ReMix: Silent Hill 'NayTomorrow'

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Newcomer Tamimi sent me a really . . . interesting email. Not sure why, but for some reason he attributed the delay between him submitting his ReMix and it getting posted to OC ReMix being "racist" and anti-Arab. Rest assured, this is not the case - we may be slow, true, but not racist. One of my better friends is Afghan, so hopefully that clears things up a bit for him (sent an email tonight but no response yet). Anyway, his mix from the original Silent Hill is quite good and, unlike many mixes of this game, favors melodic content over nightmarish ambient effects. Tamimi also used an Arabic instrument called a "nay", which he plays, extensively - it's quite beautiful and lends a very important human, emotional element to this piece. Some background on the nay:

"The word nay from Persian is used to describe a single reed pipe of the simplest design whose origins go back to the Sumerian civilization. Nay is the generic Arabic name for simple open-ended reed instruments which usually have 6 holes in the front for the fingers to play and 1 hole underneath for the thumb. Fine, mellow tones are brought forth by blowing gently over the orifice of the tube while manipulating the fingers and thumbs; by blowing with more or less force, sounds are produced an octave higher or lower, and tunes in different scales can be played by utilizing nays of various lengths.

Although very simple, the nay is extraordinarily versatile. Its poetical timbre makes it especially suitable for melancholy effects expressing both joy and yearning."

This concludes your world music educational lesson for the night :) Built on crystalline electric piano and bell, you can hear the nay immediately - it wavers with an intimate uncertainty that makes it quite ideal for a lead part in this sort of piece. Synth pads and a great synth harp join into a gorgeous extended passage without the clear lead of the intro, which makes a return at 2'47". Though there's some hiss on the recording and the ending stops a little abruptly, there's phrases here that are stunning, and I do think Tamimi's done an excellent job in rendering the original theme in a new fashion, with a unique instrument that I'd not previously heard of but have quickly grown to appreciate. Highly recommended.

― djpretzel