ReMix: Final Fantasy VI 'Squaresoft Variation'
Download MP3
Play Preview
- Game: Final Fantasy VI (Square, 1994, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Jeremy Soule
- Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu
- Song(s): 'Terra'
- Posted: 2004-02-28, evaluated by djpretzel
Oh. My. God. For those unfamiliar with the name of Jeremy Soule, he's the composer of numerous great game soundtracks, a couple of which have been ReMixed here on OCR... and he has submitted what is singlehandedly one of the most awesome orchestral rearrangements I have ever heard. I literally kicked myself when I realized he had sent us this back around Christmas of last year, and extend my sincere apologies both to him and to all you listeners for whom, I can assure you, it would have been the best holiday present you could have hoped for. Quite simply, this is amazing. Soule accompanied this mix with the following words:
"I just wanted to let you know that I support what you're doing with game music. Here's something I just completed in both your honor and Nobuo Uematsu's."
So, another professional game composer who supports unofficial game arrangements and, furthermore, has created his own, in honor of the one and only Nobuo Uematsu. And, personally, if I were Uematsu, I'd be very honored. This is a lush, symphonic retelling of the Terra theme that has both triumphant, spine-tingling peaks and subtle, crystalline, subdued passages, and paints its musical colors with the broad but refined palette of someone who is clearly a master. It's amazingly cool that someone as talented and high-profile as Soule has acknowledged the game arrangement community, but even moreso that he has done so in this form, with what is a singular and epic piece of arrangement everyone and their grandmother should download NOW. My deepest thanks to Jeremy Soule for submitting this. Highest recommendations - superlative.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the I was so angry at myself when I found this mix. I had been lurking
the site for years. I knew who Jeremy Soule was; Guild Wars happens
to be one of my favorite soundtracks. So the fact that I had
completely missed this was extremely upsetting. I got over it
quickly. A fantastic orchestral arrangement that sounds like I
could easily slap it into Skyrim's music folder and listen to it on
my adventures. So atmospheric.
- DusK on December 27, 2011
- DusK on December 27, 2011
Really nice handling of the melody here, I love when it is given to
the horns.
A super lush sounding rendition for 2004, and it stands up pretty strongly today as well. Strings were good, and while it doesn't have the bombast and excitement some people are seemingly expecting, it has a lot of subtle energy that makes it work equally well. Awesome stuff.
- OA on September 2, 2010
A super lush sounding rendition for 2004, and it stands up pretty strongly today as well. Strings were good, and while it doesn't have the bombast and excitement some people are seemingly expecting, it has a lot of subtle energy that makes it work equally well. Awesome stuff.
- OA on September 2, 2010
I really like this mix despite my preference for heavy-metal-type
mixes. It's one of those ones that's really great when you're
working on something and it shows up in a shuffled playlist.
It's also great to drop into Morrowind's or Obilivion's soundtrack. Just browse to the location you've installed the game, then copy this into "Data[ Files]\Music\Explore\" and it'll randomly get played alongside the official music for the game.
OC Remix music is great for this kind of thing in general, actually, but this song easily fits the musical style of those games.
- lurid on August 8, 2010
It's also great to drop into Morrowind's or Obilivion's soundtrack. Just browse to the location you've installed the game, then copy this into "Data[ Files]\Music\Explore\" and it'll randomly get played alongside the official music for the game.
OC Remix music is great for this kind of thing in general, actually, but this song easily fits the musical style of those games.
- lurid on August 8, 2010
Made an account to comment on this remix right here.
When I first heard it, I shared the sentiments of the Jeremy Soule haters, which was unusual because I loved Secret of Evermore and Morrowind. The remix certainly has the flow, and the instruments were treated with the respect they sometimes don't get on this website. Elsewhere, I understood the arrangement and it's complexity, and combined with the instruments, I had no doubt Mr. Soule was the author of this remix. Unfortunately, I guess I can't hear the brilliance that some of the fanboys are gushing, or maybe I've held his standards too high. Some remixes on this site have shown the potential to be great, and others use that same potential to it's fullest extent. This falls in the grey area. It's really good, but the fact that it's not perfect makes it disappointing. It would be unfair of me to leave out examples of what I thought were "perfect" songs by Mr. Soule. These include the title theme of Morrowind and "The Secret of Evermore" from the game of the same name, which is also a remix of the song "Dog Maze". To my discredit, I seem to favor certain styles over others, and orchestral mixes have not done very well. No doubt, this is an orchestral paradise.
- therippeddeck on July 15, 2010
When I first heard it, I shared the sentiments of the Jeremy Soule haters, which was unusual because I loved Secret of Evermore and Morrowind. The remix certainly has the flow, and the instruments were treated with the respect they sometimes don't get on this website. Elsewhere, I understood the arrangement and it's complexity, and combined with the instruments, I had no doubt Mr. Soule was the author of this remix. Unfortunately, I guess I can't hear the brilliance that some of the fanboys are gushing, or maybe I've held his standards too high. Some remixes on this site have shown the potential to be great, and others use that same potential to it's fullest extent. This falls in the grey area. It's really good, but the fact that it's not perfect makes it disappointing. It would be unfair of me to leave out examples of what I thought were "perfect" songs by Mr. Soule. These include the title theme of Morrowind and "The Secret of Evermore" from the game of the same name, which is also a remix of the song "Dog Maze". To my discredit, I seem to favor certain styles over others, and orchestral mixes have not done very well. No doubt, this is an orchestral paradise.
- therippeddeck on July 15, 2010
This is the same style I know and love from Total
Annihilation.
It is the same composer after all.
I normally don't download peaceful music like this but... I need to have this one.
- IrateResearchers on November 9, 2009
It is the same composer after all.
I normally don't download peaceful music like this but... I need to have this one.
- IrateResearchers on November 9, 2009
How is it that I'm just now discovering this remix? This is
awesome, love the arrangement. And holy freaking crap, Jeremey
Soule.
- Alexis on May 17, 2009
- Alexis on May 17, 2009
Jeremy Soule? Here? Damn. Piece is cool but way too short. When i
get home this evening, i'll listen on better sound system (here i
have only crappy 1-ear-mute headphones).
- kurokikaze on October 21, 2008
- kurokikaze on October 21, 2008
Well I must applaud to this, a very great song indeed. It feels
like I'm listening to what Beethoven's 5th symphony Movement 1 and
Terra's theme would sound like if they had a child. The theme is
repeated and changed from instrument to instrument very
nicely.
Very lovely.
- Wild Armor on October 19, 2008
Very lovely.
- Wild Armor on October 19, 2008
This is single handed the greatest mix on this site. I remember
listening to this many years ago and now that I'm a forum member, I
felt obliged to comment. Incredible work. Hopefully Soule will
bless us with another arrangment/orchestration in the near future.
- The Runaway Five on October 17, 2008
- The Runaway Five on October 17, 2008
Wow wow wow. How the hell did I miss this? I love Terra's Theme,
I'm not sure how I never spotted the JEREMY SOULE before though. I
have a way of liking soundtracks and only later discovering he did
them (such as Guild Wars titles). I adore the Oblivion
soundtrack.
It really is cool that someone like that submitted a remix here, rather incredible, really. And this is even pretty old, before ocremix started to get more recognition.
It's a great piece, it's actually not my favorite Terra remix (that might still have to go to Ailsean's) but it is cool how noticeably his style it is. This mix would fit in Oblivion and no one but FF fans would even take notice.
Very cool.
- cloudkitt on September 18, 2008
It really is cool that someone like that submitted a remix here, rather incredible, really. And this is even pretty old, before ocremix started to get more recognition.
It's a great piece, it's actually not my favorite Terra remix (that might still have to go to Ailsean's) but it is cool how noticeably his style it is. This mix would fit in Oblivion and no one but FF fans would even take notice.
Very cool.
- cloudkitt on September 18, 2008
This is incredible, Wow. I've flicked through the last 16 pages,
and I have to say, there some real jealous people here. Bad EQ and
reverb? Hardly. Relying on Gigasamples? hardly. This is
orchestrated incredibly well, and rendered equally as well.
Congratulations to Mr Soule for this.
Chris
- Chris Hurn on June 3, 2008
Congratulations to Mr Soule for this.
Chris
- Chris Hurn on June 3, 2008
This piece has a very subtle beauty that's common in most of
Soule's work. It doesn't go out of its way to grab your attention,
but there's plenty of quality to find if you look closely. While it
may not stray far from the source, Soule did a really great job of
reinforcing the strengths of the original melody.
All in all, this sort of mix is a real honor for our community; both as a contribution from the professional side of the fence and as a great piece of music. I'd love to hear more from Soule around here if he finds the time someday.
- sephfire on April 22, 2008
All in all, this sort of mix is a real honor for our community; both as a contribution from the professional side of the fence and as a great piece of music. I'd love to hear more from Soule around here if he finds the time someday.
- sephfire on April 22, 2008
I could have sworn I'd written a review for this piece
before.
It's not terrible, but it's bad. Horribly bland - which is a disappointment because I think Jeremy Soule is a fine composer. His work on Morrowind was exceptional, and Oblivion takes a close third (Secret of Evermore being his best).
But here it's just so uninspired! We have Terra's theme placed over generic filmy sounding crap. The piece never goes anywhere interesting or new. Heck, some of the chord choices just seem to clash, and that's sad.
And it seriously makes me sick to see the hero worship that goes on in this thread. Some of these posts in praise of the work are decent and well thought out, but good lord, some people are just trying to get in Jeremy's lap if you know what I mean.
- artemisjaeger on April 22, 2008
It's not terrible, but it's bad. Horribly bland - which is a disappointment because I think Jeremy Soule is a fine composer. His work on Morrowind was exceptional, and Oblivion takes a close third (Secret of Evermore being his best).
But here it's just so uninspired! We have Terra's theme placed over generic filmy sounding crap. The piece never goes anywhere interesting or new. Heck, some of the chord choices just seem to clash, and that's sad.
And it seriously makes me sick to see the hero worship that goes on in this thread. Some of these posts in praise of the work are decent and well thought out, but good lord, some people are just trying to get in Jeremy's lap if you know what I mean.
- artemisjaeger on April 22, 2008
Anything made by this guy can be instantly recognized to have been
made by him - this piece is certainly no exception. Interesting to
hear this theme remixed into his style.
- Dafydd on December 1, 2007
- Dafydd on December 1, 2007
I can listen to this and play Oblivion.
I think what I really like about this piece is the rhythm Jeremy had going.
- LongeBane on October 8, 2007
I think what I really like about this piece is the rhythm Jeremy had going.
- LongeBane on October 8, 2007
