ReMix:Chrono Trigger "Another Fair" 3:34

By Dhsu

Arranging the music of one song...

"Guardia's Millennial Fair"

Primary Game: Chrono Trigger (Square , 1995, SNES), music by Nobuo Uematsu, Noriko Matsueda, Yasunori Mitsuda

Posted 2004-02-01, evaluated by the judges panel


As a sidenote, I'm leaving for Philadelphia today and will have intermittent Internet access until Friday. Assuming at least some degree of connectivity, we'll still post some mixes. Meanwhile the illustrious judges panel will be working quite dilligently, as they've been the last couple weeks, on catching up the submission queue. Additionally, I'd like to thank everyone who's been helping to seed the Official OC ReMix BitTorrent Distributions, as well as those who've downloaded it instead of relying on multiple HTTP downloads, which cost mucho moola to keep in place. Note that when we hit OCR01250, we'll be releasing a third torrent that covers everything from OCR01001 to that point. Again, our thanks to everyone for helping this initiative, and a special thanks to Aubrey Lewman who made it possible and helps OCR out in so many ways. Now on to the mix...

Good times recently for piano ReMix fans, no doubt, with MC and Blak_Omen's mix yesterday, and today this Chrono millennial fair arrangement from Dhsu. The strength of this arrangement lies in the very creative things the ReMixer has done with the melody - at times becoming almost unrecognizable, Dhsu has taken the outline of the piece and done a very impressionistic rendition, capturing the overall feel but totally morphing/replacing/summarizing the individual details. The Monet of piano arrangements, perhaps? There's a lot of feeling and dynamics, which help address the relative simplicity that would have become dry without that human touch, and this only further enhances the interesting, unortohodox things being done with the tune. Vigilante writes:

"This may not be the busiest piano mix ever, but it has it where it counts. The arrangment is creative and effective. It sounds good, although the volume level is a little low. I would have liked this to be about two minutes longer, but as it is, it's a solid lullabye-esque piano mix, and it is an original take on this chrono song."

We've got a plethora of Chrono mixes, and several of this particular track, so it's great to see someone really re-tooling Mitsuda's original to the extent that it's definitely going in different directions from the other ReMixes of the same song. Kudos to Dhsu for another quality piano arrangement, involving both emotive performance and clever arrangement skills yet again.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Liontamer
on 2016-10-07 10:41:15

The timing was noticeably blocky, which interfered with how delicate the arrangement was intended to be and doesn't let it age too gracefully, but still a solid concept. I can't say I've heard this theme taken in a slower more emotive direction by anyone else, so I love that David brought something new to the table.

avatar
OA
on 2009-03-17 12:38:09

Sweet, i'm reviewing 2 great piano pieces back-to-back! :-)

There's excellent playing, and a very nice arrangement of a piece I wouldn't initially expect for solo piano, but this works exceptionally well. I especially enjoyed the light B section, right before the ending. Awesome emotive playing, especially in the right hand. I'm not sure if there should have been as much rubato at the end, but it doesn't detract at all, and it finishes off a strong mix decently enough.

Great work! :-D

avatar
DragonAvenger
on 2008-07-09 12:18:21

I love this mix. The peaceful feel throughout really lets me feel like I've found a nice quiet picnic spot at the fair where everyone is relaxing and enjoying a cool drink, or something.

I'm making a guess that the name references Chrono Cross, and this would possibly be the music of the Fair in another dimension. If it is or isn't, that's how I picture it, and I think it adds charm.

The playing is very well done, typical of Dhsu's work. Love it, man.

avatar
metaphist
on 2007-06-15 11:42:36
Pretzeldude is right, this IS hardly recognizable.

Hey, I recognized it right away. Do I get a cookie?

I usually find straight piano boring, but this was just so beautiful (I guess it helps that I'm familiar with the source). Definitely one of the handful of piano mixes I wish to keep, and I really do love it.

avatar
Deductive Dave
on 2007-05-23 18:01:36

In my opinion, this is one of the better piano mixes on the site. I won't lie - It's not one of my favorites and it doesn't have a permanent spot on my hard drive, but that's mostly because it's not really my style.

This piano remix is really unique because it is simple and clean, not attempting to make it sound over dramatic or more engaging. As a result this piece would make great background music, such as at a fancy dinner, but I personally would not listen to it actively that often.

The only criticism I have for this song is that the rubato in the last part (last 30 seconds or so) seems a bit excessive, since the melody is not really going anywhere.

Overall still a great song. Thanks, Dhsu!

avatar
Bummer
on 2005-09-25 07:59:59

Pretzeldude is right, this IS hardly recognizable. But it´s so good, i´m downloading it anyway.

Piano rocks, Dhsu are some of them who understands that.

Nice work.

avatar
DragonFireKai
on 2004-09-01 15:48:22

I prefer the 600 AD in Piano, but this is a good piano piece.

avatar
Tear
on 2004-07-20 19:54:57

This is one of my fav solo Pianos...ever

I'm in awe great job

avatar
arborninja
on 2004-07-09 04:35:23

My favorite style of remix has got to be the solo piano arrangements, hands down. From McVaffe's "Cutman Sonata" to Noir's "Jenova for Classical Piano", I am a complete nut. Dhsu and klutz, however, stand out to me as being the best at this style. "Another Fair" is a fantastic arrangement of one of the most memorable themes from Chrono Trigger: the Millenial Fair. Dhsu seems to have taken into consideration every element that this simple, 16-bit piece offers and added his own input to it. He's slowed it waaaaaay down for a more mellow feel. From the get go he uses low rolling arrpegiated chords to move the listener into the music. I enjoy deep base notes in piano arrangements and this work doesn't dissapoint. To stay in keeping with the original, he uses bouncing, staccatto chords towards the middle of the song while speeding it up slightly, giving the air of excitement, allowing the listener to imagine the fair atmosphere. As the song nears its end, he lightens the mood by playing a few variations on the higher end of the keyboard. The final chord could be altered slightly in my opinion, but overall this piece screams Millenial Fair at Twilight. Awesome job and keep up the good work!

avatar
Durinthal
on 2004-04-11 00:56:46
I adore the beginning of this, it reminds me of the sigh after a big event. Like the super bowl. Or a milennial fair.

And then as it picks up, it reminds me of the first steps we take as we move on with life.

There is a lot of truth in your performance of this song. Thank you for sharing it with us.

yh

This is almost exactly what I was thinking. I just finished watching The Matrix: Revolutions and randomly picked this out of the playlist.. and it's actually very fitting considering the ending (or so I believe). Very calming remix.. definitely in my collection of piano remixes.

avatar
Silent_B0b
on 2004-03-14 04:01:59

This mix is a beautiful way to cap off my all-piano-mixes CD (this and your shining force-bleeding townspeople song, that mix is just plain cool). Anyway, I really like this one, good work.

avatar
King Matt I
on 2004-03-10 20:02:57

Wow. This remix was done quite beautifully! It makes excellent background music. Very soft, very peaceful... Very nostalgic, as well, since, like an idiot, I sold my copy of Chrono Trigger a few years back. At any rate, this remix was great. A fantastically-done remix of a fantastically-done song. I'd recommend it to anybody having a bad day, or anybody who just needs to calm down a bit. :) Or... anybody. :mrgreen:

avatar
Dhsu
on 2004-02-09 03:39:40

Actually, Dhsu = first initial + last name. Pretty boring, actually. :P Although I kinda like what you came up with. :D

Anyway, glad you liked the song. I will be doing more as soon as I get a chance. :)

avatar
Dhsu
on 2004-02-05 22:21:49
The pause at 3:00 is an example where I would have carried the previous phrase into the next one without the grand pause, in the interest of a smoother, more organic ending.

Haha...sorry, that was a booboo. :P I was so excited at actually not making any mistakes up to that point, and I didn't want to mess it up. ^_^;;

I do appreciate your pickiness, Jon. Thanks for keeping me on my toes. :)

And Drakalu...you're welcome. ;)

avatar
JJT
on 2004-02-05 20:03:44

Hey nice work.

This is a very beautiful, well thought out arrangement. You really milk the harmonic tension for all it's worth, and there are some really nice moments.

The rubato style of playing is a nice stylistic choice, but I think at times the dramatic pauses break up the overall momentum of the arrangement. Could be a different way of looking at things, but I try to pay a lot of attention to dynamic shape of a song. The pause at 3:00 is an example where I would have carried the previous phrase into the next one without the grand pause, in the interest of a smoother, more organic ending.

Anyway, the fact that I'm getting this picky should be taken as a compliment. This is one of the better piano arrangements on this site, so you should be proud.

-Jon

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Chrono Trigger (Square , 1995, SNES)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu,Noriko Matsueda,Yasunori Mitsuda
Songs:
"Guardia's Millennial Fair"

Tags (3)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Piano
Additional:
Arrangement > Solo
Time > Tempo: Slow

File Information


Name:
Chrono_Trigger_Another_Fair_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,376,487 bytes
MD5:
6c1445b711287fb76a254a32da3960cb
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
3:34

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes