ReMix:Skies of Arcadia "To the Horizon" 13:38

This epic, globetrotting, mega-collab symphonic medley opus from Arcadia Legends is like an album in itself. Spearheaded & arranged by Jorito (Jorrith Schaap), there's adventure, mystery, beauty, sadness, and joy, conveyed through a formidable lineup of talented instrumentalists & singers:

• Arrangement, production: Jorito
• Violin, viola: Ronin Op F
• Cello: Keadrin Cain
• French horn, trombone, trumpet: JohnStacy
• Flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet: Gamer of the Winds
• Oboe, English horn: Damian Nguyen
• Bassoon: Bassoonify
• Soprano, female choir: Lauren the Flute
• Harp, female choir: Earth Kid
• Male choir: BardicKnowledge
• Snare: DrumUltimA

Mad respect to everyone who chipped in, because you really knocked it out of the park with this one. A big, soaring album like Arcadia Legends definitely calls for an arrangement like this, which itself reaches for the skies and pulls no punches, and Jorrith & co. deliver with a piece that's not only mind-blowing, but just *happened* to clock in at 13'37" - he writes:

"Uh oh, I got into trouble with big ambitions again! When Darkflamewolf and Modus asked me if I was interested in remixing the airship theme of the game, I initially said no because of time constraints. They didn't give up though, and when they later shared a music clip where elements of each continent in the game were featured in the song, I started thinking it would be nice to incorporate these continent themes more completely than as just mere flyby fragments. Little did I know that this ultimately would turn into a monster of a project with a runtime of over 13 minutes that would take me 8 months to complete, include collaborations from 10 performers, eat up close to 160 tracks in my DAW, and give me a project file too big for my computer to actually handle. Ouch. It was quite an undertaking and made my computer cry, so it might be a while before I attempt something so huge again. I just hope it was worth it, and if not, well, at least I had fun while doing it.

Given that this track contains not only the airship theme but also all the different continents in the game, that meant there was a lot of music to work with. With so many different types of music, making things sound cohesive was definitely a concern. I was a bit hesitant at first to give this the orchestral treatment, given that the OST is fully orchestral too. I initially thought that it would be difficult to make this track different enough from the source material. After some more deliberation however, I quickly came to the conclusion that an orchestral track would be the only way I could actually pull this off in a consistent manner. Once that was settled, it became a lot easier to get started and flesh out the arrangement. With all the different tempos and time signatures, making things flow and transition well between the different parts without sounding too much like a medley was a tricky challenge, but I think it turned out pretty well. I also learned a lot of orchestrational and compositional things that I hope to apply in a new orchestral project (but please hit me if I try something so big again anytime soon!).

As is common in my tracks, I like to include collaborations from other people. Not only because it makes the music better, but also because it's a lot of fun. This track was no exception. I went on a recruiting spree to augment, layer, and replace my samples wherever I could, and ultimately I ended up with 10 collaborators across the full orchestral palette. I am immensely grateful for all these talented performers who were willing to give this a shot and join me on this crazy journey. A big shout-out to Damian, Doug, Earth Kid, Gregory, Jay, John, Keadrin, Michael, Lauren, and Ryan; you really helped making this track come alive! Also big thanks to Modus and Darkflamewolf for cheering me onwards and keeping me motivated to see this through.

To prevent the write up from becoming as long as the track itself, let me wrap things up with some closing words: sit back and take a trip back to the lands of Arcadia. Hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did!

Since it's quite a long track (understatement), I figured a source breakdown would be helpful. Most of the sections feature the introduction of a source in a simpler form and a repeat of it that is built out more. For convenience, here are the sources and the parts I used; since I only used the melody, it should be easy to find in my arrangement."

Parts from the source used:

• "Delphinus" A: :10-:40
• "Delphinus" B: :41-:57
• "Kingdom of Nasrad" A: :22-:29
• "Kingdom of Nasrad" B: :29-:40
• "Kingdom of Ixa'taki": :05-1:00
• "Eastern Air Pirates" A: :00-:35
• "Eastern Air Pirates" B: :36-:51
• "Town of Ice": :00-:43
• "Armada": :10-:44
• "Great Silver Temple": :54-1:46

Source breakdown:

• 00:00-01:00 - intro, with the piano hinting at the "Delphinus" A theme, before the oboe really plays it at :36
• 01:00-01:39 - "Delphinus" A kicks in on brass at 1:13
• 01:39-02:05 - "Eastern Air Pirates" B section on woodwinds
• 02:05-02:59 - "Kingdom of Nasrad" A on sultan strings and part B on ethnic woodwinds
• 02:59-03:25 - "Eastern Air Pirates" B section on triumphant trumpets
• 03:25-04:42 - "Kingdom of Ixa'taki"
• 04:42-06:00 - "Eastern Air Pirates" A kicks in on erhu at 4:56
• 06:00-06:56 - "Town of Ice"
• 06:56-07:52 - "Armada"
• 07:52-09:01 - "Delphinus" A variation on solo trumpet starts at 8:13
• 09:01-10:42 - "Great Silver Temple"
• 10:42-11:08 - buildup towards...
• 11:08-12:25 - "Delphinus" B on soprano
• 12:25-13:37 - "Delphinus" A on brass

Let me just say... damn. Jorito never scales back his musical visions, and this one was a humdinger, with different regions and palettes and emotions and cohesive incorporation of so many musicians; it's quite the accomplishment, and it sounds amazing as a result. This captures the feel of travelling, of grand adventure crossing through different cultures & experiencing a story firsthand, and it does so on a vast stage that it confidently controls. Larry Oji writes:

"Boy, am I genuinely appreciative of the source usage breakdown for an arrangement of this scope and magnitude. (Thanks, Jorrith!) I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but one of the big things I respect about Jorrith is his penchant to collaborate with live performers; live performers are not a recommendation we collectively push on the judges panel because everyone's different in how they socialize and we don't require live instrumentation to pass our production bar. It's always a treat, however, when an ambitious arrangement concept can be more fully realized thanks to real-life performers, so building bridges with collaborators is a soft skill everyone benefits from. This here is an orchestral powerhouse of a journey though Skies of Arcadia's soundtrack, so props to everyone for their synergy here!"

Inspired & inspiring, Jorrith & his powerful posse of like-minded artists came together and gave us something that not only captures the spirit & soul of Skies of Arcadia, but communicates that spirit thoroughly and, I think, universally. I haven't traveled much since becoming a father, but damn does this make me wanna spin a globe, close my eyes, pick a random destination, and hop on the next flight there. Like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America, more or less. Spontaneity, exploration, adventure, & a rich, deep musical tapestry to let it all play out - a crown jewel on a consistently impressive album. Highly recommended.