Final Fantasy Tactics - Staff Credits Update w/ live brass

[FunkyEntropy]

So in a moment of inspiration, I decided to finally take a look at the Staff Credits for Final Fantasy Tactics to see if it was doable for brass quintet. After the opening chorale went along brilliantly, I pretty much flew through the rest of it. And I have to say, wow. Can't wait to put this in front of the group.

Source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzbXnLLfE8&fmt=18

Error-free midi mp3 link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?qb9dfmtdlwgy5w1

Sight-reading session v0.9 Affectionately called "Hot Clam Sandwich" by one of our trumpets.

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Latest version:

Notes: Most of the changes are in the second and third sections, where I fiddled with the registers a bit. For example, 1:54 I have the trumpets down an octave from previous versions. This accomplishes two things - 1) when they jump the octave it creates some additional color and brightness, and 2) it's less taxing on their chops, which is always welcome. Earlier on I also changed the division of the parts so that trumpet 1 can switch to piccolo trumpet which makes the part at 1:30 (and, later, at 1:54) significantly easier. I think the parts are pretty much finalized at this point.

We also had a sub for Lee, who's out of town. In addition to sightreading, he's also a lot less aggressive of a player so the part at 5:00 (POWERCHORDS!!! RAAAAAAH!) is a lot less badass then I'd hoped.

[Rukunetsu]

Other than the brass sounding really...static (lack of reverb or anything like that), it's a legit track. Lookin' forward to the final version.

[Kenogu Labz]

This sounded like a direct transcription, to me. There's really no arrangement or ReMixing going on here. There's a lot going on in this track: it brings together the major motifs of the game, so there's definitely room to give each one a bit more time and arrangement. Expand! Use your own creativity to breathe new life into the piece.

[FunkyEntropy]

Well, there's a fine line between direct transcription and adaption of parts, so I think that that's a legitimate concern. Now, in my defense, I did make alterations to the parts. Not in terms of going anywhere new - so no new chord progression or harmonies - but the individual parts required severe editing to fit the limitations of the genre. By "limitations of genre" I mean live brass quintet. One of the major limitations of live brass is chop fatigue, and at 5+ minutes of intensive playing I don't think my trumpets would survive any expanded themes.

Anyway, I feel like I did enough editing to qualify as being an adaptation rather than a transcription. Once I put this in front of the group on Sunday I'll have a better estimate of how effective I was in simultaneously diverting from and adhering to the source material.

[edit: @Rukunetsu - the reason it sounds so static is because the version you're listening to is just the basic sucky Kontact Player samples that come with Sibelius 3. Essentially, I just wanted to see if there were any compositional issues that need fixing before I printed out the parts and put them in front of the group.]

[FunkyEntropy]

New version is up in the OP. We're essentially sight-reading at this point, so expect some missed notes. But damn that first minute sounds gorgeous. Hooray for good voice leading!

[Kenogu Labz]

Conservative as the arrangement is, that's a pretty impressive group. Can't wait to hear the final recording; I really don't hear anything that sounded bad (besides the missed notes, but hey, it was a sight read.)

This'll probably end up in my music playlists, and might even make it with the judges. It'd definitely be worth asking their opinion on this case; it can be a bit tricky in situations like this.

[Eino Keskitalo]

Damn it sounds gorgeous all the way through!

--Eino

[FunkyEntropy]

Bump with a new version. I changed some of the parts a bit, see the OP for more details.