Unsung Heroes ReMix Flood Comments from album director Andrew Luers (OA), assistant directors Deia Vengen (DragonAvenger) & Stevo Bortz (Level 99), and ReMixers Album freely available at http://unsung.ocremix.org The original concept was brought forth to me by Shaun "Avaris" Wallace back when we were still working on Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption. We both agreed that while it is great to work with many well-known and often mixed themes - which are so loved for good reason - there should be no reason not to extend our hands into those games that have been overlooked for so long, but have genuinely beautiful themes as well. I'm proud of the work that these gentlemen and ladies have presented in this album, and hope that others will be able to appreciate the beauty of these tracks as well. - Andrew Luers (OA) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was brought onto Unsung Heroes as an assistant director after the success of the Final Fantasy IV project, where I was able to do a lot of organizational work to help for a smooth release. The project idea was really unique; there had been a lot of songs that I'd forgotten about and it was a joy to revisit them and see what exactly I could put together as a tribute to those games that had been passed over for more popular titles. I also have enjoyed working with both Andrew and Stevo; they both have done a great job keeping this project moving and encouraging the mixers to get their work finished. I hope to work with all these mixers again soon! - Deia Vengen (DragonAvenger) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew and I first worked together on the Final Fantasy IV album. After work on that was complete, he invited me to take part in Unsung Heroes, helping organize and keep track of progress. The premise for this is something I, as well as every other person on this album, identify with: underappreciated gems, lost in the shadows of the spotlight given to the big hitters in the RPG scene. Each song tackled here has some personal meaning to the musician, moreso than just a single song from a game many people know. The choice of games was up to the individuals, and that adds an extra layer of personal investment into each track. These are the games we had that none of our other friends did, though we loved them just the same. Any song you listen to from Unsung Heroes is a testament that, even though lesser known, these games may indeed be more special. My hope is that this will encourage others to look at other, lesser-known games and find the beauty in them, or even seek out games they have never heard before just to see what they have to offer. Rock on, fellow Heroes! - Stevo Bortz (Level 99) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • OCR02376: DragonAvenger, OA - The 7th Saga "Heroes Unsung" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02376/ DragonAvenger: The 7th Saga was one of those overly difficult games, and I will admit that I never did manage to get far in it myself. I did get to watch my brother play the game, however, and really found the music to have some wonderful and emotive themes. When approaching the music for Unsung Heroes, I imagined a bard and her band in a medieval tavern singing to the patrons about stories of old that may have never been heard because they had been lost to time. This became the main focus of the track, and "Heroes Unsung" was worked to match that image. The singer goes on to regale her listeners with tales of yore, enrapturing the audience and helping the tales pass on to future generations. So to you, Listener, won't you come and listen to the themes and songs of these unloved games; these Unsung Heroes? OA: This entire concept was Deia's, I just did what I could to get the right sound, and keep it from sounding overproduced. The intro and outro was me just turning the microphone on at a BBQ and recording people, and then adding the fire sound and some other homemade tavern noises. I think it gives a good tavern feel, and really helps set the tone of the entire album. • OCR02377: audio fidelity, Jenny Fae Davis - Secret of Evermore "Somber Memory" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02377/ OA: This song is an incredibly moody track with a rich soundscape and excellent instrumental performances. The support of the melody by the guitar and bass has just enough movement to drive the track, and the harmonies are perfect. I was especially impressed by the sense of space and atmosphere; it felt like the track drifted away into some massive void, but never felt empty. A standout track that I feel is one of Jay's best. DragonAvenger: Jay has gotten really good at working with tracks and pulling a very strong emotional feel from them. "Somber Memory" really drives home that feeling of someone staring outside their window on a rainy day and thinking of the past. Jenny's flute playing is wonderfully emotive, and the supporting instruments are perfectly balanced. This track was a pleasure to listen to on the album. audio fidelity: This piece of music is probably one of my proudest and most affectionate mixes. Ever since I heard the source, I knew I wanted to do it, which is rare, accounting for all the other mixes I've been a part of. I was fortunate to be in the company of such a talented and passionate performer. It'll always be just that to me - a somber memory. • OCR02378: OA - SaGa Frontier 2 "Shimmering" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02378/ OA: I've always liked this source track, with its super simple pastoral melody, and it's always evoked a sun and sky vibe to me, and I tried to expand on that, but make it a little bit more danceable. Some kind of subtle new experiments on this one for me, one being a more prominent acoustic guitar lead that trades off with the synth, and then an OA-only choir. I've head people say that a musician's output reflects their personality, and I think at least in this case, this song was a pretty good indicator of how I was feeling, mid-2009. :-) DragonAvenger: The best way I can describe this song is uplifting. The main synth melody is so happy, it's hard not to feel better after listening to this track. Andrew managed to put a strong soundscape together that keeps everything very light but still full. The track is slowed down a bit from the original, but it still keeps the energy very strong, and I think even adds to it. Nice work, Aibou! <3 • OCR02379: ilp0 - Willow "Weeping Willow" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02379/ OA: This is the kind of fun track I have grown accustomed to hearing from ilp0, with some bouncy rhythms and great expansion of the themes. The instrumentation is a bit of a surprise with the prominent use of tuned percussion, and that choice really makes it stand out from the rest of the album. DragonAvenger: What a fun take on the source! Everything is super playful here, and I love how well ilp0 uses the vibraphone. There are some classic ilp0 sounds in here as well, so the characteristic remains firmly his. The arrangement is unexpectedly different from the source, but it's a pleasant surprise. I LOVE the super bounciness at 3:25; it really helps seal in the eclectic nature of the entire track. • OCR02380: Avaris - Bahamut Lagoon "Stockholm" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02380/ OA: The sound of this mix is really deep, and the contemplative and melancholy melody really shines when the ornamentation is so sparse. There are some beautiful washes of sound that are applied with a very light tough, almost like a watercolor painting, and each sound used gradually builds the track until the ending. An arrangement like this goes to show that when your source music is so strong, less can certainly be more when it comes to arranging it. DragonAvenger: "Stockholm" has a bit of an exotic flare to it that adds a lot of character to the original source. Bahamut Lagoon has been on my "to-play" list for years, and this only increases my desire to experience the game first hand. Shaun uses a bit of a minimalist approach to the track at times, which exudes a contemplative nature. The backing elements add a lot of movement to the track, and the choir parts give everything an ethereal ambiance. Nice work from Shaun! Avaris: This mix was heavily inspired by the FFX "Journey's End" mix, sephfire's arrangement skills in general, tons of stuff off of Armada's chillout/lounge compilations, and my own twisted sense of music. This has probably been the most enjoyable mix I have ever done. I sat down awhile back and completely re-imagined my composition process. I felt I kept on running into the same issues with every song I worked on. It was actually a really enjoyable experience to take a step back in order to be very subjective on one's own musical strengths and shortcomings. Every element of this mix is derived from the characteristics of the main motif found in both original source tunes. Due to the odd timing and the apparent 8/4 time sig in the melody, it gave the percussion sections a very robust and complex feel. The percussion was sequenced by hand with a few cut up hand drums and hi-hat loops to add some natural syncopation. In order to keep the song fresh throughout the mix, I relied on the choir so I would not overuse the melody. The mix was done entirely in Reason/Record with some custom-made external FX from Logic's Sculpture. I've sadly never played the game, except for the opening battle sequence. SPOILER ALERT: apparently the lead female character suffers from Stockholm syndrome during the story of the game. Since I am using two of her character themes as source tune material, I thought "Stockholm" would be a cool title for the mix. That coupled with the song being done in Reason/Record and the laid back feel made it an easy choice. Thanks for listening!