ReMix:King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow "Sailing on the Vaporwaves" 3:36

I feel like we *just* posted a classic Sierra PC RPG ReMix.... because we did... but there's always room for more, as newcomer MusicallyInspired (Brandon Blume) sends us a chill/mellow vapor/synthwave take King's Quest VI:

"Here's a remix of the Seagull theme from the introduction sequence of the CD-ROM version of Sierra Online's adventure game King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow. I was originally going to go in a different route entirely for this remix, but I stumbled upon a rather dreamy sound synth pad (the one the song starts with) and quickly changed my whole plan and went in a more vaporwave/synthwave direction. This was made for the electronic chillout King's Quest fan remix album King's Chill Vol 1: Vibin' Makes the Soul Go Higher, a community effort which features chillout-style remixes of various musical pieces taken all the games from the King's Quest game series.

The remix follows the original theme but changes the time signature from 4/4 to 6/8 and features additional/alternate notation that's not in the original, though it follows the original melody very closely, which is what I love about the original song in the first place. It later changes the time signature and BPM trademark in vaporwave music to make it sound like a slowed down cassette tape or something. It's an experimentation in a genre I've not attempted before and I used some plugins that I don't normally use to get this sound. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Sounds very dreamy which compliments the relaxing nature of the original arrangement. It seemed like a perfect fit for this style and I was pleased enough with it that I thought it'd be a strong candidate to also fit the requirements for OC ReMix. I hope you do as well. If not, thanks for giving it a listen anyway!"

First let's just talk about that project/album title: "Vibin' Makes the Soul Go Higher" - I mean, a thousand times YES. Someone delivered the titular goods. Very much in the spirit of the KQ series, while also conjuring Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" - you should check the whole album out based solely on the title, really, but this mix is a pretty good ambassador. I got more synth/pop than vapor, personally, but obviously these things are subjective. Lush synths, solid production, some neat panned scrape FX right on the intro, and then those toms lead us into a drum/bass combo that reminds me of MJ's "The Way You Make Me Feel." To complete the retro deja vu, the synth brass line at 1'10" sure seems like it's trying to communicate with the melodious aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind ;) Also, seagulls. Liontamer had some beefs with production (a bit overstated imo), but generally the judges were on board - DarkSim writes:

"Lovely warm, fuzzy synths. A little generic, but definitely vaporwavey. Brass-style lead in particular isn’t too interesting from a sound design perspective, however the overall soundscape is cohesive.
The snare at 2:07 has too much reverb, so it softens the punch. Some of the toms seem to be too wet on the reverb as well, but it's not a dealbreaker.

Really like the ABA arrangement going from 6/8 to 4/4 across A sections. I was thinking that the melody was too fast for the style you were going for, but then in the final section it’s repeated in 4/4, which gives it a much slower, laid-back feel.

I can see why this might not stand up to more commercial examples of the genre, particularly from a sound design and production perspective, however I think what’s here is delightfully creative, and cohesive enough to get a pass from me."

Roger that; I'm glad some folks put together a whole tribute to the King's Quest series, and this mix makes me want to hear more, so mission accomplished in that regard, and a solid OCR debut from Brandon, as well. Check it out, enjoy, and then check out the rest of King's Chill Vol. 1: Vibin' Makes the Soul Go Higher!