Tim Forsyth - Parallax Mini EP - The Past, Present and Future
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I started work on this remix back in January with a sketch of what is now the first 5-6 minutes of the song (aside from the intro) with plenty of nods to Tangerine Dream.
As I tried to move the remix on and hit the beats of the original SID, I found myself simply copying the original, which I've personally found to be the sign that I should probably go and do something else for a while, so I put things on hold.
Returning to this remix last month, I had an unexpected run of good fortune where ideas seemed to fall out of my fingers week after week and this theme of past, present and future started to come together.
I always get a small amount of regret after uploading a new remix as I always find something I had overlooked or became ear blind to. A few things such as the bassline decent at the end of each phrase in the mid section, my choir chants (probably needed some better samples or they're hitting chow tape too hard) and some of the downlifters are a bit of a lazy addition Despite these niggles I'm really pleased with the way this turned out, hope you like it!
I've noticed a recent trend on RKO where remixer's list instruments they've used or other technical stuff. I've been enjoying reading these, so here's a few about this remix:
- I had to break this remix up into 4 separate projects to save CPU and my sanity
- The whole song uses 194 cubasis tracks.
- The intro and first section are running through Chow Tape Model to give it a nice retro / lo-fi vibe.
- During the clav/rhodes section, I had sampled the drums from the start of Chorozon (Exit) as a placeholder but they became integral to the track, so I recreated the sounds using Ruismaker FM for a better fit in the mix and copyright reasons.
- I obsessed over the lead sounds at the end, both leads are from Zeeon and tweaked from the same preset I used in Lightforce (Future Singer)
- The guitar like arpeggios and rhythms at the end are from Korg Odyssei. A brilliant emulator of the Arp Odyssey and the most fun I've had with an arpeggiator full stop.
- I still have a lot to learn but my mastering
chain is Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 -> Cubasis Mastering Strip (Compressor/Stereo widener) -> Waves L1 Ultramaximiser
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My only minor feeling is the drums could have benefitted from a bit more variety/fills, but that's just me being picky. This is a synthetic work of art, crafted to exceptional standards. We are indeed lucky people 😊 Thank you .
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Tangerine Dream 🍊 does Parallax!
If I didn't know the original SID and somebody told me this is a TD album from the 1980s or early 1990s, I would've said yep, sounds about right.
Of course, the younger generation knows this as the soundtrack to Stranger Things
, so if you advertised it that way, you'd get a ton of listens from the youth, too. 😁
I absolutely adore the long arpeggiated sequences and how you weaved them into one another. The middle section that pays homage to TD's Exit
album brought a big smile to my face, as that's one of my favorite albums from them. Just excellent, excellent work there.
And that last section with the more melodic part - jaw-dropping. The way you build up to it is just amazing. Perfect choice of instruments, total eargasm.
Well, I could keep gushing on and on, but I think you get the idea. Who would've thought that after all these decades I could still be surprised by a Parallax remix? This is an epic work that seamlessly mashes the style of Tangerine Dream with Galway's timeless SID opus and it does that superbly. Su-perb-ly! Congrats! This is top stuff.
PS: One minor gripe: I wish it didn't end on a fadeout. An epic like this deserves a more definitive ending.
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