Final Fantasy IX "Terra Calls" 4:41

Our last dedicated treatment of this theme was back in 2020, so we're thankful our reigning queen of ReMix Mountain has heeded the call, so to speak, with RebeccaETripp's intimate orchestration of Final Fantasy IX's version of "Terra"! Tripp's thankful she's once again been producing music after needing to take a step back:

"It's been quite a while since I created an FF9 remix (or any remix for that matter). I've been very sick for nearly a year now, so it took several months just to get this one finished! It feels good to get some music out after a long break. I'm glad to be back. I've always wanted to make this arrangement, and I played with it in my mind on and off over the years. It feels good to finally get it done. The original Final Fantasy 9 soundtrack was composed by Nobuo Uematsu."

The source tune's already pretty ornate (for the PS1's capabilities, mind you), but I love hearing Rebecca's orchestration, replete with her usual beautiful ornamentations and chromatic percussion. Her textures always evolve so effortlessly. The delicateness of 2:18's reprise of the intro was a personal highlight. Judge prophetik music critiqued this in great detail, so while Rebecca should keep his full critiques in mind, Brad praised the big picture as Tripp effectively building upon "Terra" with her signature approach:

"there's a bit of a reset before we get into the second half. there's more chord work here in this second representation of the A theme, and some more altered elements which i appreciated. this would have been easy to mail in so i appreciate the commitment to keeping it different from the opening section. [...] we finally get some percussion at 3:40 and i agree that the tambourine is just the right instrument for the job. [...]

this has some nice elements that really add to the original. [...] overall the arrangement is pretty and it's mixed fairly well."

proph's absolutely right that the addition of the tambourine from 3:40-4:02 was a subtle but effective way to add some forcefulness to things before winding it down afterward. Meanwhile, Hemophiliac was also drawn to musical landscape of Terra:

"All the usual from Rebecca. [...] The arrangement is always wonderful. This is no exception. The interplay between parts is great, and the trade-off of melody from instrument to instrument keeps the piece flowing and moving. [...]

Warming and mystifying. I hear the call."

No doubt, all of the positive, telltale arrangement traits that Rebecca has cultivated over the years are on full display here, so it makes sense this was approved to finally stand alongside Earth Kid's splendid version of the same theme, an excellent treatment of "Terra" by Rebecca. :-) I can't help but love Tripp's style, she's in the zone here!