bustatunez: arrangement
AeroZ: cello
Jeff Ball: violin

I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to arrange "Omen" for Balance and Ruin. The first time I played FF6, I remember being surprised and even intimidated by the dark, serious tone of its introduction. I was still new to RPGs, and this game made a profound impression right from the start with its remarkably dramatic opening.

When asked to arrange this piece in a cinematic style, I decided to stay fairly close to Uematsu's original form. Instead of creating a new piece based on his melodies, I decided to ask myself, "What would Uematsu have written if he had the resources of a full symphonic orchestra?" That question influenced all of my interpretation decisions. I approximated what I believe Uematsu must have been thinking of at the time - a pastiche of classic film scores from the 1950s. I took inspiration from classic film composers like Hermann, Steiner, and Waxman in developing this arrangement. Even the more unusual moments in my arrangement, such as the Debussy-esque piano solos and dissonant brass harmonies, came about by recognizing the musical genres and constructs that Uematsu was almost certainly referencing in his brilliant original work.

My other goal was to unify the piece thematically as much as possible among the various sections. There are two main motives I used, the "destroyed world" theme ("Bb C Db") and, of course, Terra's theme. I preview both of them before their main entrances, and make reference to them throughout the piece in several places, in order to add more cohesion to the track as a whole.

Lastly, I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to Jeff Ball and Sebastian Freij (AeroZ) for their solo string playing on this track and on my Gau arrangement, "Wild Child Ballad". The kinds of nuanced expression that these tracks needed simply wouldn't be possible with synthesizers; Sebbe and Jeff's performances brought life and human emotion to both of these remixes.

I'm very proud of our work, and I hope you enjoy this arrangement and all of Balance and Ruin!

Mustin: arrangement, performance

I wanted to do this track with The OneUps, but since I had a borrowed sax and guitar - along with the request for an arrangement of this tune - I went for it myself. I'm very happy with the result and very thankful for Andrew and his mixing and mastering. Thanks to Nathan McLeod for letting me borrow his sax and William Reyes for letting me borrow his guitar. And big thanks to Kunal Majmudar and Diggi Dis for their constant feedback as I bounced versions of this tune off of them. I hope you enjoy it!

Joshua Morse: arrangement, piano, keyboards
Anthony Morgan: electric guitar, electric bass

Jeff Ball: arrangement, violin
Laura Intravia: vocals, flute

JAPANESE:

煙と雲

世の中を
憂しとやさしと
おもへども
飛び立ちかねつ
鳥にしあらねば

年暮れぬ
雲きて煙
はきながら

世間を
何に譬へむ
朝開き
漕ぎ去にし船の
跡なきごとし

ROMAJI:

Kemuri to Kumo

Yononaka wo
Ushi to yasashi to
Omo(h)e domo
Tobitachi kanetsu
Tori ni shi arane ba

Toshi kurenu
kumo kite kemuri
Hakinagara

Yo no naka o
nani-ni tatoemu
asabiraki
kogiinishi fune no
ato naki gotoshi

ENGLISH:

Smoke and Clouds

I feel the life is
sorrowful and unbearable
though
I can't flee away
since I am not a bird

Another year is gone;
and I still wear
clouds and smoke.

Living in this world -
to what shall I compare it?
It's like a boat
rowing out at break of day,
leaving no trace behind.

Locke is very connected to Rachel in Final Fantasy 6, so I felt she should be incorporated somehow. I imagined Locke falling asleep and entering into a dream. Rachel appears, and Locke is struck with intense feelings of passion and loss as she sings his own feelings to him, surrounded by a beautiful dream-like landscape.

SnappleMan: arrangement, lead/rhythm/clean guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion
norg: arrangement, keyboards, acoustic guitar, fretless bass, Chapman stick
Captain Finbeard: arrangement, drums, keyboard solos

Fly with me
Fly with me

[x3]
Fly with me
Sun through the trees
Fly with me
Tastes like victory

A rearrangement with an attention span as short as the character it pays homage to, this piece takes Kefka's classic theme and weaves it through several divergent styles within the film music vein.

XPRTNovice: guitar, vocals, flute
Ray Webb: trumpet

Uno, dos, tres, four

I was looking through some of the gaps in the album set and I saw that nobody had done "Mt. Koltz." I admit, it's not my favorite track from the OST, but you can't just IGNORE a track and expect forgiveness. So, I started listening to it. That minor second chord shift that is prevalent throughout the entire track reminded me a lot of the way some traditional flamenco tunes sounded, so I thought I'd give it a try. My father-in-law, Ray Webb, happened to be in town while I was recording it, and I handed him my trumpet and backed away slowly, the result of which is that screaming trumpet lead you hear in the middle. The guitar and a lot of the nonsensical Spanish singing is live, as well as the flute. I'm still not any more Spanish now than when I started, but I do have some street cred, having slapped a bull calf at the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona back in 2011. And that, I think, counts for something.

Many thanks to zircon for helping me mix/master this. Apparently not knowing what compression is can hinder the quality of your final product. Who knew?

Jaron Widman: lyrics, male vocals, programming, mixing, mastering
Samantha Krzyston: female vocals

Darkness burrows in when we fall
Morning will reveal us after all
Curtains wide, say you'll run with me
Captives we were called, but now we're free

We won't stop until we say we're done
We'll return the world to what it was

Stuck behind, it's not a flaw
They don't understand the webs we are

We won't stop until we say we're done
We'll return the world to what it was

Glacial thoughts, they linger, then they die
Grateful we were not sold for price

We won't stop until we say we're done
We'll return the world to what it was

We won't stop until we say we're done
We'll return the world to what it was
They will never catch us on the run
We'll return the world to what it was

The opening arps were created using a Roland Juno-6 synthesizer, circa 1982.

zircon: arrangement
Frank Witkam: harmonica
XPRTNovice: acoustic guitar, whistling, trumpet
Jillian Aversa: vocals
Jeff Ball: violin

This track is sort of a two-for-one: it opens with an orchestral arrangement of Cyan's theme for a (fictional) film score - the kind you might find on some old, worn, forgotten VHS tape - which attempts to capture the regal, militaristic quality of the music in the style of film music from the 60's and 70's. The music is then "sampled" and rearranged via MPC. The result (I hope) is that I was able to have my cake and eat it too: retaining both the qualities that were important to the original piece and the character it represents, as well as bending those elements in a way which reveals an entirely new way of representing and understanding those same qualities.

mv: arrangement
Jeff Ball: violin

Dr. Frankenstein: Pardon me, boy. Is this the Transylvania station?

Boy: Ja, ja... track 29.

This was my second remix I ever really tried on OC ReMix, and the FF6 contest was a great inspiration for me to get going. I kept hearing this wild sort of Caravan Palace remix in my head when I was listening to this, and I thought "Wow, there needs to be more clarinet on OC ReMix." So, I decided to make it happen. When I found out I won the contest, I had no idea what I was in for. Balance and Ruin has been some of the most fun I've ever had musically, and the chance to take my classical training and use my powers for evil has been smugly satisfying. And, of course, there's whistling

KingTiger: rad djemble licks

Oh man, this track. You guys, this track right here. This was SO MUCH FUN to make, and my collaborators were amazing. OA really brought the heat with his guitar chops, and contributed some of the percussion and sound effects (including the massive explosion-y thing before the final climax). He also contributed a couple of synth bits and bobs to fill out the soundscape. Nutritious did his share of sound effects and bass stabs, added the orchestral sounds during the breakdown, and added some much-appreciated meat to my drums. I did most of the drum work, most of the bass work, and all the synth lead work. I also did the final mixdown 'n such. I would be remiss if I didn't mention my friend KingTiger, who graciously contributed a nice set of djembe takes, which I used in some of the buildup parts. (If I missed any parts of the process, please forgive me--this was a monster, and everyone chipped in with a LOT of great material!) This was a song that really stretched me as an artist--I gave this my absolute best, as did my collaborators. I think it shows, and I hope you have as much fun hearing this as we did making it!

Although Gau's theme is rarely played in the actual game, I really loved its simple, folksy instrumentation and clear focus on melody. Taking heavy influence from Yoko Kanno and Yasunori Mitsuda, I arranged it for an ensemble I use often: myself on piano, accordion, recorder, guitar and percussion, and my dear friends Sebastian Freij and Jeff Ball on strings. This piece really came together thanks to their contributions - Seb was particularly excited to play on the only FF6 track whose original tune actually features the cello!

Pot Hocket: guitar

DragonAvenger: arrangement, vocals
OA: production

When...

Never run away
Never, never run away when the dark is calling

...when the dark is calling
Never run away... when the dark is calling

Never run away...
...when the dark is calling
Your courage must be strong

Never run away...
Never run away...
...when the dark is calling

Never run away
Never run away...
...courage must be strong

[sliced vocals]

[x2 with sliced chorus vocals]
Never run away when the dark is calling
Your courage must be strong, resolution firm

Fishy: arrangement, guitar
XPRTNovice: clarinet, saxophone, trumpet
Dan Pugsley: bass

"Bad Octopus" is a Haken/ilp0-inspired prog circus mush of two of the sillier action tunes from the game. When Andy asked me what track I wanted to do for the FFVI project, I decided to pick a few of the awkward ~45s length actiony songs that no one would want to mix and put them together. Eventually though, I realised that these two were just too silly to mix with the others, so I decided to go all-out circus mode on them. After I finished the track to my regular prog liking, I showed it to XPRTNovice who suggested we amp up the silly and thrown in a load of extra instruments you wouldn't normally find in prog. As a result, it is pretty much now beyond classification, which is fine by me! Like most of my arrangements, it blatantly reeks of someone else's music.

Named after Ultros because he's awesome. Enjoy.

If you want more (metamorphosis)

...man that you asked for

There will be blood
There will be trouble
...care if you want more

...asked for (metamorphosis)

There will be blood

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

"Metamorphosis" has always been of my favourite tracks from FF6, so to be given the chance to remix this track was a challenge I relished. I didn't feel I needed to change the foundations of the original in order to complete my remix. I kept the big hitting drums and overall feel, but changed the orchestral instrumentation to blasts of crafted, chaotic, glitched up, electronic noise.

Conducted by Susie Benchasil Seiter
Chad Seiter: arrangement, orchestration
Susie Benchasil Seiter: conducting
Warren Brown: mixing
Peter Fuchs: mixing
Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering: mastering
Slovak National Symphony Orchestra: performance
Slovak Radio Concert Hall (Bratislava, Slovakia): recording hall

To this day, Uematsu-san's "Terra" has remained one of my favorite themes of all time. I have been enamored with it since I was young. I wanted to musically capture Terra's strife and make sure my homage told her story accurately. I felt I could only do it with an orchestra, so I recorded "Terra's Resolve" with an absolutely gigantic 120 piece orchestral ensemble during the recording of my original score to the latest Star Trek video game.

Level 99: arrangement, guitar

The story of how Sabin and Edgar decided their own fates with the toss of a coin was the part of Final Fantasy VI that resonated with me the most. Despite the trick being played, both sons knew that doing what is right is not necessarily what is best: for them, for the kingdom, for everyone. The nobility, sacrifice, and love shown was something I really tried to capture in my version of "Coin Song." I included "Edgar & Sabin" as well, in a fashion which feels regal and grand in scale, to emphasize what was at stake and how the whole kingdom could have changed if fate, or family, had chosen a different path.

My arrangements are typically fairly straightforward in concept, but for Rachel's theme, I was hoping to convey some of the story and heartbreak surrounding the character. The song is meant to sound dreamlike and incorehent, and slowly gains structure and clarity as it progresses, before it once again drifts back into incoherence like someone in a coma. It's a beautiful original track, and this take on it serves to give it a bit more context through the production.

Mazedude; arrangement
Jeff Stockham: trumpet

A few things about this track... one, I worked in NYC as a waiter one summer during college. I drove from Jersey City, through the Holland Tunnel, to upper East Side Manhattan day after day. For a spell, to get me through the trip, I listened to the FF6 soundtrack while driving. The juxtaposition of NYC pedestrians against the FF6 music was... quite surreal. To imagine townsfolk walking around from an aerial view, while witnessing NYC townsfolk walking around on the sidewalks... was bizarre, trippy, and cool. It got me through the drive. And whenever the "Slam Shuffle" music came on in such a scenario, I couldn't help but grin as I drove.

Fast forward to this FF6 project, and I knew I wanted to tackle this particular track above all others. But what style to try? I had a few ideas in mind... Indian fusion was one, but it didn't work so well. Another concept was to mimic Miles Davis in some sort of acid jazz, featuring live trumpet. Quite a difficult concept to grasp with a computer, but I went for it... and it was sounding good. But, to make it really work, I needed a real trumpet player. To my good fortune, I was introduced to an incredible professional trumpet player, Jeff Stockham, via the local Syracuse, NY jazz band ESP (http://espjazz.wix.com/esp), and set a recording session, where thankfully, he got EXACTLY what I was going for. The recording session was a blast, and I am thrilled with the result.

diotrans: arrangement, violin
zircon: mixing, mastering

I have such a deep love for FFVI and its soundtrack for so many reasons, and am so honored to be a part of this album to pay homage to Nobuo Uematsu's stellar work, as it has had a profound influence on me as a musician.

I chose "Spinach Rag" because of my love also for ragtime music. For an audition in high school, I played a fantastic arrangement of Scott Joplin's "Pine Apple Rag" on viola, which was full of little tricks like slides which can't be done on piano. Since then, I have always felt that ragtime is as fitting for violin or viola as it is for piano. So when I arranged this remix, I wanted to not only play the Spinach Rag on the violin, but to utilize the wide range of possibilites of what a violin can do: slides, double stops, arco and pizzicato, etc. This arrangement is for 2 violins and piano, and intended to be fully playable as a live ensemble piece.

Many thanks to zircon for his production help, turning my MIDI keyboard playing and raw violin recordings into a polished finish piece. He did a great job of capturing the style I was going for.

OA: arrangement, guitars, keyboards, programming, lyrics
Moonlapse: vocals (Draco)
BardicKnowledge: vocals (Prince Ralse)
Laura Intravia: flute
DragonAvenger: brass

Draco:

O Maria
O Maria
O Maria
O Maria

On far off shores, my words call to you
This distant war; my sword sings the truth

Ralse:

Bow to me, the East will overrun this wretched land; defeat has just begun
Spoils of war, your will no longer free; Draco is banished, Maria belongs to me

Draco:

Though the stars fade in the sky, the light your love gives never dies
I will return, I swear on my life

O Maria
O Maria
O Maria
O Maria

Love conquers all; this is not the end
I will not rest, we will meet again

(Ralse:

This nightmare oath will seal our fate forevermore;
My ambitions realized, now I will rule them all)

Vocals - Tommy Pedrini
Additional Vocals - Tony Marino, James Montagna
Drums - Brian "Dogboy" Burwell
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Robert Altschuler at Command Recording Studios, Valencia, CA

INTRO

Look into the sins of your past
Love as if today were your last

Better times have slipped away, I'm lost beneath the waves
Nothing left to save...

EXPOSITION

SAVAGE CRIME! IT WAS NOT YET HER TIME!
FOR WHOM THE TOWER PEALS ONE FINAL MOURNING CHIME!
FOR THE SURVIVORS......

SCENE I (present time, evening)

Speak to me, before my fate is reckoned,
Comfort me, they'll arrive at any second,
Six o'clock, and I got no doubt the gang is out for

BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS!
OUR OWN, KILLED IN THE FIGHT!
YOU'LL DIE TONIGHT!

SCENE II (flashback to two days ago)

O, (THERE HE IS!)
Maria, (WHY IS HE, ON OUR BLOCK?)
Morte Mia (TRACK HIM DOWN, MAKE HIM BLEED! WE'LL TAKE HIM!)

I'll be waiting, patiently (WE'LL BEAT HIM DOWN, TAKE HIM TO THE GROUND)
Come on out and dance with me, (THE DEVIL)
The night is young,
And so are we!

(guitar solo)

O, Maria, Cara mia,
And I know the deck's stacked against us,
Even though it feels so right...

Forbidden is our love,
Our families, divided from above.
Your brothers, will see through the lie;
Tomorrow.. they won't ask why...

SCENE III (yesterday)

(piano intro)

O Maria...
Far away now...
Will I ever see your smile,
As night turns to day,
I beg you to stay,
I'm down, down on my knees, here...

I'm the darkness, you're the starlight,
And I'm burnin' up in here, I (MY HEART WILL)
Die every day, When you hide away,
I don't wanna fear.. (THEIR RIVALRY)

So even though they may discover us,
I'm never givin' you up
And if they try to tell me what to do

(I LOVE HER!)
I'll kill them! (I LOVE HER!)
I'll kill them! (LEAVE US ALONE!)
Down to the last!
No!
Oh, (COME GET ME)
Maria, (UPSET ME)
I need her, for my own (COME CAST A STONE)

(Guitar / piano solo .. commence headbanging)

SCENE IV (this morning)

STAR-CROSSED LOVERS
LAUGHING AT THE TRUTH,
EASY FORTUNES,
FOOLISH IN YOUTH, HA-HA-HA
AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE,
YOU'LL BOTH BE ON THE RUN,
AND WE'LL FIND YOU

JUST WHAT WAS YOUR PLAN?
YOU ARROGANT MAN!
TI AMMAZZO, TI AMMAZZO TI AMMAZZO!
INTRUSO!
(HE WAS WITH THE WHORE!)
CRETINO!
(SHOW HIM TO THE DOOR!)
FOLLOW HIM! CORNER HIM! MURDER HIM!
BEAT HIM DOWN! BEAT HIM UP!
SEND HIM TO HIS GRAVE!

Maria............

DRACO LOVE,
WE WERE NEVER MEANT TO LIVE THIS LIE!

Then I will die,
Sooner than see you gone,
I'm gonna go down swingin'
Ears are ringin'.....

(guitar solo)

SCENE V (this afternoon)

But I'm alive!! (AH-AH-AH-AH! HE'S STILL BREATHING)
MAKE HIM DEAD!
(HIT HIM IN THE HEAD!)
TAKE HIS LIFE!
(SOMEONE GET A KNIFE!)

Suddenly, (GET HIM!)
In a flash, (KILL HIM!)
I was up,
On my feet, (STAB HIM!)
With a knife, (DRILL HIM!)
Spun around,
With a slash, (PRESS HIM!)
In a split (GRILL HIM!)
Second of,
Murderous, (END HIM!)
Clarity, (SPILL HIM!)
I could see,

One by one, they stood before me!

Then, from the ground, came the most awful sound,
And I saw her then,
Maria lying there,
Someone had stabbed her and,
Her time was at an end,
And then I ran and ran and ran and RAN!

(guitar solo)

BLOOD ON THE STREET,
NOW YOUNG DRACO SHALL MEET WITH HIS FATE!!

ENDING (return to present time)

O Maria,
Now it's clear...
Broken through the pain and the fear,
Before too long,
I'll be with.... you......

zircon: arrangement
Jillian Aversa: vocals
AeroZ: cello

On the edge of
The horizon,
When the last of light gives way,
The swell of the tide
Will serve as your guide,
And spirit drift away.

Every twilight
Every sunrise,
We will glide upon a wave.
And I promise to be
What fate asks of me,
From waking to the grave.

Arranged by: Joshua Morse
Performed by:

• Joshua Morse: arrangement, piano, keyboards

So for this track I really wanted to go with a bouncy, hybrid electro funk vibe with the half speed beat, but also to try and keep the joy of the original with the piano riff and rock drum fills. I had a lot of fun throwing in solos in as many different styles as I could, with influences coming from Opiou, Stevie Wonder, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Justice.

One type of mixpost you'd often see from me whether on OC ReMix itself or through its site projects is the occasional piano solo, and so I thought it would be a good idea to see how a sonata arrangement would work for the Gestahl Empire theme. It surprised me a lot after completion - lengthy yet expressive, telling much about the Empire's stranglehold upon the world within the first half and Terra's link towards them. Though it may be seen as too early to immediately take action, there is a glimpse of that thought to do so sooner than later.