ReMix: Final Fantasy IV 'The Flying Machine'

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Final Fantasy IV: Echoes of Betrayal, Light of RedemptionFinal Fantasy IV

Hopefully everyone's enjoying their respective holidays; I'm actually surrounded by family at the moment, watching Jeni's "A Big Steaming Pile of Me" (in true xmas spirit), committing the social faux pas of focusing on my laptop so as to get some mix post action going on. We'll get back to a more regular schedule when I'm back home, but in the meantime, check out Mr. Revoredo's mix from Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption. He writes:

"The Flying Machine is a pretty old track. It's not representative of my work nowadays: there are a lot of things I'd change, starting right from the samples, and the intro. LOL, i think I say the same on every remix submission. However, the track got a lot of love, so i thought it could be a good idea submitting it.

The amount of work i had to put into this was enormous: Everything was written note by note on a sequencer. Because orchestral samples are huge (and my computer is kinda crappy), freezes and crashes were common. I "solved" the problem rendering 2 or 3 instruments-tracks in a simple wavefile, and then working over the wavefile with new orchestral instruments.... That is the poorman's solution to buying a new computer :-)"

Tons of Echoes mixes have been either direct-posted or approved by the judges panel this year, attesting to the album's consistent strength, variety, and sheer number of kickass tunes. This is no exception; the artist has captured the grandeur, scale, and epicosity of the source quite effectively. I always think of how Jose used this mix in the Echoes trailer, with the awesome, spiraling, pull-away shot of the tower - fit like a glove. John may be the eternal apologist when it comes to his music, but I've loved everything I've heard, so take his humility with a ginormous grain of salt. OA parenthetically punned his fanny off on the decision thread, and I'd be remiss not to repeat it here:

"I'll echo (of betrayal) the other judges and say that while it doesn't move far from it's starting point as far as progression goes, what it does is very accomplished. A great full sound, and a good arrangement with a few twists and turns make this short and sweet. I think adding another minute of more interpretive material would have made this an easy DP, but I have no doubt this will fly(ing machine) through the panel."

Ouch... I thought *I* was bad. Vinnie fires back:

"Knock off the puns, OA. There's no place on the panel for such lightheartedness (of redemption) (get it, light of redemption?). A model medley, and one of the highlights of the project for me. The transitions in this are awesome and make it sound like it was written this way to begin with. In particular, I love what you did at 1:00, Juan, with the chords of Red Wings altered to make the whole passage work perfectly."

Goodness gracious.Well, we keep them around for their musical insights, not their turn of phrase, right? But I kid... panel was right, this could easily have been longer and not overstayed its welcome, but as is, it's still yet another gem in the album's crown, and another great, distinct arrangement from John Revoredo.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Crulex;661446 wrote: I love the grand flying feeling the ReMix sends out throughout the song and it's definitely on my playlist. The beginning was great and all the transitions were spot on.

Quoted For
MechaFone;682347 wrote: The intro is awesome. I can just imagine a great flying ship in the air during a storm, the rowers keeping time with the beat.

Great Emphasis
This is definitely a tune worthy of the great Final Fantasy Air Ships. This just wraps up so many feelings of awe, majesty, epicness, determination, and raw adventure. And the intro is totally stunning; those powerful drums really just draw you in.
This is a completely energizing and uplifting song too and is a wonderful and enrapturing listen.

- 42 on December 14, 2010
The intro is awesome. I can just imagine a great flying ship in the air during a storm, the rowers keeping time with the beat. And from then on, just epic :)

- MechaFone on May 28, 2010
Probably one of the best tunes on Echos. I love the grand flying feeling the ReMix sends out throughout the song and it's definitely on my playlist. The beginning was great and all the transitions were spot on. Very cool.

- Crulex on March 31, 2010
Very exciting stuff! The few issues I had with production are minor, and overall this is sweeping, powerful, and has a pretty unique sonic imprint; you can tell this is John, rather than another arranger using similar samples.
The build to 1:30 is superb, and then the modulation at 1:45 keeps things somewhat unpredictable. Nice work! :-)

- OA on January 6, 2010
Final Fantasy IV has a surprisingly under remixed soundtrack for the quality of the music that's in the game. It's great to see someone remixing this game again.
As for the song itself, I haven't heard anyone take this approach to this song. It has a natural, orchestral feel to the song and it works well with the epic quality and sound of the original song.

- Evil_Cronos on December 31, 2009
I just boarded my airship and all I can say is jesus fucknig christ
the only thing that sounds out of place is those congos or whatever percussion instrument that is. It sounds cheap and unsaturated, which is strange because the rest of the instruments sound grand

- Doni on December 30, 2009
I'm another sucker for those epic orchestral pieces, and this one definitely fits the bill quite well. The details in the harmonies and counter melodies really help carry this piece, and I love the percussion at 1:02 (and other areas similar).
This one has been one of my favorites from the album for a while. Nice work, I always enjoy John's stuff.

- DragonAvenger on December 29, 2009
Very cool track that keeps the spirit of the original in tact. Love the sonic landscape this one paints! Only wish it was longer dude. ;)

- avaris on December 28, 2009
This has always been one of the most moving pieces from the album. The range of styles on the album itself is quite vast, but I have a soft-spot for this kind of orchestral style. This was one of my wake-up alarm songs for a while, and with good reason. If you have this song playing in the background, all your humdrum activities seem very epic.
Great job with the track, John. This moving and adventurous-feeling mix is one of your best, and it could have been plucked right out of a movie score without question.

- Level 99 on December 28, 2009
This is a great track, and it feels like the title theme to an action movie or an FPS.

- Matney X on December 28, 2009
Short but sweet effort that proves that John Revoredo is as unique as he is talented. Every one of his mixes sounds unique, and so it's interesting to hear his take on a very popular genre. It manages to stay fresh through great samples and realistic articulation, as well as a smooth set of transitions between each of the tracks that was being covered.
Very nice work! :-D

- Emunator on December 28, 2009
Admittedly after listening to a lot of orchestrated Final Fantasy lately, most just sorta seems to run together, but this one manages to stick out and is one of the more memorable tracks from Echoes, imo.
The themes used here just seem to lend themselves well to the orchestra and feel quite distinct. This is definitely a wonderful track and worth listening to.

- 42 on December 27, 2009
Quite a nice song, Definitely digging how it seems to give you a feeling of wanting to soar, which makes it all that much better.

- Nareusm on December 27, 2009
So I have a love/hate thing going with this track from the project. What I didn't like was how different this track went from probably anyone's thoughts on the source material. However, once you get over that and think about this track for what it is regardless of source, this is actually a pretty nifty song, although I wish it was longer.
Good job!

- Bahamut on December 26, 2009
I'm glad you guys decided to put this on the site, it's one of my favorite tracks from the album. Beautiful stuff, really a great expansion of the sources.

- Lucentas on December 26, 2009