ReMix:Final Fantasy IV "Progressive Memory" 4:09

By timaeus222

cinematic new-age acoustic-guitar harp orchestral strings synth violin glitching

Arranging the music of 2 songs from 2 games ( view all )...

"Prelude", "Terra"

Primary Game: Final Fantasy IV (Square Enix , 2007, NDS), music by Nobuo Uematsu

Posted 2018-09-04, evaluated by Liontamer

We begin the week with a lovely cinematic/new age mashup of classic themes from FF4 & FF6, courtesy timaeus222 (Truong-Son Nguyen):

"Lately, I've been thinking about how big-name themes (e.g. "Aquatic Ambiance" vs. "Corridors of Time," etc.) might go together. Here, I combine two iconic themes: FF4's "Prelude" and FF6's "Terra" in an atmospheric/cinematic approach with some dubstep and light glitch elements. The title is a rather apt pun, given the background of how I wrote this, and how Terra began as an amnesiac.

This was inspired by Stephen Anderson; it primarily uses bell and pad textures from Spectrasonics' Omnisphere 2; a Chapman Stick from Trilian; 4Front's TruePianos; and various FM sounds from my Zebra2 soundbank, FM Variations. Glitching was via Illformed's Glitch 2, and some of the remaining stuff was from LA Scoring Strings, Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion, and Serum. The solo violin was Embertone's Friedlander, highly recommend it!

Compared to my other mixes, this one probably took the longest; it took over 3 years to write -- the reason being that I had gone through several memory reinstallations. I started this ReMix when I had 6GB RAM, and back then it was tough to get Omnisphere to not unload itself automatically because I was just above the 4GB 32-bit limit, so I was discouraged from actually working on it... Then my computer decided not to restart properly, which is when my dad helped me set up a new desktop with a faster processor... but only 4GB RAM (oops!). And in 2018, now that I've added memory to get 14GB RAM, everything worked out in the end -- now I don't have to worry about big libraries unloading on me anymore, and I was able to finish this! Hope you enjoy! :D"

Source Breakdown:

  • 0:13.8-0:24.4 = "Terra" (0:00.0-0:05.7)
  • 0:26.1-0:50.0 = "Terra" (0:05.7-0:17.7) + "Prelude" (0:00.0-0:40.5)
  • 0:53.4-1:28.9 = "Prelude" (0:40.5-1:20.9)
  • 1:28.9-2:02.3 = "Terra" (0:05.7-1:18.1) [foreground] + "Prelude" (0:00.0-0:40.5) [background]
  • 2:04.5-2:21.7 = "Terra" (1:18.1-1:45.2) + solo violin
  • 2:21.7-2:45.6 = "Terra" (0:05.7-0:17.7) + "Prelude" (0:00.0-0:40.5)
  • 2:48.9-3:24.5 = "Prelude" (0:40.5-1:20.9)
  • 3:24.5-3:41.7 = "Terra" (0:05.7-1:18.1) [foreground] + "Prelude" (0:00.0-0:40.5) [background]
  • 3:41.7-3:57.8 = "Terra" (1:18.1-1:45.2) + "Prelude" (0:00.0-0:40.5) [background] + "Prelude" (0:40.5-1:20.9) [solo violin]

I suddenly feel guilty for typing this on a laptop with 64GB of memory; the quantity & quality of work timaeus has produced using relatively meager specs is inspiring and impressive, to say the least. Great combination of sounds, textures, & melodic/harmonic input being churned into something peaceful, but modern. There are moments of delicate beauty, and while things never get downright dystopian, there are also edgier, more suspenseful bits that juxtapose the core elements with tasteful glitching & dubstep bass. Larry writes simply:

"Very nice work! A thing of beauty."

Indeed; I've always considered the prelude to be a mellow & uplifting theme, and "Terra" to be more dramatic & serious, but t222's done a great job of making them work together coherently. He's done that in part by leveraging a high quality & diverse set of sounds and textures, including patches from his own Zebra library, which is pretty dope (and good marketing, too!) - the end result sounds fantastic, swims with warmth & life, and creates a world where these themes can coexist and intermingle in interesting ways. Great stuff, one of his best, and very glad it survived three years worth of RAM upgrades to see the light of day - stunning!

― djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 8 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
timaeus222
on 2018-10-26 16:02:26
On 10/4/2018 at 8:55 AM, Ybrik Metaknight said:

Fantastic mix, very relaxing! Very nice job of blending the two popular themes.

I have to take issue with it being classified under FFIV, though. The only FFIV source is Prelude, which of course is one of the most frequently recurring themes in the FF series. In particular, the FFIV version of Prelude is, on a fairly basic level (i.e. ignoring specific instrumentation, soundfonts, etc.), musically identical to the versions of it from FFV, FFVII, FFIX, and, relevant to this mix, FFVI. In other words, I don't get what makes this an FFIV/FFVI mix (classified primarily under FFIV), and not just a straight FFVI mix. I felt like Terra was more prominent than Prelude anyway.....

But enough of me being a stickler for classification. Great job on this gorgeous mix, timaeus!

Yeah, I hear you; I chose FF4's prelude because it had the main melody that I have on the strings here. IIRC, I could have chosen FF1's prelude instead and it would have been basically the same.

Thanks all the same! This is one of my personal favorites of mine.

avatar
Ybrik Metaknight
on 2018-10-04 11:55:37

Fantastic mix, very relaxing! Very nice job of blending the two popular themes.

I have to take issue with it being classified under FFIV, though. The only FFIV source is Prelude, which of course is one of the most frequently recurring themes in the FF series. In particular, the FFIV version of Prelude is, on a fairly basic level (i.e. ignoring specific instrumentation, soundfonts, etc.), musically identical to the versions of it from FFV, FFVII, FFIX, and, relevant to this mix, FFVI. In other words, I don't get what makes this an FFIV/FFVI mix (classified primarily under FFIV), and not just a straight FFVI mix. I felt like Terra was more prominent than Prelude anyway.....

But enough of me being a stickler for classification. Great job on this gorgeous mix, timaeus!

avatar
Black_Doom
on 2018-09-10 13:02:25

1) Classic games? - Check!

2) Classic sources? - Check!

3) timaeus222? - Check!

4) Brilliant arrangement? - Check!

5) Orchestral music with a touch of agressive electronica? - Check!

Wow, it looks like I don't think I can find anything to dislike here at all! Wonderful job as always, tim! :)

avatar
timaeus222
on 2018-09-06 16:00:20
1 hour ago, Bowlerhat said:

This is really beautiful, I love it! I especially appreciate the small effects such as what I assume is some kind of rolling ball effect applied in the beginning and the ending. And the seamless mix of several electronic genres, and the intricate sounddesign and the overall atmosphere and the harmonic progressions and instrumentation and everything is basically just great.

Thank you, I really appreciate it! That was a tibetan bowl sound from Omnisphere. I think it was "Tibetan Bowls Shaking Doppler".

avatar
Bowlerhat
on 2018-09-06 14:47:48

This is really beautiful, I love it! I especially appreciate the small effects such as what I assume is some kind of rolling ball effect applied in the beginning and the ending. And the seamless mix of several electronic genres, and the intricate sounddesign and the overall atmosphere and the harmonic progressions and instrumentation and everything is basically just great.

avatar
GuJiaXian
on 2018-09-05 12:31:22

I've likewise been long waiting for this remix to be posted! It's a great one!

avatar
Souperion
on 2018-09-04 17:31:05

Been looking forward to this post since I heard it in the workshop. Two great sources woven into an exquisite piece brimming with life. Most excellent work.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2018-08-31 13:45:27

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs, 2 Games)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy IV (Square Enix , 2007, NDS)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu
Songs:
"Prelude"
Additional Game:
Final Fantasy VI (Square , 1994, SNES)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu
Songs:
"Terra"

Tags (9)


Genre:
Cinematic,New Age
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Acoustic Guitar,Harp,Orchestral,Strings,Synth,Violin
Additional:
Effects > Glitching

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_4_Progressive_Memory_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,389,584 bytes
MD5:
ec48dd8fc9d92f3cd412edbe7a08f62e
Bitrate:
234Kbps
Duration:
4:09

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