ReMix: Final Fantasy VI 'TimeShock'
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- Game: Final Fantasy VI (Square, 1994, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Siamey
- Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu
- Song(s): 'Succession of Witches', 'The Magic House'
- Posted: 2008-10-18, evaluated by the judges
Heath writes:
"Heath here, with a non-clubtrance remix submission. Thank god! This is a short mix I did of "the magic house" from ff6 and "succession of witches" from ff8. I really poured my heart into this one, but I'm sure everyone says that. :) I really tried altering the melodies more than I usually do, and playing with them a bit more in terms of dicking around on my keyboard trying to improvise. I didn't get very crazy with it at all, but at least i tried making it less midi-rip-ish than usual.
The hardest thing making this mix? FINDING OUT WHAT THE HELL THAT LOW DINGING SOUND HE ALWAYS USES IN HIS SONGS IS!! answer: apparently they are called tubular bells and are pretty common and i fail. Thank you orkester soundbank for having a decent set of them. (and decent set of triangles too! a staple of many ff8 songs.) For some more song info, I'll copy/paste from my PRC entry notes:"At first I had no idea how to make a song groove at 100bpm (what? generic 4 kick trance beat doesnt sound good? impossible!) but eventually I tried out some stuff that sounded a bit timbaland-esque, which was unfortunate. After fixing that up, I realized I was humming an ff8 song that my mind had blended into the ff6 song, so I went with it and it worked out really well IMO. The picture I paint in my mind is the magic house theme cruising along, and then Ultimecia's time compression kicks in and the 2 worlds collide for a bit."
Btw if you blast this on a decent system, the bass synth actually sounds pretty cool, so... yea."
Definitely a different direction for Siamey, and one he seems to excel at - this is every bit as good as his trancier stuff, and at 2'21" I found myself wanting more. It's definitely cool to see FF6 injected with some hot FF8 action, and the ReMixer did an excellent job selecting two themes that complement one another quite nicely and naturally. The arrangement itself reminds me of Diggi's 'Mamacitas' - partly because of the hip-hop/latin influence, partly because it's fun stuff that funks your face off. The synth programming & modulation in particular is delicious, and works REALLY well with the trills and grace notes already prevalent in the source material. Cain writes:
"Harr, this has been funked to hell and back. Like it. This is one of my favourite FF8 tunes and you certainly gave it a twist. Interesting filter work, those extra low notes in the intro were awesome and the bass is sweet. Everything has maybe a touch too much verb as AnSo pointed out but you can still hear everything fine. The solo harpsichord was just epic. The FF8 section in the middle was very strong on arrangement, nice use of the vocal samples, especially at 1:20 with the filter."
This is definitely a mix to blast, as Mr. Morris himself advocates, and it oscillates between cinematic, electronic, gothic, and funkatronic effortlessly, which is pretty impressive since the whole trip lasts less than two and a half minutes. Far from being schizophrenic, though, everything's thoughtfully constructed and dripping with style. Great stuff - definitely looking forward to hearing Siamey do more in this vein.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the This is mad funky, the lead synths are great, and and the overall vibe is super excellent. I'm not sure where Larry is coming from with the :43-1:10 not being the same key. It checks out to me. I do wish the track was longer, but I won't dismiss this slice of pwnage for being too short.
Great rhythmic melodic changeups make it way grooving.
Check this one out for sure.
- OA on December 1, 2009
- apoc on December 19, 2008
I really think the blending of the two tracks is phenomenal; when it got to the vocals the first time I listened to it, it didn't jar me at all, it just felt so natural.
Definitely a keeper!
- Shinkako on December 13, 2008
- Mtlbro on December 10, 2008
Go figure, it'd be Siamey who made it, one of my all-time favorite remixers here. Still listenin' to Tricky Swamp Style like a fiend, buddy!
Great work, keep it up! :D
P.S. You're really good at creating short, sweet nuggets, aren't you? ;)
- drummermg131 on December 2, 2008
Can't say I like the vocals in it, though. They are extremely annoying the first time they come around (when they're really exposed), and they don't do much for me afterwards either.
- Martin Penwald on November 3, 2008
- Mr Azar on October 28, 2008
Been said but pity it's too short.
- ZealPath on October 21, 2008
Awesome groove you've got.
The part at 0.43-1.12 is soo great. Great transition to the FF8 theme.
Great going back at 1.50.
Very well done.
- AeroZ on October 21, 2008
windkirby;465590 wrote:
The only rather sad nugget is that it's short, like a short person.
true, but some of my favourite people are short. Well, compared to me.
I think of it as a collection of HAPPY nuggets! It's like a Japanese meal: Small portions, but so many courses! I would nag and nag for a longer version, but in the end would it be as good? this is just sweet as it is.
- CaptimusPrimus on October 20, 2008
Hey Keer, here is the source file
http://www.siamey.com/index.php?title=title&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
so if you use Reason, you're welcome to make yourself an extended edit from the source.
Peace!
- Siamey on October 20, 2008
- Jewbei on October 20, 2008
