#1
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I don't have the authority to do it myself, but there's a lot of stuff he didn't actually personally work on like the Chocobo series, FFXI expansions, XIII-2, and various other spinoffs that should probably be moved to the Featured On section like Super Mario RPG, Kingdom Hearts, and others currently are.
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#2
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We've occasionally talked about this, but some hate to push official works into featured sections which is actually a sort of separation area for doujin. Also, there isn't any standard to determine in which case a person is featured, not involved. So that's why there is inconsistency.
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#3
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Then split the featured section into two sections: doujin/commercial. Problem solved.
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#4
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Last edited by Cedille; May 19, 2014 at 05:18 AM. |
#5
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Yeah but 'featured' seems to also be for, for instance, classical composers. Maybe have a separate class for 'music used for a game but didn't personally work on it' (which covers both Debussy and Bach showing up in Dracula Best 2, as well as Uematsu and Kondo on SMRPG), whereas another category for 'arranged by someone else for the album as an arrangement'....kinda subtle, as it'd include for instance official orchestra albums on top of doujins, etc
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#6
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Interestingly, Nobuo Uematsu's compositions are over-represented in Final Fantasy XI's story missions.
What I meant by this is that, despite Uematsu only have contributed a handful of tracks to XI vanilla, his music appears most often during cutscenes relating to the original game plus the first two expansions (Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia). I haven't played further to see if his music continues to be reused frequently in later expansions. In particular, the following tracks from the FFXI OST make up the bulk of the event music used in these expansions: 214 Recollection 215 Anxiety 219 Hopelessness 222 Sorrow 223 Sometime, Somewhere 225 Despair (Memory de la S^tono) That's not to say none of Mizuta's event music gets played frequently. His "Celestial Thunder" gets tons of plays. That said, if a player is only focusing on story a plathrough, that player will mostly experience Uematsu's music during event scenes (despite that being merely 6 tracks that are frequently reused). If the player is not allied with Bastok, they will experience almost none of Tanioka's music (Ru'Lude Gardens would be the most frequently heard by far). I only realized this after recently focusing on FFXI's story. I feel Uematsu's contribution was an overextended effort fresh off FFX. "Anxiety" is the only composition of his I feel has any life to it, and even it wears out its welcome during FFXI's story scenes. It's played very frequently. Statistically this all bears out: from vanilla to CoP, Mizuta mostly did field/dungeon/battle music while Uematsu's meager 11-track contribution is 82% event music. However, Uematsu's portion in the context of the first two FFXI expansions is very small. Thus, over-representation. Of course, during the game's heyday, most players who actively played did not only focus on the story. So the average player would not experience this over-representation. An average player who started now however, would experience it.
__________________
Soundcloud | A'deo Chronicle OST | Horse Isle 2 OST | Mega Man XA | Royalty-Free Music Vol.1 |
#7
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https://lineblog.me/uematsunobuo/archives/13199762.html
Quote:
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#8
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This sounds like the Earthbound Papas concerts in Berlin/Paris/London are not going to happen this year and could explain why the concert promoter is still unable to provide tickets without any explanation or excuse.
Well, hopefully he gets better soon. |
#9
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This is just a random question, but I was thinking about it quite a while and I'm not sure if there's an interview or sort of about this, but why are Uematsu's songs arranged by someone else in the recent years, starting from the time he left Square Enix back then I think. I mean the original music he composed, for example for projects like Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Fantasy Life, Final Fantasy XIV, Granblue Fantasy etc.
I've been a fan of Uematsu since my childhood and his Final Fantasy melodies are one of the world's most known in the video game industry, but I always felt his arrangements were kinda lackluster back in the days of Final Fantasy X, XI etc. Especially with some unfitting samples or awkward synth, which made them sounds really ... MIDI-ish. I could be Minoru Akao's fault as sound programmer as well, who worked on most of Square's games in these days, but I'm not familiar with this behind-the-scenes stuff to be honest. I just would be interesting to know why Uematsu decided to let his work be arranged by others (Satoshi Henmi / Hiroyuki Nakayama for Blue Dragon/Lost Odyssey, Itsuki Iwasa for Fantasy Life / Granblue Fantasy, or mostly recently Tsutomu Narita) and why excactly these people were chosen for their part. |
#10
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My impression is he stuck with his synthesizer while working at Square, only creating sequenced music. That might also have been a question of budget at the end. Once he went freelance and formed Dog Ear Records pretty much all his music became streamed and he employed arrangers, so I think that's the way he prefers working. Maybe he was self-aware of his shortcomings and felt the medium is outgrowing his capabilities.
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#11
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#12
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We know he is perfectly capable of small ensemble arrangements. I would be very satisfied with a new Uematsu soundtrack he 100% arranged, in the style of his self-arranged 90s work: FF3 Eternal Legend of the Wind, FF5 Dear Friends, and especially Phantasmagoria. All are synth keyboard (which he performed himself) plus a small ensemble of performers (flute, oboe, etc.) Phantasmagoria holds up quite well today, and showcases his signature melodic style.
__________________
Soundcloud | A'deo Chronicle OST | Horse Isle 2 OST | Mega Man XA | Royalty-Free Music Vol.1 |
#13
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I remember it well because it was an aha moment for me. It makes so much sense for a person who just wants to compose without thinking too much about arranging/instrumentation/mixing. I can relate a little, because I used to make music in middle & high school, but eventually stopped because the more I tried to polish my tracks' arranging/instrumentation/mixing (a never-ending process!), the more I lost interest in making music. Sadly I don't remember where the interview was. I've seen Uematsu several times at concerts and events, so it might have been at one of those occasions. |
#14
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Nobuo Uematsu has a complicated relationship with arrangers. You might remember how he thinks FFVI Grand Finale is a disaster—it's not that the album is bad (it isn't), but he blamed himself for not defending the "vision" he had about his music, and so the arrangers did something he wasn't satisfied with. (BTW he was also unsatisfied with parts of the FF Symphonic Suite album.)
Because of the terrible experience he had with Grand Finale, he decided that he would oversee his arrangements as closely as possible, should he ever write orchestral music again. When came the moment to orchestrate 3 tracks for FFVII Reunion Tracks, Uematsu decided he would handle the arrangements himself, even if that meant the quality would be lower, but he still needed an orchestrator. And so he began looking for someone who would be ready to orchestrate directly from his MIDI files, so that the result would be as close to his vision as possible. That person was Shiro Hamaguchi, and they worked on many new projets afterwards. But after that, I think Uematsu softened with age. Arrangement is a very specific job, especially when you want to have one genre in particular—and so, when you're not a specialist, it's a very time-consuming process. As his career carried on, he had the opportunity to work with people who became close friends, and I think he had more and more confidence in their abilities, realizing they could do what he couldn't. We had the chance to interview him when working on his biography, and we did ask him about that. He said that nowadays, he only cares about composition, and not arrangement. He said whenever he has finished composing a new track, the only thing he wants is to start working on the next one, and so he just lets the arrangers handle the rest. Obviously, this is because he can now work with arrangers he can trust, such as Tsutomu Narita, or even Kenichiro Fukui who recently arranged "Hollow". Besides, the bad experiences he had during the 80s and 90s were related to the fact that he was still young and wasn't ready to defend his vision to older and more experienced musicians with enough conviction. Now that he's older (and a lot more famous!), he jokes that it's a lot easier to ask arrangers for specific changes. |
#15
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Well there's a difference between 'orchestrating' and 'arrangeing'. Technically the former falls under the unbrella of the later, but quite often orchestrating means simply putting to paper the short hand of the what the composer wanted anyway.
The talk of wanting the arranger to work off the MIDI files sounds similar to what a Hollywood orchestrator does -- the actual amount that is the actual orchesator's original work can vary, but in some cases it's close enough to the point that 'copyist' would fit better whereas others the tern 'arranger' would fit. As for 'not carring about arrangement, only composing', I find that a weird statement. Composition still needs to be cohesive in some form. I assume he means doesn't full flesh things out with full instrumentation. |
#16
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Yeah, "not caring about arrangement" could be a translation error, but it doesn't sound good. It just sounds like he became complacent and doesn't want to put in the work anymore.
This might be a controversial opinion, but I believe that if a composer doesn't arrange their own work, it is no longer theirs. There is something unique about Uematsu's solo FF scores that have been lost in all of his work since FFXI. I know people claim that he "lost it" a long time ago, and maybe he did, but I think it's because he's been having other people take his melodies and transform them based on their tastes. He could compose something genuinely groundbreaking, only to have it butchered because he insisted on having Yoshitaka Suzuki arrange it. I really want another solo Uematsu score that truly belongs to him, and I don't think I'm alone in that. |
#17
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The thing is, at the start of his career, Uematsu was very hung up about his abilities as a composer, mostly because he is self-taught and it certainly wasn't easy to get a job within the music industry when other aspiring composers and musicians have a classical background. He said yes to Sakaguchi because he really had no other choice, and originally thought game music would simply help him kickstart his career. So during the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was still yound and unsure. The reason why he grew a mustache is because, during the recordings of the FFIII Legend of the Eternal Wind, he felt the musicians didn't take him seriously, and he thought this would make him appear older. Of course it's just an anecdote but it still says a lot. It's because he wasn't ready to assert his individuality that he considers FFVI Grand Finale a disaster; it really was an existential crisis, and he vowed this would never happen again.
So, this is why when he started working with Hamaguchi, he was extremely demanding and specific. It wasn't simply handing off MIDI files and asking him to orchestrate from that. He required him to have the exact same equipment (especially a Roland SC-88 sound module), so Hamaguchi would hear the exact same sounds and know what effects Uematsu wanted to feature. While FFVI Grand Finale was arranged by Shiro Sagisu and Tsuneyoshi Saito, FFVIII Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec was arranged by Uematsu but orchestrated by Hamaguchi. This is why the FFVIII orchestra album sounds so much like Uematsu but with live instruments. Then, you can feel how he started to trust Hamaguchi more and more, because he was finally satisfied with this relationship. Finally, he had a full control of his music. As I mentioned above, this is because he started working with arrangers he could trust that he started to consider himself a composer first and foremost. (Recently, about FFVII Remake's "Hollow", he said he chose Kenichiro Fukui because he knows what he is capable of—but, at the same time, he also said he couldn't just handle him the melody and chords, so he started writing parts of the arrangement himself!) So yeah, of course he cares about arrangement, but since he really wants to compose first and foremost, he's simply satisfied with being able to hand his music off to arrangers he can trust, so they do a better job than he would be able to. (Never forget he's also a very modest person, so of course he's very able himself, but he just knows an arranger can help him achieve his ideas.) It's a bit sad that Square Enix doesn't release the FFXIV Fan Festival developer panels on YouTube or such, because the one where Nobuo Uematsu had a chat with Masayoshi Soken was really interesting in that respect. Uematsu specifically said he handled arrangement himself for a long time, when the Final Fantasy music only used the console's sound chip, but decided to ask for the help of arrangers when they started using live recordings. The metaphor he then used was that, his compositions are like a baby without clothes. Because he wants his baby to wear fancy clothes, he asks people who are proficient in the genre he's trying to feature. When you think about his past experiences, I think it shows how he's at peace with himself. It's quite touching, to be honest. Last edited by Zanasea; Jul 8, 2020 at 10:21 AM. |
#18
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For example, almost the entirety of Dance with the Balamb Fish is basically identical to its game form, so it really is just a "MIDI to orchestra" type arrangement. On the other hand, the entirety of Blue Fields is quite touched up--and those fingerprints are unmistakably Hamaguchian. That's my take, anyway, as a listener of this album for decades. Very interesting anecdote about Grand Finale. I actually think that album is fantastic and its orchestration very artful--Blackjack & Milano de Chocobo especially.
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Soundcloud | A'deo Chronicle OST | Horse Isle 2 OST | Mega Man XA | Royalty-Free Music Vol.1 |
#19
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Sure, Shiro Hamaguchi worked both as an arranger and orchestrator on Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec, but Uematsu was heavily involved in arrangement. Using the method I've described above, there was a lot of back and forth between the two using MIDI mockups—Hamaguchi would work from MIDI files submitted by Uematsu, add his own ideas, deliver them to Uematsu who would approve or reject them, and so on, until Hamaguchi would orchestrate the final version. Uematsu was extremely particular, contrary to what happened with previous arranged albums, because he wanted to have full control of the music. Fortunately, at that time, he was not yet busy with administrating Square Sounds and could devote himself to music.
It's quite funny, actually, because in the FFVII Reunion Tracks booklet, Uematsu already confessed that he would like to show more of Hamaguchi's individuality going forward. I guess this happened step by step afterwards. Also, I need to mention that I'm not making up or misinterpreting anything. This is based on interviews we had with Uematsu himself ("we" is Denys and I, as the authors of Uematsu's biography which will be available in France this summer). |
#20
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Has there been any news about the English version?
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#21
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Not yet... but it'll definitely happen!
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#22
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Thank you very much guys for the discussion and especially Zanasea for the insight! Pretty amazing. Can't wait to see Uematsu's biography, when it's released. Thank you so much for your work. Many fans, including me, will highly appreciate that.
As for the statements, it's pretty interesting indeed he had such bad memories of "Grand Finale". While it isn't one of my favorite orchestral arrangement albums of that period, it definitely isn't bad. But maybe Uematsu just hadn't enough personal input at that time where his career began, and so he wasn't satisfied. Personally, I love the metapher about the baby and its fanzy clothes for composition and arrangement lol. It really fits |
#23
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Thank you for the clarification Zanasea. Very interesting indeed!
__________________
Soundcloud | A'deo Chronicle OST | Horse Isle 2 OST | Mega Man XA | Royalty-Free Music Vol.1 |
#24
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Besides, the recording sessions in Milan were quite a disaster as well. The Japanese conductor who came with them didn't manage to get the orchestra's attention and respect and had a nervous breakdown, so much that one of the Italian musicians had to take over. So they pretty much recorded everything on their own, and Uematsu couldn't give his input. When he came back from Italy, he was so disappointed that he wanted to cancel the release of the album. He has never listened to it again since then. |
#25
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Why they decided to use the Milan Symphony Orchestra in Italy anyway and not a recording in Japan? Budget reasons or promoting the game overseas? Or just because of FFVI's "Italian" background (the opera scene)?
You sure have a lot of informations! It's so thrilling to read. |
#26
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I don't know why they decided to go to Italy for this one, but I'd say it's because of the numerous Italian inspirations in the game, yes. After Celtic Moon and Dear Friends, I guess they wanted to go on with the European tour, maybe. Uematsu specifically wanted to record Celtic Moon in Ireland and Dear Friends in Finland, but I honestly don't know about Grand Finale.
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#27
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Thank you so much Zanasea, incredibly interesting and valuable to read these kinds of things about someone whose creations mean so much to me.
Also can I just point out I am also thoroughly heartened to see that a VGMdb staff member (and specifically yourself) is co-authoring Uematsu's biography. Naturally I therefore have full confidence in its quality. |
#28
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https://www.editionspixnlove.com/les...collector.html
This looks soooo amazing! It's wonderful, really. I wish it would be published in English language (as well as some other works like the Yoshitaka Amano bio or any other Square Enix related stuff). Great job, guys! |
#29
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Thanks! I really hope it will get a translation soon, we're definitely trying to do so!
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#30
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I really hope so!! I definitely want this
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