*NO* Final Fantasy 7 'Those Who Battle and Achieve Victory'

[Gario]

Note: I'm not 100% sure, but this COULD be the original Japanese title for the battle theme. If that turns out to be the case we may need a different title. Just a heads up on that if this passes.

- Gario

Addendum: "Let the Battles Begin!" is the Japanese title of the source.  "Those Who Battle and Achieve Victory" is the name of the arrangement.

- MW

Hello, my name is Mad Patissier 001 and I'd like to submit an arrangement I created.

I have arranged a piece from Final Fantasy VII. 

 

The title of this arrangement is "Those Who Battle and Achieve Victory". It is a rock piece.

 

This is an arrangement of the battle theme of Final Fantasy VII, "Let the Battles Begin!", more commonly known as "Those Who Fight" or "Fighting".

 

I'm a fan of the music of the Final Fantasy series, but a good friend of mine is an even bigger fan, especially of Final Fantasy VII, so I created this arrangement as a present.

 

It was very difficult, both arrangement and performance-wise. I used a Sterling JP70 7-string guitar, Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 interface, and the music software Logic Pro 9. I used electric guitar, electric bass, drums, rock organ, piano, strings, trombone, and synth. Every instrument in this arrangement besides the electric guitar is programmed.

 

This is a link to the arrangement that I uploaded onto SoundCloud.

 

 

Thanks,

Mad Patissier 001

 

Edited August 3, 2017 by Liontamer
closed decision

[MindWanderer]

I was worried about this being a little too conservative at first, but after one loop through it definitely laid that fear to rest.  Great original guitar sections and riffs, exceptionally well played, and the rock organ arrangements are really good as well.  Fast and relentless, but I didn't find it fatiguing at all.

It does get pretty busy, though.  It's lacking in the low end, and several of the instruments are crammed into the mid to mid-high range; listen to 2:17-2:26 for a particularly striking example.  The piano especially is just destroyed by everything; it's barely audible much of the time, and when it is audible it has so much depth smashed out of it that it sounds very thin (e.g. 2:05-2:09).  The drum work is a little odd--if this were a live rock band, it sounds to me as if there were two different drum kits, with one's snare and cymbals louder and EQ'ed higher, and the snare and kick on the other further back.

I think this can ride on the strength of the arrangement and the musicianship despite the production issues.  I wouldn't mind some more clarity and separation, and some more bass presence, but I don't think it's enough to hold this back.  Great job.

YES

[Liontamer]

Hmm... didn't like how the bass was so muted from :02-:27, especially because it was handling some of the source melody and just got swallowed up instead. Even though the mixing managed to dampen the drumwork during the densest sections, and MindWanderer got into more details on elements crowding out, the track was good energy otherwise and the mixing not being ideal didn't hurt too much.

Lots of good original writing ideas from 1:10-1:53 before going back to the source and adding even more original ideas on top of the source until 2:10, and some expressive shredding from 2:18-2:37. Fun stuff, Mad, and a great take on this classic theme! Keep it coming!

YES

[Gario]

Haa, that rhythm guitar sample sounds so much like Power Rangers and their original theme. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, I just thought that was cool.

I really like the arrangement, I love the tone of the guitar, and while I agree with Liontamer on the bass usage I think there's enough bass presence in this overall to compensate for that. One thing that catches my ear in a weird way, though, is the mixing on this. While the elements are all relatively easy to hear in this, the focus seems all wrong. The rhythm guitar just dominates, the leads and solos get burried under everything else. It's just strange how so much awesome guitar lead work gets buried behind that rhythm. It doesn't make it unlistenable, but it does take away from the experience quite a bit for me. On a smaller note, the piano is pretty mechanical when it's present. Not a big deal, but if the mixing is fixed it would become much more noticeable so it should be addressed anyway.

I could see this passing and I'd totally be alright with it, but I'd much rather see the artist give the mixing one more pass so he can bring out all of the other cool elements rather than having it all get buried behind the rhythm guitar.

NO

[DragonAvenger]

Man, this is a fun listen. The arrangement is great, and the organ usage definitely gives off vibes of the Black Mages, which is neat. Greg brings up some concerns about the balance overall, and that is what is bugging me most about the piece, along with a bit of a feel like things could just come through a little stronger overall. That being said, I think the issues still aren't enough to bring this below the bar, but I do think it's close.

YES (Borderline)

[Sir_NutS]

wow, what a fun arrangement.

I'll admit, I'm not 100% sold on this.  The mix here is pretty questionable, with a very noticeable lack of low end, bassdrum almost disappearing from the mix,  the bass lacking any body, and rhythm guitars that take over the mix almost completely.  Doing some A/B with already posted remixes in this style brings the difference in mix balance pretty clearly (even more if you load up your visualizer like i did).  There are other nagging issues for me here, such as a left-panned cymbal hit that is often offbeat and really sticks out from the rest of the beat, as if it didn't belong there, plus a very crowded mid-high space, though that's mostly due to the overly-dominant rhythm guitars.

The arrangement is very good, and indeed has some new ideas, but the production is just not over the bar at all and drags the rest of the song down with it, imo.

NO (resubmit)

[Jivemaster]

I'm with the others on the arrangement. I feel that it brings some nice original additions to the table.

Sounds and production have some issues worth mentioning. Rhythm guitars are noticeably dry. Guitar leads aren't as loud as they should be (particularly in the earlier parts). The bass is pretty much non-existent, as though the guitars had too much low end and instead of high passing them the bass was reduced to compensate, resulting in a fairly bare centre mix. The drums are tiny, they have a pop to them but no real impact. These mixing decisions made me wonder if vocals were ever included and then removed, because the hollow nature of the centre is what would normally come as a result from that.

Taking into consideration these mixing issues, the mix falls a little short, the absence of any real bass and the tiny drums really detracting from the overall sound and the otherwise solid arrangement. I think this could do with a second pass.

NO

[Chimpazilla]

Gotta agree with the NOs here, this is a fantastic arrangement but the mixing is blowing it for me.  The lack of low end is a BIG deal to me, the drums sound small, and the rest of what is here is much too crispy/hot/busy/competing in frequency.  Needs another mixing pass.

NO (resubmit please)

[Nutritious]

Such a SWEET arrangement.  I really with the production was up to the same level.  Gonna keep it brief, but this definitely needs a mixing rework.  Mix is mid heavy and missing a lot of low end.  Kick is pretty much non-existent.  The leads aren't as prominent as they should be and are sometimes straight-up sidelined.  There is SO much awesome shredding and soloing here that I really want to hear a version that lets them shine out as much as they should.

NO PLEASE resubmit!