OCR01331 - Final Fantasy VI "Shadows Among the Ruins"

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[IC]

I'm sorry to say this Zircon, but other than your collab with Tefnek, not much of your work has really caught my attention....until now.

The production on this track is rock solid. Very clean, slick relationship between the orchestral and electronic elements. From the opening my interest was piqued, and when the beat (quickly) came in my head went into full bobbin' mode.

If I had one gripe, I think the instrumentation/arrangement could have been a little more...dramatic. I can't quite find the words, but the mood didn't really change up much--could've been more dynamic, I guess.

Still an excellent piece though. Synthwork/production is beautiful.

8/10

Edit: Silly grammar.

[Rexy]

I remember this mix - it won Sonic Revolution, didn't it? Even within the contest's aftermath I have still managed to enjoy the piece as a whole, most notably for a wide amount of technical strengths as well as compositional efforts that aided in generating what I feel is zircon's best mix yet. As a judge there, I'll copy and paste my commentary on the piece right here (which can also be viewed on this page).

Remix

The similarity to the source is very close to the original, even through some of the countermelodies and structures provided. While the moods didn't feel as subdued as the original this has still worked well provide some good links early on. The sounds have been executed very cleanly, with no pauses or any wrong notes at all, so that's a very good sign. The source isn't commonly portrayed as a common theme to remix, but from what has he has done there is enough interest to make the piece work in standing alone depending on the listener's tastes. The theme didn't seem to stick in its original melodic form, which has worked well to provide some light variance on the line; the key change at 2:17 has also managed to provide some light wonders among the line. The structure is generally very solid, and with enough fresh sections provided along the line the provisions of the track have managed to intertwine at a solid state. I can't say that I'm too sure about the ending being a little bit abrupt in terms of dynamics, but it's definitely powerful enough not to get abused by the target audience. Solid stuff.

Creativity

There are a lot of additional arranged elements placed into the song, like some creative countermelodies near the start and some additional thought to textures layered when shown; he even advanced to providing some different chord progressions upon segments like 1:07 for example. The sections manage to link well together and provide a strong focus towards the audience, but there did seem to be a few portions of the arrangement where the transitions in-between areas seemed to be a bit shaky, like the links at 1:55 and 3:40 for example. But much of this is made up for it keeping a fresh pace all the way through; the mix doesn't stop still for a moment, and it can end up shifting from orchestrated to electronic provisions without the disruptions being flawed; variance in the instrument textures all the way through have also managed to provide a good set of involvement here. There did seem to be some minor fragments of repetition on the start, mainly relating to the high usage of the first portion of the theme, but all the way through the material still sounded firm enough to vary outside. Thus weighing everything up, there is no doubt that the listeners that come across this will highly enjoy what has been granted.

Production

The whole mix is filled with samples, and as they have been portrayed they are very clear and precise as well as being experimental on the side through providing a more energetic segment towards electronica. The EQs seem to be very strong and have provided a clear quality all around, thus as a whole there didn't seem to be much in that aspect that seemed to stand out; while most of the instruments themselves have been processed well enough with enough attention to reverb, delay, some light chorus and various other individual elements, I felt that the drums didn't quite feel to be as energetic as I hoped, but they have still managed to do the job as they were. I can't say much about the recorded portions of the track, but the encoding has managed to provide a very clean production quality all around. The sound levels are shown to be clever for the most part, but it's felt that some of the melodic fragments could have been pushed a little bit higher in terms of volume; mind, that's going as far as nitpicking as far as I can see. And with the panning being set to a slick and realistic setting all around, with enough attention towards individual instrument placements and careful work to the textures too, the listener is in for a solid foundation all around. Well done.

Hopefully zircon should be able to keep going after what he has faced here - as far as I'm concerned his mixes just keep getting better and better

[Strife.]

Really light and cheery, with a good kind of beat going on through it. Very obvious Final Fantasy mix, but still very good. It actually reminded me a bit of Monkey Island... but that's probably just me. Anyway, great job, it gets my meager stamp of approval.

[Miletus]

Nope, even before I read your post it reminded me of Monkey Island. Specifically, LeChuck's theme. Quite good mix though.

[nomindo]

Very good stuff Zircon, catchy, lush, original. Hows that for an adjective trifecta? Nice stuff though. Makes Ears Happy.

[Tex]

...it reminded me of Monkey Island. Specifically, LeChuck's theme.

LeChuck's theme

Also, I haven't played FF6. So, I have never listened the original song.

Anyway, Zircon did a good ReMix. That's Good. Some of these instruments look like lovely things. It's orchestral/eletronic and pretty cool. Melody, rhythm section and instruments work nice stuff. Sweet.

Also, thanks to Rexy for the review.

[Sir_NutS]

ah very good work. Clean mastering, nice sounds and effects, and good composition. I must say that you relied a bit too much on the first part of the original melody, as it repeats quite a bunch through the song, but It didn't bother me too much. I'm a big fan of the ff6 soundtrack, and this is a very good remix of this song. Kudos.

[Shhteve]

I agree with everything that was stated above about this track - very clean mastering and the composition is very original and shines new light on an otherwise mostly untouched track from the OST. The intro is quite haunting, in my opinion, which does make it as DJ Pretzel has stated - memorable.

[Iliad]

Zircon's style has changed a lot over time, that's all i can say!

[richter]

This is kickASS. Know what it sounds like? Danny Elfman meets djpretzel meets ... zircon. Is that Irina Brochin? Sounds great.

That's all I got. Kudos, zircon.

[Czar Diego]

The beginning to this reminds me of A Nightmare before Kefka. same instruments and such. Just a weird coinsidence. Other than that, this is awesome. Good work.

[Zeroshadow]

The remixes submitted here suprise me more and more. The artists skills just keep on getting better here. I remember when I first came to this site. I was guided here unintentionally really. I was searching for an mp3 of Shevat the wind is calling from Xenogears, and a link that was provided from the search brought me to one of Ziwtra's mixes, Downwind *which was submitted and approved by djp the day before*.

Hehe, flashback set aside, I really love this song. Its sort of a wierd coincidence that I hear this song RIGHT after I get done remixing the same exact same track *using the GPO program that zircon graciously informed me about*. All in all, its a good remix. I just hope that my mix sounds nearly as good as this one *quality judging wise*.

[ZeaLVT]

McVaffe who? Zircon, this is hands-down one of my favorite remixes in the history of OC Remix. It's absolutely brilliant. It's inspiring - it's exactly what I've always thought "The Day After" should be, and more. I really hope Uematsu hears this somehow - I think he would be blown away. There aren't any particular parts in the song that stand out to me, mostly because it's all equally impressive. Please, please keep up the good work, Zircon. You get 7/5 stars.

[JadeAutomation]

Listening to this, i feel giddy. It's almost as if i was playing ff6 again and hearing this. It's a really nice take on it. I like the xylophone-like instrument in there, gives it something you dont always here in a mix.

I like it. Nice job.

[Angelus Laminarum]

Yet another awesome contribution from zircon.

I personally like the way you introduce the song, it's not a fade-in, but it's not an outright blast of music. It's subtle, but strong.

I particularly like your common theme of the swell of music (with rush-on cymbals and drum rolls), exploding (well, not so much in this one) into the main body of the song [0:28]. You pulled it off, once again, rather well here. I also liked how you broke off from the main body to do a small, softer, more subtle round [1:26]. I've heard you do this before in your ReMixes, particularly in Calamitous Decision, and once again, it adds a lot to the ReMix.

Then back again to the main tune, again, to fade off to do another subtle round [2:58]. Then back again [3:15]. Once again, I reiterate, these subtle intermissions add a lot to the song, as opposed to an all-out heavy beat and grinding tunes.

You use another common tool of yours when you break off [3:35] only to return with a small swell and the main tune again.

Overall, it is an awesome ReMix. I also like how it was mainly techno, but you incorporated a few orchestral aspects into the song, primarily in the beginning. The added vocals in the back also added much to the creepy feeling that you seemed to want to convey here. That added to an awesome name, and you've got yourself with an awesome ReMix.

Once again, awesome job, zircon. I'm looking forward to hearing even more from you.

[RimFrost the Tourianist]

This IS really good stuff.

As others had mentioned .. zircon's style has changed some, oh yes.

A nicely paced song ..highlights here and there, with a break where it's needed to build it up again. Just like we used to hear from FF6 tunes in the game.

Download it yourselves ..and enjoy

[DUCKB0Y]

I'm in LOVE with this song.

I don't know what it is about it, but I've been listening to this song nonstop.

[FinalTrigger85]

Sweet Intro. Very nicely done. keep up the good work.

[Nobbynob Littlun]

Agreed. 0:00-0:26 is the good stuff.

[TAT_PKN]

This is my #2 fav song in OC_Remix website. First time I heard it, I didn't quite in love with it but I still remember its melody. So like a couple of months ago, I came here and download it again. This time, I really listen to it and it's getting addicting. Really cool remix, I'm just so envy with composers and remixers, how can they make such good musics ! My little sister and my brothers all love this song the 1st time they heard it! U can never get bored with this song =D. Hey, I rarely comment on songs unless they're real good. So this is a must-have for your FF collection! Even if you don't like FF music, you'll love this one. I let some of my friends hear it, they love it!!

[Bummer]

This is really special. A very nice techno version

of "the day after", the best parts are at 1:25 and 2:37 when the mix goes over to a more careful mood with the main melody. Like a shadow.

Nice remix zircon.

[Platonist]

Awesomeness! still FF6 biased, but this is something extra

i had the intro of this remix as an sms ringtone for about 6 months a while ago (don't remember when but whatever)

just below Dirt Devil, this is my favorite FF6 mix & my favorite zircon mix

[OceansAndrew]

I kindof wish this progressed a little deeper, because I was really feeling it for most of the duration. It got a little repetitive near the end, but not so repetitive that I wasn't compelled to hit repeat.

Nice textures and pretty good breakdowns, and some cool percussion processing and changeups, though I really think the build before the keychange would have been amazing if it was bigger, to really help sell the concept.

Overall a good mix, and a cool snapshot of Zircon before he really kicked up his game. Check it out.

[Keriaku]

This is completely amazing!