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Nobuo Uematsu..Japanese composer

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Richard Roark

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Nobuo Uematsu is the composer of the music to the final fantasy games. As far as contemporary composers go, not that i know much about them, i find his work to be truly masterful and beautiful. To anybody who has played the final fantasy games they know what i am talking about. Nobuo Uematsu isn't the only quality composer at Square-Enix I think that all the music from all of there games are top notch. If any body is interested in hearing an example of music from the square composers they can go to the follwoing site.

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/games/ps2/ffx2inter/

I can't remember the composers for Final Fantasty X-2, but i know it isn Nobuo Uematsu. Actually a performance was just done in San Francisco of his music. I wish I could have atttended. I am hoping i didn't break any of the rules with this post :)

edited because i forgot to put in the address :dough:

Edited by Richard Roark
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I love Uematsu's work. His compositions are so full of life, such powerful conveyers of emotion, he is one of my favorite musicians. There have been times when I will be playing a FF game and I will put the controller down and just listen to the music. My favorites include

Final Fantasy 7 overworld theme

Final Fantasy 6 world of balance overworld theme

Final Fantasy 4 Celtic moon and Cecil's theme

Final Fantasy 10 Jecht's theme, especially the version that is heard as you are travelling on the path through Zanarkand.

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Some of my favorites include:

The over all final fantasy theme, I think it may be called the Crystal Theme

The Opening theme to FF-X

I like Aeris Theme from FFVII

haven't played through the other games lately so my memorie is a bit sketchy.

Other Square games though

From Chrono Trigger

Frog's Theme

The Theme Music in the Palace of the Leader of the Repitites

From Chrono Cross:

the overworld themes for both worlds...I esepcially enjoy the Cello play of of the one

There are many others but these are the ones of the top of my head.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Aeris' theme makes me tear up, for obvious reasons. Though the music from the City of Ancients in FF7 is AMAZING. Also, the "War of the Magi" song during the intro to Final Fantasy 6 immediately captured my attention the very first time I played the game.

I'd have to say as far as video game music goes, I prefer Yasunori Mitsuda's work, especially from Chrono Cross(my favorite game and soundtrack), though Xenogears has a couple good songs as well. I've been trying to learn the ending theme for Chrono Cross, "Radical Dreamers- Unstolen Jewel" on the guitar.

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I remember having to choose a favorite song to play for my 7th grade music class, and I chose to play Aeris' Theme. My teachers loved it, and I still have it on a CD along with Rinoa's Theme (FF8), Eyes On Me (FF8), Drifting (FF7), Edea's Theme (FF8), and Balamb Garden (FF8).

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That must have been really cool. I know at my University they did the Chocobo Song as part of a muscial event. Unfortunately I didn't actually go to this assembly, but heard about it from my Musical Theory Teacher who was also the Director of Music at Marquette.

Edited by Richard Roark
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Hello to all. I discovered this forum through a Google search and read quite a few of the threads and liked what I read, so here I am. :santa:

By way of a short introduction, I have been into Objectivism since the mid 1960s. I have read most of Ayn Rand's works by the mid '70s. Her philosophy, simply put, makes sense to me, as it explains fundamental concepts with a clarity and certainty that no other philosopher has managed to accomplish.

That being said, I'll comment on Nobuo Uematsu.

I became a fan of Japanese animation "anime" in the late 1980s, but soon discovered, as a biproduct, that the music scores in many animated films from Japan are excellent. My first taste of Nobuo Uematsu's music was an album called "Phantasmagoria". I later discovered his connection to Final Fantasy. I have been buying soundtracks by him ever since.

Probably some of the most beautiful music he has written are, "Aerith's Theme," "Main Theme-Orchestrated" from FF VII Reunion and "Opening Theme 'Tina'" from FF Grand Finale. His music is intricate, complex, mysterious, enchanting, and highly visual--it tells a story without words. Simply amazing music.

I enjoy quite a few Japanese composers. Joe Hisaishi is another favorite of mine. I often would say that he records the music that I have locked up in my head. I was particularly enamoured with his soundtrack theme to "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind", and I have collected many of his solo albums after discovering his music.

If I were to list the top 10 great musical works, the Final Fantasy tracks would be on it. This thread inspired me to listen to the FF VII Main Theme again tonight. I realize that I enjoy this music intensely because it is so varied and never repeats any theme in a trivial way, but instead takes you on a journey inside your mind, to places that are only limited by your imagination.

I thought about why I like soundtrack music as opposed to pop music, and I think it it because soundtrack music, by design, has purpose. It tells a story, or helps to paint the mood of the story it augments. If the type of story is one of magnificent proportions, then the soundtrack can be powerful, meaningful and intense. I enjoy that in music.

BTW, nice to find a group of Objectivist minds online. I was beginning to wonder where everyone went. My last real contact with Objectivists in person was in 1980, when I attended Dr. Peikoff's lectures in New York. My only contact with Ayn Rand was during intermission at Carnegie Hall, while attending Dr. Alan Blumenthal's piano concert, I met her in the gallery and had a brief chat with her. It seems like most of the Objectivist principals have relocated to the west coast now, so there have not been as many opportunities for me to attend lectures as there used to be.

I have a lot of questions, comments and views, so I plan to be active on these forums.

Nice meeting all of you!

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Another lover of the Anime :worry: and of Japanese Music, right on. I plan on buying more soundtracks by Uemetsu and the other composers at Square, in addition to Anime soundtracks. Maybe we can discuss Anime in another thread Mark. Anyway if you haven't checked out the Chrono Cross soundtrack then I highly recommend it. The composer for this soundtrack is just as accomplished and if you are interested I can send you a sample of the music.

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Another lover of the Anime  :worry: and of Japanese Music, right on. I plan on buying more soundtracks by Uemetsu and the other composers at Square, in addition to Anime soundtracks. Maybe we can discuss Anime in another thread Mark. Anyway if you haven't checked out the Chrono Cross soundtrack then I highly recommend it. The composer for this soundtrack is just as accomplished and if you are interested I can send you a sample of the music.

I will add those soundtracks to my wish list. Since I host a radio program devoted to anime soundtracks on Sunday nights, I have been able to pull some strings to obtain music from distributors and importers. I'll find out if one of them has Chrono Cross.

Count me as voting for an anime thread. But we forewarned that it will grow long and deep. :)

And to Moose, I understand your attitude toward 'mainstream' anime. Unfortunately, I used to work for one of the companies responsible for deciding that it was more profitable to import the porn-style anime than the artistic anime. Slowly, that trend is changing. Anime can be beautiful, once you ignore the companies that sell the pablum solely to maximize profit on the perception that perverse sex sells best.

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  • 9 months later...

If you guys like Nobuo's compositions on the Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack, you should DEFINITELY check out the orchestral and piano arrangements if you haven't already.

Here are the items I'm describing:

Piano Collections - Final Fantasy VII

and

Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks

Reunion tracks has 16 tracks from the FF7 Original Soundtrack and THREE Orchestral tracks at the end (to my knowledge these are the only orchestral recordings of the songs outside of perhaps the "Dear Friends" live CD.

These CDs are a bit pricey. I found both of them on Ebay for about 10-15 bucks (each) respectively. Considering you only get three orchestral tracks on the Reunion CD, I would recommend trying to find the CD on Ebay if you are really looking for a deal.

If you guys don't own the *original* soundtracks yourselves, check Ebay as well. I got a great deal on the FFVII and FFVIII soundtracks there as well. Both FF7 and FF8 soundtracks are FOUR discs in length and I nabbed them at $25 bucks a shot.

You can try www.gamemusic.com (which is where I got mine initially before an ex-friend stole them...lol) or you can go with Ebay.

Speaking of "Dear Friends", has anybody attended or planning to attend (assuming that he comes back to the USA this year)?

If you don't know what I'm talking about....Nobuo has thrown a HUGE Final Fantasy Orchestral concert in L.A (2004) and San Francisco (2005). The events were huge with attendance in the thousands due to so many lovers of his music being in the U.S. The Dear Friends 2004 was so successful that in 2005 they actually toured the U.S a bit over the summer (damn I wish I would have known about it earlier than now...lol).

If you are interested in seeing a live performance of Nobuo's work...check out his site out every so often:

http://www.square-enix-usa.com/uematsu/index.html

If we are lucky...we might see some tour dates reasonably soon.

:worry:

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As for my fav Nobuo songs....here is list of my favorite Final Fantasy 7 songs. If I have more time, perhaps I will write more on what I like about some Final Fantasy 8's music (and some of 9's).

*Spoiler warning*.

If you aren't familiar with the storyline of any of these games, I wouldn't recommend reading any farther

-Opening: Bombing Mission

I love this song because it starts off the game in such an unforgettable way. The focus (image wise) of the train tracks and Aerith walking with her flowers in Midgar is really beautiful. Then the music cuts away to Cloud hopping off the train in and kicking some ShinRa butt on his first mission with Avalanche.

-Wutai

I love this song because it reminds me of the disciplined and solemn element of Japanese culture. It also reminds me of the FF7 theme of coping with modernization , war, defending your beliefs, etc ala "The Last Samurai." While I don't agree with the beliefs the Wutai villagers had that were anti-progress...I DO believe in standing up for what you believe in and personal pride. It seems that nowadays a lot of people just dispense with values altogether which is why I think it was said that if the world were to end it WOULD be a whimper and not a bang. A clash of values philosophically is at least in my mind preferable to mindless capitulation to tradition or nihlism. Wutai reminds me of the act of valuing things that ARE worthwhile.

-J-E-N-O-V-A

This song reminds me of when you are on the ship from Junon to Costa Del Sol and you first fight Jenova. More importantly though, it reminds me of the epic decent into the great Northern Creater's deepest depths among a big time shower of lifestream energy swirling all around you as you hop on the platforms. This piece has an urgency in it. It also makes me think of a warrior that is determined to get the job done, no matter what.

-FF7 Main Theme

Reminds me of simple exploration and joy. Amazingly beautiful song.

- Mako Reactor

This song reminds me about some really dark things in the FF7 storyline. It reminds me about the flashback concerning the humans that were experimented on near Cloud's hometown by ShinRa Corporation. It reminds me of their tortured escape from the capsules they are trapped in. It also reminds me of the epic fight between Zach and Sephiroth as well. I enjoy this song because it reminds me in a generalized sense that bad things DO happen and that they should be fought at every step. Sort of a grim reminder...but a very powerful one (image wise) in my mind.

- ShinRa Company

This song is very sinister in nature. It reminds me of the things in BAD businesses that I don't like. It reminds me of ShinRa's arrogance and it's statist utter disregard for human life. ShinRa was the government and it was the economy of Midgar. It had a monopoly on the use of coercive force in all areas of life and abused the hell out of that. ShinRa is exactly what a company should NOT be and an exact model of a what a government shouldn't be as well.

-Still More Fighting

Great Rock song. Reminds me of the epic mano-a-mano fights in the game. You first hear this music when Cloud goes toe to toe with Rufus. You hear it in group boss fights as well, but the song also reminds me of the Barret versus Dyne fight (what a sad part of the story that was). This song reminds me of limit breaks, soaring larger than life attacks, and devastating summon spells. Just coolness all around. In a generalized sense, I think about fighting with everything you have for what you believe in.

- Crazy Motorcycle

Who couldn't remember the amazing motorcycle getaway from ShinRa. When I first saw that cinema at the age of 12 my jaw dropped and I was like, "WOW...Cloud is SOOOO cool!." This song also reminds me of Barret irreverently driving through the ShinRa sign on the way out....lol.

-Aerth's Theme

Epic. Incredibly moving. When I first heard this song, I was genuinely moved. Aerith wasn't my favorite character, to be honest. However, I empathized with the feelings that the party went through when they lost her. One of the most brilliant creative moves in videogame making history was having the Jenova Life fight happen to this music right after Sephiroth does his dirty work. It adds a dimension of grief and saddness to a fight that shouldn't be "peppy" or "excited" (feelings the OTHER fight music conveys).

- Hearing The Cry of the Planet

This piece was great when it came to foreshadowing. It is haunting and moody. You hear this song in the city of the ancients and it provokes a sense of mystery because not that much was known about them to begin with (and story wise you don't know much about the Cetra at that point). The city was also really creatively designed visually, so the music just fits. The music reminds me of a person being called to something important (which is what is indicated by the story as well).

-Cid's Theme

Heroic. This song is about living large, dreaming big, personal pride, and personal acomplishment. This song's name says it all. Cid's story is one of saddness, but it has a happy ending. When Cid meets Cloud and his group...he remembers his adventurous spirit, his passion for life, and gets past the anger that clouded his days with Shera.

-Judgement Day

This song is the final quest's music. Amazing choice of music! This song not only conveys the earthy elements (with the percussion) of descending into a giant crater, it conveys a finality of finally setting your sights on the big bad boss and going after him once and for all.

-Interrupted by Fireworks

This music is set to probably the most romantic moments in videogame history. Out on your date with Tifa (ideally...lol) you see some wonderful cinematics of chocobos running around on your big tour of the park in the gondola. Nobody gets kissed or does anything risque...but you get such a feeling from the music and scene that love is so worth fighting for...that there IS hope and people ARE worth it. This piece is quiety reverent to the human romantic spirit...which is why it is one of my favorites.

- Who Am I?

One of the greatest philosophical achievements of Final Fantasy 7 was showing what happens to a person psychologically that evades reality. This music plays when Cloud gets dumped into the lifestream and has to get his stuff together mentally with Tifa helping him along the way. This song is tortured and painful at first...but as Cloud works himself through his inner turmoil, he finally accepts himself for who he is which he is. Cloud's mental deception/lies were a big rock that he was carrying on his shoulders. The truth allowed him to shrug. I understood this very potently before I read Atlas Shrugged thanks to Nobuo's music and Squaresoft's briliant game.

-World Crisis

This is the ending music to Final Fantasy game (not the Staff Roll, but the music before the Staff Roll). This song is very tense and very dramatic. It highlights the "did we just save the world or were we too late?" question that everyone was asking themselves right after Sephiroth's defeat. This song seems to suggest impending doom and bad stuff...until the tension breaks and the conflict resolves with a happy ending.

I remember when I first heard the notes that followed the little tiny specks of lifestream energy across my T.V screen as they united to kick Meteor's ugly butt. Absolutely wonderful.

Edited by Evan
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