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Blog Post: Sound-track II: The Wrath of Knee-SoKAHNFollow

#27 Mar 11 2013 at 8:11 AM Rating: Decent
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Quote:
While there seems to be a large group of people that strongly dislikes Nobuo Uematsu's tracks


I don't know about FFXIV specifically, but I wouldn't say that this is generally true. I think Uematsu was a bad choice for scoring an entire MMO because I think an MMO requires a greater quantity of music than one person can reasonably produce without an enormous sacrifice in quality. Had he arranged music composed by a team, I think he could unified an excellent score for the game.

But I think most of us loved Uematsu's work in general, particularly over the early years of the FF series.
#28 Mar 11 2013 at 2:20 PM Rating: Good
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catwho wrote:
It's probably also because in the anime of .hack, people got sucked into "The World" and went into a coma....


The same happened in the game as well... But if anything it could have worked as some kind of weird backward marketing tactic. XD

Kachi wrote:
Quote:
While there seems to be a large group of people that strongly dislikes Nobuo Uematsu's tracks


I don't know about FFXIV specifically, but I wouldn't say that this is generally true. I think Uematsu was a bad choice for scoring an entire MMO because I think an MMO requires a greater quantity of music than one person can reasonably produce without an enormous sacrifice in quality. Had he arranged music composed by a team, I think he could unified an excellent score for the game.

But I think most of us loved Uematsu's work in general, particularly over the early years of the FF series.


I suppose so when I think about it that way. I just mainly made that comment because of my first post here being about that very subject and getting a lot more negative responses than I expected. When I went back and looked at the wiki page for the FFXI OST I found out much to my dismay that most of my favorite tracks weren't even produced by Uematsu. I think he only produced 2-3 tracks other than Prelude and Ronfaure.
#29 Mar 11 2013 at 4:10 PM Rating: Good
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1,675 posts
Yeah, Uematsu is a decent video game composer, just over worked in 1.0.

I like his simple, melodic, accessible compositions. Though his heavy metal and heavy orchestral work just falls flat with me.

The newer composers like the ones on ffxi seem to meld Uemastu's style with a more trained ear.

You can hear in some of the brief tracks some homage, themes and instrumentation in ARR that is much like that in FFXI.
#30 Mar 12 2013 at 5:47 AM Rating: Excellent
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Kierk wrote:
I like his simple, melodic, accessible compositions. Though his heavy metal and heavy orchestral work just falls flat with me.


I personally enjoyed his "metal" tracks in FFXIV, but then again I primarily listen to/play hard rock and metal. Nail of the Heavens is by far my favorite song in the OST next to Answers. The battle tracks were awesome and felt like they would get the adrenaline pumping, although they could seem out of place in areas with more classical themes. I think that this game could have a use for heavier, guitar-centric tunes in certain situations. Specifically areas involving the Garlean Empire could use more modern style music to accentuate the "technologically advanced" vibe. The Neo-Classical genre of metal would be great for this. I long for the day I can fight a giant mechanical baddie to a neo-classical speed metal solo XD.
#31 Mar 12 2013 at 6:36 AM Rating: Good
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8,779 posts
Kachi wrote:
Who would complain about this? You mean complaining that they're doing this feature instead of other things? I think most people somehow understand a bit better that the composer is in charge of music and therefor doesn't have better things to be doing than composing music. That said, I could argue that I'd rather have more music than ambient arrangements of existing tracks. But really, who cares.


To second what Wint said, you literally have no idea. They complain about EVERYTHING.
#32 Mar 12 2013 at 8:13 AM Rating: Decent
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557 posts
Should we be creeped out this dude is so into knee socks?
#33 Mar 12 2013 at 2:56 PM Rating: Good
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728 posts
yfaithfully wrote:
Should we be creeped out this dude is so into knee socks?


It's Japan, so I'm just blissfully assuming it's a normal occurrence over there.

Edited, Mar 12th 2013 4:56pm by DamienSScott
#34 Mar 14 2013 at 9:47 PM Rating: Good
/kanye on

Uematsu is good, but Hitoshi Sakimoto is the best FF music composer of all time.

OF ALL TIME! Smiley: mad

/kanye off

Edited, Mar 14th 2013 11:48pm by catwho
#35 Mar 14 2013 at 9:54 PM Rating: Decent
Rinsui wrote:
Oh god. I can almost smell the hundreds of posts crying out that this is an outrage, because it totally
goes against FF lore, and it was not in 1.0, and because global cooldowns have to go. Because, like,
the music is totally related to NMs and the FATE system. And jumping. Don't forget jumping. Because
even BGM jumps will totally turn this game into WoW. Somehow.

After a while, that stuff really, really gets onto your nerves.

Edited, Mar 8th 2013 10:01am by Rinsui


Smiley: lol You know don't You! Smiley: lol
#36 Mar 14 2013 at 9:57 PM Rating: Good
And whoever said Uematsu is "Decent" please point me towards somebody that has an entire body of work, better than him <.<
#37 Mar 14 2013 at 10:00 PM Rating: Good
Ostia wrote:
And whoever said Uematsu is "Decent" please point me towards somebody that has an entire body of work, better than him <.<


In video games only, no one touches him. In composers who have scored for video games?

Phillip Glass comes to mind.
#38 Mar 14 2013 at 10:53 PM Rating: Good
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Ostia wrote:
And whoever said Uematsu is "Decent" please point me towards somebody that has an entire body of work, better than him <.<


The usage of 'decent' was a bit facetious, but Uematsu was in a very unique situation; having the great opportunity to work consistently with a certain freedom that I think is rare. And he was able to create that body of work where other composers couldnt. There are equally if not more talented composers like Mitsuda and the aforementioned Sakimoto who were just working in Uematsu's shadow. And of course there's someone like Koji Kondo who IMO could be considered better because he has reached so many more people.

Don't get me wrong I love Uemastu, but in one sense he is like the Beatles; he's not too flashy and I think he excells with his simpler more melodic work. He, I think, struggles on the more orchestral things; when he tries to do things like the band Rush. That doesn't mean he's not good, it doesn't mean those pieces aren't good, I just think other composers do that style better.

#39 Mar 15 2013 at 11:51 AM Rating: Excellent
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1,310 posts
catwho wrote:
/kanye on

Uematsu is good, but Hitoshi Sakimoto is the best FF music composer of all time.

OF ALL TIME! Smiley: mad

/kanye off

Edited, Mar 14th 2013 11:48pm by catwho


I can't help but picture a dejected Uematsu on stage to receive an award as a drunk pink pony walks off with his mic.
#40 Mar 15 2013 at 11:53 AM Rating: Good
Xoie wrote:
catwho wrote:
/kanye on

Uematsu is good, but Hitoshi Sakimoto is the best FF music composer of all time.

OF ALL TIME! Smiley: mad

/kanye off

Edited, Mar 14th 2013 11:48pm by catwho


I can't help but picture a dejected Uematsu on stage to receive an award as a drunk pink pony walks off with his mic.


Twilight Sparkle is purple.

She also has wings now. My avatar isn't canon any more Smiley: frown Also, joke's on her, that turned out to be hot sauce.

Edited, Mar 15th 2013 1:54pm by catwho
#41 Mar 15 2013 at 12:10 PM Rating: Decent
Kierk wrote:
Ostia wrote:
And whoever said Uematsu is "Decent" please point me towards somebody that has an entire body of work, better than him <.<


The usage of 'decent' was a bit facetious, but Uematsu was in a very unique situation; having the great opportunity to work consistently with a certain freedom that I think is rare. And he was able to create that body of work where other composers couldnt. There are equally if not more talented composers like Mitsuda and the aforementioned Sakimoto who were just working in Uematsu's shadow. And of course there's someone like Koji Kondo who IMO could be considered better because he has reached so many more people.

Don't get me wrong I love Uemastu, but in one sense he is like the Beatles; he's not too flashy and I think he excells with his simpler more melodic work. He, I think, struggles on the more orchestral things; when he tries to do things like the band Rush. That doesn't mean he's not good, it doesn't mean those pieces aren't good, I just think other composers do that style better.



Kierk wrote:
Ostia wrote:
And whoever said Uematsu is "Decent" please point me towards somebody that has an entire body of work, better than him <.<


The usage of 'decent' was a bit facetious, but Uematsu was in a very unique situation; having the great opportunity to work consistently with a certain freedom that I think is rare. And he was able to create that body of work where other composers couldnt. There are equally if not more talented composers like Mitsuda and the aforementioned Sakimoto who were just working in Uematsu's shadow. And of course there's someone like Koji Kondo who IMO could be considered better because he has reached so many more people.

Don't get me wrong I love Uemastu, but in one sense he is like the Beatles; he's not too flashy and I think he excells with his simpler more melodic work. He, I think, struggles on the more orchestral things; when he tries to do things like the band Rush. That doesn't mean he's not good, it doesn't mean those pieces aren't good, I just think other composers do that style better.




Sakimotos worked on FFT, ogre battle, XII etc etc, those works does not even come close to VI music masterpiece(Which i consider Uematsus best work, considering the limitations he had with the Snes, Personal opinion and all) Even mitsuda who i loved on Xenogears(Definetly he is in the conversation with Uematsu) does not has the body of work he does. Just Dancing Mad is head and shoulders above anything the other 2 did at the time.
#42 Mar 15 2013 at 1:11 PM Rating: Decent
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9,997 posts
Honestly, I have to wonder sometimes if Uematsu was just ******* around when he wrote Dancing Mad. He's never done anything else like it to my knowledge, and you know what they say about monkeys and typewriters.
#43 Mar 15 2013 at 2:33 PM Rating: Decent
To me Dancing Mad is his greatest Work (Maybe i am biased because VI is my favorite FF) but considering he was on a 16-bit console, comparing Dancing Mad to anything done afterwards only one winged angel stands out..... And i dont quite care for anything VII related Smiley: lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YNfX1oU2XA

That guitar solo at the end is just Epic!
#44 Mar 15 2013 at 3:39 PM Rating: Decent
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9,997 posts
Dancing Mad was my favorite as well. But if you were to compare it to his other works, you might question if he was actually the one who wrote it.
#45 Mar 15 2013 at 4:43 PM Rating: Good
Dancing Mad was written in the style of a Bach fugue. Uematsu composed it, but he stood on the shoulders of giants to do it. The counterpoint work in it is fantastic, though, and a credit to him that he made it sound so convincingly Bach-ish.

Same way he was heavily inspired by Orff's Carmina Burana for a lot of the VII opera stuff. One thing he is a genius at doing is studying another composer's musical style and evoking the same mood and emotions without outright copying it.

Edited, Mar 15th 2013 6:49pm by catwho
#46 Mar 15 2013 at 4:50 PM Rating: Decent
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9,997 posts
Personally I'd be happy with some more baroque injected into my FF (and life in general). The closest I can find in contemporary music is metal.
#47 Mar 15 2013 at 5:15 PM Rating: Good
There's a lot of counterpoint in minimalism, but it gets kind of boring after a while. A lot of really great trance tunes draw on the same ideas, but if you don't like the dance beat then it's probably not for you.

Edited, Mar 15th 2013 7:31pm by catwho
#48 Mar 15 2013 at 5:20 PM Rating: Decent
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9,997 posts
I used to be pretty good at composing counterpoint, actually. Somehow the rules of it always made more sense to me than chord-based polyphony. That was another life, though.
#49 Mar 15 2013 at 5:34 PM Rating: Good
I'm terrible at composing XD I'm just a vocalist with a strong grasp of music theory. So that's one up on me.

Edited, Mar 15th 2013 7:34pm by catwho
#50 Mar 15 2013 at 5:47 PM Rating: Decent
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9,997 posts
Unfortunately all I remember is the conceptual stuff. These days I can barely even read music, let alone write it. I guess it's not quite like riding a bike.
#51 Mar 16 2013 at 12:05 AM Rating: Good
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I remember learning about the circle of fifths when I started playing guitar. But that's all I remember about it any more. I never really learned to read music. If I can't figure it out by ear any more I just cheat and use tablature lol. I like writing music but I never really cared for 'learning' about it. It was all way over my head.
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