OCR01537 - Final Fantasy X 'Summoner's Love'

[djpretzel]

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

[Thin Crust]

Yea, first post.
Anyway, about the song...
I found it hard to find the besaid theme in this one except at 4:06 where it came supprisingly obvious. Besaid is the best part of FFX for me and I had a lot of high hopes for this one. The music seems gentle enough to put me to sleep while driving, yet captivating enough to keep me interested. Definately a quality of the origional.

The vocals were decent, but somehow seemed out of place, as with most remixes that try to force lyrics in them.
In the end, I'd say about 7.3/10
Keep at it DragonAvenger and EFields. You have some potential.

[avaris]

I remember hearing early versions of this on the WIP board, and while there were tons of little revisions made along the way each of them got consistently better. Also the xtra reverb on the vocals def is a positive, and after hearing earlier versions the xtra verb was necessary to have everything sit right.

My fav thing bout this mix is the whole vibe, relaxing with a lil ethnic flare. The execution of both artists creative ideas def made this an excellent piece. In an arrangement and structure like this IMO the loopy sounding rythms actually fit in nicely. I really like the structure and flow of this mix, from the intro to all the lil things EFields threw in towards the latter part of the mix.

Congrats dudes!

[DrumUltimA]

I REALLY like this :DDD Congrats to DragonAvenger as well--if you're reading this DA, I was so close to showing this to Jay from Hartt, he was just over. This is a really sweet arrangement, it makes me smile :DDD Congradulations!

[SwordBreaker]

Nice overall. Love the intro and the overall vibe. Vocals were pretty good...not wowing me here, but there are some nice parts here and there.

I don't want to be a critic, but I find it strange that the judges accepted a Remix like this and rejected Darangen's "Rest Tonight". That song was equally good, if not better than this one...particularly in the vocals. There are times when they're overly critical on the vocals and times when they say that they shouldn't be critical on vocals. Which is it?

I don't mean to offend anyone here. Just my opinion. I have nothing against the judges or DragonAvenger. You guys do excellent work for just being there and doing what you need to do.

[OverCoat]

Good job on getting posted, DA.

This song is pretty chill, so I automatically like it.

[zircon]

Nice overall. Love the intro and the overall vibe. Vocals were pretty good...not wowing me here, but there are some nice parts here and there.

I don't want to be a critic, but I find it strange that the judges accepted a Remix like this and rejected Darangen's "Rest Tonight". That song was equally good, if not better than this one...particularly in the vocals. There are times when they're overly critical on the vocals and times when they say that they shouldn't be critical on vocals. Which is it?

I don't mean to offend anyone here. Just my opinion. I have nothing against the judges or DragonAvenger. You guys do excellent work for just being there and doing what you need to do.

Vocals don't just fall into two categories, "good" and "bad". There are LOTS of aspects of vocal recording and performance, as well as how the vocals are treated in the mix. Comparing "Rest Tonight" with this is comparing apples to oranges.

[Citan]

I have to say, this one caught me by surprise, but in a good way. The two remixers work really well together, I'd like to hear more collaborated remixes from them.

[SwordBreaker]

Nice overall. Love the intro and the overall vibe. Vocals were pretty good...not wowing me here, but there are some nice parts here and there.

I don't want to be a critic, but I find it strange that the judges accepted a Remix like this and rejected Darangen's "Rest Tonight". That song was equally good, if not better than this one...particularly in the vocals. There are times when they're overly critical on the vocals and times when they say that they shouldn't be critical on vocals. Which is it?

I don't mean to offend anyone here. Just my opinion. I have nothing against the judges or DragonAvenger. You guys do excellent work for just being there and doing what you need to do.

Vocals don't just fall into two categories, "good" and "bad". There are LOTS of aspects of vocal recording and performance, as well as how the vocals are treated in the mix. Comparing "Rest Tonight" with this is comparing apples to oranges.

Hmm...interesting. You do make a good point. It could be that my ears aren't trained to differinciate between certain technicalities. So hypothetically speaking...it's possible that you would say "yes" to a vocal mix with a voice as good as Pixietricks even though the production values aren't up to standards? Or do both the voice and the technicalities of recording have to be "above the bar"?

[Amayirot Akago]

I was hunting around my playlist for a happy song when I realized I hadn't listened to this one yet. Suffice it to say it was exactly what I was looking for. Fabulous stuff.

[ChloroPhil]

I really like the vibe in the song. The music itself, the melody of the vocals, and the lyrics all come together very well.
I especially liked the line that went "Tell me what you want to be, Let me be in your story"

[ambient]

Great work DragonAvenger!

Congrats on your mix getting posted. You have quite a lot of ideas and projects and it would be great to hear more of that here on OCR.

[zircon]

Nice overall. Love the intro and the overall vibe. Vocals were pretty good...not wowing me here, but there are some nice parts here and there.

I don't want to be a critic, but I find it strange that the judges accepted a Remix like this and rejected Darangen's "Rest Tonight". That song was equally good, if not better than this one...particularly in the vocals. There are times when they're overly critical on the vocals and times when they say that they shouldn't be critical on vocals. Which is it?

I don't mean to offend anyone here. Just my opinion. I have nothing against the judges or DragonAvenger. You guys do excellent work for just being there and doing what you need to do.

Vocals don't just fall into two categories, "good" and "bad". There are LOTS of aspects of vocal recording and performance, as well as how the vocals are treated in the mix. Comparing "Rest Tonight" with this is comparing apples to oranges.

Hmm...interesting. You do make a good point. It could be that my ears aren't trained to differinciate between certain technicalities. So hypothetically speaking...it's possible that you would say "yes" to a vocal mix with a voice as good as Pixietricks even though the production values aren't up to standards? Or do both the voice and the technicalities of recording have to be "above the bar"?

It's sort of the whole package that needs to be looked at. I don't remember any mixes that were rejected where the vocals were well-performed and executed, but the recording quality brought it down...

[Ness757]

I've always been a fan of the Besaid Island music so I was happy to see a remix of it on OCR. This remix was good, but you guys added too much to it. The vocals, while beautiful, were completely unncessary.

I love this mix, but more isn't always better.

8/10

P.S.

Can you put up an instrumental version of this song for download?

By the way, I loved the style first minute of the song. If you had gone with that for the entire song, it would have earned a 10/10.

[Zipp]

Ah, sadly I must say I miss the original sound of this mix. This one's a bit too echoey for me. But still, I'm very pleased to see this mix made it, as it's about time someone remixed Besaid Island. That theme was begging for this treatement, and while I prefer the original inspiration that Avenger came up with, I don't deny that this one has class.

[DragonAvenger]

Thanks to everyone for their kind replies. This was a great christmas present for me and EFields! I'm certainly glad that people enjoyed it.

As for the mouseclick; ROFL! Zircon actually mentioned it at one point, but didn't say exactly where it was so I never heard it. I thought it was maybe his speakers or something (Lesson learned; always trust the judges). Even after knowing I barely heard it!
BUT:Summoner's Love (http://darlantandragonavenger.googlepages.com/Final_Fantasy_X_-_Summoners_Love.mp3)
(NOW LESS MOUSECLICK!)

I REALLY like this :DDD Congrats to DragonAvenger as well--if you're reading this DA, I was so close to showing this to Jay from Hartt, he was just over. This is a really sweet arrangement, it makes me smile :DDD Congradulations!

Oh man, I don't know what he would have said to that. That would have been really awkward.

Can you put up an instrumental version of this song for download?
I can ask Efields (he has a forum profile, but really only so he can view responses and stuff, he's not a forum person), but I don't know if he has a place to upload it.

Again, thanks for the reviews, and I've already got another collab with him in the works! It's gonna rock!

[HalcyonSpirit]

I don't usually post reviews, but this one deserves my attention:

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by this song. When the vocals came in when I first listened to it, it took me by complete surprise (I was working on my story at the time, so I really wasn't paying attention), so much so that I had to stop the song and restart from the beginning just so I could hear it properly. I'm glad I did, because I love the song now. It did take a second listen to really get into it due to the vocals, but they grew on me the second time around.

I have to agree on some points, the vocals at various points did sound a bit nasal, the reverb was a bit much at times, and the pitch changes did throw me for a loop a few times. But it certainly didn't hurt the song enough to make me not love it. In fact, I really like songs that don't sound perfect, so this is right up my alley. It gives it a genuine feel, I think.

All in all, I think I'll give this one an 8.5 out of 10. Very well done, and I'm looking forward to your next collaboration!

BUT:Summoner's Love (http://darlantandragonavenger.googlepages.com/Final_Fantasy_X_-_Summoners_Love.mp3)
(NOW LESS MOUSECLICK!)

You know what? You should put up a joke version: "LESS MOUSECLICK, MORE COWBELL!" 8)

[underthesun]

nice, i really like the relaxed vibe of this song. classy :D me <3

[Dhsu]

Instrumental version (http://personal.utulsa.edu/~david-hsu/misc/Besaid%20Island%20Remix.mp3) for those who are interested.

Different, but has its own charms in my opinion. :)

[big giant circles]

boo on the "less mouseclick". i still likes it. :) personally, i think it gives it more of an intimate touch, like it was recorded there in the listeners home with them present, and it's like "there, recording's done... *click*"

anyway, still a very pretty song. despite any nitpicks anyone may have, this is still going to give you warm fuzzies. it's very soothing and uplifting.

as for the debates about people's voices comparing to other voices and certain mixes being voted YES and some NO and all that, let's try to keep debates like that out of people's reviews as a matter of courtesy.

carry on.

[Kholdstare]

I gotta say this mix is amazingly fitting for any day. Its just a good listen, that's all i can say. This is going on my next remix disc, guarenteed. Well done and hope to hear more from you guys.

[ShrikeArghast]

It took a while to get used to to the vocals, but after 3-4 listens, they really grew on me, and now I cannot imagine the song without them.

9/10 - I've listened to it about 12 times now... great song.

[Goten X]

Don't know why... but I really like this mix. It just makes me feel so ... airy? I dunno, it's pretty cool. I just feel like floating after listening to it... Great Job DA and EF, this song is awesome.

|GX

[Martin Penwald]

Very chilled, very soothing song.
The vocals didn't really catch my attention when I listened to it the first time, but after some reruns, they've really grown on me. I don't know what it is, nor can I describe it properly, but they sound very soft, and again, very soothing. Really pleasant.

So yeah, good song, and I hope to hear more.

[Nario]

I remember talking with you about this song on another forum and I'm so glad to see you get accepted at OCR! Congratulations! :D

Also, the production is pretty sweet. The echo/reverb effects applied to your voice makes you sound awesome and it's so calming. :) Oh, how I long to go to the beach right now...

Please post this at VGM3 when it's up. :D

6/7

[Atom45]

Very nicely done the music has a very nice Japanese, islandy fell to it and the girls voice really set it over the top.

[Mikenno]

If anyone came up to me and asked what song in Final Fantasy X I enjoyed the most, I'd tell them "Besaid Island." It's a random choice but one I'm very fond of. Memories of sleeping during the cold winters of Chicago, my home town I may never see again but hope to, curled up and lonely on my bed.
The television screen paused on Tidus' smiling face and the music playing as gentle as its intent in the background. I let it run for a week before I finally kept playing the game and even then I had an extra save file just for the sake of having the song to help myself fall asleep to.

To say the very least, I was anxious to see a remix of "Besaid Island" amongst ecstatic. Engulfed with hope, riddled with doubt, I hit play and let it flood my ears.

I was pleased to get a feel of smooth jazz but not strong enough into the genre to cancel it from calling it new age as well. Some may have said they couldn't hear Besaid Island's music until the 4:06 point, where it is blatantly obvious but I thought the beginning was very well presented.

It reminded me of tolling onto the start of the sand just prior to the walk toward the crashing waves and endless waters. You're walking across the concrete and dirt, and get excited to finally tread on the sand. Then your heart starts beating faster when you can not only hear the ocean but see it living before your eyes. And it's always a wonderful feeling if someone is with you to keep you company in your joy as well, thus what I felt with the wonderful vocals gracefully dancing into the music.

I do have to agree that the voice executed wouldn't work in many songs, unless you're an avid JPop listener but even then you need the proper tune (And I'm sure most, if not all of us have heard JPop/Rock once in our lives), but to this particular music, I think it's suitable, if not perfect. I actually thought midway the song,
"Her voice reminds me of Yuna." Oh, you make me enjoy singing once again. (I abandoned ten years of Chorus because I felt I wasn't good enough.)

So, just to shorten this up from what it could be, this is a -beautiful- remix and you both should be very proud. Thanks for making one of my comforting memories even moreso.

[DMZ]

So soothing... could easily replace a massage at the end of the day. Wish someone could sing like that to me :)

[ProjectSpam]

The Besaid Island music from FFX is probably my favorite from the game's soundtrack. This ReMix is loads of nostalgic value for me, in addition to being a well-made mix in general. This is just one of those ReMixes that I can listen to over and over again... great, soothing work.

[Alexis]

Besaid Island is definitely one of my favorite songs from the FFX soundtrack. With that said, I think you did a great job with this, although the first time through the vocals caught me by surprise since they come in so pretty far into the song, but I think it works pretty well. I saw a few people said that they couldn't hear the Besaid Island themes until about 4:06 into it, but the first time through I hear it a few times before then, just not as blatant as later on in the song. Nice work.

[HoboKa]

good good, keep up the remixin' :D

[Degree]

I definitely liked this track from the game.

I can imagine that this one would be a hard one to remix and arrange. EFields did a good job of varying the song and arrangement up, though. There's not much to the original song, so good job.

The vocals are DragonAvenger's best, I think. The added echo and reverb really helps. The lyrics are written very well. They really match with the instrumentation. It's got a chill vibe going on.

The only thing that I don't really like is the ending.. and this is probably more a matter of taste. The abrupt ending kind of threw me off.
I was expecting the instrumentation to slowly fade and decrease in volume, but it just ended with a vocal line.

I would recommend anyone to download this and add it to your collection. It's definitely worth a listen. I'll always have it in my collection.

I hope to see more from Efields and definitely more from DragonAvenger. Keep up the great work!

[ShrikeArghast]

I really wish this hadn't ended up being the only thing we ever heard from DragonAvenger. I love this song... it's dopey and makes me think of my grilfriend.

[Liontamer]

I really wish this hadn't ended up being the only thing we ever heard from DragonAvenger. I love this song... it's dopey and makes me think of my grilfriend.

You speak in the past tense as if this came out 6 years ago and she was never to be heard from again. What gives, bro? :lol:

[DragonAvenger]

I really wish this hadn't ended up being the only thing we ever heard from DragonAvenger. I love this song... it's dopey and makes me think of my grilfriend.

You haven't checked the WIP boards lately. I have something in progress, as well as a mix to be posted that I was a part of. I'm definately still making new stuff!

Glad everyone liked the piece who's commented!

[Forgotten]

Great choices in instruments to bring together a lovely piece.

And I must comment on the lyrics, they are incredibally beautiful. Good work.

[evktalo]

The intro evokes U2's Where the Streets Have No Name and Tears for Fear's Everybody Wants to Rule the World.. I have to admit I like that. While no section made me go "whoa!", the backing is solid throughout.

Lyrics are a bit flat, but they work really well in the context and the whole evokes a definite beachy, sunny, lovey-dovey warm imagery. Personally I'm a bit meh with them but I have to admit they work. It's also hard to hear the lyrics, they could be more clearly sung in my opinion. Singing could be more confident/stronger (I don't mean louder) and the pitch is not superb (especially the lowest notest which start the verses), but it's ok. Just something to work on. The vocals work best in the later half of the middle break 02:54-03:04.


--Eino

[2Radical]

Somehow I missed this track, but after doing some random searches I found it and downloaded it and.... im happy.

The besaid theme kicks in right away and even though at many times the original score hides in warm watery pool that is this track the style and warm vibes still keep you in the Besaid mood.
The vocal caught me off gaurd and seemed out of place the first sentence but as soon as those warm strings accompanied the vocals it easly turned into OCR's top finest

definitely a track that makes you reminisce the good old times we had defeating Sin.

[The Runaway Five]

This reminds me of my Maple Story days. I'm loving it. Definately a killin, laid back, vibe. Well done.

[Lucentas]

A lighthearted, relaxing ballad with nice vocals. Reminds me of the beach, which is always a desirable thing.

[Kaxon]

I <3 this song so much. Back in March I set myself a goal of listening to every song on the site and rating them in itunes (about 1500 down so far!)... a bunch of other songs have made me want to post comments but this is the one that finally motivated me to create an account.

EFields's instrumental mix is very chill and soothing - just like the original Besaid Island (although I didn't even realize this was a Besaid Island remix the first time I heard it). I like his use of percussion too - although it's nothing elaborate, I think he uses exactly enough to keep things interesting... I know if I were trying to make something like this I'd be tempted to just go crazy with those synth pads. But what sets the song apart is definitely DragonAvenger's vocals. As djp said, her singing style is definitely reminiscent of some Asian pop music (so much that I originally thought she was singing in Japanese) but I think it really works here. I think she just perfectly conveys the mood this song is going for and matches EFields's work really well. Finally, the "let me be in your story" line at the end strikes me as completely brilliant and haunting.

[OA]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrbbgw9Kgag%22

Is a great video someone made for this track.

Na na na na na na na na


This is a pretty good mix.

[ZealPath]

Wow, great mix that I totally missed for some reason, I guess that's the beauty of OCR though, it's the gift that keeps on giving if you dig through the vaults (and haven't... already heard everything, which is rather hard to do anyway).

I have to say that like the writeup mentioned this almost sounds like J-Pop but in English obviously, under the circumstances it works perfectly though. Besaid was one of my favorite tracks from the game, just so incredibly peaceful, and yet for some reason I never really considered how it might sound in this context (answer: awesome).

[halc]

floating awaaaaaaaaaaaaay to this song <3

[Marmiduke]

Elegant sound complete with a floaty vibe. I have to say I like how things have turned out here, but I'm not totally sold on specific elements. I think the vocals were a real gamble. These could have cut the legs out from under this whole thing and made it a dispicable mess. Thankfully, that isn't the case. But it still leaves me with a jarring vision of how horrible this could have been.
I think the problem lies with the narrow range of the vocals. DragonAvenger seems content at singing this in one specific way without chamging it up at all. Again, the instrumental aspects of the mix manage to make this work, and perhaps that was the intended reason for these vocals.
The instrumental portions are fantastic and are the sole reason this is a success. I can hear the island influence, but also a fresh and very satisfying synth rhythm.
Yes, the vocals do conjure up a J-Pop sensibility, but sometimes even J-Pop artists start to tread over the 'just plain flat sounding' line. This mix is as close to that line as I'd want to hear on OCRemix. I'm happy if people can make it work well creatively (as is done here, and with many other examples), but I think if you've got the talent to give those vocals more range, do so.

[WesternZypher]

DA's vocals are like a cozy, soft blanket, just wrapping you in a perfect mood listening to this.:smile: