12.18.01 - Pain the Universe

Welcome back to the Music Cave. The past month has been... bad for me. If you really want to know more, you'll have to wait until I put a page up about it on my personal page on VGMusic.

Misc: Audible Vortex has been moved off to the Competitions page.
You might also want to read the comments on Dying Planet on this page.

Most Wanted The Sound Cave Most Wanted: Castlevania Diablo II Ephemeral Fantasia Final Fantasy (Wonder Swan Color additions) Grandia Skies of Arcadia Suikoden 1 & 2 Valkyrie Profile

Music Notes The following scribings are notes from the composers about their featured pieces in the updates. Their email addresses can be found next to their contributions, found below. MP3 Remixes "Dying Planet" (Final Fantasy VII Medley) by Gwilym Wogan "In case you didn't realise something was wrong, the version of this song that was given to the [Audible Vortex] judges had the first eleven minutes cut off, due to computer error. Now you can hear the UNCUT UNEDITED HARDCORE DIRECTOR'S CUT BANNED IN THE US VERSION. And do so, cuz it's good and I would've won if it hadn't been for those meddling kids. " RB: This version replaced the one on the Audible Vortex page a few weeks ago, so those of you who have gotten it in the past 2-3 weeks should have the complete version, which is 12.1MB. "Legend of the Sacred Sword" (Seiken Densetsu Series) by Patrick Waters "I actually submitted this for the Audible Vortex competition, but I don't know what happened to it... Anyway, this piece is a medley of four themes from the Seiken Densentsu series. The themes are, in order of performance: Rising Sun, Angel's Fear, Swivel, and Theme of Mana. Full orchestra and piano. Mad cool. For more info, email me." "The Next Final Fantasy Theme" (Final Fantasy X) by Trptcox "Since many mentioned their disappointment at the famous 'Prologue' theme not being included in Final Fantasy X. Therefore, I set out to try to write one for it. My recording software is on the blink so I had to resort to other -- and less appealing -- means, so the quality isn't quite as good. Nonetheless, here's what I think the Prologue should have sounded like if it were included." "Last Battle With Lavos (Hardcore Techno Remix)" (Chrono Trigger) by Digression Factor "This song is about a year old, but I was never happy with the sound quality. So I rerecorded it recently, it's much better now, though not as good as I wanted. This song, in the game, really needed to be a bit more techno-esque, so here it is." "Song of Prayer ~ Spira" (Final Fantasy X) by Russ Bedford "I'm sending this in for a friend of mine, he did this as part of a series of experimental stuff that he records with sound recorder after hearing the bitchin' chord progressions in the OST version. Although he is a little ticked at himself for messing up one of the chords... Anyways, his name is Russ, and he said it'd be cool if I sent this in for him." Midi Composition "Trisection" (Final Fantasy Tactics) by Chris Watson "The first song I did; played during the first battle of the game, outside Orbonne. I messed up on the timing here, around the middle of the song. Also--this goes for all four--I just can't get the reverb I want out of RSP; the MP3s I'm using are like Echo City, and it sounds GOOD compared to the MIDIs. Finally, this song doesn't play through twice, because copy-pasting doesn't bring the time signatures with it and let me tell you: Trisection's time signatures are a MESS. Too much work. Sorry. You can double it if you want." "Team Making" (Final Fantasy Tactics) by Chris Watson "...played on the 'Formation' screen. This is the most accurate one I have, but I think I'm missing some notes on the latter half of the song. Oh well." "Decisive Battle" (Final Fantasy Tactics) by Chris Watson "Ah, the drum tracks. Yuck. I've also got problems with the constant staccato violin bits at the top of the track, especially in the last part of the song. This one needs the most work. Not sure WHERE this is used in the game." "Backfire" (Final Fantasy Tactics) by Chris Watson "Played supposedly at Gariland Magic City, the 2nd battle in the game. I think I did the best job with this one; the only thing that's definitely wrong is the arpeggio mess right at the end." "Antidote in the Snow" (Final Fantasy Tactics) by Chris Watson "In my last e-mail I mentioned that I'd probably try Antidote next, and I did. The harp arpeggios were a mess, let me tell you, but I figured them out--I think--and after that it was a cinch. And it's properly channeled, too; at first I wasn't getting the melody because all my channels were messed up. I fixed it, it works, now, but I STILL need reverb. Oh well. In any case, hope you like it." "Burmecia - Slow Rock Arrangement" (Final Fantasy IX) by SquareTex "The idea came into my head a week or so ago. I thought that since Burmecia is based off of Freya's theme, and is essentially just the background chords in an eerie fashion, what would be the best way to re-integrate the melody line? The answer is in the attached MIDI file. :) Now, you won't hear it right away. At first, it's just the Burmecian theme by itself. But then, as it gets ready to loop, that is where the fun begins. I've added a slow and menacing rhythm and bass line, with an overdriven electric guitar playing the Freya melody. Digital Music "Aveh, Ancient Dance" (Xenogears) by Salivator "I credit this song fully (well... mostly) to Amber Ritchie and Neill Corlett. If not for them, I never would've gotten these samples, and therefore never would've had the ambition to track this song. This was actually really fun to track... I couldn't find a decent midi of it, so I was forced to use my own damn ears for a change. Hence, a lot of this is guesstimated, but I think it's pretty close to the original." "Sir Fratley" (Final Fantasy IX) by Salivator "This is the music that plays whenever Freya is pining for Fratley. I just took an element or two from her theme and modified it a little. I'm not entirely sure what the actual name of this track is on the OST (I've seen it called three different things), so I just called it Sir Fratley, since it could be considered his theme." "Waste" (Final Fantasy VIII) by Gwilym Wogan "Enjoy a slow dark droning depressing remix of Compression of Time from FF8. Sounds kinda like Silent Hill, or Trent Reznor's ambient stuff. At any rate, it will plunge you into new realms of PAIN and DOOM and DESOLATE." "Schala" (Chrono Series) by Aaron Leibrick "I made a christmas present for rpgamer! I hope you guys enjoy this.. it's a remix of some themes from chrono trigger and chrono cross. It's not terribly long, but.. the drums pack a punch. :)"

Ross Bemrose
Music Submissions - music@rpgamer.com