Newcomer NarnianWarrior shows off GarageBand for iOS's potential with a Super Mario Galaxy medley that's been written in the stars!

"Hey, guys! This is my first submission, and, like all my EDM works, it was produced in GarageBand iOS. Despite its reputation, it's a surprisingly capable little piece of software, especially considering that it comes free with every iPad! The only issue I had with it for this piece was the overly fake strings, but, over time, I came to appreciate the rather N64-esque sound that they have, which lends the piece a unique and nostalgic quality.

I've always adored Super Mario Galaxy and its soundtrack, and I wanted to do them justice with this arrangement. I particularly wanted to amp up the outer-spacey feel of the source, truly transporting my audience to the Comet Observatory and giving them the feeling of traveling through space with Rosalina and her star children. It is still a lullaby at its core, but it also has the energy, awe, and wonder that I associate with space travel and the night sky. It does also attempt to capture the sadness of Rosalina's story (hence the use of "Sad Girl"), but the overall message is one of hope. We may see upsetting change in our lives and see the ones we love desert us or die, but you can't chart your course based on the stars behind you. You can only use them to tell if your ship is where it's supposed to be. [...]

Man, what can I say about this game and its soundtrack that hasn't already been said? Both strike an incredible balance of capturing both the excitement and the wistfulness of traveling through space, and it's that balance that does a lot of the heavy lifting to elevate this game from the Mario status quo, in my opinion. [...]

The title comes from the chorus of a beautiful but depressing bluegrass song by Nickel Creek called "The Lighthouse's Tale" (additionally, the section from 1:16-1:43 is inspired by it as well). It's a beautiful song, but it tells a very sad story (which, I should mention, some people might be bothered by; I won't spoil the story here, but it's upsetting enough that a trigger warning is probably in order). I absolutely love this song, and, like Super Mario Galaxy, it holds quite a lot of nostalgia for me, as I listened to a lot of Nickel Creek when I was younger."

The first round of critiques from the judges scrubbed NarnianWarrior's initial launch plans, but our debuting contributor stayed curious, stuck by his tools, and didn't treat an approval as "what can never be":

"As for the remix itself, I tried to address all the issues the judges had with the original, and I'm very happy with the progress I've made! I've got new drums that pack a bigger punch, I replaced the string sample that no one liked with a synth string sample to get out of the uncanny valley, I've tried to smooth out some of the other samples, and I've given the arrangement a new ending that does a better job of bringing it to a close while not feeling like wholesale copypasta. That being said, it is still a GarageBand track, and if that's still holding me back too much, I'll probably attempt to remake it in another, more capable DAW. However, I've grown to love the soundscape that this version has, and I'm, by and large, still very pleased with this iteration of the piece."

While we always appreciate artists' openness to revisions, NarnianWarrior's already-promising arrangement was sufficiently sewn up, corroborated by judge Rexy:

"Having remembered the original source material and its usage in game from many a storytime session with Rosalina, using all of these sources with that lore as the glue holding it together is a traditional yet wise call. The main "Luma" BGM has the opening split between super soft and delicate keys like in the original before having more of a stadium anthem sound at 0:44. "Sad Girl" at 1:43 had a lowered tempo and wobble effects for emotive effect, and 3:08 onward has the feel of 0:08 but with the addition of the string counterpoints of "A Wish" and some melodic variations for the finish. [...] going the route of melody tweaking at the end section was a good decision that didn't compromise your original intention. Sweet stuff.

Now, I'm actually more than impressed that you did all this with GarageBand samples, of all things. Aiming for a more synthetic spread to match your e-piano and bell tones showcases the cohesion of your chosen VSTs, and everything feels clear despite software limitations. [...] All in all, very cute work, and it's done enough to get past the bar for me."

Nice work by NarnianWarrior in revising this after panel feedback to take it into the stratosphere and onto our front page! The hopeful innocence of Mario Galaxy remains the mood in what feels like a natural extension of Nintendo's musical universe. :-)