Slashdot Mirror
Final Fantasy Concert Series Coming to the States
On February 19th in Chicago, Illinois, a concert series titled "Dear Friends" will kick off a U.S. tour. The music? Music from the Final Fantasy series performed by orchestra. From the press release: "The first FINAL FANTASY concert in the U.S. brought fans from far and wide together in Los Angeles to share in an unforgettable musical experience," said Ichiro Otobe, president and COO of Square Enix, Inc. "We are pleased to announce that, due to the overwhelmingly positive response, a North American tour will soon bring the emotionally moving and powerful scores to fans across the country." This is personally very exciting for me. See you there!
As a computer geek - especially one who has played damn near every Finaly Fantasy game - I'm thrilled as it is by the opportunity to hear these great soundtracks in a medium other than MIDI. I don't care how far the technology develops, nothing beats a live orchestra in a real concert hall, period.
As a trained classical musician living and [trying to] freelance in Chicago, I'm thrilled even more (and would get a nice early Christmas by being called to play said gig... ahh, one can only dream...)
Too bad the article says nothing of who actually arraanged these works for orchestra... (To the Slashdot crowd who may not know what I mean - I ask who actually transcribed the full orchestral score and individual parts from the MIDI original.) Was it Nobuo Uematsu himself? Being a great composer (and in his genre, he certainly is, IMHO) is one thing, while being a great arranger/orchestrator is an entirely different matter. His stock would go waaaaay up in my book if he did both....
I hope the land around you yields, a crop like all the other fields, and then your waiting might make sense...
I've been listening to FF music for about 7 years now. I actually have a copy of "Kefka's Domain" (the OST for FF3, as it's the American version) that I used to listen to on a regular basis. Aside from the game OSTs available for purchase, there already exist a fair amount of Final Fantasy music that was recorded by orchestra. There are several "Piano Collection" compilations (where pieces are performed solo on Piano), as well as some strange remix collections, but my personal favorite (and I still listen to it regularly) is a collection called "Grand Finale", which consists of orchestral renderings of Final Fantasy VI (III)'s tracks. They are all great, although some people have questioned the use of certain instruments here and there (bagpipes on Relm's track?). If you're real hard core, try to find the Dream Oath Opera (from FFVI)... A 20-minute or so version of it exists out there somewhere, complete with Japanese vocals. Simply amazing.
On the one hand, it's great that orchestral music is getting acclaim within the geek crowd, even if it is based on video games. I never caught the FF bug, but so many of my friends did, and in college the music was good background while I did other things in the apartment (generally not at all related to the degree I got in music performance).
On the other hand, RPG music on the whole tends to be overly thematic and soundtrackesque. Very emotional stuff - it doesn't make you think, it makes you sweat. Maybe that's a good release for geeks who think all day, but it compares to 200-years-dead-white-guy classical music in much the same way John Williams does... slightly dumbed down from the original to appeal to the masses.
On the gripping hand, it doesn't matter. People listen to whatever floats their boat, period. Personally I'd much rather attend this then shell out three times as much for kazillionth-row seating at a Britney Spears concert!
The pain was excruciating and the scarring is likely permanent, but that just means it's working.
Within about 45 seconds of seeing this slashdot story I was already typing in my credit card info for 2 VIP tickets. I'm glad to see they're starting out in my home town (Chicago).
Normally, I balk at the high prices at the local blockbuster, so I hope my girlfriend understands why I had to pay damn near $300 for VIP tickets. I'm always trying to share my passion for videogames with her, so I guess a nice dinner and a night at the opera will do the trick.
Good use of a christmas bonus.
for great justice, this sig has been moved
You might be interested (if you haven't heard about it already) in a site called OverClocked Remix, which has remixes (in many, MANY different styles... instrumental, techno, rock, even rap, you name it) of video game music available to download. All of the music went through a judging panel before it was posted to the site, so 90% of it is some very good stuff. Take a listen.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs