DragonAvenger Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Remixer Name: Gario Real Name: Greg E-mail: UserID: 22898 Game: Final Fantasy IX Arrangement Name: The Throes of Death(guise) Tracks Arranged: Battle 2, Final Battle, Battle 1, Dark Messenger Comments: This is my submission for the FFIX album's 'Battle 2' theme. About a year ago, after finishing a track for another album I decided that I needed to fill the void with something else. I decided to take a glance at the FFIX album, which was asking for a few tracks to be taken care of, including the boss theme from the game. I was... very surprised that no one had taken one of the best boss themes to grace the FF series, so I decided to take a shot at it. The result ended up being a solid electronic track with orchestral strings and some sweet, sweet synth guitar, and it's one that I'm proud to say is one of my best, to date. The source was a challenge to say the least, though - while there are a lot of parts that are easy to create a drive behind, there are plenty more integral parts in the source that lend more to subtle, atmospheric intensity (which my track was not set up to tackle), so for a good while progress halted. One day I got the bright idea, rather than try to change the pace of the track for the sake of subtlety and atmosphere, to instead add intense and interesting parts from other battle themes in FFIX, so I got to incorporating a lot of the final battle, as well as more subtle hints of the battle theme and Dark Messenger throughout. As a result, this track becomes a love letter to all of the battle music in Final Fantasy IX, and I'm not ashamed to admit my love for the battle music provided by that game. ----------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3MKtNSOLQ - battle 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz9q6PXk3dI - final battlehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r50bTK49Gzc - battlehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSi6_hbpo8 - dark messenger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 I can kinda see why not many people wanted to take the battle themes. I mean, they're good, but they aren't really that easy to work with. That being said, I think you approached the themes very well and there is a lot of good personalization here that really makes this track shine. The anxiety is palpable throughout, which keeps me interested to listen to more. The mix also feels shorter than it is, which shows that the arrangement is engaging. In I had a couple nitpicks, mostly in the percussion being a bit bland overall in terms of sequencing, and the bass drum getting a bit lost overall in the mix, but aside from that I feel like this is a solid approach. I also wasn't quite as sold on the 3:25 section, but it's overall pretty short and doesn't affect my overall opinion. Nice work, Greg. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 pretty exciting work, cool synth work, nice half time switches, and overall a good track. I do think the percussive patterns were the weak part, but the rest was very fun to listen to. Overall i am quite alright with this. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Not much to say on this one. I can't say it's my favorite style, but you definitely blended the sources really seamlessly into your usual faux-chiptune style and kept the energy up throughout the song. Great soloing and synth choices throughout the track. It's pretty hyperactive and spastic but it works. Your production aesthetic is instantly recognizable here. My biggest critique here would be the transitions throughout the song, they just felt weak and not very inspired. What you have works, but I think in the future you could take a few more risks in that department and make your transitions between sections more energetic and engaging. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 The anxiety is palpable throughout Yes, the anxiety is me. Throughout. I only have one critique too, and it isn't much of one, but I thought this could have used more rise and fall. It felt like a one-gear song and that's part of why the repetitive percussion was noticeable. Anyway, don't get me wrong, this is totally over the bar. There's some creative takes on the original songs and it's not at all obvious that multiple sources are even used. The energy level was high, balance was good. A lot of attention to detail too, to go that extra mile (Good guy Greg: puts in details for replayability.) YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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