OCR01104 - Final Fantasy VII 'Nanaki Searches for Truth'

[djpretzel]

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

[Absolute_Chaos]

nice song, i like this slow kind of music... but i think the song has reminded me of a theme from the Chrono Cross OST...

[UltimaAvatar]

what theme is this one? is it seto's theme? it really sounds nice the only thing i got against it is the long silence at the beginning. this part in the game was really sad when i played through it the second time because i understood what was going on and what they were talking about. defenetly a cool little piece.

[Blak_Omen]

Underneath the rotting pizza? I dont remember the name of the theme but I'm not going to waste any more time: DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD

[Eca-King of Nothing]

I just checked and the theme is actually "It's Difficult to Stand on Both Feet, Isn't it?" I never thought that song could be potrayed this way, but it's great. Definite download.

[ella guro]

This mix is from the ironmix challenge 10 (which is almost a year old, mind you), and I believe it got first place. The challenge of the contest was to remix the tune "It's Difficult To Stand On Both Feet, Isn't It?" from FF7, which is definitely not an easy thing to remix. check out the other entries here:

http://ironmix.rks.no-ip.com/Contest_10_-_The_Big_One/

As for the mix, I'm just going to post part of my review from the IMC10 results:

"First of all, it starts out with some ambient wind effects and soon adds a soft wailing synth, which takes it to the piano. And the deal is pretty much sealed right there. If you listen the first time, you probably won't recognize the source too much. But ever listen it gets more and more noticeable, until you notice pretty much all of the source at the heart of the mix with just changed chord progressions. It was definitely a stroke of genius on Dev VJ's part to be able to execute it as well as he did, too.

There's also a nice amount of emotion put into everything - places like 3:30 just make you so happy and yet sad to see it quickly fade away after some simple but effective string progressions. And just when you think it's all said and done - it kicks back in to finish the jobs with one of those old-fashioned major-thirds-put-at-the-end-of-a-piece-in-minor (I know there's a name, and I can go as far as to say that I have a vague idea that it starts with a "p" and ends with a "y" but I don't want to butcher it and have some theory experts make fun of me.) I wish I had more to say in the time-arena, but I don't think any more commentary is necessary. Just move over to your favorite couch (mine's a 20-year old blue-ish thing that's turned brown from so many stains), lie down, and listen in on the music. It truly is beautiful."

that's all!

[The Orichalcon]

It's nice, it sounds like some quality issues with the piano though unfortunately. But it's a really nice composition.

I love this piece.

I think the filtering job on the piano could have been better and brought out the higher frequencies of the piano. I'm not a fan of soft piano.

The guitar is great, although I'm a fan of delay on acoustic guitars, which I think would have fit, this is fine as it is, maybe could have been a tad louder.

Strings are ace. Perfect. Dark and brooding, then mysterious, then almost sad. They're perfect, and with that guitar over it, that's just beautiful. Well done. I still feel there could have been a delay on the guitar.

The only majoy thing missing from this piece to me is some background ambience of some sort, it sounds a little shallow.

But still this will be listened a lot. Nicely done Dev.

[Temporal]

Yay! It finally got posted! I'm a good friend of Dev, and he's been occasionally muttering about this for several months now. :)

Shameless plug: Dev and I run a little open source (non-profit) video game project called Fate of Io (http://www.fateofio.org). If anyone is interested in hearing more Dev music, you can find a number of pieces in Fate of Io's music section (http://www.fateofio.org/v4/v4.jsp?node=fateofio.music&view) (scroll down to the submission list). In particular, I recommend "The Provinces" (http://www.fateofio.org/v4/v4.jsp?node=fateofio.music&submission=1583&view).

[*morningstar]

Really great work here, eveything fits and flows together. Actually, it's kinda of ironic, I was listening to La Saia's Resting Place (http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR00857)when this was posted and I was thinking "Wow, this remix is really good, I wish Dev had more songs posted...."

There's something about this song that sounds very human, very natural. It feels lonely and alone. I think it really captures something special, both as a remix and a standalone piece. The samples are very good, I don't have really any nitpicks. But, one thing that would have helped a lot would be having the fret noise on the guitar, I just kept expecting it because it felt so natural.

Temporal, thanks for the link. I'll definetly be checking it out, good luck :)

[cwoxviii]

Ending is the best part, hands down. Maybe I'm just a sucker for the aforementioned ending-a-minor-piece-with-a-major-third-named-after-that-Italian-guy-with-the-P-Y-name that I can't remember. It has become sort of a musical cliche at this point, but Dev executes it here so subtly, almost as an afterthought, that it really conveys a sublime sadness. Really beautiful work.

[Annalie]

Simply beautiful.

[BlueFantasy]

The mix itself is truly lovely and relaxing. Though, I find it hard to hear FF7 out of this. It reminds me more of Chrono Cross.

[Shhteve]

This is truly beautiful.. But I don't remember this being Nanaki's theme, and for some reason this reminds me of Final Fantasy 6 instead.. Why is that? :?:

[Never Winter Knight]

I'm a big fan of piano, so I thought it was pretty good.

[Yianima]

You can never go wrong with a piano and good notes.

[Dhsu]

This is truly beautiful.. But I don't remember this being Nanaki's theme, and for some reason this reminds me of Final Fantasy 6 instead.. Why is that? :?:
It isn't Nanaki's Theme. It's the song you hear on the boat to Costa del Sol ("It's Difficult to Stand on Two Feet, Isn't It?"). He just decided to give it that name because it was in a more contemplative style.

[Being]

As the song rolls on, it reminds me very much of Ennio Morricone's "Il Tramonto (The Sundown)" from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." I think that having a song comparable to that of "Il Maestro" is quite a compliment.

[Ninja-san]

This is one of my favorite songs since guess its my favorite character from ff7. nicely done

[Chubbly]

I seriously thought that "It's Difficult to Stand on Both Feet, Isn't It?" was unRemixable in the fact that it had a funky....twangy...disposition for lack of a better word. Obviously I've been proven wrong because of
this composition. It stays true to the tune and changes the feeling. I'm not one to trifle with instruments since I only learnt a few instrument names from my music class but the Guitar and Piano both come together nicely. And even though the violin[is it] background is oh so cliche for ReMixes, Dev made it work. Dev, you are a true artist. Keep up the good work. The only possible problem I can think of is the very starting where there is no sound. And since this song only has 1 really minor problem, I give it a:

9/10

[Bummerdude]

This is a real good piano remix, it sure is, but I want to know what piano it is, it sounds so beautiful. Has a very bright tone to it, sounds like a classical piano like something Mozart or Beet would play on. But enough about the piano, the guitar that follows is great too, totally fits in with the mood, and all of he strings sticks to the whole remix like a cape.
As I said, beauuuuutiful arrangement, Devdude.

[HoboKa]

I don't cry easilly, in fact I didn't even when my grandpa did, but burn my soul for all eternity if u will and call me a douche if u want, but man I actually shed a few tears for this song. It captures the whole drama between Nanaki and his father Seto. Nicely done.

[avaris]

This was one of my first OCR remixes I ever listened too, and it's still one of my favorites bar none to this day. Obviously from technical standpoint everything is done very well. The best part about this is the emotional depth it provides. The song really paints a picture in ur mind.

[HoboKa]

It isn't Nanaki's Theme. It's the song you hear on the boat to Costa del Sol ("It's Difficult to Stand on Two Feet, Isn't It?"). He just decided to give it that name because it was in a more contemplative style.

No, this is when he finds Seto, his stone-transformed father who had sacrificed himself, so that the other Cosmo canyon duders could live. When you think of it, it's sort of sad, in the boo hoo way, not the lame way.

[K.B.]

Whenever I hear the intro to this remix, I expect an episode of Star Trek TNG to begin. I also have the problem of imagining Red XIII awkwardly hopping about on two feet in a sailor uniform, except with the reflective nature of this remix he's now slow-dancing.

HoboKa might have been listening to Stone Eyes. The source tune to this remix, however, is clearly what is stated on the main page of this remix.

I've always heard a bit of pensiveness in the source tune from 1:08-1:29 (despite the distracting horns), but I never expected that concealed emotion to be laid bare as has been done here. This remix is truly creative in its complete departure from the mood and instrumentation of the source tune. The piano line is wholly depressing; it is restrained and deliberate, and with this the listener feels the weight of every note. The spareness of the first half of this piece highlights the solemn interplay between each (imaginary) hand on the piano and between the piano and acoustic guitar. The background wind fills every space between notes with an oppressive emptiness and fleetingness, and when the strings come in I feel like I've been punched in the gut. It's enough for me to remember the deep, dark places I've been and how I wished so hard to escape but couldn't find a way. The atmosphere becomes haunting and bleak, with a glimmer of hope returning at 3:30.

My only gripe is the stylistic choice with the ending (3:52 onward). I would have, had I the ability to construct such a beautiful work, left this unresolved. But it is clear that Dev desired a degree of closure, and this he accomplished masterfully.

[Marmiduke]

This could almost be the soundtrack to the destruction of the Earth, it's so sad and epic in scale. The emotional element has been really well presented here, I really feel directed down the path the mix intends me to go, which isn't the case for a lot of mixes that attempt melancholy. I love the scaled back structure and arrangement also. More ambitious mixers might have needlessly chosen to make something busy and intricated; but for the mood of the piece, the choices that were made here really work and really appeal to me. Impressive stuff.

[OA]

This is pretty nice stuff right here, yo. Nice and delicate touch on everything, and a good sense of progression and a sad but contemplative atmosphere. The piano sounded a little more muffled than i'd have liked, but it still fit really well, and when the guitar came in, the high end had some attention. Strings were subdued and tasteful, and the flute bits were sparse but very nice. I wish there was more flute actually, as the beginning was pretty haunting.

Overall a really good mix.

[sefirosu]

So melancholy. So beautiful.

Its amazing how you took the source audio and changed the entire feeling, but kept it true to the source. A true remix.

Its beautiful. Not much more to it than that.

Good job.

EDIT: The string orchestra accompaniment of a Piano/Guitar duet is brilliant. Again, well done.

[Fuertecondor]

But this song isn't Red's XIII Theme, isn't Its Difficult to Stand on Both Feet Isnt It?, and isn't The Great Warrior!!!

What song is it??? :puppyeyes:

[sefirosu]

The source tune is "It's Difficult to Stand on Both Feet, Isn't It?" It is the song heard on the cargo ship from Junion to Costa del Sol.

[Monobrow]

Hi Dev:

You can tell he really loved this piece.

There's a lot of intimacy in this song from the get-go.... Those Vangelis-type synths really set the tone well, though I do wish they had returned sometime again.

That piano is a nice take on the theme, which is pretty robust in the original. The intro is very well thought out and touching.

The guitar is nice, it gets the job done, it's really subtle, and accompanies the piano for a while... then let's go to let the piano establish that part of the song everyone who knows the OST, will get.

It then comes back and has a little fun, before the key-change... Things get more serious and then the strings join in... REALLY good job there... There was no rush, you just wanted to establish a thought... The pause really helped before you brought them in.

The strings though, do suffer from the super-slow-attack-every-note syndrome that I honestly can't stand... But in this case, can forgive... Especially the post-date.

You EVENTUALLY fill out the lows with those strings, but I think you could have used a little more dissonance or had more movement with the strings in your chords... and been a bit stronger in that climax... A little stronger emotion. But it's just wishful thinking...

Overall it's pleasant, and the major-chord ending is a nice and peaceful choice. You should be proud.