OCR00699 - Final Fantasy VI 'Let Us Dance in the Dark Phantom Phorest'

[Saunders]

Final Fantasy 6 'Let Us Dance in the Dark Phantom Phorest'

I really like this tune. Not
sure why, but it's pretty cool
in my books. Nothing stellar,
I'm not sure why I love it so
much as it just seems to be basic
techno (well done though) and
that's not usually enough to
make me really like a song.
Who knows.

Great song regardless of anything.

Wow my reviews suck.

[Kylin Rouge]

I like it, it has a sad, yet revelation-type beat. It's continuous flow keeps me listening to it again and again. I also greatly enjoy the choice of instrumentals, definitely a keeper.

[Ginnsu]

Nothing stellar?!? My god man, have you no ears!? Only fooling, after all you did say you liked it. Anyways, I would have to say that the timing and tunage of the mid range synths that are panned to the right are especially well done and very catchy. We also mustn't forget the strings and piano in this piece which I think are excellent. A great piece of work Star Salzman, and I don't think many will mind if you give us some more.

Rob: OMG! Why so many fricken line breaks!?

[Saunders]

Nothing stellar?!?

I think this is probably my fault because my definition of stellar might be different than yours.
By stellar, I meant like, new, exciting, absolutely amazing, something that makes me go "Wow!"

This mix is really great. Really really great. But it's not anything amazingly new or original. It's some basic techno. It's excellent, but I don't detect anything special.
Also, I was distracted while I wrote this review. And the review for the other recently posted song.
My main goal of doing the review right away was getting the reviews available to the other people of the board.

Rob: OMG! Why so many fricken line breaks!?

Yeah, I was distracted. It looks nice and neat in Notepad btw.

[StarBLaSt]

well it all depends on your definition of stellar, thats true, but
Merriam-Webster defines the word Stellar as

"of or relating to stars"
And since my name is Star Salzman, the song is most assuredly
Star-oriented, thus making it stellar. :D

But yeah, its nothing special and its not meant to be... my goal was to create a simple, catchy arrangement... mostly to see if i could tackle the crazy 3/3 rhythm into something trancy/dancy.
Thanks for all the feedback :)

[Ginnsu]

By stellar, I meant like, new, exciting, absolutely amazing, something that makes me go "Wow!"

No, thats pretty much what I thought you meant when I read it. It's just we look at music differently. Remember, I'm an electronic freaky gimp, so this would be right up my ally.

[GreatLeo]

This is awesome!!!!
I have seen alot of remakes of this theme but they have all been subpar but this is by far the best version I have ever heard!!!
I really liked the strings and the "gothic" feel to it. The cymbal doesn't quite fit in though I think, but that does not take away from the great arranging job you did. Choir and drums help add to the atmosphere, and I particularly liked the piano at the end. I hope to hear more from you in the future. :D

[Fyrewave]

I really enjoyed this mix. I think the bassline is clean and not to overpowering, and the highs are crisp even with the nice echo scattered. Strings are always good if not too loud, nice.
Good to see the follow thru too on the beat, some remixers feel the need to vary the song for the sake of variety. One objection - too short. I think the melody solo near the end should have been recoursed with a standalone bass solo n some more jammin.

I think this one is right up there for top 10 awards if there ever are any!

ok im done 8)
FW

[Largo]

This mix is of one of my favorite songs from my favorite game, and it was headed in the right direction, but something just didn't seem right about it. The beat just didn't stay consistent, it was like I just couldn't tap to it right. The problem is, Phantom Forest is like a waltz, it's a one-two-three beat... and then salzman throws a standard one-two dance beat on top of it, obviously you end up with the downbeat alternating between bass and snare, and everything just feels screwy.

If it wasn't for that, I'd probably be groovin' to the song this very moment, but as is, it's too awkard.

[Chrisrj]

I agree with the above post. Dance music is supposed to be 4/4, while this song is 3/4. This happened with the ET theme also(albeit in a cheesier way than this song).
What could've been done is turn the 3/4 rhythm to something of a 3-3-2 rhythm(in eighth notes), inside a 4/4 beat. Or, it could also be turned into triplets and have the 4/4 beat thrown into the middle of each. I have a cover of GooGoo Dolls' Iris(also mostly 3/4) that does this exact thing, and it works fine:)
The opening synthes are there, and it has potential, but this remix just doesn't work.

...WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?!
j/j (Just joshing) :P

[StarBLaSt]

alright here's the deal. I hear your 4/4 and 3/3 gripes with this song. But in response i say you're not listening hard enough. If you listen closely, you'll see that the drums are in fact in a pseudo 3/3. This is accomplished using a hi-hat velocity change on every 3rd beat.
If you listen closely to JUSt the drum track you will have trouble counting off 4/4. http://www.starblast.org/starsongs/pdrums.mp3 I admit its hard to get used to but once you hear that the drums are in 3/3 the whole song kinda just fits together. Yeah, listening to music shouldnt be this difficult, and perhaps i should have made the 3/3 drums stand out more. But by the time i was finished with the song, i was used to the pseudo 3/3 and it was fine. Look to the melody for the pulse of the song in this one, not the drums, if you get my drift... But in any case, i like the crazyness of the drums. It gives the song a unique feel in my opinion.. even if it is awkward at first. :D

[Ryan8bit]

Well, I like it for what it is, which is just a good dance/techno tune. You proved that you could make what you wanted to, starblast. I mean sure, it doesn't stand out from a lot of techno or even other Final Fantasy mixes, but that doesn't make it bad. It's still pretty good.

[Illuminati]

Incredible! I love this ReMix a lot..! Very nice tempo and synth sounds, in a slow techno style, wow. *speachless*

[playingtokrush]

Oh, the drums don't sound like a waltz, and 3/3 and 4/4 and... *cries Starblast a river* Whee.

I love this song, and I didn't have any problems with the drums. This one rocks the house Starblast!

By the way, I love that subject heading! ("doot doot") LoL.

[maniacalsephiroth]

Awesome, very awesome. Not much else I can think of saying..other than awesome

[Royal Sovereign]

Surreal, in a good way. This tune has a creepy edge to it, sort of like "I took too much Ecstasy and now demons are dancing around me," or something even more abstract than that. I really like this remix -- a good handling of the source material.

[Bummerdude]

Wow, the original wasn´t that much out of ordinary, maybe this wasn´t either really, but the synths and beats, it´s like dude! Somehow, you gave this one a more joyful tune, not as calm and soothing as the org. I say well done, you have successfully made a remix that´s definitly a downloader.
Starblast...I mean Star Salzman...wait...Ok, from now on, I´m gonna call you Star.
WELL done Star!! :mrgreen:

[OA]

Pretty solid mix for it's time; well balanced production (except for a slightly too loud solo piano bit near the halfway point. it's just a few notes though), and some cool beatwork, i'm digging the 4 over 3 a lot. The ending was a bit abrupt, but worked, and the mix doesn't overstay it's welcome.

Nice sounds and a pretty creative interpretation; cool to know that even the more mundane Star tracks are well above average. I dig it.

[1makes2]

Pretty solid mix for it's time; well balanced production (except for a slightly too loud solo piano bit near the halfway point. it's just a few notes though), and some cool beatwork, i'm digging the 4 over 3 a lot. The ending was a bit abrupt, but worked, and the mix doesn't overstay it's welcome.

Nice sounds and a pretty creative interpretation; cool to know that even the more mundane Star tracks are well above average. I dig it.

lol i forgot about this mix..........

when i heard it for the first time about twenty years ago it was one of my favorite mixes (but back then, i was a really big fan of AE's work, which im sure we all were)

its wierd someone reviewed this 6 years later lol!!!! (*cough* so am I)

great song!

[42]

I like the quirkiness of this mix; it just fades in as if its just wandering through the woods lost in its own little world and marching to the beat of its own drums, so to speak, and then just continues on its way.
Speaking of drums, the beats here feels so trippily appropriate for dancing in a phantom forest. Overall, it's an interesting little mix, nothing too fancy but just ok.

Edit:
And I just now noticed that forest here is spelled "phorest". I feel that this is definitely significant.