Awakening: FFVI music

[Larissa]

I accidentally a site.

Awakening: music of Final Fantasy VI

How do you make a fansite for a soundtrack? Turns out it's very easy when there are dozens and dozens and dozens of albums its music appears on. At first I wasn't sure if what I was putting together even "counted" as a fansite and then I had more content than I knew what to do with...

Anyway, I did my best to make it accessible and easy to read/navigate but I'm open to feedback. There are a couple of things I'd like to add in the future, but I haven't actually played FFVI in years so I left them off.

sob this site is so nerdy. I care way too much about video game music.

[nyxmidnight]

I approve of accidental sites, especially to nerdy subjects like this. Congratulations! I love your font choices.

[Lethe]

I love the Final Fantasy Wiki very much, and when I browsed it not too long ago to look up specific songs, I noticed just how rich the soundscape of the series is, especially with the addition of games like Theatrhythm, what with remixes/arrangements (music noob here, ignore the terms I use), tracks that spin together a lot of different pieces, sometimes even from different games (especially credits tracks), vocal tributes by other artists, multiple iterations of the same song within the same game, etc. and how quickly it can get confusing, all the more so with different official names for the tracks! And yes, I was totally browsing the Wikis because I'm one of those organized iTunes people you mention in your shrine! lol

Site hopping to settle on a "version" of translation was extremely tedious because many different sites (Wikipedia, the FF Wiki, fansites, iTunes) don't list "all the names" or don't even mention which version is which, so I'm very glad that you designed the track list of the shrine the way you did (goes to show how one can go the extra mile for something as basic as a track list!).

I'm not the music type or an album collector at all, so seeing so many different released discs has always been confusing to me (not just when it comes to FF), but from a curious fan's perspective, it's nice to see not just a list of all the different releases and arranged albums, but your short commentary for each of those, to see where the differences lie and what the highlights/unique additions are. :O

The fan remixes & arrangements page is particularly interesting because it's not the kind of thing that is typically mentioned on sites like Wikipedia, since it's not official, so you only really learn about them through word of mouth. Great to see those tributes being recommended by fans. I'll be sure to check these out later!!

And the personal recommendation playlist goooosh, now that's a lovely finishing touch!! <3

Hm... The following can be a suggestion for future additions if that's something you have in mind: I read these liner notes a few weeks ago and was deeply touched by them, especially due to their link to FFVI itself or, more specifically, the transition from the World of Balance to the World of Ruin, which is lauded by so many fans. The parts about trying to escape pain, but ultimately realizing that you must face the past without letting it crush you, and working towards the future (Terra, Locke, Celes, and so on). I don't know how big of a deal liner notes are and whether they exist for all discs, but I guess when I read these particular notes, the mental association with FFVI was so strong that I kind of expected to see them show up on your shrine too...! They were only mentioned in passing in the form of a link though. (Maybe I'm just silly!)

Props to you for making such a well-rounded compilation of something that spans so many releases and years, and for linking to all the databases/resources throughout the site! I can't imagine making a shrine like this because... it must have taken soooooooooo long to gather all that specific data (all the numbers O___O), which tends to be so dry and which is easy to brush over as a visitor, but is essential to a music database nevertheless.

And your layout is lovely - the dynamic, the aggressive, yet dreamy colours, the pattern that reminds one of Narshe's snow...!

oops sorry about all that gushing I just like seeing these types of shrines and would love to see more music shrines *O*

Edit: I just listened to Death on the Snowfield AND IT MOVES ME SO MUCH ;____________; I could listen to different versions/interpretations of Terra's Theme all year long, that theme is so dear to me.

[Larissa]

@nyx: Thank you! Google Fonts is my new favorite thing.

@Lethe: Oh my goodness, thank you so much for the thoughtful words! I'm so flattered, you have no idea. I was worried this site would have no audience whatsoever but you've proven me wrong and I couldn't be happier.

To touch on a couple of the things you brought up: it actually took me years to figure out what was up with all the tracklist discrepancies, haha, so it was really important to me to make it very clear what the deal was! I honestly could have listed about six different names for each track, no joke; I settled on the solution I did in hopes of making it clear. I'm glad it worked!

I actually did think about discussing those liner notes, actually! I just wasn't sure what to say or how to work it in -- there are a couple of other quotes from Uematsu from various places that I found while putting this site together, I just couldn't figure out how to make a coherent page out of it. It's one of those things I left out as something to add for later.

I had no idea what I was in for when I started putting the pages together; I didn't think it would turn out to be so much information, ahaha. But like you said it wouldn't be right without them given the focus of the site. Thankfully I've heard most of the albums I talked about so I could talk about them. (I am the biggest nerd for FF music.)

I didn't even think about the pattern looking like snow... I'll chalk that up to a happy accident

Thank you so much for the kind words!

also i totally forgot to add the thearthythm albums LMAO I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING

(also also: YES that arrangement is excellent. I've lost count of how many arrangements of Terra's theme I have but they're all great. There's another one on the playlist, The 6th Kingdom, that's probably the most unique version of her theme I've ever heard.)

[Robin]

Accidental sites are the best! Especially when they are as gorgeously designed and informatively detailed as this one! :D :D

Seriously, how do you have brain space for all this and keep it all straight before you type it out? Your shrines always put mine to shame :D

[Mikari]

This is a really well made "accident" XD I like all the detail that you put into it, very informative. :)

[Lethe]

Your shrine deserves all the nice words! :D :D lol I'm impressed at you knowing most of the albums personally (THERE ARE SO MANY) and not just listing them by the way, but it makes sense since you did comment on so many on them...!

"The 6th Kingdom" is not my kind of music at all, but one thing I appreciate about your recommendation list is how it not only pulls from many different sources, but showcases how different the music genres can be even though they're all part of or tributes to the same game! (I listened to all of it even though back in the day of website juke boxes, I never showed any interest in those things. lol)

Confession: I can't stop listening to The Impresario (Opera Sequence) ever since I discovered it yesterday through Awakening! I've listened to it over ten times now and you know how long the track is. @_______@ (The "I'm the darkness, you're the starlight" gives me goosebumps and I will listen to the entire track just to hear that passage over and over, though of course the rest is just as excellent!)

I've also known OverClocked ReMix for over ten years, but never really visited or explored the site because the few times I was linked to it, it seemed on an entire level as far as music understanding goes, and always made me feel that it's not a place for a music noobie, even as part of the audience...! But with so many lovely finds thanks to you I think I'll take my time to explore remixes of old school RPGs sometime soon.

(THIS IS WHY I LOVE SHRINESSSSSSSSSSSSS They let you have an in-depth look at the reasons someone loves a thing and give you the opportunity to get to know and love the thing as well!!)

[Megan]

Awesome job, like always! I am impressed with how you managed that. I remember when I owned the KHII OST I had a list of all of the songs and such but I didn't know where to go from there... glad you had some creative flow and made a site! :D

[Larissa]

@CuriousLittleBird: My secret is lots of lists that keep me organized :P

@Mikari: Thank you!

@Megan: Thanks! I've always had some content on this site, and a lot of it was the same, just presented differently. A fresh look after a couple of years helped a lot.

@Lethe: I listen to a ridiculous amount of FF music, it's kind of a problem. My iTunes library is a mess. But it certainly came in handy for this site!

I'm so glad you liked the playlist, even if not all the songs were to your taste! I tried to include a wide range of songs and styles, although I did end up sticking a lot of my favorites in, haha. And yes, The Impresario is absolutely incredible, and one of the most amazing arrangements ever put together. All three songs they did for the opera for Balance & Ruin are great, honestly.

(I highly recommend OC Remix, obviously; I too knew about it for a long while before I started diving into their music, and now I listen to it all the time. There's just so much talent there, it's unreal.)

Thank you so much for the lovely comments, I really appreciate it

[Crystal]

This is so awesome Larissa! I love that you decided to shrine a game OST, and the layout rocks!