Interview with DarkeSword
Name: Shariq Ansari
Songs: Blue Skies Over Guardia, The Rising, Crono's Dream
DarkeSword is a judge at OCR and also an established remixer, and brings his professional influence to the project.
1. Did you ever have any idea that Guardia Millennial Fair would achieve greater status as part of a site project?
Not really. The mix was done before projects in general really got popular. It was already a pretty well known piece, considering it's the first remix I released for VGMix's relaunch in fall of 2003. I didn't really submit it initially to be used for the project either; it was an audition piece that Claado Shou liked so much that he decided to use it for the album.
2. Has that song influenced your style on your other two entries?
Again, not really. I had a very specific idea and approach in mind when I wrote that piece initially; arrange the Millennial Fair theme to bring out the folk aspects of the song (which was achieved through my use of percussion), and to rework the song into a 7/8 time signature, which is one of my favorite time signatures to work with and to listen to. As far as my other two entries, at the time of this writing, I've only completed one of them, which is the arrangement of the Ocean Palace theme. I didn't have a clear idea going into this piece like I did with the Millennial Fair arrangement; I read the summary of the script for what happens at that point in the story, and tried to incorporate character themes in order to better "tell the story." That's why you hear Magus's and Schala's themes; Magus is talking about Schala in that scene, so I incorporated their themes to accentuate the mood.
3. What appealed to you and made you sign on?
When Claado Shou private messaged me on the OC ReMix forums, he handled everything really professionally. He made sure to look for mixers in private and generate interest before going out to the masses to recruit. He also had a really specific focus for this project, as well as a lot of work done already, like the script. It wasn't just some no-name unknown kid saying, "hey i want u guys to do a remix projekt for this game lol;" Claado Shou thought everything out; he had a game plan, and he made sure to get talented, experieced arrangers on the project. I found that to be very good way of approaching a project. Also, it seemed like a very cool concept.
4. What do you use to mix?
I use FLStudio v5.0.2 exclusively. I don't have any hardware, or external software synthesizers, and I don't use expensive sample libraries. All of my samples are free soundfonts I found on the Internet. I sequence everything by hand, using my mouse to enter notes into FLStudio's Piano Roll. I don't use MIDI files to import notes either; everything I write is composed and arranged by ear.
5. What's the hardest part of mixing orchestral?
The hardest part of writing orchestral on a computer is getting all of the different elements of the song to balance properly. Sometimes I'll sit for hours just tweaking sound levels, reverb effects, and other production related settings in order to get the right mesh of sounds. I think that creating the right texture is an important part of orchestral music, so I'll spend a lot of time playing around with different sounds to get something that sounds exactly like I want it to. I'm not an expert, but that's what I think.
6. When did you first play / why do you like Chrono Trigger?
I don't remember the exact year, but I remember that I started playing it when I was in high school, so maybe around 5 or 6 years ago. I never had an SNES when I was little; my 16-bit system was Sega Genesis, so when I got older and learned about emulation I started getting into RPGs. I really got into games like Final Fantasy VI, so I went on a spree trying to find cool games that offered similar gameplay. Eventually I found Chrono Trigger, and was totally engrossed by the unique battle system, colorful graphics, catchy music, and deceptively deep storyline. Chrono Trigger, for me, is one of those games that just did everything right. It was deep, it was fun, and you could keep playing it day after day, always finding something new, even if you beat it. It's a classic.
~7. Any special notes on your songs, or influences behind your treatment of the originals?
Crono's Dream is probably my favorite of the songs I did for this project. Morning Sunlight is such a cerebral song to begin with; those chords are relatively thicker than what you usually hear. The script called for Crono to slowly realize that something very wrong was going on, so I tried to illustrate that by using some dissonace and diminished intervals. I think it was pretty effective; as the song progresses, it gets darker and more sinister.
The Black Palace mostly uses character themes to illustrate what the characters are talking about in that scene where the palace rises out of the ocean. It has Magus's and Schala's themes, as well as the main ocean palace theme, all playing over the ocean palace continuo line. It's not particularly complex, but I think it was effective primarily due to the melding of the different themes.
Blue Skies Over Guardia is one track that I really don't have much to say about. I wrote it for my own enjoyment in coincidence with one of the old IronMix Challenge competitions. For the Chrono Symphonic version, I just did some levels tweaking and changed the clap sample.
8. Plan to work in another project?
I've got some plans for a new project that won't necessarily be an OCR Site Project. I've also been asked to work on other projects, but I'm very busy with my education and trying to prioritize.
9. How's it feel being part of a Chrono OCR site project now that it's complete?
I think everyone all around did a pretty good job. I'm glad to see it finally completed.
10. Anything you'd like to say to Chrono fans?
Chrono Break isn't real. Let it go. Also, I hope you enjoy my music.
Author Comments on Tracks
Blue Skies Over Guardia - Blue Skies Over Guardia is one track that I really don't have much to say about. I wrote it for my own enjoyment in coincidence with one of the old IronMix Challenge competitions. For the Chrono Symphonic version, I just did some levels tweaking and changed the clap sample. In any case, I really liked how all of my syncopation ideas locked together to created that strong, accented pulse. The piece really came alive, and I think the music really conveys the title really well; an expansive blue sky, with the sun pouring onto the Guardia Millennial Fair on a beautiful day.
The Rising - The Black Palace mostly uses character themes to illustrate what the characters are talking about in that scene where the palace rises out of the ocean. It has Magus' and Schala's themes, as well as the main ocean palace theme, all playing over the ocean palace continuous line. It's not particularly complex, but I think it was effective primarily due to the melding of the different themes.
Crono's Dream - Crono's Dream is probably my favorite of the songs I did for this project. Morning Sunlight is such a cerebral song to begin with; those chords are relatively thicker than what you usually hear. The script called for Crono to slowly realize that something very wrong was going on, so I tried to illustrate that by using some dissonance and diminished intervals. I think it was pretty effective; as the song progresses, it gets darker and more sinister.