"Transponder Mission"
Play Remix
Download MP3* Note: this track is not available for free download due to the fact that it is part of the licensed American Pixels album. The project is available through Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon.
If you've heard the American Album, or Star Spangled Chips, you know that I've arranged a few Jack Wall tracks already, specifically from the Myst franchise. Well, for American Pixels, I reached out and asked Jack what he'd like to hear arranged, and he asked for something from Mass Effect 2. Specifically, the Suicide Mission theme.
Personally I never really got into the Mass Effect franchise, but I dug the theme (notably the fun 7/4 time signature... c'mon, you know me), and it sparked some ideas. To start, I'd been looking for an opportunity to do a stylistic homage to a very unique track by Radix (aka Rymdlego, aka Mosaik), entitled "Transponder."
The heavy beats, in conjunction with the sci-fi and acid jazz soundscape, all tied together with child voices and stuff... man. I love it. And I wanted to do something in a similar style. And oddly enough, I'd managed to record my young niece Hannah and nephew William playing around with the microphone one day, so, I had that part covered. :)
The tricky part... the referenced Radix track is pretty much a kickass groove, but doesn't have much of a melody. The Suicide Mission theme, on the other hand, has full-on chord progressions, melodies, counterpoints, and so on. So not only is it a form of fusion to bring these ideas together, but it took some work to have it also carry the full theme's progression properly. The original is a pretty long track!
All in all, the remix came out pretty awesome. Some other inspiration and samples can be credited to:
- "Mountain Breeze," by WAVE
- "System Override," by Mystical
- "A Kind of Beauty," by Norfair
