ReMix:Final Fantasy V "Little Black Book" 4:03

By DarkeSword

Arranging the music of one song...

"The Writings of the Seal"

Primary Game: Final Fantasy V (Square , 1992, SNES), music by Nobuo Uematsu

Posted 2010-12-22, evaluated by djpretzel


It's a Happey Birtheday mixepost for Darkesword!!

The second of his tracks off of Final Fantasy V: The Fabled Warriors ~I. WIND~, this mix is inspired by the black mage, has a snazzy title, and employs a jazz/latin/electronica fusion with delicate, delayed piano in a funky-but-dark blend. It's sort of like "gothic lounge," if you will... the jaunty, minor-key syncopation of the piano melody imbues the piece with a sinister edge, as it would otherwise be a mellower, Bond-ish affair, perfect for martinis of shaken OR stirred disposition. Instead, over the smooth, quick beats and slick, upright acoustic bassline, you get minor and chromatic motifs and modulations, harp lines rising and falling, piano drawing sharp lines across everything, and some very animated cymbals keeping the rhythm sizzling forwards. Great track from part one of a five part album series that we'll hopefully be seeing again next year; happy birthday, Shariq!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 12 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Bahamut
on 2012-07-26 13:22:27

The drums beat make this a lighter song than the original, and maybe a bit of an ethnic feel to it even. A part of the melody itself reminds me of Sephiroth from FF7, strangely - perhaps Uematsu chose to reuse it or I could be imagining a similarity. Anyhow, the song is a tad on the repetitive side for me, but it is a nifty slightly less dark take on the original.

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Tuberz McGee
on 2011-12-25 01:19:26

This mix... no wait... this entire ALBUM fills me with joy.

The hi-hat in the back slowly becomes the sound of white noise which is important.

It makes the Black Mage's portrayal seem even more demented than it is.

This mix becomes a portrayal of a stereotype. A mysterious "dark" individual.

When the hi-hat stops to allow the horns to play, you feel let into the Black Mage's world.

It's only for a brief instant however... as the hi-hat comes back in very quickly.

All in all. This mix is so good that I spent that long raging about a hi-hat.

AWWWW YEAH

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Crulex
on 2011-12-07 21:13:49

I can almost picture a dark corridor of a castle light by touches in the beginning (which I guess is my way of saying I agree with the gothic lounge idea). The latin sounding piano bits were interesting and it's kinda nice to hear something dark with some upbeat undertones. I can see where some would see this getting repetitive, but I think it was close and didn't see a problem with it. I wasn't fond of the ending, cause it just seemed to trail off, which I understand is what it was supposed to do considering the direction of the ReMix, but it just wasn't for me. That little thing aside, nice dark ReMix.

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Melbu Frahma
on 2011-12-07 15:18:08

Definitely has the Darkesword trademark all over it, and in a very good way; it has the perfect amount of darkness in tone without making it sound like a bad guy's theme, fitting the theme for a Black Mage just right. It does skirt close to being repetitive at one or two points, but doesn't go over the line by a long shot. Great use of the piano, too.

I will admit, this one actually took some listening for me, because at first I felt sort of "meh" toward it, but it really grew on me and has become one of my favorites from the album. Great stuff, as always.

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Rexy
on 2011-12-05 06:12:07

Given that the original was already kind of creepy and room-like, it might be an expectation to look towards it when seeing the words "gothic lounge" in the mix description. When hearing the mix though I managed to sense something a little more frantic and exotic in nature - definitely not a bad thing given the gentle articulations going across the track.

I got to say I love the syncopated piano writing at 1:05 and later on at 3:08; tends to give it more of a latin jazz kind of feel to the already lounge-like soundscape. And even with the choice of instruments it manages to fit appropriately with the nature of the source while still maintaining that laid back touch that we often expect with DarkeSword's modern-day writing style.

Solid work all around, and let's see you keep up the pushing for volume 2 :wink:

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Neblix
on 2010-12-28 22:18:04

This remix is sick (in a good way).

I remember when you first started this one; it's come a long way and I like what you did with the upright bass. :D

The expressive piano playing was great too.

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Vilecat
on 2010-12-27 16:18:00

Since my bf is doing some December is Review Month with my computer, not doing it too would make me look bad.

I'm totally biaised since it's one of my favorite songs from the original soundtrack. Kickass bass :3

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Level 99
on 2010-12-27 16:17:12

This song definitely shows Darkesword's versatility with his sounds and still have it sound like "a Darkesword song". The song has sublime melting pads and the majority of samples chosen sound great, though I will admit that when that high metallic 16th note percussion sample is used and not muffled it does grate on my ears a bit. It also gets a tad repetitive near the end, but this song by design isn't about brazen dynamic changes. The percussion switches, in particular, are great and precisely executed.

It fit very well into the flow of the project, and is quite a standout mix itself. Nice one, Shar.

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luhny
on 2010-12-23 05:05:14

The song fits the theme perfectly. A great piece to just sit back, relax and enjoy... while smiling all over your face :)

Nice one, thanks for sharing.

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youthboy14
on 2010-12-22 19:31:26

The title reminds me of the lyrics to "Nobody Home" by Pink Floyd.

Anyway, this song is great. It's nice and entracing. The piano and pad really compliment the mood set by the rest of the piece. My only real complaint is that I think the hi-hat should have been been 1/4 notes instead of 1/8. But whatever, nice song :-)

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DragonAvenger
on 2010-12-22 18:30:38

I like how a lot of this is downplayed, and purposefully not intense. There's no other way to describe this other than entrancing, which fits the black mage ever so well. Jazzy piano fits the bill for the melody just right, and the percussion really adds a lot of spunk.

Sexy, man.

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djpretzel
on 2010-12-22 18:00:15

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy V (Square , 1992, SNES)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu
Songs:
"The Writings of the Seal"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Fusion,Jazz,Latin
Mood:
Dark
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Piano
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_5_Little_Black_Book_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,904,112 bytes
MD5:
e4ea639eb94c6ebde60b0ac3d55df3c7
Bitrate:
224Kbps
Duration:
4:03

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