ReMix:Chrono Trigger "Ambience of the Forest" 4:34

Happy 20th anniversary to OCR's second-ever community album, Donkey Kong Country: Kong in Concert! After Protricity started collaborative arrangement albums at OCR exactly one year prior, fellow former judge Digital Coma continued what quickly became a community tradition with the ambitious 22 tracks of KiC. We definitely need to do something in our community's Discord this month to celebrate, so be sure to join in ahead of the festivities. :-) What better way in the here & now to celebrate than a fresh ReMix of David Wise's music from the same game of Kong in Concert... Chrono Trigger?!? [/scratches head] Did someone get their shizz mixed up? Well, it turns out jnWake combined DKC's "Aquatic Ambiance" with an outsized dose of CT's "Secret of the Forest" for Dwelling of Duels, so now we're in for a strange trip for his 20th OC ReMix credit. Wake walked us through how DoD forced his hand into two great tastes that surprisingly mix well together, along with some new friends he made along the way:

"K, so another DoD month ends which means another submission for OCR by me! This time, the monthly theme was Franchise Fusion in June 2024 and the requirement was to mix at least 2 games from different franchises. After pondering it for a while, I decided that a good idea would be to mix 2 themes that were popular, so that people could recognize the actual fusion of themes. I quickly chose "Aquatic Ambiance" since it's a lovely theme and I already knew it on piano. "Secret of the Forest" then came naturally as another iconic chill theme from the SNES era. I had never actually noticed how similar both themes are and plenty of DoDers were surprised this idea "had never done before" (it surely has, but as far as I know there's not a particularly popular mash-up on YouTube or other websites).

Anyway, so about the mix. Arrangement mixes melodies and backing parts from both songs in a chill mood with a buildup towards the end. Since the theme was fusion, I made the arrangement with the idea of melding both themes together as much as possible. I even began the song using the actual soundfonts from the games. Most sections of the arrangement feature the backing of one of the tunes and the melody of the other tune on top, but I'll detail that later. Quickly after beginning the arrangement, I realized having a strong sound design would be necessary for this to be a hit, so I contacted everyone's favorite judge Emunator (he describes himself that way, do not blame me!) for help on that front.

My initial idea was for him to listen to the arrangement and mostly provide sound design feedback plus a few stems... BUT, instead, he got super motivated with the idea and added much more than that. First, instead of simply using the soundfonts like I had done, he investigated the origins of the sounds and replaced some of the samples with the actual uncompressed sounds from the original synths! He also replaced some other sounds here and there, added a plethora of effects, extra drum fills, and rewrote the ending part of the track... and, if all that wasn't enough, he even did the final mix! I had never had the pleasure of so much work taken from me on a collaboration, but it was awesome (as I may have commented before, I'm not a particularly big fan of mixing, I only do it because I have to). For the final touch, Emunator also contacted Chimpazilla to handle the master. I didn't have the chance to talk with her this time, so I'll take this opportunity to thank her for her work!

Hehe, there is always room for new things, even for the most "overcovered" themes. The 2 tracks go surprisingly well together, don't they?

Again, thanks to the great Emunator as a collaborator and Chimpazilla for their work on this, as it'd have never been as good without them! The track ended up placing #2 out of 26 entries in DoD, which was pretty cool. Hope you like it!"

For me, the flow of this initially felt jarring because I know these distinctive themes so well. :-D Interesting tradeoffs throughout. The source tunes are constantly in play, so for a breakdown of how the interplay was handled, get those full submission comments in the MP3! But seriously, what is Emu even DOING in here??? He just had his own (A)A-grade "Aquatic Ambiance" posted this year, the menace! In comments that are particularly apropos for today's KiC anniversary, our picky judge prophetik music favorably compared Wake's piece to a Kong in Concert track which earned that ReMixer a personal contact from David Wise himself:

"opens with a wall of aquatic ambiance pads, but quickly hits the secret of the forest melody with AA behind it. lead is appropriately rudess-y with the scoops and subtle vibrato. it's notably louder than everything else after it though. the AA melody's in by 1:00 with a descending pattern to it under the SotF chords. i love how you're passing the melodic material around between such old-style instruments.

1:34 is a new vibe, much more low-end body. the drive here alongside the SotF arp is so immediately inspiring. the adaptation of AA's melody here as well is so good - this is an excellent job making it fit without making it feel like it's a clear mashup. [...]

3:01's chord progression through the bVI-bVIII-i-V is so fitting given that it's half of the chrono cross soundtrack. and then we get double time with the melodies alongside each other! what a climax this is. this isn't chill at all but i don't care. the extended climax at 3:52 was excellent, i loved that you tripled down on it and then didn't even immediately resolve it, but waited a second. what a payoff.

we get a last wash of color and arps and it's done.

i struggle with remixes of AA specifically because Beneath the Surface was my first exposure to the theme and that's a Mt Rushmore OCR for me, so everything else always seems to be lacking in comparison. this is easily one of the only remixes i've ever heard of this way-overdone theme that truly brings tons of originality and creativity in the arrangement alongside superb execution to a similar level. and you managed to do it via alchemy with another rockstar track from another rockstar game, instead of just relying on AA's incredible foundation by itself. superlative job."

Ain't no such thing as "overdone" when it comes to AA. :-P BRING 'EM ALL ON, I say! Even Vig's later track for the Deus Ex EP I directed slipped an "Aquatic Ambiance" cameo in there, so jnWake earning proph's creativity comparison to Vig's interpretation of the theme is very cool (and also shows how the OCR classics stay classic). Wake, along with Emu, managed to put their own luxurious spin on not one but two top-tier VGM themes (and even titled his own spin with the alternate spelling "Ambience"); a very cool premise, well structured and executed! :-)