XPRTNovice
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Look, I'm not a statistician, so please spare me the standard deviation and epsilon null-hypothesis stuff. I was just curious so I crunched some numbers. Really, I was wondering about the more modern FFs and why nobody really bothers with them for the most part.
If you look at total amount of remixes across the board, they rank this way:
Final Fantasy II 1
Final Fantasy XIII 1
Final Fantasy III 2
Final Fantasy Legend II 2
Final Fantasy Tactics 2
Final Fantasy X-2 2
Final Fantasy XII 2
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest 3
Final Fantasy XI Online 4
Final Fantasy Adventure9
Final Fantasy V 20
Final Fantasy X 22
Final Fantasy IX 23
Final Fantasy 30
Final Fantasy VIII 30
Final Fantasy IV 47
Final Fantasy VI 85
Final Fantasy VII 104
7 is the clear top dog, with 6 and 4 following behind (albeit at pretty big margins). It looks like 1994-1998 were Square's "golden years" when it comes to people being interested in remixing their music.
But that really didn't take into account the fact that modern FF soundtracks have been available for less time. So I ran another comparison, this time comparing years on the market vs. remixes made. Again, from least to most, here is MIXES/YEAR
Final Fantasy II 0.09
Final Fantasy Legend II 0.09
Final Fantasy Tactics 0.13
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest 0.14
Final Fantasy X-2 0.20
Final Fantasy III 0.29
Final Fantasy XII 0.29
Final Fantasy XIII 0.33
Final Fantasy XI Online 0.40
Final Fantasy Adventure 0.41
Final Fantasy 1.30
Final Fantasy V 1.43
Final Fantasy IX 1.77
Final Fantasy X 1.83
Final Fantasy IV 2.14
Final Fantasy VIII 2.14
Final Fantasy VI 4.47
Final Fantasy VII 6.50
Again we see 7, 6, and 4 close to the top, with 8 now inching in there as well. Almost every game that has a remix ratio of 1 per year was on SNES and PSX. I used the North American release dates for these stats, so there's some wiggle room there and it skews the charts in FAVOR of 1, 2, 3, and 5. However, since you can see they still didn't really make the top of the charts, it didn't matter that much.
After looking at these stats, there are a couple of thoughts I had about why there is a clear bell curve basically between 1994-1998.
1.) The soundtracks are fucking awesome. This is my personal opinion, but I think Uematsu was at his prime during this period. He used themes to develop characters, something that didn't happen prior to this time period and really didn't happen afterwards (Final Fantasy VIII seemed to have a less character-oriented soundtrack and a more environment-oriented soundtrack. I don't know that I could whistle Quistis' 'theme', for example). Psychologically, if you become connected to the characters, you also, in a Pavlovian kind of way, become connected to the music. Those character themes became intensely personal, and therefore they fuel remixers' passions.
2.) The GAMES are fucking awesome. Again, personal opinion, but if you draw your finger down the top of the list you are basically listing my favorite games in order of preference. Having thoroughly enjoyed the games, we are more prone to want to attach ourselves to their soundtracks. I also have a particular hatred for Final Fantasy XIII, and the fact that the evidence proves its inadequacy is part of my confirmation bias.
3.) The age group of the majority of the remixing community. I gather that most of this community is between the ages of 22 and 35. I could be totally wrong, and I have no real evidence to support this, but I'm going with it anyway. That fact alone puts us at prime video-game playing age between the years of 1994 and 1998, when most of these games were coming out, before life sort of got in the way of chlidhood fantasies. This ALSO means that the games released during this time have the nostalgia effect associated with them. Remixing a song from this period tickles the same response as talking with an old friend about that time you threw eggs at cop cars in tenth grade.
4.) The character of the sound tracks for the top games. If you go to the NES Final Fantasies, themes are necessarily simplistic, and aren't as inspiring. You don't have a lot to "pull out" and play with - you have a melody and maybe some harmonies going on. (If you look at Zelda series remix statistics, I think you'd see the same effect). The SNES/PSX era had more complex themes, but they still had themes and variations and melodies that you could latch on to. By contrast, I couldn't really hum a tune from FFs 11, 12, or 13, partially because I have only played them once, and partially because the soundtrack is way more ambience-oriented than the SNES/PSX era. It was really sort of impossible to have ambient background music using SNES technology.
Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts after taking a look at this. I'm interested to hear what the rest of you think about it.
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I'm an experienced clarinet, alto saxophone, and guitar player with my own recording stuff. Let me know if you need anything.
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It's easy to spend forever just dicking around not really getting anything done, though. That can add up.
+1
For me I'm still pretty new, so it depends on what I'm trying to achieve. If I'm doing something I am familiar with (like a bluegrass arrangement), it'll probably take me 2-5 sessions of 3 hours each over the course of a week. If I'm unfamiliar with it OR there aren't many live instruments and I have to audition samples, it takes me much longer. That's one of the reasons I prefer to try and use whatever live skills I have first, and use synthetic samples as touch-ups. I don't always have that option.
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Would have loved to do this had I seen the thread sooner. I need to be better about browsing the forums...
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Hey guys,
I just got Komplete and Shreddage and wanted to play with it...I got word of a XMas song contest of sorts, and this is what I came up with this afternoon. Any thoughts? This is my first attempt at 100% synthetic music - I almost always have live performances in my mixes, and I've never used any of these patches before...or Kontakt, now that I think about it. Tips would be great.
https://soundcloud.com/xprtnovice/rest-in-pieces-merry-gentlemen
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Thanks guys! Between re-reading Rozo's guide and the stuff you all have provided, I've been consuming stuff for the last 24 hours. I'm still an idiot, but I'm getting there...
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You've given me a lot of food for thought, thanks. I also just found an electronic copy of a cubase manual at my local library that I am reading on my computer, and each section gives an intro with some basics before talking about the actual interface. I use Cubase almost exclusively, so this helps a lot.
Thanks
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Hey, thanks for those resources. I'll grab them when I have some extra money in my pocket. They ain't cheap!
I have 3 mixes pending including the 2 from the FF6 album, but I still needed a lot of help on the production side from some of the project directors. I still listen to OCRemixes and think "Wow, I have no idea how to make anything I do sound like that." And when I watch youtube tutorials and stuff, I myself flopping back and forth between understanding complicated subjects and balking at the most basic terms. That's why I'm looking for a "baseline".
Not the Taxi You Whistled For was 100% instruments, recorded live and modeled after a live performance so there wasn't much production for me to do. I think I had reverb in there, and maybe some EQ. When you get into producing synthetic music, I very quickly start to become at a loss for how to do anything beyond hitting the record button
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Well, having already read your guide, and having already gone through the G&T forum, I wanted to see if there was something that was more baseline. Titles like "Chiptunes Without a Tracker", "Guitar Amp Buyers Guide" and "A Gear Guide For Multiple Budgets" aren't going to answer the questions I was just talking about.
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So, you know how some pepole grew up fluently speaking Russian, for example, but then when they take a Russian class they fail?
That's me with music. I've been doing music since I was 8, but now that I'm getting into the remixing side of things I'm finding that I am asking those questions that make a room go silent. Questions like "what's a limiter" or "what's a compressor" and those sorts of things. I'm an instrument-player, not a remixer by trade, and the remixes I've had success with so far have largely been by accident.
I'm looking for a resource to bring me up to baseline. When to use EQ, when to use reverb, the difference between different types of reverbs...what the hell does mastering mean, vs. mixing...what's automation and how do I apply it...what the hell is quantizing? etc. I can go out and search youtube tutorials for the next three years, but that's a crapshoot.
Any suggestions?
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Holy shit, this site is a dream come true. I've always wanted to audit classes if I'm interested in a topic, and if these are any quality at all I am going to spend all of my free time on the site.
Signed up for both courses you recommended and I'm hunting for more. Thanks for posting this!
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I think the most important thing to do is listen. Different styles have different characteristics that make a solo distinctly "fit" inside that genre. As a jazz musician, I'm speaking primarily from a jazz perspective, but here's what I've noticed over the years about some different stlyes as an example:
Django (1920's gypsy jazz): heavy influence on the 6th, both in major and minor keys, give the style it's wacky tonality
Prog metal: Modes and arpeggios, modes and arpeggios...
Blues (and a lot of rock): relies heavily on the pentatonic for composing melodies
Those are just a few examples, but you might notice that while it's hard to tell why somtehing fits, if you try to play a prog solo over a gypsy jazz background, it sounds really weird.
I hope that helps.
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I'll bring the Novice Saxophone and jam
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I just found out about this, and I'm new to OCR (first mix was accepted in April and still hasn't posted, but I have 3 more coming out soon I hope). I live <45m from this location, and I think I'll be making an appearance to meet you all but I'll have to see how it goes. I actually can't even get to the webpage right now to see what it is, but I love music, and I love conventions, so it can't be too bad.
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Hey - does anyone know of any great black Friday deals for music gear that can be accessed online? I got a mic stand and some guitar stands at Sweetwater/Musicians friend but mostly the music industry is bringing it weak from what I see so far...
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Easily one of my top 5 favorite remixes that have ever been made. The Hebrew singing is redonkulously fitting and there's just so much power in this mix that it makes my brain hurt.
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Love this one. The lyrics are very cleverly done and well sung with a good, rough voice quality that's sort of punk but not enough punk to make it tacky.
Absolutely love the drum work and the drum production, the way it's panned really adds a whole lot of depth to the mix.
And I love the part that leads up to the singer screaming "Let me out of here." Pumps me up every time.
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I've listened to this four times in the last few days because it's just awesome. As a jazz musician and piano player, I bow down to Shnabubula and his keyboarding skills, and the intricate drum work is fantastic. It is easily one of my favorite OCRemixes of all time.
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F@*K YEAH Larry. Thank you. This made everything so much easier.
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Hey, don't worry about it. This song is already done and on its way on to FF6 Balance and Ruin. There's no need for a mod review
I'll change it to finished here in a second. -
Dude, this is pretty bangin. The only thing I would say is that your guitar and arranging work is so good that I would have liked to hear some better orchestral sampling behind it, just something that sounded more realistic, but I understand everyone has constraints when it comes to that sort of thing. The core of the prog-metal stuff is just great.
Other minor critique is that the drums sound a tad out of time at 6:15 ish, like they might be dragging behind the guitar a bit. Or maybe the guitar is rushing.
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Definitely pretty much sobbed at the FF Distant Worlds concert. But there was more to it than just the quality of the music (though it was awesome)
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try this link: http://soundcloud.com/xprtnovice/gobble-snarf-snap
Thanks for the praise! I'm excited about this track and another one that is going to be on Balance and Ruin.
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Have a happy!
Is VGM starting to gain public acceptance?
in General Discussion
Posted
This. I was thinking, though, that VGM hasn't beome more acceptable as much as it has come in line with mainstream/modern music. If you were to fire up the FF6 OST in your car tomorrow and blast it at a stop light, you'd probably get some weird looks. But if you were to fire up the FFXIII OST, you'd get a different reaction, mostly because people would have a hard time distinguishing it from something they'd hear in a movie or on the radio.