ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "The Narshemellow" 3:51

By XPRTNovice

Arranging the music of one song...

"Umaro"

Primary Game: Final Fantasy VI (Square , 1994, SNES), music by Nobuo Uematsu

Posted 2015-06-01, evaluated by djpretzel


While Balance and Ruin has been out for a good long while, don't let the latency in our posting XPRTNovice's quirky multi-instrumental jazz arrangement of "Umaro" fool ya - things get staggered & stacked up, and "The Narshemellow" was absolutely a highlight of the album. Joe lent his mandolin, guitar, flute, trumpet, bongo, AND vocal (ising) talents to this swanky mix, which sounds Pink Panther-ish to me, i.e. like a 50s/60s-era detective should be stealthily snooping around and looking for clues:

"I started writing this one in the living room while my wife was talking to me (gentlemen, don't do this often). The opening line just sort of came into my head, and I ran downstairs in the middle of the conversation to grab a mandolin and start playing. To my credit, I brought the mandolin BACK upstairs so at least I could continue sitting with my wife. After that, it was a short journey to start adding in all sorts of Django-esque lines. Really, though, I think my absolute favorite part of this song is the title. I'm not sure what that says about my musicianship."

A gentlemen always brings the mandolin back and resumes his spousal co-location duties; I'm pretty sure Emily Post covers that, somewhere. When a musical idea hits you, it IS a good idea to do what Joe did: get it out/down ASAP. It's awesome how quickly an arrangement idea can come to life in your head, but it's equally frightening how quickly it can evaporate if not captured. Palpable sums this one up nicely, as per usual:

"I remember hearing this track (along with many other "Umaro" arrangements) when zircon put out the last-minute call for people to fill the gaps in the FF6 album. Sometimes I am flabbergasted by what people can do in a short amount of time, but Joe's piece actually sounds like it was written and recorded quickly. It's great for exactly that reason. Joe takes the melody of the original and complements it with some subtle live background playing, making it akin to a jam session. The playing is loose and fun, and Joe clearly knows how to put together acoustic ensembles, because everything here fits flawlessly. The flute in particular has some great freakouts that really sell the live sound. The one giveaway that this song wasn't entirely spontaneous is the intro section, which plays beautifully off of the Umaro melody, and works well as a bookend. Though since Joe describes even that coming to him full-formed mid-conversation, I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that this whole track was created in five minutes in a hotel room at MAGFest."

But in a GOOD way :) "You'd be surprised at what can be accomplished in five minutes in a hotel room at MAGFest!!" = probably NOT the most wholesome & advisable slogan, but it's true. Musically, at least. Great late-breaking addition to B&R, has just the right amount of immediacy and roughness around the edges, and captures a certain surreptitious swagger with a sweet variety of personalized performances. Delicious!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 10 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
evktalo
on 2016-11-09 09:11:15

The gradual introduction of instruments makes for a nice slow build-up here. The arrangement gets a lot out of the source as a result, and the c-part (flute solo) pays off splendidly as a release - and is followed up even better with the ascending-descending mandolin(?) chords and the near-cacophonous full-band eruption. Like with “New Horizons”, the addition of a vocal line to double-up the melody is a nice touch to the liveliness of the track.

avatar
Chernabogue
on 2015-12-11 17:15:15

Very nice performance and choice on the instruments. Very groovy and jazzy remix -- it has a real Ghypsy feeling/vibe to it. The overall atmosphere is excellent, as is the production. A very unique remix. :)

avatar
YoshiBlade
on 2015-12-02 01:36:05

Alright hepcats, you hear that teeny tiny vocal clip around :26, that is the linchpin that made this one stick in my mind, when I first heard this. Everything about this track just drips icy cold, smooth, the low light and smokey atmosphere of the chillest jazz club in town, you pick up what I'm putting down chicky baby? I'm now 10% cooler after having listened to this track.

avatar
Sagnewshreds
on 2015-06-09 02:15:09

Awesome stuff! This was definitely one of the better tunes on BR(actually all of XPRTNovice's remixes on there are great pretty much). Really digging the Django-esque parts.

"You'd be surprised at what can be accomplished in five minutes in a hotel room at MAGFest!!"

That needs to happen.

avatar
DimeTower
on 2015-06-05 22:43:10

By the musical gods, this is suave!! Have loved it on Balance and Ruin as an easy-listening piece with some flair for fun, PARTICULARLY the sweet flute starting at 2:15. This sounded like it was fun to play, which is a great compliment to the quality of the arrangement. Well done!

avatar
Crulex
on 2015-06-05 11:47:28

Fun jazz piece right here. I really do like the old time detective feel that DJP brought up that this has, between the snapping fingers, the jazz flute, easy-going and loose playing style that this kind of jazz excels at and so on. Wonderful ReMix and a great track off the album.

avatar
timaeus222
on 2015-06-01 16:13:52

Joe has a way with quirky arrangements that work rather well. This is no exception!

avatar
derako
on 2015-06-01 16:04:00

All hail the jazz flute!! Yeah, everything that Joe touched on this album was gold. Glad to see this posted.

avatar
Black_Doom
on 2015-06-01 14:12:14

Finally! This is my favorite Joe's work from BR. It's just badass, especially that "Ahhhh..." @ 0:27.

avatar
djpretzel
on 2015-06-01 13:54:37

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

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy VI (Square , 1994, SNES)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu
Songs:
"Umaro"

Tags (11)


Genre:
Jazz
Mood:
Mellow,Quirky
Instrumentation:
Acoustic Guitar,Flute,Hand Drums,Mandolin,Singing,Trumpet,Vocals: Male
Additional:
Production > Live Instruments

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_6_The_Narshemellow_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,627,234 bytes
MD5:
0e995f0c0cf162d96c9d76f5aeb482be
Bitrate:
226Kbps
Duration:
3:51

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes