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This guy does the best SNES music covers w real instruments

M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
I will never be not impressed by older game music being played on actual instruments. Love this stuff.

I hope he moves to other games. Final Fantasy, Mega Man, and Chrono Trigger music has been done ad nauseum.
 
K

Kilrogg

paid requisite penance
mr jones said:
I will never be not impressed by older game music being played on actual instruments. Love this stuff.

I hope he moves to other games. Final Fantasy, Mega Man, and Chrono Trigger music has been done ad nauseum.
Click to expand...

I've requested Demon's Crest from him. Imagine Level 1.
 
MadNinjaZero

MadNinjaZero

Member
Beautiful arrangements. He's an incredible talent. I subbed instantly in the opening bars for Phantom Forest. Thank you for sharing OP.
 
K

Kleegamefan

K. LEE GAIDEN
Yeah that Sala version of FF6 Kefka blew my fucking mind

The other SNES remakes had me literally in tears weeping at the memories of my childhood.
 
R

R0nn

Member
dickroach said:
this new FF6 is blowing my god damn mind. i wanna hear everything as i remeber it, but...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KHKyhKGsag
edit: hes got a trumpet guy and everything. this is annoyingly impreessive
Click to expand...

Oh my goddd this is sooo good! As a salsa dancer myself I can appreciate this even more.

All his other stuff is amazing too. Especially how faithful it stays to the original song. Most of it sounds exactly how I would imagine the song would sound with real life instruments.

Instasub.

---

BTW, not to rain on this guy's parade, but I just found this in the related videos, a jazz cover of LttP - Dark World

So good!
 
G

gafneo

Banned
He does a better job with the credits from a lttp than the official Zelda Symphony. It would be terrible if this song was not used in a Zelda movie. Castlevania show ignores years of classic compositions in favor of dull stock tunes.
 
K

Kilrogg

paid requisite penance
I'm so happy every time someone bumps this thread and gives Orchestral Fantasy/Andrew Thompson some much needed visibility. He's hands down the best at what he's done as far as I'm concerned.

I never understood why so many cover artists and orchestras feel the need to change or "improve" the original tunes, when most of the time, all they really need is 1:1 conversions with real instruments that sound as close to the sound chips as possible. The classics don't need to be reimagined. Only to be freed from the technical limitations of the time.
 
I

Isaac Otherworld

Member
Wow. Glad I found out about this guy. This is seriously some of the best, and certainly the most authentic to the original, covers of SNES music I've heard.
 
D

Dragoon En Regalia

Member
Kilrogg said:
I never understood why so many cover artists and orchestras feel the need to change or "improve" the original tunes, when most of the time, all they really need is 1:1 conversions with real instruments that sound as close to the sound chips as possible. The classics don't need to be reimagined. Only to be freed from the technical limitations of the time.
Click to expand...
Any cover artists going far beyond an added solo (or two), or maybe a brief phrase to vary chord progression and segue back into a refrain, are poorly advertising, as most "improvements" are basic arrangements at the least. I love Orchestral Fantasy for performance and making just the right changes almost all the time, but I'll exalt a new take on an oldie if the arrangement's clever and/or explores a personal style without sacrificing how the tune fits context.

As for authenticity to original sound, SNES soundtracks make this easier for cover artists since the original tracks are all samples. Some impressive work comes from those who have to work with FM-synth originals. Check out the transformation of this mid-1990s Falcom track from FM to a live/sequenced arrangement. I sometimes wonder what goes through some arrangers' heads (check early Perfect Collection albums of Falcom music for bizarre examples), but there's clear ways to pair faithfulness with modernization.

I personally want the classics to be reimagined and iterated upon, because I trust many arrangers and bands out there to play classic melodies and scores in refreshing ways. But there's something to be said for covers that just get it utterly right, like these.
 
P

Paz

Member
This stuff is incredible, why is the viewcount so low o_O

Some famous person needs to blast this stuff all across the internet.
 
K

Kilrogg

paid requisite penance
Dragoon En Regalia said:
Any cover artists going far beyond an added solo (or two), or maybe a brief phrase to vary chord progression and segue back into a refrain, are poorly advertising, as most "improvements" are basic arrangements at the least. I love Orchestral Fantasy for performance and making just the right changes almost all the time, but I'll exalt a new take on an oldie if the arrangement's clever and/or explores a personal style without sacrificing how the tune fits context.

As for authenticity to original sound, SNES soundtracks make this easier for cover artists since the original tracks are all samples. Some impressive work comes from those who have to work with FM-synth originals. Check out the transformation of this mid-1990s Falcom track from FM to a live/sequenced arrangement. I sometimes wonder what goes through some arrangers' heads (check early Perfect Collection albums of Falcom music for bizarre examples), but there's clear ways to pair faithfulness with modernization.

I personally want the classics to be reimagined and iterated upon, because I trust many arrangers and bands out there to play classic melodies and scores in refreshing ways. But there's something to be said for covers that just get it utterly right, like these.
Click to expand...

Good point. I'll give that a listen later.

I guess I should have said that I don't understand why so few people do just what Orchestral Fantasy does. It's true that there is value for a quality reinvention of a classic theme. In fact, Orchestral Fantasy has done that on occasion, sometimes with great success. His sad take on Frog's theme from Chrono Trigger is outstanding. I just wish there were more attempts at faithful covers like he does.
 
D.Lo

D.Lo

Member
Wow cool stuff.

It's borderline proof that these were written on real instruments and digitised, they sound borderline identical. I learned that years ago when I learned to play the Ocarina Gerduo theme on guitar, and found it was clearly written with real guitar hand positions in mind.

Zelda Dark World - so perfect.
 
H

HotHamBoy

Member
That's not XOC.

xoc_SMW_backcover.jpg


XOC's Super Mario World Arranged OST

XOC plays all the instruments and his arrangements are amazing.

That YouTube playlist only has 8 of the tracks but you can download the entire 20-track album HERE for free.

It's fantastic, do it.

Need more? Here's his live instrument arrangment of Kirby's Adventure:

a3589518203_10.jpg


What's Pink And Sucks?

And here's a XOC album of various great game OST covers:

https://trashcaneagle.bandcamp.com/album/if-you-dont-listen-to-my-music-ill-kill-this-dog

In XOC's Emulator, he covers video game music in the style of other artists. Definitely worth checking out just for the cover of Marble Zone in the style of The Ventures, though the rest is amusing, too.

https://trashcaneagle.bandcamp.com/album/emulator
 
M

Mulgrok

Member
His latest one, FF6's Forever Rachel, is so darn perfect. He really has an ear for that game's soundtrack and the talent to reproduce it with real instruments.
 
S

SiegfriedFM

Member
Well, subscribed! And such good timing with SNES Classic around the corner. Maybe I should make my fourth attempt to get through Final Fantasy VI.
 
N

Nerrel

Member
Thanks for sharing this. That guy deserves way more views. I'd love it if he just handled the soundtrack for a remake of one of these games on his own.
 
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