and in record time too! I don't think even a month went by before the near finished product was plopped on my lap by Modus when Guifrog sent it to him. Definitely a standout track in an album of so many standouts!

avatar
Liontamer
on 2019-07-23 01:01:49

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Skies of Arcadia (Sega , 2000, DC)
Music by Tatsuyuki Maeda,Yutaka Minobe
Songs:
"Ramirez's Theme"

Tags (13)


Genre:
Cinematic,EDM,Fusion,Glitch Hop
Mood:
Chill,Dark,Funky,Jazzy
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Flute,Organ,Piano,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Skies_of_Arcadia_Brain_Sound_Tilt_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,949,260 bytes
MD5:
b2d1880290cf7e17c75df79617a57c67
Bitrate:
229Kbps
Duration:
4:35
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Arcadia Legends


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