OceansAndrew Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 ReMixer name: Verdegrand Website: www.youtube.com/user/verdegrand UserID: 31241 Name of game arranged: Final Fantasy IX Name of individual song arranged: Theme of the Tantalus Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Link to the original soundtrack (YouTube video since no chiptune available on site): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKt6jdb8YfY Remix name: "Gangster gets EdvardRolled" This is for the Final Fantasy IX album project. In case it should pass, please don't post on the site until the album has been released. Comments: When listening to this track, I immediately felt reminded of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite. So I had the idea to make an arrangement that makes a reference to that piece. I was amazed at how well that theme fits in to the overall mood that the original creates, especially since ithe result is a mixtures of a classical theme and a rather jazzy structure. I play it at a spot where the arrangement harmonically deviates from the original and goes to another key, and not only does it bring the arrangement 'back on track' in this regard, but it entails a bunch of changes and brings about a sense of escalation. So it serves as a musical idea that appears out of nowhere at just the right time, acts as a surprise and enables changes to take place which them promptly follow and which allow for a new intensified perspective on the material that was played before. This was recorded on an accoustic grand, and I apologize for minor creaking noises that the pedal makes at a couple of points. They are very quiet, but still audible. I unfortunately don't have access to a different grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 Pretty nice warm sound here; i'd have liked a little more high end, but for a recording it's pretty solid. Based on that, this is a piece that lives or dies based on the performance and arrangement, and thankfully the performance is very solid, with a minor exception where the focus wavered a bit slightly past the halfway point. Something about the timing for a few measures seemed off, and didn't match the rest of the piece. One somewhat questionable arrangement choice was the inclusion of the Hall of the Mountain king. It's a pretty obvious tie in, but adding a classical piece into a song isn't really frequently done. Thankfully, the composition is public domain, so the legalities of it being hosted on OCR, should it pass the panel are not in question. I think since it's just a brief section, it's more of a cute arrangement wink rather than something holding up the whole proceeding, which makes me feel like it's more ok. Overall, the performance is really nice, and there is enough interpretation beyond tying in the Mountain King to keep me interested. It's close for me, but there is a lot of good stuff going on here. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 I had to think on this one for a while. The arrangement and playing itself are nice, but the inclusion of Mountain King kinda threw me off. After asking OA's opinion (and obviously getting a vote out of him as well ) I can agree with his decision. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Hmm, I wasn't feeling this one as much as OA and Deia, though I liked the jazzy approach and thought it fit the source material well. I thought the writing could have been more dynamic. There were several points where I felt like I knew what was coming. Still, it's probably on the passable side except for two issues. One, the recording quality isn't very good. This sounds way too warm and fuzzy, and I don't think it's on the same level as other solo piano arrangements on the site. Two, what happened at 2:12-2:25? No offense, but those little outbursts sound totally off timing-wise. I actually thought I had another version of the song playing somewhere. I really think both these issues need to be fixed before this can pass. The Mountain King usage is very limited, I don't think that would be a dealbreaker but djp may have to make a call on that. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHz Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Yeah, the recording is a bit muffled. Not terrible, but it could definitely be cleaner. And those spasms Palpable mentioned are really odd. They sound more like mistakes than intentional rhythms. Some of the notes at 3:09-3:11 sound a bit off too. The arrangement style is pretty similar to the original, but there some nice departures in the writing. I'm personally okay with the thirty or so seconds of Peer Gynt, but if that's no good, cutting it half by only going through the melody once might work. I'm really on the fence with this, but even disregarding the Grieg issue, I feel like there's a bit too much to be cleaned up to pass this just yet. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 This came up on my playlist again, so I decided to relook it over and recheck everyone's votes. As I listen to this now I'm agreeing with Vinnie and 'Ili on the recording quality, as well as the couple sections of weird notes. I'm going to have to revise my vote, and hope you can get a stronger recording! NO (resubmit, please!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hmm...the recording's not great. Sounds like the mic's were too far away. Stereo field is very narrow. The arrangement is alright, but fairly straightforward. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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