[Luso]

Project Soul Voice: Odyssey
{Welcome back.}
{Welcome tracks!}

After quite a busy summer, a new album has been added to Project Soul Voice!

Musician's Memo:
Project Soul Voice: Odyssey is an album of melodies created over the process of two decades. The theme is "travel", and the content comes from traveling tunes from 13 different Final Fantasy games.

As always, each new update to Project Soul Voice will be included in a different thread, but the "mother page" will contain all songs, including Albums. I receive notifications for each thread's replies, so feel free to cross-pollenate comments about songs throughout. Also, please encourage your friends to check out Beyond Vana'diel if you think they would enjoy this content, and get them to sign up while you are at it!

Requests and comments are still taken into consideration as long as they are done through the appropriate threads here in the Project Soul Voice Forum.



Allow me to introduce these new songs:

From Final Fantasy I:

FIRST TIMER
A simple melody that began it all. A traveling song became tradition over twenty years ago, and has been with us ever since. Maintaining the feeling of joy that has rung true from its genesis, this simple breakbeat rendition brings us back to Cornelia for another bout of time-looped goodness!

From Final Fantasy II:

ROSE GARDEN

The tale of four orphans swept into a hellacious war against a fierce emperor is one of somber, sorrow, and bitter salvation. Accordingly, the emotions conveyed wandering a battle sundered land are clear in this light rhythm and blues take on Palamecia's landscape. Wounds will heal in time and scars fade, but forgetting the past is a completely different task altogether.

From Final Fantasy III

WIND CYCLE
On a floating continent far away from shrouded darkness, children are able to live their lives peacefully. Such carefree days last as long as the Wind Crystal allows it; a being that will eventually call scattered souls back to the land they belong to restore the balance. In this hip-hop arrangement, we follow the four Onion Knights through the highs and lows of their adventure.

From Final Fantasy IV

INTO THE LIGHT
Watched over by two silent moons, there exists a land that was saved by the very man who brought it to its knees. By many names, sin and redemption are concepts that exist in varying ranges of cultures and religious tomes. Engraved across a gleaming blade, text speaks of a Dark Knight who took up the Light in order to rectify the mistakes of his past. This orchestral piece reflects the struggle of leaving darkness behind to go into the light.

From Final Fantasy V

WAYWARD
Without taking heed of any advice or guidance, a young lad was able to make good on the promises made by his father. A sinister being created from the waste made through exorcism threatened existence in its entirety, but it was no match for the random tom-foolery of one child and the companions he made along the way. This synth-pop number relates the tale of one child, following nothing but intuition and the breeze.

From Final Fantasy VI

TROUBADOR
In a land that had forgotten its origin, a weapon lay waste to any who did not believe in the arcane force known as magic. Possessing a soul, innocent eyes took in the carnage ordered in methods irresistible. This funeral march walks us through the terrible deeds of one woman; horrors that would eventually motivate her to be the most caring and influential individual in her realm.

From Final Fantasy VII

BRINK
"Why did you leave me?" Words uttered by the most cold heart in a moment of regret. In a land threatened by the rightful reclamation of an ancient force, a group crafted by happenstance and resolve must stand against the challenge of a life time. This electronica ballad asks the question, "Why must me go on?", where an anxious heart questioning the meaning of life and death cannot do so by itself.

From Final Fantasy VIII

WHATEVER
War typically does not consist of good and evil forces clashing against one another. It is merely the exertion of two legitimate points by means of combat by proxy. Lurking in the background, the philosopher who commits himself to these ideas is vulnerable to compassion moreso than any blade. This musical trance professes the lament felt by one who wanders in search of a purpose.

From Final Fantasy IX

CROSSING AGAIN
Alone for a while, searching through the dark, fate carves out a niche for a death dealer out of his element. In our dearest memories, we can easily forget that behind that earnest smile is the honest resolve not to destroy. This parade of techno reminds us to cherish those both for what they are capable of as well as what they refuse to do.

From Final Fantasy X

TEN STEP
Admit powerlessness. Believe in power. Surrender will. Conduct moral inventory. Admit wrong. Anticipate removal. Humbly plead. Make amends. Need knowledge. Awaken spiritually. A shortcut for those who don't have time for anything more. This easy-listening track makes the memory recall us.

From Final Fantasy XI

FOREVER
What seemed like it would stretch on forever teeters on our willpower alone. A world that existed for us that expanded as far as our minds eyes is threatened constantly by interdimensional shift and parallel existence. This jazzy spin begs you not to forget your origins, or the goddess's tears shed to make them a reality.

From Final Fantasy XII

STRANDED
The ferocity of the hunt! As they made their way across the desert, they weren't worried about governments or nations: A world without borders! Sky pirates gather round, this hybrid of orchestral and electric invites you to forget about the evil in the hearts of men and merely live for today.

From Final Fantasy XIII

UNCHARTED
In a land untouched for eras untold, nature has been allowed to take its rightful course. It is unforgiving, unabashed, and completely ready to conquer those who do not believe. It is not the home for the young or wary, but it is the only place that will accept outcasts of the civilized world. We close this album with the struggle to survive, as those who cannot go back attempt to go forward.

This project is known as
Project Soul Voice
and can be found at the following URL:
http://www.beyondvan...ject-soul-voice

Happy Listening!
To our continuing partnership, BV-ers,
Luso

[Eorzea]

13 songs! This is wonderful!

Based on my first impressions I think TROUBADOR was my favorite of the bunch simply because it's one of my favorite games and I find the piece of music you used to be quite nostalgic. I have already listened to it numerous times.

I think TEN STEP is really nice as well. Very relaxing and easy to listen to.

INTO THE LIGHT is also rather nostalgic.

And I like STRANDER!

I'll leave more feedback later on.

Which piece(s) was/were most challenging?
What inspired you to make a batch of songs based on "travel" from all of the main Final Fantasy titles?

Very nice, Luso!



Anyone who doesn't give these a listen is truly missing out.

[Rowan]

Wow, these are really cool!

I've only had time to listen to a few of them (on my break at work), but so far I like them.
13 is a good amount of songs too, nice work! I'll definitely be listening to the rest later but I thought I would post in here to give you some props.

Well done Luso!

[Luso]

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Which piece(s) was/were most challenging?

I definitely ran into some brick walls along the way. Probably the hardest tracks were...

Well, to start off with, I had to cut out certain pieces of Stranded along the way to make the orchestral track match up with some sort of 1/4 rhythm. Nothing a good pair of digital scissors couldn't handle. I really like the XII soundtrack, but it's not very malleable.

I think because of how much in going on in the track, Uncharted proved to be a lot of work, but I got really charged up about it once I decided I was going to go from Terra Incognita into Blinded By Light.

As far as technical difficulties, First Timer and Troubador had to be tweaked with because of all the reverb present in the track. Sometimes it sounds like the song was going to "break" like glass, but this was eventually corrected.

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What inspired you to make a batch of songs based on "travel" from all of the main Final Fantasy titles?

I traveled a lot by car this summer. So much to the point that I ended up destroying my first car's engine! Not everyone knows this, but I'm currently headed into my second year of law school. I needed a dependable vehicle, and after looking at the options elected the Kia Soul.


_{From a Squall photoshoot I did! The Lehko Habhoka in my avatar slot is me!}

It was the first car I've ever owned that has a built in USB drive linked to the radio. With the sound system, I was able to finish tracks and then start driving around to test to see if they were error free and ear friendly! The first song finished for the album was Wind Cycle, for those curious. After having a really positive feeling driving around listening to the song, I got the idea to just continue up and down along the roster of Final Fantasy games. With plenty of source material that already had such emotional connectivity, it just made sense.

On that note, I encourage everyone to actually try traveling to the music. By vehicle or bipedal movement, you won't be let down.

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Well done Luso!

Thanks! I know 13 songs is a lot to crawl through. Given that not every tune will be familiar unless you're a Final Fantasy Fantatic, you and everyone else are free to comment on a tune by tune basis. This forum is dedicated just to Project Soul Voice, so feel free to fill it to the brim with multiple posts about music.

I have a feeling Beyond Vana'diel won't suddenly crash!

[Kurisu]

13 tracks?! Impressive, Luso!

I'm going to listen to the tracks in the order that I played the games, so first up:

Brink

Love it! Very nostalgic. FFVII was the first Final Fantasy game that I had ever played, and it's also my favourite game in the series (I know, I'm predictable, right?). So I have a connection to this piece straight away. I love how the beat seems to feel like the flow of the life stream, I don't know whether you've done that intentionally or not!

Whatever

FFVIII's world map music was never my favourite, I found it a little dull to listen to IN GAME. However, you seemed to have made it sound a lot more lively. I'd much rather listen to this before fighting hoards of random battles! ^^

Crossing Again

I immediately feel like I've just walked outside of Alexandria for the first time and arrived on the world map! I actually forgot about this theme until I listened to this, and now I remember how much I like it! Now, I like it even more thanks to the techno like beat ^^ However, I feel the track should end at the 3 minute mark instead of carrying on for the extra 6 seconds, as that feels a little bit empty compared to the rest of the track and makes it end on a bit of a downer. I don't mean this in a nasty way!

Ten Step

Geez, it's been forever since I played FFX. Curse you, non backwards compatible PS3! This track takes me right back to the first time I played the game on a PS2 demo disc, and you got to play through Besaid. I like the tune, but I think it's quite repetitive compared to the tracks I've written about above (then again, the tune in the actual game is repetitive, so you've done a good job considering!).

Stranded

I much prefer this over the actual FFXII track itself! I love how fast and frantic it sounds. If FFXII featured turn based /random battle encounters I would have loved listening to this every time a battle commenced! It would actually have made me feel excited for the battle that was taking place! Unfortunately I felt the exact opposite while playing the game...my least favourite in the Final Fantasy series (that I've attempted to play properly). I've played and completed FFVII, VIII, IX, X / X-2 and XIII but could never bring myself to get around to finishing this one. Saying that though, Stranded is my favourite track on this album so far!

Uncharted

I thought the track was a bit dull at first, but it kicks in nicely after the 1 minute mark! The only thing is...I've been listening to the battle theme since the 2006 announcement trailer, and I played the game (and therefore the track) to death when it finally launched March this year! So I think I'm all FFXIII'd out (though I do love your previous FFXIII work, Procession and Promise Keeper, as that is a lot fresher!)

------------------

Well, those are the FF's that I have played through and completed (minus the non completion of FFXII). I will be sure to listen to the others and give feeback of those at a later date, but for now I'm tired and going to bed!

Thank you for taking the time to make these for us here at Beyond Vana'diel, Luso. It's really appreciated! I'm loving how you found the inspiration to create each of the tracks from travelling around in your car!

This post has been edited by Kurisu: Aug 10, 2010 - 5:15 PM

[Eorzea]

FFXII is so great, Kurisu! I think you would have appreciated it more had you played FFXI.

Regarding TEN STEP, yes, it's repetitive, but that's part of why I like it so much. It's very easy listening and nice to have playing while typing on the forum, working on the website, etc.

Anyway...

Nice picture, Luso! I like your other cosplay pictures as well.

I can't tell you enough how much I enjoy TROUBADOR. I can't stop listening to it. I'm glad you fought through the technical difficulties with the reverb and came up with something so memorable.
Even if you haven't played FFVI, Kurisu, you should give this one a listen! In fact, play the game while you're at it!

WIND CYCLE is quite catchy as well.

There's not a bad piece in here, but I definitely have my favorites (as pointed out both now and previously). It all depends on my mood at the time of listening.

[Hydaelyn]

I can't believe so few people have commented! These are epic!

I'm working my way through them now.

Maybe I'll just stick them on my iPod and listen while on the go.

This post has been edited by Hydaelyn: Aug 11, 2010 - 6:54 AM

[Gloon]

I liked them a lot. I would like to here more "rock-ish" type stuff. Electonica and stuff is cool, but ther eis a ton of potential to have some rock/electonica stuff with FF music. Anyways, really enjoyed these and looking forward to more of your work. It's amazing.

[petlover]

The songs were all so beautiful! I was extremely excited to hear all of them, i didn't know which to listen to first. My favorites were Ten Steps and Brink but all the others were so amazing I am definitely adding them to my iPod. Fantastic work!

[Kurisu]

I'm about to listen to the rest of the album now!

First Timer

A nice take on the tune that started it all off. So much for "Final" Fantasy, right?

Rose Garden

I can't say that I'm too keen on this one. It just feels a bit, slow. Then again, maybe that fits in with the game (haven't played FF1 - 6, so I wouldn't know. I tried to play them, though..)

Wind Cycle

I'm not sure about this one, either. Can't work out whether I like it or not. Maybe it's a grower, that I'll like more after a few more listens. I feel as if I'm listening to it in some sort of a dream world. I think it's the background track that does it!

Into The Light

I liked this one from the moment the track started playing! There's a nice mixture of sounds throughout, so it never gets boring, and I like how the track ends (it's a long one, isn't it!). The only criticism is that it goes on for a bit too long. Even so, it's great!

Wayward

Love it. I really enjoy the more fast paced melodies that you have created. Is this an airship theme, by the way? That's the sense of feeling that I get, soaring across the skies.

Troubador

I've been looking forward to this one, after Eorzeas praise!

Like this one too ^^ I didn't play much of FFVI, but I definitely remember this from the beginning (or somewhere near there). I really like the direction you take the track in after the 2:40 mark, it just suddenly feels more epic.

Forever

Again, I love it! It feels a little bit Greek, or like I'm eating at a foreign restaurant somewhere! It has a really nice feel to it, and it's nice to have more of a change of pace throughout it ^^

[Luso]

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Thank you for taking the time to make these for us here at Beyond Vana'diel, Luso. It's really appreciated! I'm loving how you found the inspiration to create each of the tracks from travelling around in your car!

Oh, anytime! I've wanted to do focused projects like this for a while rather than wandering in the dark. It can sometimes be a challenge working in a preset frame-work, but it seems to pay off!

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It's very easy listening and nice to have playing while typing on the forum, working on the website, etc.

That was very much the album theme: "Music to do stuff by." Travel seemed appropriate because all of these songs were intended, by their original creators, to be heard over long periods of time.

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I can't believe so few people have commented! These are epic!

Thank you! The page does get a lot of views, so some people are just shy, I suppose.

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I liked them a lot. I would like to here more "rock-ish" type stuff.

I've had some experience doing rock and punk rock; so you might see more of this in the future! For now, check out Horizon on the Project Soul Voice page, and from my personal website, this link: Sunspot from Mega Man 10.

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I was extremely excited to hear all of them, i didn't know which to listen to first.

Every now and again I'll try to listen to the whole album in numerical order. I end up jumping around a lot, so I don't think there is a right way to do it.

I'm still working on a number of tracks for future updates, but don't worry: You'll probably have a good amount of time to absorb all these tracks before you are assaulted with the next set.