Game Audio | Final Fantasy VII - Part 1 | Orchestration Breakdown

Watch and learn from former Pyramind alumni and now Senior Technical Sound Designer at Riot Games, Brennan Anderson as he digs into the opening theme, “Opening: Bombing Mission” by Nobuo Uematsu in Final Fantasy VII. In this video, Brennan focuses on orchestration, arrangement, and pacing and talks about the techniques Nobuo uses to make the piece flow well with the game, as well as how it fits in with the rest of the music in the game.

This is a must-watch for game music enthusiasts, especially fans of Final Fantasy VII.

Part 2 of this video coming soon!

Intro

00:45 Meter in 4/4 but full of triplets

01:05 Intro section indicative of game theme of mystery & machinery using strings, glockenspiels & hi-hats

03:00 Intro of new melody with strings, brass & percussion. “Writing a game score is like writing an opera”.

5:38 Use of Timpani to Signal Battle Themes

6:43 Shifting into a minor mode to keep building a theme

7:55 Using cymbals to mimic the sound of a train & then changing focus in the orchestration
and using melodic Astenados to accentuate the groove.

10:22 Being aware of listener fatigue and making the necessary adjustments to not get bored or overwhelmed

13:30 Introduction of the first main theme

15:00 Transposition & tonal shift with new theme creating a new section

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