ReMix:Kirby's Adventure "Parasol to the Stars" 3:13

Time for more birthday shoutouts! Just as we did last year, we're proud not only to shout out Pixels & Paradiddles with well wishes, we've also got fellow Georgia resident Lucas Guimaraes blowing out the candles today, so what better way to celebrate than his arrangement from our new Impact of Iwata album (get the book too)! Lucas fronted the new Whispy Woodwinds ensemble with a beautiful arrangement from Kirby's Adventure! Our lineup of windy fellows:

• Arrangement, tenor sax, editing: Lucas Guimaraes
• Flute: Gamer of the Winds
• Clarinet: Steven Higbee
• Bassoon: Andrew Gossett
• Mix/master: Ridley Snipes

Lucas explains how the quarter joined together and his vision for honoring HAL Labs stand-out Satoru Iwata, whose tenure with pink protagonist Kirby progressively propelled him to the top of Nintendo's leadership:

"After MAGFest and seeing my friends The Game Brass perform a wicked set, I thought "Hmm, we could start a wind quartet? Maybe?" I pushed the idea over to Gregory Orosz (Gamer of the Winds) and we quickly got to work. We've had a few arrangements being shopped (All of which to come out in 2024!), but when the Iwata album came up, I knew I had to do something special. We already had "Butter Building" on our 2024 list, so wanted to debut the band with it -- and it's a choice I'm glad we made.

Much of the arrangement itself follows a story: a lot of hope with a hard journey halfway through, and then a more peaceful end to the stars. I initially had the idea of this mix being called "Building to the Heavens", in order to have that celebration of Iwata's career, but Trevor (Ridley Snipes) talked me out of it by saying it was a tad *too* dramatic. So I opted for "Parasol to the Stars", because, even though there are melancholy moments (Iwata tribute album, I couldn't help it!), there's a lot that helps get to its big release. Feedback from both Hemophiliac and The Game Brass's own Thomas Kresge bring this to life.

As for the artists ourselves, everyone contributed their A game. Gregory, Steven, and Andrew were a part of the editing process the whole way. They sent me amazing recordings that really brought this to life. I re-recorded the tenor a couple of times -- as some may know, I'm not the most experienced saxophone player, but I absolutely love playing it and have been grinding away. I proposed the idea to Trevor to mix this a few months before I gave him the files, and he was definitely interested. Once I edited all the recordings, I gave it to him and the rest was pretty smooth sailing. KestrelGirl helped point out a few details, but everyone *really* loved it.

I needed to step away from it just to see how good it was, even my recording. I'm glad I did. Enjoy this journey to the stars. :)"

Like butter, baby, there was indeed a lot to enjoy from the quartet! Judge Emunator summarized the most salient part of the panel's unanimous decision:

"What a delightful little track. I always loved the original Butter Building source, but the wind ensemble palette actually feels even more appropriate for the Kirby universe. It's light, airy, and bouncy, just like the titular puffball himself. There's plenty of expansion and recontextualizing of the source material that gives this a unique compositional spin without ever really straying too far outside the bounds of Butter Building either. I know how hard your team worked on getting the performances, mixing, and mastering absolutely spotless, and the effort paid off in my opinion!"

This piece serves a special place on the album -- as Emunator alluded to, easily The Impact of Iwata's lightest, airiest track! Kudos to Lucas, Greg, Steven, and Andrew for their earnest woodwind showcase, an Iwata tribute that'll hopefully bring a smile to your face! :-)