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OCR00747 - Xenogears "Pilot the Yggdrasil"


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Xenogears 'Pilot the Yggdrasil'

Beautiful... that is to say that I think its really nice and all, although not exactly my taste. So I'm not going to go deep into this one. The arrangement is great, which sounds a like a Marching band on a mission. Some of the instruments sound like music from a Disney movie (not a bad thing.) In fact the whole mix sounds like a dramatic and victorious ending to a truly adventurous story... or at least that's what I got from it. A Most Beautiful and Excellent piece of work, Jared Hudson.

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I liked how the song began slowly, in a sort of mystical way with the harp followed by the bells and soft voice, and eased into an uplifting climax at about 1:25. The song carries surprisingly well, keeping a lighthearted feeling throughout. Not really my taste, but a good remix nonetheless.

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I loved Xenogears, and pretty much throughout the game it was set in a darker moodset. I love this piece because it puts a different spin on an already great song. I love how uplifting it is now, moreso than before. And yes, I get an epic, "we win!" feel from this song. Very nicely done! :D

--Orlan--

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Ooohhh... *low moan of pleasure* Jared, you done it again.

I loved Chu Chu's Flight. Now you've done another airship theme from the same game in the same style, so I've gotta love it. What's more...

IT HAS A SOLO TRUMPET!!!

You get cookies forever for that breathtaking solo. The soundfont wasn't the best, but the G# at 1:54 (Yes, I figured out the melody - it's in E Major, btw) brought tears to my eyes. I'd never heard this song before, as I haven't played Xenogears (by God, I need to), so it was all the more phenomenal to me. Superlative. Absolutely. I wanna play that solo.

Now you've set me off. More airship themes! More! *cracks whip* WHA-PISH! WHA-PISH!

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When I hear people call this simply "okay" then I can't sit back and say nothing.

It is absolutely fantastic. I have a feeling that people say a song like this is only "okay" when it doesn't quite touch on their perfered styles of music. Something about Jared's music that I feel stands out more than anything is how he manages to do a complete remix of a song, yet keep it sounding like it could have popped right out of an RPG as it is. Sure slamming techno and trance remixes are nice and sure strange and uncharted audio styles keep treating us to new sounds, but music like this does the best job of keeping the "heart" of the song so to speak. At least in my eyes (or ears).

Anyway, excellent work. :)

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  • 1 month later...
  • 5 weeks later...
Maybe it's just me, but I heard a *lot* of Metal Gear May Cry in this mix. At some points I worried it was going to change into that song! I must admit though that it is a very enjoybale mix.

Not to rag on Jared's works or anything because they all tend to stand out of the crowd that frequents this "scene" if I dare call it one, but this, to me, sounds like more of the same from him. Jared is very good at arranging songs to fit a Mitsuda-esque atmosphere. But I want to see him really expand into other genres, if he can do that. Sure, you'll probably point me to his little "hardcore" prelude cheese or something but that's not showing a real understanding of how to arrange in various styles. I think Jared has the potential to grow and simply hasn't taken the initative needed to do so. Now I suppose you'll ask if I've heard any of his original work. Yes, I have and it's quite mediocre for the industry standards (which, not surprisingly, is much higher than any of the crap we all do.) but still quite decent. Dispite the obvious shotty string parts and light brass work used to try and create a full sound, this arrangement in particular is still very nice. I like that trumpet patch he used... infact I think I might have it laying around here somewhere. The snare needs some more dynamics. Sure, it's a good sample, but the slight (if any) change in dynamics causes it to lack intrest (which apparently is driven by variations in pattern alone). The piano he used sounds like the same one used in most of his works, which, for the everyday listener, probably wouldn't bother you too much. However, I'm a pianist and it's starting to get to me. Not that you shouldn't use it anymore or anything, it's still a decent patch. Other than that, it's a fairly decent arrangement and I'm happy that it's gained a small cult following (or so it seems).

-Kai-

Ps. You do realize that if you keep mixing things with Harry Gregson-Williams style percussion lines, that people will grow tired. It doesn't hurt to add variety.

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Remember what happened when SquareSoft tried to do a fighting game? It was terrible, that's what happened. Jared has found his idiom in this orchestral style. I'm not saying that if he tried to branch out, he'd crash and burn, but if he's good at orchestral, then he's going to produce orchestral. And this is still one of my favorite mixes from OverClocked. If he tried anything else, I don't doubt that it'll have the same quality and overall technical proficiency as his other pieces.

P.S. I liked the percussion... it was tactfully in the background, and was there more to be sensed than heard. It gave the whole piece a sense of motion, which rounded out the image of flight.

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Kaijin,

As I DO respect your opinion, I'm kind of surprised to hear that I need to go into other genres. That's all I've been TRYING to do the last year. I have rock pieces, techno, piano pieces, gothic, slow orchestrals (hardly any percussion), epic ones, pop, latin songs, polkas, musak (smooth jazz), and now currently.....jazz, ACTUAL jazz with REAL trumpet solos, and more piano stuff. If you don't call that expanding into other genres, then I don't know what the hell is. I understand some of what you said, some of those genres aren't posted as of right now. They're just sitting on my hardrive.

I haven't heard any of your original music, but I do know about all your songs are ballads on OCR. Would you think that's hypocritical? I'm not trying to be an asshole, but I just want to let you know. I'll give you credit on the piano and drums. I unfortunately went on a song binge at the time of this song and made Pilot in one day. The snare wasn't accented enough (I'm a percussionist), and I do guess the piano could get monotonous after about 6 tunes. Well, that about raps up my reply. Thanks for reviewing and glad you found it somewhat decent.

Jared Hudson

P.S. I know what sound I need to go for (gigasounds, will BUY someday), it's just I have nothing. (free soundfonts, SBlive, program from the time of Windows 3.1, NO keyboard).

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I haven't heard any of your original music, but I do know about all your songs are ballads on OCR. Would you think that's hypocritical? I'm not trying to be an asshole, but I just want to let you know. I'll give you credit on the piano and drums.

All my works on OCR are ballads? Sorry, you're mistaken bro.

Radical dreamers was not a ballad, it falls more under new age pop.

Bloody Hell was obviously Hard Rock.

Reel Big Mario was obviously Ska.

To Far Away Times (featured on the commerical release SquareDance) was obviously electronica.

and the only song there that really feautred someone elses work would probably be bloody hell cause even after I had arranged a purely rock version of the song, Ailsean took it to the next level (without butchering what I had already done).

Though admittingly the rest that are actually posted on OC follow a ballad-esque trend, they're merely remixes. My original work covers far more styles than even those. My live works that I've been performing with my band even branch into acoustic alternative rock, punk, metal and many more. Anyways, I think I've made my point.

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All i've got to say is Jared, great work AGAIN, and don't listen to dumbass hippocrites like this who think they are big time industry professionals.

REALITY CHECK KAIJIN

Wake up buddy! Come on! Wake up!

I personally don't care about your discography, as most people don't.

Jared does excellent work for his setup, and I am very impressed that he can run circles around you in musical quality even though you seem to consider yourself elite.

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  • 4 weeks later...

This is simply an amazing arrangement of this piece- "Wings". Throughout the song, I instantly noticed the 'Victory' feel as people describe it. This song is arranged and performed as a closure to me. It may be me, but I was somewhat reminiscent of Uematsu in it's arrangement (as an ending theme). But maybe it's just me. Great work man. :P

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Bravo to Mr. Hudson! Listening to this was the most fun I've had in a long time.

First off, I adored the pizzacato violin (which is quickly becoming my favorite sound on earth). I love the way the orchestra builds into the beautiful theatrical-quality theme. I can't say I've ever heard the original piece, but after hearing this, I'm very curious just how much of this is Jared's.

The entire thing makes me vividly think "flying." And I mean vivid to the point of feeling the wind whip past me. I like flying.

I guess it's needless to say that this song will definitely lift one's spirits. It's a real "spread your wings and soar" piece that'll make even the worst day not-so-bad.

Mr. Hudson, consider me a fan.

:)!!Musical Brilliance Award :)!!

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  • 9 months later...
  • 1 month later...

very beautiful mix. i love the intro and the main body, but the thing that i don't like is the ending. and that last note, (shudders). it doesn't sound right, or maybe there's a note missing. a higher note that goes with it. but it is a very beautiful mix

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  • 5 months later...

This is a very nice piece of work capturing a lot of the essence of the original. At least what I remember of the original from many years ago :wink:

While it's very good overall, it was definitely missing something, and I think it was Kaijin who pointed out the lack of much of a dynamic range. I like what you do with the cymbals, but I really wanted that trumpet to simply become overcome with emotion and just belt out the melody.

I definitely got the Metal Gear May Cry vibe as well, mentioned by GustaveNiGHTS. Some of the arpeggios were identical to the point where I could tell he was trying to vary them. Listen to the piano in MGMC around 4:05 and this track at 1:50. Didn't help that many of the instruments were the same as those used in Jared's previous hit. Although I'm only half-complaining as I'd love to get some more MGS2/DMC action from Jared!

The intro for the first minute or so was a great appetizer as well. Love the harp :D

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