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Style Emulation - FF7

So I know a lot of people here hate Final Fantasy, and that's cool. Personally, I've always loved the synth tables in the games, and so, I tried to emulate how Final Fantasy 7 music sounded.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEO0oYTOtfU An example of Final Fantasy 7 synth tables. (A Secret, Sleeping in the Deep Sea)

http://bb.xieke.com/files/GhostSubmariner.mp3 My own composition in an attempt to emulate the style and mixing process.

Listening now, I can already tell I didn't quite catch the soft style of the original music, but I don't think this was a total failure, either.

Your thoughts?
 

Shizu

Sponsor

Karasawa, you did a very good job at this as a composition, though were you aiming for underwater-like?. Aside from that you've captured somewhat of that 90's style Nobuo, which is awesome. Now that I listen to it a few times over It feels more of an on-land theme, let's say.. before you step in the submarine? I'm not sure whether you wanted to make a similar submarine theme, but if you were aiming for the 'style', then you've done remarkably good job. :thumb:  it uses a small set of instruments, yet it has some flavor to it.
 
To be honest, I wasn't sure what I'd use it for. At first it was a ghost town, then it became somewhat aquatic. Or maybe even a run down harbor full of gangsters. Appreciate the input! :3
 

Shizu

Sponsor

Synth table is another way to say 'Sound font' or 'Wave Table', i.e General MIDI, Microsoft Wavetable synth, etc. FF7 had its own bundle to provide a unique sound for the game, and to save memory for the 'oh-amazing graphics' back in those days. : ) 
 

Mars

Member

Ah, I really liked this.
It gave me a good feel of nostalgia.

But I must say, the parts seem a little busy for my tastes.
Overall, it's a great BGM.  How'd you pull off this synthtable?  Is a Tutorial coming soon? =D?
 
It strikes me as something that was in development between FFVI and FFVII. The general sound (especially the opening) is very FFVI esque, but the overall sound quality is more FVII. The organs and guitars? are more SNESish, while the horns and drums are definitely towards the PS spectrum.

Although I implore you to work on your channel volume control: there was a ton of sound level clash that made it very hard to listen to.
 
DaithioDell":289bh32o said:
Although I implore you to work on your channel volume control: there was a ton of sound level clash that made it very hard to listen to.

Totally agree there...volume is one of my tough spots I need to work on.


Mars":289bh32o said:
But I must say, the parts seem a little busy for my tastes.
Overall, it's a great BGM.  How'd you pull off this synthtable?  Is a Tutorial coming soon? =D?

Yes, a couple of friends said it was busy as well. I think I'll change up some instruments to give it a more subtle feeling, thanks! I found this soundfont on Zophars domain, loaded it up into FL and just slapped it on a channel. Easy as pie. No tutorial needed! :O

----------

Really appreciate all the honesty here. I think I'll tinker with the song a while longer and see how improvements go. Thanks, everyone.
 
Each channel in FL (or for that matter, any decent production program) has it's own volume control. FL also has a plug-in (I can't recall the name) where you can dictate which part of the soundscape each channel comes from. It provides a way for the sounds to more naturally mesh with each other. It's why orchestras are arranged so specifically, as an example, or why the drummer is (almost) always in the rear centre of the band.
 

Mars

Member

Oh wow, I looked up and found this on Zophar's Domain, and it's really cool (with the exception of not knowing what instruments work).
I switched this with Finale's soft synth to use it so I think that's my problem. xD

btw, what midi instrument is the Synthesizer set to?  You know, the one from the mako reactor song?

(and yes, I've always loved FFVII, and I hate when people don't like it just because of it's cliches and annoying fanbase.)
 
Kind of a late response, but yeah, not bad. When I listen to this it kinda makes me think of a casino type place in a Sector 7 Slums type setting.
 

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