Me in 2021-ish: "Oh there's no way I could remix D-Mind's theme, it's too much effort to pick out everything by ear"
Me in 2024: "What am I talking about!! I have a MIDI of Dark Mind's theme and I know Dedede's themes by heart!!! I can remix D-Mind's theme with no problems or unnecessary effort!!!!!"
MIDI used:
- "mirror_darkmind2" from VGMusic.com by an unnamed user
SECRET MELODIES:
- "Sullied Grace" (Kirby: Triple Deluxe)
- "King Dedede's Theme" (Kirby series)
- "The Royal Theme" (Original)
- "Gourmet Race 1" (Kirby Super Star/Ultra)
- "MEGALOVANIA" (Undertale + a)
- "Macho of Dedede" (Kirby: Star Allies)
- "Rainbow Route" (Kirby and the Amazing Mirror)
- "Moonstruck Blossom" (Kirby: Triple Deluxe)
THOUGHT PROCESS:
I got so excited about D-Mind's theme that I forgot to think too hard about making it. I think that's a testament to how easy this song was to remix after all lmfao.
That said, I wanted to kind of go in a slightly bouncier direction for this song because my usual style of "so much gentle and soothing soft instruments" would not really fit D-Mind's vibe and the intensity of the fight. This is why the MOTHER 3 and Touhou saxophones and Touhou brass instruments made it in. There's still hints of my style, like the Kirby 64 crystal fantasia soundfont or the Pizza Tower toy piano, but I reserved those for the accent portion and hidden melodies of the song.
If I had to give an explanation of the instruments, it's that the saxophone and brass represent Dark Mind while the chiptune synths represent Shadow Dedede. The softer instruments represent Joronia (don't ask. I have no satisfactory answers for you should you ask, I promise. You will just be more confused.)
This is also the first song that I used the Amen Break in! (The Miracle Matter remix was updated after I had already completed it, so even though it was published first, it is not the first chronological remix to utilize the Amen Break.) I was making the middle part of the first loop and I really just wanted the Amen Break in (I thought it would add flavor to the rhythm) so I found an .sf2 file of it and threw it in.
As for the hidden melodies, "Sullied Grace" and "Moonstruck Blossom" both made it in for the same arbitrary reason that the softer instruments represent Joronia (again, I promise you that asking will result in utter confusion. Please don't ask, I am begging you.) King Dedede's various themes from Super Star/Ultra and Star Allies made it in because this is the theme for a Dedede-like entity, same goes for Gourmet Race (since it's Dedede-adjacent.) "The Royal Theme" is in there because it's the Royal Theme, if you're familiar with my remixes and/or originals you will know that it's essentially tradition for me to hide it in my musics. "MEGALOVANIA" is in there because I thought it would be absolutely hilarious to put it in there. "Rainbow Route" is in there just because I needed something from Amazing Mirror so that way it wouldn't be skewed towards just Dedede with the hidden melodies, after all D-Mind is essentially a cross between Dark Mind and Dedede, so the hidden melodies should match.