Flowstone Saga "Fight for My Friends"

Felicitations to judge Hemo, one of the straws that stirs the drink here at OC ReMix, and another one of our September birthday boys! Let's celebrate his most recent trip around the sun with Hemophiliac arranging zircon & Impact Gameworks' RPG + puzzler, Flowstone Saga! The game soundtrack was created by none other than ReMixer & judge alum OceansAndrew, so Hemo had a special obligation to make it count with his unconventional arrangement approach, including TSori on trumpet:

"So, a long while back I was talking with TSori, and we ruminated on whether or not we had heard any solo trumpet in a synthwave-styled track as a lead. We could not think of any examples and so I said I would write one and have him play on it. Fast forward to sometime in the future when I had been playing Impact Gameworks' beta for Flowstone Saga and I was being immersed in the art and music. I recall a scene early in the game where a solo piano version of the main character's theme plays with gorgeous visuals. I wanted to just sit there and be immersed for as long as I could. I knew that I wanted to arrange that source from then.

I had an initial attempt at arranging this that didn't work out and, so, I put it aside for a while. I picked it back up and started with the bass this time. Everything clicked and fell into place very quickly after that. I got the trumpet part to TSori and he crushed it as always.

I spent a lot of time working on mixing and lots more attention to the mastering this time around. I feel like that was reflected in this compared to much of my previous work. And I have to give thanks to Chimpazilla for some crucial critical feedback at the end. Enjoy!"

The twin magic of judges Pixels & Paradiddles also celebrated their birthday this month, so we go to the Super Cakeday Bros. for their quick reactions, firstly from pixelseph:

"Trumpet over EDM is not a combination I'm used to hearing just yet, though TSori's performance is excellent here. @ 2:30 - 3:15 is a great example of balancing lead voices while trading parts; while I can conceive of a mix where the trumpet is always forward, the instruments trading off the spotlight is a feature for me and not a bug. The piano break @ :57 and the bass build break @ 1:56 are tactically deployed and well-handled"

The piano writing was an excellent touch throughout, and I really liked the contrast of the synth lead at 1:23 handling the melody compared with TSori in the previous iteration. That was a great piece of business when it came to the dynamics, just like the shift in energy at 1:56, a personal highlight where the bass kicks provided some good heft. paradiddlesjosh was also pleasantly surprised by Hemo's synthwave direction:

"Apropos of a synthwave track, I get a chill night-time drive vibe throughout the piece. Drum and bass part writing are solid, and I appreciated both the piano break at 0:57 and bass breakdown at 1:56 for their changes of pace. I also want to shout out the melody line trade between the trumpet and synths at 2:30-3:15."

Fellow Flowstone enthusiast Emunator lauded and applauded Hemo successfully surmounting "The Climb" via his variety:

"the fusion of acoustic instruments with a more traditional mellow EDM synth palette sets the stage nicely for the dynamic arrangement and fluid melodic adaptation of the source material, which I think is this mix's strongest asset. The drum and bass programming is incredibly nimble, and overall speaks to a great understanding of the source material and its potential.

The string swells during the last minute are great [...] At the end of the day, the foundation is solid enough to support a litany of creative part writing decisions and an arrangement that goes a lot of places in such a short time."

Kudos to Hemo's measured approach to the theme: TSori's performance was strong, and the piano (including ambient noise from movement) and synth writing were all well-handled. I got to sit in on BrOA listening and sharing thoughts in person with Hemo about this one during VGM CON weekend, which was an awesome moment I was honored to witness. It's extremely rare for ReMixers to get direct composer feedback, but it was a reality here thanks to the personal growth that zircon (game development), OceansAndrew (composing), and Hemophiliac (arranging) have all experienced after their tours of duty in the OCR community, making both Flowstone Saga and this ReMix tribute possible! Nice work by Hemo in fighting for -- and subsequently honoring -- his friends, two OCR all-stars who helped pave the way! :-D