In-Game music - do you like it??

[Caitlyn]

Okay, let me clarify here a bit, because I'm guessing some people here take it as some sort of personal grievance. I understand that playing an MMO is to some degree a lifestyle choice, and I didn't mean to question a validity of your choice here, take it as you will - I play this game too, keep your pants on people.

Issue I'm having is not with the music itself - it's with the arrangement. And I'm sorry, but truly AWFUL synthetic, cheap and absolutely atrocious arrangement, using soundbanks from some KAWAI K4 (was pretty popular back in the 90s), all cropped and compressed to smithereens. Perhaps I didn't make this clear in the OP and I apologize, I should have said an Arranger, not a Composer, but not only that, but employing an actual ensemble to capture all this ambience (and yes, they earn enough money to do it thrice over, as far as the budgetary concerns go). FF14 would sound absolutely epic (and admittedly some tracks "nearly" do) - if arranged for an actual ensemble, instead of some cheap MIDI soundbank from last century!

And lastly, I gave my education background as to put my opinion in certain perspective (biased), not to elevate myself in any way. If you somehow think otherwise, that's on you.

Or in short: you have no idea. I wonder if we re playing the same game.

Does this sound like a cheap MIDI or KAWAI K4 for you? If so, you should go to a doctor. There is something wrong with your ears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqmlXC4aodw

[HuaTuo]

Does this sound like a cheap MIDI or KAWAI K4 for you? If so, you should go to a doctor. There is something wrong with your ears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqmlXC4aodw

1:40-1:55 xD I think my ears are just fine, thank you kind sir! Like, the actual music is great.

Although as far as the arrangement goes, compared of first 25 seconds of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-O8CnCLfAc - god, can you not hear the actual thing? I really miss it in FF14. It's actually quite frustrating, knowing all this work and potential "un-explored". The terrible synthetic soundbanks just do this music such an injustice..

[Vyrerus]

1:40-1:55 xD I think my ears are just fine, thank you kind sir! Like, the actual music is great.

Although as far as the arrangement goes, compared of first 25 seconds of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-O8CnCLfAc - god, can you not hear the actual thing? I really miss it in FF14. It's actually quite frustrating, knowing all this work and potential "un-explored". The terrible synthetic soundbanks just do this music such an injustice..

Impetuous fool, I think your ears are broken, especially if they're cherry picking a 15 second portion of an arrangement almost two minutes in, where a lot is going on in a very upbeat battle track that has to stand out over combat sound effects, normally.

It's fine to miss music that you have nostalgia for, but unless you're Neal Acree, Jeremy Soule, or Russell Brower then it sure as heck isn't your work. Put up or shut up.

Try these:

Wayward Daughter

Mortal Instants

Sunrise

Rise

Yes, some are synth heavy. But you know what? You basically said that anything with a synth in it is bad. Which proves you are an insipid individual.

For music I hope they add, I do really hope they bring Naoshi Mizuta on board for more tracks, if possible. Hell, I'd settle for them just ripping more of his tracks from FFXI.

Wail of the Void

[HuaTuo]

Yes, some are synth heavy. But you know what? You basically said that anything with a synth in it is bad. Which proves you are an insipid individual.

I'm gonna just carry on as normal, came to the forums to basically complain about the cheap and honestly terrible synth arrangements of soundtrack accompanying the entire game. There are people out there who arrange Uematsu's work into an ensemble settings, and it sounds fantastic. And in a videogame, where "Immersion" and capturing ambience matters, the cheap sounding synth just somewhat degrades this aspect, at least for me it does. If you wanna call me insipid or whatever else, just because you don't agree, well that speaks more about your own taste than mine xD

Why can't we have something like This on our login screens baffles me, more so that SE wouldn't let us have it, with the money they make.

[Fellgon]

I'm gonna just carry on as normal, came to the forums to basically complain about the cheap and honestly terrible synth arrangements of soundtrack accompanying the entire game.

You say that cause you never heard the regional music of my State. Soken music is a blessing, videogames music saved my musical and cultural life!

[Vyrerus]

If you wanna call me insipid or whatever else, just because you don't agree, well that speaks more about your own taste than mine xD

I call you insipid, because you are. There's more to music than whatever your 213 year old traditional music conservatory taught you.

Your entire premise centers around that the synth won't sound as good as real instruments, when synths can create brand new sounds that old instruments cannot accurately reproduce.

I love traditional orchestration as much as anybody, but discounting synths as a tool to give us something wonderful, and further than that, discounting the entire soundtrack because it incorporates synthesis just makes me think that your conservatory must have a rather addlepated curriculum with some old fogies that can't get over the old ways.

[Fellgon]

Impetuous fool, I think your ears are broken, especially if they're cherry picking a 15 second portion of an arrangement almost two minutes in, where a lot is going on in a very upbeat battle track that has to stand out over combat sound effects, normally.

It's fine to miss music that you have nostalgia for, but unless you're Neal Acree, Jeremy Soule, or Russell Brower then it sure as heck isn't your work. Put up or shut up.

Try these:

Wayward Daughter

Mortal Instants

Sunrise

Rise

Yes, some are synth heavy. But you know what? You basically said that anything with a synth in it is bad. Which proves you are an insipid individual.

For music I hope they add, I do really hope they bring Naoshi Mizuta on board for more tracks, if possible. Hell, I'd settle for them just ripping more of his tracks from FFXI.

Wail of the Void

Bring more synth please! make final fantasy 14 a true rave! i love it!

[RyuDragnier]

Impetuous fool, I think your ears are broken, especially if they're cherry picking a 15 second portion of an arrangement almost two minutes in, where a lot is going on in a very upbeat battle track that has to stand out over combat sound effects, normally.

It's fine to miss music that you have nostalgia for, but unless you're Neal Acree, Jeremy Soule, or Russell Brower then it sure as heck isn't your work. Put up or shut up.

Try these:

Wayward Daughter

Mortal Instants

Sunrise

Rise

Yes, some are synth heavy. But you know what? You basically said that anything with a synth in it is bad. Which proves you are an insipid individual.

For music I hope they add, I do really hope they bring Naoshi Mizuta on board for more tracks, if possible. Hell, I'd settle for them just ripping more of his tracks from FFXI.

Wail of the Void

They know not of the glory. But the day will come, when they reach the end of 5.3 and hear the glorious track of Seat of Sacrifice. Then they will know the true glory, the glory of Soken's full power.

[Nothv13]

1:40-1:55 xD I think my ears are just fine, thank you kind sir! Like, the actual music is great.

Although as far as the arrangement goes, compared of first 25 seconds of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-O8CnCLfAc - god, can you not hear the actual thing? I really miss it in FF14. It's actually quite frustrating, knowing all this work and potential "un-explored". The terrible synthetic soundbanks just do this music such an injustice..

Your example sounds like generic fantasy music number twelve with a tinge of Star wars. Easily forgotten and not something that dramatically ties itself to the game. You may have an education, but one thing I learned from all the educated people around me, they often lack real world perspective, particularly on non traditional formats such as video games.

[Fenral]

Proper use of attack/loop/decay can create all sorts of new and wonderful sounds that are out of reach with traditional, dare I say "analog," instruments. Personally, I will take MIDI any day over a live recording with a conductor who's half asleep. The "remastered" Kingdom Hearts soundtracks, for example, are perhaps one of the worst crimes against VGM ever... orchestrated.

FFXII's remaster fared a little better, but, if you've memorized the original album, a lot of the most memorable parts of the most memorable tracks had sounds that couldn't be reproduced by humans, and you'll notice their absence on the new recordings. I think it's telling that FFXIV went with the original MIDI versions when the Zodiac Age tracks were likely available, considering the timing, though that might have also been for parity with the FF Tactics tracks.


(Oh, right, there's an entire raid series in Stormblood that recycles internationally-acclaimed synth-orchestra tracks that I hope will change your mind on MIDI, at least a little. Won't hold my breath, though.)