OCR02228 - *YES* Final Fantasy 5 'Edge of Valor'

[OceansAndrew]

Nutritious

Justin Medford

http://NutritiousMultimedia.googlepages.com

16520

Final Fantasy V

The Fire-Powered Ship

This is a project track.

Well this one has been sitting on my hard drive for quite some time now... about 6 months in fact. Earlier this year, Darkesword approached me to join a project he was running for an FF5 album. I won't go into the details, but I found the concept very unique and interesting. I was tasked to do an orchestral rendition for the Knight theme. I decided on The Fire-Powered Ship not only because of its catchy melody, but because it has a progressive, driving feel to it. I attempted to still capture that same feel by drawing out the intro and melody, building up the action.

I found that writing for a specific character's theme really helped me visualize the track as a whole and smoothed out the writing process. So kudos to DS for the concept.

Hope you enjoy,

Justin

source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1fKxAZzvH4

[anosou]

Source breakdown:

:00 - :34 - Arranged version of the main chordal structure

:35 - :51 - Arranged version of the main melody

:52 - 1:19 - Heavily arranged version of the main chords/melody

1:20 - 1:47 - Main melody

1:48 - 2:11 - Non-source

2:12 - 2:33 - Very liberal take on the melody, not counting

2:34 - 3:12 - Arrangement built on the first phrase of the main chords, quite liberal

3:13 - 3:25 - non-source

3:26 - end - Main melody

That brings us to (roughly, I'm not nitpicky) 2:56 of source in a 3:56 mix, passes with flying colors. If you don't count the quite liberal section at 2:34-3:12 it's still A-OK.

So, to the actual vote then. Arrangement was expressive and while it didn't re-invent the source tune it held true to what it set out to achieve. Very royal, knightly feel, quite bombastic. The original middle section makes the arrangement very dynamic, nice work there. Production was overall good but the brass playing the main melody was a bit too far back in the soundscape in my opinion, it also sounded slightly fake so I guess it was a good thing it was held back. Overall, solid work.

YES

[OceansAndrew]

Nice slow build on this, with some good textures to keep it interesting. Overall really solid, though some brass attacks are slower than they need to be. I was hoping that the build would get even bigger at 1:46, but I think that's just my personal need for the ultimate in Wagnerian excess. Actually, throughout, I think the builds could be bigger. Things sound very nice, and it's a good length, with some nice breathing passages. The source checks out as well, and the theme sounds a lot like the main theme of FF4, which is never a bad thing.

good show.

Yes

[The Orichalcon]

Someone made a comment that this sounds a lot like the Overture in FF8, and it does. Just an interesting note.

The source is nice, kind of heroic in a way. As for the remix, the string buildup is nice and thick. The percussion is powerful. It all builds up nicely. The source is abundandtly clear in the mix, no issues there.

The gentle break around 1:50 works well. The mix at this point reminds me of the FF12 soundtrack. It shows a good use of strings to supply the main melody, with percussive elements to back it up. This would be a nice mix to actually play in an orchestra.

Very nice ending to the mix in the last minute. YES

[Palpable]

I don't always count chords, but because they're so blocked out in the original song, the link between the intros is pretty direct. The progression is also somewhat unique.

I like this. It's a little more subdued than previous Nutritious subs, but the same amount of care is spent, this time making the sound clean and nuanced. I really love the first break with the bells and the lonely violin - unexpected, and a beautiful little diversion.

YES