Emunator Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 (edited) Josh Winiberg http://www.joshwiniberg.co.uk 38855 Final Fantasy X Zanarkand - Distant Worlds Piano Version Zanarkand Nobuo Uematsu This is a solo piano reimagining of the Distant Worlds orchestral arrangement of Zanarkand. As a result, the while the structure is significant different, much of the arrangement is draws from the Piano Collections version, until the new themes and counter melodies half way through are introduced with the keychange to Bm. This arrangement was released on the usual streaming platforms on 17th November 2023. Best, Josh Edited December 6, 2023 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted November 19, 2023 Author Share Posted November 19, 2023 This is an interesting one that is going to take a bit of time to unravel. As best I can understand, Josh created an original piano arrangement of To Zanarkand which is based on the Distant Worlds II version of "To Zanarkand" but also incorporates aspects from the Piano Collections which, as best as I can tell, only exists as sheet music. I don't think his piano chops are even remotely in question - the piece sounds beautiful, but it'll be interesting to see how this holds up to scrutiny and if there's enough original adaptation to stand apart from the Distant Worlds official version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 (edited) the major differences between the Distant Worlds arrangement and the original come from a few passing chords in the first half, and then from 2:22 onward there's a lot more expansive content around the ostinado - instead of it being an arpeggiated left hand, there's a running pattern that starts in the violins while the celli have the melody and progresses throughout the orchestra after that. the melodic content, song structure, and most of the countermelodies actually are original from what i can hear. the major differences in the original to the piano collections version are much more minimal, primarily focusing around highlighting the beautiful dissonances between the running left hand and the direct harmony part to the melodic content, and also highlighting the performer's artistry and skill (there's quite a few flourishes added). aki kuroda's performances on this album are imo among the best in the piano collections series, and the arrangements for X and XIII are among the most virtuosic as well - fitting, since she's primarily a classical performer. i think this arrangement made it onto the X remaster soundtrack as well, actually. onto the actual track. the opening is note for note with the piano collections entry (i always loved the dissonance in the left hand at 0:12), albeit slower which imo reduces the impact of some of the dissonance a bit. 0:33 is where the melodic content starts. this to my ears is also pretty close to the PC version, maybe adding a bit of complexity to the left hand. the rolled chord at 0:56 is deliciously long, what a great change. the first big change i hear is at 1:03, which instead of going into the second half of the Z theme goes back to the beginning and starts over with a more grounded left hand bass. left hand here is a little loud, especially given that it's mostly doing perfect intervals. i again really appreciate the patience on the rolled chord at 1:31. we do finally get the last part of the main melody at 1:43, and this is again very patient with the approach. it sounds to my ear to be roughly the same with what the PC version has, just much quieter. 2:26's entrance of the Distant Worlds ostinado in the left hand is a clear adaptation of that version, right down to passing it into the right hand and carrying the melody in the middle/low voices. we do finally get the big dynamic section we've waited the entire time for, although again the left hand is very loud and we don't sustain on the high point (similar to the DW arrangement). 3:53's movement is also from the DW arrangement, and the subsequent flourish to the top note is from the PC arrangement I think. there's some call and response for the last few notes of the original, and a new chord resolution at the end. i'm quite familiar with the piano collections version, as i've been listening to the entire series of piano collection albums for years. separately, To Zanarkand is possibly my favorite piece of game music ever and i've done three arrangements of it for classical instrumentation, so i'm intimately familiar with the piece and especially the countermelodic elements of it. i am not as familiar with the DW arrangement, but outside the aforementioned ostinado in the middle, the work is essentially the same with no new elements being introduced outside of some work in the winds. all that said: i do not believe this arrangement stands far enough from either existing arrangement to be able to be considered for this site. the performance is truly superb - the artistry just oozes out from all of the space you give the work to breathe - but there's just too much here that's from the original arrangers and not enough new arrangement from josh winiberg. it's still a beautiful rendition, just doesn't fit our criteria for arrangement. NO =( Edited November 20, 2023 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 On 11/19/2023 at 9:54 AM, Emunator said: This is an interesting one that is going to take a bit of time to unravel. As best I can understand, Josh created an original piano arrangement of To Zanarkand which is based on the Distant Worlds II version of "To Zanarkand" but also incorporates aspects from the Piano Collections which, as best as I can tell, only exists as sheet music. I don't think his piano chops are even remotely in question - the piece sounds beautiful, but it'll be interesting to see how this holds up to scrutiny and if there's enough original adaptation to stand apart from the Distant Worlds official version. Yep, there's an actual Piano Collections arrangement, so I took the link prophetik gave and put it into the first post. I do appreciate the Distant Worlds arranged version also being referenced starting around 2:27. It's entirely possible to have an arrangement of an arranged album version make it on OCR, so this just happened not to be the case here. Co-signed with proph, this version's just way too close to the structure of the Piano Collections version to start. It's a great performance by Josh, however, IMO, this presentation doesn't stand enough apart from these arranged versions to pass our arrangement standards. From what I can tell, this premise, which is of course a lovely performance, just happens to be something that's not quite interpretive enough when contrasted with the pair of arranged versions being referenced. I hope we hear more from you though, Josh; your piano talents are right up our alley, so we'd love to feature something else from your VGM repetoire that carries more of your personality and arrangement approach in it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted December 6, 2023 Share Posted December 6, 2023 Agreed with the above. I don't think it does enough to stand apart from any of the three versions for our standards. Only about the last 30 seconds leapt out at me as something really different from the source material. (Also the tail of the last note is cut off.) For the record, this would need a different name to be posted. Sounds great, just not what we look for. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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