ReMix: Final Fantasy VII 'Jenova for Classical Piano'
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- Game: Final Fantasy VII (Square, 1997, PS1)
- ReMixer(s): Noir
- Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu
- Song(s): 'J-E-N-O-V-A'
- Posted: 2004-04-25, evaluated by the judges
The ReMixer writes:
"This is a piano arrangement of the Jenova battle music, done in a late romantic classical style (with some impressionist overtones). This was transcribed not from the original game music, but from Uematsu's Black Mages album... This was recorded in the Oberlin music conservatory TIMARA studios. Unfortunately, it's just a Yamaha grand, which I hate recording, but it's what I have to work with. I used 4 mikes: two Shure SM81s in a spaced pair, and two Audio Technica 4033s in a close miking arrangement over treble holes and bass strings. It was mixed down on a Pro Tools TDM system using the Waves: Renaissance plugin set for EQ, Compression, and digital Reverb."
At first we were a bit concerned as this was transcribed from a version of the original that was already arranged to begin with, but Noir aka Eric Barker has done things right, providing a solo piano arrangement that is uniquely his own and, as mentioned above, clearly has roots in Romanticism and Impressionism (especially with the good deal of rather flamboyant but difficult runs) - as the stark title suggests. Nothing is stark about the arrangement itself, which oscillates between technical ruminations and more emotional, dramatic eruptions of forte ascensions and descensions. Mr. Baranowsky, as the mix's stongest advocate, wrote:
"I am humbled by the choice to remain tastefully concise and compact in the scope of the arrangement (a restraint I many times beg the good Lordy I had), while still creating a truly epic conclusion. This one accomplishes its goal through attention to technique and refined musicianship, a pairing of qualifications that is too often eclipsed by mastery of programming, overproduction and beatboxing."
Others were impressed as well, and while the merits of the arrangement should become clear almost immediately as you listen, the ending in particular takes a very creative direction and effects the type of conclusion Dan refers to above. The fact that we've had a lot of great solo piano arrangements in recent months should not in any way lessen the percieved difficulty of creating them; it's not an easy form, but Noir's latest makes excellent use of it.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the Noir;27236 wrote: [b][u]Sheet Music:[/u][/b]
I know this hasn't been brought up in this post yet, but I thought this would be a good time to say so. I'm getting A LOT of emails about sheet music for this, several per day now. I started writing sheet music for this while I was practicing, so I could solidify the arpeggios. I started getting requests while it was on WIP, so I went ahead and finished it. It's in PDF format, a 113K download. I just wish there was a sheet music section on OCR.
http://www.oberlin.edu/student/ebarker/Jenova.pdf
Knock yourself out :)
- Eric
It's gone! No! Please, please put it up again somewhere!
- Shinseisa on December 17, 2007
This is absolutely beautiful. If I was coordinated enough to play
piano this well, I'd want the sheet music for this. Well done....
- nonsensicalexis on March 26, 2007
- nonsensicalexis on March 26, 2007
Let me just say that this is what I consider not only one of the
few Final Fantasy remixes to actually deserve the credit that it's
been given, but that it's not been given enough credit. At Ormgas,
it's rated right below the lowest of the top 100.
It's a really beautiful song, don't let it go off of the top charts. It deserves it to be with the best of the best more than most songs on chart.
Please, vote 5 for it.
- Superrpgman on March 10, 2007
It's a really beautiful song, don't let it go off of the top charts. It deserves it to be with the best of the best more than most songs on chart.
Please, vote 5 for it.
- Superrpgman on March 10, 2007
This is an excellent remix. At times I wished it picked up the pace
but it is the slow pacing that really makes this song unique. A ten
out of ten.
- Ranael on June 21, 2006
- Ranael on June 21, 2006
Just listened to it and al i have to say is WOW. It was amazing,
don't think i could ever hear it done better. Truly amazing work!
- MajLink on June 20, 2006
- MajLink on June 20, 2006
Wow! This is BEAUTIFULLY done. From the very beginning, you
immediately set the stage for the rest of the piece, how it gives
the sense that it is fading in slowly from the shadows but
proclaiming its full presence at the same time. Then you have these
amazing but subtle shifts in mood, while still maintaining the same
majestic undertone. And then at around 4:45, man oh man, those
trills along with the improvization just make a perfect
combination. I don't know how else to explain it. In short, this
remix is an example of perfect use of dynamics and that is why it
is so engaging throughout. Keep it up, Noir!
- lady zelda on May 30, 2006
- lady zelda on May 30, 2006
Artificial_AI wrote:Qcvar wrote: Trying to learn this... my stubby, unskilled fingers are getting in the way. Out of curiousity, just [i]how[/i] did you pull off doing the four-note JENOVA start (Bb A F D) with one hand? (You'll need to do this once Ab G E C starts) If you just say, "skillz," I'll believe it 8O.
Thats really simple.
You slide your pinky from Bb to A, play E and C with your middle and ring finger, slide your index from Bb to A (an octave lower from the first Bb and A), and use your thumb on the lower E and cross over with your index to hit the final lower C.
I like this remix, but his use of slowing down the tempo momentarily occured so often that it lost its dramatic effect, and made me wonder if he practices with a metrognome.
Erm...Check this out, this is a revolutionary technique I use.
I play the top notes, Bb and then A, by sliding my ring finger from the Bb key to the A, then I play the F and D with whatever fingers I feel like using at a time, and then...Here goes, ready? [b]I move my entire hand down and repeat the same thing at a lower octave.[/b]
It's really not that hard. =b
Also, someone mentioned that the notes in this piece sound similair to the end of a Chopin etude. Well, notes usually move in patterns, the Jenova notes that you hear in those falling arpeggios are all minor seventh chords. (D F A Bb)
Also, the metronome comment...Eww. Metronome DESTROYS some piano pieces, I can't stand listening to a completely metered piece on the piano, it destroys the piece completely. I'm glad Noir maintained a nice rubato throughout the piece.
Thank you for the sheet music, sir. =b
~NeoDestiny
- NeoDestiny on May 30, 2006
Definitely better than the piano collections version, though both
arrangements aim for something different. The piano collections
version aims to emulate the feel of the battle (which it does
rather poorly because of the stop and start nature of the piece)
and this mix is more brooding, less blood pumping and at times even
menacing.
I would've like to hear more advanced harmony, but as Noir said, he aimed for Late Romantic rather than total impressionism. One minor gripe (apart from the bench) is that you can hear the dampers slamming on the strings, so that it's possible to hear some thuds in the quieter portions of the mix.
- Piano on December 5, 2005
I would've like to hear more advanced harmony, but as Noir said, he aimed for Late Romantic rather than total impressionism. One minor gripe (apart from the bench) is that you can hear the dampers slamming on the strings, so that it's possible to hear some thuds in the quieter portions of the mix.
- Piano on December 5, 2005
I should have posted this reply four or five months ago, but, alas,
I had lost the link. I finally found it again and created an
account just to say this.
Mr. Barker, sir! I've done it! Well, I did it months ago, but I still did it! I taught myself the entire song on my faithful piano. *swells with pride* I now play it [i]by heart![/i] Thank you ten years of piano!
I stumbled onto this song accidentally and I hope I do more accidents like this in the future. I just wanted to tell you, Eric Barker, that I successfully taught myself the song thanks to your posted link to the music sheet. Thank you, so much, for posting that link online.
[i]Edit[/i]
I forgot to mention some important things. The sheet music, as far as I know, has many mistakes in it. I listened to the track and played along with it so many times until I got the correct notes. Maybe you should double check the sheet music. Here are the stuff I caught:
pg 5: #38, second measure. Left hand's first notes are G and B-flat.
*pg 10: #82, second measure. Right hand's notes are as followed: D, G and regular B; A; G, held for "..and two and three-"; D; G; regular B.
#84. Right hand: the first C is a sharp.
pg 11: #88. Along with Left hands's first notes (D and D) Right hand should play G, C, and G in the same octive as #87's right hand.
pg 12: # 94, second measure. Left hand's B flats should be played on the following counts: the first half of the count "one", the second half of counts "two" and "and".
If you had included these additions on your own, my bad. I just wanted to let you know that some parts of what you are playing aren't on the sheet music.
- LadyMeny on December 4, 2005
Mr. Barker, sir! I've done it! Well, I did it months ago, but I still did it! I taught myself the entire song on my faithful piano. *swells with pride* I now play it [i]by heart![/i] Thank you ten years of piano!
I stumbled onto this song accidentally and I hope I do more accidents like this in the future. I just wanted to tell you, Eric Barker, that I successfully taught myself the song thanks to your posted link to the music sheet. Thank you, so much, for posting that link online.
[i]Edit[/i]
I forgot to mention some important things. The sheet music, as far as I know, has many mistakes in it. I listened to the track and played along with it so many times until I got the correct notes. Maybe you should double check the sheet music. Here are the stuff I caught:
pg 5: #38, second measure. Left hand's first notes are G and B-flat.
*pg 10: #82, second measure. Right hand's notes are as followed: D, G and regular B; A; G, held for "..and two and three-"; D; G; regular B.
#84. Right hand: the first C is a sharp.
pg 11: #88. Along with Left hands's first notes (D and D) Right hand should play G, C, and G in the same octive as #87's right hand.
pg 12: # 94, second measure. Left hand's B flats should be played on the following counts: the first half of the count "one", the second half of counts "two" and "and".
If you had included these additions on your own, my bad. I just wanted to let you know that some parts of what you are playing aren't on the sheet music.
- LadyMeny on December 4, 2005
VERY impressive pianoplay, although this may not be as fast as the
original, this still have some power left in it, you have to draw
out it, Noir did that successfully, so I´m just gonna download his
remix, thank him for this excellent masterpiece of
pianoarrangement, and then go away.
Thank you Noir for this excellent masterpiece of pianoarrangement.
:leaves:
- Bummerdude on October 16, 2005
Thank you Noir for this excellent masterpiece of pianoarrangement.
:leaves:
- Bummerdude on October 16, 2005
Wow, just wow. The parts that I enjoyed the most was around the 4
minute mark, where the remix sounds a bit more like the original
and faster. I am not criticizing the slow part, but I just think
this type of song is meant to be fast, and it shows at around the 4
minute mark how good this song can sound when it is fast.
Good job.
- Zero_ on July 26, 2005
Good job.
- Zero_ on July 26, 2005
Qcvar wrote: Trying to learn this... my stubby, unskilled fingers are getting in the way. Out of curiousity, just [i]how[/i] did you pull off doing the four-note JENOVA start (Bb A F D) with one hand? (You'll need to do this once Ab G E C starts) If you just say, "skillz," I'll believe it 8O.
Thats really simple.
You slide your pinky from Bb to A, play E and C with your middle and ring finger, slide your index from Bb to A (an octave lower from the first Bb and A), and use your thumb on the lower E and cross over with your index to hit the final lower C.
I like this remix, but his use of slowing down the tempo momentarily occured so often that it lost its dramatic effect, and made me wonder if he practices with a metrognome.
- Artificial_AI on April 3, 2005
This is pretty off topic, but I thought it was interesting. Has
anyone else noticed that the jenova pattern uses the same notes as
the last run in Chopin's 24th prelude? The B flat A F D stuff is
the same.
- BlueEnvy on April 3, 2005
- BlueEnvy on April 3, 2005
Trying to learn this... my stubby, unskilled fingers are getting in
the way. Out of curiousity, just [i]how[/i] did you pull off doing
the four-note JENOVA start (Bb A F D) with one hand? (You'll need
to do this once Ab G E C starts) If you just say, "skillz," I'll
believe it 8O.
- Qcvar on March 31, 2005
- Qcvar on March 31, 2005
This is a great moment in a great game with a great
[i]squaresoft[/i] melody redone obviously with great skill by
Noir.
This "remix" added a great element to my life.
The piano is unbelievable.
- NeOmega on September 18, 2004
This "remix" added a great element to my life.
The piano is unbelievable.
- NeOmega on September 18, 2004
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