*NO* Final Fantasy 9 'Ipsen's Groove'

[The Orichalcon]

I cleared with Larry that we're allowed to just post our mixes straight to the panel, so I've done that with this one.

Remix Name: Ipsen's Groove

Game: Final Fantasy 9

URL:

Source: http://www.zophar.net/psf/FF9_psf.rar - It's a number of tracks from the game, namely the title (01 - The Place I'll return to Someday.) However this one is closer to the Oielvert music (320 - Oielvert) and named after Ipsen's track which is based on the same theme (403 - Ipsen's Heritage)

It's basically a groove/dance style mix of the source material using an organ, vibraphone, some soundfont called an "Atmosphere" (not the plugin,) BooBassline, Osc-3 for the sine wave, Rhodes and Stylus RMX for the beats

Edit: File updated 20/11/05

[Vig]

yow....there is some serious popping going on through the whole track. this is a big problem.

Aside from that, the arrangement is rather...conservative. there is little if any development. Sure, the groove changes once or twice, but that's about it as far as variety goes. I realize it's a dance track, but I'm not dancing; I'm listening, and you have to do something a little more ambitious to keep my attention

top it off with a weak weak ending.

NO

[JJT]

I don't hate the arrangement as much as Vig does, but the popping is a major problem.

I dig the rhodes (though I always dig a good rhodes), and I especially liked the breaks.

However, by about 2:37 I grow weary of hearing that same variation of "the place i'll return to someday." Some new melodic ideas would be nice.

Also, the bass sounds GM.

I like it (loooooove the rhodes), but it needs more work. Get rid of the popping too.

NO

[Liontamer]

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF9_psf.rar - 101 "The Place I'll Return To Someday", 320 "Oeilvert" & 403 "Ipsen's Heritage"

I'll be glad to revise/amend any opinions on this once I'm back to my usual setup, but ultimately did not want to either leave this hanging or have it closed without an opportunity to weigh in.

Not quite the same animal here in terms of criticisms, but I felt this was along the lines of po!'s "rake dat snake", where there's some basic groove and notable arrangement going on, but ultimately not enough meat on the bones to really engage things.

Unfortunately without my trusty headphones, can't verify any popping/artifacts. I suppose it's relatively light and everpresent. Didn't hear anything simply off my speakers, so I'd think that would indicate it wasn't a glaring issue, but certainly an inconvenient one that would have to be fixed.

Definitely see where Vigilante is coming from re: the arrangement, as it feels like it doesn't really go many places. Still, I'm with Jon in that I felt there was more to like. I felt the overall groove carried out with the percussion, despite some slight variations, felt too tepid, simple and samey. Without implying that I need something bombastic here, I thought the organ sounded thin, most notably during 1:27-2:02 when it was basically filling out the track.

Definitely agreed with Jon about 2:36 when another iteration of the source melody came in. Despite being a little more active than last time with some slight additions like the melody being doubled, it feels like a retread. The instrumentation is essentially the same, the beats are basically the same and on cruise control, the overall development feels very limited.

As for the ending at 3:46, I think it's a fine idea but again suffers from the thin organ synth, plus not being, IMO, enough of a contrast with the part leading up to it. I like the idea of this mix with its almost low-key approach, but it needs a bit more substantial variation and development, as well as more fleshing out of the sounds. It needs some work, but sounds like it has the potential to pass given more work.

NO (rework/resubmit)