Tag Archives: OA

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Whispers of the Plains – Final Segment – OverClocked Remixers Interviews

Finally we reach the final section of interviews. Apologies for the delays, I’ve been seriously ill with swine flu but all is getting back to normal now. So without further ado – the remixers of FF4 Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption:

OA

“Fighting for Tomorrow”  (Fabul)

“I chose this song because even back in 1992, it was one of my favourite tracks on the soundtrack . Back then, I imagined this one being huge with guitars added on top of the existing orchestra. The men’s choir idea came around after thinking more about the philosophy behind Fabul and what they were all fighting for.  The most challenging part was balancing all the parts to sound cohesive despite the multiple mics and room sounds the vocals all had. I am really proud of the guys in the choir, of which I had only a very, very small part in. Without these guys, it’d be just another OA rock track with orchestra. With them, it’s something that resonates even further with me.

“Finale Part One” (Another Moon)

This one was creepy sounding, and normally my propensity is to lean (strongly) towards highly melodic, upbeat tracks. This one I did as a personal challenge, to mike it sound sinister and foreboding, yet still catchy. The most challenging part was to let go and let the song do its work. I caved a little at the end and added a keyboard solo, but for the most part, it’s all about the atmosphere here.

“Until the Tower Falls” (Tower of Bab-il)

No pretensions here, I picked this one just to rock out. The hardest part was fitting all the stuff we wanted to add into it without it breaking, and I’m most proud of the keyboard craziness. I am a terrible keyboard player, so it was a few overdubs, but i think it sounds really cool.

AUDIO FIDELITY

“The Might of Baron” (Kingdom of Baron)

My first contribution of many to the album.  I found Andrew’s original post starting the album by mistake.  I was looking for info on the DS game and when I found it felt compelled to contribute to the album.  I had always wanted to sub something to the community but this was the first time it felt right to get involved.  I actually picked up the track from a comment he made about doing a really hard rock version of it and from there it took off. I felt I could do it justice with my background of being a metalhead!!!

This track as a whole was a challenge and my first attempt of an OCRemix.  I had actually never tried to do a track with heavy guitars or orchestra.  It took some work and Andrew (OA) was there to bear with me to make it work.  And I can’t thank him more for him helping to get this track out of me.

I’m super proud of this track and was actually sweating it for awhile hoping it would be up to snuff but the guitars and orchestra came out awesome.  I am actually much more of a bass player and had to take some time to get my chops up.  The prelude arpeggios in particular took a little practice.  Very happy with how the guitar solo came out especially with the ridiculous modulations going on during (fm-em).  My favourite part is definitely the prelude in minor that integrates the baron theme.  That part came together really fast and I just remember recording it as fast I could to keep up with my ideas.  The whole thing was a was a lot of fun.

“The Skies Hold No Angels for Us” (Castle Damcyan)

I came on originally to just help Level 99 with drums on this track.  The other ideas like piano in major idea, which came about through Dhsu’s WIP of the track that he wasn’t able to finish, and the duelling guitars came about later.  We just felt like it was really fitting to run with the guitars cutting heads for the battle and incorporating all of these thematic ideas like the piano interlude with the kids playing (as a kind of memory of what Damcyan used to be) and the end of the track with the acoustics playing while people are bawling their eyes.  It’s a great track to be able to use to integrate so many drama.

The most challenging was probably the drum editing which is not a fun thing.  It’s very microscopic details – at least it was for me.  I ended up playing live drums and taking my ideas into the sequencer.  It was my first experience with Addictive Drums.

I really love that high hat entrance – always sounds great to me and gets me pumped.  I modelled that all after Infected Mushroom “Deeply Disturbed” – and it came out really different – but you just gotta roll with it.  The piano section with it’s modulated resolution is really neat too. I worked on that for awhile. And the whole ending with the guitars coming back in really does it for me. First time I heard it come together I was blown away.

“Finale Part Two ~ Genesis of Destruction” (The Final Battle)

Me and Andrew (OA) choose this because we really needed a final battle track. I was hesitant to take something so grand but I’ll be the first to say that the original is my most favourite battle theme from any game.  And I wanted to just blow it up as much as possible and make the biggest track I ever could :D ha.  So I enlisted the help of everyone on the project.

Pretty much everything.  The easiest part was arranging the skeleton of the track with synths and drums.  But collaborations take time and this one takes the cake.  The coordination of getting tracks from others took months.  All in all this track is the result of 8 months of work and I was still struggling at the end of the project to get it finished.  The mixing was a nightmare with 255 choir tracks (dead serious) and about 100 tracks being mixed together.  I was fortunate to get zircon to come in and save the day and relieve of much stress.  Thanks Andy.

All the vocals I’m really happy with. I wrote some pretty demanding parts and everyone really came through.  Lisa really did an awesome job and our fantastic Zeromus (Cyril) really sold that breakdown meaning I felt Zeromus lose his mind.  Great job.  Nutritious did an amazing job with the orchestra – way better than I could have ever hoped.  I’m just proud of all the awesome people that came together to make this track what it is.  It just became what it wanted to; it was out of my hands.

“Goodbye Cid…” (Hey Cid!)

I came on to help Wiesty with guitar.  I really liked his WIP and dramatic reinterpretation of the source.  I got a big kick out of it.  It was my idea to get him more involved with doing the organ solo.  I’m really glad he came through :)

This actually came together rather smooth.  I spent some time getting the right feeling for the clean stuff – I think the last bit with “wah” was a take or two.  The solo in the middle was pretty much – “hey – track 4 bars and lets see what happens” but it came out pretty awesome. Oh and Andrew’s acoustics were fun -  but he gave an awesome performance!

I really dig the bass tone I got, which was completely direct and surprised me.  Some of the guitar licks during the solo were pretty sweet and I was surprised I pulled them off. I think the section without source in the middle with the solos is just awesome.  Sure it’s liberal but the whole song just needs it.  Cid needs it!

“RDX Necklace” (Bomb Ring)

This collaboration was the result of COTMM coming to me asking me to play guitar on it.  And I’m really glad he did.  It was a blast.  I got to do some upright bass stuff and get some gnarly tones on bass and guitar.

The most challenging was the mix and trying to make sense of the 30 tracks of soundscapes that COTMM put together and have it build to a final conclusion.  I was pushing for more arrangement in the track which is why we have two versions of the track essentially (his being a bonus track).  And I love them both – I was just trying to make this version more accessible for the album.  But even so, the song is really his baby. Also the tremolo guitar parts were pretty intense and I was having a hard time making it through takes but it was fun heh.

I’m just really proud of the mood we set and the pacing we were able to achieve to have this large crescendo track.  It just keeps building to that final explosion.

“Kind of Green” (Rydia)

I helped resurrect this track for Abadoss when I heard his auto-arrange finale function on his joke accordion track.  I just strangely really liked it.  We already had a Rydia track so it was never meant to be on the album.  I was originally just going to  update the midi to have it as a bonus track but I got this crazy idea to use it as the last track for the album and get some live instrumentation.  I met bustatunez at mag and he helped with piano and later melodica to replace the accordion which I think was the best way to go from the beginning and my good friend here in Nashville helped with the guitar.

What took the longest was the brush drums in terms of getting them to sound realistic and like a performance to compete with all the other live instrumentation.  But I may have spent more time getting the piano to sit right in the mix – I spent way too long on this mix – but it came out awesome!

I’m just shocked how well everything worked.  The parts Abadoss gave us changed quite a bit in the rhythm section but everyone brought their A game and it worked.  the solos are well paced and we sound like we’re really jamming together when it really didn’t go down like that – ha :P .  Great job to busta and ultravisitor.

“Zeromus the Serialist” (The Final Battle)

This is kinda a joke track that I did with all the MIDI data from Zeromus.  I heard it play back by accident with all grand pianos and it sounded amazing and utterly ridiculous. I thought about converting just that but I spent a little more time getting some better sounds.  It’s only for those not a faint of dissonances but I think it actually works well and is kinda interesting if your familiar with the original arrangement.

VAMPIRE HUNTER DAN

“A Saviour Ascends” (Lunar Whale)

Final Fantasy IV (“II” at the time) was literally the first video game to ever emotionally engage me. After finally arriving at what’s arguably one of its climaxes, I’ll never forget staring at the screen in awe as “The Big Whale” rose up to welcome the party aboard, with that magnificent theme song blaring out of my pathetic little TV speakers. “Mt. Ordeals,” too, hasn’t left my mind from the first time I entered that fateful place, and I’ll never forget recording each of these songs (the whole soundtrack, really) to cassette tape for repeated Walkman listens.

I typically find it challenging to make my tracks compete volume-wise with other “modern” remixes, so it’s no coincidence that the most difficult part about this arrangement was getting it to sound *epic* enough. I often had to get extremely creative just to make certain sections seem louder or more full. I tried to strike a balance between “constantly kicking the listener in the ears” and “subtlety,” and I hope I’ve achieved that here.

(What part/sound are they most proud of?) This is difficult, because I’m honestly not big on “pride.” It’s interesting to listen to an arrangement from what seems like long ago, as I think I’ve grown immensely since then. I’m definitely pleased I could somehow make such a grandiose piece sound..even *more* grandiose, while at the same time being a part of such a beautiful project to pay tribute to Cecil, Rydia and Co..

THE SCUBA DIVERS

“Rhymes with Elixir” (Chocobo Chocobo)

We did this track to try to encourage people to not take things so seriously. The purpose of this project was to have fun making something cool together, and though everyone who listens to the album brings with them their own perspective and experiences, we wanted to at least attempt to show that those who made the album had a lot of fun and made some new friends while doing so. PEACE OUT

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OCRemix – “FF4 Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption” Album Review

overclockedremixOverClocked Remix is something of a stamp of quality assurance. The community that continues to grow from strength to strength has been embraced by music and game lovers alike for its sublime remixing skills. “FF4 Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption” is the latest project which has spanned over thirty remixers and three discs of music.

Disc 1 is entitled “Act I Betrayal” and opens with “Full of Courage” by Nutritious as a rousing opening track. Both regal and militant, this track seeps with pride and the arrangement breathes 21st Century life into the original “Red Wing”. “The Might of Baron” from audio fidelity takes it to the stadium rock level with a great marching boots samples and a great vein of tension that is given a real pay off with its interesting use of different instrumentation to make a fantastic track.

AeroZ’s “Overture~Tellah’s Prophecy” is an electronica medley that crafts many of the signature themes into a great heavy bass orientated track with seamless transitions. “Journey to Solace” from Avaris is eerie as it is compellingly beautiful. The song continues to move and shape shift into a more dramatic piece but its the quieter moments that make this track more effective. “Ana(pro)logue” from Another Soundscape has a retro/new age feel to it taking an older synth sound, cleaning it up and then turning it into summer breeze party track. The change of pace and tone is very welcome and its unabashed joy is infectious.

“The Flying Machine” by John Revoredo has some of the most realistic samples I’ve heard in a free remix soundtrack. It’s an orchestral arrangement of the Main Theme and could possibly be my most favourite arrangement of it to date. In contrast, Mazedude’s “Welcome to Our Town” has gone for the low-fi route and it works. The gently blips and burps give it a relaxing potion feel that’s quite unique like an alien symphony.

Cyril the Wolf’s interpretation of Rydia is well gauged. Using an acoustic guitar and then building on it into a nice jazzy band, “Emerald Beauty” is the first band version of the theme that actually sounds right and that’s a tribute to the arranger for knowing exactly where to go with it. “RDX Necklace” by Children of the Monkey Machine and audio fidelity has a long ambient build up while the main tune (Ring of Bomb) is only barely heard in the background. It’s an interesting concept but as it builds up and up it only really comes to life in the final minute and you’ve already had three minutes of distorted guitars. However on repeated listens you do begin to appreciate it more and spot the subtle changes going on behind the mask of noise.

Tweek’s “Of Fiend and Man” is a real rock out of titanic proportions. Like a neo gothic finale, this is an absolute stonker of a track. Followed by a nice brass arrangement by DragonAvenger, “Interlude-Yay!” makes winning worth while! “The Skies Hold No Angels For Us” from Level 99 and audio fidelity follows as an excellent track. Starting off as a full on rock track the arrangement is spot on and then suddenly in the middle is a piano solo segment. Of course its back to manic guitar solos again for a bit but the different segments of this track make it one of the most accomplished arrangements as it completely transforms the track into an original.

The collaboration of Adadoss and James George  give us “Edward’s Dream Quartet”, a seven minute string quartet arrangement of Melody of Lute. The arrangement is elegantly done and the sound of turning pages is a great little touch. Who knew there were so many ways to play the song! “Golbez ‘n Goblins” from bLiNd is a dance floor filler. I love the cross over of what should be an orchestral track being given high heels and a disco ball and these kind of dark wave dance tracks always get me going and this is top notch. The final track from disc 1 is “Fighting for Tomorrow” OA, Nutritious and The Fabul Men’s Choir. This is a stunning track for its otherwordly feel. It reminded me of bands such as Faun, Omnia and such at the beginning with a harsh choir. Then out pops all the electronic gizmo’s for a riot and when the vocals kick back in again its simply one of the best things I’ve heard in 2009.

overclockedremixlogo2Disc 2 is “Act 2 Strife”. AeroZ kicks things off with “Mystic Variations”, an early 90′s throwback to electro jazz beat and works well as quirky happy-go-lucky introduction. Cyril the Wolf and OA’s “Metal Mage” is possibly the most deranged version of Palom and Porom and is all the more fun and silly for it. Heavy Metal with over the top voice acting? Yes please! In contrast “Smiling Hilltop for Four Hands” from Long Dao is a nice piano led track. The arrangement is great and isn’t hindered much by the poor midi sound quality at all (which says a lot!). “Step Into the Light” from Nutritious is spacious and airy. It’s large scope is portrayed well and its reverb really gives it an extra layer.

The Prophet of Mephisto’s “Long Time Gone” is a sublime arrangement that’s full of life and soul. Adding the electric guitars onto what is a lazy but fast tempo track is a great mash-up and works perfectly. “Rhymes with Elixer” from The Scuba Divers featuring Liontamer takes the Chocobo theme and turns it into a rap track. Liontamer can definitely MC well and the female chorus line is absolutely hilarious “Chocobo-Chocobo you’re so fine, you’ve got more bling than all of those guys!” Cue mental images of a pimped up Chocobo… Normally I’m not into these kind of remixes as they can be really hit and miss but this is so tongue in cheek over a really dark angsty arrangement it just makes you smile without realising. DragonAvenger returns with a short but sweet brass arrangement of Big Chocobo entitled “Interlude~ Nom!”

Nathan Rich’s “Blue Planet in Mode 7″ is a really nice transitional track. From its intricate quiet sections to its bouncy bridges and big chorus’ the track is always on the move and is a fabulous arrangement. “Goodbye Cid…” from Wiesty, audio fidelity, OA is a come down track. It’s acoustic edge and space bar synth that leads the theme wistfully floats around you until the half way mark where things turn more electric. This is another great example of track and arrangement evolution. Ilp0′s “Almost Fell for the Trojan” is another ballad track that’s been given the band treatment and this one waltzes bitter-sweetly into the horizon with another beautiful arrangment.

“Somewhere to Hide” from Hy Bound and Loka Lafevre is a heavy dance floor track and doesn’t do subtle. It’s pounding beats and embellishments make this track, along with the great vocals. AeroZ’s “Fallen Dragoon” has a very short sombre section before turning the arrangement into a Sonic level music track which is great as its not where I’d have thought the track would go. “Fallen Ascent” (got to love some of these arrangement titles) from Children of the Monkey Machine follows the same pattern as his previous arrangement – a lot of noise and ambience while the theme swirls around just out of general ear shot. These tracks will be either loved or hated but this track is more accessible than the previous one. Audix’s “Survival Instinct” starts off like a girl-band song but then goes trance’d and never looks back. A faultless arrangement.

Cyril the Wolf’s “OMFG! GET OUT OF THERE!!!” wins best track title award while keeping tension as high as possible with a clever arrangement. Rozovian’s “Lacrima” is an ethereal piece with lots of tuned glasses and the slow gradual change into a more electric track bring implemented well. I think this will be a hidden gem many will uncover after a few listens. The final track of disc 2 is “Theme of Love for Guitar Duet” frmo Pot Hocket which is tender, beautiful, emotive and all kinds of wonderful. So far being the only real ballad of the arrangement it wins you over hands down and instantly became my favourite Theme of Love arrangement.

The final disc is entitled “Act 3 Redemption”. Long Dao starts off with “Tundra of Dwarves” and uses his piano expertise to make a cute wintry track with some nice string sections. Ilp0′s “In the Land of Dwarves” is a smokey jazz turned humorous four piece band take of Giott. The electric guitars work really well here., as do the brass to convey a silly its-all-gone-wrong tone. bLiNd’s “Path of Deception” seals the arrangers pedigree as a damn fine dance arranger. Again this is one of those dark wave techno trance arrangements that I think just works perfectly.

“Treason” from Kidd Cabbage is heavy metal to the point of thrash metal taking over. The tempo of the track is so fast the percussion alone has about 10 beats a second at times! The arrangement is a good one and will go down well with Black Mage fans who are looking for more evil. “Evoking the Dawn” from BogusRed is a gorgeous and sumptuous version of Prelude which speeds up the process and is more grande than the piano collection versions. There aren’t many quiet tracks on this arrangement but each one is worth its weight in gold. Vampire Hunter Dan’s “A Saviour Ascends” is an interesting track that spans all kinds of moods and genres in its seven minutes. From chirpy to dramatic and back again, the variety and constant tempo changes really make this symphonic suite come alive.

James George’s “The Land Still” is a space odyssey and its strength lies in its ambience and little flairs that float around in the background. It’s anti dramatic nature (apart from it ending) makes it more daunting in the run. “Bridge to Eternity” from bLiNd is another boogie woogie fest dark Ibiza style and rounds off an excellent trilogy from the talented arranger.

“Finale Part One ~Eminence Gris” from OA and DragonAvenger takes the unusual approach of making a tense atmospheric track and turning it into a vocal one and surprisingly it really works. The vocals are suitably haunting and coupled with the discordant piano and dramatic percussion it all hits the right spots for a great piece. “Finale Part 2 ~ Genesis of Destruction” is a mega arrangement from audio fidelity, Nutritious, OA, lisabela and Cyril the Wolf and continues the final battle vocal track approach. The vocals are bigger and more dramatic to match the music here. It’s a bizarre duet between a female singing like Sarah Brightman had joined Metalica and a male who is busy feasting on people and making death metal! However as strange as it sounds it works – absolutely 100 per cent works. It’s artistic arrangements like these that really show exactly how far game music and its followers and arrangers have come in the last fifteen years.

“Facing” from Fishy is a great arrangement of the Epilogue and goes from nice ambient swirls to full on electro-rock that Team Sonic would be gagging for. Finally “King of Green” is a bossa nova rendition of Rydia from Abadoss, audio fidelity, bustatunez and theultravisitor. It works a treat and feels like the credits are rolling in front of your ears.

There’s also a selection of bonus tracks but I’ll leave that for you to discover!

ff4ocremixcover

Quite simply, this collection is fantastic. Most of us know the tracks, many of us will be amazed at the arrangements. There is a lot of rock and guitar but there’s enough dance and the occasional slow track to keep everyone happy and just as I said about Summoning of Spirits back in March – how can something this good be free? Life may not be great on Planet Earth at the moment but OverClocked Remix once again shows us that sometimes the best things in life really are free!

FF4 Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption is available to download Saturday (the 18th) and we will have interviews with the arrangers and project leaders all next week as part of the celebration!