Seiken Densetsu 3: Songs of Light and Darkness
Comments from album director Rozovian (Ad G), assistant director Meteo Xavier, and ReMixers
Album freely available at http://sd3.ocremix.org

What a journey! It's been a long, long time, but now it's finally released. Songs of Light and Darkness is a tribute to Hiroki Kikuta's soundtrack for Seiken Densetsu 3, the game following Secret of Mana in the same franchise. Though only released in Japan, the Western gamers who came across it, either on cartridge or by other means, found it one of the most beautiful games on the SNES. The music plays a big part in that.

The album project began more than a decade ago. And, hey, we got the whole tracklist done. Your favorite track from the game has been remixed here. It's possible we have multiple remixes of it, even. Through a troubling many issues over the years, and a troubling number of years of slow progress, the slow progress eventually gave us the whole soundtrack wonderfully remixed by OC ReMix regulars and strangers alike.

You get to hear what I've been keeping mostly to myself for years. And what a wonderful set of tracks this is. In some ways, it's a bit of a time capsule. I joined OC ReMix in late 2007, and this project was in the works already then. Some of the tracks sound like those old tracks that drew me to the site and its community in the first place.

It's an eclectic mix of things, with the expected orchestral and metal epics sharing space with instrumentation and styles including waltz, rap, Mellotron, reggae, harpsichord, J-rock, and plenty of world music elements from all over the place incorporated into a large number of the remixes.

I'm very happy to have my name among the artists here, and I'm sure you can find something you like on this behemoth of an album. I hope you not only enjoy the album, but get something out of reading the comments too. Enjoy.

-Ad G

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Disc 1

Rozovian: The tracklist reflects, to an extent, the track order on the official soundtrack but also the order in which tracks appear in the game. Meteo Xavier did the greater share of work putting the tracklist in order, although we both iterated on it. For all the frustrations that a long collaboration can have, I'm very glad to have had him on the team. I'm not sure it'd ever had been completed without him.

Squaresoft jingle, a couple of cool but difficult-to-place tracks, and then the album begins proper. The fist disc contains character-associated themes, beginning tracks, and overall tracks inspiring and invoking the start of an adventure and the entry into another world.

I vaguely remember my first forays into the game. The text was in Japanese, the images weren't like the simple sprites I was used to, the interface was on a strange terrain-like background, and the music was this cute little tune. It was frustrating to not understand anything, but at the same time it was intriguing. Intimidating, but inviting.

1-01. Usa - "In the Beginning There Was SQUARE"
Source: "Not Awaken"

Rozovian: It's on the soundtrack. It gets remixed. Usa made the rather simple Squaresoft jingle into something grander. It's nice. It's also brief, like this comment.

I'll just use this space to point out Usa's contributions. He mastered the whole thing sans bonus tracks, contributed several tracks, and ran the project before I did, with TheDeath as co-coordinator. Before that, he co-founded the project with someone named Zak that I know nothing about. The OC ReMix thread was started in 2005... years before my time in the community. This thing goes way back. And now it's finally done.

1-02. The OverClocked Plaid Muffins (Level 99, LuIzA, Swann, Cyril the Wolf, AMT, Xenon Odyssey, PrototypeRaptor) - "Do the Splash Hop"
Source: "Splash Hop"

Rozovian: It was a long, long time. Yes, it was. This project took way too long to complete, and for the most part, that's due to my own varying levels of interest and other failings. I've learned so many things during it, and I'm grateful for the experience, even if it's been tiresome and I've at times felt like quitting or just dumping the tracks onto the forums, but it's been amazing to see this thing come together. Every once in a while, when everything seemed dead, someone would surprise me with something cool and wholly unexpected, like a big collab reggae take on a source, telling the story of how the game found its way to gamers in the West.

The remix is really cool. The brass around the two-minute mark is probably my favorite moment, but the second verse and buildup to the chorus, the drum work there in particular, is a close second. There's a lot to like.

Meteo Xavier: Yes, this project took way too long to complete. The reasons for it we won't waste webspace trying to impress upon you -- that's just how it works for some projects. We've had some drama, we've had some bad luck, we've had some people quit and we've had some failures here and there -- but we refused to quit no matter what the forces that be threw at us.

This awesome remix is one of many amazing tracks we were able to acquire and might not have gotten if we tried to truncate or rush out the project. Just listen to it, you'll hear why it was worth the wait.

1-03. Meteo Xavier, Jeremy Robson - "Hortus Conclusus"
Source: "Closed Garden"

Rozovian: We were just talking, and I, in jest, suggested Meteo write a waltz. He apparently took it to mean to make a waltz for SD3. I wasn't expecting that, but I'm very glad he did it. He teamed up with Jeremy Robson for this beautiful take on the game menu and character select screen music. It's unfortunate that it's not quite danceable throughout, but I accidentally got a sweet waltz on my album, so I'm still happy. The last minute of the track is golden. Beautiful.

Meteo Xavier: I remember at a time when I was considerably younger in my composition and arrangement journey when Rozovian, evidently in jest, suggested I do a WALTZ for this track when I offered to take it so the project could move along. I'd never done a waltz before, and I never have tried one as seriously as this since, so it remains a crown jewel in my personal history as I managed to pull it off not knowing jack squat of how to do a waltz.

I did the arrangement as a .MID file at first because I didn't have, and still don't have, the proper orchestration skills to pull off something as bombastic and grandiose as a romantic ballroom dance. It took about 5 days from start to finish -- maybe about 30 hours? I had to listen to a lot of them to get a feel for what I was doing. What struck me the most, and what I tried to emulate the most, was Johann Strauss' "Roses from the South" (or specifically, the version of it from Dracula: Dead and Loving It), the waltz theme from The Addams Family ("A Party for Me") and Jeremy Robson's "Valse Aeris." From where to go once I got it where I wanted it, Jeremy Robson was the man to contact and I was very happy to work with him. Although I was at first surprised with his sample choice (the factory samples from Kontakt 4), it quickly dawned on me that it was a more appropriate choice. While not sounding as REALISTIC as other orchestral libraries, it did however sound FUN and BOMBASTIC -- which was the whole point in the first place.

Of the remixes I did for this project, this one I'm most proud of for those reasons and others.

1-04. Archangel, HoboKa - "Surpassing the Gods"
Source: "Where Angel Fear to Tread"

Rozovian: It begins. HoboKa spent a lot of time working on this, and eventually turned to Archangel to make it epic. There are so many moments that could be highlights of the track, like the varied percussion, the choice of woodwinds appearing around 1:20, the buildup and choruses at and after 3:20... so much to like. And the track builds like a proper epic. Epic it is.

Many remixers, especially when they're starting out, rely on MIDI transcriptions or conversions of the source music, in this case a MIDI made by Destiny. There's something to be said about all three of these people, and how they've affected the project. HoboKa was one of my first friends on OC ReMix, without whom I probably wouldn't have felt so at home in the community. At the time, he, like me, was a total newb, and I have a few very old versions of this remix to prove it. Destiny's two SD3 remixes on OC ReMix showed me that I wasn't the only one who knew about the game, and got me inspired to join the SD3 project when I found out about it. Archangel joined the project later, and brought an epic flavor to the many tracks he remixed. His contributions bookends what we might call the album proper, and this epic is the start of it.

To me, there's something very appropriate about these three people having a hand in the same remix.

HoboKa: I really like the source tune and struggled to do it justice solo, hence why I needed to collaborate with Archangel. And I'm ecstatic that he came around to sound upgrade and add in some much needed articulation, humanization, and Stormdrum stuff.

Archangel: This is actually an unexpected collaboration between me and Alex (HoboKa). Alex made a MIDI arrangement of "Where Angel Fear to Tread" for the project, but didn't have any decent sample libraries at the time. Ad (Rozovian), the project director, asked me to render the MIDI with my samples, but I decided to improve Alex's arrangement with a little more humanization, additional instrumentation, and better dynamics. This is the end result.

People seem to enjoy visualizing stories while listening to my submissions, so here you go: I imagined this as the soundtrack to a movie opening sequence akin to the one at the beginning of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Between 0:00 and 2:55, we see a montage of key scenes during which a narrator tells the backstory as told at the beginning of the game (I took the liberty of improving and expanding the text):

"Once, when reality was still trapped in impenetrable darkness, the Goddess of Mana felled eight Eidolons, terrible incarnations of disaster that led all existence down a path of utter destruction, with the legendary Sword of Mana, and sealed each one in a monolith prison. The darkness was lifted to make way for the dawn, and the world as we know it was created. The Goddess turned herself into a mighty tree and sank into a deep slumber that would last for an age.

And so the years passed, with both the jailor and her captives sleeping, ignorant of time, space, and life.

But now, due to the actions of some who plot to free the Eidolons from their stone imprisonment, obtain power surpassing even that of the gods, and make the world their own, conflict breaks out heralding the end of peace.

Mana, the mysterious force of balance and harmony, a gift from the Goddess herself, is rapidly disappearing from the world. Winds are dying, singing their final laments. War bares its fangs, threatening to consume what little innocence yet remains. Malevolent forces stir in the night, and it seems that nothing will be spared from spiraling into inevitable chaos.

Even the Tree of Mana has begun to wither..."

At 2:55, the shot moves closer to the Tree of Mana and shows four faeries, worried and weakened, but determined. The gradual disappearance of mana has already taken its toll on the surrounding life. Knowing they must act before it is too late, the faeries hold hands for one last time before taking a deep breath and flying off into the night (3:22). They soar across the lands of the Mana Sanctuary, but one by one, they're forced to abandon their quest as fatigue overtakes them. As the last of them lands in the forest (3:43), she collapses on the ground, exhausted and sobbing. She looks around in despair and sees a beautiful blossom wither into nothing right before her eyes (4:00). Reminded that everything will die if she doesn't go on, she musters all her remaining strength and takes off again (4:08). The sequence follows her shining silhouette above the clouds until she leaves the Mana Sanctuary through a blinding curtain of light, entering the mortal world (4:48). The screen then fades to black and the movie title appears.

So, there you go, a soundtrack-ish take on an already soundtrack-ish track. Enjoy!

1-05. k-wix - "Journey of Hope"
Source: "Hope Isolation Pray"

Rozovian: Following the epic track before it, this remix brings the mood down to something much calmer and contemplative, with its own dramatic curve to follow. I greatly enjoy the effect of the part around the 0:50 mark, but the shift in mood from beginning to end is certainly worth a mention. Also, I like that piano sound, and the flute flairs. There's a lot to like. There's something about how lo-fi it sounds that appeals to me. This feels very representative of old OC ReMix tracks, both in sound and style, and I like having a piece of that on the album.

Meteo Xavier: One important aspect of designing a tracklist that most effectively showcases the project as a whole is knowing when to have your shining moments and when to bridge from one to the other. Not everything gets the spotlight and not everything should either, because without coming back down from time to time, you can't appreciate how high getting up was.

This track is one of many of the more mellow tunes that perfectly bridges out of the big high we had with the preceding track. I love the simplicity of it and the sample quality of the piano and strings. The booming march percussion is significant with a sub underneath my desk. Horns aren't too realistic, but I like the general "wah" sound they give out. The pan flutes border on NSFW for how orgasmic they are and the whole package just comes together nicely.

A short and simple track that is better enjoyed with the whole project instead of by itself, but a lovely and welcome addition that goes 100% in the direction we were looking for in the first place.

1-06. audio fidelity, Abi Coffer - "Summer Tea Time"
Source: "Little Sweet Cafe"

Rozovian: Though I wanted to avoid having a lot of synths for this album, I can't fault audio fidelity for his playful combination of blatantly synthetic and acoustic instrumentation. It's just lovely. Abi's flute performance is lovely. The whole thing is lovely. Even the out of tune synths are lovely. If I had to pick a favorite part, it could be the second verse, with the more liberal flute melodies, or it could be one of the many parts with really nice interplay of instruments, like the mostly guitar and percussion part starting one minute in. The remix does indeed invoke feelings of summer and tea time, at some seaside cafe, with blue skies and a fresh breeze. What's not to like?

Meteo Xavier: The performance has a lot of timbre charm that you don't find just everywhere. You can almost taste honey when you listen to it. The subtle drums are extraordinarily well humanized and you almost have to listen to how fast and frantic they're actually playing, because they'll pass you by if you don't.

It's pretty much everything we like about the Secret of Mana atmosphere all rolled up in one cute, excellently executed package.

1-07. Jeffrey Hayat - "Mother of Turmoil"
Source: "Female Turbulence"

Rozovian: Our first remix for "Female Turbulence" suffered a lost project file, and the MP3 was of too low quality to be mastered well. It's still on as a bonus track. On the tracklist proper, we instead have this remix, which emphasizes the march rhythm and brings some epic, bombastic orchestra to the source. The ending is big and strong, but I found the use of the C part of the source at around 3:12 to be my personal highlight. This track is badass. The source is for a kingdom of Amazons in the tall mountains. It's very appropriate.

Meteo Xavier: This song exudes strength, confidence, and dominion. Were it just a little darker, you'd be forgiven for imagining a female Darth Vader arriving at a Death Star with this neutral but super-sharp fanfare blasting around her.

What a mix. I didn't think a song could be this wet, heavy, and hard. The reverb is dense but never muddy. The drums and strings rock the foundation while mallets bounce on top of them like superballs on a melodically tuned trampoline. I hear this and see a long, flooded series of hallways constructed by Roman elite, water knee-high and pouring down from the cracks 100 feet above, while a phalanx of gold helmet soldiers beat fast triplets into their instruments.

How Jeffrey got this incredible sound to balance like it did is sorcery.

Jeffrey Hayat: Hello. :)

I was contacted by Meteo Xavier, and was asked to do a remix. He then pointed me to the OC ReMix page, and suggested that I submit the track for inclusion on your main page.

1-08. pu_freak - "For King and Country"
Source: "Walls and Steels"

Rozovian: The theme of Duran's home town is taken from its grand castle town feel of the original to something more somber and very fitting for Duran's story. The dynamics on both the track and the album overall are pretty big, and this track hits one of the softest points, my favorite moment of the remix, at around 3:20. A lovely performance, both in its underlying military rhythm and its soft, gentle moments. It's an especially cool contrast to the location's other source, which Jago covered so differently.

Meteo Xavier: This track is a mighty blend of minimalism, stark piano, and drive -- slow but pounding without pounding. It builds something. It's like seeing a full-color epic painting with only black, white, gray, and red. Piano remix fans are going to eat this track up and not have any room for dinner. Great recording, great work, pu_freak!

pu_freak: The idea for this mix came from a Chrono Trigger ReMix on OverClocked ReMix from DrumUltimA called "JESUS CHRIST IT'S A DINOSAUR GET IN THE EPOCH." The mix itself is a pure percussion track and so was the source. It made me look at sources a little different, with the realization that you can not only make a mix by altering and expanding the melody, but that you can also use the source in a very different way such as percussion.

So for this mix, I used the main melody motif of the original, and used it as a rhythmic background melody. On top of that, I played a mellow piano solo. To make it more recognizable, the later parts of the song are much more traditionally remixed, but I think this experiment was a success and gave it a unique feeling. The whole militaristic vibe of the original is gone in this mix except for the final part, but I feel I have given it a majestic feel befitting of a king and a castle.

1-09. Jago - "The Adventure Begins"
Source: "Whiz Kid"

Rozovian: So you've successfully saved the king and kingdom, or something like that. You need a heroic theme for the resolution scene. Jago apparently took that moment to mean the real adventure had only begun. He's not wrong. It's a long game. Get to it, heroes.

The remix takes the upbeat source and calms it down to a nice orchestral groove instead, which grows from its initial percussion rhythm to a swelling climax. It's wonderful. The transition between parts at 2:17, via that fanfare, is worth a special mention. The choice of woodblocks is an example of the world music flavor that many of both sources and remixes have. It's a thing the soundtrack did very well, and I'm very happy to hear it present in so many of the remixes.

Meteo Xavier: I personally felt like Seiken Densetsu 3, for better or for worse, sounded like a very far cry from the classic Secret of Mana soundtrack. This song really felt like a solid connection reminding us that the same man in charge of Seiken Densetsu 2 did this one as well.

Jago did some good justice to this song -- giving it much more dramatic interpretation without losing track of its light-hearted adventurous feel. The horns and the fluttery flute (alongside the popping hand drums) give it a nice sweet-and-salty dynamic with occasional punctuated BANG! percussion. Orchestral elements aren't as strong here as they are in other tracks on this project and probably won't fool you into thinking he recorded this at the Philharmonik, but that actually works in FAVOR of the track. Orchestra isn't always supposed to be bright and boom, y'know?

This track definitely belongs in your "mood-upper" playlist.

Jago: Hearing the source, "Whiz Kid," I initially began the arrangement as a typical, brass-opening fanfare, but it felt too close to the original. I wanted to go for a different feel, then I remembered hearing a good friend of mine on drumset (an absolute monster!) playing a rhythm that was Afro-Cuban, from which the percussion you hear in the mix was based, and it's maintained throughout. I wanted to give a feeling of peace at the beginning, the young hero starting with a simple life. As the hero ages, friends are made, fighting skills are developed, life becomes more adventurous, and battles must be won. I wrote it as an introduction of what has yet to come. The epic journey begins.

1-10. Abadoss - "Across the Frozen Expanse"
Source: "Another Winter"

Rozovian: "Another Winter," as a source, has a special meaning to me, as it was the first SD3 track I remixed, albeit not for this album. From time immemorial, i.e. from before I joined the project, Abadoss had this chill take on it. There's nothing jumping out at you. One of the most dramatic things happening is when the drums drop out after the 3-minute mark, providing an excellent dynamic contrast to the preceding part. I think it gives a nice taste of the source's location's role in the story too. Mostly, the remix just drifts by like snowdrift across a frozen expanse. How appropriate.

Meteo Xavier: Abadoss brings a very understated, familiar, yet blissfully realized track for the source tune. Every sound is crystal clear and practically crystalline in its execution. The soundscape is so sparse you can actually HEAR the emptiness around it where there might be some wind or a crunchy footstep in the distance. Should a remix of a permanent winterland be anything else? It's like every fantasy you'd had of wandering the forest after a heavy snowfall come to life.

1-11. Brandon Strader, Usa - "Joys of Youth"
Source: "Oh, I'm a Flamelet"

Rozovian: While involved in OC ReMix, Brandon Strader was one of the most prolific ReMixers around, seeming to have a desire to top the list of largest number of accepted remixes. For this track, he brought the sound of a Mellotron. We discussed that a bit, as I didn't want too many synths on the project. This use though, I don't mind it at all. I especially like how, during the ending, the elements all wind down in their own way. The remix is predominantly non-electronic, which is in line with the direction of the project. It feels like a charming little band played this, invoking spring and youth. Which is nice. Though now I feel old.

The submitted mix had a number of production issues caught by Usa during mastering, so he volunteered to produce the track, completely redoing some of the tracks and mixing the whole thing with his studio gear. While this did cause a delay in the final release, one among a myriad, the resulting track makes me wonder what we could achieve if we'd had Usa produce more of the tracks, though we'd never have finished the album then.

Meteo Xavier: Another highly pleasant exploration into the hyper-colorful and usually light-hearted world of Mana, Brandon Strader puts down most of his metal chops to showcase his arrangement skills in this cheerful composition. It starts with some acoustic piano to lay down a foundation of what to expect, almost like a parent getting a very young child set up for what they should expect of the world for this stage of their life and then moves on to some bouncing bass, impeccably well-produced strumming guitar, and tastefully light drum work to draw the curtain a little further. A little ocarina plays the melody and then...

Whoa, what? Where'd that gritty electric guitar come from? Suddenly the child finds itself getting its knees muddy with this bluesy lead. I don't know of a lot of songs that mix very distorted, yet tasteful, blues guitar leads with... whoa, where'd that saw lead come from? Again, we tried to downplay synthesizer use in this project for a more organic feel, but Strader managed to use these in ways that are incongruent yet do nothing to diminish the sound and picture he began with on that piano.

Brandon Strader: Source breakdown:

0:00-0:45: Orchestrated version of source (:00) with augmentations
0:45-1:18: Original fade/build-up based on source (the rhythm for the latter half is under the source bit later on)
1:19-1:41: Source verse (:00)
1:42-2:04: Source chorus (:21)
2:05-2:26: Source verse but with more improv'd guitar solo
2:27-2:48: Source chorus
2:49-2:54: Source tiny build up (1:12)
2:55-3:40: Source ending rock (1:16)
3:41-end: Original song is dying part

This is another one of those songs I revised a bajillion times. The original version was minor key -- believe it! The leads were played with a recorder instead of guitar. Rozovian cried about how it didn't have enough link to the source, so I eventually remade the song in a major key which is what you're listening to now. Then Rozovian cried again like the baby she is, and said that this major key version didn't have enough link to the source. Well, as you can see from the source breakdown, it does. Well, over 50% I would say. The inspiration for this song was old prog rock, complete with B4 organ, funky bass, and nice guitar solos. Rozovian raised quite a stink over my 70s synth lead because it didn't sound "real." For the record, the QLSO, Superior 2.0 drums, Halion xylophone, and the B4 organ are also fake. Goofy Rozovian! *shakes fist*

I fought long and hard to keep that 70s synth lead, and I think Rozovian realized in the end that the inclusion of the awesome 70s lead is out of his control. I am very happy with the 70s synth lead, and I hope you like it too. Rhapsody of Fire totally used the same synth in the keyboard solo for "Sea of Fate" from their new CD. Well, new at the time of writing this, but probably 2 or 3 albums ago by the time this gets posted. Cheers! :-)

Note: The tongue in cheek jabs at Rozovian and other stuff is all in fun. Please, don't take it seriously. :-)

1-12. DarkeSword - "Little Winged Lady"
Source: "Few Paths Forbidden"

Rozovian: I think it's the sax that makes this sound like a classic DarkeSword track. Sure, it's rather old by now, so maybe it's not too surprising. But the rest of it feels more modern, more developed than the tracks of his I listened to when I first discovered OC ReMix. I'm glad to have him on the project, as his take on "Few Paths Forbidden" gives us a groovy minor key chill track to mix things up with. And how chill is this? That groove. That bass. That bass especially after 2 minutes in.

1-13. Harmony, Level 99, LuIzA - "Silent Rhythms"
Source: "Damn Damn Drum"

Rozovian: There are a lot of interesting sound design going on in this track, mostly in the background. Another minor key chill track, with its own distinct sound. Unlike DarkeSword's chill track, this one leans on the guitar rather than the bass. It's nice to have variety, it's nice to have both. But what I think is the highlight here is the rhythmic vocal parts appearing around 1:05. It's a tiny detail, but it really adds character to the remix.

Meteo Xavier: This track comes off like it came out of Yasunori Mitsuda's studio. The wet and dense use of folk instruments, as well as other familiar sound effects and atmospherics in the background, play this like a well-remembered track from Chrono Cross. There is some filtered singing that is designed to add more to the ambience of the track instead of provide something intellectual and that's perfect for the vibe this track has going for it.

1-14. Rozovian - "On the Frozen Path"
Source: "Frenzy"

Rozovian: I'm a bass person. Listening to the remix John and Juan made of this source, I couldn't hear the familiar bassline, that cool source bassline, in its groove. Director's prerogative: I can make my own remix, focusing on the source's bassline, and have two mixes of the same source on the project. So I did. The bass made me do it. I just wish I was a better remixer to really do the groove justice.

It's also one of very few instances where I've struggled to come up with a name for a track of mine, but contrasting it with the other mix of the same source provided some inspiration. More about that one later.

1-15. ilp0 - "Dice Hate People"
Source: "Person's Die"

Rozovian: Where Brandon Strader's music invokes a garage band, ilp0's music suggests a different kind of musicians, having fun at a gig somewhere. And I'm having fun listening. True to his style, there's breakdowns and plenty of changes to the rhythm. There seems to be a strong flavor of Finnish tango in here. Anyone else hear that?

Meteo Xavier: I had trouble identifying the source a while until it finally hit me that ilp0 was doing one hell of an arrangement on "Person's Die," a very bittersweet track that has a lot of bright, twinkly instruments on it set to a very defeatist minor key. ilp0 however transforms it so well that you can't find but maybe a hint of the original in it, even when it plays the same notes!

This track is a standout in my opinion -- the transformative state notwithstanding, it really changes up throughout its duration and uses quite a bit of instruments that weave a wild tale of bawdy excess and some drunken celebration of someone's birthday party. With all of the very serious and stark songs on here, this is a nice break, and goes well with Stevo and the Plaid Muffins' remix.

1-16. k-wix - "Hopeful Waves"
Source: "Innocent Sea"

Rozovian: A long-running project, there are casualties to failing hard drives, moving from computer to computer, lost online storage, and corruption of the original project files. This was one such casualty, for which only the MP3 survived. And as always, the project director is faced with the question of rejecting the lower audio quality or having a cool but less hi-fi track. Director's prerogative: keep everything the mastering engineer doesn't object to.

This remix has a softer vibe than most tracks on the album, a dark sound, and, despite the name, serves as the downbeat companion track to the similarly soft but lighter remix of its sister source. Almost the entire first minute is this wonderfully ambient... thing. And the drums that later join create this cool, slow, minimalist groove. There's what sounds like a partial reference to "Lefthanded Wolf" in here too. Can't say if it's intentional, but I like it.

Meteo Xavier: This remix has a sort of softness with an edge to it, if that makes any sense. It has a dark, contemplative sound that almost sounds like someone having an episode in the moonlight reflection of a waterbed only to be further disturbed with all these distracting sounds that take the focus away. This is just a taste of the heaviness to come.

1-17. Jago - "Battleground"
Source: "Rolling Cradle"

Rozovian: The source was a percussive piece. Here's the full orchestra, courtesy of Jago, though with no shortage of percussion. That seems to be a Jago thing, actually. Something about the style makes me think of old adventure films. Must be the brass and tremolo swells things on strings. 0:50 in particular. Very cool.

Meteo Xavier: "Rolling Cradle" is pretty much the defining sound of the Seiken Densetsu 3 soundtrack and part of the defining sound for Kikuta's style of composition. It was tracks like this that made me ask Kikuta in the interview about a change in focus from melodic content to something more like his original inspirations in progressive rock. There is nothing else in the Super Famicom/SNES library that sounds like this -- not even in Secret of Mana!

The xylophone and marimba are the real players here while there is a soft staccato base to the rest of the orchestration. Horns blare and strings punctuate, but there isn't much sustain, so you can hear and see in your mind's eye some black backgrounds between the bursts of orange and white. There is enough space that you can really appreciate and hear everything's going on. I love that.

Really feels like Jago was conducting this at a concert like so many of the live orchestra stuff that the video game world got to enjoy for the last decade. Hard to pull that off and Jago nailed it.

Jago: I picked "Rolling Cradle" simply because I really like the aggressive energy it conveys, and I wanted to give it an epic, orchestral flair. Admittedly, I took a risk by staying pretty much with the source, but it's with hope that the instrumentation will really help drive the track home with its sheer energy of aggression. Thanks for listening!

1-18. Chris | Amaterasu - "Called by Destiny"
Source: "Fable"

Rozovian: I can't hear this source and not think of Destiny's take on it. It's unfortunate that she wasn't able to partake in the project, but we have other remixers who create just as lovely remixes. Chris brings some real violin to the project, and a beautiful arrangement to back it up. That chromatic percussion hiding in the background, that bass at 1:30, those rhythms, especially when they pick up; beautiful.

This track was submitted without a title, so I named it "Called by Destiny" in part because it's a source-appropriate title, and in part because Destiny's remixed the same source for OC ReMix. We can be meta like that.

Meteo Xavier: Like the track before it, we have lightly bouncing orchestral tonal percussion making up most of the accompaniment, but this time it is joined by some delicate piano, some muted guitar arpeggiation, and some shuffling "white noise" percussion on it. The violin cries out until there is a sudden stop and drop to much of the movement and things cool down, then the violin comes back in, as though it just needed a moment outside to regain their composure and talk calmly... and then it returns to the topic at hand before fading into destiny.

1-19. rebrained - "Chime of Renaissance"
Source: "Decision Bell"

Rozovian: rebrained ups the Finnish representation on the album further, to a total of three, AFAIK, myself included. I wonder if there's people enough for an all-Finnish album project. But I digress. This was an extra track, made after he remixed the source in a more typical, epic orchestral style, just because he could. That version shows up later on the album. I can't help but enjoy those kinds of deviations from the expected cool, epic, badass stuff that we all like. Though I must say, as cool as it is to have a harpsichord on the album, I think I prefer the minute of this track where it's absent. This is a really fun track though, and a nice, light-hearted way to end the first disc.

Meteo Xavier: We've got a lot of cinematic orchestral tracks on here, but this one goes for a rare baroque sound with extremely prominent harpsichord and some almost country-sounding string work twirling and fiddling all around it. The original track from the OST is a little more challenging to work with than some of the other ones on here due to its busier structure and a weaker melody that gets lost in the composition itself, and yet rebrained found a proper working direction to set it in.

This feels very colonial in its execution -- like I can see General Washington looking over a hill in some dramatic fashion as he figures out how to fight the British next while a soirée of sorts is going on behind him. It's not the usual type of sonic imagery OCR gets. It then slows down and stops completely to a very different sound -- putting the party away and focusing on the seriousness of the topic at hand. The strings are gorgeous and impeccably well-utilized. The harpsichord comes back in, but the party's over. Now is the discussion for where to go next.

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Disc 2

Rozovian: More orchestra and more metal. The second disc gets bigger and more aggressive, starting with mostly orchestral tracks and leading into a midsection dense with metal and closed out by more orchestra. It also has occasional breaks for percussion grooves and Latin funk, because... well, why not?

The story of the game ramps up from the personal journey of the characters to a worldwide crisis. It's a very good structure for a story. You get the time to get into the world and the characters before you realize how epic the story actually is. It grows. Those SNES RPGs could be long, and this game is no exception.

Speaking of things that are long, this album is a beast. OC ReMix has released several 4-disc albums before, and they can be a bit overwhelming. Feel free to listen a disc at a time, an artist at a time, a few random tracks at a time if the whole thing is too big. But if it's not, enjoy the journey as we've compiled it.

2-01. The Dual Dragons - "Axes of Destruction"
Source: "Axe Bring Storm"

Rozovian: An army of Amazons in the mountain, and metal? In terms of source-appropriateness, something I personally like, it might not be the most obvious combination, but it works. And it's so badass. The ending is especially hard-hitting, something it shares with the other source tied to the Amazons. Though rocking a march rhythm and so many squealing guitar tones, the arrangement also brings orchestral elements to the mix. The Dragons' original parts mesh very well with the source material. Personal highlight: the lead-up to 1:40. This all makes it an excellent track to start the second disc with.

Meteo Xavier: Having a multi-disc project, it's the best idea to start each disc with something memorable -- be it either powerful or something very thematic that sets a particular mood that might not have been seen for a while. In this case, we did it with both, because HOLY ******* ****, IT'S DUAL DRAGONS!

Axe brought MORE than storm with this behemoth of a remix. I was so lucky to be able to talk the Dragons into doing a bunch of work for this project because I can't think of anyone who really knows how to BRING IT when it comes to epic, metal, orchestral greatness like they do. This is just the first of many others to follow and they chose a track that doesn't immediately translate to metal and... God, just listen to it.

2-02. Ivan Hakštok - "Is This a Dream?"
Source: "Sleeping"

Rozovian: One of my favorite things to come of out OC ReMix is the mindset that even short, simple sources can be arranged into something varied and interesting throughout. Hakštok took one of the simple sources of the game and made... well, this, an exploration of what's essentially a 5-note source. The intro is my favorite part, with the muted guitar and background melodies, but there's something to be said about the softly overdriven electric piano sound as well. This simple source is played with and around, with a sweet sound and pleasant band aesthetics.

Meteo Xavier: Yes, Hak somehow managed to make a full and realized remix out of a few notes that's more like a SOUND EFFECT than an actual track. Hak starts the track out with some quiet ooh pads, a U2-style delayed guitar, and the warmest round bass I've heard in some time before adding the expected twinkles on top of it. Piano is very nicely laid under the more prominent instruments and moves things behind the curtains nicely. There are soft though front-and-center drums that patter along to add to the calm, transitory vibe until a surprise distorted guitar line comes in. Our artists really like to bring in distorted stuff to their pop-flavored audio, don't they?

2-03. Sam English - "Fairy March"
Source: "Don't Hunt the Fairy"

Rozovian: I think Sam English joined because of Meteo's recruitment efforts, and I'm glad he did. In my mind, "Fairy March" brings castle culture to the game's elves and deep forest environments. That's pretty cool. My own attempt at remixing this source wouldn't have captured the location's sense of magic as well as this track does. Short but sweet, it leads well into the next track, in both tone and title. Moments like 1:37 are just icing on the cake, as is the subsequent playing with dynamics. Wonderful.

Meteo Xavier: Sam, despite being an outsider, clearly has the OC ReMix way of doing things downpat. Now the adventure is truly ready to begin. You'd be forgiven for imagining Bilbo Baggins on the Yellow Brick Road here because the sound perfectly fits any "first leg of the journey" image you can bring up. He did a particularly good job on the flutes and twirling piccolos. Rozovian has said he really likes the groove to it. Definitely in agreement there. And then some bouncing pizzicato comes in with occasional bursts of additional instrumentation to fill the spectrum out.

2-04. Archangel - "The Fairytale Fair"
Source: "Ordinary People"

Rozovian: Archangel took this playful town theme and turned it, as the name suggests, into something fitting for an adaptation of any classic fairy tale's brighter and cheerier moments on a stage. One of my favorite things about Archangel's style is how he captures so many great things about the source and includes them in his remixes. Though absent from the first parts of the remix, many of the style elements and the playfulness of the original appear towards the end. And listen for how playful it gets from 2:00. It's wonderful.

Meteo Xavier: His samples ring clear, wet and, bright. You can almost see images glistening as you hear it. Do I dare compare it to something like a Ghibli take on the Seiken Densetsu franchise? Do I dare compare Archangel to Joe Hisashi? You bet your hind end I will! This track is simply MAGIC and Arch can make magic with little more than a computer and some familiar orchestral samples. Dude is a veritable wizard, Gandalf-approved. Lots of playful work here, more than I can describe like I do some of the others, but watch for those gorgeous harp cascades and tambourines.

Not only should you listen and enjoy this, but you should study it, too. This is how you do playful, cartoon-type music that adults can enjoy as well.

Archangel: I distinctly remembered the source track from the game, since you spend so much time in various villages buying equipment and sleeping at the inn, and hearing it has always given me the impression of standing in the middle of a village fair. Everyone is speaking, you can hear various animal sounds, merchants yelling, children laughing, the sun is shining and a stream is bubbling nearby, while on the nearby meadows tons of butterflies fly around.

It all seemed very folkish and nature-y, so, naturally, I chose to make a very carefree-sounding remix, full of "bright" instruments (the harp, the piccolo, the piano, and so forth). I decided to make it a bit slower than the original (except for the ending part), to make it sound more like a peaceful fair and less like chasing a mischievous sprite through a village. I added some recorder and some Irish low whistle to achieve a more medieval sound, plus some bassoon, just because I love the way it sounds, so fat, clumsy, and grumpy!

Enjoy!

2-05. Nutritious - "Unbreakable"
Source: "Hightension Wire"

Rozovian: I have a theory: Nutritious is actually pretty badass, and subconsciously (or not) describes himself with his remix titles. Across the remixes he's made, he's got titles like "Full of Courage," "The Heroes Emerge," "Old School," "Real American Hero," "The Unbroken"... and here "Unbreakable."

This take on the aerial combat-related source is a high-flying epic, bringing orchestra and rock together for a rocking orchestral remix. The slow build that it starts with gives me goosebumps, as do the big dynamic moments later in the track. And what a tasteful ending, too. It's all pretty epic.

Meteo Xavier: This one starts out as an ominous dirge that begins swelling into a surprise explosion of uplifting drive from one of the less dark boss battle themes that come later in the game. The sound somehow manages to be bigger than the boss characters themselves (no small feat) with drums that come at you from all sides, a floor of saw-grinding guitar work beneath the instrumentation and then some blaring orchestral triumph. Then, for a moment, there's nothing building back up to something, like a hero briefly knocked from a high pillar who only needs a moment to climb back up. This kicks your ass and throws you overboard a mile above land.

2-06. Sam English - "Yellow Brick Travelers"
Source: "Swivel"

Rozovian: I had a remix of this for the project, but my orchestral chops were nowhere up to what the arrangement called for, so I was open to someone else remixing it instead. Sam English showed up to take it. Here's a chill percussion-and-acoustic-guitar-driven thing that fits in well yet contrasts complementarily with audio fidelity's and Archangel's takes on town themes and other softer, major-key parts of the album. This sounds like the background music to my ideal summer day, and I much prefer this to my own, old idea for it. I mean, just how it sets the tone with those first percussion elements is great. This has groove. I have groove bias.

Meteo Xavier: Sam English strikes again! This time he brings us a nice and nicely implemented folk/ethnic take on the otherwise busy and driving "Swivel." His sound here would not fall out of sync with a lot of Yuki Kajiura's work on... well almost everything she works on, honestly, but it's the sonic equivalent of a Lindor chocolate truffle. If I could taste the music here, it would definitely taste like some of the best chocolate I've had that week with something incredulously smooth inside. His acoustic percussion groove is married to the guitar tone and the combination is simply addicting. The bass work is every bit as nice and round as you want it as well. The flute work here ices the cake and then we come to an appropriate end. I'd love it if we could see more Sam English in the future.

2-07. Archangel - "Midsummer Sorcery"
Source: "Witchmakers"

Rozovian: "Witchmakers" is a nice source. I've remixed it for the OC ReMix Xmas album, where I gave it an aggressive drive. For the album, Archangel did the opposite, giving it a gentle mood, hinting at magic throughout... although quite prominently at 0:40, as if straight from a fantasy movie. A cinematic, very elegant, conservative yet creative take on the source, with an abundance of neat little details to listen for.

Meteo Xavier: It starts with some lone flute melody work verbatim of the source and brings in a light bed of high strings to accompany it from above. Soon the other frequencies get some smooth orchestral sustains to bring a solid middle and bottom foundation for where it's going to go next. Some simple ethnic rhythm work comes in with twinkly bells on top of it and it's like you're wandering somewhere in the Middle East during a rare snowfall, or maybe visiting a Native American tribe midway between the Canadian border and the North Pole. Like so much of his other work, Archangel's sample and mixing combination leave a shimmering and nearly soaking wet production that should be the envy of every cartoon composer working today. I love it.

A wonderful, all-encompassing, cinematic take on "Witchmakers." You've got to hear this thing to believe it, no joke.

Archangel: Songs of Light and Darkness was the very first OC ReMix project I got to be a part of. I had been a fan of OC ReMix and its wonderful music since 2002 (or was it 2003?), and had always been really impressed by its numerous project albums as well. However, when I finally decided to become a non-lurker member in 2010, I didn't think I was allowed to even ask anyone whether I could contribute to a project album, being a complete newbie and all. It was all very intimidating, but then my "Dragon Wings" and "Prelude to Fantasy" mixes got some encouraging comments in the WIP forums, so I gained some confidence.

I still wasn't brave enough to try and infiltrate the project forums. Luckily, Meteo Xavier was recruiting new ReMixers at the time. Upon hearing my "Dragon Wings" track, he contacted me and asked me whether I would be willing to do arrange something from Seiken Densetsu 3. I was a shocked to say the least! I'd never thought I'd be able to join a project album without having at least one posted ReMix. I guess I was wrong.

At first, I had no idea how I should start remixing the track. It had been a while since I had last played Secret of Mana II. At the time, I didn't remember the music that well, so I checked the game again and then remembered that the "Witchmakers" track played in the Kingdom of Altena. I decided to make a gentle, almost somewhat cartoonish arrangement with lots of woodwinds -- something that could be used as a fairy tale soundtrack. Spring was starting to explode where I live, so that was a great source of inspiration too.

"Midsummer Sorcery," the title of the arrangement, is a reference to the game's storyline. The Queen of Reason used magic to keep the Kingdom of Altena in a state of perpetual spring despite the fact that the kingdom was located in the frozen lands of the north.

I wanted to paint a picture with this arrangement -- flowers magically opening, fruit trees bursting into full bloom, bees buzzing everywhere, birds of paradise flying from one branch to another and singing their melodious tunes, sunlight subtly sparkling on pure dewdrops in the morning. I love spring. Its scent always imbues me with incredible inspiration. I've written a lot of my original songs "under the influence" of spring's abundant atmosphere. This is my first spring-inspired ReMix, but I have no doubt more of them will come in the future.

I hope people enjoy this laid-back track. If you're listening to it in winter, may it remind you of what's coming after all the cold and ice. If you're listening to it in springtime, may it help you enjoy that wonderful rejuvenating energy Mother Earth provides every year.

2-08. Brandon Strader - "Mirage"
Source: "Evening Star"

Rozovian: Does this fit the holy city of Wendel? Sure. It's a different vibe than the original, slower, more dramatic, a different ethnic flavor, but not at all an ill-fitting one, and the Japanese instrumentation fits well with the classical orchestral stuff. How those enter what had thus far been a fairly normal orchestral track is worth a special mention. And is that a didgeridoo I hear in the background? I like how Brandon's versatile enough to do both these orchestral things and bring the metal for other tracks. And sometimes a Mellotron.

It's interesting to compare the orchestral sounds of different remixers. Brandon leaves his instrumentation clearly tiered between foreground and background, obviously different from stuff by Archangel with more of a gradient between foreground and background. I like this contrast. It's not a subtle difference between sounds, but something that clearly demarcates different remixers, different styles, different tracks.

Meteo Xavier: This is Brandon's second and last remix of our project, which he does with nary a guitar in sight (or earshot, I guess). It is, however, loaded with stringed goodness coming from a koto and some shamisen that play very nicely with the expected orchestral elements -- the tubular bell, the low staccato horns, tuned percussion and some lovely string and choir work. The production is remarkable, giving it a fullness without being too much of anything. Clarity is quite a virtue, but Strader goes for more than that as the song goes on; playing with not just the source material but the tempo of the song to keep your attention on it. Also, can we get an amen for those percussive punctuations? Strader seems to intentionally be messing with your expectations of what he can do with just the orchestra (and koto) because this is a pretty masterful work that makes you wonder how long he's been secretly moonlighting at the Von Braun Center.

Brandon Strader: An orchestration somewhat in the vein of "Rise of Kuros," but more technically advanced from a performance and production standpoint (just a little tiny bit). Something I'm really happy about is the addition of a couple Japanese instruments, a koto and a shamisen. I wanted to try to infuse a type of Japanese sound into a song, because I've been meaning to do that for a while, and the tragedy in Japan made me want to make some kind of tribute. It's been a while since a series of earthquakes and tsunamis struck Japan. I find it hard to believe that they're not still in need of help and my heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones and had their lives destroyed.

I claimed "Evening Star" and then sat on it for an extremely long time, eventually almost getting cut from the SD3 project. Luckily, I was inspired to make this orchestration and Rozovian approved of it for the project. It is a huge honor to have made this song for SD3 and cover "Evening Star," which I hope I did justice to. It's a really beautiful song that deserved something large.

2-09. Rozovian, Mozzaratti, Mak Eightman - "Scavenger"
Source: "Raven"

Rozovian: So we have a desert-themed hometown track. Clearly we need electric guitars, staccato strings, and chromatic percussion. One of my own remixes here, to which I brought Mozzaratti and Mak for additional arrangement elements and an overhaul of guitar and drums. I'm pleased with how it turned out. The drums kick the track into gear, and the interplay between Mak's instrumentation and Moz's writing towards the end just makes me happy.

Handing it over to other people also forced me to not be the slow and nitpicking perfectionist I usually am with my own tracks, often to the detriment of those tracks and any deadlines. This track, thanks to my collaborators, is badass. Great work, gentlemen.

An additional mention goes to Usa, who caught some production flaws and requested a new mixdown. Probably the most important thing a good mastering engineer brings to the project: good, objective ears.

Meteo Xavier: Project director Rozovian and two collaborators (a "three of darkside" team) take on the desert track "Raven" which clearly needs electric guitars, staccato strings, xylophone, and a lot of fast lead and drum work. The combination is a thick, solid brick of low-end punch with some harsh white fizz on top of it. It's something of a complicated arrangement too -- frequently changing up the dynamic and drums and giving the ubiquitous xylophone more time to shine.

Ever heard an OC ReMix album with so much tuned percussion in your life alongside so many other unusual genres? But then it goes on and assaults the speakers, angry at having been contained for so many years.

2-10. TheDeath - "More and More Powerful"
Source: "And Other"

Rozovian: TheDeath was once co-coordinator for the project, before I joined, and provided some brief and charming orchestral remixes for the project. This is one of them, a conservative but wonderfully dynamic and sonically expansive take on what's a short a simple source in the game, and I'm left wanting more.

2-11. The Dual Dragons - "Nu-Clear-Synthesis"
Source: "Nuclear Fusion"

Rozovian: "Nuclear Fusion" is one of the most memorable and iconic boss themes of the game, in part because it references and uses many parts of "Meridian Dance" from the previous game in the series, the much better known Secret of Mana. Here's what The Dual Dragons did with the source, with a nice orchestral intro... leading into metal. Obviously.

Clocking in at over 7 minutes long, it's also one of the longest tracks on the album. It's not seven and a half minutes of looped metal parts either, there's plenty of variation in everything. The first half plays it fairly conservatively, but the second half takes all kinds of liberties, with highly re-arranged and original material (2:18 is a standout moment), wildly varying dynamics and rhythms. And it rocks, throughout.

Meteo Xavier: It starts out sweet enough, but you'll soon be screaming "Holy mother of God!" once the reality of the situation kicks in -- The Dual Dragons are taking on one of the most memorable and iconic boss themes in the game and, spoiler alert, those aren't tears of joy going down your cheeks -- that's your FACE MELTING OFF from how epic it is.

Oh, it tricks you and lulls you into a sense of security with its blissful string sustains and high horn work to start with, then you hear that ominous thump of the kick drum and you already know it's too late, The Dual Dragons has descended. Flames erupt and dance as much as the flute does while it plays the familiar melody. Strings join in brief little bursts and the drums frantically beat against the ground to shake you off into the abyss. You had your time to enjoy the scenery as your journey began, now it's time to pull that sword out and get that blood pumping. Call yourself a warrior? This song will make you a warrior! Put steel to scale or you'll die to the sound of chugs and flange. Don't underestimate it, these dragons shake up their rhythm soon enough and you can't predict where they're going to go!

2-12. LuIzA, zykO - "Skull Dissect"
Source: "Lefthanded Wolf"

Rozovian: Lyrics in remixes are always a bit of a controversial thing that attracts a lot of attention. Should the lyrics fit into the game, be about the game, or can they be about anything? And the human voice is a difficult instrument to master. zykO's doing a great job with his voice, LuIzA with her guitar. The whole track is a varied, kick-ass remix of a source that could have been remixed in a more predictable way. This remix was revised shortly (relatively speaking) before release, and while the previous version was raw and aggressive, little of that was lost in the finer, newer version. I'm still getting used to it, all the added detail and polish. It's great. The contrast between the sparse part around 3 minutes in and the surrounding metal is great. Really cool stuff.

Meteo Xavier: We're turning down the tempo but turning back up the guitars for this gritty thugwolf theme. How do you top a song that uses a literal punch sound as a snare? By letting zykO spit rhymes on top of it. Hip-hop is a difficult genre for our fanbase to grab onto, just as well remixes with vocals in them, but zy and Lu blow those plebs out of the water with this jaw-dropping mix. Seriously, could you not hear this song blasting on the radio in Cali? The bass and guitar would break the street underneath it as the Six-Four rolled on. Rock and hip-hop haven't been this good since we initially confused Ice-T and Ice Cube, and vice-versa. PARENTAL ADVISORY THOUGH -- this mix contains lyrics impressionable listeners should not hear.

zykO: we redid the song like five times over the past decade. this is the final version. this is the one where luiza and i disagreed endlessly on the second verse. i liked the cadence on a previous take considerably more, but she insisted this one sounded better. lol, we may have argued this for like three years. there were earlier versions where we both messed around on the guitar, but in the end it was all her shredding the shit like it was taco cheese.

2-13. Emunator, Ergosonic - "A Moment of Innocence"
Source: "Innocent Water"

Rozovian: Actually released in an earlier form on thasauce.net, Emu's take on "Innocent Water" might have an audience already. This version features remixer Ergosonic on acoustic guitar. And that's a beautifully dynamic guitar performance too. It's a mellow guitar take on the source, accompanied by some soft pads and things in the background. It makes for a nice break between wilder and more aggressive parts of the album. Thematically, it fits very well after what's essentially the theme of the character Kevin and the introduction to his story. With the game having two rather similar tracks, "Innocent Sea" and "Innocent Water" (and I keep getting them mixed up), there was a risk there's be two very similar remixes on the album. I'm glad that's not the case, because the two remixes have very different moods and sounds.

Meteo Xavier: Light and darkness is all about contrast and this is one of the strongest contrasts we can offer you on this project. The party is over. Maybe it never existed. All there is is this morose but gorgeous, clear guitar work and sorrowful souls in the background. The performance is exceptional and dignified in a way you didn't know existed and although shorter in length than our thirst for it can be quenched, it makes up for its time with repeated listens that you and many other listeners like you can't help yourself but to set up.

Is this song the light or the darkness? Hard to say. Tears drop while the heavens break through on this etude. Contrast isn't just about just the white or black, sometimes it has to conflict a clear message with a gray one.

2-14. Archangel - "Nightshade Masques"
Source: "Ancient Dolphin"

Rozovian: Something mysterious this way comes. When you have the option to make an already scary, mysterious source more dramatic, why wouldn't you take it? With choral stabs, varying time signatures, and bizarre acoustic risers, this take on "Ancient Dolphin" is a beast. It doesn't lose the calmer mood of the source, it just confines it to a shorter portion of the track, and ups the drama and creep factor for the rest of the length. Goosebumps all the way on a wonderful, dynamic, mystery ride.

Meteo Xavier: Archangel is back again with yet another exploratory, engulfing orchestral treatise that creates a world within tones. This time he conjures up a track that would just as easily fit in with a Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross remake. With choral stabs, an uncommon time signature, lots of delayed pianos and celestes underscored with strings that are thin veils for a black background, animals that cry out from the darkness, the occasional thud of the cinematic percussion, the low piano growl that is the universal call for "serious business." It gets swallowed by the void for only a minute before returning with some staccato chants and mid-range bells to pound nature's epic enmity into your soul. The keys rise and fall like so many dictators before them. This is scary, mysterious, and dramatic all the way up to 11 and we'll bet not even Kikuta could've imagined this when he first wrote the source tune for it so many years ago.

Archangel: I have to say that I wasn't very familiar with the source track when I started remixing it. When I played Seiken Densetsu 3, I chose a storyline that didn't involve the Mirage Palace, so I never heard the music in game, nor did I see what the Mirage Palace actually looked like. Upon hearing the music, I imagined a crystalline place full of mirrors, mists, and illusions, but then I checked some videos of it on YouTube and it turned out to be a far creepier dungeon!

Thus, I decided to make this remix as weird as possible. I tried to make the song sound somewhat dissonant, unstable, almost a little incoherent, in order to encapsulate the feeling of illusions suddenly appearing and disappearing -- hence the frequent sudden interruptions in an otherwise quite "flowing" song. Also, to emphasize the contrast between the illusions (the apparitions of the heroes' loved ones and whatnot) and the true nature of the palace, I used instruments that sound almost as if they contradicted each other -- for example, the piano, the celesta, and the glockenspiel sound extremely sweet and gentle and symbolize the scenes the heroes see in the palace, while the dramatic strings, the erratic woodwinds, and the various symphonic slides, scratches, plucks, etc. contribute to a rough horror-film sound.

First, the song progresses and reaches its climax in the middle part, where I used a lot of choirs (singing "Veritas omnia vincit" -- "Truth conquers all" -- obviously in reference to the illusions in the palace) accompanied by some heavy percussion. The overall sound reminded me of the music played in Moria (from Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings soundtrack).

The song then unwinds slowly (to let the guitar and the duduk shine) and ends with a creepy lullaby ending.

At the risk of sounding like a pompous buffoon, I like the way this arrangement turned out. The source tune gets stale pretty quickly, so I tried to make this song as dynamic as possible. I hope you guys and gals enjoy listening to it.

2-15. Lemonectric - "Angel's Tear"
Source: "Angel's Fear"

Rozovian: "Angel's Fear" is a central theme for the Mana series, and shows up in many forms. It's referenced in "Innocent Sea" and "Innocent Water," Rexy built it into her remix, and it's given a more expansive take in the soundtrack's opening track "Where Angels Fear to Tread" as well as some of the ending tracks. Here's Lemonectric's rather soft take on it, a sharp contrast to Jovette Rivera's take on it later on the album. Bells, piano, strings, woodwinds. Sure, drums and things too. But the central elements give this a soft, positive feel very fitting of the source. It's got plenty of variations on the source melodies, which is something I enjoy when done well, as is the case here. It's got dynamics. And that ending, those last 30 seconds are just so sweet.

Meteo Xavier: There are many themes for the Mana series spread out across the many composers who managed to make their stamp on them. Kenji Ito was the first Mana composer and his incredible success as a Square musician is built off of what he did here. Yoko Shimomura also made sure to take a good claim to the series with her work on it. Additional composers for later games in the series followed, which even included Ryuichi Sakamoto for God's sakes, and while none of their work on the overarching Mana series should be trivialized, we can all agree Hiroki Kikuta is the real star of the show here. And his composition, "Angel's Tear," is the brightest part of that star.

It's one of the most remixed songs in the world, yet Lemonectric manages to make a memorable arrangement on the beloved composition. It begins appropriately with delicate piano, airy flute, and the smoothest, deepest heartbeat drum ever. An oboe comes in to perform an interpretation of the iconic melody and it is soon joined in by additional accompaniment such as a light drum beat and some nearly-invisible, gorgeous string work. Some original writing and interpretation of the source follows before it gets more emotional... and triumphant.

Lemonectric: Since I've never played the game, I don't know about this song's context, but I tried to expand on it while preserving its sort of sad beauty. During the process of remixing, I kept picturing a sparkle of light in the midst of blackness. Admittedly lame, but that's what I saw. Anyway, I'd like to thank Rozovian for being a big help in the development of this remix.

2-16. Juan Medrano, John Revoredo - "Melting the Frozen Path"
Source: "Frenzy"

Rozovian: What is this? Jazz, funk, rock, with a distinctly Latin flavor? The elements of this mix seem disparate at times, only making the whole track all the more interesting to follow, each part going its own way at times. I think my favorite part is from around 0:55, when the bass and drums are having fun while the rest of the instrumentation seems to want to stick to the score. Then, the Latin elements go into overdrive. It's difficult to not enjoy this track for the sheer amount of fun present in the arrangement.

This track was submitted without a title, so I named it "Melting the Frozen Path" in reference to both the source's cold environment and its cool source, the strong Latin flavor and the warmth of that style, and to connect the two remixes of the same source.

Meteo Xavier: This incredible funk/rock fusion track suddenly bursts from point zero time/space and assaults you with a slashing drum fill and some razor sharp slap bass that will make you love pain. Probably one of the most effective track starts in the project itself with one of the most effective songs from the original OST: "Frenzy."

I'm trying to think of which artist or band or group specifically this reminds me of. I can't think of it precisely, but the fact that I confuse it for a classic rock recording says all you need to know about it. Juan's melodic guitar work on here is impeccable while the electric piano is just as perfect as it can be. "Frenzy" and frenetic go hand-in-hand and that's what goes on in this arrangement. It seems like each part gets a chance to spaz out in the best possible way before settling down and giving another a chance. Drums, bass, keys, guitars all get their chance without making it too busy and it's just a master class on how to do a quasi-progressive funk rock mix RIGHT.

Can't say enough about this track, it's one of my favorites.

2-17. Dj Mokram - "Darkside's Ritual"
Source: "Sacrifice Part One"

Rozovian: The first of the final battle tracks remixed. Dj Mokram maintains a somewhat subdued, brooding mood, driving it with drums and breaking it up with creepy sections without them. Very unsettling. Very fitting. And it provides a nice, badass track for the end stretch of disc two.

It's difficult to pick out a single stand-out moment, but 1:30's breakdown parts are probably my favorite moment of the track. There's small touches worth mentioning, like how the tempo or the performance isn't entirely stable during those breakdowns. It's a small thing, but it adds a lot of atmosphere.

Meteo Xavier: It wouldn't be Hiroki Kikuta unless he did something interesting, off-the-beaten path, and mesmerizingly intriguing with his Mana work. So what did he do? Split up the final battle into three VERY different tracks that are pretty avant-garde and memorable. This first part is probably the most menacing, dark, and eye-opening track on the OST, deliberately designed to make you instantly regret taking on the final boss.

So what did Dj Mokram do? Take that and turn it up further, of course. There is much more instrumentation to Mokram's version here -- a sort of loose remix that nevertheless adds some elements to make sure you don't confuse it for a cover alone like new string work, sound effects that bend up and down, crunchy, distorted drum underscore, and some delicate piano work to add some angelic distance from the soaking blackness the composition invites. This is a damn dark track, make no mistake, and while I appreciate the sparseness of the original, I think this one improves on it in a lot of ways to make it more generally tasteful.

God forbid if we get lucky enough to get a Seiken Densetsu 3 anime, this is definitely what should be used in the score for it.

Dj Mokram: I've always subconsciously associated this song with the Dark Prince's jerkness in the prelude to the gruesome fight with the Archdemon.

I wanted to pick a source that would pose a real challenge, as opposed to something more melodic and manageable from an arranging point of view. With its macabre tone, insistent pads, dark and eerie chimes, and haunting/disturbing percussive bed, "Sacrifice part I" was the perfect candidate. After a few experiments, I went in a moody orchestral/cinematic direction, expanding on the material with a focus on a more dramatic approach. My aim was a tribute that could stay faithful to the original piece and build on top of its foundations in order to achieve something that could stand on its own, while still showcasing a decent enhancement of the source tune, as was requested by the project director. Hopefully, this "Darkside's Ritual" will give you the chills...

2-18. Mozzaratti - "Divine Thunder"
Source: "Religion Thunder"

Rozovian: There's something that feels very classical, royal, military, epic, and appropriate about the style, which Moz handles very well. Dare I call this a conventional track? I don't mean that in a bad way. It's the perfect fit for a classic fantasy kingdom, which is what the source is used for as well. I especially like the return of the A part around 1:55 with a melodic variation and big staccato hits.

Meteo Xavier: One thing we surely can't have in this project is too long a time away from anything using military drums and Mozzaratti thankfully brings back what was sorely needed along with some really tasty orchestral work. The thunder rolls in Mozzaratti's take on "Religion Thunder"!

Although this isn't the most aggressive orchestral song we have on here, it's definitely one of the most elegant uses of the classic blend of triplet stutter drums, blaring horns, low and high strings, crashing cymbals, and some really great upper flute work. It moves in an expected way following the original composition closely, but what you really get from his version is CLASS. This is just a CLASSY orchestration that holds its own against Archangel's work and the other excellent genre forms we've gotten on it. Has a very... oceanic sound? With the cymbals crashing like waves, the horns and strings ebbing in and out, and a wet reverb that nonetheless gives everything clarity. I can't say anything particularly stands out because it's ALL great work. Very consistent stuff, well executed from start to finish.

And if you think, like I do, that Mozzaratti should be more on your radar, just look out for some of the work we've got coming up from him on this very project!

2-19. TheDeath - "The Unleashing of the Mana Sword"
Source: "Delicate Affection"

Rozovian: This lovely take on the source was made before my time as director, or even part of the project. The original WAV was lost, but a high-enough quality MP3 version remained, and it's well worth keeping despite the subtle artifacts it might have. Too subtle for me to tell, at least. I keep wondering about the vocal parts, because they sound like lyrics. Real lyrics. But I have no idea what they mean. The track is lovely, delicate, but takes a turn towards epic towards the end. 1:57 is epic. And, like a lot of TheDeath's other work, it sounds cinematic. It feels like it's from the soundtrack of a big epic movie, say, the ending of the second movie of four.

Meteo Xavier: The piano and bell work, resembling the famous ending theme of Jurassic Park, is only the very excellent beginning of a remix you will definitely remember. The strings come in soon and build up to a surprise section of VERY realistic choir singing. Because of the age of the project, it's hard to tell if TheDeath hired someone to do that or if it's just a really good older sample set, but WOW does it work. Then there's a short line of violin and some wonderful flute work that comes in from there. It turns into a sort of chanting once it gets to the bridge and then -- CRASH! BOOM! -- those military drums come in again. Somehow, in a project filled with newer orchestral songs, this VERY old one still manages to stand out.

It's moments like that that remind us why we kept trying to move this project forward for over a decade!

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Disc 3

Rozovian: The third disc brings out more of the world music flavor, which is something I think sets this album apart from many others on OC ReMix, and something that sets the soundtrack apart from many other SNES-era JRPGs.

The world of the game is a fairly typical JRPG world. Themed kingdoms and few towns, a large selection of monsters roaming the world, party members from the different regions. It does make sense that the soundtrack has a wide range of influences. But it does more than most JRPGs in that regard. And that's what drew me to it. The use of marimba and tambourine stood out. The grooves, the big snares, the dynamics of the compositions, and the strong melodies... the soundtrack is great. No wonder we get such a wide range of cool remixes of it.

But perhaps more prominent on this album is the darkness and aggression, featuring more metal, and more dramatic and brooding soundscapes. There are some interesting contrasts on this album. Perhaps this is best exemplified in the more aggressive takes on the heavily world music-flavored sources.

3-01. Meteo Xavier - "Radiate Me - A Brief Dream of Victory"
Source: "Positive"

Rozovian: I don't like sound effects in music. I think they detract from the actual music. So, obviously, Meteo had to include various ambiences in his tracks. Obviously.

The victory jingle isn't a big track in the soundtrack, but it plays fairly often. Here Meteo uses it to invoke something more epic, not just the defeat of a monster and the personal heroics of the heroes, but something with consequences for the whole world. It's as if he wanted a source like "Delicate Affection" but couldn't get it, so he put all that inspiration into a different, appropriate track. Is that a problem? Nope, not at all. I like the greatly expanded takes on tiny sources that some people manage to pull off, and this is no exception. Even with the sound effects. My favorite moment has to be when the track calms down at around the 2-minute mark, bringing in the lead melody of bells. And there's an overall sense of 80's synths that bookends the track.

Meteo Xavier: This was my start into what became a major, decade-long involvement with the largest-sized project I've ever had an administrative hand in. I had no idea at the time that this track would shoehorn me into the 2nd main director's position for a pretty (in)famous piece of OC ReMix history. So many things happened in that time period, so many obstacles to get this awesome-but-difficult project to its proper resolution. From there to right here, as I re-listen to the incredible master so I can do my notes on them, it's been a long and wild ride that I couldn't say I'd do again, but I'm at least proud I got to do it at all.

I don't remember what inspired me to go the direction I did here. I made this track with the concept of it being a literal "dream of victory" for the heroes. They've come this far, they're already exhausted, and they drift off to sleep where they see the end of a huge battlefield, fought alongside the compatriots they couldn't bring with them on the journey proper, a rousing toast to victory, and then a sudden jolt of waking up and finding out, alas, it was just a dream. But the dream gives a glimmer of hope all the same, the hour is still night, and the dreamer nods back off to dreamland to finish their drink.

I don't typically do music quite like this anymore, to some disappointment, and even though I still wish I could've improved this mix more if I thought it would be 2018 before it would come out, I'm proud of it all the same. Weaving in so many different song locals one after the other I don't even remember how to do. I had this weird little ambient SFX of some sort of village get-together somewhere and I had it fade in and out to make it an accurate flow of dream items. That one really strong original melody just before the breakdown was, I kid you not, like 13 instruments all layered in because I'm crazy like that. The pizzicato plucking section was inspired from Secret of Mana's general sound and a few songs from there, and then I wanted it to go right back to the beginning to symbolize the dream beginning again as the dreamer nodded off.

3-02. Jovette Rivera, ISAO - "The Fearless Angel"
Source: "Angel's Fear"

Rozovian: This was unexpected. Due in part to a misunderstanding on direction, we ended up with a more electronic track that I had in mind for the album. I don't mind, not anymore. A number of remixers wanted to incorporate more electronic elements into their tracks, and I think the album became more varied and interesting that way. This track serves as a nice bridge between the many styles on the album, drawing on orchestral, acoustic, ethnic, metal, and electronica. The eclectic sound might be par for the course in J-rock, but as I don't listen much to the genre, it's fresh to me.

Meteo Xavier: You didn't think this project would have just one "Angel's Fear" remix on it, did you? Without question, this time "Angel's Fear" begins a little differently than we might expect -- very triumphant, but with a lot of synthetic white wind/ocean noise on top of it. There's a fine, thick, crystalline piano doing the opening lines, a short break, a quick burst of... whoa, gated trance chords? Rather unusual for this project, but the guitar work that quickly follows it isn't and suddenly there's a new energy rocking out them angelic anxieties!

But the surprises don't end there. A manly, awesome voice sings the iconic melody over acoustic guitar and then there's more synth work and... whoa, it's dizzying trying to do play-by-play with this song. There's a lot of twists and turns, and they're so incredibly seamless that you never quite see them coming. I wouldn't be surprised if this song becomes one of the more popular "Angel's Fear" remixes out and around. I don't think the world has ever quite heard it done like this before!

Jovette Rivera: This song was created in 2007, and I wanted to create something I feel could surpass my previous Final Fantasy 7 remix "The Crossroads," as I want to continue growing as a remixer and arranger, not limited to only writing original material for myself and other artists. So I enlisted the aid of Japanese guitarist ISAO (a renowned guitarist working with Japanese idol band Baby Metal and others) to provide my guitar tracks. He's amazing and a great friend. I can't imagine the song without him, and I think you'll agree.

Since then, I've long been producing music for major Japanese artists and idols as well as performing as a singer/voice actor for many anime and games (i.e. Street Fighter V, Devil May Cry 4, Tekken 7, Pokkén Tournament, etc.). Of course, I hope to maintain my relationship with the OCR community as well, as I have been since the beginning. I will try to provide new mixes when time allows or serious inspiration hits. Thank you to everyone for making this album a reality.

3-03. zykO - "The Road to Tolerance"
Source: "Different Road"

Rozovian: In the game, this source is one of the more annoying, due to how much time is spent running around the stupid mountain, getting lost in the wind maze and other stuff. I'm saying I don't have a lot of tolerance for it. zykO's take on it captures the slog well with its slow pacing and noodling on the groove. Over the course of the track, I feel the guitars echoing my own feelings, but taking more and more liberties with the source to get through the grind of where the source plays. If only that yielded results in the game too. From 3:00, the guitar in particular starts living a life of its own, but all the elements diverge from the straightforward stuff they started with, and the track becomes much more interesting when you know what to listen for. It's a slog on the surface, but full of interesting details when you listen more closely.

Meteo Xavier: zykO's take on this track begins with some stark piano stacks doing the familiar melody with some sound effects creating the atmosphere in the background. Some noodling guitar joins in shortly after and builds a rather unsettling, take-caution sort of sound while still being too intriguing to step away from. Where are you going with this, zyk? Hard to say, but then again it fits the theme of getting lost up in the mountains and caverns, doesn't it?

This is a very different sort of remix than we've got here on the project -- whereas most are very tightly structured, this one is kind of like a relaxed, jazz fusion noodling that nevertheless is very refreshing to listen to. zykO's guitar work is without parallel, but the drum work, simple as it is, and the bright piano offering little bips of light in the dark brown all come together nicely. Some synth strings add some heaviness to the soundscape soon into it. Almost feels like you're sharing a bowl with Moby while you play Seiken Densetsu 3 and get lost in the same caverns over and over and over again...

3-04. Blaine - "Sandstorm Stew"
Source: "Black Soup"

Rozovian: One of the issues with a long-running (and/or long-delayed) project is that tracks from beginner remixers don't age very well, and I think this is one of those cases. It would be interesting to hear what Blaine could do with the same source today, given that he was quite fresh to the scene when he joined the project and made this. It's one of the more conservative remixes on the album, but has a strong world music flavor, as well as a cinematic feel and sound to it as it builds towards the ending. I'm especially fond of the build-up from 2:40. It's also a piece that ups the drama a bit from zykO's preceding track and leads into one of the dark and aggressive sections of the album.

Meteo Xavier: This is another track I had trouble identifying, because of the soundtrack's erratic track name discrepancies. If you go to look for the original on YouTube or something, there's a very good chance this song will come up as "Obsession," while looking up "Black Soup" will bring you something else.

Blaine's remix has a slow burn with a very Eastern quality about it to start out before some equally Arab/Asian strings take over, dominate the soundscape, and create some thick tension not even a knife could cut. But the lead-up is a ruse -- like a skilled assassin draped in silk, it has you leaning in one way thinking they're about to attack, but instead of a battle, it's a short little dance of percussion instruments; a little breakdown before it backs off and continues to make you wonder where it will go. The instrumentation, particularly the plucked strings, are mesmerizing. There's some violin sustains that demand respect and will end up getting it before the song's over. Insidious sitar twang follows and the scene becomes delirious and dreaded.

For another minute you're left wondering and waiting and then, BOOM, the battle starts proper. Twirling string riffs signal the real start and the instruments get more structured and intense; but like all assassin battles, this one doesn't actually go on for too long. Remember that assassins are trained to kill without a fight, not actually fight for too long. This song is a veteran assassin, it's around a long time and it's still slayin' us, but it knows it's place too and when to call it good.

3-05. Phonetic Hero - "Felling the Behemoth"
Source: "Strange Medicine"

Rozovian: Many SD3 sources, maybe something present in Hiroki Kikuta's other works as well, tend to be constructed in a way where an initial A-B set of sections loop for a while, before moving into a C part. What does Phonetic Hero do? He starts with the C part. That immediately sets it apart from many other directions this track could have taken. This is one of the more electronic mixes on the album, which, in the cluster of boss tracks that is the first half of disc 3, is a great fit. I can't tell whether some of the elements are electronic or just really strange instruments from some part of the world. The sound design is great. It also incorporates the odd time signature of the original, though for the most part sticks to a driving 4/4 beat. It's aggressive, it's intense, and it's spectacular.

Meteo Xavier: This remix brings edge and a lot of grit with a distorted atmosphere and some mangled up drum work in the background. A bent, disturbed square and sine take up the flute's parts while some real flute samples and phrases flow in and out of the soundscape on top of a spiky bass pad that slides in under the rug. The warping and twisting continues, then steadies under the sine melody. The drum work is excellent in its industrial grind and clap without feeling as mechanical and industrial genres glorify. A quick glitch later and it suddenly becomes louder and more interpretative on the source. Phon wanted to show off his stuff here and that gets proven as the song gets wilder and crazier after that -- getting some loopy chromatic notes and chippy bits over top another section of the song before going back to the sine and just continuing up the mind-twisting slope of infernal audio processing until you think you can't handle any more.

This is definitely the kind of song you want playing when you're taking down a behemoth -- either in the virtual plane or in real life. I think it's a highlight on a disc that's already full of very skilled remix work.

3-06. Dj Mokram - "Vanishing Visions"
Source: "Secret of Mana"

Rozovian: So we've got a small number of electronic tracks on the album, a few with strong Middle Eastern flavor, and plenty of orchestral and metal tracks. What does Dj Mokram do? A bit of everything. When piecing together the track order, tracks like this are great to have, because they bridge the gaps between disparate styles. And the sound design is great. I especially like the 2:12 part, where the lead is exposed.

I've mentioned I like groove. This is a different kind of groove than many of those tracks, but I like it all the same. This is some kind of dojo music, and though on one hand a strong, aggressive, even unsettling flavor, on the other a chill rhythm to settle in. Great stuff.

Meteo Xavier: Told you we were going to be staying in the East for a bit! Blaine brought us to the pyramid (or palace or whatever you prefer), Phonetic Hero brought us to the battlefield, and Dj Mokram brings us to the middle of the desert where we're trying to escape Pharaoh like Moses and his followers with his rendition of "Secret of Mana."

Isn't it weird how there's a track in the Seiken Densetsu 3 named after the English title for the previous game? Oh, that Kikuta! The title Mokram has for this remix is much less eyebrow-raising but still wholly appropriate; it really does sound like a vision quest you're taking in the Sahara. Mokram so fills the atmosphere with the desert touch that you might start finding grains of sand in your hair.

3-07. The Dual Dragons - "Rising Fate"
Source: "Obsession"

Rozovian: The Dual Dragons have provided plenty of great rocking tracks for the album, and this is no exception. With Juan Medrano's previous take on this track accidentally being posted on OC ReMix, one of many mishaps and problems during the album's long production (and perhaps more importantly and unfortunately not the only one concerning his work), we opened the track for others to remix, and the Dragons took it. The source is one of the more memorable battle tracks in the game, and, like the source, the remix maintains the vaguely Middle Eastern feel of parts of the soundtrack, fitting right in with other remixes that invoke it. It has a rather retro sound, though with my poor grasp of rock history, I can't quite place it. 80's, probably. It's big, varied, features different tempos... so, like a lot of their tracks. My favorite part is probably how the source is brought in at around 3:10, in the background at first, but soon brought to the foreground.

3-08. Luhny - "Imminent Peril"
Source: "Strange Medicine"

Rozovian: Luhny's track almost got left out of the project. Twice. And there's no one to blame but me. Fortunately, we found it, misplaced it again, found it again after the tracklist was more or less complete, and, due to an audio quality issue in another track, a spot opened up for it. And I'm glad we have it. It bridges the metal and Middle Eastern flavor of the preceding tracks, rocks out for a bit with some cool guitar arpeggios, and gives us a hard-hitting ending that serves as an excellent end to this segment of the disc. I'm especially fond of how it dares to be sparse around 1:50, or the change to rhythm at about one minute in. Cool stuff.

Luhny: "Strange Medicine" is a track that always gave me the chills, the imminent peril of the situation is made very clear and pretty much in your face -- hence the name of the remix. The source material features some interesting/confusing time signatures. With my rock/metal type approach, I had a lot of trouble getting any sort of arrangement right and started from scratch a couple of times until I finally did get the idea to take over time signatures 1:1 and just applied rhythms and styles I am most familiar and comfortable with. I don't know if this can be heard, but I am sure it would have sounded pretty strange otherwise.

For the tech-guys: DAW is Cubase 5, guitars and basses are via Line 6 POD Farm 2.5, drums come from SD 2.0. Enjoy!

3-09. Karth, Meteo Xavier - "Fool's Gold"
Source: "Powell"

Rozovian: One of the most memorable and iconic tracks of the game is the theme of Rabite Forest, and there's a few remixes of it on OC ReMix and elsewhere. I've made one too, for the Xmas album one year. Karth's take is a solo piano version, well fitting the chase of a mysterious light through the forest. It has some playful moments, like 3:45, but for the most time plays it calm. The melody is used creatively throughout, and I especially like how just the start of the source melody is turned into a melody part around 2:40. But how 4:05 brings back what's probably the most recognizable part of source must be mentioned as well. It's that good.

Karth wasn't happy with his own piano sounds, so Meteo and I both took stabs at giving the MIDI he provided us with a good sound, and we ended up with Meteo doing the production on the track. It's a convenient way of making music, the performer performs, the producer produces. And we all get to enjoy the results.

3-10. The Dual Dragons - "Brooding Tolerance"
Source: "Intolerance"

Rozovian: "Intolerance" is an oft-recurring track in the game that easily lands in the memory of the player. This take on it takes that familiar thing and gives it a strangely unfamiliar feel. It took me a long time to hear the connections between this and the source; something about the intro throws me off. It could be the tempo. But man, I like that intro. Even more now that I recognize it. A different feel, so a fresh take on the source. It's nice to hear something calmer from the Dual Dragons too. Not that they can avoid making it epic.

3-11. Rozovian - "Relic"
Source: "Last Audience"

Rozovian: Omnisphere, a big virtual instrument that I have, has a few Middle Eastern sounds, and while working on this track, I was drawn to experimenting with them. It's a sound design choice that I find fitting for the source. While I usually do more electronic things, I had a blast putting together this world music/rock hybrid. At around 3:27, some weird interaction of bends, delays, and level automation produced a weirdly fitting honk of some sort. Serendipity, I like it. But my favorite part has to be around 2:05. I'm just very happy with how all the parts just fit well together, both in sound design and writing. My own music makes me happy. That's a nice place for an artist to be. I hope my fellow remixers feel the same about their work on the album. You should all be proud of your work, and enjoy it. I am, and I do.

3-12. HoboKa - "Malevolent Intent"
Source: "Political Pressure"

Rozovian: HoboKa was one of my first friends on OC ReMix. While I became a posted remixer, he kept struggling to get something up to par. This is a track from those old days, one that's actually good. "Political Pressure," the source, shows up in a few places, so the intro notes are easily recognized. HoboKa draws on early-to-mid-90's aesthetics and bizarre distorted textures to create what is -- albeit an odd combination -- a very appropriately unsettling soundscape. I hear some stuff reminiscent of the old tracker format stuff that got me into computer music in the first place. This is a weird one, but a cool one. 3:10 is my favorite part. The weight of the bass and percussion there, the spaced out melody, the overall mood... Very evocative. Very cool.

3-13. Mak Eightman - "Dry Heart"
Source: "Harvest November"

Rozovian: You can have a sweet little oasis town, or you can have an unforgiving desert. Mak already collaborated with me on making an upbeat desert track more badass -- here he takes a sweet desert track and makes it melancholic. It's good to have a range of moods on an album like this, and with most of the softer tracks invoking hope, Mak's take on this track brings a well-needed suggestion of despair, both in the somber intro and in the heavier body of the track. Every epic needs a bit of despair somewhere. In many of the characters' stories, including that of desert-dweller Hawk, it's a moment of despair followed by determination that sets them off on the journey that makes up most of the game. And here it's well interrupted by the more rocking final third of the track bringing the suggestion of that determination and perseverance, the heroes rising from their despair. If the album as a whole tells a story, here's the story of its first dark moments, and what follows. With metal.

Mak Eightman: "Light and Darkness." That was in my head when I listened to what I made. Now I can hear the cheapness of piano section and it's even annoying me, but overall I love this track. My friend said about lead guitars: "F**k! It's a scream of soul." Well... maybe. Never thought about it.

Actually, this one was an accident. I just sat down to my comp and wrote it. I never played piano or something, I have no keyboard, that is why I love this remix more then any other remix of mine. Because of the Seiken Densetsu 3 project and its staff, I learned and improved. Also special thanks to Meteo Xavier for providing advice about piano panning and to all ppl who helped me by feedback.

3-14. Mak Eightman - "March to High"
Source: "Level Up!"

Rozovian: There's a couple of jingles on the soundtrack. Not all got remixed, but this one did. Mak makes leveling up not just a sweet stat boost, but something monumental and epic. And why shouldn't it be? Just imagine this metal- and electronica-infused march playing while selecting which stat to upgrade. Arrangement-wise, it's variations on a fairly simple repeating model, and it's fun to examine each repetition to hear what's different. And every so often, there's something, like at 1:30, that breaks from the pattern and you wonder how the track will make its way back to the source. A fun listen.

Mak Eightman: Umm... I have no idea what to say. Well... mm... it's... long...

Buy! \m/

3-15. Beckett007 - "Eyes to the Horizon"
Source: "Meridian Child"

Rozovian: This is one of the big, memorable sources from the game given the impact it has, playing to the opening credits roll after the character-specific intro. It sets the mood rather well. Beckett007 ups the epic by incorporating choir and bombastic orchestral stabs into his take on it. Nowhere does it do anything drastic with the structure of the source. It doesn't have to. It's a dynamic expansion on the original. And it's amazing. I must say, I like how the track winds down from 2:30 until the end. It's a rather long ending, if you count all of that as ending, but it's really cool.

This remix was submitted without a title, so I figured "Eyes to the Horizon" made sense given the in-game visuals of a journey, typically across the waters, as this track plays.

3-16. David L. Puga - "Watching the Abyss"
Source: "Three of Darkside"

Rozovian: David L. Puga got us a distorted mess of sound design, breaking up the otherwise mostly acoustic-imitating (or electric) sound of the album overall. Its sound, its mood, and its twists and turns fit the source well, so I don't mind. I'm particularly fond of the use of delays in this track, 1:10 and on, how the bass disappears into delays and leaves some space for the other elements. After ending a disc on the heroes' turning point, why not stop by the bad guys for a scene?

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Disc 4

Rozovian: The final disc. There's a lot of ending tracks to work with, so the order ends up being lead-up, final boss tracks, and all kinds of epilogue tracks. This might be the most eclectic disc on the album, including J-pop, metal, a track of primarily percussion, piano, eighties synth groove, big orchestral pieces, and ambient new age-style work. And, somehow, it all seems to fit together.

4-01. Rexy - "The Dragon Emperor's Calling"
Source: "Weird Counterpoint"; Cameos: "Angel's Fear," "Witchmakers," "Star of Darkness" (Secret of Mana)

Rozovian: This is one of my favorite sources, and one that's easy to work into plenty of others. Rexy has a knack for combining sources and referencing other tracks in her remixes. Here's her "Weird Counterpoint" remix, with bits of "Angel's Fear" and "Witchmakers," as well as "Star of Darkness" from the previous Mana game mixed in. Don't think I didn't notice. And possibly a reference to "Whiz Kid." Is there more? I have a feeling there is. A great piano performance, with my personal favorite moment being around 4 minutes in, bringing the source to the forefront.

Rexy: Okay, time to take a break from the solo non-piano stuff with an actual solo piano arrangement for once. :P

This track was formed for the Seiken Densetsu 3 project that has been going on for a long time. In fact, it's been there that long that I signed up when project founder Usa made a start with it, I took a completely different song, and yet I felt too uninspired to actually realise it, much to my disappointment.

Fast-forward to around October 2011, when I noticed that, even under Rozovian's management, the project still wasn't finished. So I looked at the available tracks and decided to rejoin, eventually feeling that I could do something with "Weird Counterpoint." I've come to the understanding that I gel quite well with late dungeon material in some form, so I felt I could realise a solid vision with this one.

"Weird Counterpoint" is heard in the Dragon Hole, the second-to-last dungeon in Duran and Angela's storyline and where the Dragon Emperor resided with the Sword of Mana, itself with enhanced power after the heroes of the game defeated the 8 Mana Beasts. So the vision I have here is a more intense performance, adding to the size and complexity of the dungeon at this point in the game. It's pretty much a poignant moment in the story's progression too -- they either reach the Dragon Emperor, or die trying. There is no middle ground -- just overcoming adversity and watching your guard at all times.

I ended up getting a new PC and moved to using Reaper as opposed to Cubase, so applying the changes wasn't quite all that easy thanks to having to reassemble the track in there (though, luckily, I still had the MIDI data intact). Nevertheless, I still paid as much attention as I can to tweaking the data for the performance to move more fluidly, and made the necessary production adjustments especially with the reverb. I even spent a fair chunk of an evening with Palpable, who gave some very helpful feedback in regards to reverb and sustain use and the results of them working together, and I feel really grateful for his assistance.

I can say it's brought me another step closer to realising the scope for my piano arranging and really bringing out my feelings for the source material. And I am glad that I got this through for Rozo and assistant director Meteo Xavier (even through more reminders than I can count!), and I wish all the best for the album's unveiling. :D And like most people, I can't wait to see it finally unleashed to the world, and it has been a great experience getting behind it!

4-02. Jovette Rivera - "Sora no Neechan"
Source: "Can You Fly, Sister"

Rozovian: An unexpected take on the Flammie flight music, this is another J-rock-influenced remix, with lyrics in Japanese. A lot of combinations of sources I can easily imagine, like almost any combat track and metal, or orchestra and any town theme. J-rock is not something I would have thought was a good fit for any source. And yet it works so well. There's a very bubblegum pop part at 2:50 that stands out to me. Again with the eclectic blend of all kinds of things. And what a fun ride it becomes.

4-03. rebrained - "Holy Lands of Mana"
Source: "Decision Bell"

Rozovian: If I were to pick just a single remix to cover the entire story of the game, it might just be this one. It starts big, completely breaks down in the middle, and gradually builds back up to big. It's a great journey condensed into a 5-minute track. How epic is that?

And it's full of cool moments. I can't list them all, but the brief buildup at around 1:00 is worth a mention for how well it works despite how unexpectedly it moves. But I also have to mention the flute flourishes before 3:50. And I have to contrast it with the harpsichord take on the same source. Man, the things you can do with this source. Man, the things done with it.

4-04. Juan Medrano - "In a Thousand Years"
Source: "Falcon"

Rozovian: Absent from the official soundtrack (OSV), this source was, at the time, a cause for concern. We had to check that it actually plays in the game, though I have a feeling we'd have sought an excuse to include it anyway. The source melody is played both on guitar and on a synth bell, making use of the difference in timbre and dynamics of the two instruments. This track has some of the coolest soloing I've heard in Juan's work. Maybe it's just plain scales and arpeggios, I'm not a guitar person enough to tell. But I like it.

The 1:35 breakdown is my personal highlight of the track. I like how it doesn't really lose momentum despite losing energy, or vice versa; how it's a breakdown that feels more different to the preceding part than it sounds.

Also, anyone wanting something more aggressive out of "Weird Counterpoint," Juan Medrano's got you covered towards the end of this track with a more driving, badass take on that source.

Juan Medrano: For this, I just wanted to go all Satch and borrowed kinda heavily from Crystal Planet. I had actually sort of finished this years ago but only ever mixed down an MP3, which sucks because I lost all of my project files in a hard drive crash and had to redo everything from scratch. I had recorded a one-take solo that I was very proud of and tried (50-ish takes!) to reproduce it here, but was only able to get a little close. Let this be a lesson to everyone. Back up your files!

4-05. Reuben Cornell - "Marathon"
Source: "Electric Talk"

Rozovian: Reuben Cornell, like Sam English in his take on "Swivel," builds a groove for the track to sit on. Where Sam went for a softer and lighter sound, Reuben brings the big orchestra to his groove, fitting the source, gradually ramping things up towards a big, epic end. That's also the role his track serves at this stage of the album.

Fav moment: fast strings at 1:50. But the buildup during the second minute needs a mention as well, just for the many details present in the background during that part.

This track was submitted without a title, so I named it "Marathon" for the gauntlet that the the game becomes towards the end.

4-06. Usa, siebensus4 - "Facing the Storm"
Source: "Reincarnation"

Rozovian: Usa, who also was director of the project for a while, mastered the whole album. That's quite an endeavor. I found the project when Usa was in charge of it, so he's responsible for my initial involvement in it. I count him as having as big a role in the project as myself or Meteo, though we each had different amounts of involvement at different times. A great thanks, dude. It wouldn't be this good without you. It might not even exist without you.

Late 80's, early 90's, this remix borrows from that era and gives us a slowly moving take on the source. Maybe this is the waltzable track I wanted. It's a chill groove, one that's a little difficult to place properly on the tracklist, but that gets to be a brief respite from the action before the final stretch of combat tracks. I'm especially fond of the little touches, like the break at 2:45, how you can hear the echoes ring out before the track continues. Beautiful.

4-07. Usa, Jackson Lawhead, TheDeath - "Gate Total Peril"
Source: "Faith Total Machine"

Rozovian: The source might be the most epic fight music on the soundtrack, and it's given a hard rock treatment here. This was one of the last tracks to be finished for the album. It's got Usa, who co-founded the project and mastered the album, and it's got Meteo's brother on guitar and TheDeath on orchestral parts. It's full of cool details. The guitar melodies, bass lead-ins, creepy breaks, the buildups, the sound design... it's an amazing track. But the best part, for me at least, is when the bass first comes in. It's this wonderful foreshadowing for the rest of the track.

It's got all the epic flavor of a final boss battle, so here it is. Welcome to the end.

This remix was submitted without a title, so I named it something fitting the pattern of the source.

Usa: This one was a three-way collab including Jackson on guitar and TheDeath for the orchestral parts of this track. I did the synths, drumming work, gamelan orchestra, bass, and percussion on this, as well as the mixing.

4-08. Theophany - "Unwilling Sacrifice"
Source: "Sacrifice Part Two"

Rozovian: It's always interesting to hear what a remixer can do with limited source material, whatever the limitation. Some sources are short, others sparse. Lacking melody, this one is difficult to grasp. Theophany's take on the predominantly percussion-only source is similarly heavy on the percussion, though with a more metallic sound than the original. There's little melody to work with, but there's timbre and rhythms. And there's plenty of room for sound design. And let me tell you, the sound design is spectacular. As are the dynamics. As perhaps expected, a percussion-heavy track is percussive. 3:40 is worth a special mention for its writing. Rhythm. You got it, man.

4-09. Mozzaratti - "The Final Sacrifice"
Source: "Sacrifice Part Three"; Cameo: "Star of Darkness" (Secret of Mana)

Rozovian: Mozzaratti snagged this source and rocks it. With guitars, orchestra, electronica, and a triumphant mood, I can't think of a better way of remixing it, or ending the final battle section of the album. Those brass stabs. That guitar. That filter sweep. It builds to what appears to be an epic climax, breaks down and builds to an even bigger ending. The orchestral breakdown at 5:20 and subsequent chorus are just that good. At the end, the actual one, there's a reference to "Star of Darkness" from the previous game in the franchise. Cool.

4-10. pu_freak - "The Final Moments"
Source: "Farewell Song"

Rozovian: pu_freak has a remix early on the album, fitting for the character Duran when he takes off on his adventure. Here's pu_freak again, presumably featuring the end of Duran's journey, with evil vanquished and the heroes on their way back home. It's a beautiful ending. Not the only ending track, but possibly the sweetest of them. When the main melody comes back at 2:30, it sounds and feels like a scene from a movie. Great work, dude.

pu_freak: With this mix, I wanted to create an emotional and intimate version of the source material by using just piano, which is backed up by strings later in the mix. It's a fairly conservative mix compared to my usual mixes, since I didn't alter much of the source, I just added a lot of original stuff to complement on the main melody of the original. It switches back and forth from original stuff to the main motif I've used from the source.

I hope that when people listen to this, they can truly relax and just enjoy the moment. That's the feeling I wanted this mix to have, at least. It's a piano-heavy song, so if you don't like piano or slow-paced mixes, this isn't something to your liking. For everyone else: enjoy the song and become truly relaxed and at peace when you listen to it. If that worked, then my aim for this mix is complete.

4-11. WillRock - "Winds of Gaia"
Source: "Breezin'"

Rozovian: A commenter on one of my own SD3 remixes on YouTube requested I remix this source. I responded that I don't think I could top Will's take on it. That's still true. And here it is, a very cool take on on the source, providing the end of the album with some much needed guitars. With plenty of guitars on the album, it's only fitting that we have some in the set of ending tracks too. While some of Will's 80's flavor undoubtedly made it into the track, it's not as strong as it was on a lot of his contemporary mixes. Regardless, it's a wonderful piece of music. True to his style, there's modulations of the melody, and as the source features "Angel's Fear," the series' central melody, you get to hear it in a rather different take, a less melancholic or solemn one. Among many other things, of course.

Also, dear listeners, comments on YouTube and other places aren't just your own thoughts thrown out into a vast nothingness. I read all that I can find on my remixes, no matter where they're posted. They've helped through many a moment when I've felt discouraged. The visual proof that there are people out there who appreciate your work is a comforting and encouraging one. I think all artists feel that way. Twicken, you are appreciated. All you commenters out there, you're appreciated, regardless of your comments. The short ones, the critical ones, the rambly ones, the sentimental ones, the barely coherent ones...

We appreciate your comments, your attention, your time. Thank you, all.

4-12. Archangel - "The Eternal Heartbeat of Mana"
Source: "Return to Forever"

Rozovian: I get teary-eyed when I hear this track because of the journey I've had with this album. Many years spent, many lessons learned, many friends made, many annoyed, many people eagerly awaiting the release of this behemoth of an album, and many hours spent wondering if it'll ever get finished. And now it is.

Speaking of behemoths, this track, more than 9 minutes long, serves as a great ending for the album. Bookends. From his collab with HoboKa opening the album to this little piece, Archangel gets to wrap up the album proper. Few remixers have contributed as much as Archangel to the album, and I'm very glad he not only took this amount of tracks, but also these particular tracks. I can think of no better way to end an album but this. After 5:40, the track changes mood, and goes via somber and sweet into grandiose and epic. I get goosebumps and teary eyes. And then... it only gets more epic.

Archangel: This arrangement took a lot of time to finish. It's the longest track I've made so far, including my original work. I had to split it into multiple project files, because my PC at the time was too weak to handle all the samples and plugins at once. If I were making this arrangement today, I'd probably take a very different approach to it, but all in all, I'm quite proud of the result.

The original track plays during the game's end credits, when Flammie is shown flying above the world. I followed a similar imagery with this arrangement. The track begins with the end of the final battle. The heroes, standing by the Mana Tree, witness small, but noticeable signs that the world is starting to recover -- flowers springing to life, birdsong, and gentle rain. Realizing that they've succeeded in defeating the evil, they smile at each other, then summon Flammie and take to the air (1:04). In the dead of night, they fly across the landscapes of their world -- over lush jungles, vast plains, insurmountable heights and tranquil seas -- until they finally land in a forest not far from the shore (5:37). The town they are headed to is nearby, and they say goodbye to their flying friend, who spreads her (or is it his?) wings (6:35) and takes off once more. The heroes run towards the shore to catch a final glimpse of Flammie flying off into the distant horizon. They reach a cliff above the sea just as a great wave comes crashing into the rocks (8:05), spraying them with cold drops of sea water. A new dawn rises, and they sit quietly on the shore and enjoy a hard-earned moment of peace.

I hope you enjoy the track!

4-13. Meteo Xavier - "Let Eternity Take Over"
Source: "Long Goodbye"; Cameo: "Whiz Kid"

Rozovian: Don't be confused, the track begins with the "Whiz Kid" source. It's interesting how that one's managed to find its way into so many remixes on the album. But my favorite part in this remix is the electric piano in the background from around 2:10. This track overall has a very dreamy feel, which is appropriate given how it's based on the sleep jingle from the previous game.

It's the game over track, and while it sounds like a failure while in-game, it suits a positive ending to the game just as well. And this version suits the album's completion so well. It has a real sense of completeness. It's over. It's done. Finally. Well done, Meteo, Usa, OCR staff. Well done, everyone. Thank you for making this happen. Thank you for your contributions. Thank you for your patience.

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Bonus tracks

Rozovian: Okay, so, long project, lost project files, poor tracking of files and progress, communication issues, and all kinds of things happening. We've got more tracks that didn't fit the tracklist proper. Either we could exclude them from the album, or keep them on as bonus tracks. And as bonus tracks, more people will hear the work the remixers put in, so I'll always prefer that. With the primary tracklist already covering the entire soundtrack, including a few duplicate tracks, these tracks are additional takes on the sources, so this is a bonus especially for those interested in hearing the different versions different remixers can produce based on the same source tracks.

5-01. John Revoredo - "Porcelain Doll"
Source: "Female Turbulence"

Rozovian: There are two remixes of this source. Why? Because lost project files and only a low-quality MP3, integral source elements that I wanted on the project, and because they say you can't have too much of a good thing. Where Jeffrey Hayat's take is bombastic, John's take is somber. In terms of being source-appropriate, they both fit. And I like the contrast. But in terms of the character Lise's personal story, I think this is the more source-appropriate one. And if you want to construct a story through the music of the album, beyond what's in the game itself, this is a moment in which the character's internal struggle gets to the surface, and a stoic facade might begin to crack.

5-02. Jormungand - "Lost Road"
Source: "Different Road"

Rozovian: An old, forgotten track rediscovered. I'll take any and all blame for why this wasn't included and mastered with the rest of the tracks, but at least there's room among the bonus tracks for it. Jormungand's take on "Different Road" starts off quite conservative, but transitions into some very cool, ambient stuff. As much as I enjoy the more conservative parts in how calm this take on the source is, my favorite part has to be how the track transitions into full ambience around the 4:00 mark. Beautiful.

5-03. The OverClocked Plaid Muffins (Level 99, LuIzA, Swann, Cyril the Wolf, AMT, Xenon Odyssey, PrototypeRaptor) - "Do the Splash Hop (Instrumental)"
Source: "Splash Hop"

Rozovian: We opened the album with this track (not counting the jingle). Here it is again, sans lyrics. And with some differences in the instrumentation and writing. And we're not exactly sure who was involved in this track. The OCPM are funny like that. And we should have asked back then.

It's interesting how much calmer the track feels sans vocals. The differences in the instrumentation probably contributes as well. 2:10, where the vocals otherwise really amp things up, makes for a nice comparison. I like having different versions. You get to appreciate the differences, whichever version you prefer. The same can be said of originals vs. remixes, and remixes vs. remixes.

It feels appropriate to end the whole album, including the bonus tracks, on a track like this, with the unspoken echo of "it was a long, long time."

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Rozovian: There's not much else to say. What a journey this project has had. What a journey this album is. Thank you for reading, thank you for listening.