OCR01658 - *YES* Final Fantasy 7 'A Life Without Parole'

[Liontamer]

Hi djp,

So yeah, it was bound to happen...in a moment of weakness and lapse of better judgment, I finally caved and did a Final Fantasy arrangement. It guess it's just destiny for piano remixers and Square to be together, like so much peanut butter and Nutella (I call it a peanutella sandwich).

Anyway, the source tune here is "Sandy Badlands." The arrangement is a bit sparse at times, in part to reflect the desolation of the Corel Prison. There's also a reference to "Death Sea ~ Tower of Ruin" from Chrono Cross in the left hand about a minute in, because I felt like it. Then the second time through, the melody takes on a Middle Eastern tint for some reason...probably to make it sound sandy. Or something. And finally you hear a hint of hope, as your lawyer just called and said you can get off on self-defense, or at the very worst feigned insanity.

This track is a part of the "Voices of the Lifestream" project of course, so if this passes you can hold off on the post-age until the project is out.

Thanks go to zircon this time for rendering this for me. That means if it's too soft or the encoding bitrate is too low, you can bug him about it.

[zircon]

LUL THE RENDERING IS SO GOOD )SIZE24YES!!

Nah but seriously, this is an excellent ReMix. The first time I heard it I was initially thrown off by its minimal nature. It's quiet, somewhat sparse, and not at all flashy or dramatic. However, the slow and somber mood really works. It's only as dense as it needs to be, and there are significant dynamic contrasts (eg 2:23 vs. 2:58). Very interpretive arrangement given the simplicity of the original, with lots of interesting melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic variations. I liked all the harmonic changes especially as certain chord + melody combinations in the original didn't sit well with me. The ending is particularly chilling.

No production issues - call me biased, but I do think everything works in that department. It is a little on the quiet side overall but that's necessary for contrast between the soft and loud parts.

Good job David

YES

[The Orichalcon]

Well played and interpretive. Production is fine. Enjoyable to listen to. I would've done away with the louder parts, they sound bad. The quieter parts remind me of the 'Bran Bal, Soulless Village' on the FF9 Piano Collections.

My issue is with how many FF7 project pieces are passing lately. Is the whole project going to be posted to OCR, mix by mix? I mean, it's good that so many mixes from the project are OCR quality, but where's the line drawn.

YES

[Liontamer]

djp has said in the past, he has 0 qualms about a project having a slew of passable mixes sent in. Aside from lamenting the lack of game variety, there's no reason to consider drawing the line anywhere at all.

http://tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF7_psf.rar - 221 "Sandy Badlands"

Swank piano coversion, and a beautiful expansion of the source material. Could sound a bit richer, but that wasn't my production choice. The sparseness is ok with me. At 3:38, I was feeling apprehensive about the arrangement retreading, but those fears were quickly put to rest with some further interpretation. Good deal, son.

YES

[JJT]

YES

if you fix the mastering.

i'm not kidding. zircon blows.