ReMix:Final Fantasy V "What Lurks Behind the Door" 4:24

Lucas Guimaraes and ETHEReal String Orchestra's Andrew Steffen have combined forces for their new release Final Fantasy Viola Collections: Volume 1! And they've got an FF battle theme for us, you say? Well, what are we waiting for, let's serve up Lucas and Andrew's tension-filled transformation of FF5's "Clash on the Big Bridge"! Continuing the trend of OC ReMixes begetting OC ReMixes is Lucas once more:

"Oh, man, this is a fun one that has a whole story. It joins the same camp as "Tyrano's Stash" for a ReMix that wouldn't exist without another ReMix. In this case, it was "Song of the Desperado" that came in at the 11th hour for the Final Fantasy 8 album to beat the record of album with the most tracks. Basically, we needed a violist, and Andrew Steffen was happy to oblige. Andrew later on showed me some of his viola quartet tracks that he did. I really liked what I heard, and I asked him why he hadn't released them. His answer? Because they weren't an album.

We kept joking about me finishing the whole thing, or at least he was - I took it at face value. A couple of months later, I finished up 6 Final Fantasy viola quartet arrangements. He got to recording pretty quickly and the only thing that really halted the process was me being slow on finalizing album art (oops).

So, the music itself.

I started this off in Sibelius. All I thought was "This is absolutely unplayable" and "There's no way this will end up sounding good". I wasn't particularly proud of it, but I knew there were some parts with potential. I was sick of hearing it and sent it off to Andrew, along with the other files. Him and I have a very collaborative process, so I trusted him in bringing the rest to life. The result?

...well, that's what you're hearing. A majestic take on a theme. Sometimes hearing my arrangements with different instruments really helps remember the potential in them. The amount of things that come together in this arrangement and performance really go above and beyond. Both the fast sections and adding more slow sections, similar to "Song of the Desperado". Going for a tango at about 2:04 was certainly an inspired choice, and one that I wasn't quite sure would work, but it got pulled off brilliantly. The slow push right back into the main theme as it begs you for more. 3:09 when the track pulls you into thinking it's ready to go back to the main theme, but it's not *quite* there yet, then the beautiful reprise at 3:40 to give the end some punch. This fits the chaos of a character like Gilgamesh. I might have stayed in slow land a little too long, but, after 2 minutes of punching in the face, I consider it a good break. :)

As for the ReMix title, I went with this because Gilgamesh is waiting at big bridge behind the door. Nothing *too* fancy, haha. I hope you all enjoy!"

Man, Gilgamesh is a big MF'er; I don't even wanna mess with him, so why would you? Well, you RPG players are gluttons for punishment, so I'll leave that all to y'all. :-) Judge prophetik music may be able to speak more technically about things, but just reading proph's reaction on the "randomness" of the opening and seeing him quickly come around is how I'd expect many others to feel too:

"intro sounds like there's some randomness to the initial couple of runs until it settles down after a bit, and then it's impressively technical. the main melody comes in at 0:44, and there's a ton of personality in how it's being articulated and played which is great. some really fast harmonized runs in time are again impressive. 1:35's departure from tonality was a neat idea and well-executed.

1:58's the first really significant section that isn't close adaptation or original material, and the half-time approach is a great idea. there's a lot of complex chord work in here that's honestly pretty impressive. the section from 3:15 to 3:35 is a little too navel-gazing for me, but it quickly gets out of its feels and moves into the melodic content again. there's some exciting ending material (nice work on the accelerando into the ending...not easy to do with recorded elements like this to be in time so well!) and it's done.

this is real solid! excellent work. ensembles with the same instrument can feel very dense and samey but this does a nice job of exploring the entire instrument's range."

Nary a hole in their game to be found by prophetik, who's a tough customer on the panel, but the results justify the level of praise! Judge Emunator spoke to not only the performances being strong, but the mixing side properly highighting the weight and depth of the viola quartet, properly providing the total package:

"This really fills out the sound stage and demonstrates a full appreciation and understanding of the range of the viola, an instrument that doesn't frequently take the main stage. The intro was really well executed to build tension before the main melody drops in. [...] This is really technically impressive and also quite enjoyable as a casual listen! Great work, guys :)"

More ominous than the original, and good drive & momentum here during the densest parts. Very cool concept from Lucas, a situation where even the arranger was pleasently surprised just how effectively it was pulled off, thanks to Andrew's spirited playing! I've certainly not heard any other viola quartets, but I'm ready for more! If you're game, Lucas and Andrew's Final Fantasy Viola Collections: Volume 1 is waiting for you!