OCR01055 - Chrono Cross 'Dream Shore Sonata-Fantasy'

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[sgx]

MC's piano sequencing is NUTS. This definitely sounds like it was played live and is a great arrangement. I love how the song can be quiet and then build into something intense. Lots of good dynamic variation in here. Very awesome work.

EDIT: I would also like to mention that I can listen to this baby for a very long time looped. I listened to it for like 2 hours straight once at my summer job. Didn't get tired of it.

[Dhsu]

I think Digital Coma hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head. If he can work such magic with a machine, I can only imagine what wonders he could conjure once he starts using a real instrument. You can even hear the action of the keys in some places (like 3:06). Just when you thought he couldn't possibly get any more detailed...

The only thing I didn't like about this arrangement was the ending. Dude, that is NOT an ending...it *can't* be! There has to be more...there just has to be! *sobs*

[Ryuko]

I love it..

but wasn't it originally longer?

[Kamikaze Noodle]

In the highly quotable words of one Keanu Reeves:
"Whoa."
I seriously cannot believe this is sequenced. But enough about that. Composition wise, I have always been a fan of this song, and found this particular take to bring out the great driving force of the melody and how it can work slowly with stuff stuck in the middle. A lot of songs like this end up sounding like mish-mash "Lookat me I can play der piano! Hur hur hur!" but this one holds your attention. Unfortunately, that ending really doesn't seem too conclusive. I like anyway, though.
:nicework:

[k-wix]

yea, i have another version of the song, its a solid 2 minutes longer, and it seems like its deeper (more bass) .. I like my old version better.. i've had it for awhile. Spiffy mix though.

[JJT]

Beautiful. This is head and tails above ANY sequenced piano piece I've heard to date, in terms of humanization. Great arrangement as well. Wow, my hat's off to you.

-Jon

[McNoods]

I uh... wow. Very impressive. Sounds very professional and very... good. I don't really know what else to say besides that I'm amazed with how good it sounds. And as for the ending, it seems fine to me. An extravagant ending isn't always what's needed, and I think the ending here fits well.

Amazing job.

[SyncMaster]

Simply devilish :)!!

[GrayLightning]

Nice to see this finally go up. I've already commented on this several times, so I will leave it at splendid work MC. Congratulations!

Side comments to MC: My only complaint is I don't hear the buzz! :lol:

[smh]

and MC again proves to be my favorite piano mixer. except maybe gutzalpus, but he hasn't done much recently.

this is a prime example of how sequenced piano should sound.

good stuff

[Bruk]

This has gotta be the finest piano work I've heard on OCR. Congratulations.

[Ytmh]

No form, no shape. I don't even know what's going on during 99% of the song except for those tiny bits where I think I hear something that sounds sorta like the CC song.

Otherwise, it's just an improvisation, and I don't like it much. Awesome that you can get something this realistic-sounding without touching a real piano though.

[Kaleb.G]

While this was masterfully sequenced, I don't like it as a song. It's basically just the orginal melody in bare piano form with a few random improv notes thrown in. This is not to criticize you specifically, because I know there is a whole style of piano that works this way, but I really don't like it. It seems to try to get more out of the melody, but comes terribly short. Also, while the piano can sometime bring more feeling into a song, I felt the opposite effect here. The combination of bass, acoustic guitar, violin, and pads worked so beautifully in the original song, and the solo piano doesn't nearly capture the feeling for this particular song. Maybe this is me just venting on the asinine idea some people have that any song played solo on a piano sounds better, when it's actually highly dependent on the individual song and the style it's recreated in. I like piano, but this just didn't do it for me. I think...no, I know you are capable of more than this.

[Dhsu]

The combination of bass, acoustic guitar, violin, and pads worked so beautifully in the original song, and the solo piano doesn't nearly capture the feeling for this particular song. Maybe this is me just venting on the asinine idea some people have that any song played solo on a piano sounds better, when it's actually highly dependent on the individual song and the style it's recreated in.
Why exactly does a remix need to "capture the feeling" of the original song? Isn't the point of arrangement to give something your own interpretation, your own spin, your own FEEL? In fact, "Dream Shore" is actually already an arrangement of another theme, originally from Radical Dreamers, which had a very different feel itself. Listen to Jaroban's "Interdit" remix to hear just how different two interpretations of the same song can be, and yet at the same time BOTH be excellent pieces of music. As long as MC captured his OWN feelings in this arrangement, it's fine as it is.

[ffmusic dj]

*sighs* what a world I am in right now, this is just too beautiful, I can just be swept away by the piano melody being played right now, Abolutely amazing work!

[Kaleb.G]

The combination of bass, acoustic guitar, violin, and pads worked so beautifully in the original song, and the solo piano doesn't nearly capture the feeling for this particular song. Maybe this is me just venting on the asinine idea some people have that any song played solo on a piano sounds better, when it's actually highly dependent on the individual song and the style it's recreated in.
Why exactly does a remix need to "capture the feeling" of the original song? Isn't the point of arrangement to give something your own interpretation, your own spin, your own FEEL? In fact, "Dream Shore" is actually already an arrangement of another theme, originally from Radical Dreamers, which had a very different feel itself. Listen to Jaroban's "Interdit" remix to hear just how different two interpretations of the same song can be, and yet at the same time BOTH be excellent pieces of music. As long as MC captured his OWN feelings in this arrangement, it's fine as it is.
There wasn't really much of a difference in terms of arrangement between this mix and the original. With the exception of that part between 1'40" and 2'00" (which I actually thought was excellent, and would like to see more of this), the rest is too derivatitve of the original, especially in the presence of so many other mixes of it. And as for "As long as MC captured his OWN feelings in this arrangement, it's fine as it is", you don't have to tell me that, I know. But this is a reviews board for songs that are publicly posted, so you're going to be hearing how others react to these mixes. The original (and the original from RD, as well as many of the mixes here of "Dream Shore"/"Far Promise") all had a level of emotional impact to me, whereas this mix seemed dulled down. In fact, I feel as though some of the bits of improvisation contributed to this. Perhaps it was his intention to make it feel differently, but it doesn't work for me. I'll still be looking forward to more of MC's stuff though. So don't worry about it.

[fisherman]

In the words of the teen girl squad, "Sooo good..." 5 stars. My only gripe is that there isn't enough!

The piano /sound/ itself is excellent to begin with. I can't count the number of mixes that have been ruinied for me by poor patches. And the sequencing, which is so often rigid and unmusical in remixes. This, I go, "what, it's not live?" If you had sequencing like this more often, I daresay there would be an increase in the number of respectable jazz arrangements that don't use live instruments.

The mood of this is great. So introspective. Especially in the first part of the mix, the influences of melancholy Russian composers just scream out to me.

I loved the groove the original in the game had; it was done so well that a lot of remixes that try to keep in that same vein can't really outdo it. Thusly, I'm glad MC went in an entirely other direction with this... especially since 99% of the mixes that go in this piano direction make me feel all juicy... mmm...

[Dread Pirate Salty Pete]

Is it just me, or is the name of the piece oddly reminiscent of the name of FFVI's opera?

[lord-of-shadow]

Although the sequencing may be utterly masterful - I wouldn't know, myself - I have the same complaints others have mentioned.

I cannot hear the original melody in here. I played through this, then went directly to my MP3 of the original... I still couldn't detect any similarities. That in itself isn't enough to ruin the remix for me... after all, I've enjoyed remixs of music from games I've never played or heard before.

However, this remix... just doesn't seem to do anything for me. There is no emotion, no sense of... anything. It's just a bunch of piano keys, and that's how it sounds throughout the entire thing.

In the best remixs, I get swept up, I forget to identify the individual instruments, and generall some emotion is inspired. This remix doesn't even possess the barest shadow of any of those qualities.

[sgx]

Although the sequencing may be utterly masterful - I wouldn't know, myself - I have the same complaints others have mentioned.

I cannot hear the original melody in here. I played through this, then went directly to my MP3 of the original... I still couldn't detect any similarities. That in itself isn't enough to ruin the remix for me... after all, I've enjoyed remixs of music from games I've never played or heard before.

However, this remix... just doesn't seem to do anything for me. There is no emotion, no sense of... anything. It's just a bunch of piano keys, and that's how it sounds throughout the entire thing.

In the best remixs, I get swept up, I forget to identify the individual instruments, and generall some emotion is inspired. This remix doesn't even possess the barest shadow of any of those qualities.

Wow something is wrong (with you) if you can't hear the original in this. Especially if you're listening to them back to back.

[Jarrid]

Excuse the language I'm about to use. Holy shit. :D

[Indigo]

One word: Wow

This piece is elegant, sophisticated, and entirely original. I love it. A lot of artistic license was taken with this piece and the result is incredible.

The style really reminds me of that of Keith Jarrett, and I mean that in a very positive way.

A slightly darker piece, but definately something one could relax to.

[DragonFireKai]

This is such an elegant piece, I love the piano, I can just see this being played in a concert hall. Great work.

[Vero]

This is definitely one of my favorite piano pieces on the site. Like someone else said, I love how it starts off slow then gradually builds up to be more intense then drops back down to a slow pace and then repeats.

[frashpikass]

THERE'S SOMETHING FROM RADICAL DREAMERS!
WHOA! I CAN BET 100 EUROS ON IT!

[Txai]

The only thing I didn't like about this arrangement was the ending. Dude, that is NOT an ending...it *can't* be! There has to be more...there just has to be! *sobs*

Agreed. :lol:

Anyway, the piano is lovely. Nice work. :wink:

[Mo0Bert]

Yea, thats what im talking about, i have been waiting for people to fo something new to the song and this and scott peeples versions are the best that i could have hoped for.

yea, i have another version of the song, its a solid 2 minutes longer, and it seems like its deeper (more bass) .. I like my old version better.. i've had it for awhile. Spiffy mix though.

Plzzzzzzzz k-wix lemme have it. Plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[Audity]

Also requesting the longer version.

[Jimlad]

Great piece! Congrats on a really amazing arrangement, the sequencing was really cool, I'm not sure how you did that but it's almost believable as an authentic performance.

If you have a longer version of the song, please post it - I'm sure the people on this site would appreciate it. Also, if you have the sheet music or some form of the arrangement itself it'd be brilliant if you could post it. I wouldn't mind a shot at playing the piece myself, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[DragonAvenger]

I've loved this mix for a long time, and I just now read the write-up. This isn't a live piano? HOLY CRAP. The humanization of this is amazing.

I personally love this mix; the way the melody wanders in and out, the quiet, introspective feel, all of it. I listen to this one often, and will continue to do so for a long time. Great work.

[Lucentas]

Chrono Cross music makes for some great piano pieces. This is no exception. Great job.

[OA]

I would have never guessed that this was sequenced. I'm very impressed, piano solos live or die based on their human qualities, and this mix did well.
It's a nice arrangement that sometimes feels a bit liberal to me, but overall a pretty satisfying piano mix.

[Moguta]

Why was this song renamed? I have it as: Dream-Shore Sonata-Fantaisie. I believe this spelling is not uncommon in classical pieces, and doesn't seem to be a mistake to be corrected.
EDIT: Nevermind... seems that MC used "Fantaisie" for VGMix and "Fantasy" for OCR. My mistake.

[yosefu]

Very nice piano mix. Great job!!!