horn1

Adding Wagner tuben is pretty much the last comment I would have expected! Sadly, my orchestra doesn't own them, though some folks in town have Jinbao tuben (which aren't great). So, I don't think that's going to happen on this chart... but what I can do is play different instruments (I have four, and access to more), and different mouthpieces, and vary mic placement a bit. All of this feedback is really useful and appreciated! I think a lot of these issues can be solved or improved pretty easily... The score is a little sparse on dynamics and articulation markings, and that's an easy fix for varying tone colors and pacing, and reducing repetitiveness. There's only one short section that has no original source in it, and that's for about 3 bars at ~5:43-5:48... and now that you mention it, it does feel like something's missing there. The only other ostinato that gets played without any melodic material over (or under) it is this stuff... ... which is actually straight out of the original source. It's also in the horn parts of the orchestral arrangements that I've played, which is why I let it be so prominent... It's one of those things you hear a lot during the first playable section of the game.

I guess my main curiosity is whether the arrangement is either too ambitious or too conservative. I'm very used to dealing with complicated scores at my day job, so I'm not sure whether something that sounds perfectly clear to me will be obvious for others, or whether my stodgy classically derived ideas are fun enough (I've been known to listen to entire Bruckner Symphonies *for fun*). The first ~1:45 is basically a new composition made up from Uematsu's themes, which gives way to some of the original opening theme at 2:06. Then the bombing mission starts with a tense scherzo, again built mostly from original material but with some new rhythmic ostinato accompaniment. I'm trying to paint a picture of some pre-mission activity and jitters, considering the game's first FMV and what's likely happening on the train as the curtain rises. Uematsu's bass lines become these sneaky/meandering interjections a couple octaves above their original pitch. Things settle back into a groove of a slightly longer melody at 3:06. Then more tension builds until 3:52 where it finally finds a straightforward groove. Anywho... I'm curious what folks here will make of it!

Hello! FFVII Overture for 8 Horns This is my arrangement of the opening and bombing mission from Final Fantasy VII, for eight horns (all parts played by me). In the interest of turning this into more of a proper operatic overture, some other themes and leitmotifs make appearances as well, including Sephiroth, a melody from "Fight on!", and themes from Cid and Jenova. Does this sort of thing fit here at OCRemix? I wrote this arrangement in hopes of someday actually finding people to perform it with, and it's very much geared towards being playable live, though it's tricky here and there. I've been making recordings like this as a way to stay busy and keep my chops up during Covid-times. The track is in what I'd normally call a "pre-production" state, as I usually shoot video during recording and composite things together for youtube as a "virtual performance." (So, this is mic'd a bit closer and more "direct" sounding than what I'd put out for a finished product, but it's handy to hear it this way while laying tracks down for real).

Hello! I'm a long-time listener by association: my wife has been a huge fan of OCR for a long time. I've loved game music since my first NES back in 1989. Big fan of all things Zelda, Uematsu's Final Fantasy scores, and the earlier Castlevanias. I'm a full time professional classical musician: I'm the assistant principal (french)horn player in the San Diego Symphony. We are mostly a classical music institution, but we're also the orchestra for San Diego Opera, and we do a huge outdoor summer pops season on the waterfront right next to the San Diego convention center. So, I've had some really fun opportunities to play things like Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, Video Games Live, and best of all, the Final Fantasy shows, Distant Worlds & Final Symphony. Since my orchestra is mostly sidelined because of covid, I've been making "virtual performance" horn ensemble videos for the last several months. This week, I dusted off an old arrangement I did of the prelude from Castlevania III, so I figured it might be time to come introduce myself here... https://youtu.be/mU8aIW8unXk Cheers!