Happy 20th anniversary to the original Ratchet & Clank!
You may be aware that the music from the first Ratchet & Clank game (composed by the wonderful David Bergeaud) is mono, meaning that the left and right ears hear the same thing and all the sound feels like it's coming from one speaker right in front of you, rather than from all around. This is my attempt at rectifying that.
0:00 - Veldin - Kyzil Plateau
2:10 - Novalis - Tobruk Crater
4:02 - Novalis - Caves
5:54 - Novalis - Waterworks
8:30 - Kerwan - Metropolis
12:23 - Kerwan - Train Ride
13:29 - Kerwan - Obstacle Course
15:42 - Aridia - Outpost X11
17:43 - Aridia - Fortress
19:57 - Aridia - Sandshark Fields
22:01 - Eudora - Logging Site
24:05 - Eudora - Cliffs
26:35 - Nebula G34 - Blarg Tactical Research Station
28:48 - Nebula G34 - Outside
30:45 - Nebula G34 - Warship
32:49 - Nebula G34 - Warship Escape
33:41 - Rilgar - Blackwater City
35:42 - Rilgar - Hoverboard Race
37:23 - Rilgar - Sewers Which Try To Drown You
39:23 - Umbris - Qwark's HQ
41:34 - Umbris - Snagglebeast Fight
43:41 - Batalia - Fort Krontos
45:05 - Batalia - Grind Rail
47:06 - Gaspar - Blarg Depot
49:18 - Orxon - Clank's Exploration
51:17 - Pokitaru - Jowai Resort
53:26 - Pokitaru - Jetfighter Fightin'
55:33 - Pokitaru - Sewers Which Don't Try To Drown You
57:41 - Orxon - Kogor Refinery
59:48 - Hoven - Bomb Factory
1:02:08 - Hoven - Water Puzzle
1:04:17 - Oltanis Orbit - Gemlik Base
1:06:17 - Oltanis Orbit - Qwark Battle
1:08:27 - Oltanis - Gorda City Ruins
1:10:27 - Oltanis - Steve McQwark's Original Path of Death
1:12:32 - Quartu - Robot Plant
1:14:27 - Quartu - Clank Makes His Mum Proud
1:16:23 - Kalebo III - Gadgetron Site
1:18:22 - Veldin Orbit - Drek's Fleet
1:20:23 - Veldin Orbit - Jetfighter In Space
1:22:31 - Veldin - Kyzil Plateau Nightfall
1:24:37 - Veldin - Drek Tussle
1:26:47 - BETA Kerwan - Metropolis
1:28:54 - BETA Aridia - Outpost X11
1:30:05 - BETA Eudora - Logging Site
1:31:17 - BETA Nebula G34 - Blarg Station
1:32:52 - BETA Rilgar - Blackwater City
1:35:05 - BETA Umbris - Qwark's HQ
1:37:12 - BETA Orxon - Clank's Exploration
1:39:11 - Credits + Mashup
Upon discovering that tools like splitter.ai exist, which use neural networks to attempt to split audio files into individual instrument tracks, I immediately asked myself 'Can I use this to make the original mono R&C soundtrack stereo?'
Transforming a mono track into stereo is hard. You're essentially trying to create stereo information out of nothing. Previous attempts in the R&C community at 'stereoizing' the original mono tracks from R&C involved using a classic trick where an echo is added to the original track which is opposite in phase between the left and right ears, essentially panning some frequencies left and some right. While this does make things 'wider', the instruments still all feel like they're positioned in front of you, but this time with a little more 'space' where some notes jump slightly right and some slightly left. And while these efforts were commendable, clearly more drastic measures needed to be taken to get the music sounding truly stereo.
What started as an exercise involving simply panning the AI separated instruments left and right turned into a full high quality remaster in an attempt to really bring out as much detail as possible and honor the excellence of these tracks. The mono tracks didn't just lose stereo information, they lost balancing, where the process of collapsing two channels into one created mud and clutter (at least to my ear) which I've tried to tease out while adding a bit more sparkle and shine to the tracks. These remasters are far from perfect, and aside from my still-developing skills needing sharpening I was wrestling the whole time with an AI which insisted that, in the middle of a bar, a violin was no longer part of the string section but should suddenly be reclassified as a drum, tossing the instrument into a completely different stem and thus throwing off my efforts to pan things consistently. As such, you may hear some instruments jump around the stereo field occasionally. As these stem splitting tools improve, one day I may have another crack at this challenge. That is unless an official stereo remaster is released!
In the meantime, I hope you can all enjoy this remaster as a new take on the soundtrack to many of our childhoods. And if not, keep listening to this banger of a soundtrack in mono, it still sounds great that way too.
Should the rights holders see this release as not falling under fair use, or should there be an official release of the soundtrack, email me at fuzzballandthetincan@gmail.com to request takedown and I will promptly comply.
~Xotla
P.S. Yes, I know, 'separates' and 'conceived' appear to be spelt wrong in the credits. I'll have you know however that the dictionary is now obsolete and my chosen spellings supersede those found in common parlance.
31 июл 2024
