Topic: Final Fantasy VI Remastered OST

[Dracula9]

I know I'm not the first guy to do this, and I surely won't be the last, but I would be ashamed if I didn't give this fucking masterpiece the honor. And I know there's a VGM mixes thread but goddamnit I wanted my own!

With that said, there are only a few songs that are pretty much finalized and good to go.
01-01-Opening Theme I
01-02-Opening Theme II
01-03-Opening Theme III
01-04-The Mines of Narshe
01-16-The Phantom Train

If anyone's wondering about the sudden jump, Phantom Train was actually holding this project up for a solid three months, due to there being no accurate MIDI around (all the ones on the Net lack the percussion and are far too slow). It took me digging around for and SPC-to-MIDI conversion tool to get the damned thing how I needed it. Since it was a stopper for a while, I figured I might as well get it done and TRIUMPH!

Will post more as they come along.

[TheCastlevaniaNerd]

These songs are awesome !

[X]

I liked the Phantom Train tune! Very powerful in delivery. Excellent work! My only issue is with theme I. The organ loses it's power and sharpness at the climax of the song when the choir starts it's chant, unlike the SNES version which carries on strong and doesn't weaken. But all in all, good tracks to listen to. If you have any more Final Fantasy VI Remastered OST's I definitely want to hear them.

[Dracula9]

Yeah, it's still getting worked on. That same thing's bugging me, too.

Updates on Opening Theme III and Mines of Narshe. Bumping first post with them.

[Dracula9]

01-03-Awakening
01-04-Locke's Theme
01-05-Battle Theme
01-06-Fanfare
01-07-Edgar and Sabin
01-08-Kefka
01-09-Mt. Koltz
01-10-Returners
01-11-Shadow's Theme
01-12-Troops March On
01-13-Cyan

I'll update the first post once I fix Opening I and reorder the numerical track listing properly. I'm a bit iffy on Troops March On, too; I'm thinking I need to give more power to the timpani to really sell that "military" feel. What do you guys think?

[VladCT]

There's one thing I'm curious about the Battle Theme: why did you skip straight to the bass line part of the intro?

[Dracula9]

Because that version uses a pre-existing MIDI file. If/when I get the SPC file of the original song to convert sequence data without problems, that'll be no problem. That's there moreso to capture the "feel" of the song for the time being.

[X]

Like 'n what I've heard so far! The instrumentation you chose for Kefka's theme fits well with his "broken" character persona. I also really loved how you handled Shadow's theme. Cyan's was also good too. I have to agree with VladT about the battle theme. It's definitely the one that needs more work and I also found it just a tad too fast-paced.

[Dracula9]

Okay, first disc's finished. These are pretty much finalized.

Individual tracks below for immediate listening, ZIP file at the end. Track listings are directly taken from the SPC soundtrack, as are the file names.

01-01-Opening Theme I
01-01-Opening Theme II
01-01-Opening Theme III
01-02-The Mines of Narshe
01-03-Awakening
01-04-Locke's Theme
01-05-Battle Theme
01-06-Fanfare
01-07-Edgar and Sabin
01-08-Kefka
01-09-Mount Koltz
01-10-Returners
01-11-Shadow's Theme
01-12-Troops March On
01-13-Cyan's Theme
01-14-Unforgiven
01-15-The Phantom Forest
01-16-The Phantom Train
01-17-The Wild West
01-18-Gau's Theme
01-19-The Serpent Trench
01-20-Kids Run Through the City
01-21-Under Martial Law
01-22-Celes
01-23-Save Them
01-24-The Decisive Battle
01-25-Metamorphosis

Full ZIP Download


.......whew.

[Inccubus]

Nice work! I'm digging these. This is what the PSX version should have sounded like.

[X]

.......whew.

Whew is right! Good job. I noticed you fixed up the issue with theme 1. Now it sounds like it does in the SNES version. Bravo!

[Dracula9]

Got the first chunk of the second disc's worth done.

02-01-Terra
02-02-Coin Song
02-03-Techno de Chocobo
02-04-Forever Rachel
02-05-Slam Shuffle
02-06-Spinach Rag IT'S RAGTIME, BOYS AND GIRLS!
02-07-Overture
02-08-Aria de Mezzo
02-09-The Wedding Waltz No. 1
02-09-The Wedding Waltz No. 2
02-09-The Wedding Waltz No. 4
02-10-Grand Finale

Just to elaborate, the reason the Overture is combined into one song, and The Wedding Waltz sections are not, is because I found out last night that the third part of the Waltz relies really fucking heavily on pitch shifts on the two chorus leads, and excessive pitch shifts on better-quality choirs sound very bad and jarring when used this often and this quickly. So, I'm working like mad to get this one damn little forty-five second snippet to work. Once I get it done, I'll combine the four sections into one song. Then, it's just a matter of powering through Setzer and his two-man entourage until I get to track fourteen, and then I get to have a boatload of fun in industrializing the shit out of Devil's Lab.

[Dracula9]

Okay, well, got Disc II pretty much done today after spending most OF the day on it. A couple songs might need some extra work, but largely I'm satisfied with where they're at.

Still iffy on Wedding Waltz 3. Maybe you guys can help me figure out what's wrong with it. I can't quite put my finger on it.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/v33mt21iailgd/Disc%20II

Folder link for now, as I'm in a rush at present. I'll go through and do a song-by-song post like the rest tomorrow. Sorry.

EDIT: I lied. Since I still have a little more work to do on a couple of songs, I'm not going to do the big ol' post just yet.Blame Inccubus, lol.

[Inccubus]

Draco and Ralse's parts sound the same. In the original the two parts were distinct because they were in different key or octave or whatever the hell the musical term is for the same sound being higher or lower. Yeah. That's it. Draco should be lower than Ralse and/or Ralse should sound noticeably higher than Draco. Right now they pretty much sound like one male voice especially at the end.

The reverb on the hammer strike in Devil's Lab could be a little more robust and the techno-y sounding bit should be a little louder.

Everything else sounds pretty damn good.

EDIT:

BTW, are you going to include the unreleased tracks, too? Town 2, Town 3, and Troian Beauty (remake)? I'd love to have them included as they would make the project feel more complete. Hint. Hint.

[Dracula9]

The octaves might be tricky. Since I can't do what I would normally do to get a choir to work better (dual-layer the notes, i.e. having one at a high octave and one at a lower one of the same key), because then it would sound like a choir of singers and not a single one (and I really don't want to do that), I might have to resort to using strictly the vocal samples from the respective performances. I don't personally have a problem with doing that, but I don't know how well it would go over with people if I used the game's original choir along with high-quality orchestral banks. Of course, I've done it with a few other tracks, but those had very specific sounds that couldn't quite be replicated as easily (i.e. the Devil's Lab noises, Chocobo synth noises, the game's amazing rock organ (no other organ sample/soundfont I have captures that "feel" as well as the original), etc.)...maybe I can get away with it.

And I'm not sure. I'd like to do the unreleased songs, but I might not be able to. I highly doubt anyone's sequenced a MIDI of them (that's entirely accurate), and I'm still looking for SPCs. We'll see, but I am trying.

EDIT: Ha, I see I'm not the only person you've asked that question of.