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  #31  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 01:23 PM
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Efendija Efendija is offline
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Originally Posted by Hellacia View Post
Also, I really don't agree much with that statement, music is music.
I can't really agree with yours too. Game music is not only music. Game/movie/anime and its music are very much connected.
Sure, there are cases when the product sucks, but the music is great, yeah...

On the other hand if you have such mindset to always judge the game music without ever considering "where and when it plays in the game" and if those game moments make the tune altogether better or worse, that's also fine.

I can form an opinion about any mainstream music right away, because when I'm done listening to it, that's it, the tune doesn't have any other special use, but when listening to game/movie tracks I can never (almost never, excluding one note tracks lol) say it either sucks or it rocks until I see how it's connected with the product.

Last edited by Efendija; Aug 30, 2012 at 01:30 PM.
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  #32  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 01:31 PM
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This is my favourite soundtrack by Masashi Hamauzu and up there amongst my absolute favourite video game music (and I haven't even played the game!) Strangely enough, Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon follows up closely behind it. Early Hamauzu is just so good.

All his fully produced stuff that has followed since is consistently decent nonetheless, very reliable composer I think.
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  #33  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 01:36 PM
Hellacia Hellacia is offline
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How something is connected to a product doesn't change the composition, period. What you're talking about is an emotional connection with the product, not with the music. For example Suteki da Ne plays when Tidus and Yuna kiss in the water. You think that's just such a great scene so therefore you like Suteki da Ne more? That's you liking the scene where Tidus and Yuna kiss in the water, that's not you liking Suteki da Ne for what it is, the music itself. Rather than the "game context" adding fairness to your opinion of the song, it's actually adding unfair bias towards it.

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Originally Posted by Efendija View Post
I can form an opinion about any mainstream music right away, because when I'm done listening to it, that's it, the tune doesn't have any other special use
Yeah? What about when it's used in a movie or a commercial? Then shouldn't we judge based on how much we liked that scene? A song can be used anywhere, doesn't mean the place it's used in should change our feelings toward the composition.

Sorry, I probably sound like a purist right now, but I was a gamer for 20 years. I played hundreds of games of all different genres and still have no problem identifying when music is good and when music is not so good based on how it sounds, not how much I liked Tidus and Yuna kissing in the water.
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  #34  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 02:02 PM
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Yeah? What about when it's used in a movie or a commercial?
No, because it is licensed to be used in some movie/trailer/commecial, it wasn't composed specifically for the movie. That's a huge difference.

And omg is Final Fantasy really the only game for any comparisons? FYI, never played FF10
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  #35  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 02:08 PM
Hellacia Hellacia is offline
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Awww man, I just tried to pick the most obvious, elementally fanboy scene I could possibly think of. Figures you've never played it But like I said earlier, I never played that far myself, only got to Mi'ihen Highroad, but I don't need to recall scenes from the game in order to formulate an opinion on the music. In fact, if I do so, I'm really formulating an opinion of those said scenes, not on the music. Sure, I may recall where in a game a song plays, but regardless of how much I liked a particular moment in a game, the music remains what it is. My memories of scenes in a game are one thing, my opinion of a series of notes strung together to make a song is another.

Also, this has been derailed enough, you may all carry on talking about how this dump is Hamauzu's greatest work. Enjoy~
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  #36  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 05:14 PM
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SF2 ranks just slightly below Hamauzu's portion of FFX for me, but it's a tough call to make because SF2 is, what, three times the content? They have a similar feel, despite FFX being largely more consumable: they represent Hamauzu in his rawest and purest approach to game music, his constant exploring of harmonies of densities and depths far beyond what can even be fathomed by most others in his field.

SF2 is Hamauzu channeling pure experimental glee; and yet his sharp and densely-packed arrangements are expertly painted over with the delicate touch of an impressionist. It's like watching a hurricane through stained glass.

Here I am listening to Pointe, wondering how and when chords began to equate to single notes; and at what point less than a minute equaled 3 minutes. In an ideal world, you could pull a person off the street and they'd at least be able to carry on some intelligent and relevant discussion about any given piece of music--sort of like, you should be able to ask the same person about the basic structure of their government and what's their favorite artwork and what's the last play they've attended and what happened in it. But, you know, you just can't do that. I'm a public school teacher, so I can candidly admit this--we really need to broaden our horizons when it comes to culture and art in education.

I'm not calling anyone here uneducated, but please try to see it from my perspective:
In Pointe, a chord of--it sounds to my ears--four or more notes has been referred to as one note. This isn't a nitpick, and it isn't pedantic. If you have listened to and have seen piano music live--just a piano, by itself!--at least a few times in your life, there would be no mystery.

It's not above anyone, because anyone can dial up a piano performance on youtube, and physically watch the performer press lots of keys down at the same time. As you watch (and even young, very young children can and will do this) you will become accustomed to the sound of one note versus multiple notes. A chord.

You might wonder what this rant has to do with this discussion, and how it could possibly be something other than the rant of Random Internet Music Snob.

If you wonder why people have an opinion that differs from yours, and then you immediately move defensively to protect your opinion, you ought to be wondering what other people see (or hear) that you don't. Before you can do this, however, you need to realize: no one will understand you if you can't express yourself accurately.

You want to know how anyone could like 'a single note' repeated over and over again for 3 minutes? I don't know. I do know that I don't hear a single note repeated over and over again for 3 minutes. I hear a chord, played repeatedly at varying dynamics to create a percussive rhythm, that plays for roughly 47 seconds and then ceases. Perhaps that means nothing to you. But to me, and to people who hear what's actually there in the track: it's the difference between reading out loud a quadratic equation and a poem.

You could've just said, "I don't like Pointe, it's too repetitive for me". Instead, you went the extra mile, going so far as to imply Hamauzu is inept for only being able to produce a single note that repeats over and over again for the entire duration of the track. Yet this latter part is not true.

So, let me ask whoever's still reading a question: is it really that surprising to not understand why someone else likes certain music that you don't when the two of you are literally hearing different music?

This was not a selection of some small, esoteric fact only music nerds know and can recite in their sleep; I didn't go hunting for some little inaccuracy, some gaff I could pull out of your posts and twist it around and use it as ammunition against you. This was an honest attempt to get an opposing side to look at this scenario from a different perspective, a perspective which includes accurate knowledge about a subject, and why it's unfair and irresponsible to talk about something when you aren't actually aware of all the facts.

If you thought any of the above was tangential, no, I saved that for last! Music will invariably be apart of my classroom. I won't bother to make sure my kids can identify notes on a staff by sight or mimic drum patterns or learn the recorder--that's the music teacher's job. But oh man, will music be apart of my classroom. They're won't be a kid leaving my 1st/2nd/3rd or whatever grade classroom I have next year that can't hear the sound of a piano and call it a piano, because they will have seen it, they'll have heard it, they'll see people that love to play it and listen to it. They'll hear Ravel and Debussy and Schubert and--you know what? They'll hear Hamauzu too. They won't remember any of those names, but that's hardly the important part. What's important is that, some day, when they're playing a video game or watching a son or daughter play a video game and it's Final Fantasy XCVXIII-97 and it's Hamauzu's last score at age 80 before he retires a wealthy and respected and fat old man, that kid/future parent will hear a song and say: "hey, that's a piano. Wow, it sounds very complex, that must be a chord he's playing." And a single new neural connection is made, and a teacher's job has finally bore fruit after decades. And maybe this kid/future parent asks their own child "hey, you want to be able to make music like in your video game" and the child replies "awesome!" and signs up for piano lessons at their local Kinder Music School and becomes a life-long pianist. And who knows, maybe someday they'll score Final Fantasy XCVXIII-98.
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  #37  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 07:39 PM
Hellacia Hellacia is offline
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So instead of using the word "chord" I used the word note? Wow, you really are reaching for something to rant about. I mean, there's me, and I'm bad, and I can rant about some dumb shit. And then there's YOU, Jormungand.

I know it's a chord, I play piano. Jesus Christ you are an asswipe, I'll watch my exact phrasing around you from now on so you don't write a fucking paragraph of your high and mighty music theory and music knowledge shit. Yeah yeah, you compose music and you study music and teach music and whatever the fuck else, you talk about music in terms of art and in really fancy ways like "it's like watching a hurricane through stained glass" and so you "know a lot" of shit. I'll repeat, I know it's a fucking chord, I've hit many chords in my day and while I'm sorry I didn't use the exact right terminology, Jesus FUCKING Christ get over it, somebody didn't use the exact right terminology in an explanation of what the song Point in SaGa Frontier II really is: Hamauzu banging in the exact same place on the pianofor almost the entire duration of the song. You act like because I didn't use the word chord, that the analysis I made of what the song does is ENTIRELY INCORRECT OH MY GOD MAKES NOOOOOOOOOO SENSE AT ALL oh no, you absolutely did go hunting for an inaccuracy and yay for you, Mr. Knowledgeable About Music, you found one.

Go back to teaching music or something, I can hardly stand to read all the technical shit you post about music, it's so damn boring.
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  #38  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 07:57 PM
Xenofan 29A Xenofan 29A is offline
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But the winner is Point. This far and away IS one of the worse songs I've ever heard across any soundtrack. The same EXACT piano note over and over again for what is almost a minute straight, throwing another random note in there every now and then. Default to the extremely overused main theme for 27 seconds, and then it's BACK TO THE SAME PIANO NOTE FOR OVER A MINUTE THIS TIME. It's unlistenable. Nobody can seriously like this.
Really? Are you seriously suggesting that Jormungand, Blitz Lunar, and myself are lying to you? We have assured you that we think that this is among our favorite soundtracks, and you think that we're faking it?

Why? What would we have to gain for it? There's no social pressure on us to like video game music, and certainly none for us to like this particular music.

Or perhaps you figure that we have somehow deluded ourselves into thinking we like it. Again, what would that accomplish? I enjoy listening to music, and I enjoy discovering music to enjoy, so sometimes I will go out of my way to listen to something unfamiliar, whether I like it or not. But I don't have to pretend anything. I can frankly admit what I enjoy and what I do not, and I frequently do.

I enjoy this soundtrack. Period. Start to finish it is one of the most consistently excellent soundtracks I have ever heard, and I do not often say that.

You referred to "the overused main theme". What are you referring to? This soundtrack has a number of themes and motifs that are used in different ways throughout the score, and while there are two in particular that stand out, their appearances are varied significantly. Hamauzu said in the liner notes that it would have been easier for him to compose new pieces for every situation rather than the thematic variation throughout this score, and as someone who has tried his hand at composition, I believe him. There is nothing "unevolved" whatsoever about this score. In terms of harmony and arrangement, it is very complex indeed.

And to us, at least, none of the notes sound "random" or "dischordant". To imply that Hamauzu was sloppy is just offensive.
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  #39  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 08:05 PM
Hellacia Hellacia is offline
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Originally Posted by Xenofan 29A View Post
Really? Are you seriously suggesting that Jormungand, Blitz Lunar, and myself are lying to you?
Not at all and don't know where you got that from in the statement you quoted, I'm simply asking who can possibly like the particular song Point. It seems incredible to me.
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  #40  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 08:17 PM
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Mortavia Mortavia is offline
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Hey Jormungand, in an attempt to really not be offensive, could you please leave me out of this? This seems to be about more than just wanting to teach people the difference between the terms "note" and "chord", which I'm very well aware of actually and like Hellacia just sloppily used the wrong term (I played Stepmania for 5 years and know all about time signatures, notes, chords, gracenotes, etc, it's all terminology I've dealt with when writing simfiles).

You seem to have taken some personal offense to the fact that we don't like the particular song Point, because to get so worked up about the terminology error that you need to make such a drawn-out point seems to be more about just wanting to "kindly hand down some knowledge". For example, things like this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jormungand View Post
the two of you are literally hearing different music
are not only very emotional statements, but are also going overboard a bit. It's obvious you're bothered by this in ways other than just catching a terminology error because the very fact that you noticed and took such scrutiny to this detail shows that you missed the message we were actually agreeing about for Point: that it is very repetitive and that we don't care for that element of it. That we used the word "note" was not a factor in what we were trying to say at all, other than that it was simply a terminology error. That we expressed what we're hearing with the wrong word doesn't mean we're hearing something different than everyone else. We're hearing the same thing, just not using the exact musical terms to describe what we're hearing. It should be no surprise that people don't always perfectly convey something to other people, it's nothing to get so worked up about.

Yes, it's a mistake I take credit for and I'm sorry to have irked you by it, but there really isn't any need to write such a scathing lecture on something you don't even really know isn't anything more than a mistake. You went to great lengths to explain something to people who could really already know what you're talking about. I really just came here to give my two cents about SaGa Frontier II's music. I had generally nice things to say about it, it's a good soundtrack, and I also agreed with someone about a negative aspect of the soundtrack. That's all there is to it, it's just different opinions.

Last edited by Mortavia; Aug 30, 2012 at 08:46 PM.
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  #41  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Hellacia View Post
Jesus Christ you are an asswipe, I'll watch my exact phrasing around you from now on so you don't write a fucking paragraph of your high and mighty music theory and music knowledge shit. Yeah yeah, you compose music and you study music and teach music and whatever the fuck else, you talk about music in terms of art and in really fancy ways like "it's like watching a hurricane through stained glass" and so you "know a lot" of shit.
^ I also swear-a-lot but try to limit myself from something that borders direct insulting. Cool it down, pretty please?

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  #42  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 08:24 PM
Hellacia Hellacia is offline
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Originally Posted by Jormungand View Post
SF2 ranks just slightly below Hamauzu's portion of FFX for me, but it's a tough call to make because SF2 is, what, three times the content? They have a similar feel, despite FFX being largely more consumable: they represent Hamauzu in his rawest and purest approach to game music, his constant exploring of harmonies of densities and depths far beyond what can even be fathomed by most others in his field. SF2 is Hamauzu channeling pure experimental glee; and yet his sharp and densely-packed arrangements are expertly painted over with the delicate touch of an impressionist. It's like watching a hurricane through stained glass. Here I am listening to Pointe, wondering how and when chords began to equate to single notes; and at what point less than a minute equaled 3 minutes. In an ideal world, you could pull a person off the street and they'd at least be able to carry on some intelligent and relevant discussion about any given piece of music--sort of like, you should be able to ask the same person about the basic structure of their government and what's their favorite artwork and what's the last play they've attended and what happened in it. But, you know, you just can't do that. I'm a public school teacher, so I can candidly admit this--we really need to broaden our horizons when it comes to culture and art in education. I'm not calling anyone here uneducated, but please try to see it from my perspective: In Pointe, a chord of--it sounds to my ears--four or more notes has been referred to as one note. This isn't a nitpick, and it isn't pedantic. If you have listened to and have seen piano music live--just a piano, by itself!--at least a few times in your life, there would be no mystery. It's not above anyone, because anyone can dial up a piano performance on youtube, and physically watch the performer press lots of keys down at the same time. As you watch (and even young, very young children can and will do this) you will become accustomed to the sound of one note versus multiple notes. A chord. You might wonder what this rant has to do with this discussion, and how it could possibly be something other than the rant of Random Internet Music Snob. If you wonder why people have an opinion that differs from yours, and then you immediately move defensively to protect your opinion, you ought to be wondering what other people see (or hear) that you don't. Before you can do this, however, you need to realize: no one will understand you if you can't express yourself accurately. You want to know how anyone could like 'a single note' repeated over and over again for 3 minutes? I don't know. I do know that I don't hear a single note repeated over and over again for 3 minutes. I hear a chord, played repeatedly at varying dynamics to create a percussive rhythm, that plays for roughly 47 seconds and then ceases. Perhaps that means nothing to you. But to me, and to people who hear what's actually there in the track: it's the difference between reading out loud a quadratic equation and a poem. You could've just said, "I don't like Pointe, it's too repetitive for me". Instead, you went the extra mile, going so far as to imply Hamauzu is inept for only being able to produce a single note that repeats over and over again for the entire duration of the track. Yet this latter part is not true. So, let me ask whoever's still reading a question: is it really that surprising to not understand why someone else likes certain music that you don't when the two of you are literally hearing different music? This was not a selection of some small, esoteric fact only music nerds know and can recite in their sleep; I didn't go hunting for some little inaccuracy, some gaff I could pull out of your posts and twist it around and use it as ammunition against you. This was an honest attempt to get an opposing side to look at this scenario from a different perspective, a perspective which includes accurate knowledge about a subject, and why it's unfair and irresponsible to talk about something when you aren't actually aware of all the facts. If you thought any of the above was tangential, no, I saved that for last! Music will invariably be apart of my classroom. I won't bother to make sure my kids can identify notes on a staff by sight or mimic drum patterns or learn the recorder--that's the music teacher's job. But oh man, will music be apart of my classroom. They're won't be a kid leaving my 1st/2nd/3rd or whatever grade classroom I have next year that can't hear the sound of a piano and call it a piano, because they will have seen it, they'll have heard it, they'll see people that love to play it and listen to it. They'll hear Ravel and Debussy and Schubert and--you know what? They'll hear Hamauzu too. They won't remember any of those names, but that's hardly the important part. What's important is that, some day, when they're playing a video game or watching a son or daughter play a video game and it's Final Fantasy XCVXIII-97 and it's Hamauzu's last score at age 80 before he retires a wealthy and respected and fat old man, that kid/future parent will hear a song and say: "hey, that's a piano. Wow, it sounds very complex, that must be a chord he's playing." And a single new neural connection is made, and a teacher's job has finally bore fruit after decades. And maybe this kid/future parent asks their own child "hey, you want to be able to make music like in your video game" and the child replies "awesome!" and signs up for piano lessons at their local Kinder Music School and becomes a life-long pianist. And who knows, maybe someday they'll score Final Fantasy XCVXIII-98.
And yet you want me to "cool it down". btw I removed all the line breaks so you can see what a grotesque block of text it is he really wrote.
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  #43  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 08:26 PM
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OK then, FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol
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  #44  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 08:28 PM
Hellacia Hellacia is offline
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Honestly I'd rather not. I mean I'd like to, but I'm afraid that if I say ALRIGHT MAN I'LL FIGHT LET'S FIGHT then Jormungand will write another music appreciation essay and I'll feel obligated to read it all

P.S. God dammit, I'm really leaving this thread this time. Please, talk about SaGa Frontier II joyously. Don't let my crappy and obviously incorrect opinion stop you from making sweet love to Hamauzu's "sharp and densely-packed arrangements, expertly painted over with the delicate touch of an impressionist".

EDIT: lmfao that quote is so hilarious OKAY REALLY LEAVING bye
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  #45  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 08:33 PM
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Music also can be valued for its time. With the game's absolutely wonderful artwork and epic story, SFII's soundtrack came off as something really ground-breaking to me, especially after Kenji Ito firmly defined the music of SaGa series with his own character. It didn't sound like from anybody else in this industry, and was really a sensational introduction of Hamauzu who later outclassed Uematsu by a large margin in FFX. It's a shame that post-FFX Hamauzu has been a big let down to me until FFXIII, but apparently many people feel otherwise. ;p

I know this could be called just nostalgism that can only be shared with those who had the same experience, but anyway this soundtrack and game, regardless of that crappy battle system and ridiculous difficulty, were special to me. I'd have been much happy if Hamauzu had composed more like this, and for that matter, more JRPG had visually looked like this, instead of those crappy 3D visuals that have dominated at least 98 % of JRPGs after PSX era, even on handheld consoles.
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  #46  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 09:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Efendija View Post
OK, the game context can make a world of difference. Speaking generally (so not only about this OST) there are so many tunes that are nothing special to a person who hasn't played the game. And those same tunes can fit almost perfectly in the game itself, so you remember the tune along with the game event/level/cinematic/whatever and only then you can judge it completely.
Completely true, however that doesn't mean it's a worthwhile listen on CD. And this OST isn't -- and believe I've tried multiple times to enjoy it. but can't.
It's extra strange, because on the complete flip side I adore the Piano/Rhapsody CD. For whatever reason, the music works GREAT on that disc, but the OST? Boredom city.
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  #47  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 09:50 PM
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Okay, to say something positive: I 100% agree with that critique. The piano arrange CD for this soundtrack is legendary, unstoppable. It is amongst my favorite VGM CDs of all time. Not just the piano tracks, but the rhapsody tracks are grand too.

Glad to see somebody agrees with me
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  #48  
Old Aug 30, 2012, 11:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Jormungand View Post
...
And who knows, maybe someday they'll score Final Fantasy XCVXIII-98.
I doubt, because it's not a valid roman number =)
noooooo, don't destroy me with blocks of text (j/k)
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  #49  
Old Aug 31, 2012, 02:02 AM
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It's probably worth noting that this set is mastered pretty loud, too - the RMS throughout is high and your ears never really get a break. So, while musically I think SFII is pure magic and one of my favourite soundtracks, even I can't listen to a whole disc of it without feeling tired. It's for this reason only that I'd sooner go to Dirge Of Cerberus: FFVII or FFXIII for a Hamauzu fix.
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  #50  
Old Aug 31, 2012, 02:53 AM
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I just want to say that this album is awesome. Nothing else, except time to listen this album again. Also Hellacia, I enjoy Pointe's same chord bashing. But then, no musical education and proud of it!
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  #51  
Old Aug 31, 2012, 06:44 AM
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Well this is all very interesting (or not), but I think it's important for anyone who like this soundtrack to read Hamauzu's notes.

http://chudahs-corner.com/liners/ind...log=SSCX-10031

I find it really meaningful, especially when you are familiar with Hamauzu's music.

With such a radical approach to game music, it's only natural that some love it and others hate it. But I think that, even if you don't like it, it's obviously a very interesting approach nevertheless.
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  #52  
Old Aug 31, 2012, 07:05 AM
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I understand most of what Jormungand is talking about and agree with him, personally I do think it's really well written stuff, but ultimately I just like it because I like it, Hamauzu's writing has that visceral impact on me regardless of how clever or rudimentary it is. I don't have to justify it musicologically because musicality itself is individual taste, seems a trite debate to have IMO.

Just be a little less precious and a little less matter of fact about your music tastes, and arguments like this will not happen. Simple.

EDIT: just so you know where I'm coming from with this soundtrack, here's the ones I've rated five stars in fb2k (and shoddy explanations as to why.)

Weihalter -- lovely progressions. love the mood of this one.
Zaubermärchen -- dainty and catchy, playful and uplifting, but has a sense of mystery and romance to it, to my ears. the repeating patterns are part of the allure, it's very textural, like a woven cloth in sound form.
Freudenbezeigung II -- my favourite of the Freudenbezeigungs. nice long sustained notes, very easy to listen to, calming.
Wundermittel -- mystery and bewilderment. really like the plodding background -- again, it's an underlying texture that's repetitive but because it's interesting harmonically and texturally it's easy to let it wash over me.
Feldschlacht III -- this tickles me everywhere. loads of overlayed patterns and phrases going on, lots to listen to, really moody and gorgeous harmonic work, and also action oriented, so a lot happens pretty quickly.
Andacht -- so so gorgeous, I can just bask in the ambience and moodiness of this song indefinitely, really soothing.

the big feature for me is the chords/harmonies. I love bigass 9ths and 11ths, a lot of music I like has that, I can't explain why, it isn't an intellectual reason, I just like their full, enigmatic and grandiose sound, as well as their unpredictability, and finally just the way they feel, especially the way Hamauzu is voicing them with lots of notes. it's really a nonverbal thing i guess, ultimately.
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Old Aug 31, 2012, 08:45 AM
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With the game's absolutely wonderful artwork and epic story, SFII's soundtrack came off as something really ground-breaking to me, especially after Kenji Ito firmly defined the music of SaGa series with his own character.
Now this got me interested. Off to finding a PAL/UK copy!
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Old Aug 31, 2012, 08:56 AM
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Now this got me interested. Off to finding a PAL/UK copy!
Aw man, do you have the option of playing the NTSC-U/C version at all? The PAL was one of those horrible early Squaresoft conversions that slowed everything down and vertically squashed the image. This game has an art style that should be seen in its full glory if possible
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Old Aug 31, 2012, 09:54 AM
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Aw man, do you have the option of playing the NTSC-U/C version at all? The PAL was one of those horrible early Squaresoft conversions that slowed everything down and vertically squashed the image. This game has an art style that should be seen in its full glory if possible
Not without patching the disc itself I'm afraid. I don't have any hw modifications done to the PS2 and I don't think FMCB/uLaunchELF/OPS2L can bootstrap from optical media if there is a PAL/NTSC mismatch between system and disc.
I could of course get the NTSC/US version, create an image and boot it other ethernet. But this of course involves all kind of compatibility problems...
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Old Aug 31, 2012, 11:53 AM
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I could of course get the NTSC/US version, create an image and boot it other ethernet. But this of course involves all kind of compatibility problems...
Hmm yeah, not much option there, then. The only other course I could recommend (if you didn't mind playing it on a PC) would be to make the NTSC image and play it with ePSXe, which I'm sure would emulate it beautifully.
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Old Aug 31, 2012, 12:16 PM
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Now this got me interested. Off to finding a PAL/UK copy!
I really suggest you to research about the game first D:
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Old Aug 31, 2012, 01:49 PM
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Hmm yeah, not much option there, then. The only other course I could recommend (if you didn't mind playing it on a PC) would be to make the NTSC image and play it with ePSXe, which I'm sure would emulate it beautifully.
I'd rather use pcsx-r for that. ePSXe is unmaintained and on top of that the devs never released a unix ver of 1.7.0. Well, it's not like the game compatibility is higher than with the 1.6.x series.

Also I just found out that you can't use OPS2L's boot-from-eth functionality, since switching the hw to PS1 mode effectively disables everything except for the IOP.

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I really suggest you to research about the game first D:
I did, what makes you think overwise? Like Cedille said, the artwork is beautiful. From a bit of Wikipedia the story sounds interesting. And we don't have to comment about the music -- since it's utter shit as we all know already *rolleyes*

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Old Sep 1, 2012, 03:37 AM
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I did, what makes you think overwise? Like Cedille said, the artwork is beautiful. From a bit of Wikipedia the story sounds interesting. And we don't have to comment about the music -- since it's utter shit as we all know already *rolleyes*
Games also have a little thing called gameplay in addition to the above parts.
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Old Sep 1, 2012, 04:06 AM
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Games also have a little thing called gameplay in addition to the above parts.
Music > Story > (LARGE GAP) > ... > Gameplay > ... > Graphics

At least that's how I view things. Gameplay is a rather minor factor in my do-I-enjoy-this-game equation.
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