ReMix:Golden Sun "Angarian Vigil" 3:53

We continue exploring A World Reignited as we take a quieter, more introspective turn with this lovely flugelhorn & classical guitar duet, arranging "Hopelessness," from album director TSori (Logan Thomas) & GuitarSVD:

• TSori: arrangement, flugelhorn
• GuitarSVD: classical guitar, mixing

"My first remix, on the Arcadia Legends album, was initially planned to be a very minimalist trumpet and Spanish guitar duet. I ended up going a very different way with that one, but I held onto the idea of doing a remix in that style. When I started trying to decide what to claim for this album, I had just bought a flugelhorn and I was eager to have a chance to use it. I was looking around at different flugelhorn performances and I heard one that paired the instrument with an arpeggio-heavy classical guitar part. I loved the way the two instruments sounded together and the feel that a 3/4 time signature gave that piece. Almost instantly, I could hear the melody of "Hopelessness" in that style. I kept the original keys, but changed from 4/4 to 3/4. To give it a more Spanish feel, I modified the original chord progression to match the Andalusian cadence, a common progression used in flamenco music.

Source breakdown ("Angarian Vigil" - "Hopelessness"):

• 0:00-0:10 - original composition
• 0:11-0:35 - 0:00-0:22
• 0:36-1:00 - 0:23-0:40 (there's a mid-melody octave change here not present in the original)
• 1:01-1:25 - 1:06-1:26 (source melody here is blended with the guitar ostinato)
• 1:26-2:13 - 0:23-0:40 (with some additional ornamentation/melodic tweaks)
• 2:14-2:38 - 0:46-1:05
• 2:39-2:49 - original composition
• 2:50-3:37 - 0:00-0:22 and 0:23-0:40 (this is a blend of both melodies - I literally pulled bits and pieces out of both and filled in the gaps)
• 3:37-end - original composition

As I thought about what story I could tell with a piece like this, I imagined the struggle of Felix, who I always considered to be the true hero of Golden Sun. In the events immediately following the exposition of the game, he has been mislabeled as a traitor by his friends and family. The title "Angarian Vigil" and the ReMix itself are meant to tell the story of a sleepless night early in Felix's journey as he looks out over the region of Angara and comes to terms with the decisions he has made, the hardships they will bring, and, ultimately, the determination to do the right thing and push forward.

I had a great time getting to know the ins and outs of my shiny new flugelhorn with this ReMix. I was also very fortunate to find an excellent classical guitar player, in Cecil, who not only gave an outstanding performance, but also did an equally fantastic job with mixing and producing this track. He was a pleasure to work with and I look forward to doing so again."

When you get a flugelhorn, you gotta *use* that flugelhorn; that's life advice. I actually added a "flugelhorn" tag to our database JUST for this mix, because it just didn't feel right going with "trumpet" - it's a gorgeous, more sonorous tone, and it pairs with classical guitar like a fine wine. This is mix is soulful, reflective, and resonant; it's the musical equivalent of rich Corinthian leather, except it actually exists. More than other game genres, I think RPGs tend to walk the player through a variety of emotional states, and I'm glad A World Ignited reflects not just the fire & flame of more aggressive/epic tracks, but also the slower burn of intimate, introspective moments. I'm also glad this is a straight-up duet - ensemble accompaniment could have been interesting, but in this instance the cleaner, sparse space is filled entirely by the two captivating performers, and nothing else is needed. Beautiful.