ReMix:Final Fantasy VII "With Heart and Soul" 4:16

Sadorf... now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time. Sir_NutS (Paul Michael Molina) has resuscitated an old collab with Allen from 2005, revisiting & revitalizing it with brand-new production using shiny new toys, and with the upcoming release of the intuitively-titled Final Fantasy VII Remake, it seems like a great occasion for this energized trance/big beat mashup, arranging "Let the Battles Begin!" - Mike writes:

"Yes, this is a resub... from 2005.

I won't go too much into the story of the original remix sub, as the original thread had all the details, but the TL;DR is that Sadorf made a WIP which he then gave to me and I built upon it for the track in the original sub. We used to do that a lot back in those days, sharing project files and complementing each other's style. Good times.

Since the original rejection, I've always had a soft spot for this song and doing it justice has been on my mind since back then. I've tried several times in the past, with mixed results. The issue was I always tried to just do a sound upgrade and fix the many production issues that plagued this track and all of my work back then, without touching much of the arrangement. I've come to realize that I've grown a lot when it comes to arrangement, albeit not nearly as much as I would consider good, but just enough to also do a revision of the previous arrangement to make a more cohesive, interesting track to complement the other, more production-oriented skills I've acquired over the years.

I also had to start from scratch since I created the original on FruityLoops 2 (!) and, well, that's not going to fly nowadays, and I lost the project file over a decade ago anyways. So, I kept a lot of the original arrangement including most of the first section, but I spiced things up in every single element, arrangement-wise. There's a 4/7 break midway through which can seem a bit jarring, but the disjointed feel is what I was looking for, as some of Uematsu's FF songs have those types of non sequitur. The track bounces between different rhythms, but it's mostly a big beat/trance affair with some dream trance touches. There are a lot of melodic transformations here, but I assure you every melody line is derived directly from the source.

In regards to production, I tried some new production techniques here that resulted in a slightly cleaner mix than usual, at least to my ears. Also I used Reason 11 in Bitwig extensively, and I can't tell you how happy I am that I am able to use my Reason tools again. Feels like home.

As for Sadorf, we still speak but not too often nowadays, although we're still very good friends. I've done this with his approval, but he isn't able to work on any music right now. Still, a lot of this arrangement is his, so that's why I want him credited.

I hope this one is of your liking, and that it finally sees the front page."

I'm no math expert, but I'm pretty sure 2005 was 50 years ago, and how cool is it to be seeing resubmissions from half a century ago?? Or fifteen; I've heard it both ways. Obviously Mike's grown profoundly in the decade & a half since this originally crossed our inbox, and this remake of a remix of a game about to get remade passed evaluation unsurprisingly & unanimously - the energy is immense, the beats are intense, and the arrangement makes sense. DragonAvenger's two cents:

"I really like the melodic variations throughout; decidedly different but definitely recognizable at the core. The track overall feels pretty chill despite the beats and the energy in the saw, it's a good combination."

Larry Oji comments:

"Agreed that this was excellent. The time sig change was brief, and actually could have gone in some other directions as well to extend the change-up, but it was very smoothly handled. Good expansive genre adaptation of the source, along with clean, precise mixing that packs a nice punch. Great work, guys!"

Ditto that; looking forward to FF7R as it introduces the game's world, characters, and (most importantly!) music to new generations of fans. Glad Mike finally went back and remade this mix, too, as it injects energy, polish, & creativity into its own vision for Uematsu's composition. And glad Sadorf was on board with the second take & helped spark the original idea many moons ago. Enjoy!