So after six long months, I finally finished this thing. I present you Final Fantasy And Other Stories III, featuring Final Fantasy 5. 23 tracks total, and, unfortunately for dial-up users this time, I recorded most at 320. But, you can still stream them, thanks to these fancy new mp3 tags.
1. A Presentiment (FF V)
This actually stays pretty true to the original, except with the addition of a few more instrument parts. It was the first arrangement I did for this, and the first I recorded, so it probably turned out as one of the weakest quality-wise.
2. Fate In Haze (FF V)
One of my favorites. I added a lot of percussive effects, and a nice vibraphone part.
3. Tragic Prince (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
I had to record this about 30 times to get it right, simply because I had to record the orchestra, and then the guitar by itself, and mix them both together. It actually wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't added so much rubato, so I guess really it's my fault. And for some reason, the snare on the drum set was barely audible most of the time. I have no idea why, and couldn't fix it. But, this song turned out better than I could have hoped. I now have new respect for people that write decent guitar parts. It's tough and takes a long time to notate it all >.<
4. Intention Of The Earth (FF V)
There isn't really anything too special about this comparatively, but I still think it's pretty neat. It's definately one of the oddest combination of instruments I've used. o_O
5. Title Screen (Super Mario Bros.)
A percussion ensemble arrangement I actually did about a year ago, and last week I pumped it through Virtual Drumline 2 and polished a few parts.
6. The Decisive Battle (FF V)
Being the perfectionist that I am, I'm not happy with a lot of my work, as I always look at what I can improve on, thus meaning I'm not very happy with this arrangement. Not that I think it's bad; there are parts that are pretty neat, but it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.
7. Ahead On Our Way (FF V)
However, I was very happy with the way this one turned out. It's definately one of my favorite arrangements.
8. Mansion ~ 2nd Floor (Resident Evil)
Obviously this is a very odd choice to do an arrangement of, especially considering its dissinance, which I'm sure will turn a lot of people off from it. I get the feeling this will turn out like the "Golbeza Clad in Darkness" arrangement for FFAOS 2 I did, where most won't like it because of how dissinant it is comparatively. Anyway, at least give this one a chance.
There are two versions of this arrangement, and I was more satisfied with this one. Actually, I have lots of scrapped and alternate versions of FFAOS songs. Perhaps I should send those to Silverline too, and he could create like a Misc. section. =o
9. Lenna's Theme (FF V)
Or if you prefer, Reina's Theme. I've heard it called both. This is actually the only piano arrangement included in this album, unlike the last two, which had several. A large section of this is original as well, and although rather simple, I like it.
10. Happy Town (Soulblazer)
Another odd choice, yes, but Soulblazer has some pretty neat music, and I enjoy taking some of the more obscure songs from games and giving them updates, especially older ones like this.
11. Requiem (FF V)
AKA the very short game over music. I just used a lot of theme and variation here to expand upon it, and I'm happy with the way it turned out.
12. Dark Wizard Suite
This old Sega CD game surprisingly had some great music; perhaps even my favorite VGM. The music here is something I'd wanted to do for a long time, and finally decided to tackle the task. The songs included here are the themes for Robin, Amon, and Armer IX.
13. The Fierce Battle (FF V)
I'm very happy with this one. To me, it's very intense, and is one of the better tracks here.
14. Final Battle (Terranigma)
I love the main theme from this game, and I wanted to arrange it, and since it's included in this song (as sort of the big hit of the whole thing), I decided to do an arrangement of this, since it's a pretty mature piece.
15. Last Dungeon (Romancing SaGa)
This stays fairly true to the original, with the addition of some extra parts.
16. Another World (Jazz Band) (Chrono Cross)
I guess at this rate I might as well arrange this every time I do an FFAOS album, since this is like the 4th arrangement. I really like this song, and I figured a jazz arrangement would be a great fit, especially since the overall feel of this album is kind of jazzy, or at least has jazz elements.
17. The Trial (Chrono Trigger)
Maybe I just had high hopes for this one, but in any case it didn't meet my expectations. Perhaps some vgm just doesn't transpose well to a real-life arrangement. Still, it isn't too bad actually.
18. Battle With Gilgamesh (FF V)
OK, yeah, I know, everybody does this song. But very rarely is it any good. This got a nice jazz element added to it. Also, I originally worked on an orchestral arrangement of this, but then with the advent of Final Fantasy 12, I heard their version of this, which was orchestral, and since mine paled in comparison, I scrapped that and did this version.
19. Mambo de Chocobo (FF V)
I always told myself I would never arrange any of the chocobo themes, since there are already a bazillion out there. But here I had the chance to actually do a pretty good one, with lots of percussion. And although short, I think it's a good length.
20. Rainbow Road (Super Mario Kart)
Well, what can I say... the original was very synth heavy, so all those dissinant chords sounded ok. When put on a trumpet, it's pretty harsh. I suppose if I waited about 3 more months, I could've gotten Garritan General MIDI, and had plenty of quality synths to choose from, but it wasn't really worth the wait. Besides, the only part damaged by this was the beginning. Well, like I said, I guess some VGM just doesn't transpose well.
21. Entrance (Super Castlevania 4)
It may not be Bloody Tears, but that's ok, most Castlevania music is great anyway. I loved the music to Castlevania 4, it was very dark, and had a lot of jazz elements to it, and it fits very well with this whole album.
22. The Last Battle (FF V)
I pretty much just went all out here. It was hard not to, the song is very fast-paced. I really like this one.
23. The Origin (FF V)
When I decided to do this one, I then realized it was over eight minutes long. Then I realized it repeats several sections like 5 times, and that's why. So I actually ended up finishing this in about eight hours. Yes, I worked on it eight hours straight. Again, this is one that stays true to the original, with some extra parts to it.
Comments are appreciated, as always.
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