Highlights

FREE download from OC ReMix: https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04570

Source Tunes:
Artazon & Zapapico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za6Flel9nI4
Time Gear Theme (PMD2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afo8lPbvobc
Intro (PMD1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWE5WAz8fW4

I really liked the theme from the towns of Artazon & Zapapico. The original had a travel-friendly vibe, but seemed to quickly move on from certain musical ideas, despite having some surprising chord progressions that I would have liked to have a proper treatment. (Although now that I think about it, I guess it's appropriate for the game as a result to achieve that travel-friendly vibe.) 

I wanted to expand on the melodies I heard, really fleshing them out into fuller ideas. It became a 5/4-6/4 tropical/highland arrangement featuring some sounds such as Impact Soundworks's Highland Harps and Modern Harpejji, my own bell sounds from u-he's Zebra2, and Spectrasonics Omnisphere's pads. Initial inspiration came during a shower and I just found myself humming the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 1 intro theme on top of what I already had written, because I felt it gave the piece direction and paired surprisingly well with the atmosphere I was going for.

But what was really cool is I had found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoyxorZd6vc), which analyzed the various leitmotifs in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers series and how they were repurposed in multiple themes throughout the game. Even though I was already aware of such a strategy in that series' music, I found that video particularly inspiring, and I actually went back to this ReMix after "finishing" it, and I reworked the breakdown section in the middle to incorporate the Time Gear motif.

It was about 11 hours of total worktime from mid-Nov 2022 into mid-Jan 2023 to finish this, so I'd say I finished it faster than on average! It's also quite a change from my usual arrangements because this time my idea of a breakdown section was a lot more delicateness instead of fanciness, and I've kept harmonic complexity instead of production antics at the forefront. 

Anyways, I think I've rambled on enough, I hope you enjoy what came of this experience!

---

Extra Info:

For those interested, here is the way I used the songs this ReMix was based on:

Source Breakdown:
0:00.00 - 0:16.26 = Artazon & Zapapico (0:00.00 - 0:08.26, 0:12.38 - 0:16.49 in 5/4)
0:16.26 - 0:32.48 = Artazon & Zapapico (melody [0:08.26 - 0:16.49] + backing [0:00.00 - 0:08.26] in 5/4)
0:32.48 - 0:42.20 = Artazon & Zapapico (0:16.49 - 0:24.78, 0:33.00 - 0:41.25) [harmony + expansion on original melody]
0:47.09 - 1:11.42 = Artazon & Zapapico (0:16.49 - 0:24.78, 0:33.00 - 0:41.25) [harmony + expansion on original melody]
1:11.42 - 1:25.99 = Artazon & Zapapico (0:41.25 - 0:59.26) [harmony + expansion on original melody]
1:30.84 - 2:00.07 = PMD2 Time Gear (0:00 - 1:05, slightly-modded 2nd phrase for 3rd bar)
2:00.07 - 2:16.26 = Artazon & Zapapico (0:00.00 - 0:08.26, 0:12.38 - 0:16.49 in 5/4) [key change]
2:16.26 - 2:32.48 = Artazon & Zapapico (melody [0:08.26 - 0:16.49] + backing [0:00.00 - 0:08.26] in 5/4)
2:32.48 - 2:48.73 = Prev 16 secs of Artazon (0:00.00 - 0:08.26, 0:12.38 - 0:16.49) + PMD1 Intro Theme (0:08 - 0:12/0:34 - 0:37) in 5/4
2:48.73 - 3:33.63 = PMD1 Intro Theme (0:19 - 0:34)

16.26 + 16.22 + 9.72 + 24.33 + 14.57 + 29.23 + 16.19 + 16.22 + 16.25 + 44.90
= 203.89 secs
203.89/219.95 ~= 92.70% source overall

Artazon & Zapapico (A/Z):
113.51/219.95 = 51.61% A/Z

PMD1 Intro Theme (P1IT):
61.15/219.95 = 27.80% P1IT

PMD2 Time Gear (P2TG):
29.23/219.96 = 13.29% P2TG

Pokémon Violet - ReMix ~ 'The Art of Zoning Out' [Medley (Violet, PMD1, PMD2)] by Timaeus

I have already submitted this to https://ocremix.org :)
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04658

---

Something I had been meaning to do for a while was to load some good music into my phone, and among those included the Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky OST. One night, I had that on shuffle and randomly came across 'Vast Ice Mountain Peak' and started jamming to it (this is the theme that plays during the 5th Special Episode dungeon). I also recently have been watching videos from 8-bit Music Theory, and the one about how Octopath Traveler music changes keys was on my mind (I highly recommend you check that out!), so I latched onto that aspect of 'Vast Ice Mountain Peak' (0:36 - 1:11), and the gears were turning (see what I did there?). 

From what I gathered, 'Vast Ice Mountain Peak' seems to dance between two keys that are a perfect 4th apart (something Octopath Traveler does a lot), and bounces two different motifs off of each other (one that rises and one that falls), which both maintain their intervals in the new key. There were also cool descending chord progressions which still manage to return to the original key.

So, the main thing I did at 0:35 - 1:10 is riff on those two motifs, but in a different sequence/structure than in the original. I also used the 'Time Gear' motif from 'Dialga's Fight to the Finish!' as a hook (1:11 - 1:28, 2:31 - 2:48) that was layered with the chorus (1:28 - 1:46, 2:48 - 3:06), mixing in a few other lines from that song (EX: 1:06 - 1:10). I kept the general structure from the original for the most part, at the climax (1:46 - 2:31), because it was just too good. 

Among the tools I used were the usual culprits --- Zebra2 primarily (pads, bass, arps, leads), with accomplices being Super Audio Cart (flute), Resonance: Emotional Mallets (Pipeharp), Juggernaut: Cinematic Electronic Scoring Tools (sweeps/risers), and Black Octopus Leviathan (drums/sweeps). I also utilized stuff from kiloHearts Essentials (Bitcrush + Ring Modulation on the drums), as well as SNESVerb (on the snare). One of the notable things I did from the sound design side was automate the ring modulation frequency on a snare to create that sweep at 0:26, something I picked up from zircon's Arcology livestream in Mar 2023. 

In a way, this immersive take actually hearkens back to an old submission I sent in to OCR regarding 'Dialga's Fight to the Finish', wayyy back in 2010, but dramatically improves upon it in a harmonically-striking fashion. This now became probably one of my personal favorite ReMixes I've ever done! With that, I hope you enjoy, Pokémon fans!

Source Breakdown:
0:00.00 - 0:35.59 = Vast Ice Mountain Peak + rhythmic variation (0:00.00 - 0:35.59)
0:35.59 - 1:04:21 = Vast Ice Mountain Peak riffing (0:35.59 - 1:11.15)
1:04.21 - 1:11.15 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish riffing (0:11.35 - 0:16.13, 1:05.08 - 1:08.32)
1:11.15 - 1:46.71 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish Hook + Chorus (0:19.89 - 0:39.36, 0:00.00 - 0:16.13)
1:46.71 - 2:31.15 = Vast Ice Mountain Peak Climax (1:11.15 - 1:55.58)
2:31.15 - 3:06.71 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish Hook + Chorus (0:19.89 - 0:39.36, 0:00.00 - 0:16.13)
3:06.71 - 3:24.50 = Dialga's Fight to the Finish Outtro (0:19.89 - 0:39.36)

35.59 + 28.62 + 44.44 
= 108.65/216.67 = 50.15% Vast Ice Mountain Peak

6.94 + 35.56 + 35.56 + 17.79
= 95.85/216.67 = 44.24% Dialga's Fight to the Finish!

OC ReMix WIPs

PMD: Explorers of Sky - ReMix ~ 'The True Final Fight!' [Vast Ice Mountain Peak, Dialga] by Timaeus

This is submitted to https://ocremix.org, so when it goes up there, I'll include that link here too. :) Globulous OST by https://soundcloud.com/zircon-1!

Aurora Magnitude: https://zirconstudios.bandcamp.com/track/aurora-magnitude
Thicket Prism: https://zirconstudios.bandcamp.com/track/thicket-prism

For years, I've been meaning to arrange something from Globulous, but I had never really gone through with it, not because the songs were iconic---actually it was because they are so hard to do justice! After watching a ton of Charles Cornell on YouTube about harmony and chord progressions (who is incredibly talented at jazz theory and analysis by the way), I finally just decided to make a ReMix combining Aurora Magnitude and Thicket Prism. 

Generally if I were to arrange something, I tend to keep the melody and change the chords around it, but in this case the Aurora Magnitude melody is so particular that I stayed mostly faithful with the implied chord progressions, while the rhythms of the melody and bass were changed instead. Later on when I added Thicket Prism in here, it kind of just happened---I didn't expect it to work so well, but it was something I could only see in the moment.

Some notable key players in the ReMix are the bass (Shreddage 3 Precision), bell arps (Zebra2 + Drops of Copper from Omnisphere), piano (PEARL Concert Grand), and plucky lead (Modern Harpejji), with most of the other instruments from Zebra2. 

Overall, I didn't plan on blowing away the OST as far as sound design or layering goes, but the partwriting and harmonic clarity are definitely some of my personal best. I'm really happy with how this went and I hope you enjoy too! :-)

Source Breakdown:
0:00.00 - 0:54.91 (Intro) = 0:00.00 - 0:53.01 (Aurora Magnitude, some rhythmic changes)
1:08.59 - 1:22.32 (Interlude) = 1:19.48 - 1:32.73 (Aurora Magnitude melody snippets)
1:22.32 - 1:49.76 (Verse) = 1:32.73 - 2:25.70 (Aurora Magnitude)
1:49.76 - 2:17.21 (Bridge) = 2:25.70 - 2:52.25 (Aurora Magnitude)
2:17.21 - 2:24.04 (Breakdown Section) = 2:52.25 - 2:58.69 (Aurora Magnitude Ending)
2:24.04 - 2:51.48 (Breakdown Section) = 1:56.76 - 2:09.91 (Thicket Prism Bass)
2:51.48 - 3:05.19 (Interlude 2) = 2:09.91 - 2:23.07 (Thicket Prism Santoor)
3:05.19 - 3:32.64 (Climax) = 1:19.48 - 1:32.73 (Aurora Magnitude melody) + 2:09.91 - 2:23.07 (Thicket Prism Santoor)
3:32.64 - 3:53.89 (Outtro) = 2:52.25 - 2:58.69 (Aurora Magnitude Ending)

54.91 + 13.73 + 27.44 + 27.45 + 6.83 + 27.45 + 21.25
= 179.06/235.05 = 76.18% Aurora Magnitude

27.44 + 13.71 + 27.14
= 68.29/235.05 = 29.05% Thicket Prism

Globulous - ReMix ~ 'Astral Projection' [Aurora Magnitude, Thicket Prism] by Timaeus

AngelCityOutlaw: Told you we'd see you next mission.

timaeus222: A wild collab has appeared! This time, it's a heavy cinematic, Hans-Zimmer-inspired medley of Metroid themes! This was pretty hefty on resources for me: 

Shreddage Drums, LA Scoring Strings, Pearl: Concert Grand, and more, which evidently conspired against me to crash FL Studio like 20 times. 

But that's not all - we planned to write this in 5 days, and made it just under the wire; a few hours later, I began my move for grad school in WSU for my PhD in computational chemistry (chemistry + computer science). So to those of you who have been listening to my music, thank you for being avid gamers and lovers of music, and I hope to continue composing even a little in my free time (I did gather most of my music resources for the trip, except for my good headphones), and when I return home during Christmas breaks and summers. 

Rough Source Breakdown:
0:00.0 - 0:27.7 = Title (Metroid NES)
1:14.3 - 1:42.3 = Torvus Bog (Prime 2)
1:58.2 - 2:11.1 = Lower Norfair (Super Metroid)
2:20.8 - 2:48.8 = Torvus Bog (Prime 2)
2:49.9 - 3:12.4 = Title (Metroid NES)

27.7 + 28.0 + 12.9 + 28.0 + 22.5
= 119.1/193.9 = ~61.4%

27.7 + 22.5
= 50.2/193.9 = 25.9% Title

12.9/193.9
= 6.7% Lower Norfair

28.0 + 28.0
= 56.0/193.9 = 28.9% Torvus Bog

Metroid - ReMix ~ 'Attack of the Drones' (Medley) by AngelCityOutlaw & Timaeus

This has been submitted to http://ocremix.org as of March 18, 2018!
EDIT: Posted on Sept. 4, 2018! https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03782
-----
Lately, I've been thinking about how big-name themes (e.g. Aquatic Ambiance vs. Corridors of Time, etc) might go together. Here I combine two iconic themes: FF4's Prelude and FF6's Terra in an atmospheric/cinematic approach with some dubstep and light glitch elements. The title is a rather apt pun, given the background of how I wrote this, and how Terra began as an amnesiac.

This was inspired by Stephen Anderson (stephen-anderson on soundcloud); it primarily uses bell and pad textures from Spectrasonics' Omnisphere 2; a Chapman Stick from Trilian; 4Front's TruePianos; and various FM sounds from my Zebra2 soundbank "FM Variations". Glitching was via Illformed's Glitch 2, and some of the remaining stuff was from LA Scoring Strings, Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion, and Serum. The solo violin was Embertone's Friedlander, highly recommend it! 

Compared to my other mixes, this one probably took the longest; it took over 3 years to write---the reason being that I had gone through several memory reinstallations. I started this ReMix when I had 6 GB RAM, and back then it was tough to get Omnisphere to not unload itself automatically because I was just above the 4 GB 32-bit limit, so I was discouraged from actually working on it... Then my computer decided not to restart properly, which is when my dad helped me set up a new desktop with a faster processor... but only 4 GB RAM (oops!). And in 2018, now that I've added memory to get 14 GB RAM, everything worked out in the end---now I don't have to worry about big libraries unloading on me anymore, and I was able to finish this! Hope you enjoy! :D

- Truong-Son

Source Breakdown:
0:13.8 - 0:24.4 = Terra (0:00.0 - 0:05.7)
0:26.1 - 0:50.0 = Terra (0:05.7 - 0:17.7) + Prelude (0:00.0 - 0:40.5)
0:53.4 - 1:28.9 = Prelude (0:40.5 - 1:20.9)
1:28.9 - 2:02.3 = Terra (0:05.7 - 1:18.1) [foreground] + Prelude (0:00.0 - 0:40.5) [background]
2:04.5 - 2:21.7 = Terra (1:18.1 - 1:45.2) + solo violin
2:21.7 - 2:45.6 = Terra (0:05.7 - 0:17.7) + Prelude (0:00.0 - 0:40.5)
2:48.9 - 3:24.5 = Prelude (0:40.5 - 1:20.9)
3:24.5 - 3:41.7 = Terra (0:05.7 - 1:18.1) [foreground] + Prelude (0:00.0 - 0:40.5) [background]
3:41.7 - 3:57.8 = Terra (1:18.1 - 1:45.2) + Prelude (0:00.0 - 0:40.5) [background] + Prelude (0:40.5 - 1:20.9) [solo violin]

10.6 + 23.9 + 35.5 + 33.4 + 17.2 + 23.9 + 35.6 + 17.2 + 16.1 = 213.4
213.4/250.1 = 85.3% source

142.3/250.1 = 56.9% Terra (with overlap)
185.6/250.1 = 74.2% Prelude (with overlap)

(But since Terra has more gaps within the used melodic phrases, there is more Prelude, accounting for overlaps.)

FF4 & FF6 - ReMix ~ 'Progressive Memory' [Prelude (FF4), Terra (FF6)] by Timaeus

Timaeus has loved writing, mixing, and mastering music in many different combinations of genres since April 2011. His specialties are atmospheric, cinematic, and dubstep music, but he has also been known to write some metal, acoustic, and orchestral!

Feel free to use any of this music (Creative Commons as long as they're on my account)! Totally fine as long as you refer back to me by writing "timaeus222 on SoundCloud" or the URL to my SoundCloud (or both!). Contact me on my website if you so desire.