Emunator Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 Edit 11th Jan 2023: Bluelighter got in touch with a new link, his comments: Quote A little more reverb of vocal at 0’25 - 0’53 and 3’39. Similar parts -> similar feeling about reverb A little more reverb of Ehru at 53' - 1’20 Difference negligible for me. But this version seems better for Jorito and album evaluators. Remixer name: Bluelighter (21840-bluelighter); Anna Hanabi; Sable Providence; Khoo Sze Ning; Guitarsvd; Ian Martyn (35158-mooglepower); dpMusicman Mail: Game & Songs: Final Fantasy VIII & Tell me Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Project: Final Fantasy VIII : Seeds of Pandora Credits: Bluelighter (Guillaume Saumande): arranger, mixer Anna Hanabi (Annabelle Saumande): singer Sable Providence (*): flutes (dizi, bass dizi, xiao) Khoo Sze Ning (Khoo Sze Ning): guzheng (https://www.instagram.com/szening_khoo/) Guitarsvd (Cecil Chau): Ehru Ian Martyn (Ian Martyn): bass, mandolin (https://linktr.ee/IanMartyn) dpMusicman (*): percussions (djembe, triangle, shaker) Hi OCR! This arrangement is based on “Tell me”, theme based on the character Quistis in the game. In the scene, she realized her difficulty to communicate with Squall, her taciturn student. Hence the title, “Where is my fault?” Some instrument players offered to collaborate for this album project. For me, it was a great opportunity to work in a style different, to use some acoustic instruments that I’m not used to. After discussion with Jorito and DFW, I oriented my arrangement to an Asian style. I first wanted to use harp. But, they convinced me to replace it by guzheng to give a more Asian feel. I’d to enrich my knowledge on these different instruments. Notably, some Asian instruments whose I didn’t know the sonority or the playing. I was a little worry about guzheng, written firstly for harp, and whose playing is different. I was not sure of its possibilities; but Khoo played it very well! SableProvidence guided me about flute and their tessitura. He explained me that the 2nd voice at the ending was too low for a standard flute, hence the bass dizi. He helped me also to find some contacts. So, I could collaborate with dpMusicman for percussions and Khoo for gudheng. I asked my sister to sing on this piece. She has yet collaborated on an album project and I knew her voice would well match with what I wanted for this arrangement. I’m grateful to all instrument players who have collaborated with me. It was a great experience to work with all them! I thank also Jorito and DFW for their advice, on the arrangement and on the mixing. About the inspiration, I built this arrangement bit by bit. At the beginning, I only wanted an acoustic piece with a female voice with some long notes (representing the character Quistis). I added a pad and a high synthe to give more consistency. At the pt3 (cf. breakdown), I felt it should be the culminant point for this mix. I added drum, bass… To reinforce the rhythm, I wanted an instrument like guitar, but lighter. Ian associated at the album project played mandolin (more than bass); it would be a good option. After this part, I was blocked a moment to continue. I decided in pt4 to keep a marked rhythm and to start a new harmony. I realized this harmony well married with the main melody. It was also a good way to give more importance to vocal. Dizi take over the vocal at part 5 and play a new melody, based on the same harmony. I concluded this arrangement (pt6 and 7) with a part in the same mood as the beginning. Enjoy, BREACKDOWN Original: - 0’00 Melodic Line 1 - 0’25 ML2 - 0’50 ML3 Arrangement: 1. 0’00 ML1 2. 0’51 ML2 3. 1’20 ML3 4. 2’10 ML2 5. 2’45 free 6. 3’15 ML3 7. 3’40 ML1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Interesting. The Chinese instrumentation is odd because it's clearly not a Chinese arrangement, but it works. It's unique and has a great sound to it. There are a couple of moments of minor dissonance, and I do think the middle section drags a little---1:18-3:10 is nearly two minutes that go at a near-constant tone and energy level. There's no copypasta, though. No major complaints. It'll do nicely as part of the album mixflood. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 thanks for the writeup. i like the history of why you chose different instrumentation. the intro is a little surprising because of the combination of obviously digital and obviously acoustic instrumentation, but it fits together and isn't too jarring once you get used to it. i enjoy how evocative the low flutes sound, and the erhu is a great choice for the melodic content. 1:18 introduces percussion and a bass instrument, and feels more like a pop ballad than the intro. there's some timing fuzziness in here but it's clear what you're going for. i do think that it's a bit mid-heavy through here (mostly due to the guzheng's quality of recording). there's a bit of a break and then it's back going forward at 2:11. i like the addition of the mandolin here to give it more rhythmic structure. additionally, the melody being carried by the vocals is really nice - i like the leans and accents she puts into it. it's a bit loud and drowns the backing parts a bit but is very stylistic. there's a significant break before 3:15, and then we get the last part of the melodic content again. this is much lower energy and does a nice job of setting the end of the track. the little electronic flourish is fun since so much of the track was live. this is a neat idea. there's not a ton of significant shifts in energy, and it's a bit mid-heavy so it's denser than i'd expect, but it has some fun ideas and the singer especially helps take it over the top. nice work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 I love the sound of the guzheng in this. Great choice to replace the harp with it, and it works so well with the mandolin too! The overall vibe of the track feels very laid-back. There is a dynamic range, but it's more like being on a beach and watching the tide come in and out, than something more urgent. I can close my eyes and drift off, listening to the live performances, and particularly the voice singing the gentle melody. It's like a lullaby without any words. Couple of nitpicks with the production - the bass is a little lacking in presence, although that could be stylistic. There's also some kind of compression artifact at 2:25 on the vocal. Nothing to worry about though. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 My fault for not realizing this was on the panel or I would have voted as soon as I'd first heard the unmastered version of the album. Wonderful instrumental & vocal performances to vibrantly bring Guillaume's arrangement to life, encouraged by the helpful nudging of the album directors! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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