*NO* Final Fantasy 6 'Vision of Celes'

I am submitting Vision of Celes for review by the judges at ocremix.org.

Vision of Celes is a full orchestra arrangment of The Celes Theme from the Final Fantasy series. It was arranged using Finale, sequenced using FL Studio, and tampered with using Audacity. The arrangement is meant to be a simple yet emotional treatment of the theme. The setting is intentionally straightforward in an attempt to capture the majesty and beauty of the melody.

I hope you enjoy it.

I am somewhat new to this idiom, but I have done a few projects as a hobby. I am a musician by profession, and I teach high school band in Oklahoma.

Gorgonian.

mp3 file:

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Props on teaching high school band. Get 'em to play some video game music. Share the love!

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "Celes" (ff6-122.spc)

A bit on the stiff side in terms of the the timing; the beginning in particular felt pretty rigid with the woodwinds sounding pretty exposed. The higher brass in particular was pretty rough-sounding and fakey (technical term) with the note movements, but the issue was mitigated somewhat by some much needed layering.

As I've had it said to me time and time again, it's hard to get nice-sounding sequenced brass, so I understand. But every time it takes the foreground, I cringe a little on this one. As much as I wanna give it to you because the arrangement is creative and solid, I feel like I'm making a potentially dissenting decision by pushing for some touchups to get the textures sounding a bit more cohesive.

Right now, the overall texture is on the thin side and the artificial nature of the samples is pretty exposed for something that's trying to sound more organic. Even if this passes, you're likely to get some usable tips from other Js for this or future submissions. I look forward to hearing more from you, and good luck with the rest of the vote on this one.

NO (refine/resubmit)

Sequencing really isn't half bad here. The flute solo does sound a little mechanical, but I think the leaps may be throwing you off, Larry. They're still pretty legato; it just that step-wise motion is much easier to make flow. Brass samples are probably the worst of the bunch, and yet I've still heard far worse. The first few notes of the clarinet solo were admittedly a little rough in articulation.

Arrangement is superb. Man, do I love that suspension at 3:49... You have great orchestrating skill, Gorgonian. Do you compose for real ensembles? The lack of experience with actually mixing forshows a little, but I'm still pretty impressed. You clearly know how an orchestra is supposed to sound. The parts are all well balanced.

Production is passable, IMO. I look forward to hearing more from you.

YES

The strings are bugging me, mainly because of the attack, but they do sound rather dry, and the brass is really harsh to listen to. The composition is pretty well-done, but There's nothing groundbreaking about the arrangement, and in a situation like this where the sound quality is hurting, the track really needs to have something special to make up for it.

NO

brass hurt. owowowowwowowow.

fantastic arrangement. terrible brass samples. there's gotta be better ones available for free on the net. at the very least, there HAS to be something better on crappy sites like hammersound.net

man. anyway.

given how skillful the arrangement and partwriting are, i'm reluctant to NO this. actually i can't.

keep in mind that in the future, the difference between 'good enough' and 'fantastic' is gonna lie in your sample quality, and skill as a producer.

YES

Great arrangement and orchestration. However, although the horns sound ok, the high brass section really sounds exposed at about 2.30, and is nowhere hear the quality of the other instruments. Although the arrangement really stands out to be great, that brass really should have been better. The strings that follow the cheap sounding brass also sound cheap themselves. I know arrangement comes before quality, but here the remixer is not doing themselves justice by using these poor samples, I'm sure better sounding ones can be had for free.

NO(Great candidate for resubmission)

This is now our current oldest submission. Guys, keep it moving.

short and sweet vote here:

great partwriting - but samples suck.

i would be fine with overlooking the sample quality if there was more effort to humanize, but there's really no dynamic contrast per channel. for example, rather than just adding the same reverse cymbal swell on top of your other instruments, why not actually make the instruments themselves crescendo? again, i think awesome samples with minimal attention to dynamics might have worked, or great attention to dynamics while sticking with crappy samples, but after a few listens, it still sounds too General MIDI-ish. Dang shame. Otherwise, the arrangement itself is very pretty. There's plenty of remixers who get great sounds out of crummy/free samples. Maybe bug Shariq sometime and ask him how he does it.

Resubmit this thing.

NO

The execution here is definitely iffy... the sequencing is mechanical at times and there is not a lot of automation going on to create dynamics. Additionally, as mentioned by some of the other judges, the samples are not great. The exposed lead brass later in the song (after the midway point) is by far the weakest, with the french horns being much more passable. The overall volume is also a little on the low side.

But while the samples aren't the hottest, the arrangement is wonderful. It's emotive, dynamic, and richly textured. While better samples would make it far more powerful, I think this just meets our standard for production, and goes well above our bar for interpretation. Great first sub, I hope to hear more from you!

YES

As a former trumpet player, that trumpet sample stabs me clean through the gut with its attack. An arrangement like this calls for something with a much more delicate articulation, even in the higher range. I've never understood why people who sample the instrument persist in recording that blaring, heavy attack.

Aside from that, this arrangement shows a lot of depth, despite its straightforwardness. Nice woodwind writing, especially flutes.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the judges that voted NO. There's an issue of dynamics and balance here; not in terms of arrangement but in terms of production. The trumpet sample is far too exposed whenever it plays and everything else turns into a mish-mash wall of sound.

NO, but resubmit this. an arrangement like this needs to be on OCR. you've got your concept, now work on the execution.