ReMix:Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes "Feelings of Hometownishness" 4:15

Falcom! MSX! ...Hometownishness!

Jorito (Jorrith Schaap) coordinated this sweet, mellow folk/world groove collaboration with live performances from Mac, Chris, & Joe, and it turned out fantastic, with a slight Carribean/Latin feel to it, channeling the comfort and familiarity of being on your home turf:

"This mix was almost a year in the making. Originally, it started out as an experiment with Bitwig, a new DAW that I just got. I started messing around with Bitwig, refound this track (ooh, the nostalgia! I vividly remember playing this game!) and, soon enough, I got a decent version of the remix going with a nice, soothing, comfy vibe while learning how to use Bitwig at the same time.

After a bit more work, I liked the track so much that I thought I'd offer it to the Hometown Heroes album project here on OCR. Of course, my MIDI parts (especially the blues harp!) wouldn't give the best impression, so I went scouting for people willing to collaborate with me on this track.

Finding somebody to play the harp seemed to be the hardest, but I stumbled upon Mac who could help out and who really brought my MIDI part to life with some extra twists and dynamics. I never worked with live violin before, and Chris was nice enough to take a gamble with me and he did a great job in his parts (even though he found my MIDI parts to be already pretty realistic). Trumpet, finally, was provided by Joe, with some changes needed to the original parts because they were out of range. The only other lead instrument is the hollowbody guitar, courtesy of ISW Archtop. I just acquired it, and it seems to fit the track very very well.

So track all done, great live recordings in, mix finished and I was waiting for the album to progress for almost a year. Turns out it was ultimately cancelled (a pity, I dig the concept!), but I'm pleased to share the track with you for your enjoyment. Hope it evokes the same calm, relaxed, homely feelings of belonging and better days in you as it's stirring in me. :)

Or, as Furilas succinctly puts it: "It made my heart feel nostalgic, my brain feel activated, and my lips feel oddly aroused." You gotta give it to the man, he has a flair with words."

Indeed! A bummer that the album was cancelled, especially since the concept WAS strong and it could have been revised into an EP, or carried on with a change in leadership, but such is the way of things. It resulted in some great tracks, though, which is ultimately the point, and while most of us are probably unfamiliar with this game, or even the MSX & amazing music of Falcom's sound team in general, don't let that stop you. Jorrith's put together a fantastic, heartfelt ReMix that's mellow but also has flourishes & narrative development, with great performances from all involved. DragonAvenger writes:

"What a chill theme! You guys have definitely taken this to the max level of relaxation with some great instrumentation choices and very smooth performances. I enjoyed that there was a good changeup between the leads where nothing overstayed its welcome."

Liontamer adds:

"Only checking this out while prepping it for posting, but congratulations on producing what sounds like a super-authentic Japanese arrange album piece. Excellent sound to the guitar in particular for setting that tone, IMO, and all of the performances and part-writing were on point. A bit cluttered, but the space was filled up well, and certainly nothing dinging this on any meaningful level. Beautiful work, gentlemen!"

High praise, to be sure. I felt like the initial fade-in was a little abrupt, and there are moments when the overall balance could use a bit more distinction, but these are truly nitpicks; this is a wonderful arrangement which really embraced the "hometown" concept of the project it was originally written for, and I'm glad it's seeing the light of day. Superb work by Jorrith & all involved for bringing his arrangement to life and offering an emotive, organic, & (legit) hometownish mix!