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Posted

Artist Name: Pipko Fanfare feat. April Murphy, Lampie23

This is an acoustic jazz collab that I'm very excited to share. I outlined the arrangement and reharmonization, created lead sheets for the performers, and programmed drums and bass, and the wonderful April Murphy and Lampie23 provided stellar improvised performances based on those lead sheets. April played alto and tenor saxophone, Lampie23 played piano. They both have some serious jazz chops and I'm beyond excited to show off their work.

The idea with this track was to explore the emotional journey Terra goes through in the first several hours of the game. "Awakening" was an obvious choice as it's the track that plays during most of her key emotional scenes, as was the main version of "Terra's Theme" to elaborate further on her main motif, but I also included a lot of "Another World of Beasts" (adapted to 4/4) to represent her past and background and how they are sort of the cause for all the troubles she faces in the present. She finds herself being asked to take on a great responsibility while she's already vulnerable and confused because of her memory loss, unsure who to trust or what to do or even who she is. In my opinion, both solos really captured that emotional depth and I couldn't be prouder of my collaborators for it.

I've included the lead sheets as a reference at https://pipkofanfare.com/I_Can't_Be_Your_Ray_of_Hope.pdf 

Source breakdown:
0:00 - 0:25 Awakening
0:25 - 1:03 Another World of Beasts melody, Awakening/Terra's Theme counter melody
1:03 - 1:28 Another World of Beasts
1:28 - 2:19 Terra's Theme
2:19 - 2:31 Awakening
2:31 - 3:09 Tenor Sax Solo
3:09 - 3:34 Another World of Beasts
3:34 - 4:12 Piano Solo
4:12 - 4:41 Another World of Beasts

KEY: F minor
TEMPO: 76bpm


Games & Sources

Source Game: Final Fantasy VI, music by Nobuo Uematsu

Source tracks: "Awakening", "Another World of Beasts", "Terra's Theme"

  • Liontamer changed the title to 2025/06/06 - Final Fantasy 6 "I Can't Be Your Ray of Hope"
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

we reviewed this one on the 6/18 NO SHOW.

i think this is a really fun arrangement! i really enjoyed the piano playing, and especially the tenor tone when it came in. i felt that the alto part sounds very thin and muffled throughout - this is a recording issue, and probably necessitates a re-record. we'd require similar re-records on a vocal part, for example, that had the same level of thinness and muffled/distorted tone (4:14's a great example, but it's throughout). there's a few points where the alto's pitchy too so that'd help that as well. separately, i felt that the tenor solo really didn't work in a lot of places - i think the overall shape of the solo was nice, but there's several points where the tenor's sitting on tones that don't fit the chord below it, and it's crunchy. tbh i'd recommend writing a solo (or a framework of one) and then using that.

to be clear - i love the concept and adaptation. i think if the alto was re-recording playing the exact same notes with a touch of pitch correction, and if the tenor solo was a bit more on-key, this would be an easy pass.

 

 

NO

Posted

Whenever I vote, I like to pretend/assume that there's absolutely no way the track can be revised, because it forces you to decide if it's above the line or not, rather than judging it on what you think the track's potential is after a revision.

I agreed with Chimpazilla on the sax mixing not feeling as integrated in the soundscape. That said, it's not something that stuck out to me without it being pointed out by her first, and I can also totally live with this. Performance sounds great for our bar, not just the sax, everything else too; though the higher notes on the piano clearly expose the sample's limitations, the piano and upright bass overall sound good as well, this completely clicks for me.

When I heard this on The NO Show, I qualified things by mentioning that I'd need to hear this on my setup, as it was possible the mixing issues would stand out more; just off of that listen, it was sounding like a YES to me. Now that I hear it for myself on my headphones, this is lovely, lovely, intimate smoky jazz. Great weaving of the source themes, hugely personalized.

IMO proph's higher-level sax skillz make performance flaws stand out more for him than the average bear, making him too tough on it, especially because the arrangement's very substantive, which we both agree to. This isn't HonkSax™ and this overall execution isn't anywhere below our hobbyist bar.

Hyperbolic for a reason, because I'll come off like I'm browbeating Brad or flipping a table. 100 out of 100 times -- not 99 out of 100 -- something like this should be approved or it means our collective bar needs recalibration for being too tough. Are we gonna mess this up? :-P

Pipko, April, Lampie, kudos! :-)

YES

Posted

Well this one has come a long way since it's initial rough sketches I heard in the workshop.

The arrangement is great and follows the typical "head > solos > head/tag" jazz form. The source was adapted to that well, I do like the reharmonization in places and color added to the chords.

Lampie's additions on the piano are excellent, keeps it in the right vibe the whole way through.

Production could be sharper, particularly with the tenor sax being so forward and close. Pushing it back with the wet/dry blend on reverb to give it some distance would probably help that. I think the alto would probably benefit from that as well, but doesn't need it as much as the tenor. During the tenor solo, there's a few notes that don't sit within the chord perfectly. When those dissonant notes sit held out for longer values and aren't passing they stand out and feel wrong. If improvising isn't something April is very comfortable with, I would recommend writing out the solo or at least putting some "guidepost notes" in there to help. I felt the vibe and phrasing of the sax solo was fitting, just a couple notes that didn't agree.

Is this perfect? It isn't, but that shouldn't stop it from being good enough.

YES

Posted

I voiced my agreement with Hemo and LT during the NO SHOW.

I do agree that the tenor sax is mixed too far forward and that the alto sounds much thinner. That said, I think what we've been presented is above bar from a production perspective -- especially considering the quality of the arrangement is so high. I doubt any of us would say no to another take of the tenor solo with the same vibes and fewer dissonant notes, but the take we have is more than good enough to my ears. The programmed elements (drums, bass) are solid, tasteful, and genre-appropriate.

Kupos--I mean, kudos y'all!

YES

Posted

I also voiced my thoughts on the NO Show and I agree with my fellow Js that the sax parts, most especially the tenor sax, sound way too dry and upfront, just right in my face due to lack of any kind of reverb.  The saxes don't sound like they are in the same space with the piano, bass and drums at all.  However, this arrangement is great and so are the performances.  The sax recording and mixing could surely be better, but I am going to guess most casual listeners will not notice that, and will only notice a very cool and jazzy arrangement of these three sources that is quite well done.

YES

  • Chimpazilla changed the title to 2025/06/06 - *YES - TAG* Final Fantasy 6 "I Can't Be Your Ray of Hope"
  • Chimpazilla locked and unpinned this topic
Posted

I noted during the No Show that balancing the saxes' volumes more against the rest of the band would be nice to have, but not a dealbreaker. Latest mix definitely sounds more balanced volume-wise in that regard, which is just bonus to an excellent arrangement. To me, this piece sets out to capture that sultry jazz club quintet vibe in the same vein that some of the Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth tracks reimagine the pieces from the original OST - and to that end, this is a successful accomplishment that's 100% above our bar. I was already a YES, and this latest revision hasn't changed my mind.

YES

  • Liontamer changed the title to 2025/06/06 - *YES* Final Fantasy 6 "I Can't Be Your Ray of Hope"
  • Liontamer changed the title to OCR04886 - *YES* Final Fantasy 6 "I Can't Be Your Ray of Hope"
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