ReMix: Final Fantasy IV 'Lacrima'

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

So, the observant among you may have noticed that our posting pace hath slowed a bit lately. This is largely due to preparations for a super-awesome album release that I've been looking forward to for a while now, which rhymes with "Wonky Dong Huntry Blue: Mysterious Spunky Lizness". Yeah, good luck with the guessing on THAT one. In the meantime, I've slipped a bit on some site news, namely that we've appointed DragonAvenger as our newest judge (awesomeness) and restructured our workshop forums with what we think is a more intuitive layout. It's really just the very beginning of more planned changes to give artists more resources while working on their tracks, but ya gotta start somewhere. Also, some begrudged congrats to all of our Canadian visitors for the hockey thing, plus doing an all-around swell job hosting the Olympics. The opening ceremony with the giant phallic animatronic totem poles was a little weird, but China was a tough act to follow, and I actually found myself liking the Canadian anthem more and more as time went on, which was pleasantly shocking. Right then - this track by Rozo is off Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption; the artist writes:

"I asked OA one day if there was a track he needed to have done for the ff4 project, in something like Beyond Velocity's style. We settled on Cry In Sorrow, and I started working on it. He later suggested, after hearing a version of it, that it needed drums. I added drums. I mixed it. I asked zircon for advice. I fixed it. And then it was done. That's the story. I picked the Latin word for tear as a name. I considered using Finnish, but we felt Latin worked better."

This is a departure from Ad's usual sound largely due to the drums, which are both more ethnic and more syncopated than his usual minimalist electronica has employed. Larry writes:

"Short and sweet. Good call from OA about the drums, definitely the right one. The drums gave some much needed depth to the texture and sounded very sophisticated."

Since he was project director, I asked this OA guy for some comments just now on IRC. Here is the log:

[23:31] <OA> This track was a perfect way to come down from the intensity of the climax of the second album; it's atmospheric and introspective, and features the main theme prominently, but it also hints at further struggles to be had.
[23:32] <OA> It's a richly textured track that really deserves repeat listens.
[23:33] <djpretzel> your mom

If that scintillating exchange doesn't compel you to see what you've been missing on IRC, I sure don't know what would. Vinnie adds:

"Probably the most polished remix I've heard from you yet, Roz. Very sophisticated, tasteful uses of synths and more traditional percussion to create a lush, spacious atmosphere. Good balance of doing your thing but keeping a tie to the source."

I dig Rozovian's minimalist sound, but have sometimes wanted just one additional element to compensate with elevated intricacy & complexity, and I think the drums filled that role here. The synth lead used at 3'13" is interesting, as it has the attack/characteristics of an ethnic wind instrument, and at times is articulated as such, but at other points is used for more synthetic arpeggio purposes. Bit of a chimera - the synth patch AND the overall mix - but I definitely dig it, and like the direction that it takes Rozovian's work.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
This mix is really clean and pristine, exactly what I've come to expect from Rozo at his best. Listening to the first version he posted above, it's really crazy to see how far this one has come. Good call on the hand percussion OA, it really gives this track a sense of motion and energy despite its chill-out-edness.

- Emunator on December 9, 2010
Well, shucks - I thought I reviewed this one. Ah well, better late than never, eh?
Well, you have a great grasp of the main theme in this one, which make me happy :-D. I always was amazed how FFIV integrated the main theme into nearly every track so seemlessly, and it really shows in this track... perhaps a little too much so to call it a 'Cry in Sorrow' remix, but hey, it's still sweet. Not much you can do there, though - you unintentionally turned it into a FFIV main melody remix by changing the harmonies around a little bit, lol.
It has your signature clean electronica sound to it, which the world needs more of, so I'm happy this is here. If people need something to chill to, this track will certainly do the trick.

- Gario on October 25, 2010
My favourite Rozovian track, and one of my favourites from EOBLOR. I love the soundtrack, which helps, but the execution here is (a) very appropriate, (b) very well done and (c) hits a nerve. I find I really like this kind of a track. It's a bit similar to [URL="http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00928/"]this ReMix[/URL], which is one of my favourites.
--Eino

- evktalo on October 25, 2010
The cool thing about this ReMix is if you just listen to it and try not to think about it, it seems like it's over just when it's starting, which is funny to me considering it's about five minutes long. I could chill out to this for a long time. I love pieces like this, and repeat listens are recommended.

- Crulex on July 9, 2010
love the original and love the remix. one of my favorites in the FFIV project. thumbs up.

- JaDE ARaN HaRuNo on July 4, 2010
Rozovian;652195 wrote: [URL="http://filesap.com/r/remixes/"]here[/URL]

directory "oldcrappystuff" found. This should keep me entertained for a while..
edit: aw, only two files..

- SoulinEther on March 8, 2010
Very poignant, has a nicely mournfully meandering melody to it.

- WesternZypher on March 8, 2010
loving the percussion. very detailed, your best posted mix to date imo :D
awesome work, keep them coming!

- halc on March 7, 2010
chenjesu;651092 wrote: Man... now I really want to hear how this sounds without the drums.

You can hear some previous versions [URL="http://filesap.com/r/remixes/"]here[/URL] (along with lots of other unfinished stuff and old versions of some mixes). I keep a lot of my older versions online. They might help someone learning to write or mix, they're a nice reminder of how badly I used to fail (so I can forget how much I fail nowadays), and it's fun to hear how far a track has come since the first version. Dunno when I added the drums, but my favorite comparison is between the first and second versions.
tbh, I'm not sure I like the drums here. The idea to use drums is sound, but imo I should have used different drums or different synths to keep their respective sounds a little more together. But hey, it got posted, director OA likes it, and as the album came out this was said to be one of those gems ppl might discover. So I don't mind. :D
Emperor Charlemagne;651549 wrote: My only desire and wish is that it could've been 10 minutes long; it feels like it ends too soon.

Thanks, but dude... I already stretched a repetitive circa 30 second source to 5 minutes. :P And went further with my posted Zelda mix. Patience, it'll be a while until I have the time to make a 10 minute behemoth. ;)

- Rozovian on March 5, 2010
This was a pretty nice & relaxing song for such a more dramatic/upbeat album.
I disagree with some of the thoughts about the drums - I feel like there's some interesting dynamic that's right at home with the drums, and that it adds to the piece.

- Bahamut on March 4, 2010
This is a great track. I really like the feel to it especially early on. I must agree with some of the other posts, I particularly enjoyed it because it was minimal. One thing that I felt hurt it though was that in my opinion it goes a little too far at times with the drums and some sounds.
That said, it's very enjoyable and I think that for most people this is well worth the listen!

- SChepulis on March 4, 2010
Have to admit, Rozo, that this is a pretty bitchin' track.
My only desire and wish is that it could've been 10 minutes long; it feels like it ends too soon.
Great minimal stuff.

- Emperor Charlemagne on March 3, 2010
This song took me back to 1996 because it has a very high Donkey Kong Country 3 soundtrack feel in it... those who played it will follow me

- vtenorio on March 2, 2010
Oh.... lots to like here... very polished stuff from rozo, and imo one of his more rewarding tracks, thanks to all the awesome textures, and touches... it goes seemlessly from one thing to the next, and the percussion really adds an element to his ambient music that I think has been lacking in his earlier ambient tracks (beyond velocity) :P
Nice work man, one of your best, not sure why I didn't pay more attention to this one before actually :D

- WillRock on March 2, 2010
I mean, I'm sure it was a good call, but you can't help but be curious.

- chenjesu on March 2, 2010