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OCR01062 - Xenogears "Live from the Yggdrasil"


djpretzel
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Yes, friends, this is piano. I'll say it again: THIS is piano. No bullshit 1-5-8-5 left hand patterns for 3 minutes here. Highly colorful, expressive performance and an innovative arrangement. If you can find it in the archives of WIPs, also listen to the very, very first cut of this remix, which is even more candid (yet not as polished--which I think can be a good thing in the right contexts) than this one. I am envious!

MC

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IF YOU DO NOT GET THIS YOU WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Strong left hand indeed. After listening to many other piano arrangements in my lifetime, you can just automatically pick it up that the left hand is genius because you can hear all these sounds you've never heard of that flow perfectly, as if they were coming from some unknown third hand. I can say the second half is my favorite because after all the listens from way back when I heard it in the WIP board, at least one part of that section still gets me thinking away from everything I'm doing and into EMOTIONAL MODE GO GO GO.

IN CONCLUSION I AM DEAD FROM LISTENING TO THE BEST PIANO SONG EVER

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Sweet Christ, this is balls-out good piano. This is very different from other solo piano stuff on this site and very much in a good way. I could probably listen to this a lot more than a lot of the more conservatively arranged solo piano mixes here. The, erm, loungey/bluesy/jazzy playing at the start is really sweet, as I have big respect for people who can play that kind of stuff. The second half is also very impressive, with a strong sense of emotion. That ending is kinda wack though...Why scrape the piano strings? =| Anyways, major kudos from me. I sure as hell hope you make more stuff.

:nicework:

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I like this. at first there were parts that i didnt like. There were points where there was a"Swing" tempo that made the song sound odd. I was sorta thinking in terms of the original song. My mistake. Then i listend more, and more, and more, and then i realised that this is a beautiful piano piece with almost no flaws, and that I WAS the one who was wrong. This ranks up there with kLuTz's 600 AD in Piano as one of my favorite New Piano Mixes.

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I have been listening to OCRemix's remixes for quite some time now, I was overwhelmed by finding this site many many months ago being a life-long game player, and fan of game music for my entire life...but most of all, I am a huge fan of Xenogears (Not to mention Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, etc...) and of Yasunori Mitsuda. His music is inspiring, and beautiful. I have very much enjoyed listening to the many remixes of Xenogears music, but this one...this one made me cry. Honestly, at about 3:36:00 I heard this main theme and almost died in my computer chair. Props to the remixer, props to Mitsuda of course, and props to OCRemix. Without ocremix, I don't know how I could continue living. I look forward to hearing more great music, great remixes from the many artists who contribute to this great project, this great site, and I hope to hear more of Yasunori Mitsuda's compositions redone to this calibur. Peace all, and keep the music flowing.

yasumitsuda

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Being a pianist myself, I can really hear the talent and skill that went into this mix. This is seriously professional sounding stuff. The first stuff sounds like what I would do when I get bored and want to fool around on some cool blues chords, but the second half. WHOA 8O . My first, and still lasting impression is George Winston. George Winston is one of my all-time favorite solo pianists and his works are very much like this piece, string scraping and all. I have no doubt that he was an Inspiration to Jiggin John. Again, I cannot stress how much those who enjoy good piano stuff, or just good music for that matter, should get this piece.

GET IT NOW

I've been listening to it for a half hour straight, and it isn't close to being old yet. I can't WAIT for more from JJT. Good work, this is WAY up there with the other awesome pieces (Neskvartetten and others).

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This is a wierd mix, when it starts. The first several minutes are very reminiscent of the music you'd hear in a Charlie Brown cartoon. To be blatantly honest, although it evidenced incredible piano skills, I'm no big fan of the first, oh, 3 1\2 minutes.

HOWEVER!

The last two minutes and 47 seconds of this mix are so incredible, I darn near peed myself. Mixes like this are the reason you should always listen to a mix all the way through before passing judgement. This last part is incredible stuff. My props to JonT for setting a new standard!

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Quite an amazing piece, and entirely different from what I was expecting given JigginJonT's Chrono Trigger piece. Damn, though - this is definitely a very beautiful and creative piano arrangement with all the little bits and pieces that go deep and show real heart was put into this.

Yeah, 5 stars n' such :D

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DOWNLOAD NOW. Get it. Jazz piano at its finest. Hell, piano at its finest. Heck, arrangement at its finest. IN FACT I'd go as far as to say music at its finset. Exquisitely performed, perfectly arranged and a musical journey of pure enjoyment. I could loop this song over and over again and not get sick of it. Fantastic, fantastic.

I especially like the unique sound at the end which I think is scratching the piano strings...I'm still waiting for a prepared piano piece to appear on OCR - and hopefully JiggityTitty will be the first to deliver. :)

Here's to more awesome piano arrangements and a huge congrats to JiggyTman for a fantastic mix.

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thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. As for the question(s) involving the piano string scraping at the end:

The string scraping is just me making a musical nod toward Ben Folds. This piece was heavily influenced by his playing and songwriting, especially his work with Ben Folds Five. For an example of string scraping used in this manner check out the song "Smoke" off of the album "Whatever and Ever Amen." It's a very different color to add to music, and I thought it'd be an interesting way to conclude this piece.

The disco bassline on the lefthand, and the forearm slamming were also direct tributes to Ben. Anyway, if you're not familiar with any of his work, and you liked this song, you should definetly check him out, cuz he's a lot better than I am.

-Jon

edit: grammer

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Get. This. NOW.

This is the shit, plain an' simple. I never imagined the original could sound like this. And once the Ben Folds inspiration was mentioned, I definitely hear it. I can practically seehim up on the stage playing most of this.

The only constructive criticisms I can possibly think to offer:

1) In the 1:10-1:30ish section, I really missed the bass. By itself, piano get growl-ey when you pound in the low register, and Ben POUNDS. I worked as a sound tech at one of Ben's stops on his summer tour and the piano technician didn't stop grumbling about how much he banged on the instrument. That rough feeling I'm talking about really comes through in his playing, especially with the amount of bass we pumped through the hall. I don't know whether it was Ben himself or a sound tech, but they made sure we didn't skimp on the bass.

(As an afterthought, I tried listening to it with everything below 250 on the EQ pumped as high as WMP takes it and, minus the distortion, it sounds much better and way more like I remember from this summer.)

2) The scrapey things really didn't do anything for me... I suspect it was just the way they turned out that I'm not crazy about. Certainly didn't take anything away though, I still love the mix. =)

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What really stands out for me here is how fluid the arrangement is- it doesn't sound forced; it's like the original was *supposed* to be done this way. A great deal of contrast between sections- both in style and expression; the overall form of this mix is really top-notch.

And piano playing just feels so loose and natural- so fitting for the style. Strumming inside the piano at the end was a *really* nice touch as well.

There's nothing that I can really pick out as needing work- the whole piece simply comes across as very mature and well-done.

Definitely one of the best remixes I've heard. Very nice work.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Wow... This has got to be my favorite piano arrangement on OCR. Amazing stuff. After hearing kLuTz's work, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to find a better arrangement - but here I am, and I have to say, this is awesome.

One of the greatest things about this is the fact that it's two distinct styles in one song. I love the more jazzy first half, but I must say that the sweeping, emotional latter part that kicks in a little after 3:30 is just amazing. It reminds me of a John Tesh piano album... (Which I consider to be a very good thing!)

Outstanding stuff - there is so much variety, it just doesn't get old. I'll be listening to this one for a long time to come.

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  • 6 months later...
  • Liontamer changed the title to OCR01062 - Xenogears "Live from the Yggdrasil"

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