OCR01308 - *YES* Final Fantasy 6 'A Nightmare Before Kefka'

[djpretzel]

This is a remix of the Kefka theme from Final Fantasy 6 (track 1.08 "Kefka.spc" in the FF6 RSN on OCR). It also incorporates a little bit of material from track 1.17 "Wild West", or the Veldt theme. I also feel it's worth noting that the excellent bell melody from 1:12 to 1:22 is actually by Tyler Heath (Unknown), with his permission - it came from his competition piece "Zombies Ate My Dingo". To create the song, I used FLStudio 5 (for putting it together), Garritan Personal Orchestra (for most instruments), Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold (for a few other instruments), free ethnic samples from Samplefusion (for percussion), and some assorted soundfonts.

A quick background of how this mix came to be: I love Danny Elfman's musical style, and I think it has shown up in some of my other works.
It's dramatic and often dark, but at the same time quirky and mischevous. I thought that would fit the character and theme of Kefka well, so I decided to combine the two with my own style. I know this isn't a long mix, especially for this genre, and I'll be the first to admit I'm really new to orchestral arrangement, but I'm very pleased with the final result and I think it's enjoyable. Hopefully, you will too.

Thanks in advance!
Andrew

[Israfel]

Nice variety, good sounds and pretty well-written on the whole. Fairly easy decision for me.

I actually think this mix suffers from the same problem that a lot of my work has- and that's that it might have too much variety. The combination of short length and constant textural and thematic changes creates a somewhat disorienting experience- and the end result may not be as satisfying as it could have been. And so, given the large amount of material that you have here, this really should have been longer.

But I don't think that this issue warrants a rejection.

YES

[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ff6.rsn - "Kefka" (ff6-108.spc) & "Wild West" (ff6-117.spc) [1:42-1:52]

Good stuff that I played for VGF44 (http://oc.ormgas.com/forum_viewtopic.php?18.8732). Definitely with Israfel here; pretty academic decision.

Digging the constant thematic changes at 1:12, 2:03, 2:23 & 3:06. Nice reference to "Wild West" at 1:42 as well. Good job going for the Elfman vibe once again, though I'm interested in hearing some more electronic stuff in the future, since I like that stuff from you as well.

Trite lil' ending there, but otherwise I'm feelin' it. Excellently varied rearrangement with quality imagery that fits the mix title well.

I see where Izz is coming from on the structure being disorienting, as this doesn't stay in one place for too long, though I liked it.

YES

[Vig]

pretty good. Definately not groundbreaking in any way, but it's built Ford tough, that is to say, it's a solid thang.

hope to hear zircon branching out in new directions and taking more risks in the future.

YES

[GrayLightning]

While there are certainly flaws here, the main ones as others have said; the variety of ideas that jump from one to another almost serendipitously, which I suppose one could say of a lot of Elfman's pieces, I too thought it could have been more focused.

However, what is here is done very very well. The arrangement is great, the instrumentation though linear and expected is still pulled off very well. The ethnic percussion added a nice flavor to the mix too. I particularly enjoyed the tempo shifts in the mix.

Good job zirc! YES