Uematsu not involved in the remake...

Pixel · Sep 15, 2015

Someone left a comment on a video I posted on Reddit.

At Final Symphony II in London this Past Saturday, Uematsu was asked if he would like to be involved in the FF7 remake - he said "No, that is in the past for me, it is done and finished".

So there you have it. I'm sure someone filmed the talk (I didn't) or has the EXACT phrase he used to say "no".

Can anyone confirm this?

Tetsujin · Sep 15, 2015

Would suck if true.

Pixel · Sep 15, 2015

Looks like its true. The guy was at the event. It was asked during a Q&A.

RedFFWolf · Sep 15, 2015

Hope it's not true. I found this tweet from Nova Crystallis where they say Uematsu, in a pre-concert talk, expressed his interest in a remastered OST for FFVII, and it was at the aforementioned Final Symphony II concert. (Of course, the tweet is vague at best, considering a revamp of the music was as good as inevitable)

But a quote like "No, that is in the past for me, it is done and finished" sounds that bit more definitive from him :\ - Perhaps expressing an interest in seeing the changes, but just not his own involvement in the matter, I guess.

Pixel · Sep 15, 2015

A quote from Christopher Stevens, who asked the question "As I recall he didn't say it exactly like that, he said he was done with the task (of making FF7 music) so wouldn't say he would be taking part."

Flintlock · Sep 15, 2015

As I said on the podcast many episodes ago, Uematsu has done his work for the remake already, in the form of his original compositions. Assuming the remake uses those compositions, I have no problem with someone else remixing and remastering them. Not all of the results will be to my taste, but that would be the case even if Uematsu did it. If, on the other hand, there are going to be some entirely new tracks, I'd love him to be involved.

ForceStealer · Sep 15, 2015

Yeah, I mean, guy runs his own business now. So if he doesn't wanna do it, he doesn't want to do it.

But like I said in the original announcement thread: Obviously Uematsu would be the number one choice, but failing that, Kazuhiko Toyama has MORE than proven himself as an excellent arranger of Uematsu tracks.
I submit, once again, Exhibit A to the court:

Tetsujin · Sep 15, 2015

Uematsu being the arranger for orchestral stuff was never really in question because he never did orchestrations in the first place. However, I do think it's important for him to be there as a supervisor.
Yoko Shimomura also supervised the arrangements for the Kingdom Hearts HD versions despite not orchestrating/arranging them personally.

Pixel · Sep 15, 2015

I'm not a huge fan of a lot of the Crisis Core soundrack, but Ishimoto's orchestration of the opening in the "To be continued" is perfect. And yeah, Fulfilled desire is beautiful. Those 2 teaming up on this would be perfect.

trash panda · Sep 15, 2015

I'm not sure why he said it's in the past because, IIRC at both Distant Worlds concerts I've been to, Arnie Roth said that he and Uematsu work on new compositions together. That would mean that Uematsu does create new content for old FF games (for DW, but still). I'm just saying that new FF musical content is definitely not a thing of the past for Uematsu. :whistle:

Hisako · Sep 16, 2015

Pixel said:
I'm not a huge fan of a lot of the Crisis Core soundrack, but Ishimoto's orchestration of the opening in the "To be continued" is perfect. And yeah, Fulfilled desire is beautiful. Those 2 teaming up on this would be perfect.

iirc that was mostly a rejiggered Advent Children opening track (in turn the original FFVII opening track)?

I'm not a fan of Ishimoto, I find most of his work for Crisis Core, Dissidia and Type-0 to be mediocre ambience and meaningless, cheap synth work (even if his guitars are solid). I'm much more a fan of Toyama's tracks for Crisis Core and I think he'd do a better job.

That said, if it were to be anybody they'd hire in-house per se, it'd probably be Ishimoto, since the majority of spinoffs seems to be scored by him at this point. His main theme compositions are decent enough, I suppose.

Obsidian Fire · Sep 16, 2015

So long as either Toyama or Ishimoto do it, I'll be happy. Even if they're stuff isn't quite like Uematsu's, it still sounds like Final Fantasy music does. Actually, Yoko Shimomura from Kingdom Hearts would probably do a good job as well.

The one person I don't want to do it is Masashi Hamauzu.

Flare · Sep 16, 2015

As long as the original tunes are still there, even just remixed, I suppose I'll be happy.

I've never had a problem with any of the FF game's music, myself; there's a lot of songs/tracks I like in every game, regardless of who composed it. Nobuo of course has the most favorites for me.

AerithLives · Sep 16, 2015

Square Enix are going to ruin it, arent they?

hian · Sep 17, 2015

I don't know why people expected Uematsu to be involved in the first place. Nobuo has only been involved in two SE products since the merger and his relationship with the company has been pretty strained ever since, due to location changes, the fact that he now produces freelance for many other titles and seem to be prioritizing those, and some issues with copyrights on his earlier works.

Umatsu's forte has always been composing in either case, for more than production on a general basis. He's great at creating original melodies, but personally, I think a lot of other artists have done a better job of arranging those themes than Uematsu himself.

FF7 already has a soundtrack. It's already been composed. They don't need Uematsu to re-arrange or supervise the production of higher-quality variants, as this job can be done by pretty much anyone as long as they have his original score to work off of, and granted the fact that there are many producers who're more skilled than him in that regards, it makes more sense for SE to take that path instead.

To clarify before someone feels the need to jump down my throat though - No I am not saying Nobuo isn't a brilliant composer. To my mind, he's the best contemporary composer of music period - because the melodies he makes are pure genius. However, he is not the best producer or the best arranger out there - there's a big difference between these aspects of creation music.

Personally, if they're going to have someone else interpret and renew his work, I'd like someone really high-end like Kannou Yoko (probably the best producer in Japan in my opinion), but that's really really unlikely to happen.

Flare · Sep 17, 2015

Thinking more on what some of you have already said, even though I think it would be cool to see Nobuo be involved in the remake, he really doesn't have to be, especially if they simply remaster the soundtrack and perhaps add a few new songs. All of his original material is already there, so... a remaster can be done well by several composers, I think.

I like Yoko Kanno too, but I don't know if she'd be the perfect choice for remastering VII's music (if getting her to do so was possible). Maybe they'll get Yoko Shimomura to do it instead? She's already doing XV's music, and I love the sound of it.

hian · Sep 17, 2015

The reason I like Kanno, is because she's got extreme width as a producer. She's a professional producer that knows how to shed her skin and put on the coat of other musicians, emulating their style and getting the genre and feel of other works down to a T.
She also composes works that function most like Nobuo's in the sense that they're held together by a relatively simple, pop-ish center melody.

While I like Yoko Shimomura, she has a completely different style. Her melodies are usually longer, more complex and less structured than the melodies of of Uematsu and Kannou, and she, like many other composers/producers IMO is too married to her own particular brand and sound.
I can instantly recognize Shimomura in everything she does based on composition alone, and I think that she is a lesser choice in doing re-interpretative work which manages to capture the feel of another composer.

She's another great producer though, and seeing as how the bulk of the work is already done by Uematsu it's not like she'd be a bad choice. Her work on Kingdom Hearts and FF15 is fantastic.

Flare · Sep 17, 2015

I never quite thought of her music in that way, but you are right, she does have a distintinct sound to her stuff. Very complex and sort of sweeping melodies. Nobuo has a big wide array of music he's composed before, and yet he too also has a style. Everyone has a style, but who can make Nobuo's original VII tracks sound the best in a remaster? I wonder who they'll pick to do it.
For the record, I did like CC's versions of the original songs; they were more heavy metal, but I think it really fit with CC.

Obsidian Fire · Sep 17, 2015

^^I don't know. I think FFVII's music has just gotten more "heavy metal" as it's gone on and I'm not just talking about CC. AC/ACC has some of the most "heavy metal" music of the Compilation (Those Who Fight Further, Chase of Highway, Savior) and it's composed by Uematsu. In fact, I think that's why CC's soundtrack fits with the OG's better then DC's does. It has a lot of the fusion of "classical" and "heavy metal" that the OG does. DC is almost all "classical" and it sticks out from the OG soundtrack like a sore thumb.

Flare · Sep 17, 2015

Oh yeah, DC's soundtrack has a very different feel to it. I like some of the songs, but it gives the sequel a really different feel to it than the rest of the games in the compilation.
And you're right about AC's soundtrack too, it does have some heavy metal-esque to it.
I liked it. XD

Animexcel · Sep 17, 2015

hian said:
The reason I like Kanno, is because she's got extreme width as a producer. She's a professional producer that knows how to shed her skin and put on the coat of other musicians, emulating their style and getting the genre and feel of other works down to a T.
She also composes works that function most like Nobuo's in the sense that they're held together by a relatively simple, pop-ish center melody.

Do you have some examples I could listen to where she's done this? I only know her music through Cowboy Bebop :p

While I like Yoko Shimomura, she has a completely different style. Her melodies are usually longer, more complex and less structured than the melodies of of Uematsu and Kannou, and she, like many other composers/producers IMO is too married to her own particular brand and sound.
I can instantly recognize Shimomura in everything she does based on composition alone, and I think that she is a lesser choice in doing re-interpretative work which manages to capture the feel of another composer.

She's another great producer though, and seeing as how the bulk of the work is already done by Uematsu it's not like she'd be a bad choice. Her work on Kingdom Hearts and FF15 is fantastic.

I loved Yoko Shimomura as well ever since I heard her Parasite Eve score. I didn't even know she composed Street Fighter music! *cues Guile theme*

hian · Sep 18, 2015

Animexcel said:
Do you have some examples I could listen to where she's done this? I only know her music through Cowboy Bebop :p

You're in for a treat then.

Check out her work on
Ghost in The Shell - Stand Alone Complex,
Wolf's Rain,
Escaflowne

Just give a couple of tracks a listen on Youtube.
EDIT : I'll just put some here under a spoiler tag to save you some time. This are not necessarily good examples similar of traditional FF music, but they show the specter and skill of Kanno as a composer and producer.

As much as I love Uematsu, I would argue these are some of the best composed and produced pieces of music in history period. GiTS SAC covers rock, electronic music, jazz, pop, bossa nova and neo-classic works, with each track sounding like it was made by artists who've spent years mastering each respective genre, rather than a single composers struggling to mimic a genre they're only partially familiar with.

I really shudder, in a good way, to think of how that woman could interpret Uematsu pieces like One Winged Angel, or the main theme of FF7.

Pixel · Nov 6, 2015

Uematsu has again confirmed no involvement at all.

http://www.finalfantasyunion.com/ne...ment-with-final-fantasy-vii-remake--3047.html

Tetsujin · Nov 6, 2015

Was just about to post this D;

Sad to see he won't be supervising any arrangements. I'm pretty sure it would be an advantage if any arrangers could consult with him directly.

hian · Nov 6, 2015

I wonder if he was actually approached at all, or if SE is content to just ignore him while profiting off his work?
His split with the company involved some pretty bad intellectual property disputes after all.

Uematsu not involved in the remake...

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