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*NO* Final Fantasy 14 "Thanalan Suite"


Rexy
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  • 4 months later...

I may the be one judge on the panel most qualified to take a look at this track, given how much FFXIV I've played, haha. :tomatoface:

The arrangement in this suite is VERY straightforward. Frankly I don't think this piece is taking enough risks with the source material. There are some tempo variations that are happening, but I feel like the part-writing is largely the same; not just melody but a lot of the accompanying parts too. When the arrangement is so similar to the source, I feel like I want to listen to the originals more than this. The sound design is competent but just feels strangely emptier than the original, like there's something missing in the lower end of the spectrum.

I've gotta say NO on this one, Rebecca, but I'm excited to see you bring your skills to more of FFXIV's massive and expansive soundtrack.

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  • DarkeSword changed the title to 2019/09/03 - (1N) Final Fantasy 14 "Thanalan Suite"

this is much closer to a cover than an arrangement. i need to echo darke's vote in that this feels like there's nowhere near enough transformative arrangement done here. i'm going to echo my vote for your hollow knight track, where i said that it has to say something. i definitely don't feel like this one is doing more than saying what the original did, with lower-quality sound design.

there's some strange note choices as well - the scalar into chromatic gliss at 1:39 is an awkward choice to my ear, there's what i can only call a mistake at 1:56 in the backing mallets, and there's what i think is an incorrectly-triggered attack at 2:13 right before you change tempo again which causes the bass/cello pizz to sound very out of time in context.

i probably sound like i think this is terrible, and i don't! there's some really fun sound design - especially all the reedy, windy instruments you use, which are a personal favorite of mine. mirroring them with xylophone is a great way to add some oomph to them and you use that technique several times. i also like that you're pretty adventurous with some of the NCTs you're using - 5:09 sounds a lot better than the notes on a page say it should, although it could be prepared much better than you did.

there's definitely some fun ideas here, but there needs to be significantly more Rebecca and less Masayoshi Soken for this to pass.

 

 

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I like the reed instruments and all the velocity work done behind them, but I also feel the lack of articulations here hurt them in the long run.  Thankfully by now, you know how to remedy such an issue.  Despite this, the sound design is an interesting one - a lovely choice of instruments as I usually expect.  However, the balancing of these instruments feels half-empty due to minimalism in places, yet half-full in the sense of their satisfactory balance within the mix.  Even with realism going into the uncanny valley, it's a sweet and delicate direction appropriate for a track like this.

However, I'm going to have to co-sign on with Shariq and Brad on the arrangement.  The interpretation is not only one run-through of the source with part of the final third missing but also has notation primarily straight from the source with only the re-orchestration sounding different.  So I can't pass it on these significant flaws, I'm afraid.  You have shown the capability to write a straight run-through and change up the accompaniment writing significantly to make it feel more individual - so it'll be great if you can do the same with this track too.

Nevertheless, it's not simple to work with the lengthier source tunes of FF14, so I commend your bravery.  But the lack of personalization is a big problem and an issue that doesn't appear among your work very often.  It'll be nice to listen to this with the arrangement reworked - let me hear you.

NO

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  • Rexy changed the title to *NO* Final Fantasy 14 "Thanalan Suite"
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