My 30-Day JRPG Soundtrack Full Immersion: The Results

I wanted to learn more about this genre so I immersed myself in JRPG music soundtracks for a month. In this video I take you on this journey with me. It starts with lots of listening, a little transcribing, some composing, then more listening, more composing and asking for help to fellow composer friend Claude Ruelle.
👍 Claude Ruelle's KZbin channels: @ClaudeRuelleMusic, @ClaudeRuelleGuitar
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00:00:00 Listening to FF7 remake
00:04:13 Listening to Dragon Quest/Octopath Traveller
00:06:58 Piano reduction "Bombing mission" from FF7 remake
00:09:04 Piano reduction "let the battles begin!" FF7 remake
00:12:39 Transcription "Tranquil days" from Octopath traveller
00:17:52 More listening (Kingdom hearts, Persona 5, Monster Hunter)
00:20:07 First attempt at composing
00:22:50 Second attempt at composing
00:27:29 Third attempt at composing
00:34:17 Claude explains looping
00:40:03 Claude explains adaptive music
00:44:32 Arranging Azalea town from Pokemon HG,SS
00:56:27 More composing
01:09:42 Final thoughts

[@ClaudeRuelleMusic]

The work that went into this video is outstanding. Thank you so much for having me, it was a pleasure!

[@MattiaChiappa]

Thanks man, the pleasure was mine! You had lots of really awesome and helpful insides

[@barneystinson2382]

First of all, all your music on this video sounded amazing. I wish I had your skills. Maybe you wouldnt be so hard on yourself if you considered this as something like Nahre Sol series of videos "x music style as digested by a classical composer". You make it clear that you were changing things to suit your taste and/or composing style, and it sounded great. If you wanted to do something a little bit more by the book I would recommend Gavin Leeper's channel and maybe listening more to 8bit and 16bit jrpg music rather than the more modern orchestral takes. All in all, I learned a lot, you are an amazing composer and it all sounded amazing.

[@rowegardner9673]

Man… you’re so hard on yourself but all I hear is exceptional music and talent on display! What an incredible video!

[@TheCoolj1212]

Glad to see you back Mattia! If you're interested there is a FF7 piano collections piece called Those Who Fight which I believe is the orginial theme that Let the Battle Begin is based on. It's a really great listen!

[@MattiaChiappa]

Oh yeah i will definitely check that out. Thanks for sharing!

[@user-rq6mb7no6z]

Super cool video, really enjoyed it, good job man :)

[@Somer144]

The fusion tune is absolutely sick!

[@zenzelstephensmusic]

You just gave me a great idea!! I will have to finish the video tomorrow but this sounds soo good!

[@IvoryMadness.]

Great video!

[@AudekkaMusic]

This is super awesome, i love JPRG soundtracks and i love your content, so this has been very special. Thanks for your work, always inspiring.

[@charli3br0wn]

All tracks are amazing! This is an absolutely outstanding video, loved your guitar and bass playing! I think we all would love to hear / see about the changes you did to the orchestral part to make it sound studio-like, using mostly the same libraries I think? The CSS sounds pretty different. Go nerd, mic mixes, reverbs! Again, outstanding. Your best to date. Thought it would be too long and it felt short in the end. PS: The drum groove (and that fill) for the last one is incredibly funky... 😎 all that time you invested really paid off.

[@wietzejohanneskrikke1910]

Hi Mattia. Very much enjoyed this video and your musical foray into game music. Very insightful and bit daunting i have to say. Anyway, i wanted to comment on the latin section of the last arrangement in the video. You said you weren't completely happy with the end result. Well, something you could try is take out the sustained brass chords since they interfere with/mask the busy latin accompaniment. That way the piano, percussion and guitars will be able to poke through and give the section more energy. Hope that fixes the problem. Cheers.

[@RicoDerks]

Woah what a cool track!

[@MattiaChiappa]

Thanks man! I hope your new course has been going well 😁

[@barneystinson2382]

Could you make a video about your harmonic choices? For instance, the way you mix 7th chords with chords without a 7th. Is this something you learned as you learned chord progressions and songs, is it something you pick up by ear, or is there something else? How to become good at this?

[@TheCoolj1212]

@52:22 For moments like these I often find the piccolo works great. You just have to be a bit careful as the piccolo can become really abrasive in the upper range. Usually hanging around mp-mf or even quieter works for me. However, I guess it depends on how present you want that melody line to feel. Piccolos definitely capture your attention haha.

[@TheCoolj1212]

Another thing to consider would be some mic automation. Ideally you could boost the close signals of the instruments but I think CSW is kinda limited in that sense, even with the options it gives you.

[@mosstet]

I thought you used CSS, but your midi is all to grid and not out of time! How you do that? Thankyou for the amazing video.

[@MattiaChiappa]

It’s vista for the vast majority but you can still have css on the grid with negative track delay

[@Somer144]

1:03:00 - 1:05:00 that’s incredible!!!

[@MattiaChiappa]

Thanks!

[@maestrospolzino]

I don't know if it's a private impression, but I always think JRPGs sound very Mixolydian! The game can be medieval, space or modern, every time I listen to it I have the impression of hearing the mixolydian mode! Haha

[@MattiaChiappa]

Yeah there's a lot mixolydian and phrygian as well but i think they're often used in combination with other modes

[@Purplesky-ky5jo]

Your arrangement of Azalea town sounds great, it was helpful hearing about how you adapted the different layers it had. It was actually composed by Go Ichinose who started helping Masuda in gen 2. He made an arrangement of the song for a game between the original and the HGSS one, which also has a different take on it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ6aeZ2JbJlqo68

[@Somer144]

Sorry to keep harping in but your mixes sound huge, airy and open! No ear fatigue at all.

[@MattiaChiappa]

No worries, leave all the comments you like 😁 I like these mixes myself. Make me want to change my template. These are a bit more on the dry side to fit the Japanese studio aesthetic

[@Somer144]

@@MattiaChiappa You got it! haha!

[@Somer144]

What drums are you using? Or is that a real drummer?

[@MattiaChiappa]

For the pokemon theme i've used NI 60s drummer from the abbey road series, the fusion tune at the end was NI studio drums. The acid jazz tune was live drums recorded with an iPhone. I just pulled the audio from Ollie's instagram

[@Somer144]

@@MattiaChiappa I have those plugins and they sound nothing like that, plus i suck as Kybd drummer, ha. I thought that was a real drummer. Awesome sound and programming! TY

[@MattiaChiappa]

Yeah I spent forever arranging the drums. Writing for drums and bass is one of the things I enjoy the most. The default mix is not great, try the INIT patch, turn off the room mics, reverbs and finesse the close mics here and there. Try minimal to no reverb or only on the snare and maybe a couple of db of overall compression. I feel like a good drum sound should be dry and punchy

[@Somer144]

@@MattiaChiappa Agreed! Ok, will do! You hit the nail on the head, I can't seem to get rid of all the reverb on the NI kits. I have been using Steven Slate drums which are a joy to use, they are very responsive and sit nicely in the mix with no fuss. And they kick like a mule, if you want them too.

[@MattiaChiappa]

@@Somer144 Oh yeah?! Gotta check that out then