ReMix: Final Fantasy VII 'Ascension to Cosmo Canyon'

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I love me some solo piano arrangements, don't get me wrong, but I also love it when there's a bit of additional instrumentation thrown in as accompaniment. Such pieces are still essentially solo instrumentals, they just add that little bit of sumtin' sumtin' in the form of some extra timbres that can conjure tones that, while perhaps achievable in an impressionistic sense with the solo voice alone, are more visceral and immediate with the alleyoop assist. Reuben does exactly this with his latest ReMix from FF7:

"This is a little different from my usual arrangements, due to the combination of instruments. After Nanaki (presumably asexual?) had offspring, I believe a creature of such intellect would also have a deep culture and heritage. Imagine a grand ascension taking place ontop of cosmo canyon. That was the image which I based my inspiration on while working on this piece. All comments welcome. PS: I Know he's presumably male, I just called him asexual because he was shown with offspring without any mention of a mate :p "

Androgynies aside, this is some great work from someone who has already well established himself on the ivories, adding in some extra flavors. Things intro with a delicate piano motif that very early on is joined by string pads in the distance as the detectably Celtic melody is established and developed upon. Strings build and become more prominent, then after a break, at 1'32" a men's choir enters with tribal taiko drums and a gorgeous wind lead that's just exquisitely articulated takes over on melody. Overcoming some initial hesitancy, zyko writes:

"reu is quickly making a name for himself with his eastern tones. very good stuff and while i didn't like it before (i had issues with the choir and the volume of the taiko drums), the more i listen to it the more i appreciate how soothing and well this is orchestrated. i appreciate the piece's subtleties and nuances. and they outweigh any concerns i had the first time i heard this. good stuff, man"

I'll second that. With the addition of the choral pieces especially, this felt very cinematic, somewhat reminiscent of portions of Vangelis' Alexander score. The added impact of the percussion is a good example of the type of effect nigh impossible to achieve in a straight solo arrangement, and the whole package comes together quite picturesquely as one of those emotive, epic, dramarama arrangements, with class to spare. Reuben's got a good thing going on with this, and I think people into film scores and/or FF7 (pretty large slice of the pie) will enjoy his ascension quite a bit.

― djpretzel