ReMix: Xenogears 'Live from the Yggdrasil'
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- Game: Xenogears (Square, 1998, PS1)
- ReMixer(s): JigginJonT
- Composer(s): Yasunori Mitsuda
- Song(s): Yggdrasil Theme
- Posted: 2003-10-28, evaluated by the judges
This live JJT piano arrangement from Xenogears is quite the shit. Quite. It's full of blues comping and an extremely impressive know-how for arranging more dynamic, solo piano with strong left-hand activity. It's very different from existing piano arrangements on the site, but no less impressive, and easily makes my list of favorite solo piano game arrangements. There's wonderful variety; even the tried-and-true disco piano bass makes a couple cameos, with tone changing from upbeat and jammin' towards more cinematic, beautifully dynamic flowing melody in the second half. At the end we even hear what sounds(?) like the piano strings themselves being strummed/scraped, a nice addition and a conspicuous but creative and tasteful way to conclude the track. There's not much else to say; the breadth and depth of this arrangement, and the fact that it's live, long, and very well-developed all make it a fantastic, memorable piece. Highly recommended.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the Another masterpiece from the mind of JigginJonT...how does he
do that?
At first, I thought the string strumming at the end was kind of gimmicky, but I've since come to realize that nobody ever said you had to play an instrument the way everyone else does.
This piece is beautiful.
- Lucentas on December 6, 2008
At first, I thought the string strumming at the end was kind of gimmicky, but I've since come to realize that nobody ever said you had to play an instrument the way everyone else does.
This piece is beautiful.
- Lucentas on December 6, 2008
Holy crap, I can't believe I've missed out on this mix for so damn
long. It's freaking amazing. Upon the first listen, it immediately
became one of my favorite piano pieces on this site. Well, I must
say that I listened to the vgmix version, which I prefer quite a
bit over this one. The vgmix version has a much more emotional and
dynamic performance, at the slight cost of production. I love the
jazzy first half quite a bit, but the second half is what REALLY
sucks me into the piece.
Anyway, I totally recommend this to anyone. An instant favorite.
- PlastikBag on December 12, 2005
Anyway, I totally recommend this to anyone. An instant favorite.
- PlastikBag on December 12, 2005
Wow, never though i was see a jazz remix of this. I'm mightily
impressed. I would like to see more of this kind of work on here,
this is just too cool!
- Sirocco on August 10, 2005
- Sirocco on August 10, 2005
I realized after a little while that not putting my 2 cents here
would be a crime to such an amazing mix.
While, after a LOT of listening there's the odd thing I could see that would improve, (picky things that would probably just put my spin on it instead of yours) this is still an astounding piece of brilliant piano jazz. It's a great take on the original piece and a huge compliment to the original composer.
This track in particular carries special memories for me from this past summer of 2004. I would drive into night shift with my OCR cd cranked (two luxuries that were new to me) and would sing along... I know that would ruin it in any jazz club, but I pretty much memorized the whole thing by ear. It was just me, the night sky, the responsibility of the car, the wet windshield, and the smooth smooth mood-setting piano. The live piano recording sounds infinitely better than the highest quality soundfont...
Gorgeous.
As a greedy fan I demand more like it... but take you're time... give me 10/10's, not that should be too hard for your blessed fingers.
JJT, I salute.
- Less Ashamed Of Self on December 3, 2004
While, after a LOT of listening there's the odd thing I could see that would improve, (picky things that would probably just put my spin on it instead of yours) this is still an astounding piece of brilliant piano jazz. It's a great take on the original piece and a huge compliment to the original composer.
This track in particular carries special memories for me from this past summer of 2004. I would drive into night shift with my OCR cd cranked (two luxuries that were new to me) and would sing along... I know that would ruin it in any jazz club, but I pretty much memorized the whole thing by ear. It was just me, the night sky, the responsibility of the car, the wet windshield, and the smooth smooth mood-setting piano. The live piano recording sounds infinitely better than the highest quality soundfont...
Gorgeous.
As a greedy fan I demand more like it... but take you're time... give me 10/10's, not that should be too hard for your blessed fingers.
JJT, I salute.
- Less Ashamed Of Self on December 3, 2004
Shnabubula wrote: Just you can have a better idea of the giants whose shoulders this remixer is attemping to stand on.
Those giants never played anything from F-Zero though now did they? :lol:
- Nebu on September 9, 2004
Shnabubula wrote: please for the love of god..... people who listened to this song and liked it....... Listen to some real jazz piano [art tatum, herbie hancock, oscar peterson, michel camillo, chick corea, ted rosenthal, bill carrothers, Brad Meldau] any of these people would do. Tatum or Oscar especially if you want to see what a real "strong left hand" sounds like. I ask you to do this for the sake of all ligitimate jazz pianists. No offense Jigginjon, but you got a LOOOOOONG way to go. Best of luck.
You mean you don't think i'm a legendary pianist who will be remembered long after he's dead as a genius and an innovater? Please don't insult me by pointing out the painfully obvious. Being a jazz enthusiast I know I don't have the harmonic insight of Bill Evans, the chops of Chick Corea, or the innovation of Herbie Hancock, etc. I study and revere these men, so please give me a little credit. Anyway, you probably didn't mean anything by it.
Everyone else, take his advice.
-Jon
- JJT on August 21, 2004
Wow... This has got to be my favorite piano arrangement on OCR.
Amazing stuff. After hearing kLuTz's work, I was pretty sure I
wasn't going to find a better arrangement - but here I am, and I
have to say, this is awesome.
One of the greatest things about this is the fact that it's two distinct styles in one song. I love the more jazzy first half, but I must say that the sweeping, emotional latter part that kicks in a little after 3:30 is just amazing. It reminds me of a John Tesh piano album... (Which I consider to be a very good thing!)
Outstanding stuff - there is so much variety, it just doesn't get old. I'll be listening to this one for a long time to come.
- Ether on February 17, 2004
One of the greatest things about this is the fact that it's two distinct styles in one song. I love the more jazzy first half, but I must say that the sweeping, emotional latter part that kicks in a little after 3:30 is just amazing. It reminds me of a John Tesh piano album... (Which I consider to be a very good thing!)
Outstanding stuff - there is so much variety, it just doesn't get old. I'll be listening to this one for a long time to come.
- Ether on February 17, 2004
Wow, this is pretty cool...however, I enjoyed the second half much
more than the first. I guess I'm more a fan of epic melodies than
bluesy grooves... Hehe, and that string-scratching part at the end
is weird, but definitel cool. 8)
- kirbenvost on February 2, 2004
- kirbenvost on February 2, 2004
I liked the original but this remix is just wonderful. Should have
been in the game:)
- Xatos on November 11, 2003
- Xatos on November 11, 2003
What really stands out for me here is how fluid the arrangement is-
it doesn't sound forced; it's like the original was *supposed* to
be done this way. A great deal of contrast between sections- both
in style and expression; the overall form of this mix is really
top-notch.
And piano playing just feels so loose and natural- so fitting for the style. Strumming inside the piano at the end was a *really* nice touch as well.
There's nothing that I can really pick out as needing work- the whole piece simply comes across as very mature and well-done.
Definitely one of the best remixes I've heard. Very nice work.
- Israfel on November 9, 2003
And piano playing just feels so loose and natural- so fitting for the style. Strumming inside the piano at the end was a *really* nice touch as well.
There's nothing that I can really pick out as needing work- the whole piece simply comes across as very mature and well-done.
Definitely one of the best remixes I've heard. Very nice work.
- Israfel on November 9, 2003
Woo! Excellent piece of work, my friend. I always have a soft spot
for piano works on the site, and that really hit the spot. Keep 'em
coming.
- Jarrid on November 9, 2003
- Jarrid on November 9, 2003
Get. This. NOW.
This is the shit, plain an' simple. I never imagined the original could sound like this. And once the Ben Folds inspiration was mentioned, I definitely hear it. I can practically [i]see[/i]him up on the stage playing most of this.
The only constructive criticisms I can possibly think to offer:
1) In the 1:10-1:30ish section, I really missed the bass. By itself, piano get growl-ey when you pound in the low register, and Ben POUNDS. I worked as a sound tech at one of Ben's stops on his summer tour and the piano technician didn't stop grumbling about how much he banged on the instrument. That rough feeling I'm talking about really comes through in his playing, especially with the amount of bass we pumped through the hall. I don't know whether it was Ben himself or a sound tech, but they made sure we didn't skimp on the bass.
(As an afterthought, I tried listening to it with everything below 250 on the EQ pumped as high as WMP takes it and, minus the distortion, it sounds much better and way more like I remember from this summer.)
2) The scrapey things really didn't do anything for me... I suspect it was just the way they turned out that I'm not crazy about. Certainly didn't take anything away though, I still love the mix. =)
- fisherman on November 6, 2003
This is the shit, plain an' simple. I never imagined the original could sound like this. And once the Ben Folds inspiration was mentioned, I definitely hear it. I can practically [i]see[/i]him up on the stage playing most of this.
The only constructive criticisms I can possibly think to offer:
1) In the 1:10-1:30ish section, I really missed the bass. By itself, piano get growl-ey when you pound in the low register, and Ben POUNDS. I worked as a sound tech at one of Ben's stops on his summer tour and the piano technician didn't stop grumbling about how much he banged on the instrument. That rough feeling I'm talking about really comes through in his playing, especially with the amount of bass we pumped through the hall. I don't know whether it was Ben himself or a sound tech, but they made sure we didn't skimp on the bass.
(As an afterthought, I tried listening to it with everything below 250 on the EQ pumped as high as WMP takes it and, minus the distortion, it sounds much better and way more like I remember from this summer.)
2) The scrapey things really didn't do anything for me... I suspect it was just the way they turned out that I'm not crazy about. Certainly didn't take anything away though, I still love the mix. =)
- fisherman on November 6, 2003
I've heard the previous versions of this mix in the wip. I pretty
much agree with everything mc has said about this mix. Great use of
color, love the chords. Excellent performance and arrangement. I
really liked the original version of this and you've done it
justice. I have no complaints. Great work!
- GrayLightning on November 6, 2003
- GrayLightning on November 6, 2003
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