OCR02038 - *YES* Final Fantasy 4 'The Might of Baron'

[Liontamer]

Contact Information

ReMixer name: audio fidelity
real name: Jay Yaskin
email address: Bass10854@hotmail.com
website: http://www.myspace.com/jayyaskin
userid: 24748
Submission Information

Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy 4
Name of individual song(s) arranged: Kingdom of Baron, The Airship, Epilogue, The Prelude, The Main Theme of Final Fantasy IV
Additional information:
Link to the original soundtrack: http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff4
'Kingdom of Baron' - 03
'The Airship' - 29
'Red Wings' - 02
'The Prelude' - 01
'Main Theme of Final Fantasy IV' - 07
comments about the mix: This mix is a part of the FF4 OCRemix Project: Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemtion. It is my first submission to you guys so I have my fingers crossed here. I never initially had the desire to remix Baron, but I felt compelled to contribute to the project; and I am extremely happy with the people I have met in the process and the things I learned along the way. This was the game that started it all for me when I was 5 or so. With Baron, I wanted to keep it faithful to the original and just have it blown it up into metal march of sorts with full orchestra and synths to fill out the texture. The SFX (stomps, airship noise, bombs, and reverse fx) came later, I know there is a fine line, but I think it really adds to whats going here. The Airship theme felt appropriate to mix in here because of the relationship to Baron. I also got in all of my favorate themes from the game in brief appearances throughout the mix. I hope you enjoy it!

A big shot out goes to OA for being a great project leader and really helping me on feedback. This track wouldn't be the same without him.

I should also note that I took some time in mastering this but it will be remastered with the project. So when it comes time to posting the project I will probably swap out this version with the new. I am not too confident in the tools I have to be mastering this right, but I think I got the lowend alright on this one. If there is anything I can do to make this better I am all for it. Thanks.

Extra Link with Remix:
Title of Remix: "The Might of Baron'"

Breakdown of Sections:

Baron Intro with March: [00:00-00:31]
Airship Theme (variation) in minor: [00:32-00:50]
Liberal Progression from Airship minor: [00:51-1:09]
Baron Theme with Orchestra: [1:10-1:48]
Baron Theme with Lead Guitar: [1:49-2:26]
Liberal Progression to go Major: [2:27-2:37]
Airship in Major (1st section - Woodwinds): [2:38-2:55]
Red Wings in Trumpet with Airship Progression (Tubular Bells have Airship Melody): [2:56-3:12]
Airship in Major (2nd section - Full Orchestra and Guitars): [3:13-3:36]
Guitar Solo under Baron Progression in F minor: [3:37-4:12]
Prelude Theme in Baron's 2nd Progression (reharmonized with Brass Motifs of Baron): [4:13-4:29]
Prelude Theme takes over Progression (last chords are changed to get back to minor): [4:30-4:47]
Prelude Arpeggios in Baron's F minor Progression: [4:48-5:15]
Main Theme of Final Fantasy (reharmonized for Baron): [5:16-5:59]

[Palpable]

Wow. This is a pretty incredible arrangement, Jay. There's so much going on here, and a lot of very clever melds between themes. I actually appreciate the breakdown to get a sense of exactly how everything is used. :nicework: Very climactic ending too.

The overall sound could be cleaner and clearer but I could hear things well enough, and I thought you did a fine job with balancing levels. It would benefit from another pass to do some EQ work and jiggering with compression, but this is very solid in the state its in. I think it'll be a great showcase piece for the project.

YES

[Fishy]

So this is epic. That has got to be the longest pick slide I've ever heard in the intro. I've just played and completed this game for the first time over the last week and its easily in my top 5 games ever, and this remix just filled me with many joyous/epic memories. Great arrangement, and i know mixing guitar with orchestral elements is very easy to get wrong production-wise, but this does an admirable job.

Very inventive theme treatment, submit more remixes.

YES

[anosou]

Now this is something.

Production is a bit on the crowded side. The guitars are just so goddamn bold :O still I could hear all the important elements. Strings were a bit stale, vibrato would help, but overall everything sounds good. I should've balanced the guitar a bit better with the orchestral elements but it's decently done here so it's no dealbreaker. Some strange reverb on the lead guitars at times that makes them sound like they're played in a tin can. The filter sweeps (example: 2:15) are quite ugly and I could do without them, they're sharp and takes away some of the mood in the piece. The solo was also very buried. The brass impressed me though, that's hard to get right!

Arrangement is solid all around. Straight connections to the source but good transitions and original content. Nice hints to the prelude at around 5 minutes. Orchestral breakdown was wicked. Yeah, arrangement is a keeper.

This is a hard vote for me because the production is really crowded and the guitars aren't handled as well as they could've been. However the arrangement is just epic. I think I'm gonna go with YES here but if your remastered version is much better consider talking to Dave/Larry about switching them out before this one goes live. Good job though!

YES(borderline)

[big giant circles]

MUCH appreciation for the source breakdown, that probably saved me an hour's worth of aggravation from having to sit down and figure out which tune was going on where.

No hate from me on the arrangement either. I also don't really see what the production issues are, either. Sounds fine to me on my BX8A's. This is pretty epic across the board. This mix is also a great example of how to *properly* use non-HQ samples. Just goes to show you kids that you CAN make decent stuff without QLSO, if you do it right. I think this is an easy pass.

YES

[Liontamer]

MUCH appreciation for the source breakdown, that probably saved me an hour's worth of aggravation from having to sit down and figure out which tune was going on where.

Hahaha, that would have been my job, and no one would have voted until I did it. :-P

The tone of the bowed strings lacked realism, and the treble was particularly piercing. Could that be pulled back a bit? Same realism issues with the brass.

I agreed with AnSo that the soundscape was a little cramped, which I felt pulled this down a bit, since it made the overall arrangement seem meandering at times. However, the overall execution was strong enough. Just throwing out a bonus YES, and of course, welcome aboard, Jay!