OceansAndrew

Unacceptable. I'll fix it.

wait.. missing disc 1? like it's not there?

hey dude, those responses are far from wildly negative. kickass track still/

maybe mine too >_>

Thank you everyone! My first ever OCR birthday thread! ^_____^

vote please.

SUBBED ON BEHALF OF JAY: Alright...where to start. This track, Zeromus, was originally conceived by me and OA as the finale track to the FF4 project Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption. And later blew up to be something well beyond either of our control. It is a result of all the people around us in the project and actually came together rather haphazard. We never could have imagined a track like this from the start. We started only knowing we wanted it to be faster and more intense than the original and were already planning on having Justin (Nutritious) come in for the orchestra. I originally had the idea of just a bombastic instrumental but when Andrew (OA) started talking about using vocals is when it took off. We first had the idea for just a female vocalist and came up with the concept to have the lead be the embodiment of the prayers from the storyline in the game. Naturally we now needed the voices of the prayers, and who better to enlist than all the members of the project as a collective choir. I went and tracked down every single person from the project to enlist. About 22 people were able to come through and I am proud to say I used every track given to me from all the singing (Larry the Liontamer included) to the spoken word section during the female entrance. In a rough order of who supplied the most material the choir is made up of: Children of the Monkey Machine, DragonAvenger, Vampire Hunter Dan, Moonlapse, audio fidelity, OA, The Prophet of Mephisto, bustatunez, Mazedude, Level 99, Liontamer, theultravisitor, Loka Lafevre, Nathan Rich, Long Dao, Wiesty, Rozovian, Hy Bound, AeroZ, Abadoss, Avaris, and Ramaniscence. We were able to get my composition teacher’s wife actually who came though and did a fantastic job as the lead female. Marcin Bela, my teacher was a big help for the song who guided me with lots of feedback and was the one who suggested the key change. How the male lead came about was kinda by accident. He showed me these tracks where he was screaming his guts and I took note of that later coming to the realization that this track could use a real Zeromus antagonist to heighten the drama and intensity. And the track from there became the rock opera epic that it would become. I ended up taking over the direction of the track and laying down a bare-bones template for OA and Nutritious to follow. They did a fantastic job really bringing everything out I hoped for for the track. Andrew (OA) helped out with a lot of the arrangement, did all of the guitar work, and together, he and I wrote the lyrics inspired from the game. I generally wrote the female and male leads, and Andrew wrote the background Zeromus narrative and choir parts. Connor (Cyril the Wolf) improv’d the breakdown section where he loses it and helped out with a line or two of the other parts. I wanted it to be fresh for him to do that improv so I actually begged him to wait months and months to not listen to the track and lose the feeling of it being a fresh take. Thanks Connor! I am also rather thankful for Justin not killing me with all the tempo changes and modulations that made his job a complete nightmare. You did an awesome job buddy. The plot here is simple if you know the game. Cecil and crew do battle with the ultimate bad guy who is living on their moon, that is the most hateful son of a gun around - Zeromus. He actually is killed before their eyes but is brought back to life; which is where the lyrical narrative from Zeromus comes from in the whispers and background screaming parts. In the story, everyone is knocked down and it seems like all hope is lost but what ends up happening is everyone on Earth is wishing and praying that the group will defeat this evil. It is their words of encouragement that ultimately guide the group to victory and which is the premise for our arrangement. We have the lead female (embodiment of the prayers) enter accompanied by the choir’s words of inspiration to make the connection of who she is. From there we have the narrative being delivered by the choir and Zeromus who actually goes back in forth with the ones fighting for the future of the planet. We have a section where the two trade off with different levels of intensity with their backing arrangement signaling their contrast. The chorus comes in as an actual battleground section where the instruments enter together and fight for dominance. The first time around we find Zeromus quite powerful and unrelenting. Which gives way later to his own breakdown in our breakdown. We then take a moment to reflect with the choir almost losing the hope to go on. But find the strength and from there ramp back up for battle and in the 2nd chorus to find Zeromus losing control and ultimately the battle. The original source is littered throughout every section of the mix. The Breakdown where Zeromus losing it being all based on expanding that awesome dissonant syncopated section from the source. The only original section comes in the chant which is actually a borrowed section from OA’s previous track ‘Eminence Gris’ uniting the two together but still keeping with the motif of the source bassline through the progression. The OCReMix edit sadly needed to be cut short for the sake of quality and lost this section but it is included on the final release. The mix was quite complex with about 255 choir takes maxing out my logic session and another 100+ tracks counting busses in the final mix. I tried my best but was fortunate to be able to get some help from zircon in the final stages. I sent him all the tracks with my volume automation and he tweaked things and mastered the track to get things to where you hear it now. Thank you Andy. Other people to thank are Gary Earl and Audix for their awesome feedback that helped the track and for their stabs at mastering the track which were all fantastic in my opinion. I really think this is the only track in the world that is actually deserving of something this ambitious and it is again the result only because of the people around me. This track has been a wonderful testament to what the community can accomplish together and I am so thankful for everyone; it became ultimately what it wanted to be and was out of my hands. I would also suggest checking out the ff4 website for some extra bonus tracks inspired by this mix. Justin (Nutritious) is doing an arrangement focusing on the orchestra and voices with him actually taking over the part of Zeromus in an operatic way. And I am putting together an atonal version where all the parts will be played with just grand pianos. CotMM is also putting together an extended version of his take on the source. Who knows what else may come up. The entire list of people connected to this track are as follows: audio fidelity, Nutritious, OA, lisabela, Cyril the Wolf, Children of the Monkey Machine, DragonAvenger, Vampire Hunter Dan, Moonlapse, The Prophet of Mephisto, bustatunez, Mazedude, Level 99, Liontamer, theultravisitor, Loka Lafevre, Nathan Rich, Long Dao, Wiesty, Rozovian, Hy Bound, AeroZ, Abadoss, Avaris, Ramaniscence, Marcin Bela, Gary Earl, Audix, and zircon Breakdown of credits: audio fidelity: arrangement, lyrics, drums, synths Nutritious: orchestra OA: guitar, arrangement, lyrics lisabela: female lead (prayer), and supporting female parts Cyril the Wolf: male lead (zeromus) Zeromus Choir: Children of the Monkey Machine, DragonAvenger, Vampire Hunter Dan, Moonlapse, audio fidelity, OA, The Prophet of Mephisto, bustatunez, Mazedude, Level 99, Liontamer, theultravisitor, Loka Lafevre, Nathan Rich, Long Dao, Wiesty, Rozovian, Hy Bound, AeroZ, Abadoss, Avaris, and Ramaniscence. special thanks: Marcin Bela, Gary Earl, Audix, and zircon

Agreed. Larry, man up and make it happen.

happy birthday guys!

+ 1 cobbler here please. This thread is no longer about FF4 and is now about delicious desserts.

2006-2007: Everyone on OCR wants to be BT. 2008-2009: Everyone on OCR wants to be pendulum. Anyways, overall hot stuff, I liked the variation of styles you used, and the transitions were pretty good. I did think you kindof Lazied-up the Anxious heart segment- there was a lot of room in that breakdown for some extra expansion, but between the additional harmonies, rhythms, and general treatment of making several themes fit together as a whole, this is nice. intro runs a bit long, but there is plenty-o-source here. yes

http://nutritious.oceansend.com/Nutritious%20-%20The%20Masked%20Man.mp3 also, via Justin: "lowered bassline volume in the section at 1:40 (the breakdown, solo trumpet section), it's bothered me for some time now cause it covered all the stuff going on"

The Oji'isim "cruise control" certainly applies to this. I do agree that this is way similar to the original, but it's pleasant. It really doesn't change throughout, and besides a sound upgrade, there isn't a lot on the table. Sorry dude, i dig the vibe, but it's not expanded on enough. Adding some new structure, some counterpoint, some rhythmic changeups, the possibilities are pretty extensive, so pick a direction and go for it! no

zircon u nuub pilotwings was first on the SNES and the sequel was on n64!!! OMG get it right!!!@

Definitely a huge step up from Nekofrog- tight and punchy with good tone and some great gallops. I am really feeling this. Total winner- there's absolutely no reason to miss this one.

happy birthday dude, I hope you are having a great time.

That guitar sample is a little distracting but there is enough of a performance with it and variation that it definitely works and there is a lot of care put into it. I'll echo the sentiment that some of the direct sampling can be trimmed, I'd focus on the stuff at the end i think, but a little can go from both sides. Great breakdowns and pretty effective tempo changes, and though I am aching for some live guitar up in this, I certainly won't turn my nose up. Cool synths and orchestra, and decent beats, but I think one thing you should focus on upcoming tracks is making some natural fills and really making the drums come alive. You have a good ear for writing cool patterns, but having some one-off tom hits here and there, or a slightly altered rhythm for a split second before returning to your regularly scheduled groove would take it to the next level. Cut that direct sampling down and this is a go! yes

no I think that speaks for itself.

i think that rule is probably outdated.

I hope in this expansion, we get to finally uncover the secrets of Naxxramas! Seriously though, i'm excited.

Really nice stuff, with some good additions to the original, and a great breakdown section. Structurally it's very similar, but I am definitely feeling this one. Great percussion and i am loving the harp glissando's. Well played, sir. I dig it.

Have a great birthday, my friend. Eat a coffeecake

(you guys missed my joke)

I for one will NEVER listen to this if it is called VGDJ and doesn't have Pixie and Zircon! They were the originals!! I shall be boycotting this product.

Let me know if i'm not doing this right, guys. REMIXER- OA If you need a detailed breakdown, let me know, but I think it's pretty self explanatory.