Game: Final Fantasy X
Song: Besaid Island
Duration: 4:28
(requested by Joseph Wells, or yosefu at the OCR forums)

With Besaid being the starting point for Tidus's journey to the ruins of Zanarkand, it can be seen as a place to re-adjust after being taken far away from home, and one to start getting used to what would be several comrades along the way. So I thought I'd go for something casually adventurous in approach, while at the same time towing in a natural soundscape to fit what is essentially an island retreat in nature.

Not all journeys go off to the best start, true. But no matter what you still have to put in as much effort as you can :)

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Song: Starshine Beach Galaxy
Duration: 5:43
Genre: piano solo
(Requested by just64helpin)

When reaching Starshine Beach in the game myself, it looked a lot like such an innocent and closed location in comparison to most of the other levels at that stage in the game; something that would provide more of a paradise for the pianta inhabitants, the sealife and its visitors.

In effect, what I've done is taken the song and drew experiences on past vacations. You may think that you're breaking away to escape from the drivel of everyday life for a short while, but sometimes there could be unexpected things that could throw things out of proportion if only for a short while - weather hazards, lost possessions, illnesses, homesickness... you name it. But through it all, you still find time to enjoy everything around you and return home with mainly happy memories of the whole experience.

If I had known there was a 2 week extension I would've refined the production a little more, but still, I hope you like it John :D

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with Star Ocean 2 - I just thought referencing to rebirth and recycling would be a cool idea for the mix title. So there.

Anyway, what I was feeling with this one is a chance to get back in the saddle regarding piano performance in the PRC. Although, this isn't a solo effort - I was feeling a piano-led instrumental adaptation, like Bladiator and TO used to do together several years back. I hope you like it :D

Eh, this is the problem when I try to think of a title that mashes the idea of fighting a giant mech with wumpa fruit. Snappleman is going to send a lawyer on me for sure!

So anyway, I saw the theme as a good way to play around with some of the effects filters on my keyboard and attempt something a little more casual than what I'd normally do. For some reason, the rhythms in some parts of the song and some of the instrument choices also meandered a bit towards Latin notation progressions as well, so that kind of heightened the fruit necessities and all, lol.

Much like everyone else around here, I had a great idea for a mix interpretation but was stretched by other things in order to clear it in a timely fashion (in this case, the strong summer weather out here was a part of it).

Having already been familiar with the game through the GBA port, I thought I'd have a look at an exploration of the theme in a 7/4 time signature. Rather than focusing on Band Land itself, I thought of thinking of what Rayman's world is like in balance, before and after Mr. Dark's interception of the Great Protoon (hence towing in a reference to said character's boss theme part way through). Anything else I mention at this point would be deemed completely unnecessary.

Similar to most people, I had an idea but was too busy to put it in full focus in time for the original deadline. But it's here now, so that's all that matters.

So yeah, it's only fair for me to tackle the source tune in the most ideal way possible. Since Diamond Dust Zone is basically an isometric snowfield, there is but one solution to tackle the whole thing - get Christmas on one's mind :D

It can't get happier than that. Thanks for listening!

I thought I'd go back to my ambient roots on this one. And I feel even more happy that Sir Nuts coincidentally picked the source tune two weeks after me playing through it on the Wii's Virtual Console, so yeah :D

I can't help but wonder something with this one. Ribbon, the fairy in charge of restoring the sacred crystal and getting it back to Ripple Star, may be feeling a little bit uncomfortable being on a distant star-shaped planet with her only accomplice being a pink round blob thing. It's become obvious that before her adventure with Kirby, the pair would have to get to know each other as they'd be sticking together for a long time to come. That's how I ended up feeling the way to tackle the source tune.

True to the Kirby feel we have a lot of woodwinds, a lot of chimes and a lot of strings, though I can't help but throw in some of my key percussion parts in as well. I'm handy like that.

Thanks for the feedback in advance :)

As stated at the OCR thread, the only link I have with the series at all was with Xenon Odyssey's arrangement of the Rekka No Ken version, so what I've done here seemed to come more out of musical instinct. Given that a lot of my music recording sessions for this track were done late at night I couldn't help but picture what kind of atmosphere the land of Magvel would have under a moonlit sky, and this just had to be it. Lots of layered pads, synths and rhodes pianos are the key to this one, thus going for a more chilled take than on the original.

Thanks for all feedback in advance :)

[THIS IS A BONUS ENTRY. DO NOT VOTE FOR IT OTHERWISE YOU'LL BE SORRY!]

Somehow the source ultimately screamed me to try a bit of a weird crossover between funk, new age and latin influences; the former two because those are genres that I tend to fusing together a lot, and latin because whenever I think of pirates I end up looking towards common associations with piracy in the Caribbean Sea, an integral body of water within the northern area of Latin America. (yay homework.)

Thanks for your time ;)

Been a while since I last mixed ANYTHING, so I hope this is all worthwhile. Welcome to my post-graduation setup.

Even prior to the PRC itself I've had a couple of MSN contacts urging me to get into the Metroid Prime series, one of which feeling that "if I liked Super Metroid I'd like the Prime set just as much". But regardless of Metroid links, my research into the Bryyo setup made me come to the conclusion that Samus was venturing around a dry planet with a high climate, and the main enemies' only weakness is ice. Bearing that in mind, this ended up being an interpretation of the theme that incorporates both feels of Summer and Winter all at once alongside it, albeit making it feel a little less creepy as well (that's not a bad thing, right?).

Thank you for your time fokes :D