Hey guys! So we never thought we'd see a Chrono Cross remaster in 2022 but here we are and because I absolutely adore this game and the OST plays a significant role in my vgm cover journey, I figured it was time for my own remaster hahaha. Back in 2005 I recorded Josh Barron's version, which is a wonderful piano arrangement and one I still think the world of, but these days as you all can see, I am more emboldened to do my own versions of things based on my own experiences with the games I love dearly, so here it is, for better or worse lol.
I've arranged and performed this theme probably more times and in more ways than any other vgm cover I've ever done lol: a hacky 2003 version I cobbled together on Adobe Audition 1.0, with my friend playing three violin lines while I covered the rest with piano, bass, guitar, and a shaker egg on a cheap Aiwa voice mic lmao; the 2005 solo piano version which Josh Barron wrote for the unfinished Chrono Cross Piano Collections project on Gamingforce.com; a 2016 version I arranged and performed with my community orchestra for Oni-Con 2016 with @LaurentheFlute on flute, @animevivi on the violin-turned-viola solo lol, strings, guitar, and myself on piano; a casual 2016 version with @dwpiddy on cello, @jordanchinmusic on guitar, and myself on piano that we hacked together in Dan's apartment one night for fun. So to say I know this theme back to front and inside out is an understatement, to say the least lol. The curse of knowing every single violin and cello line, every bass note, every percussion event, is that I am now unable to imagine the theme without them and THEY ALL GOTTA GO IN SOMEHOW OTL. ON SOLO PIANO
Of course, it's physically impossible to get everything in, but one of the creative challenges for writing for solo piano is how exactly to circumvent this issue, and the question I always ask myself when this comes up is how can I create this energy, this feeling, while approximating the actual notes to the best of my ability? Drums is obviously unavailable but INCREDIBLY vital to the driving energy of this song, so that meant the bass had to stay uptempo and rhythmic as much as possible to push the whole thing along. The inclusion of the fast string ostinato was also non-negotiable, so it took me two solid months to practice that mess to get it up to speed and clarity while voicing that critical upper flute line. The guitar is also an important underlying factor even though it's never front and center except for those two measures where it is an important transitioning factor between the slow section and the fast section, so it had to get added in. Finally, that last coda section where the violin has a solo that splits slightly off from the flute--also absolutely crucial to be included on top of everything else. All I can say is THANK GOD FOR THAT SLOW STRING PART IN THE MIDDLE I NEEDED THAT BREAK HAHAHAHA 😭 except for those wide voicings Mitsuda's so fond of, which wasn't that comfortable to learn but, like everything else....HAD TO BE DONE LOL
Anyways, so this took me a heck of a long time to learn and practice, but I'm pretty pleased with it as it represents almost 20 years of futzing around with this awesome song and arguably the best intro song Mitsuda ever wrote, and my absolute joy seeing this gem of a title remastered for modern consoles so a new generation can experience its awesomeness as well 😍😍😍😍 I am lowkey working on a few other CC tracks that I'll hopefully get out sometime down the road!
I will be out and about this summer with family vacations, so I'll be uploading sporadically this summer--in the meantime, thank you all for the love and support and encouragement, it truly means more than you know ❤️❤️ Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, take care of each other.
12 сен 2024
