OCR04517 - *YES* Final Fantasy 8 "Filthy Lies / Wasted Virtue" *PROJECT*

[Liontamer]

Contact Information:

• Your ReMixer Name: The Vodoú Queen (& Rockos)
• Your Real Name: Angélique Vodoú
• Your Email Address: 
• Your Website: https://thevodouqueen.newgrounds.com/
• Your User ID # on our forums: 37001

Submission Information:

• Name of Game(s) Arranged: Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)
• Name of Arrangement: "Filthy Lies / Wasted Virtue"
• Name of Individual Song(s) Arranged: 'Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec'
• Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): 

1. FINAL FANTASY VIII OST; Track 12 (Disc 2) - FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC; Artist(s): Nobuo Uematsu; Release Date: 10 March 1999; Label: DigiCube

• Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site):

1. https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VIII:_Original_Soundtrack

• Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.:

Let me preface this by saying that sharing my thoughts and processes (i.e. how I compose or arrange music, art, or fiction) is extremely hard to put into words. Sometimes, it all comes in a flurry of rapid flashes of creativity from something I've enjoyed recently in a videogame, or heard on Spotify, and I want to try my hand at it. Other times, it's hard and painstaking, like pulling teeth...where I have *zero* clue what the hell I'm doing, how I'm going to achieve it, or why. More times than not, however, I have a (really) bad tendency to overshoot an idea (or several, simultaneously!), having a solid direction in mind, but unable to put pen to paper to make it all sound even remotely how I had envisioned it in the first place.

 

This song, "Filthy Lies / Wasted Virtue", came off the back of me getting so burned out between music competitions and two other songs on the album, I just went, "ahh, eff' it..." threw the base MIDI together on Reaper, and sat staring at it for an hour. That hour passed, and after trying too hard to fit the pieces of the puzzle together by force, I metaphorically flipped the table, and stripped the MIDI to its barest bones (about 4 tracks): bass, lead melody, harmony line, and some other synth pluck thing. And then, I muted everything bar the song's OG bass.

 

I dug that bassline.

 

I *loved* that bassline.

 

After I played with some sequenced bass synths from Hybrid 3, that single track struck a chord with me. And therein were the beginnings of something fruitful.

 

I believe the old tried and true Bob Ross adage really describes this remix in full. From that one bass track & its harmonics honing in what I wanted to do with it, to having found further inspiration from listening to a couple of Infected Mushroom albums earlier that same day, to the random friendly convo about IM I had with my wonderful (not-quite-yet-at-the-time) collab partner a day or two prior in the general Discord group chat...it all just, fits, and honestly, I am proud of my contribution and ability to bring this song into a new light.

 

Phew...sorry. TL;DR -- I guess with all that said, my last few words are: keep persevering despite your self-doubts, even if there's no current clear path to your endgame. Big shout-out to the heads of this project, Darkflamewolf and Jorito, for pushing me to challenge myself, helping with their robust critiques when we needed it most, and even allowing me the benefit (even as a first timer to these big project-type collaborations in general) to do THREE (very) differently styled songs for this headbanger of an album. Huge thank you and props to my new psytrance-loving buddy, Rockos, for his stellar additions to the track and advice on how to add more depth and fine-tuning to synths and low-end sounds. And thank *YOU*, for listening to our finished work. Hope you enjoy!

 

And always remember: "We don't make mistakes. We just have happy accidents." 

 

#

 

Parts from the Source Used (all adjusted to FLWV's key signature as C major/A minor):

* "Fithos, Lusec, Wecos, Vinosec" = whole song at various points

Source Breakdown:

* 00:00-02:08 = beginning of "FLWV", in full, with additionals (e.g. VQ vocals intermixed with AlterEgo vocals)
* 02:09-02:21 = short 'break-down'/'build-up', entering a drop before continuing with the source
* 02:22-05:01 = remix follows the source pretty keenly, enhancing moments when the song changes from verse->chorus by virtue of SFX, vocal effects, and synth glitching
* 05:02-06:37 = a bit of improvising here until the end, incorporating the main choral source elements (~01:00-01:32) of "FLWV"; the drop off @ 05:43 switches the song to something totally different, and then we circle back to the elements (~01:33-02:07) of the main source @ 05:57 of the remix, to end the song with

 

[MindWanderer]

As a novice remixer myself, I've definitely experienced that same sort of eureka moment myself, when I break down a MIDI into its components and get to really appreciate the individual parts. So I totally understand your approach here. I've even used the same vocoding that you opened with!

Lots of really cool ideas here, with a rich and constantly evolving soundscape. Very creative and engaging. Great sounds overall. Thanks for submitting!

YES

[prophetik music]

interesting stutter effect on the opening section. the intentional non-tonality initially is a neat idea. the build into 0:59 was a neat faux build - i really didn't expect it to delay as long as it did. there's a real underground-y kick that comes in at 1:13 and progresses it forward to a big hit at 1:39 with an acid bassline under it, and it's really cooking there. that's a neat moment. 

there's some more weird vocoding, some choppy drums, and lots of aural exploration in various directions until we get more sustained elements at 2:48 with the kick and bassline coming back. 3:44's sliced drums under really detuned arps was an interesting idea. 4:07's driving beat is again great, but admittedly the vocal elements in this section and previous sections felt pretty thin even considering their background status. 

there's some really neat swoopy sfx before the kick/bassline comes back in at 5:01. this keeps cooking for a while ("cover and simmer for ten minutes") until around 5:50 when other effects become the foreground, and we wind down over time as vocal elements take us out.

as usual, this is a dense, sfx-heavy track with a lot of exploration (tbh almost too much) and a ton of variety in aural elements. it's certainly the most different take on FLWV that i've ever heard, and it's a great addition to the community.

 

 

YES

[Liontamer]

Loads of great arrangement ideas in there; this never stays in one place and explores the source theme incredibly well. Production felt impactful, loads of good sound design, and the overall mixing was spacious and clean. Great job by VQ & Rockos!

YES

[Chimpazilla]

This is really cool, so many interesting elements and lots of changeups throughout the arrangement.  Great groove, dynamics and energy.  It's a long arrangement but maintains interest all the way through.  Mixing is wide and spacious, elements are well balanced, mastering is appropriate.  The male vocal sounds a bit thin and dry.

My only mixing suggestion for a mix like this is to sidechain every element in varying amounts.  For example, group all plucks for sidechaining together, add a compressor and give them no more than 6db of gain reduction, fastest possible attack and release, ratio of 2:1.  Same with leads, vocals, pads, even perc loops, group them and sidechain somewhere between 3-6db GR each.  Bass of course can have much heavier sidechaining (and it sounds great here).  This is just a tip for an even groovier mix next time, you'll be amazed at what a difference it makes.

This is fun, let's do this.

YES