ReMix: Final Fantasy VI 'Celces (Dance)'

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Man! Tell me this doesn't sound like a Front 242 track at the beginning, and you'll be wrong! WRONG! In particular, their newer stuff (well, not new, but newER) has a strong resemblance to this great ReMix from Final Fantasy 6 by the appropriately named ReMixer 'FF Music DJ'. Over the pulsing four-on-the-floor kick drum and staccato synth patterns, the main melody shines through on a lead synth sound that seems like it has a gate assigned to the AMP envelope or something - a weird, hiccuping effect that works well. Fans of techno and of the Final Fantasy series (does that leave anyone out!?) should definitely give it a spin.

djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Well, to like this song you need to like Electronica/Techno and I do, so I like this. I will admit that FFMusicDJ has done much better work though.
On a side note, this is the song that brought me to this site. :)

- Daemos on March 30, 2012
Hate to say it, this one's just painful. Pass.

- DragonAvenger on December 20, 2009
Of the multitude of OCR songs I have in (for FF, downloaded all the stuff from I through X, along with X-2, with XII's and today XI's in there, too, though some have been released recently that I haven't checked), this is the one I'd outright removed from that playlist's circulation. Reading that others don't like this, too, it may be the lone FF ReMix I plain-out remove. (Not to say there aren't other songs I regularly skip, for certain.)
With techno, I want to like the genre, but it irritates my senses under various circumstances. I'm no bard, and know little if anything about musical technicalities, but something I feel about OCr's 'technos' is that there are many other tracks or beats or whatever that seem completely unrelated to the focused song, which doesn't mesh well for me (and can, if there's too many or they're too pronounced, can bother on my ears and head). For this song, I had formed the opinion (listened to a couple bits some minutes ago, but not enough to re-evaluate), it not only seemed that NONE of the extra noises worked from/on/with/whatever the "Celes" tune/melody/w/e, but that the "Celes" section itself didn't have anything changed about it, like various presets were slapped onto the original or something.
Now, I have FFmDj's others on there, and they're listened to if I'm in the mood or don't mind, but this first attempt doesn't please my senses or sensibilities (as a whole, at least; I'd prolly like some of the noises themselves).
EDIT: When searching iTunes for the song, I was made aware (or reminded) of the spelling "Celces". Makes me think "Celsius" (prolly X-2's fault), but what is the story behind that?

- TJF588 on February 16, 2009
Not my fav; we'll leave it at that.
Do yourself a favor and check out some of FFDj's newer stuff and let this one be.

- OA on January 10, 2008
8O 8O 8O FFmusic Dj's worst song right here. Downright horrible, poor synths, frustrating bass sound (sounds like a slapper? wtf? :?). On top of that, there's nothing to complement the lead synth...:oops:
But it's ok, ur still one of my favorite remixers ever, Haroon :D. Everyone's entitled to one of these, and apparently it was your first anyways.

- Hollidayrain on December 3, 2006
This one is....sorry, haveto say it...HORRIBLE!
The synth killed the Celes melody that´s one of my favorites, and that weird voice echoing all the time drove me crazy. But if you keep in mind that this was FFMDJ´s FIRST remix, you may understand why it may sound like this, because I hace listened to other of his works, and they´re are simply great!

- Bummerdude on October 5, 2005
Well I must say that this song brought tears to my Eyes... Just like it did in the games...
Thaks for the sweet tune FFmusic Dj

- Genowing on May 20, 2004
I'm afraid I have to disagree with everyone on this one. I'm not an avid mixer or anything, but I really enjoy this song. I thought it was awesome, I'm not real familiar with all the technical stuff but this song just made me wanna get up and dance (and I did!), so I don't think this is a bad song at all.
Just my opinion, please don't hurt me, eep!

- Cold Rhapsody on September 7, 2003
sorry guys, I dont recommend this to anyone who likes any of my new stuff, what can I say, times change, that was 3 or 4 years back, this is now. .. ... just
listen to this song I was working on today
http://66.54.168.83/Haroon%20-%20demo.mp3
I mean, this is what I make now, just leave this song alone, it will show me how bad I was before .... or so YOU all think :p

- ffmusic dj on August 9, 2003
zircon wrote: Can someone please explain how this got accepted?

There were no judges at the time.

- Eccles on August 5, 2003
Let me say this upfront; I've never been a big fan of ffmusic_dj. His remixes have always sounded like purely mediocre techno, the sort of stuff you might hear on a pop radio station at 1am on a Saturday night.
This remix is NO exception. In fact, I believe this is not OCR-quality at all. The 'vocals' are not interesting, but randomly strewn throughout the remix for no apparent reason, adding absolutely nothing to it. In fact, they actually sound very irritating to me. The arrangement sounds like it was done by an eight year old. The melody synth, while somewhat cool sounding, is ruined by the fact that it sounds like it was played with one finger. The accompaniment is pitiful; no chords, no arpeggios, nothing at all to make it interesting to listen to. Then, instead of variation, we get repetition. And one repeat is the same melody with lower volume.
Even as techno tracks go, this one is below average. Even songs like Sandstorm have more interesting accompaniment with strings playing chords in the background.
Can someone please explain how this got accepted?

- zircon on August 5, 2003
Im always cautious about approaching remixes like this one with romantic themes like Celes for fear of messing them up and ruining them.
Very much like this one did.
Instead of the repeat fire thing you used for the melody I would have preferred a proper sustained trance lead...possibly a sizzlead (I know Im always suggesting it but thats because it kicks so much ass) but then I dont suppose I can blame you for the atrocity of the main melody...techno Ejay doesnt support more than 8ths does it :wink:
Im not over keen on the robo voices and kinda weird scratchings...poartially cause theyre EJay and that bugs me, but mostly because they dont really link to anything in particular...it sounds like theyre just there for the sake of being there.
The bassline I dont like either...the slap bass just sounds out of place in a techno mix like this one
The ending is pretty bad too...a fadeout of just drums. I'd have preferred a proper ending...not that.
Overall...
Im sorry to say it but this is perhaps the worst FFmusic track on site...I cant recommend it to anyone :(

- Eccles on June 30, 2003
I feel this is one of ffmusic dj's worse songs, the way the melody just stops with no echo or reverb drives me mad, when I heard it in the car the first time, I almost crashed. The beat is plain, the build up isn't special, I feel that ffmusic dj could've done a much better job on this song, and I hope he goes back and refurnishes it up.
I give this song a 4/10
~dj carbunk1e

- Xaleph on July 24, 2002
...a little? Maybe, maybe moderately dissappointing, somewhere inbetween. I would have expected better for a dance mix, since this is one of my favorite genres.
Actually, I expected something similar to the Final Fantasy Crystal Rave mix or Saria2.mid (that's somewhere on vgmusic.com), in that they both sound full and uppity or something. I don't really know what it is, but this mix sounds a little empty.
What was good:
1. The drums ruled. Perfect timbre for a dance mix.
2. The backup was great, nice slap bass (?) and what sounded like some form of (possibly corrupted) impulse wave.
3. Great vocal interventions, with the twisted manner. Nice effects and interjections, with the bike bell and all.
What could have been better:
1. The main melody was kind of weak. It had a ton of backup harmonies, and it sounded like it was afraid of them and was really tiny.
2. That instrument by itself kinda bugs me, sounds like it's a little gloomy, and the rest of the music is all party-style. Couldn't you have pepped it up a bit?
3. The bass was reallyREALLYreally overpowered. I can barely hear it even if I strain.
Care to take another shot at it? That was done once with the Bubble Bobble NotATrueEnding mix, and I really hate to see a good mix have one tiny tiny aspect of it create abrasion.
Rating: [--------------O-----] 7.5: Room for improvement, but good enough that it hurts not to request another take at it.

- BluefoxIcy on July 19, 2002
I found this song odd for a couple of reasons. The vocals were really weird. The lead...well, thats already been discussed. Also, the use of a bike bell? Somehow, it all fits together to make a pretty decent track, and one of the better Celes mixes out there.

- Dev on June 10, 2002