ReMix:Dragon Warrior "A Translator's Tale" 6:35

Satoru Iwata, how much gaming stuff was this man involved with on the low??? As detailed by Nintendo Force's Lucas M. Thomas in his wonderful book The Impact of Iwata, when Nintendo of America wanted to release Dragon Quest out West, Iwata (then at HAL) helped localize the renamed Dragon Warrior to be more accessible to Western players. That didn't mean he was translating text, but he was in charge of improving and simplifying the game's mechanics to streamline the user experience. Even though Dragon Warrior initially didn't end up setting the Western world on fire, its prominence gradually grew, and Iwata later championed the franchise returning exclusively to Nintendo platforms. So when Xaleph titled his epic DW1 arrangement "A Translator's Tale", it's a nod to the overall impact of Iwata on what eventually became a storied RPG franchise worldwide. :-) Xaleph certainly didn't go it alone for The Impact of Iwata album's ambitious orchestral & rock contribution:

• Arrangement, trombones: Xaleph
• Cello: Chromatic Apparatus
• Violins: pointblanket (Violin 1/2 + fills/SFX)
• Concert flute, dizi: SableProvidence
• Electric guitar: Siolfor the Jackal (lead/rhythm), Xaleph (simple chord fills/layering)
• Trumpet: TSori

With a big live performance team in tow AND a seemingly out-of-character arrangement style from an electronic specialist, it's no shock Xaleph had so much to say regarding his creative process & collaborators:

"It's been a long while since I've composed an orchestrated song. It was an absolute blast working with such talented musicians! The goal for this piece was to start off with a sense of curiosity, gradually transitioning to build up to more of a rock/metal theme, and to hit three major pieces from Dragon Warrior. While I experimented and played around with some of the other songs, but these [...] fit really well and seamlessly integrated into the composition.

I did some rearranging for "Overworld", restructuring, but tried to keep the melody very close to the original. For "Tantegel Castle", I followed the cover very closely but used a trumpet/trombone duet to give it a very live feel. The third song ("Fight"/"Battle"/etc.), I wrote a very very abstract cover of this to fit the key, and then tried to overlay the "Overworld" melody on top (in order to tie it to the other songs to establish continuity).

Throughout the arrangement, I combined parts of the other songs together in a few places as well -- the string transition in the first rock section uses "Tantegel Castle's" ending part (subtle, but that's what was used) and the ending rock theme, I use a lot of different parts blended and combined. I originally started off thinking I was going to use some of the other songs as well, but I wanted to keep the length of the song at a nice size. To ensure the song's length remained optimal, I made some cuts ("Tantegel Castle" was originally longer, the "Overworld" had more piano, the guitar part was longer in the first rock section, I had an 8-bit version of "Overworld" that filled before "Tantegel Castle") to keep it sounding fresh and to manage the energy of the piece appropriately.

With regards to the genre choice, on the side I work with musicians doing a lot of different genres other than what you see on OC ReMix and Anime Remix. It's likely that I write more songs in these other genres, especially when I work with talented musicians.

Each musician's performance was truly phenomenal. My collaboration began with pointblanket, who not only contributed to the violin sections but also infused vitality into them with fills, runs, and string sounds. Seeking a concert flute player, I enlisted SableProvidence, whose execution of both the dizi and concert flute in the introduction surpassed my expectations. The dizi, particularly, resonated with the exact sound I envisioned. Special mention goes to the middle section, which presented intricate flute/dizi segments. TSori and I collaborated on the brass parts, including trumpet and trombone. TSori effortlessly tackled challenging trumpet passages, adding a remarkable flair to the composition. Initially uncertain about incorporating a live cellist, I reached out to Chromatic Apparatus for the exposed sections. To my delight, not only did he promptly deliver those parts, but he also recorded all cello segments throughout the song. His contribution perfectly sets the tone for the darker phase following "Tantegel Castle". From the song's inception, I aimed to incorporate intricate guitar work to echo the earlier piano section. Siolfor the Jackal masterfully executed this task, resulting in astonishing metal sections. I am genuinely appreciative of the skill and dedication each musician invested in this arrangement. It was also nice to play my two trombones again for the first time in decades."

Will you look at Xaleph pulling out all the stops over here? Hard to argue against how effectively Xaleph & crew emboldened their version of these themes, a tale corroborated by judge Chimpazilla in her closing vote:

"Wow, what a varied, eclectic, emotional and creative mix. The performances are excellent. I'm having Trans-Siberian Orchestra vibes. The elements fit together to make a beautiful and interesting soundscape. The arrangement is dynamite, so much sonic variation, it never loses my interest as it moves along. Each section transitions smoothly into the next. Awesome concept and execution."

Yet another pillar of musical strength from The Impact of Iwata album! If you haven't already grabbed the full album, and if you haven't yet purchased the Nintendo Force book, do you truly have the heart of a gamer? ;-)