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OCR01537 - *YES* Final Fantasy 10 'Summoner's Love'


Liontamer
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Remixers - DragonAvenger (vocalist), Efields (arranger)

Email(DA) - darlantandragonavenger@gmail.com

Website(DA) - http://darlantandragonavenger.googlepages.com/home

User ID - (DA)33038, (EF)49876 (I think)

Final Fantasy X

Besaid Island (Track 1-18)

(Feel free to leave the link up!)

(DA's Comments)I've been wanting to do a remix to Besaid Island for some time now. I finally got around to commissioning EFields (With dinner at Denny's) to arrange the piece for me, and I recieved a beautiful result (probably worth more than the dinner). I asked him to take the melody line twice as fast as normal, and to make it have a "pop song" feel, as well as add anything he felt like doing. The lyrics came after, based on Tidus and Yuna, the scenery of Besaid, as well as the love scene later in the game. This song has a special dedication to my parents, who just celebrated their anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

HUGE thanks to The Prophet of Mephisto for doing work (reverb, echo, etc) on the vocals!

(EF's Comments)After DragonAvenger gave me an outline of what she wanted (a very minimal outline, I was more or less free to use my judgement), I got to work composing the instrumental part of this song using Garage Band. It's not the best program for this sort of style, so I was limited in a small number of ways, but writing music with GB is still very manageable. I wanted a remix that was significantly different from the original composition, but one that also strongly evoked the notable characteristics of the original. I mostly used a warm synth pad, a gentle synth lead (which was later deleted and replaced by voice), an unintrusive bass, and a soft tribal beat. Unfortunately, the beat is a loop, so it comes off as a little repetitive, but I tried to blend it nicely through mixing and using different loops. The occasional high-toned bells in the background are my attempt at evoking rays of sunlight coming through the clouds. At the end of the piece, the drums cut out, leaving enveloping chords and a final repetition of the main vocal theme. The music dies away peacefully.

Summoner's Love Lyrics -

"Waves that lap across the beach,

The soaring gulls and leafy trees.

Sun, and so warm...

It doesn't matter where we go,

Just tell me that you love me so.

I do, oh I do...

Gentle hands and eyes so bright

Please bring me close and hold me tight.

Your arms, are so warm...

Crystal lakes and waterfalls,

Swimming under tiny stars.

The night, So calm...

Always mirthful, laughing strong

Nothing ever gets you down.

Please, smile, for me

Tell me what you want to be

Let me be in your story.

I love you."

Thank you,

DragonAvenger, EFields

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After reading Jeanne's FFX recap on Videogame Recaps, I find anything regarding Tightass to be nothing short of vomit-inducing. However I'll try to set that mindframe aside for this judgement.

I like the intro to the track. The production of the mix is pretty good, even if it is very reverb heavy. Some of the reverb on the lyrics could've been automated to bring the vocals forward during the main sections, right now they're getting a little lost in the flood of the background.

The actual tone of the singer troubles my virgin ears. She sounds like she's singing through her nose (ala Barbara Streissand) too much. Still she's in-tune for the majority of the vocals, so I can't fault a creative, or natural, choice.

It took me a few listens to get the way you incorporated the source in this. The pitch shifts in the lyrics sounded awkward the first time I listened through, but it makes sense now that I listen to the melody lead in the source. It's still hard to recognise this as a remix of the Besaid theme, but after a bit of cross-referencing I can check this one as having enough there to pass it.

My main issues are in creative choices. The mix is enjoyable, well-produced (if not a little reverb heavy) and the vocals are probably as good as they'll get. I'm sure there'll be a lot of people who can appreciate this for what it is.

YES

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http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FFX_psf2.rar - 118 "Besaid Island"

Interesting source tune. It never stuck out to me when I listened to the FF10 soundtrack, but it's a nice understated piece. Arrangement-wise, you guys did a nice job on the interpretation front.

Cool intro, though definitely swampy and overly reverby as was mentioned several times before, not only by TO, but in the WIP thread for the mix. Nice mallet percussion stuff to lead into the the drums at 1:14, though the padding effects in the back were a bit exposed and cheap-sounding.

Vocals come in at 1:35, thankfully with some delay on 'em to flesh 'em out. No offense to DragonAvenger, but some of the vocals seemed a bit nasally. The delivery was a little too amateur with stuff like "Oh yeah" at 1:38. Otherwise though, pretty good stuff to start. Her voice is buried up under those bleh pads though. Bring it out a bit more. Cheesy, but smart lyrics.

The changeup in the percussion at 2:29 was lacking. The drum tone really didn't gel with the e-piano and vocals and just felt out of place. I liked whatever part was added in the background at 2:50; very nice, though again, everything was suffering due to the reverb making things too indistinct. It's too hard to really hone in on the various components.

Goes back to the original drum patterns at 3:11 and another verse o' lyrics. Good writing, but still the same production issues there. The changeup at 4:05 was much better than at 2:29; smoother transition, better textures.

DA's vocals take center stage at 4:47 once all the percussion dropped out. The delay was a bit much, but only in tandem with the reverb being so over the top. Uh...was that a mouse-click at 5:31 caught in the delay effect? :lmassoff: I have never used that emoticon in 4 years on these forums, and it deserves it. C'mon, y'all; that's just weak! It doesn't affect my decision, but hoo boy you gotta get rid of that. :-)

I've seen some complaints on the WIP thread about the vocals. I'll be honest in that when I heard the WIP when the vocals were bone dry, those were no good and not getting the job done. Hell, they weren't even synched up right with the music. Now though, the delay/reverb applied here helped add some needed depth to them, and the overall performance quality was passable to me. People are too hard on vocals around here. People were ripping up "Knuckleduster" for God's sake. It's as if some of y'all can't appreciate artists performing out of their comfort zone.

The swampiness of this one is my main drawback here. Sure, it beefs up the soundfield, but it's overboard enough where I felt it needed to be toned down and the sound balance needed to be reexamined a bit. Tweak that stuff judiciously, and perhaps revisit the drums at 2:29 as well as the pads around 1:14 for a warmer sound. Good luck on the rest of the vote though. I'd prefer tweaks before this went up, but I don't have a problem with this passing as is. The production is on the weak side, but the arrangement gets the job done.

YES (borderline)

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beautiful intro. In fact, the whole track is ridiculously smooth and airy. I'm floating just listening. Or maybe that's my prescription cocktail. No, I'm pretty sure it's the song.

I dont mind the tone of the vocals at all; what bothers me is that her intonation is occasionally off. But it's really nothing to complain about too much when the track as a whole is quite strong.

YES

btw, sharp ears larry, on catching that alleged mouseclick. it's really quiet. i definitely wouldnt have heard it unless i was blasting my ears

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  • 2 weeks later...

rofl, dude, leave the mouseclick. that's classy. or classic, rather. whatever, either way, that's awesome.

seriously, that's trademark.

Very pretty vibe. Nice warm synths, nice cool drum groove. Very pretty vocals. Giving me chills, now.

Well, I guess I'm gonna stop there. I have no qualms with the mix--it meets the guidelines as far as I can hear, and it gave me little happy warm tinglies.

Welcome Aboard

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