ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "Heads or Tails" 4:04

In chatting with another community member a few weeks ago, I mentioned that when you have two equally promising choices, it’s important not to get caught in analysis paralysis, so I asked them to flip a coin. Heads or tails, whatever happens, let’s at least make some moves. When it comes to making music, ZackParrish doesn’t get frozen in place, ZackParrish is making moves with another instance of cinema-worthy scoring, this time combining themes from both Final Fantasy VI & IX! Will you look at how quickly Zack says he put this together (wow!):

"Did this one for DarkeSword's Game Set Mash!! competition. Was interesting making the two themes play together but wasn't too challenging since it just... kind of worked bouncing them off one another. "Memoria" makes a great counter to "E&S", and the opening "melody" of "Memoria" also has the same interval pattern that "E&S" plays over and over again, so those two bits worked quite nicely together as well. Was quite a challenge throwing this together, but managed to do it in 3 days."

Basically 72 hours to make this?? We need Zack to walk the community through both his workflow and his music-making mindset, because he makes this stuff sound easy despite being so sophisticated. prophetik music provided play-by-play praising Parrish’s proficient production:

"pulsing intro is a neat idea, underneath the distortion effects and some light pads. the E&S really fits over the rich pad work. the swell at 0:57 is nice, and the chord work is interesting to listen to. [...]

1:38 brings a break, and we're back to some of the vibe from the intro until a shift at about 1:58. i liked the arp that comes in at 2:38 and thought that the understated lead in this section initially was a nice idea. 2:59's short build into the final blow-through of the melody was effective, and the soaring synth lines over this ending section sound great. the subsequent outro is handled nicely and it feels good on the ending.

this is an easy vote. the track sounds great, it's got tons of source, and it's a neat idea with the two tracks being combined together. nice work."

I did like that one percussion part from 1:37-1:57; though I don't know what it was, the sound was unique, as well as the placement in the soundscape. Someone clue a non-music-making brother in! Judge Emunator never needs a clue, except apparently on how to defeat Zack’s powerful music mojo in the Game Set Mash!! compo. ;-D In this case, game recognizes game:

"I told myself I wasn't going to vote on any GSM tracks due to my participation in the competition (and the fact that this track solidly beat my entry in round 1...) but since this seems to be lingering without any votes, I think it's been long enough that I can be objective. Let me put on my objective hat...

...it's lit. This is an easy, easy vote, Zack brings his usual level of high-quality cinematic sound design, with a heavy emphasis on texture and rhythmic movement throughout the arrangement. The fusion between the two themes is creative and seamless. Especially for a 1 week endeavor, this is truly impressive and speaks to Zack's abilities as an arranger and producer."

This was a good example of giving "E&S" a darker edge, and the tradeoffs with "Memoria" flowed very well. :-) I could listen to "Memoria" all day but not really remember the melody well, and I'm not sure why, whereas "Edgar and Sabin" is hugely memorable for me. Regardless of my source tune opining, Zack’s arrangement showcased cool instrumentation throughout alongside solid dynamics. I enjoy the energy and the fusion of themes here, and you will too!