ReMix:Tales of Phantasia "Summoned Without Reason" 4:31

By Juan Medrano

Arranging the music of one song...

"The Second Act"

Primary Game: Tales of Phantasia (Namco , 1994, SNES), music by Motoi Sakuraba, Ryota Furuya, Shinji Tamura, Toshiyuki Sekiguchi

Posted 2009-04-10, evaluated by the judges panel


More Sixto? More Sixto. More Summoning of Spirits? That too. But first, to clarify, April is STILL support OCR month, but PayPal says we can't offer prizes because that would make it a "raffle", which is one step away from gambling, and as we all know, gambling makes baby Jesus cry. I seriously spent five hours on the phone with three different customer service guys before it was all sorted, it was very maddening, and if my hair was still long enough to rip out, I would have. We're good now, though, and so far your support has truly been amazing & inspiring - thanks for making www.ocremix.org possible!

Right then, more music! Way back in 2006, Juan wrote:

"This remix was started several months ago, if not a year ago, for the Summoning of Spirits Project. I wanted to try something that wasn't another guitar instrumental and this is what I came up with. Still, you know me. I had to fit some guitar solos in there somewhere. This is also my first attempt at a violin solo, so sorry if it sounds a little weird."

So, for the first 1'40" or so of this mix, you may actually start to believe that Mr. Medrano, just this once, ISN'T going to melt your face off with a badass guitar solo. He can't stay on the wagon for long, though, and the lead at 1'57" is absolutely BALLSY, in-your-face shreddage of the top shelf variety: a little dirtier & a littler meaner that Sixto usually cuts it, but with all the technique intact. It's "full of beans," which SF4 seems to imply is a good thing, but prior to that a vaguely Rush-esque synth lead takes melodic duty, giving the piece some timbral variety. I don't usually have the luxury of webcopypasting judge comments for Sixto mixes, but in this instance Larry paneled the piece because apparently "violin" raised a red flag:

"In any case, pretty badass. Honestly, this is the first mix I've heard from someone on this side of the scene that sounds a lot like J-rock. If you told me some doujin arranger made it, I'd believe you. When I read the part about the violin solo, I threw it on the panel just for some feedback on that level. But make no mistake, this is a thorough piece of work, well-arranged and well-executed per Juan's usual. Another strong contribution to KyleJCrb's "Summoning of Spirits."

Little did we know it'd be another three years before the album was released. This mix just proves that, while Juan has been on a roll with some amazing mixes this year and last, he was damn hot back then, too. This mix has been sitting in purgatory for some time now, but there's no expiration date on "badass," and it hasn't cooled off one bit. Andy shows the love but also throws in some presetbias with a good-natured dig:

"Man, I love Sixto. This is really very quality stuff in all areas; ESPECIALLY the production which is top-notch as far as I'm concerned. I've got no problems with the solo section either. I think the length was appropriate given the length of the piece, and given the quality of Juan's playing, it's really a pleasure to listen to. The violin, though, that's what makes this mix unique. You just don't hear da solo violin action very often. Perhaps my only complaint is that damn "Stereo Bells" preset from FM7 that you use all the time. ;)"

Burn! But whatever, it got the job done, presets are there to be used, and when the context is this rich & well-executed, you could throw Roland's "Digital Native Dance" in there and it'd still sound rad. Great, satisfying, & intensely meaty stuff from Sixto Sounds.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Mirby
on 2011-12-26 01:57:03

Everything about this song is great. It captures the adventurous feeling of the source and translates it into a song that would be better played over monster annihilation (unacceptable to use if you gain less than 15 levels in all the slaughter) than just wandering the overworld. The touch of violin is appropriate, and really brings everything together. Beautiful song and easily one of my favorites of Sixto's. Fantastic work, man!

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Bahamut
on 2009-12-02 18:14:21

You know, I was really looking forward to a version of this particular source tune with the Tales project - it's easily one of my favorites from the original.

With that said, I can't help but have a little disappointment with Sixto's approach here. It's very synth driven, and not in a good way. The synth has a sort of weak sound in terms of attack, and certainly isn't as effective as if say it focused more on his guitar playing.

Now don't get me wrong, this is still nice in some ways, but I felt like Sixto could've done better with this track. That's right, high standards for Sixto!

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KyleJCrb
on 2009-12-01 02:12:11

This was among one of the earlier tracks on the project, not to mention the second remix that Sixto has EVER done. It still rocks.

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Emunator
on 2009-12-01 01:55:18

Sixto really killed on Summoning of Spirits... four absolutely stellar tracks all in their own unique style. That being said, I think this one is the weakest of the bunch, stylistically-speaking. The violin adds some flair to it, and it is arranged very intelligently but compared to his other mixes it seems a little generic. It's a stellar track for sure and probably still one of the best ones on the album, and that's saying something about Sixto's level of talent, creativity, and commitment :-P The only thing you can really compare this to is the other three tracks that Sixto himself contributed. Keep at it, dude!

EDIT: Also, this hardly even needs to be said because it's basically assumed of his tracks by now, but Sixto really tore it up on the solos here. Just considering that sole aspect of the song, I actually think this might be his strongest effort on the project :-D

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DragonAvenger
on 2009-04-16 11:41:54

Nice combo of instruments. Good guitar sounds and a rockin solo. And violin, yay! Everything really enhances the original. Nice work Sixto.

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Platinum Azure
on 2009-04-16 00:11:40

I really loved the source tune in Tales of Phantasia... so hearing this mix was absolutely heartwarming somehow.

I was really glad to hear some of the experimentation that went on, too. Guitar soloing was epic. Violin was nice.

Brilliant stuff.

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jintoreedwine
on 2009-04-15 12:58:05

Great mix :) . I have been listening to this one since SoS was released to the masses.

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pu_freak
on 2009-04-13 15:41:54

This remix has been a fav for a long time, ever since I heard an early version for the SoS project. It still is one of my favs, just awesome

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WillRock
on 2009-04-13 14:08:12

Sixto is one of if not my fav guitar remixer on this site at this point in time. This track shows why.

that solo is so face meltingly awesome too :P

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Halt
on 2009-04-13 13:50:34

An amazing track. Sixto's music holds a special place in my collection, as some of the most bad ass guitar ReMixes I have. Nothing less, this is one amazing track,

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Sinewav
on 2009-04-13 13:07:35

I don't know what unholy pact you had to make with Satan to get that guitar sound at 2:00, but it sounds like it was worth it. The violin totally caught me by surprise (in a good way). For some reason, I really like the drums on this one too, despite their simplicity.

I've got this image in my head of Sixto sitting in his studio working on this song, trying to resist the pull of his guitar like it was the One Ring, but finally giving in and letting rip on it.

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Mtlbro
on 2009-04-12 09:33:28

Dude that guitar solo is sick.

And everything else is sooo good too it all meshes very well !!

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OA
on 2009-04-10 11:41:10

I was totally on board, but the the guitar tone at the beginning of the solo lost me a little. It didn't seem to fit the soundscape, but it did make me sit up and take notice. Good stuff, and cool to hear that Sixto's production was really rockin back in 2006. The violin solo was great, and with the exception of that one guitar section, everything clicked.

Nice work as usual. :-D

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KyleJCrb
on 2009-04-10 04:40:07

It rules. Duh.

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djpretzel
on 2009-04-10 01:17:08

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Tales of Phantasia (Namco , 1994, SNES)
Music by Motoi Sakuraba,Ryota Furuya,Shinji Tamura,Toshiyuki Sekiguchi
Songs:
"The Second Act"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Rock
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Strings,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Tales_of_Phantasia_Summoned_Without_Reason_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,192,888 bytes
MD5:
9db0de6bd62c5458397f1e29519cdf06
Bitrate:
239Kbps
Duration:
4:31

 

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