Final Fantasy XIV "War Eternal" 5:57

Oooh, more FF14 AND more Nobuo Uematsu as Tremendouz transforms Final Fantasy XIV's vocal theme "Dragonsong" (not that one!) into a contemplative instrumental acoustic-minded affair. Entering Soundole's annual compo inspired Tremendouz to pivot from his original concept into something decidedly more low-key:

"I had been planning to arrange this one in a more grandiose style for years, but when #SoundoleChillOut2024 happened, I got a sudden inspiration for a downtempo version with mostly acoustic instruments. I have always wanted to cover this one and while this isn't quite the style I originally had in my mind, the contest inspired me to do something a little different.

The backbone of the arrangement is the combination of classical guitar, concert harp, and electric bass that are mostly playing together but with some call and response going on at times, using all three instruments for both rhythm and melody.

Then come the acoustic lead guitar, some soft choir and subtle string pads, as well as drums to add some texture. Together with the gradually increasing tempo, I wanted to create a subtle build-up that hopefully keeps the arrangement interesting for all the 6 minutes. Original plan was to just use harp, bass, nylon guitar, but the other layers just felt natural to add to keep the arrangement going. It's hard to make a satisfying build-up for such a long arrangement, so I'm glad it worked out.

As usual for me, everything is MIDI plus virtual instruments:
- Ilya Efimov Nylon & Acoustic Guitar
- Samantha Ballard Harp
- Scarbee Sun Bass
- NI Strummed Acoustic
- LABS Choir, Gaelic Voices, and Frozen Strings
- EZdrummer 3
- Synthesizer V SOLARIA (vocal aahs at the end)"

Pretty solid gear list! And if you can't get Samantha Ballard herself, you best come through with the second-best option, i.e. the Samantha Ballard harp VST! :-) Judge prophetik music praised Tremendouz pretty thoroughly:

"wow, it's hard to define why, but i immediately knew this was an FF track listening to the original. there's so many parallels to tracks on the soundtracks from X through XIII. what an excellent original though.

evocative opening. [...] there's a lot of ensemble work which i really appreciate. [...] the instrumentation really makes it feel like a chrono cross track, actually.

we get percussion at 1:43 alongside some more traditional use of harp, and some choir pads. there's a lot of patience and nuance in how this stuff is being used. the beat picks up a bit at 2:55, and most of the instruments move back to their traditional roles (harp arp, bass for the bass line, guitar for rhythmic and chordal elements). the choir pad's a bit louder here [...], but moves back to some more melodically-focused stuff at 3:23, and the pads here have some interesting suspensions as well. acoustic solo around 3:55 was nice also.

key change at 4:19 and a more driving beat give this a much more energetic feel. the mastering in here is nice and clean and i can still hear the guitar clearly without anything crazy in regards to volumization being done. 5:23's a peak and drop, and it goes through the descending line a few times before it's done.

i wasn't really sold on the description at all, but this execution is tremendouz. there's a lot of patience and care shown with how you realized each of these instruments. i'd definitely not have assumed they were all tracked. the ensemble sound throughout is great and the clear master really helps those excellent interpretations to shine through. nice work."

Oh really? Had to pun the handle and everything, proph? (Thanks, Dad! :-P) Much like they did with their OCR debut arranging Star Fox Adventures (and not unlike Dj Mokram's recent FF8 offering), Tremendouz showed off their penchant for building a fairly realistic feel with their samples, which judge Hemophiliac happily co-signed:

"Tremendouz is amongst the best at sequencing virtual instruments for realism. I'm always amazed every time I hear his work how convincingly real it is. I think most people would not know these are not live performances.

Warm and luscious opening leads to a more traditional approach. [...]

Production is good, with such a small ensemble of instruments, it's nice to have everything feel together in the same room. I am surprised this didn't go full bore orchestral later on in the track to really amp up the energy. The choice to keep it small and intimate was a good one, because it allows the subtle emotions to come through more.

I know there's a lot of FFXIV [fans] out there and I think they'll really like this one."

Quite the nice touch using SOLARIA at 4:44 for the vocal aahs, which also hearkened back to Susan Calloway's "Dragonsong" performance. "Dragonsong's" vocals and orchestral swells are so big and bold, yet Tremendouz essentially uncovered and exploited a great pocket to work in, channeling the source tune's more reserved instrumental energy from 2:03-2:31 of the original and brilliantly pacing out this engaging & introspective extended vision!