ReMix: Final Fantasy V 'My Home, My Friends'

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Whew... you might think that with a three day weekend for most of us here in the states, we would have posted more mixes, but I've been busy with focused site development such that interrupting and finding time to post music was a little difficult. I did however have the time to catch Iron Man, which even after considerable buildup I was still happy with. Also recommend checking out OC ReMixer sephfire's recently released video on Games & Sex, which is well-made PLUS features a small excerpt from one of my mixes. Honestly, there's been so much going on that we haven't had time to talk about, and it's all coming at a time when my own personal focus continues to be on site development to make our plans for 2008 happen. It's a very frustrating division of responsibilities, but fortunately Larry's been handling a lot of the PR stuff recently, and I'm delegating more than ever to helpful folks (Bahamut, CHz, Palpable, and soon others) to assist with database tasks. There's a rough road ahead, but each week we're making consistent, gradual progress, and furthermore, there should be some fantastic album releases on the horizon.

Thus, onto the ReMix. VHD was going to title this "My Home, My Friends... My Miller Lite(TM)!!" but we convinced him to use the shortened, somewhat classier version. I kid, though... it's always great to see more mixage from Mr. Barnaba, who's covered a good variety of RPG scores with his elegant orchestral abilities. This FF5 mix combines two themes seamlessly into a Joe Hisaishi style piece, as Dan explains:

"...As the title implies, this is an orchestral arrangement of two pieces from Final Fantasy 5: 'Dear Friends,' and 'My Home, Sweet Home.'"

If you're familiar with Dan's work, the quality and emotion you'd expect is present and accounted for; if this is your first exposure, be sure to check out the rest of his repertoire, as literally everything is well worth a listen. Strings open on legato chords, a mixture of hope and melancholy, with winds joining in soon afterwards. A push at 0'54" evokes many a cinematic score, and the pizzicato/chromatic percussion duet of sorts is equally narrative; I see this as the opening piece of a film, as the camera rolls over hills and majestic mountains during the more sweeping passages and focuses on different scenes of town life during the more intimate solo bits. Brass plays a stronger role in the section beginning around 2'26", where hits introduce a march tempo with rolling snare and string runs.

We talk about transitions a lot - it makes sense, since this is a website focused on arrangement - and whether a given piece has solid or somewhat awkward transitions can definitely affect the overall listening experience, not to mention influence the judges' decisions. What's so cool about VHD, and this mix in particular, is that not only are the transitions almost transparent, but they bridge ensemble and solo sections, often with very different tones, so they're doing quite a bit of work, too.

We didn't really have an FF5 piece in this specific genre/style, which should be very accessible to film score buffs or anyone into FF orchestral; there aren't a lot of impresario passages with flurries of notes or brash displays of sequencing technique, but rather a cohesive, deliberate arrangement that's both classy and emotional, displaying a refined sense of direction and timing as well as very solid production. Awesome stuff.

― djpretzel