OCR01130 - Final Fantasy VI "Squaresoft Variation"

[jeremysoule]

Dear Overclocked Remixers,

I decided to create a "remix" for two reasons. First, I love Nobuo Uematsu. He was the whole reason I became a composer at Squaresoft many years ago. Secondly, I want to show my support for all of the great work that you, the remixers, are doing here and that your work and your enthusiasm is appreciated by many of us in the industry. We all strive to be our best and often, music can be a struggle. However, the love of music is why we are all here.

On a technical note, my remix was done with both commercially available libraries (Gigastrings.com) and also proprietary sounds that we have made over the years here at Artistry. The brass, winds and percussion were all part of the Artistry library. The verb was a Lexicon 960L and everything was mixed in Logic. Gigastudio is my tool of choice and the work was sequenced in Logic Platinum on a G5. For expression, I used something called a Kurzweil Expressionmate for ribbon control--this thing is great, it looks like a sword but offers a large work area for control. Orchestral music requires a ton of controller data information.

I wish everyone the very best! Keep up the remarkable work.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Soule

Proud recipient of the 2004 British Academy award (BAFTA) for "Best Score--Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Best Score" from Gamespy for "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"

[nostalgic gen]

Was there an article about you in Sound On Sound magazine recently? I got zero results when I searched for your name but, all the same, I remember seeing a recent Harry Potter game in an article about someone.

[ShiroSynth]

Proud recipient of the 2004 British Academy award (BAFTA) for "Best Score--Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Best Score" from Gamespy for "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"

Hah, love the sig. Really sticks you in the eye

[herograw]

Proud recipient of the 2004 British Academy award (BAFTA) for "Best Score--Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Best Score" from Gamespy for "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"

Hah, love the sig. Really sticks you in the eye

yeah, except... it's not a sig.

-rob

[Nase]

wow.

thanks for a snes soundtrack that deeply touched/thrilled a 9 year old boy. i dont think i even recognized that it was the music that made SoE so magic to me back then. I just somehow felt very involved in the rather dark atmosphere of that game despite the crappy jokes

enjoying your remix a lot. wish i had at least the devices for creating epic stuff like that

ok, thats what i had to say.

thankya kindly, Mr. Soule.

and next week id like to have Hiroki Kikuta on OC.

[nachokun]

I've checked the file for clipping - none detected.

This is a well-produced and exceptional orchestral arrangement. For that, my commendation goes to you, Mr. Soule.

[Altima]

I know I'm pretty low key around here, and I haven't made any remixes, but I've been listening to them for at least 3 years now on this site, I have to say hats off to this one!

Allow me to be the ten-millionth gushing forum user to say Thank You, Mr Soule, both for letting the good people who make these mixes know that they are appreciated by the original artists and for contributing such a great arrangement. No doubt your schedual is packed, and I understand the demands made on game music is going up more and more these days, but I wonder if you will attempt this sort of thing again, considering the praise you have so deservedly garnered this time? Of course, it must be much more satisfying to be able to create your own works, though.

Anyway, on another note, one person whom I'd love to see give an opinion or, daresay a remix, would be Jesper Kyd, the man behind the Hitman and Freedom Fighters soundtracks. He's made some very interesting music, and his work is probably underrepresented here at OCR. But I get off topic. This is a wonderous remix which has brought life to a theme that has been done again and again on this site, and I believe it has helped us realize just why we loved the original anyway! Thanks, again!

[Gwilym]

this is very good - last time a remix by a prominent game composer was posted here and hyped up, it was shit. but this definitely deserves the praise it's receiving. i don't like how much attention it's drawing compared to the other arrangements, but i can understand why it's getting it.

it's a very nice variation. my only real complaints are that it should be longer, and use more of the original theme. but it's good. a few technical issues, but they only become apparent while wearing headphones, and sound more like problems that arose during the conversion of the track to an MP3 rather than anything that happened during the song's production.

and yeah, i'd like to hear jesper do something too. i personally think he's underrepresented not because his work is lacking, but because most of it is a bastard to remix. i've tried.

[Ardus]

This song gave me so many warm feelings of nostalgia inside. Even though it is Terra's theme, Mr. Soule truly made it his own. This Remix reminds me of setting out for adventure after escaping from Narshe in Final Fantasy 6. But somehow, it also reminds me of exploring on Morrowind, dungeon crawling on Neverwinter Nights, and playing SoE at my old friend from across the streets' house, all memories that I treasure. This song will definitely remain on my playlist as long as I listen to game music.

[xamgis]

This is fantastic! I don't think there's much more to say than that.

[archlyn]

I've died and gone to Heaven. Seriously. Not only is this a kickass song, It's made by none other than the same composer of one of my current faavorite titles, Neverwinter Nights. I LOVE that. Hats off to you, Mr Soule. I Sincerely hope this will not be the last we hear of you

[Bahamut]

Proud recipient of the 2004 British Academy award (BAFTA) for "Best Score--Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Best Score" from Gamespy for "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"

Whoa, I didn't know he created the soundtrack to Knights of the Old Republic!

[WingsOfFire]

Wow. I must say, when I saw that this remix was submitted by a professional, I was amazed. Then I heard it. I'm still listening to it (and no, I will not let it stop until I'm sick of it). Terra's theme has always been one of my favorite video game character themes; I like to just sit and listen to it when I play the game (I do this with Schala's theme as well when I get to that point in Chrono Trigger, just let the game rack up hours while I sit and listen to her theme), and if FF6 was ever remade into a FFX/FFX-2-esque game (with the nice, pretty graphics and FMV's), I can see this piece being used. I especially love the grand finale, and the song gives me chills while listening to it.

It also sends memories back of when I first played FF6 on Final Fantasy Anthology (and then later on my boyfriend let me play his SNES version ).

This will stay on my list of favorite remixes from OCR.

[Evilhead]

Wow, I couldn't believe it when I saw that Jeremy Soule had submitted a remix. A very cool moment in OCR history! As far as the song itself, it's of course wonderful. Beautiful all around, and it's an arrangement of one of my favorite video game themes. Just perfect.

Mr. Soule, I've been a fan of yours for quite a while... Thanks so much for submitting this great piece. It's very cool for you to do something like this!

[Shonen Samurai]

Even if it wasn't Jeremy Soule who did this, I still would have liked it.

An enormous gesture. An excellent mix.

[Squall379]

To truly appreciate it I had to turn my speakers up a lot louder than I usually do but now that I can hear it clearly ( ), this is a great mix. It didn't hit me with the impact that 'Terra In Black' did and I think that is still my favorite Terra theme. But it is still a great mix and it is very inspiring and very cool that a composer of his caliber notices "little old" OCR.

[NoWave]

Just... wow.

This remix is fantastic, the instruments sound so real!

Btw, am I the only person who can hear a heavily back mixed flute playing "Tonight, tonight" from west side story during the quiet part?

But never mind all that, lets just sit and be awed by this man...

[Rhombus]

I find it amusing and kind of strange that given the abundantly warm welcome this remix has found at this site, that PC game soundtracks are still under-represented and under-appreciated at this, and many other game soundtrack communities. Does it take a remix of a console classic for Mr. Soule to earn some well-deserved recognition? I mean, this track is great... the original is a favorite of mine, and Mr. Soule certainly does it justice in this remix. I'm just saying that his own ORIGINAL pieces in games like Icewind Dale, Giants: Citizen Kabuto (which had just an AWESOME soundtrack), Neverwinter Nights, Morrowind, and Star Wars: KotoR are absolutely wonderful (in my opinion, even better than this remix) and don't really get the praise and attention they should. Maybe because they're PC games, maybe because they're non-Japanese games, I dunno.

[Andricon]

I chose this track for my first review for several reasons. The greatest of which is because it forced me to address the question, “What makes a remix original, what makes one art, and what makes a remix a butchered piece of garbage?” One could write a whole book about such a topic, but for the sake of time and eye-strain, I will address such abstracts as they pertain solely to this track.

I was expecting little more than your every-day, average cover, that placed too much emphasis on the more memorable and recognizable segments of the original score. We hear it all the time in various remixes: Where the “artist” focuses too much on “that one part” of a track.

Having said that, I was prepared for an enjoyable, though thoroughly debased remix (an all too common occurrence with covers). However, shortly within the first minute, this track established itself as something more. I was surprised as the artist started to venture away from the original score, and even more so when I found it was done in a very passionate, original, and appropriate way. The track suddenly walked the line between a well done remix and a completely new piece that was refreshingly reminiscent of something I was familiar with. The artist has succeeded in not only taking this track in a new direction, but competently integrating their newly stylized segments into the original. That is what makes this piece art: It remains true to the original while contributing something completely unique in itself. It’s easy to tell that a lot of thought was put into this track. There are some forgivable flaws in this track, which will go without mention as they are thankfully and fortunately outshined by the sheer magnitude and complexity that is brought to this track. Just as well, since I would only appear to be a nit-picking elitist, as I am a fan of Baroque/Romance music. This is the kind of music that raises the bar a notch, and justly so, many will never surpass it.

Perhaps only an industry professional, or the Warsaw Philharmonic, could have done better. Bravo.

[edit]The above line was written without knowing (or caring) who the composer is, and without knowledge of their previous works, and professional credits.[/edit]

[nostalgic gen]

I find it amusing and kind of strange that given the abundantly warm welcome this remix has found at this site, that PC game soundtracks are still under-represented and under-appreciated at this, and many other game soundtrack communities. Does it take a remix of a console classic for Mr. Soule to earn some well-deserved recognition? I mean, this track is great... the original is a favorite of mine, and Mr. Soule certainly does it justice in this remix. I'm just saying that his own ORIGINAL pieces in games like Icewind Dale, Giants: Citizen Kabuto (which had just an AWESOME soundtrack), Neverwinter Nights, Morrowind, and Star Wars: KotoR are absolutely wonderful (in my opinion, even better than this remix) and don't really get the praise and attention they should. Maybe because they're PC games, maybe because they're non-Japanese games, I dunno.

This is possibly a subject for discussion in its own right. If it's any consolation I'm currently working on a remix of a pc game. But that's for a different thread..

[Pherexio]

I must say I'm impressed. Terra's them is my all-time favourite character theme, and this mix has taken to a whole new level! I have this song occur 8 times on my playlist of 14. All 14 of those are Terra's theme mixes, and I usually skip the other ones to get to this one! Simply amazing, and a piece to be remembered for a long time to come. 5/5 for you, Mr. Soule!

[Broken_Wind]

The only real complaint I have about this song is the length. I mean, it really should be around 5, possibly even 6 hours long to properly satisfy me. That aside, all I can say is "DAMN.", because there are no words in English to properly describe this. so, DAMN.

This guy has made other music? Why don't I already own it?

[TheWanderer]

Wow. This has to one of the most incredible versions of this song I've ever heard. Scratch that, it's one of the best orchestrated remixes I've ever heard in my entire life. There are no words to describe this, other than "It's so damn good it actually made me post after not posting for over a year." Bravo, and keep up the good work with future game music Mr. Soule. But do remix for us again every once in awhile.

[Kaleb.G]

Whoa!

I almost didn't come to OCR today as I wasn't really in the mood for music at the time, and I needed to get back to work. But then I thought, "Well, what if there's a remix that just popped up on there that will blow me away?" Lo, and behold, I see an FF6 mix accredited to Jeremy Soule. My first thought was the database messed up and they stuck a random composer name in the remixer area for some strange reason. My second though was that it just happened to be a different Jeremy Soule. But when I saw djp's first three words, "Oh. My. God." I knew it was true; composer Jeremy Soule had created an OCRemix. Then the trumpets sounded and the angels began to sing. Oh glory!

This is a great mix. Let's leave it at that. Excellent sounding stuff, indeed.

But mearly the fact that a very well known (and extraordinary) composer such as Mr. Soule would come to our humble site and contribute to it is mind-boggling, in a good way. Secret of Evermore is one of my favorite soundtracks, and I plan to listen to all of his works soon (I've heard some of Total Annihilation, and I liked what little I heard).

I don't really know what else to say besides, "Jeremy, I hope this isn't your last remix!"

Maybe we can get Uematsu to come on here and remix something from Secret of Evermore.

P.S. As Nasenmann said, Kikuta would be very welcome as well.

[Leliel]

eh one more praise-gushing post can't hurt

i hold morrowind and kotor to be the best PC soundtracks of 2002 and 2003 and coming from the same composer this doesn't disappoint me in the least. i'm not a technical expert so i'm not going to pick details; quite simply, it works. download if you like his other productions, download if you like FF6, download if you like good music regardless of its origin.

mr.soule, there's clearly plenty of interest in your work here and it looks like many of us look forward to more contributions from you in the future.