FunkyEntropy
Occasionally insightful, possibly grumpy
- Location
- Los Angeles
There's two tracks that we've had in the past couple updates that I want to talk about so I guess it's time for another round of The Music of Final Fantasy.
First, Hunter's Chance. Cool tune. Funky time signatures. To elaborate: most of the tune is very straightforward 6/8, with only a few bars of absolute terror to transition to the B section. The piano score writes it as 7/16 and 4/8, if you're listening to it and just feeling the rhythm you're going from a slow rolling triplet feel to a crashing, almost tripping over yourself rush to the next section. To use numbers you're going from 3 eights per beat to...2+1.5 and 2+2. It's quick, it's tumbling, it's acrobatic. And the B section is so wonderfully primal thanks to the open power chord it lands on (P5 aka Perfect 5ths) for the strong beats and minor 6th on the weak beat. And the instrumentation! A visceral synth for the melody in contrast to the piano (chords) and DRUMS DRUMS DRUMS. To me, this is basically Zidane's Theme since the actual Zidane's theme sucks and is dead to me
It's a good tune. I like it.
Also very nice is Freya's Theme. AKA wherein Uematsushamelessly rips off pays omage Philip Glass' Glassworks. What's basically going on is abusing the fact that polyrhythms sound cool - this piece revolves around the 3:2 polyrhythm, as in you have both straight eights going on at the same time as a triplet eights, which produces a very interesting composite rhythm which sounds a bit like the phrase "hot cup of tea."
What sets Freya's Theme apart from its inspiration is the instrumentation and layering. Harpsichord provides the polyrhythm framework (harpsichord is a great instrument to provide rhythmic framework because of the very sharp articulation of its played notes). And on top of this you have a mellow clarinet/flute providing the melody. I also would like to pay particular attention to the B section, where we have a sustained pedal come in. Since Uematsu really favors woodwinds for the FF IX soundscape I am going to plant my flag and insist that this is in fact a contrabassoon, because there's a lot of fundamental and not too much in the way of overtones. Anyway, it provides...how to put this. It's the capstone to a very tragic and melancholic track, adding just a hint of menace and unease.
If I had to sum it up in one phrase it would be, "anguished tears in the rain." What a great track.
Also, you should all set aside some time to listen to Glassworks. It's neat.
First, Hunter's Chance. Cool tune. Funky time signatures. To elaborate: most of the tune is very straightforward 6/8, with only a few bars of absolute terror to transition to the B section. The piano score writes it as 7/16 and 4/8, if you're listening to it and just feeling the rhythm you're going from a slow rolling triplet feel to a crashing, almost tripping over yourself rush to the next section. To use numbers you're going from 3 eights per beat to...2+1.5 and 2+2. It's quick, it's tumbling, it's acrobatic. And the B section is so wonderfully primal thanks to the open power chord it lands on (P5 aka Perfect 5ths) for the strong beats and minor 6th on the weak beat. And the instrumentation! A visceral synth for the melody in contrast to the piano (chords) and DRUMS DRUMS DRUMS. To me, this is basically Zidane's Theme since the actual Zidane's theme sucks and is dead to me
It's a good tune. I like it.
Also very nice is Freya's Theme. AKA wherein Uematsu
What sets Freya's Theme apart from its inspiration is the instrumentation and layering. Harpsichord provides the polyrhythm framework (harpsichord is a great instrument to provide rhythmic framework because of the very sharp articulation of its played notes). And on top of this you have a mellow clarinet/flute providing the melody. I also would like to pay particular attention to the B section, where we have a sustained pedal come in. Since Uematsu really favors woodwinds for the FF IX soundscape I am going to plant my flag and insist that this is in fact a contrabassoon, because there's a lot of fundamental and not too much in the way of overtones. Anyway, it provides...how to put this. It's the capstone to a very tragic and melancholic track, adding just a hint of menace and unease.
If I had to sum it up in one phrase it would be, "anguished tears in the rain." What a great track.
Also, you should all set aside some time to listen to Glassworks. It's neat.
Last edited:
