Okami "A Stroll Down Memory Lane" 5:21

Tremendouz is back and they brought a friend! Their past pair of ReMixes are exemplary in making strong use of samples for an organic-minded sound, but now Tremendouz teams up with Gamer of the Winds on live flute for an electronic & acoustic hybrid tributing Ōkami! For Tremendouz, it's a love letter to an incredible gaming experience:

"Here's my track for the March 2025 Pixel Mixers VGM Cover Contest. First of all, huge thanks to Gamer of the Winds for recording the flute part.

"Reset" from Ōkami has a special place in my heart, as does the whole game and its OST. For this arrangement, I decided to use the vocal version by Ayaka Hirahara playing during the credits of the original PS2 release as the main bones and inspiration while incorporating some elements from the orchestral "Thank You" version that plays during the cutscene you all know. (No? You should play the game then! The cutscene really gives me all the feels even today.) Namely, the harp, as well as the intro and outro structure. In addition to these, you can hear a nod to "Once Upon a Time..." from Ōkamiden in the synth melody at 1:42, and to "Ryoshima Coast" from Ōkami at 2:12.

The style I went for is quite electronic in nature (synth bass and leads, drum machine, overall quantized feel) but also uses some more traditional instruments as well, although in virtual form: acoustic and nylon guitar, harp, string ensemble, Rhodes electric piano, and grand piano. As usual, everything is programmed in the piano roll.

The two versions of "Reset" differ somewhat in their chord progression and, since I lifted the harp pretty directly from the orchestral version, I didn't stick too closely to the vocal version in this regard. All in all, I combined a bunch of my favourite elements from both versions into a mix that's attempting to be both laid-back and punchy at the same time. I somehow doubt this will be the last cover I'm gonna make of it.

It's Ilya Efimov Nylon at the beginning and then Acoustic for most of the lead parts. Ilya Efimov Acoustic Guitar does the heavy lifting in terms of the lead melody and solos, the latter of which are mostly pretty straight transcriptions from the vocal version (minus the last one at 4:08-4:21). Scarbee Classic EP-88s fills the midrange with a familiar stereo Rhodes sound, while Samantha Ballard Harp adds some much needed plucky, organic quality and texture. Tokyo Scoring Strings from Impact Soundworks fills the background during the choruses, although my string programming here was rather rudimentary due to their somewhat buried nature in the mix, as well my own laziness. The strings were a bit hard to mix with the rest, but I'm happy with it.

If I had to pick my favourite detail from the arrangement (aside from Gregory's fantastic flute playing), it would be how I took the acoustic guitar rhythm element from 3:21-3:42 (before the last chorus), which was already present in the source, and recalled it in the first half of the outro (4:36-4:49). I think it worked pretty seamlessly there even, if I say so myself.

The name of the arrangement refers to the credits scene where Amaterasu (ya big furball!) walks in front of a backdrop consisting of scenes from the rather lengthy journey that the game is."

The "Reset" melody arrives at :15 with a lot of personality behind the sequenced guitar, thanks to the measured supplement of the bassline. As a personal highlight, I loved GotW taking over as lead at 3:20 with his beautiful restating of the melody, including the interplay with the sequenced acoustic guitar which had VERY classy flourishes at 3:35. Judge and guitarist pixelseph put Tremendouz over for coming through once again with expressively handled guitar samples, not to mention Gamer of the Winds also being a sweet source of synergy:

"I want to highlight the programming on the acoustic guitars, because while Trem's pieces are my gold standard for programming virtual guitars in general, the attention paid to making the articulations sound evocative (and not just natural) is excellent. The lead guitar line in particular has rakes into the starts of phrases, there's plenty of subtle trills and turns to navigate the phrases, and the rhythm line has plenty of humanization on the strums.

GotW's performance is also a highlight here - it adds a gentle and warm contrast to the bright acoustic guitar, especially when the strings come in to fill the harmonic space.

The drum machine sounds straight out of the late '80s [...] I think it's deployed successfully in the mix itself. Only semi-surprised to not hear any Phil Collins tom fills given the style and palette!

Happy to sign off on this one - let's get it on the site!"

As fellow judge prophetik music mentioned, "the overall approach is great, and it's a low-key but enjoyable arrangement", so if you're in the mood for something contemplative AND nostalgic, stroll right down this musical alley. :-) With results this good, fingers crossed indeed that Tremendouz revisits the world of Ōkami!