He did another version of it with Ailsean called Dancing Mad Once Again, too.
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OCReMix releases Final Fantasy VI inspired album, Balance and Ruin
- Thread starter ExMachina
- Start date
At 3:11 of his take on Dancing Mad might be my favorite version of that particular section of the piece.
I'm quite the fanboy of the entire thing in general, though, 'Dancing Mad' might be the finest composition in all of game music and Virt does it great justice.
zircon,
Is there any chance of a second print run of CDs for this album being done? I understand that the initial run was done as a thank you to the backers who contributed to the project and that getting them made is not cheap, but I am sure that I am not the only one who now would gladly purchase a physical album after hearing the awesomeness in the first few tracks. Perhaps it could be done as a fundraiser/kickstarter for the next album. Either way, great job on the album. I have been a listener of OCRemix for over 10 years and this album definitely is up there as one of my favorites. Thanks.
Is there any chance of a second print run of CDs for this album being done? I understand that the initial run was done as a thank you to the backers who contributed to the project and that getting them made is not cheap, but I am sure that I am not the only one who now would gladly purchase a physical album after hearing the awesomeness in the first few tracks. Perhaps it could be done as a fundraiser/kickstarter for the next album. Either way, great job on the album. I have been a listener of OCRemix for over 10 years and this album definitely is up there as one of my favorites. Thanks.
I actually like the Locke arrangement on this, but it is super weird and so that stuff is going to be pretty hit or miss for folks, especially on well known/beloved pieces.
Won't probably have time to properly get through all of this for a couple of days, secretly hoping the whole album isn't awesome so I'm not as salty about missing out on the physical release >_>. Very good on them for releasing all of the artwork and dvd extras and everything for everyone though!
Edit: Nevermind, just listened to On The Run..OPEN THE SALT MINES
Won't probably have time to properly get through all of this for a couple of days, secretly hoping the whole album isn't awesome so I'm not as salty about missing out on the physical release >_>. Very good on them for releasing all of the artwork and dvd extras and everything for everyone though!
Edit: Nevermind, just listened to On The Run..OPEN THE SALT MINES
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Impresario is pretty fun. What a great idea for a remix!
I think quality vs. quantity is something of a false choice. You can have both! There was an incredible amount of quality control on this project. Everyone onboard was handpicked by myself and McVaffe. We extended the project 6+ months so that incredible tracks like "The Impresario" could be completed by busy professionals like virt. There are also more live instruments and studio recordings on this project than on any other in the OC ReMix catalog, thanks to the generous support of our Kickstarter backers.
Besides our internal project forum where people reached out to each other for feedback and critique, McVaffe and I personally spent countless hours offering advice and critique to various remixers to ensure each track was the best it could be. I mixed and mastered quite a few of the remixes myself for consistency (with the guidance of the individual arrangers), and also set up lots of collaborations so that sampled instruments could get replaced with live recordings. That's the kind of love that went into this
Mentioning Jeff's take on "Locke" as being below the bar is a perfect example of music being a very subjective thing. Jeff and Laura are amazing musicians; Jeff has performed for and arranged on some of the biggest games ever (Gears of War, Mass Effect, League of Legends) and Laura has been touring for Video Games Live for years. I think the remix is absolutely amazing and I listened to it probably about 50 times both before and after completion, also doing a lot of back and forth with Jeff about production / mastering. It's one of my favorite remixes from the project and something about it really calls to mind that cloud of pure nostalgia I had as a kid playing FF6. But hey, to each their own.
I thought the comparison to Kong in Concert was funny on a personal level, since I participated on that back in 2004 and I think my remix there is absolutely amateur compared to things like "Fistful of Nickels", "Full Speed Ahead" or "Till We Meet Again" on FF6:
Anyway, I'm happy to answer any questions about the project if anyone is curious; otherwise, keep enjoying the music!
Hi zircon! So far, I've just started on disc 2 (after skipping and listening to McVaffe & virt's work beforehand) and I have to say, this is really great. Very professional, consistently high quality arrangements. I've been a little underwhelmed by a few remix projects released by OCR lately, but this is definitely awesome.
I can relate to how you feel about your work on Kong in Concert compared to your skill level now... but I still like it, no matter what you say
EDIT: So, you guys doing a music video contest for this one, like for Voices of the Lifestream? >_>
Just finished disc 2... The live instruments (in some cases, that glorious full-on orchestra), vocals, and mixing are just so damn good and they're doing wonders for what are already great arrangements. I got chills listening to Terra's Resolve.
Smoke and Clouds is one of my favorite tracks so far, though I get why it might alienate some listeners. Jeff and Laura turned one of my favorite character's themes into a song that gave me serious Yoko Kanno vibes, which is always welcome.
I can't wait for my physical copy to arrive...
Smoke and Clouds is one of my favorite tracks so far, though I get why it might alienate some listeners. Jeff and Laura turned one of my favorite character's themes into a song that gave me serious Yoko Kanno vibes, which is always welcome.
Good to see you on GAF, zircon! Congrats to you, McVaffe, and all the contributing artists on finally releasing the album.
I can't wait for my physical copy to arrive...
OneEightZero
aka ThreeOneFour
Remixes of my favorite FF are appreciated.
Hooray.
Hooray.
When are you going to start shipping the physical copies? At least some kind of estimate (this month? in a couple of months? by the end of the year
?)
zircon, what is your opinion on snubbing well known and proven artists from projects because they're not in your "in group" of friends?
Neko, assuming you're talking about yourself, you weren't snubbed. I'd say less than half of the roster were invited upfront - people that I had worked with before, and that I knew would be responsive, communicate well, and produce great material. Some of them are my friends, some are people I don't know particularly well, but I had some kinda working experience with them before. I think this is a reasonable way to start any project - with people who you *know* will deliver. There are certainly friends of mine and fellow remixers I did not invite because I felt they were not up to the challenge of producing something really great, or I knew they would not be able to meet deadlines.
After that, I asked people on the roster to give me their suggestions on who else to invite, and we got more people that way. Other remixers were people who just messaged me and said, "Can I be on the project?" I didn't say yes to everyone (some folks were really new / inexperienced remixers) but others were accepted onboard. You certainly could have messaged me and said "Hey, this sounds cool, I want to be a part of it!"
We also ran two contests to solicit remixes from ANYONE. This is how we got people like Brandon Strader, Rexy, XPRTNovice (who absolutely killed it), Anti-Syne, Radiowar, DDRKirby, Leitbur, pu_freak, Sole Signal, Willrock, Flexstyle... the list goes on. I had no idea who XPRTNovice was when he won the first contest and he ended up being an MVP on the whole thing. Anyone could have entered these, yourself included. Plenty of people were invited who didn't "win" but who we thought still had great remixes.
Worth noting, I invited some folks who were well-known and had been on previous projects, but who I hadn't previously worked with. A bunch of them sat on their claims for over a year and then finally dropped out, making life more difficult for everyone else as we had to scramble to fill in their dropped tracks. It's not fun being strung along. Recruiting a big chunk of people through contests turned out to be way more reliable, and a better predictor of mixers finishing great tracks.
At the end of the day, if you wanted to be involved, why not reach out in some way? Through a contest, through McVaffe, through djpretzel, through me, etc. I get the sense you're really bitter about the community but maybe you're being overly cynical. XPRTNovice is really a perfect example of someone who wasn't in *anyone's* circle, and he went from being a veritable nobody to being a star, all because he stepped up and showed repeatedly how he wanted to be involved. Come back and make more remixes, man.
When are you going to start shipping the physical copies? At least some kind of estimate (this month? in a couple of months? by the end of the year
I'd say we're within a week of starting the printing process. We had to wrap + tag all the audio first and finish artwork. Printing might be ~2-3 weeks to hit our Amazon warehouse. Fair warning, we haven't used Amazon FBA before so it might take a little bit to make sure we have everyone's info correct. We might also send out a general call for address corrections first, I'm not sure. But I think shipping by the end of the month is a possibility, certainly by next month, we just want to make sure we get it right and don't end up sending 2,500 packages to Siberia.
Even though we've paid fair royalties to Square Enix for this project, it's still unofficial, and we are not allowed to sell it. That doesn't preclude the possibility of another printing sometime, but we wouldn't be able to sell it even so, barring some kind of new arrangement with S-E. That being said, we printed more copies than we needed so that we could give them away at cons (MAGfest, Otakon, PAX, PAX East being a few that we hit up every year), through site contests / giveaways, and also through partners like Video Games Live.
I've been looking forward to this for a while; good to finally download it.
This one was my favorite in disc 1 for sure. Really excellent stuff.
This one was my favorite in disc 1 for sure. Really excellent stuff.
Dolphin_Butter
Member
Wow. Wow, wow, wow, that Impresario.
Hmm that's so frustrating. In a way it's awesome to see such an effort and there are lots of great song there. But i don't really like the base idea of taking songs from a game to "have fun" in different genre. I mean it can be fun but to me this soundtrack has its value and should be given homage as a soundtrack, which each song has a dramatic purpose in a context, and is not treated a some notes to make something else.
But that's an amazing work, besides this conceptual problem i have!
It's just i would give so much for a a more close full rendition of the game music.
But that's an amazing work, besides this conceptual problem i have!
It's just i would give so much for a a more close full rendition of the game music.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
First 4 tracks are really good. Still listening....
Love the OCR. Been around since the beginning in some form or another.
I actually agree with your opinion Orioto. Would love something that keeps in the same tone and not go for just drum n bass or whatever.
EDIT 2 - Really like Tastes Like Victory by Leitbur.
EDIT 3 LOL - On the Run as well. Leitbur has some game man. The whole thing has been really good so far.
Love the OCR. Been around since the beginning in some form or another.
I actually agree with your opinion Orioto. Would love something that keeps in the same tone and not go for just drum n bass or whatever.
EDIT 2 - Really like Tastes Like Victory by Leitbur.
EDIT 3 LOL - On the Run as well. Leitbur has some game man. The whole thing has been really good so far.
shaowebb
Member
Oh GOD YES! Gogo's theme is like its from "Ye Olde Country" and now I feel like dancing around in a Yamaka. I cant stop smiling at all this gold. Clint Eastwood take on Shadow? Song called "Train Suplex?", By god Jazz Noir take on the song Slam Shuffe?
Just hook it to my veins!!!!!!
Just hook it to my veins!!!!!!
RyougaSaotome
Member
The Impresario is goddamn spectacular.
Holy fuck a doodle doo.
Holy fuck a doodle doo.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
zircon - Full Speed Ahead, damn son. I want to play some RPG's now. So good.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I just caught it now. Yes, yes, and yes. This album is delivering in spades.
shaowebb
Member
Oooooooh...this is unexpectedly awesome. Cyan's theme is tricked out sort of like a Samurai Champloo sort of thing. Some of the effects added remind me of Wu-Tang stuff.
Aint nothing wrong with the one we got though. Sooooooo good.This guy could have made a good Gogo theme.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Nutritious - Castles in the Sand, I'm rather enjoying that one. Such easy listening.
shaowebb
Member
Oh cool! Johnny C Bad is done up like a Sonic the Hedgehog old school track!
My God I am going to run out of exclamation points in this thread.
^_______________^
EDIT: Jumpin' Jimminy Jack CHRIST they did a Danny Elfman style Kefka Theme shades of Tim Burton soundtracks! Chills...fucking chills man. So amazing. You can detect inspirations from the scores from Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands in this track!
My God I am going to run out of exclamation points in this thread.
^_______________^
Dat track list said:
EDIT: Jumpin' Jimminy Jack CHRIST they did a Danny Elfman style Kefka Theme shades of Tim Burton soundtracks! Chills...fucking chills man. So amazing. You can detect inspirations from the scores from Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands in this track!
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Good to hear. I'd love a copy but I don't if simply asking is good enough.
I tend to agree. I don't mind experimental stuff, but the piece has to evoke the same feel of the original song for me to really dig it. A lot of these songs are intensely dear to me, and I need that resonance to come through for me to come back to it.
That being said, there have been way more successful pieces than not thus far, from a wide swath of people too. I'm enjoying it immensely, so thank you!
shaowebb
Member
The Returners track= The Cure
This is how I will spend my drawing sessions now. This track. This track will be my work music in Zbrush.
I swear the taking of these tracks and redirecting them into different genres is what makes OCRemix so Godlike. There is something here for everyone. So much creativity and skill shown here in this. Hats off to these folks for not just copping out and doing the easy thing and just playing them all same as always with only slight embellishment and some accompaniment. THIS is amazing. I hear a ton of the latter stuff, but this is inspired revisioning of classic game music.
Recognize the skills.
This is how I will spend my drawing sessions now. This track. This track will be my work music in Zbrush.
I swear the taking of these tracks and redirecting them into different genres is what makes OCRemix so Godlike. There is something here for everyone. So much creativity and skill shown here in this. Hats off to these folks for not just copping out and doing the easy thing and just playing them all same as always with only slight embellishment and some accompaniment. THIS is amazing. I hear a ton of the latter stuff, but this is inspired revisioning of classic game music.
Recognize the skills.
Pretty good album so far (I'm on track 28 right now). I don't love every single track but I've liked almost all of them.
I especially like how atmospheric the few first songs are, just like the game's intro. The Locke track has a very dreamy atmosphere, it's a shame that some people are very close-minded regarding VGM remixes and can't appreciate when an artist doesn't do a simple remaster of the original source.
I especially like how atmospheric the few first songs are, just like the game's intro. The Locke track has a very dreamy atmosphere, it's a shame that some people are very close-minded regarding VGM remixes and can't appreciate when an artist doesn't do a simple remaster of the original source.
Very impressive but also a bit disappointing with it's potential.
It would have been amazing as a duet between 2 people, Draco and Maria. Also if his register / voice was slightly lower.
Rollo Tomasi
Member
Yeah I'm really enjoying Leitbur's contributions to this.
I like the remix to Cyan's theme a lot, as well as the Shadow theme remix. So good.
LowParry
Member
There's dubstep all over the place with some of these tracks. Not sure if I like.
fuck.. We're not worthy
I smiled so hard when I heard the Gogo theme... That clarinet, the slide whistle, mandolin - so fun. XPRTnovice's tracks have all been great, never heard of him before this album. I'm definitely gonna keep an eye out for more of his work in the future.
And I added the back cover image you posted to the OP, thanks.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
I've been listening to this in order all day and it's not even over yet. Just noticed the total length is 6 hours... I don't know if that's good for my health aha.
Yeah, it's a little jarring. But it's mostly tastefully integrated and gives the songs some unique texture. I don't mind it (yet).
we.are.the.armada
Member
Oh shit!!! Yes!!!!!!