Posted 2007-05-13, evaluated by the judges panel


Newcomer Tweek rocks his sophomore submission, collab style:

"This remix was inspired and produced because of Zircon's FF7 remix competition. Out of all the tracks that were offered, I still can't put my finger on why I chose this one, but I'm certainly glad I did. I decided to change the song quite a bit from the original, with the most obvious change being the time signature. Converting the piece from 6/8 to 4/4 was no easy task. Throw in the fact that the song is full of melody lines that last no longer than a few measures and you find yourself with quite a difficult challenge. In spite of all that, I am exceptionally happy with how it turned out. Having sephfire join the project with me facilitated this mix being taken to the next level. His touch and expertise greatly added to the outcome of this mix. All in all, I can be, and am, very proud of this mix. Enjoy!"

Partner in crime Sephfire adds:

"The track was already about 80% done by the time I got involved. I rewrote the first minute (the Opening section) and then just played around with what Tweek had already layed out, adding some strings here, a stutter there, a synth line somewhere else, etc. As tight as the mix sounded already, I didn't have to do much. Tweek is growing at an alarming rate as a musician. I hope we get the opprotunity to collaborate again soon."

Mr. Floyd's FF7 love has been well documented, so it would seem that Brian chose the right compadre for this industrial/electronica/orchestral take on the Opening ~ Bombing Mission theme. Things start with Asian percussion and suspenseful, sustained pads+strings, with winds entering on melody as a little electro synth motif pops up here and there before becoming a full-fledged, consistent presence circa 0'54". Filtered drums percolate upwards like an inverted Cuisinart preparing a warm cup of joe, with string stabs leading into an edgier dropping of beat @ 1'34". The duo do a particularly good job of oscillating between full-on groove and more pensive, open patterns. Andy did feel like this was somewhat similar to Daniel's Speed Limit mix, and felt that more creativity could have been applied to help differentiate the instrumentation in particular, relative to this past effort. I'd tend to agree that one or two conspicuous, unique sonic elements would have helped the "oomph" factor for me - everything is clearly solid and transitional detail work is considerably beyond solid, but a lil sumtin' sumtin' to spice up the action would have bumped things up a notch. As it is, you can't really tell this is a collab, which is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it definitely has a consistent and cohesive voice and never sounds pasted together or jarring, but on the other hand, there's nothing that shines through as representing the specifically impressive traits of either artist. That being said, both these bros are all about the quality, energetic arrangement, and FF7 stuff is notoriously difficult to flesh out and extract narrative development from; the OST as a whole tells a story, but individual pieces tend to weigh in more on the BGM side of things, as opposed to melodic overtures. That's my take, anyways. It's somewhat strange that a mix that's 80% Tweek and 20% Sephfire sounds a bit more like the latter, but Tweek's just getting started establishing himself, with an impressive Tetris Attack ReMix under his belt, and more on the way, so his "sound" per se is hard to pin down. Both this and that previous mix employ dramatic Asian percussion (very effectively, I might add), so if there's a common thread, that'd seem to be it. But there's no need to pigeonhole either ReMixer into having a specific sound, and they both definitely worked very organically and productively on this arrangement. The time signature alteration works quite well, there's effective use of dynamic shifts, and both the production and arrangement have that "big" sound of epic, impressive scope.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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WesternZypher
on 2010-11-07 20:03:54

I'm sure I'd like it even more if I was familiar with the source tune. It's good "focus" music - by I feel like with the fade out at the end, it doesn't pan out/end as satisfyingly as I'd like.

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42
on 2009-01-18 23:49:01

8O

dang, whoa.

umm... wow.

Words fail me at how cool this is.

Very dire and techno. Awesome job.

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OA
on 2008-04-17 14:40:03

Great intro build leading to the reverse snare into the main section. There are a ton of great sounds being used, from the 'computer blips' to that bass part early on. Percussion throughout is more on the subtle side of 'hardcore' but very densely layered. Super nice. The combination of organic and electronic is about perfect here, though i think having the percussion get a bit more 'in yo face' would have helped progression a bit.

Great work from 2 awesome mixers, I really enjoyed this one.

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Ravenblackdove
on 2007-08-15 14:42:33

I think the song has a lot of potential but it seemed to lack a balance throughout most of it. I'm pretty sure, though not 100%, that the problem is that there isn't enough involvement with the percusions, or at least a certain kind of them. I don't think there was any problem converting it from one time to the other though. I'm going to listen to it a few more times and I'm sure it'll grow on me. I just like there to be a form to the music rather than having it sound erratic and completely upredictable. That's not to say do what everyone esle does, just that when I listen, I like to be able to flow in my mind with the music instead of being pulled along chaotically, never knowing when I'll trip and fall.

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erik212
on 2007-07-30 14:02:31

Great mix! I love the FFVII mixes here on OCR, and this is a great addition, as well as your Tetris Attack mix. Looking forward to hear more from you!

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lady zelda
on 2007-06-05 16:55:55

I love this. I love how you start with a mysterious, almost eerie, beginning to lead into the awesome ride you have planned for the rest of the mix. Keep these coming!

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Martin Penwald
on 2007-06-05 15:34:17

Nice intro with an interesting choice of instruments.

Once the song really starts, it does indeed remind you of sephfire's last FF7 submission, Speed Limit, although it does not have the same level of energy.

Good breakdown at 2:34; again, nice instruments, lots of things going on in the background.

The part following could have used a little more power; it somehow lacks a real climax.

Good song, but nothing out of the ordinary.

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Kapyrna
on 2007-05-22 15:49:41

/drool

Great job guys, I look forward to more from you two!

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MisterBiggler
on 2007-05-21 23:53:16

I really enjoyed this mix; that intro was pretty awesome, and the song's main beat hits well when it enters around the 1 minute mark. I hope to hear more from ya, Tweek.

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Robotaki
on 2007-05-16 19:06:46

I like what I hear in terms of suspense at the beginning. It does drag slightly long, at least to me, in the later parts of the first minute. Right when the 1:34 section came in, that's when I got really into what was there. That hardcore beat only lasted fro a tiny bit though T.T The "missing" thing some people are talking about I think may have to do with the need of consistency of badass, hardcore drums. They seem to be introduced only, but never play a dominant place in the piece. However, that being said, what you've made here is amazing in complexity, especially in terms of stereo separation. Great stuff guys =)

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big giant circles
on 2007-05-15 21:15:22

Pretty tight. Definitely a great adaptation into 4/4. Tweek knows I dig the track :P

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Citan
on 2007-05-15 15:22:59

This remix is pretty cool, but it feels like there's something missing... For the life of me, though, I can't figure out what it is. Like Arek, I'm pretty mixed about this one.

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Thin Crust
on 2007-05-15 11:59:21

Hmmmmm. Can't say that this is really doing it for me. There seems to be way too much added variation to the original which isn't a bad thing all the time. See The endless search to understand what I mean. But my main grievance is that there is very little of the original left. I couldn’t hear much of it at all except for the beginning. But maybe that’s just my inexperienced ears listening. This one just doesn’t capture much of anything to me. It really feels like it’s just a bunch of sounds thrown together rather than a song. Sorry, but that’s my evaluation.

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apoc
on 2007-05-14 19:02:20

After listening to it a couple times, the repetitiveness of the main part of the song gets a bit old, but the thing that saves it is the huge variation in instruments. I loved the different methods used in this track! I agree that it does sound a lot like Sephire's previous FF7 submission at parts, but I think this one definitely has more variety to it overall. I also really liked the subtle use of sound effects in this remix.

Very well done! Keep at it and you'll be blowing us all away with many mind-blowing tracks in no-time! :)

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avaris
on 2007-05-14 10:26:41

It took me a couple of listens to really like it. The mix does have a lot to offer which warrants multiple listens regardless. Switching out all of the different textures and the marcato strings are a really nice touch. Good beatz yo. Overally awesome song, the more I listen to it the more I like it. One thing if I could critique is that the intro is awesome and is a nice build up. I expected to keep on building, but after the intro there isn't another section to really up the energy level even higher. Although this is still alot of fun to listen to from both a listener and musician's standpoint.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy VII (Sony , 1997, PS1)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu
Songs:
"Opening - Bombing Mission"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Orchestral,Piano,Synth
Additional:
Origin > Collaboration

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_7_REAKTR1_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,484,468 bytes
MD5:
f72d5e0908aae3a78630e38f89f69175
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
4:30

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