After finishing Actor, I moved on to remixing Kembang Rawe. I followed the same general process as Actor, where I first created my own remix of the original song, and then I layered in environmental textures to bring it to life. I used Logic Pro to restructure the arrangement, focusing on giving it a modern pulse while keeping the soul of the track intact. I kept the key melodic elements but added spacey pads and subtle percussive textures to give it a more hypnotic, looping energy. I used automation and reverb to stretch moments out and build emotion. My goal was to make it feel nostalgic and dreamy, almost like a memory.
Once the remix had its own atmosphere, I brought in the street food soundbites. I pulled sounds from the second attempt of field recordings I conducted and managed to capture the sizzling oil, frying ‘gorengan’ (fried foods), the chatter of friends amongst the vendors, and clinks from metal woks. Just like with Actor, I wasn’t trying to turn these into beats, I wanted them to sit like a soundscape around the song. I EQ’d the harsher frequencies and sidechained the textures under the main groove to keep it balanced. The idea was to make it feel like Kembang Rawe was echoing out from a busy street stall in Yogyakarta (where the best street food in Indonesia is), with the culture seeping straight into the mix.
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