ReMix:Chrono Trigger "Coming Darkness" 4:00

OMG... *such* a creative, surprising, and perfectly-executed world/rock ReMix of "Millennial Fair" from Taucer, Haroon, & collaborator Chris Bess on tank drum, working in "Magus" & "Schala" too!! Definitely one of the more memorable arrangements of 2015; putting a Middle Eastern intonation on this melody was an effective, transforming, and completely brilliant idea... I'm jealous. Seriously guys, kudos - this needed to happen, musically, and that type of arranging serendipity is really something special. Specific credits:

• Taucer: arrangement, guitars
• Haroon: arrangement, production
• Chris Bess: tank drum

Geoffrey Taucer (Jeremy Waters) writes:

""Millennial Fair" has always been one of my favorite game tracks; I've played it at MAGFest with two separate bands, and it's always a blast to play these sorts of happy bouncy Irish-influenced songs that Mitsuda does so well.

So, of course, when it came to remixing it for OCR, I decided to go with the obvious choice of completely throwing out all that happy, bouncy Irish stuff and turning it into headbanging metal with Middle Eastern influences. I started on this track years ago, and then left it on the backburner for awhile. Last year, I went back home and visited several of my former students, among them Chris. While we were hanging out, he pulled out his tank drum and played around a bit, and I instantly thought of this old WIP and knew I wanted to feature Chris in it. A few months later, Chris came out to visit me in Cali, and he and Haroon recorded a bunch of loops for this track (as well as individual note samples that we'll eventually be assembling into a commercially-available sample library). All of the tank drum parts you hear in this are played live - we didn't use any of the individual samples, just Chris's awesome grooves.

We also used this mix to extensively demo Haroon's Mr. Overdrive plugin, which is quite versatile and which I highly recommend everybody check out. One more note, lest I be accused of being a better guitarist than I actually am, let me say up front: I cheated on the lead run at 2:40, and recorded it at about half-speed."

I've heard Taucer jam out live to this source tune in the expected (and still very enjoyable) Irish/Celtic style, possibly more than once, but I'm really glad they decided to take this mix in a very different direction, because it works REALLY well. Having a great arrangement idea for a melody is a huge piece of the puzzle, but I feel like Harooon & Jeremy knew what they were on to and ALSO put in the effort to make this four-minute mix fully deliver on the strength of the concept. Mr. Piracha writes:

"It was fun working with Jeremy. From the engineering aspect, it was an easy project to finish. Drums were the only part that I was worried about, but found nice default samples to work with. A lot of the instruments weren't wide enough for my taste. Too many resided in the mono range. I've recently created a new plug-in called Mr. Overdrive. It has a feature that allows me to make tracks wide in stereo width. The ethnic instruments were all mono and were widened by Mr. Overdrive. Mr. Overdrive is also being used to amplify some of the guitar tracks and resonate the drum kick in lower frequency. Currently, Mr. Overdrive is only available as a Rack Extension for Reason 6.5 and up. You can download a free demo of Mr. Overdrive from the Propellerhead shop page, and try it out for yourself. VST will be available soon.

Chris was a blast to work with, very professional while recording the steel drums. The drums were recorded in stereo. I love Jeremy's sick guitar solo, best yet! That rhythm guitar is being quaded. Wouldn't have it any other way. I cannot wait to work on more music with Jeremy. We have a lot more coming."

If there was any doubt previously that Waters & Piracha are one of the greatest collaborations in the history of OCR, this ReMix certainly seals that status. Also, how badass is it to be relying so heavily on a DSP plugin YOU coded, and having the result sound so great? Mad props to HP. Percussionist & newcomer Chris Bess adds:

"This is actually the first time I've ever worked on a mix, although I've been a fan of OCR for years now. It's also the first time I've ever been recorded, since I usually just take my tank drum out and play around for fun, and for the public in busy places on Friday nights while I hope for a couple of tips and nice conversation from strangers who have never seen something like this drum before.

When Jeremy came down to visit, I knew I had to show him, and who knew it would lead to something amazing like this mix! It's been a great time making music and recording with Jeremy and Haroon, and I'm glad I was able to contribute something new and interesting to the song. I definitely hope to collaborate further in the future."

The drumming is an integral part of this mix, and this is a FANTASTIC arrangement to have been part of in any context, but especially as a debut. What else can I say? VERY happy to be posting this on OCR, and I know this will be one I'll come back to offer & even single out as an example of how popular sources are still yielding fresh & inspired interpretations. Highly recommended!