MasterShaper's Massive Orchestrals

[MasterShaper]

It's been a while since I've been around these parts, it seems. And from what I've gathered by skimming through some threads, my housemates have been notoriously gossipy about me in my absence (probably only matched by the apparently missing Gossip Gardevoir/Rumour Roserade/Mysterious Masked Mon).

ANYWAY.

I'll be attending Distant Worlds: Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Seeing as I'm a sick, sick fan of music from FF and KH, and love the orchestral versions even more, I decided to make a huge playlist of my favourite orchestrals from those two franchises. Each and every song has been placed based on the dominant instruments and mood, I suppose.

And all good music deserves to be shared

* All FF tracks marked as Orchestrals would be from Distant Worlds, all KH tracks marked as Orchestrals would be the opening sequences for the games, and those marked as Drammatica would be from that very performance. Anything left simply without a specific label would be an original soundtrack piece.

** For those who are interested, the composers are listed separately.

1 - One-Winged Angel (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VII

2 - Dearly Beloved - Kingdom Hearts

3 - Final Fantasy I-III Medley 2010 (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy I through III

4 - Chocobo Medley 2010 (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy series

5 - Vamo Alla Flamenco (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy IX

6 - Fisherman's Horizon (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VIII

7 - Prima Vista Orchestra (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy IX

8 - Procession of Heroes/Vana'diel March (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy XI

9 - The Dalmasca Estersand (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy XII

10 - JENOVA (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VII

11 - Liberi Fatali (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VIII

12 - Don't Be Afraid (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VIII

13 - Shrouding Dark Cloud - Kingdom Hearts

14 - Destiny's Force - Kingdom Hearts

15 - Blinded By Light (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy XIII

16 - Primal Judgement (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy XIV

17 - Dark World (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VI

18 - Medley of Conflict (Piano Collections) - Kingdom Hearts series

19 - Those Who Fight (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VII

20 - Ronfaure (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy XI

21 - Terra's Theme (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VI

22 - Simple and Clean (Orchestral) - Kingdom Hearts

23 - Sanctuary (Orchestral) - Kingdom Hearts II

24 - Clash on the Big Bridge (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy V

25 - Opening; Bombing Mission (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VII

26 - Dearly Beloved; Reprise - Kingdom Hearts

27 - To Zanarkand (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy X

28 - Aerith's Theme (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VII

29 - Love Grows (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VIII

30 - Theme of Love (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy IV

31 - You're Not Alone (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy IX

32 - Opera 'Maria and Draco'; Aria di Mezzo Carrettere (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VI

33 - Navigator's Glory; The Theme of Limsa Lominsa (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy XIV

34 - Phantom Forest (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VI

35 - The Price of Freedom - Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

36 - The Man with the Machine Gun (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VIII

37 - The Deep End - Kingdom Hearts

38 - Battle with the Four Fiends (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy IV

39 - Saber's Edge (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy XIII

40 - Dancing Mad (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy VI

41 - Fragments of Sorrow - Kingdom Hearts

42 - Destati (Drammatica) - Kingdom Hearts series

43 - The 13th Anthology (Drammatica) - Kingdom Hearts II

44 - The Other Promise (Drammatica) - Kingdom Hearts II

45 - Living Legacy - Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

46 - Victory Fanfare (Orchestral) - Final Fantasy Series

And for those who are interested, the composer lists (just the primary composers). I believe in giving credit where it is due, after all.

Final Fantasy I - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy II - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy III - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy IV - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy V - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy VI - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy VII - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy VIII - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy IX - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy X - Nobuo Uematsu & Masashi Hamauzu

Final Fantasy XI - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy XII - Hitoshi Sakamoto

Final Fantasy XIII - Masashi Hamauzu

Final Fantasy XIV - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - Takeharu Ishimoto

Kingdom Hearts - Yoko Shimomura

Kingdom Hearts II - Yoko Shimomura

Kingdom Hearts: Drammatica - Yoko Shimomura

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It's probably a whopper, at 3 hours and 24 minutes (or at least, that's on my computer, with the versions I have on file).

Hopefully, someone else would find as much enjoyment as I do from this... stew of music. I suppose it IS a stew, especially since it's more or less taken a year to put together

[Eternal Edge]

..............................

You have no idea how jealous I am.

[MasterShaper]

Maybe someday you'll make it to one of their performances - Arnie Roth claimed at London that they'll be running it for quite a while to go

Hmm, perhaps some explanations are in order for the apparent hodgepodge of songs.

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For the starting, I wanted something distinctly FF/KH, and something that could get my attention. Sephiroth's theme fit the bill, so there it was. After that, I wanted something that fit an introductory theme, which resulted in the sequence for 2 and 3.

Enough with the introductions, then. I then moved on to something jumpy and lively to start the playlist for real. 4 and 5 were good for that. 6's choral bits went well with the guitar in 5, so I worked onwards from there, leading to the brief interlude with and the marching band sequence from 8 to 12.

Battle time, then. 13 to 16 were battle themes that went well in that order, and 17 was a fitting theme for a break in the battles. 18 and 19 wound down the battling bits somewhat, to be washed down with 20 and 21. 22 to 24 were intended to effectively mark the end of the first half of the playlist.

Yes, I use them to study. So the breaks in the playlist indicate it's time for a break (after approximately 90 minutes, attention starts fraying).

Onto the second half, the opening sequence - 25 and 26 - was energetic, just as in the first half. The following parts from 27 through 31 are mostly soothing tunes meant to ease me back into work (it's always harder to get back into the groove, somehow).

Then, once I'm back in the loop, 32 and 33 build-up for 34, which dovetails somewhat with 35 (also a good alarm clock, since I might nod off during the second half). 36 through 40 are faster-paced tracks that ease in some adrenaline, allowing me to accelerate my work a little.

41 is a brief breather, followed by 42, which is probably one of the finest dramatic pieces I've heard for FF/KH orchestral performances. 43 winds down the effect of 42 a little, followed by the depressing 44.

45 starts mellow but blasts its way to a nice finish, backed up by the final piece, the classical Victory Fanfare from FF. When I hear this, I either a) hit Play again, or am already done with my work, or c) switch playlists.

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And yes, it was designed to mimic the sequence of a regular orchestra. Have a friend who's a fiend for orchestrals, and he's been a bad influence on me.

[Maelstrom]

So much awesomeness in there. I might elaborate when I have more time.

[Zen]

MasterShaper here yet again. Was lazy to log out from my housemates' account, though.

Starting to pick up the recorder again, after being inspired at Distant Worlds. Also, since FF turns 25 this December 18th, and I had nothing else to do wanted to celebrate, here's a three-part orchestral playlist for the whole FF series, with some KH thrown in as a sweetener

Happy Silver anniversary, FF!

PART I - SENTIMENTALS

Prelude - Final Fantasy Series

Final Fantasy Medley 2010 - Final Fantasy I through III

Theme of Love - Final Fantasy IV

Dear Friends - Final Fantasy V

Phantom Forest - Final Fantasy VI

Aerith's Theme - Final Fantasy VII

Fisherman's Horizon - Final Fantasy VIII

You're Not Alone - Final Fantasy IX

Break

Dearly Beloved (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

To Zanarkand - Final Fantasy X

Memoro de la Stono - Final Fantasy XI

Kiss Me Goodbye - Final Fantasy XII

Fabula Nova Crystallis - Final Fantasy XIII

Twilight Over Thanalan - Final Fantasy XIV

Chocobo Medley 2010 - Final Fantasy Series

Victory Fanfare - Final Fantasy Series

PART II - BATTLES

Opening: Bombing Mission - Final Fantasy VII

Don't Be Afraid - Final Fantasy VIII

Destiny's Force (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

Blinded By Light - Final Fantasy XIII

The Man with the Machine Gun - Final Fantasy VIII

Night of Fate (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

Shrouding Dark Cloud (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

Primal Judgement - Final Fantasy XIV

The 13th Anthology (Drammatica) - Kingdom Hearts II

Clash on the Big Bridge - Final Fantasy V

Break

Vamo Alla Flamenco - Final Fantasy IX

Liberi Fatali - Final Fantasy VIII

Ronfaure - Final Fantasy XI

The Damalsca Estersand - Final Fantasy XII

JENOVA - Final Fantasy VII

Battle with the Four Fiends - Final Fantasy IV

Dancing Mad - Final Fantasy VI

The Deep End (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

Destati (Drammatica) - Kingdom Hearts Series

One-Winged Angel - Final Fantasy VII

PART III - WORLDS

Main Theme of Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy Series

Sanctuary (Orchestral) - Kingdom Hearts II

Procession of Heroes/Vana'diel March - Final Fantasy XI

Fisherman's Horizon - Final Fantasy VIII

Love Grows - Final Fantasy VIII

Twinkle Twinkle Holidays (Drammatica) - Kingdom Hearts II

Traverse Town (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

Opera 'Maria and Draco' - Final Fantasy VI

Break

Hikari (Orchestral) - Kingdom Hearts

Dear Beloved: Reprise (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

Hollow Bastion (OST) - Kingdom Hearts

Dark World - Final Fantasy VI

The Price of Freedom - Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

The Other Promise (Drammatica) - Kingdom Hearts II

Suteki Da Ne - Final Fantasy X

Terra's Theme (Grand Finale) - Final Fantasy VI

Living Legacy - Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

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Note: All songs used were the Distant Worlds versions, except where noted in brackets in the song names.