OCRemix: Things We Didn’t Know

How better to start the day than with a beautiful piece of music? My Our beloved OCRemix has once again graced us with a masterpiece, this time coming from the most incredible RPG of all time – Secret of Mana. Mixing together Danger (Boss Theme), Fate of the Heavens (Intro Theme), Into the Thick of It (Field Theme) and What the Forest Taught Me (Forest Theme) into a beautiful instrumental arrangement, the song manages to be both exciting and relaxing at the same time. In a weird sense it manages to make one happy by listening to it and manages to stay interesting throughout the 6 minutes of its duration. Definitely a must have on every nerd’s playlist.

The dynamics in the intro alone establish a polished feel, with excerpts of familiar melodies taken and re-purposed as motifs, and delicate care paid to transitions and cues. Dan’s moved away from using much reverb, which only works because his samples are pretty solid, and (more importantly) he wields them with control and finesse. There was a moment at 4’02” when I was afraid the transition would seem tenuous, but then an isolated church bell rings out, followed by an oboe solo, and the segue is natural. The ending comes on string and might punctuate over-enthusiastically, but it’s certainly the end to a fulfilling journey that pays tribute to many of your favorite Mana themes in one coherent package that is all synergy and zero medleyitis. Excellent, epic, and beautifully orchestrated work from Vampire Hunter Dan.

[Source: OCRemix]