ReMix: Chrono Trigger 'Memories from the Wind Scene'

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Damn Anaheim Angels... ahh, well, there's always next year... Beautiful, striking, and his first solo piano ReMix, Christian writes of his latest submission:

"CRNO TRIGGAR REEMIX !!!!111omg...
Seriously, this is an arrangement I did for the Chrono Trigger Piano Collections project on the SquareSound forums.

Those with eidetic memories or particularly firm grasps on the cumulative OCR compendium to date will note that kLuTz's 600 A.D. in Piano covered the same theme with a solo piano arrangement as well, which the judges mention in their writeups but which didn't impact their overall decisions. There's enough differences that I don't think either mix runs the risk of sounding like it's re-treading the other's tracks, regardless of chronological order. To generalize, Pacaud's mix is more flamboyant, perhaps a bit more buoyant too, as while there are softer passages, the dominant tone is up-tempo, forte stuffs, with plenty of underlying runs dotting the landscape. My favorite section is from 2'07" to 2'25", which showcases the downright nifty chomaticism and ornamentation he employs throughout, but also pays more careful attention to dynamics. The recording is such that you might have a hard time determining whether it's live or Memorex, real or Maybeline, as though it's actually sampled, the performance is human, the piano sample high quality, and the reverb clear without being too perfect. I'd be interested in which sample this is; it's one of the better emulations I've heard, especially considering the large number of held, nested sustains. Brandon brings the love early:

"There’s much to enjoy here. The arrangement is wonderfully lively, the performance is masterful and there are tons of melodic variations on the theme packed into just under 4 mins. No section feels underdeveloped, the build, climax and resolution are all very pronounced and well executed, and as a result I actually think that this mix benefits from its brevity."

But also makes some 'plaints 'bout the dynamics, and the ending as well, before indicating that even with these gripes, it's still strongsauce:

"I have to say that the final note that hangs for 13 seconds feels odd and should be faded sooner. In the end though, my gripes are not enough to warrant a NO. This mix will make a fine addition to the volumes of Chrono Trigger mixes and will add one more solo piano performance to my personal collection."

I didn't mind the ending so much; there's a boatload of notes packed into this humdinger, so I thought giving the final chord some breathing room achieved distance from the compositional fray, so to speak. Dynamics are probably the main nitpick I'd raise - there's no question that things are varied, and Christian doesn't even come close to cheating us out of a very full, pouncing fortissimo, but the quieter sections never feel like they've fully retreated from the battlefield into relative warmth and recuperation. In other words, the louds are certainly loud enough, but the softs could be a bit softer... in McDLT terms, it certainly keeps the hot side hot, but the cold side ranges from cool to lukewarm. However, there's plenty of piano arrangements that invert that balance, so this might even be a little refreshing from that perspective. At any rate, it's largely mitigated by a fantastic performance that's just plain fun to mentally follow along with, as Mr. P goes all over the place but never meanders, and shows off some impressive dexterity, both physical and compositional.

― djpretzel