Colorado Symphony Orchestra v. Nobuo Uematsu

So I wasn't going to post about this, but I figure if I've been harping on something for weeks, perhaps writing it down is a way to get it out of my system so I stop bothering all my friends with it.

Final Fantasy

I suspect many of my readers are familiar with this genre-defining series of games, and if you aren't you can read about it here. Even if you are familiar with the FF series, the number of foot-notes and cross-references in the article might be surprising.

One of the cornerstones of the Final Fantasy game series is it's original scores; orchestrated first on 8 and 16-bit MIDI, and later with full symphonies by the musical genius Nobuo Uematsu (No-boo Uey-maat-su). It would not be much of a stretch to say that a Final Fantasy game without Nobuo's music would not really be a Final Fantasy (which is partly why this author believes FFXII felt a little off).

Even in it's original 8-bit form, you can hear a sense of epic grandeur in Nobuo's work. A feeling that despite the technological limitations, he could hear entire orchestrations under the simple beeps and hums of the first game soundtracks. It's a testament to his musicality and innovation that he would invest so early in such a new artistic medium. A dedication which has paid off tremendously, making him the most recognizable composer for the entirety of an art form.

So it is with great anticipation that I went to see the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Boettcher Hall in Denver perform Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy. Having been an amateur musician, I understand that a professional symphony may only get a few days to work on a project before they begin performing. But that is standard for the caliber of musicians that they are composed of (some of the best symphonies sight-read their performances!). It is also in the norm of musicians to be rather critical of other musicians, and it can get a bit snobby. So imagine yourself an accomplished musician, you've landed a symphony chair (the holy grail for classical musicians), and your director tells you your next performance will be playing music from a video game. You'd scoff. right? Well, I wouldn't scoff, but imagine if you were 50 (the average age of a symphony musician) and hadn't grown up in the video game age. Pretty easy to shrug off the music as a "piece of cake." I have a feeling that the CSO was surprised by the musicality of what they were trying to play.

Having left the performance, after hearing snares more than 1/2 beat off from the symphony, a guitar virtuoso fail almost completely and a choir that more than likely had no idea what was going on, I was understandably disappointed. I hadn't really realized the full potential of Nobuo's music yet. My good friend bought the CD (which I avoided because I was turned off by the performance), and I later realized that the CD was not performed by the CSO, but the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra!! I begged and he obligingly let me rip the CD so I could listen to it.

Since then, I can not count how many times I've listened to the whole CD, beginning to end. You could tell the Stockholm Philharmonic practiced, and didn't assume the music would be easy. In the CD, the full potential of Nobuo's epic themes comes to life, perfectly represented and faithfully executed by Sweden's finest musicians.

I have since re-fallen in love with Nobuo's work and feel a little guilty that I didn't get in on the whole Final Fantasy craze until college. It's sort of ruined me, my first real RPG (if you don't count Pokemon) was FFVII. The undisputed champion of the genre and one of Nobuo's crowning achievements. I have since been looking for that contender game that can knock FFVII from the top spot: it is yet to happen, and music is one of the deciding factors in my favorite games list.

What have I learned from all this?

1. Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra > Colorado Symphony Orchestra
2. Nobuo Uematsu = Visionary = Genius
3. Author of this blog = music snob.

I think it's clear that the final verdict is:
Colorado Symphony Orchestra - zero.
Nobuo Uematsu - Win.
-Ty

image via music4games

It Can't Be Contained

Well, its happened: my embarrassment, modesty, and slim hope of remaining cool can no longer stifle the enthusiasm I feel toward the re-boot of Star Trek.

If you haven't seen the new trailer yet, its a must-see here.

Now that you've seen it, you won't mind if I riff a little.

It's a re-boot. Keep that in mind. When I first saw the teaser for this movie a few months ago, there was in an image of the enterprise being built (its on my site somewhere, but the exact location eludes me at the moment :D) and it looks like it's being built in an atmosphere. I was pissed.

"The enterprise is too big to be built on earth and then reach orbit! They specifically said that in the show! Its been that way forever! What about the Utopia Planetia shipyards? Are they just going to ignore that?"

Well, the answer appears to be yes. But I'm OK with it. Because its been made clear that this is a re-boot. Meaning, they are starting over. Loosely based in its origins, this new Star Trek has a new cannon, a new direction, and the potential for an entirely new take on the Trek universe.

A few years ago, I would have been pissed because a re-boot meant that they were stealing an idea and just doing whatever the frack they wanted with it. But then a little show called Battlestar Galactica came out. It was a re-boot, in the best definition of the term. Tenderly cared for by my hero Ronald Moore, it expressed how awesome a re-boot could be. And now that the community has seen what it takes to have a successful re-boot, I don't think JJ will do it wrong. A fan-boy can hope anyway.


A few things I noticed about the new trailer:

1. Kirk jumping out of a sports car that skids off a cliff....why? but adrenaline junky seems to fit his persona.

   'is the rolling necessary?' 'It helps.'

2. Apparently Spock and Kirk had a bit of a rocky start, judging from the shouting and choking we see. An interesting development, I always suspected Spock was a little annoyed at Kirk from time to time
   
3. A new enterprise. Interesting. I'm OK with it. Similar enough to look familiar, but different enough to look new.
4. A goofy Scotty. I know he was being serious in the original series, but something was always hilarious about him. I'm glad they've embraced that humor.

I've heard a lot of other fan-boys trading around the phrase "raped my childhood" when referring to this movie. I disagree with them. While it is well known that I have a harsh view on un-original ideas, a good friend of mine made the point that something, while based in an old idea, can still be original. What we need to do is not view this with the same fondness we reserve for the Trek of our childhood, but instead with the open-minded curiosity that we would approach any new sci-fi, it just happens that some of the things here will look familiar. We should view all the things we recognize as salutes those heroes of our childhood, but not let them get in the way of what this new thing is trying to be: a new Trek.
-Ty

spock pic via startrekmovie.com
enterprise pic via Big Yellow Taxi

More Harmonica Please

Well good afternoon everyone!

Today I am in a harmonica mood.
The free song on iTunes today got me in that mood. I would recommend checking it out.
It is folkey, and quiet, but it is really growing on me. Its called "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" by The Low Anthem. The lyrics are pretty simple and lack as much impact as you'd expect a song with such a title to have, but I find myself entranced by it. Definately check it out if you have iTunes.

If you're in as much of a harmonica mood as I am, here are some other good harmonica songs:
Devils & Dust - Bruce Springsteen
Canadian Railroad Trilogy - Gordon Lightfoot
Spokey Dokey - Yoko Kanno (listen here)

Those are just the first few that hit the top of my brain. If you know more, please tell me 'bout them!
-Ty

photo via www.threeworlds.com.au