ReMix:Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu "Legend of Arcana ~ Tale of the Nagi" 6:02

By Mattias Häggström Gerdt

electronic synth duration-long world

Arranging the music of one song...

"Legend of Arcana ~ Main Theme"

Primary Game: Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu (Crave Entertainment , 1998, PS1), music by Kimitaka Matsumae

Posted 2008-06-29, evaluated by djpretzel

Just got back from the Philly meetup, where I got to hear Taucer & Jose's latest mixes, do some bowling, grab some BBQ, and more... good times, even if the heat prevented our going to the Manayunk Arts Festival as planned and seeing the giant metallic pretzel that apparently resides there.

Beatdrop's mix and interview have been up for awhile and hopefully you've had the occasion to enjoy both, so on with the show. There's been an official announcement already, but I thought I'd mention that several judges have stepped down and a couple more have stepped up. We recently saw the departure of JJT, TO, and pixietricks and the addition of newcomers Fishy and Another Soundscape, doing their part to increase European representation on the panel. It's hard enough to try to encapsulate both my appreciation and the significant contributions of a singe judge in written form; anything I could possibly say about the exit of these three talented artists would thus be threefold as inadequate. Fortunately, all three of them are still around and active in the community, and simply needed a breather from the more regular commitments of mix evaluation. AnSo and Fishy should be no strangers, both having played active roles on VotL and Mattias being one of the most prolific mixers since the beginning of time; hopefully that can carry over to his voting. So long live the ex-judges, and a warm welcome to Cain and Mattias, who'll do their best to keep the torch burning bright.

AnSo's 8th mix revisits Jade Cocoon, which he provided our first mix of back in October of last year. He writes (at length, as always):

"It's been three weeks since Groove Sweet Groove and I'm back again. I must say, I really love the Jade Cocoon soundtrack. It's like a treasure chest of short, moody and memorable sources and that's what I love the most (in case you missed it)! Short sourcetunes gives you a lot of room for your own ideas and I've got loads of ideas. :) Since People Made of Stone was posted I've gotten some amazing feedback, something I didn't think was possible with such an unpopular game. Guess I was wrong! So, here it is, the spiritual follower to People Made of Stone, aptly named (oh come on, play the game already) "Legend of Arcana ~ Tale of the Nagi".

...The remix contains the following (in no special order): The now mandatory Rhodes solo, 909-kick, bubbly Virus textures, a toybox sound, some ethno percussion without quantizing, the same lead as in Golden Feathers, an extremely long build-up, Shariq's pan flute soundfont, gated trance synth, soloing through an arpeggiator and some actual chord changes, something I tend to forget."

I love writing up his mixes because he always gives me a lot to work with in his submission emails ;) Chimes and clockwork chromatic percussion intro this piece, which drops a four-on-the-floor kick at 0'57" - a bit surprising given the syncopated groove preceding it, but definitely works - along with a pentatonic synth monoglide synth. Though the melody is fairly Eastern, AnSo can't resist jazzing it up here and there. You can almost hear his inner groove saying "c'mon, just let me toss a riff in right here... it won't hurt!" - fortunately his inner composer gives in and we get lovely, hybrid arrangements with polished ethnic and pop elements that incorporate just enough jazz elements to keep things fresh without seeming gratuitous. That EP run at 1'52" even reminds me of the title theme to Ocarina of Time a bit. While the heavy downbeat is minimal and straightforward, the ethnic percussion picks up the slack with some great syncopated grooves that pack in runs and triplets, forming a moving, grooving bed for strong, almost anthematic melodic direction. Fading out on the synth groove for the ending works well enough, and at any rate shows the attention to detail even in the tertiary, accompanying components.

All of AnSo's pieces have the feeling that loving care was applied to both production and arrangement, and that furthermore he had a hell of a lot of fun making them. This one's no exception, and is just plain fun to listen to, bringing even more light on Kimitaka Matsumae's underappreciated OST.

― djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Polo
on 2010-09-19 04:12:51

The source packs a somber enough melody, but man, when the first iteration plays here, my throat constricts in sorrow. Luckily, the music box and co. alleviate the pain before the next one. Mr. Soundscape sure isn't kidding when he says the song allows lots of room to play around, and the varied leads and arrangement pathways prove themselves most colorful. 3:23's all-out craziness is a satisfying payoff to the lengthy buildup. Also, if the lead synth at 4:12-5:01 were a human face, it would twist and pull itself into every conceivable expression known to man. Now that's flexibility!

avatar
Lucentas
on 2008-12-06 14:43:23

I love this mix, it has a really unique flavor to it that doesn't easily fit into any one genre. It always makes me want to do tai chi, as well.

I've been hearing lots of good things about Another Soundscape, and I'm beginning to see that they were well-justified.

avatar
Freezard
on 2008-11-19 08:51:31

Oh you made a remix of the intro theme! Great arrangement here :)

I do prefer your other remix though, but keep it up!

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anosou
on 2008-09-26 07:38:56

Not to hijack my own review-thread but it seems the source isn't noted on the remix page or at the game index. The sourcetune is 'Legend of Arcana ~ Main Theme'.

That's all.

avatar
OA
on 2008-08-29 10:56:05

Starts out with some nice texture and picks up pretty fast;

I do think the lead synth is a bit too loud, especially at higher volumes, but other than that, things are great.

Nice progression, nice synth effects, nice arrangement.

It's nice.

avatar
DragonAvenger
on 2008-08-13 09:47:12

When a remix makes you want to play the game again, you know it's good. ANSO does his usual awesome-ness. Love the ethnic feel of this, reminiscent of the game. Palpable is right that the lead gets a little too haywire for my tastes, but it's nothing to turn me away from enjoying the mix, and it doesn't sound out of place.

Of the two JC mixes, I think I like PMOS better, but this one is still quite enjoyable.

avatar
anosou
on 2008-07-20 16:08:11
How on earth is that achieved? It's wonderful!

Two RV-7000 patches after eachother in a combinator with a harp and a glockenspiel layered as the main sound. The RV-700 patches are one reverb patch by Tom Pritchard (Stompp) with unlimited decay and a reverse delay that I took from one of the Flatpack ReFills and modified a bit to suit the rhythm of the track by syncing it to tempo and making it 1/3 long. Wow.. there should have been a pause in there somewhere.. but now you know :)

avatar
LuckyXIII
on 2008-07-19 11:06:45

Starting at 5:26 there's this crazy effect with an echo/reverb on the chimes (glockenspiel?) where it sounds like the echo is in surround sound; I can visualize the notes playing somewhere from distant parts in my head, not just in my ears where music is usually heard...

How on earth is that achieved? It's wonderful!

And overall I really dig the mix, that's just what sticks out as I listen to it now.

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Martin Penwald
on 2008-07-17 16:26:31

The ethnic parts are wonderful.

Funnily enough, I can listen to this song only up to a certain volume. If it gets too loud, the lead synth (which is actually pretty nice) starts to annoy the living hell out of me.

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anosou
on 2008-07-15 07:07:17
Considering I'm a big fan of the original JC, i thought this remix is just the start, if you can do a remix of the Dark Spider Forest (Where Nagi is already a fairy in the cocoon) I would sing your praises for eternity. It's great to hear Great OCR's again.

Since I'm always trying to do more Jade Cocoon-remixes I will definitely keep that source in mind for my next one, even though it is a tricky source. Thank you.

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DragonTyph
on 2008-07-15 05:45:10

Considering I'm a big fan of the original JC, i thought this remix is just the start, if you can do a remix of the Dark Spider Forest (Where Nagi is already a fairy in the cocoon) I would sing your praises for eternity. It's great to hear Great OCR's again.

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Palpable
on 2008-07-14 18:45:45

I think sometimes the lead goes a bit too haywire, but this has a fantastic atmosphere. And damn I love your Rhodes/EP. Seriously, use that in every song you ever do.

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Geoffrey Taucer
on 2008-07-05 21:06:16

Great mix. And I LOVE the accoustic/ethnic breakdown. Percussion is especially well done.

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DramaNoMore
on 2008-06-30 13:38:02

Damn...

I mean, I am sooo your fan by now, sir...

Damn...

I'm obviously impressed by this mix. I'm speachless, so I'll just say thank you, and shut up.

avatar
Thrull
on 2008-06-30 01:42:37

Very fun listen! You really did a lot with the original melody. This one's going in to stay in my playlist for a long time.

BTW, I really liked your first Jade Cocoon mix as well.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu (Crave Entertainment , 1998, PS1)
Music by Kimitaka Matsumae
Songs:
"Legend of Arcana ~ Main Theme"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:
Regional > World
Time > Duration: Long

File Information


Name:
Jade_Cocoon_Legend_of_Arcana_Tale_of_the_Nagi_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,325,931 bytes
MD5:
e2324ae83ea10a9b5d3df7c1956066b5
Bitrate:
137Kbps
Duration:
6:02

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