djpretzel Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Hello! I've got a remix to submit; it can be found here: ReMixer name: M1lesTeg Real name: Eli Badra E-mail address: ebad@gwu.edu REMIX INFO Game: Final Fantasy VI Song: Aria di Mezzo Carattere Comments: I've had a great love for this piece ever since I first "performed" it while playing FF6 way back as a kid. It's beautiful and stirring, even on the SNES. I found that the song was surprisingly underrepresented on OCR, given its popularity. Entering my freshman year of college, I found myself with more free time than I knew what to do with. I finally decided to get up and write a mix. The piece was written entirely with FruityLoops using the SquidFont Orchestral soundfonts and a Harp soundfont, both found on darkesword's web site. My girlfriend, Jill, sang for this piece. We used the Italian lyrics that we were able to find on the internet. Both the Italian and translated lyrics are at the bottom of the message. I owe her for lending her gorgeous voice to the remix. Also a huge thanks to The Prophet of Mephisto, who helped me greatly with balance and such, and LordMaestro, who helped me with the nitpicky equalizing issues. The English translation is a little rough. LYRICS: Italian: Amor mio, caro bene Perche vai lontan da me? Giurasti un amor, che mai non dovea Aver fine per noi Nei momenti di tristezza Nei momenti di dolor A te, mia stella, penso Con infinito ardore Un legame senza speme Perche mai dovrei aver? Che cosa tu vuoi ch'io faccia oramai Mi devi dire tu Dolcemente, con amore Hai risposto al mio gridar, Per sempre ognor, per sempre ognor, Qui a me, t'attendero. ----- English: My love, my dear Why do you go away from me? You promised us a love without end. In moments of sadness And moments of pain I think of you my star, with infinite passion. Why must I have A bond without hope? What do you want me to do? You must tell me Quietly, my love, You responded to my shout Forever and ever Besides me, I will await. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 excellent. the samples arent great, but the execution is. the samples are clearly secondary to the singing, which is excellent. The interludes between verses are well-composed. this mix is damn good. YES. but i'm not entirely satisfied with your translation maybe i'll come up with my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcos Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Wow this singing is great, nice arrangement, and it flows really well. This will become a favourite for many I'm sure. YES Edit: I dare someone to no this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Wow. This vocal performance is easily on par with ones I've heard on Broadway. Flawless, as far as I'm concerned - though I think I hear just a little bit of clipping at times. However, I don't think they carry the whole mix, the rest of which is not so good. Having just listened to the source tune several times, I can confidently say that this arrangement is way too close. In fact, unfortunately, this mix even takes AWAY from the arrangement of the original, removing the sweeping string parts that make it emotional and dramatic. As it stands, it's simply a more minimal version of the original (though of course the vocals are outstanding), with Aeris' theme tossed in for no reason. Execution could be way better too: I would advise that you go to hammersound.net and pick up more soundfonts and make use of layering/high end EQ in order to give your samples, mainly the strings, a brighter and more realistic sound. The woodwinds, horns, and percussion aren't all that hot either, but they get the job done. I think maybe having some original vocals or at least some soft "oohs" or "ahhs" in the bare instrumental sections might have helped. But even if you did have the best Gigasamples in the world, it wouldn't help given your current arrangement and structure. To recap: the vocals are AMAZING. No changes needed there. Everything else needs a lot of work. The arrangement is really not much more than a simplistic version of the original played with lo-fi samples (and there ARE lots of ways to get free stuff to sound better). No structure, no interepretation.. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ff6.rsn - "Aria de Mezzo Carattere" (ff6-208.spc) Have to check arrange albums and so forth before we get hasty on this. Where did they obtain the lyrics? The fact that they found them on the internet screams out that they're taken from some sort of arranged version. We need more information than what they gave. We'll be checking out the Final Fantasy: Grand Finale & Orchestral Game Concert 4 versions to see how close this is to those arranged tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 NO Here's why: - Vocals are amazing, no doubt, but they simply cover the source material verbatim. If you had added some original vocals for the middle section, it would have been really cool, but as it stands I can just listen to the Grand Finale version and get the same stuff. - The harp part is nearly identical to the original; i'm comparing this mix to the SPC as I review this. Way too similar. - All of the instrumentation is exactly the same as well; strings and harp, with some winds. Nothing new there either. - The structure is the same. We get the slow section first, then there's the breakdown in the middle, and then the faster section in the end. - You didn't even bother changing the key! (this is not really horrible, I just wanted to mention it) - Take away the (amazing) vocals and you're left with a nothing but the original run through squidfont (I'm exaggerating here; I appreciate the Aeris quote, but it's left so underdeveloped that may as well not even been there). Not enough arrangement. - Production aspect stinks. Too reverby, and the samples are stretched beyond their means. I really liked the vocals; your girlfriend has an amazing voice, and you're lucky as hell to be with someone so skilled. However, the production is severely lacking and the arrangement needs to be much more dynamic and interpretive if you want this to be on OCR. Back to the drawing board! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 perhaps a no override? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I don't believe it's a straight up rip, otherwise I would override it. The inclusion of Aeris's theme and some of the intro/outro stuff seems to have been written by the mixer himself. So lets just go for a full vote, rather than hastily NO OVERRIDING it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny B Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Edit: I dare someone to no this. NO Here's why - Simply put, the arrangement of the original surpasses this ReMix. The goal here is to improve upon or at least put a song in a new light. This is Squidfont without velocity alteration. Very dry, static and uninspired arrangement. Instead of adding or changing things, it takes the "lazy minimalistic" route. The most interpretive things done are single timpani strikes or minor additions with a horn or string line. There's nothing here that's really at all beyond the scope of the original. On the other hand, the vocals are incredible. By far the most talented vocalist to potentially hit OCR. Let's get a production that does this voice some justice. -D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Israfel Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Nice performance, not so nice arrangement. It's really a shame, it would be quite neat to feature a trained vocalist on the site, but the arrangement (which is what this site is mainly about) isn't really up to par. Among other things, this is too similar to the original and the production is rather iffy (too much reverb, for instance). NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 The other NOs covered it, especially DarkeSword who gave an excellent checklist. YESing this mix would have been a mess. This was a great performance by Jilly on the vocals, but we're looking for more interpretive ideas beyond a cover with minor instrumental additions and the verbatim Grand Finale arrangement lyrics. I'm looking forward to hearing Jilly's Zelda 64: Ocarina of Time mix, which offhand I couldn't say would be accepted in the WIP stage I heard it in. But it'll certainly be interesting for us nonetheless. And I wanna remind everyone out there, including M1lesTeg, that when you pick a remixer handle, don't pick some stupid nickname you'll be ashamed of in a few years time. C'mon, you're basically stuck with it if you get posted here. Better luck next crime, young lovers. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Very neat mix, but as everyone has already stated there's barely any arrangement here. The main issue has already been brought up so anything I say in addition would just be repetition. Next time work on expanding the ideas, changing the genre, melody, harmony - bring something new to the table. Doing an orchestral version of an orchestral piece demands greater creativity as well. Enjoyable work, but there's too many arrangement shortcomings here. Hope to hear more work from you in the future that showcases more creative and original additions. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts