DERP-10019: UNCHAINBLADES EXXIV ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK

[Argentis]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZgbIaQ9T8M

http://www.dogearrecords.com/ube/trlist.html

Samples, tracklist and composer/ arranger breakdown

[MiLO]

Gotta love Dog Ear Records' catalog numbers: Derp a derp...

[Ramza]

woot EBP! Go Tsutomu Narita!

[Raizen1984]

Slightly off topic, but can someone explain to me why Uematsu never arranges his own music anymore?

[Dag]

^^ Did he ever? Considering the work of Minoru Akao and such sound programmers.

Very exciting, good to see Narita is still at the helm.
Among the "meta" keywords in the official site we have "片翼の天使,One-Winged,Angel". Derp indeed.

[_if]

He did FF3 and 5's arranged albums and I'd say he did quite a good job. His skills there have made me wonder why he doesn't do arrangement more often, like for his bands and such. He even arranged two pieces from FF5 for the orchestral game music concerts. The sound programmers probably did make some arrangement-like decisions in getting the music into the game, but I have no doubt the lion's share of arrangement, the melody and harmony played and by what instrument, was done by Uematsu. (For example, check out FF12's OST with Sakimoto's arrangements versus the in-game sequenced music implemented by Keiji Kawamori. Some things are a bit different, but you wouldn't really say Kawamori made new arrangements.)

I may be taking some liberties here, but my guess as to why he doesn't arrange anymore is that synth got more complex and he probably doesn't want to put the effort into learning how to do all that stuff. Plus he may want people who are more knowledgeable with the live instruments that are used than he is. I know he plays some guitar, but he's quite likely no Michio Okamiya or Satoshi Henmi. He arranged his Hanjuku Hero stuff, which was the last console soundtrack he did that for I think, and the music is sequenced. Then Blue Dragon's music is streamed and suddenly he's using arrangers. However, Sakura Note for DS, being sequenced like the old days, has no supplementary arranger (though of course there are sound programmers).

I expect he actually does work closely with the arrangers though. He is still the producer on those soundtracks and don't you think he'd work with them to get the sound he wants?

[Jormungand]

Originally Posted by _if

However, Sakura Note for DS, being sequenced like the old days, has no supplementary arranger (though of course there are sound programmers).

Except for the theme song which was arranged by Saori Kobayashi.

I think you're mostly right that Uematsu has scaled back because of the work involved in producing cutting edge audio. It ain't like it used to be. In the game industry you really are learning to use new software and hardware annually, and audio is no exception. Every discipline has its industry standard standbys--I think Cubase is currently the most popular in audio?--but a lot comes through a revolving door.

Ironically, in my opinion, it's actually a lot easier to arrange for and record live performers these days. Because decent recording equipment has become fairly accessible, you just need time, space, and some microphones. Press record, import to your sequencing software of choice, and mess with levels and voila. But it's also expensive, sometimes prohibitively so.

Today's technology, however, is (IMO) just too complex. Just thinking of the hours that could be spent tweaking a violin sample, for example, to sound just right at just the right times. These cutting edge sample libraries come with anywhere from dozens to hundreds of different articulations per instrument, and thinking about it just makes my head hurt. All that time just to ensure high sound quality, and then on top of it you need the technical expertise to master it all in the end.

In the former case, you necessarily need a team of musicians to work with. However, the composer him or herself only needs the skills of a composer and arranger to put it all together. Anyone can quickly learn to use microphones and simple sequencing software to put the parts together.

But in the latter case, if you wanted to do all that yourself, you need several other skillsets beyond just knowing how to write music. It's much more efficient to have a team of experts to help with the workflow, and I think this was Uematsu's intention with Smile Please. Really, it's an ideal situation for a composer these days: you can focus on the music while other guys worry about the technical side of it.