ReMix: Secret of Mana 'Tidal Sequence'
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- Game: Secret of Mana (Square, 1993, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): djpretzel
- Composer(s): Hiroki Kikuta
- Song(s): Angel's Fear
- Posted: 2004-10-07, evaluated by djpretzel
OCR01250 is here, which coincides with our planned release of a new torrent for intervals of 250, so please help seed the new torrent and, especially if you're planning on downloading a lot of mixes in this range, use the torrent rather than downloading direct, as it saves us a lot of bandwidth. This isn't as major a milestone as releasing a new site design or hitting a 500 mark, etc., but it's still a good time to sit back and look at everything that's happened since OCR01000, where the new torrent picks up from - amongst other things, we've angered the populous with a fake April Fool's mix falsely attributed (thankfully) to Nobuo Uematsu, debuted the new site design (in the midst of a flood of mixes), received an excellent FF6 Terra mix from none other than Jeremy Soule, been mentioned in print and on television a couple more times, and more recently seen the debut of Kong in Concert and released OCR hoodies (and promptly sold out - more should be available... some time). And of course, as always, we've seen hundreds of excellent ReMixes from a variety of very talented folk, continued lively discussion on the forums, bandwidth consumption out the wazoo (technical term), and a steady flow of submissions. All around good stuff.
It's a demanding site to run, and finding the time to do my own mixes is always a challenge, but I managed to slip working on this Secret of Mana title theme mix in over the last couple months, on and off, in between everything else. There's more than a couple mixes of this theme in existence, but I still felt that no one had yet covered it in the specific way I had envisioned it being arranged every time I heard it - not techno, not really orchestral, but some sort of hybrid/mutt blending of electronica, new age, orchestral, and what have you, into a piece that focuses first and foremost on the strength of Kikuta's melody. I spent a lot of my time playing around with the underlying progression, figuring out how to make it sound more like a verse here, more like a chorus there, etc. There's a mixture of Stylus loops and two drum kits, one acoustic and one electronic, on the rhythm side of things, and Sampletank was used for the tempo-delayed mandolin, wah guitar, and lo-fi filtered mono synth. The mix title isn't just a play on words, as I decided that this would be one of the rare instances where I'd use nature effects, which I'm usually pretty reluctant to incorporate. Strings and brass are EWQL silver, as is the piano. At one point I envisioned the entire arrangement being dominated by piano, almost as a stage for an elaborate piano solo, but most of the manipulation I wanted to do with the melody was monophonic and required a greater variety of leads. There's portions of this that are inspired by the score to The Piano, and I think of the overall style bearing some similarity to some of what GrayLightning's done, which is hopefully taken favorably. I almost didn't include the last portion, which incorporates the latter, less familiar bits of the original in, as I wasn't sure they would jive with the more direct, active melody, but the shift to that section at 3'33" ended up being one of the parts I was happiest with. Instead of the usually gratuitous solo, there's a little duet at 2'52" between the afforementioned lo-fi Sampletank synth and a flute patch from the same. Things fade out on a recurrence of the namesake tidal ambience. Not without faults, but I ended up happy with the mix overall because I've been wanting to hear this particular melody given emphasis, particularly in terms of variations, ever since I played SoM for the first time, fired up the SNES, and witnessed the title screen. Hope you enjoy; also, we should resume posting more frequently, with some really kickin' stuff, now that the new torrent's up (thanks as always to Aubrey) and everything's taken care of. Here's to the next torrent release at OCR01500, whenever that may be.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the There is a very satisfying combination here of elements that shouldn't gel but do, like the blending of contemplative moments with full-sounding orchestral support, as well as the more obvious clashing dynamics of the electronic and orchestral genres.
Classic rise and fall delivery, excellent arrangement; it's all pretty standard pretzel praise, I'm afraid. As I've come to expect, production is top-notch. The piano and the violin especially are put to stunning use, serving as standout points in an already rewarding, expertly crafted piece.
- Marmiduke on May 21, 2009
I cannot express my love for this mix in text.
Thanks again DJP.
- Zeklan on December 16, 2007
undinesfire wrote: [i]Must download this![/i]
Already done. :wink:
I concur with everyone, this is symphonical master-piece. The way it begins you think that a funky techno beat will follow this track to the end, but I don't think that it cannot be more wrong than that. The piano and strings enters almost at the same time, and essences like guitar and violin caught me off-guard.
To see how this arrangement changes from the beginning seconds to the middle and the end, while always having a beautiful tone to it, it fills me with ave. This deserves some more listens later today. Those who haven't listened to this really should, it's one of the many proofs why Djpretzel is the one running this site.
- Bummerdude on April 17, 2006
If I could do one thing to this, I would add maybe the sound of ocean waves to the background in the beginning, and occasionally brought it back out within the mix. Then again, I also want to do a track over highway noise.
- synthetic_realities on July 24, 2005
- Miletus on April 3, 2005
This has that power to it that seemed to be conveyed in the original, only with a little bit more... force?
Oh. My. God. [2:09]... that is a beautiful violin, sir. Clear, emotional, powerful, independent, yet supportive. I love violins, and you have placed one perfectly. Awesome.
This is, once again, excellent, sir. Awesome job.
- Angelus Laminarum on April 3, 2005
Inspirational piano playing, very soothing strings
once again, awesome mix djp!
- jordex on February 7, 2005
but with new revelation.
This is a masterpiece.
- Trenthian on February 2, 2005
- ghaleon on December 14, 2004
So crisp and bittersweet, tumultuous at times. I find this to be a very inspiring and well-layered remix. On the top of my playlist, for sure.
-Steph (aka Cre8vSteph)
- willow-whisp on November 27, 2004
As for this mix, I fell in love with this song as soon as I heard it. It now has a permanent home in my playlist.
I was especially impressed at about 0:23 into the song. I played this song for a close friend of mine and she loved the song too. I hope to hear more like this from you djpretzel.
No less than a 9/10 in my book.
- Bladewing on October 27, 2004
Anyway, this song is very good at carrying the melody through various interpretations, while maintaining a steady rhythm and beat, giving a feel of meshing through various phases of life. The first section set the pacing of the song, the trippy element to it. It started simple, and gradually got bolder. At 2:08, it started to show its celtic influences at an attempt to lighten the mood, helping to maintain that trippy feel to the song. Towards the end, it starts to crescendo with orchestration with a sense of something greater out in the horizon.
- Bahamut on October 26, 2004
Amazing work. As soon as I recognize the beat from SoM I get goosebumps. This song just flowed incredibly well . I didn't think it could get any better... then 2:09 happened. Goosebumps back!
VERY well done djpretzel.
- KonohaSenpou on October 25, 2004
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