ReMix:The 7th Saga "Esuna Is Busy Again" 4:13

Absolutely banging dnb take on 7th Saga from Rockos (Roch Côté):

"Following the remix done this year of Animal Crossing, I had a surge in DnB listening and attempted to make some once again. It is my second submission with a fast and energic pace.

As I was listening to my library of SNES music, I stumbled upon The 7th Saga OST (which is amazing by the way, maybe because of nostalgia, who knows) and it was in dire need of a remix. I went to the OC ReMix website to find that the number of remixes are so low. But I quite understand that this game is an hidden gem.

I kind of wanted to make this one shine and groove but also get out of my comfort zone. So you can find near the end of the song, a really modified version of the lead of the original. Something new I wanted to try. Also, the mix is one train ride that hardly stops.

The first lead section is cut in 2 parts like to feel a bit like Pendulum - "Salt in the Wounds." Also, I went a lot with bass automation as the signature of this song and use a very basic synth that got modified. This gives the feel that the bassline hardly repeats itself and brings something new all the way in the mix.

I really enjoy this one. It is best listened at high volume or on a system with a good subwoofer. It's bass-friendly and mastered loud. Cheers."

Delicious stuff. My big picture take is that this is a fantastic example of work in the genre, a testament to the flexibility of the game's OST, and an engaging, exciting arrangement in general. More specifically, though, I'd like to focus on a single break/transition, from 1'42" and lasting for about ten seconds, to 1'52" - it's a sweet one. You've got a breakbeat-style groove introduced while a noise riser joins up, but then it gets interesting. At 1'46" the noise is modulated in sync with the beat, leading up to the next measure where its delay trail fades out while continuing to rise. Yes, this is achievable by some of the creative multi-effects out there, and I don't know whether Roch used a preset of a more complex nature or not, but either way... it works, and it goes beyond the standard riser/transition we've heard hundreds of times and adds brief-but-key nuance & creativity. I thought it was worth pointing out as an example of something that goes by very quickly, but adds polish & depth disproportionate to its duration, at least for me. Beyond that, you've got an array of psytrance-style squelches and FX, glitchy vowel/formant synth, beefy-but-agile drums, and precise, dynamic synth leads - as Roch says, it's a train that hardly stops, but you don't **want** it to stop, so that works out just fine :) Liontamer evaluated:

"Respect to AeroZ for putting the scope of greatness of The 7th Saga's soundtrack on display with Seven Songs for Seventh Saga back in 2015, an album that the late TotalBiscuit loved to feature to close out episodes of the Content Patch back in the day. It remains a personal favorite OCR project to this day, and track 5 of that album also introduced me to Norihiko Yamanuki's "Lemele Castle" theme from the start of the game.

Rockos personalized his approach to the theme with heaping helpings of audio spices that keep his DnB-inspired take feeling fresh and dynamic the whole way through. From the leads changing, to subtle melodic doubling during the choruses, to the glitching & warbling, to the dropoffs, to the varied percussion writing, to the melodic variations of the final section, this piece is a mighty fine example of how to leave your creative stamp on a theme!"

Larry's rundown of the myriad effective ingredients that make this mix tick is pretty complete, and they all contribute to a whole that delivers the fun, pulse-pounding energy of the genre but with plenty of elevating icing & layering. Awesome stuff from Rockos, highly recommended!