OceansAndrew Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 don't you wish that were true name: Brandon E. Strader remixer: Brandon Strader forum: 3123 email: website: www.bstrader.net game: Final Fantasy IX composer: Nobuo Uematsu source: Passing Sorrow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFEuGPhXPa4) remixname: I Am Gonna Stop Eventually genre: Piano (thats a genre isnt it?) I made this solo piano piece of Passing Sorrow for the FF9 project, though i'm not sure you'd call it solo since it is technically a 3-hand piece. Not constantly, but there's a part or two in there, like the culminating melodic part at 2:13 and the very soft and delicately played bit at 0:33. Then again, it depends on who's hands you are talking about, I'm sure any other pro could play this with 2 hands, but solo piano is fresh territory for me and I tried to perform it as beautifully as I could to do justice to the original song. So yes, this wasn't sequenced, it was played with a keystation though there was some very minor quantize and note moving at the request of Fishy, project director, to make it less 'loose'. For a soft song like this I used a soft piano library, Alicia's Keys, which I seem to have been using for all my piano bits in various mixes lately. Before that I used Art Vista Virtual Grand Piano, but I find that even with the softer tone of Alicia's Keys, it has a more realistic and warm sound, even sounds that trigger when you let off a key or the sustain pedal. I think that's called after-touch, not sure. It's nice to have though. Some people may listen to this and say oh, that's a cop out, I bet he made that in 10 minutes... but no, I put a couple months into being anxious about STARTING on this song because I knew it would be such a big challenge. Solo piano is something I've only touched on a couple times; I made a song for my sister's wedding, a song called Maxine (on my second acoustic album Always Remember) for my dear great grandmother who passed away, and Lapse of Grace from my first acoustic album, Life. (you can download them freely at http://brandonstrader.bandcamp.com/) So needless to say I've only ever really done this on a big, life-changing occasion. I had a WIP that sat on the project subforums for a very long time, and katethegreat said to go forward with it so I was always inspired by that push. Anyway, FF9 is a beautiful game with a beautiful soundtrack and the project is being beautifully handled by a beautiful Fishy filled with many beautiful songs by beautiful people. It's great to be a part of another song for it and the album in general. Here's the context for the title: Vivi: A-Am I gonna stop pretty soon, too? Zidane: ! Black Mage No. 288: I don't know... Kuja said the prototype built before us would last longer. Vivi: But...I am gonna stop eventually. Black Mage No. 288: ...... In my opinion FF9 is all about Vivi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Pretty nice stuff, I thought the left hand could have been a little more exciting, and maybe a little bit more in the way of dynamics, but there was some ebb and flow, and not a lot of repetition. I am trying to think of suggestions for improvement, but the ReMix is definitely trying to set a mood and I think it did so effectively, while remaining unique and good with source. I think the more piano-versed judges will have different comments, but I think the arrangement here was nice. I'm not really an expert on solo piano stuff, but I enjoyed this, and the piano sounded nice. Alicia's Keys seems pretty good. It didn't completely floor me, but I enjoyed the mix, and I think it passes. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Not much to add to Andrew's vote that I can think of. It's obvious that there was a lot of thought put into this arrangement, and while it could have had some more dynamics and parts for the left hand, I think it does achieve its emotional goal. Nicely played. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 agreed on the lack of dynamic contrast, but it's pretty. I like it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Not much to add here. Nicely arranged piece and a very good performance, Brandon. It takes the mood from the original a step further, solidly in the melancholy realm - so nice work there. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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