I don't think this one needs description of the music. For those of you who like to read I'll give one anyway. ;)

Even though I liked the uplifting style of the original I felt that the melody supplied enough weight for a very melancholic interpretation. Playing around with musical forms I decided on a short recitative with a some kind of passacaglia afterwards, that used my first ever composed counterpoint as a side-theme. To round things off I supplied some spoken words to precede the music. Enjoy. :)

One IMPORTANT NOTE about the mixing: I went a very puristic approach with this arrangement. An organ has an impressive dynamic scale and in my opinion it loses a big deal of what makes it an organ if one tampers with this. Therefore, to give the organ the headroom it needs that it really can become the queen of instruments in the loud part, most of this mix is very quiet and soft. This is not an arrangement to be played from a mobile phone or a radio, but rather good headphones or loud speakers if your neighbors don't mind. If you can understand the voice at the beginning as a soft voice you'll get the acoustics I intended.

Words:

A ruin; ashes that once were bright shining fire; a memory - distant, yet familiar, shattered to pieces. Drowning in all the world's melancholy we walk amidst the ruin, following those echoes of times long past. And for just a tiny moment, we can glimpse a shade of all the glory that once has been.

...only to find ourselves wandering in circles.

A multi-pronged title. For one thing, the arrangement and mechanics feel a bit sloppy. More relevant, the song went rather different than I expected. Set out to make an apprehensive, spacious piece to capture being lost in underground ruins full of monsters. The piece kept devolving, perhaps reminiscent of the darker elements of Undertale. Oh well, I had some fun with it.

What happens when everyone in band class wants in on your group's after-school jazz slam session? ;)

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Main Focuses this Round:

• * MIDI Instrumentation 'Realism' via 'Humanizing' all MIDI notes, Interplay & Balance (between Foreground, Midground, Background, Left & Right Speakers)
• * Sample Cymbal Runs & Drum Kit Syncronization
• * 7-Band EQing & Tweaks

Notes:

1. There is some 'freedom of expression' and 'improvisation' a la most jazz & blues forms, but keeping 'close to the collar' with the original (i.e. adding notes and layering notes here and there). I wish I could've done a bit more free-form expression, but it's rough and difficult to without an actual instrument to hand.
2. No heavy re-interpretations, 'going outside the box', or mixing with other sources (although it was considered with either "Spear of Justice" or "Waterfall" from Undertale, or perhaps "Ancient Chozo Artifact Ruins" from Metroid Prime, but it was out of my expertise to sync their time and key signatures properly with "Ruins").
3. A tiny bit of vol & pan automation, (if I got around to it, but was low on the priority list.)

Side-Note:

The bit of free-form 'creative' liberties of slightly mismatched drum samples patched together was reminiscent of, and I guess a bit of an ode to how my father used to free-style in drumming to songs, especially by jazz artists. He'd play around not only with consistent beat keeping, but frequent change-ups, utilizing not just a basic drum ensemble but other percussion attachments as well, like cowbells, triangles, wooden blocks / glocks, bongos, etc. As much as we have our differences (and I am no longer very fond of the man), he was very (in)formative in my early years of appreciating music.

This song is for him, although he may or may not ever get to hear it.

Titled because of the long drum solo and lead solo in the middle. Had a few crashes with this one, don't know why...

Oh well have fun!

I got really busy and tired so I couldn't finish 100% but here is my submission. I also got locked out of registration and then realized where the answers were posted haha...Oh well. The link should be okay for download.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/166qewkUBGGLapLYh_8dnHzStdGnmcvOL/view?usp=sharing

BONUS ENTRY, DON'T VOTE FOR IT.
I interpreted my remix as the result of giving mercy to a little froggit, who then goes on a journey of self discovery with the life you spared him. And he ends up hopping into Secret of Mana for a little bit, because Distant Thunder from SoM kept playing in my mind as I worked with it.