Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket "At the Drop of a Coin Flip" 3:16

Boy it doesn't get much fresher around here as far as game coverage, as timaeus222 jazzily fuses two themes from Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket! Respect to timaeus for always experimenting and studying up, as it correspondingly always shows in what he's crafting; workflow-wise, timaeus is like a Ducklett in water:

"Pokémon TCG Pocket came out 2 months ago (Oct. 2024), and people were recommending that I try it out. Uh, well, I ended up getting hooked (my favorite decks are Greninja Starmie water control and Celebi Serperior grass aggro), but I also decided to write a ReMix for it! The OST had such a coherent style, and some incredibly intelligent music theory behind it as well.

I ended up combining the "Title" theme with the theme you hear during a Wonder Pick ("Feed Challenge Menu"), making sort of a jazz fusion arrangement with some 80s sound design. For the writing process, I actually tried playing out chord progressions with my MIDI keyboard instead of trying to visualize and mouse them in, and that led to more explorative results! :-) I also must shout out that a recent FL Studio revision let me put unique fades/volume adjustments on audio clips, which really helped my workflow; I finished this in less than 18 hours across a month.

This actually had quite the overhaul at the beginning - the first version used acoustic drums, but it was just too dull (I think I've gotten spoiled by electronic drums :-P). I also had a few moments where I pulled a Mike Portnoy and said, "Yeah, you know what, I'll break some rules and just ADD or SUBTRACT a beat because it sounds right" (you'd hear him talk about messing with a time signature formula he had established, during his Drumeo video learning "Pneuma" by Tool). I added a 4/4 measure at 0:33, added a beat at the end of 1:24 and 2:23 (making it 7/8, 7/8, 7/8, 8/8), and took off a beat during 1:41-1:55 on each measure (making it 7/8, 7/8, 7/8, 7/8). Other than that, I think this pretty much wrote itself.

The instruments were mainly Zebra2 (E. piano layer, bells, lead, bass layer), Neo-Soul Suitcase (E. piano layer), Shreddage 3 Precision (Bass), and Juggernaut (impacts, sweeps). And, with that, I hope you enjoy, and... since heads has always been a good result in this game, may your coin flips always be heads!"

I've gotta grab Pokémon TCG Pocket for my daughter to feed her Pokémon card collecting hobby, just making a mental note! When he's not busy judging, and video-making, and musically mentoring, and jobby jobbing, Hemophiliac's also regularly firing up Pokémon TCG Pocket, so he appreciated the interpretation inside timaeus's timely time treatment:

"So I too have been playing this too much and it was immediately apparent how things have been used in the track. Props to tackling something so new and fresh.

Playing with time was a great approach to take and it really works well. I actually never once felt off-kilter or jarred by any time changes and it flows so smoothly.

The opening section (0:00-0:36) is probably the most modified when it comes to source recognition but it still really feels like the title screen theme. Keeping the time changes and similar motion helps in that regard.

The bass and electric guitar do a great job of filling space and making it so warm and cozy, and the synth choices also feel appropriately chosen. [...] this is great and what I've come to expect from Truong lately. Smooth, warm, and semi-jazzy vibes. Dig it!"

1000% co-signed with Hemo on how smoothly this flowed. I'm not any kind of musical expert, just an enthusiast; unless you tell me time sig f00kery's going on, I'm never going to notice, so that lack of being thrown off by it here's pretty cool for me and my fellow music casuals, and speaks to how comfortable this feels. :-) Fellow judge XPRTNovice is likely just a coin flip away from being voice cast in a Pokémon property, and he praised timaeus for his piece's good feelings and authenticity:

"This is a really solid arrangement. You've mixed well, and you've managed to put your own spin on this while retaining that very "Pokémon" feel to it. It's almost like I could see it as a bonus track on the actual soundtrack; there's a quality to the lightness, brightness, and joy that comes through this mix. Drums are exactly where they need to be, I love the snappy snare that doesn't get in the way. The soundscape is wonderfully full without being too overwhelming, and the track tells me a great story from beginning to end, and I loved the lead-up to the ending."

Every time timaeus222's music comes up, there's no coin flip involved on whether it deserves your listen, so what are you waiting for? Slip this one in your pocket! :-)