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OCR04182 - *YES* Final Fantasy 9 "Amarant's Night Ride"


Rexy
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Remixer Name: Paper Coelacanth
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Game Arranged: Final Fantasy 9
Name of Arrangement: Amarant's Night Ride
Original Song: Amarant's Theme (or Salamander's Theme)

This song was one of my contributions to Pixel Mixers' Final Fantasy IX tribute album, Beyond the Mist. This was my first attempt at an 80's Synthwave style remix, which was a fun change of pace! 
Very much recommend checking out the rest of the album as well; lots of great people poured their hearts into it!

 

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  • 2 months later...

Bassline has a solid tone, percussion has good sense of movement. Lead synths fit well with the synthwave vibe. The short break at 0:59 worked well. The second section doesn’t repeat verbatim, which is appreciated. The percussive elements change around and mix things up. As the track continues we get some variations of the previous theme sections with some different lead additions. The outro hits some different notes and includes a nice little solo to finish things up. Some creative work here across the arrangement, even for a fairly minimal mix, there are subtle changes to the parts throughout that keep things fresh. Production here seems fine, with nothing major standing out as an issue. Fun take on this track. Well done.

YES

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  • Jivemaster changed the title to 2020/04/29 - (1Y) Final Fantasy 9 "Amarant's Night Ride"

Now, this is a great genre adaptation!  With the original being a brooding composition in 6/8, it felt natural to morph it into 4/4 and aim for a direction that emphasizes a four-on-the-floor pulse.  That said, the structure goes through two variations and a final buildup based on the A section - so a safer path, but you've done enough to distinguish both halves.  The difference between the B sections (1:05, 2:53) is that the second one has some countermelodies while the first one doesn't.  Then we have the A sections (0:12. 2:00, 3:42) with more daring changes - with the second one pushing for rhythm changes and stabbed chords, while the third one went back and forth between referencing the first four chords as whole notes and doing its own thing in the following four bars for the climax.  This arrangement approach is a vast improvement from what I've heard from you in the past - so color me impressed!

The synth palette has a great mixture of shaping, effects, and envelope filters, the latter being very welcome on your arpeggio runs.  The balance is also very sturdy, but oddly enough, for much of the early part of the track, only the bass, drum kit and polysynths are present, resulting in the EQ shaping being very reliant on low-end frequencies.  Even with more and more synths present, the bass felt set to dominate the soundscape, so I would've preferred it if it was a touch quieter in the mix.  The arrangement's strength doesn't make this one aspect a dealbreaker, but it is something to observe if you decide to return to synthwave arranging at any point.

Even with its minor flaws, it's a very worthwhile listen and a sign that you're pushing hard to get onto OCR's front page.  With its strengths from the genre adaptation, arrangement variety and palette shaping, I believe you're about to make your mark.  Great stuff, and I hope you keep being active around the community!

YES

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  • Rexy changed the title to 2020/04/29 - (2Y) Final Fantasy 9 "Amarant's Night Ride"
  • 2 weeks later...

By luck managed to get two of your pieces in one judge night. Hooray!

The bass does some solid work here, really enjoying the presence it has. As Jive said, the mix overall has a fairly minimal feel to it, but that really works to it's advantage, being able to focus on specific elements when needed (drums, bass, leads and solos) without cluttering up the soundscape. Everything is well balanced and shines when it needs to. This is definitely the soundtrack to Amarant riding down a highway on his cycle at midnight. 

YES

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  • DragonAvenger changed the title to 2020/04/29 - (3Y) Final Fantasy 9 "Amarant's Night Ride"

oh, i love this. great initial presentation, great feel at 0:35ish when the faster synth gets in there and starts noodling. the tempo and space you are demonstrating in the bass and drums have a great feel and really give some weight to the melodic content, which has always felt like such a great fit for amarant and his warrior-like personality. keeping the soundscape fairly simple without a ton of random things blurping their way into the mix is also great, since it lets the listener really focus on the great synth work you've got going on here.

the change at 2:26 was perfectly timed and is a great shift to give the track a different feel - kind of a nu-jazz/fusion feel for a moment - then shifts back to the original feel around 3:00. another big shift at 3:45 gives way to the first real significant bass movement of the track, which is a great way to wrap it in a meaningful and fresh way. the last few seconds are kind of a let-down since the ending is abrupt, but overall that's the only mild complaint i have about this. great work.

 

 

YES

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  • Liontamer changed the title to OCR04182 - *YES* Final Fantasy 9 "Amarant's Night Ride"
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