ReMix: Syberia 'To the Land of the Great Mammoths'

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So, in retrospect, breaking up a flood of FF7 mixes with a Sonic mix, no matter how good it was, didn't exactly inject any esoteric/innovative source material bonus points into our musical bloodstream. For that, we've got newcomer Prasa U.'s first ReMix and our first coverage of Syberia, a critically acclaimed PC adventure game that also got ported to PS2 and Xbox. The ReMixer writes:

"Most of the original material in the piece are derived from the original themes or chord progressions. The first part of this orchestral arrangement revolves around the main theme and variations of the main theme, the middle is based the second "explore" theme, and then the end is a return the beginning ideas. Starts in C major, modulates to Am, goes to D for the restatement, then modulates to the dominant to finish. My purpose with this mix was to exhibit the subdued wonder, awe, and serenity in the game. The volume is a bit low because I needed to prevent clipping in the louder dynamic sections."

Judges were fairly split on this, mostly on more technical production issues and less on arrangement, although apparently the mixer's decision to intro with cello rubbed some folk the wrong way. I see where most of the criticism is coming from and agree with most if not all of it, I just think that the aggregate of all the issues pointed out still doesn't outweigh the good stuff going on - good dynamic range, alternation between ensemble and solo sections, solid arrangement ideas, thematic direction, and competent production. The staccato brass stuff going on around the fifth minute definitely gave me some... pause... and the harp, as Jill points out, is definitely a little too loud at points. These are concrete issues that I do believe weaken the piece, but they're far from being representative or key to the overall composition's success, in my mind. The source material being orchestral as well made Prasa U.'s (PU's?) job a little harder, but there's substantive additive and mutative work present, as Jon points out:

"I hear plenty on the arrangement side. lots of substantive supporting parts, interpreting the main theme (rendering it in a minor key, for example), and some new segments that compliment the original nicely."

It's a great original with a lot of melodic/harmonic work going on, and I think the mixer has managed to keep what's strong, alter it meaningfully, and add some new stuff. Overbearing harps and unorthodox staccato brass bits alone can't really undo that, and while there are other, smaller issues and production gets a little muddy at times, this is solid on both arrangement and production sides of the house and should give orchestral fans, fans of the game, and fans of the much-loved adventure genre in general something to be happy about.

― djpretzel