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Final Fantasy 7 => Audio => Releases => Topic started by: Kuraudo on 2022-12-08 02:53:12

Title: FF7 Soundtrack Options | Compendium
Post by: Kuraudo on 2022-12-08 02:53:12
Final Fantasy VII
✨ Soundtrack Options ✨
PS1 Preservation/Emulation • Remakes • Bug-Free OST


Soundtrack Mods at a Glance
TypeModMod AuthorFormat / QualitySourceStatus & Notes
PS1 1997 EmulationFFNx FF7Musicmyst6reminiPSF • 44.1 kHz7th HeavenComplete • Lightweight PS1 sound
PS1 1997 PreservationThe Reunion FF7 PSX OSTDLBOGG 192 kbps • 44.1 kHz Google DriveComplete • ex Anxious Heart
PC 1998 EmulationDeet's XG MusicDte102OGG 256 kbps • 48 kHz7th HeavenComplete • Yamaha S-YXG50
PC 1998 EmulationMU80 SoundtrackRaymondOGG 256 kbps • 44.1 kHz7th HeavenComplete • Yamaha MU80
Remake 2020ReMusic 1.5FewtchOGG 128 kbps • 48 kHzNexusmodsUncompleted • Dynamic music feature
Remaster 2023Ever Crisis OSTnoctiztrioOGG 156 kbps • 44.1 kHzNexusmodsUncompleted • Minor looping issues
RearrangedBynyl's FF7 Soundtrack BynylHigh-quality OGG7th HeavenIncomplete • Faithful
RearrangedEDMusic FF7 SoundtrackEnrico DeianaHigh-quality OGG7th HeavenIncomplete • Cinematic flair
RearrangedOST Music RemasteredFinalFanTimHigh-quality OGG7th HeavenComplete
RearrangedSymphonic Remasters: ReduxSymphonic RemastersHigh-quality OGG7th HeavenComplete
RearrangedArranged SoundtrackDracula9AntiChapelHigh-quality OGG7th HeavenComplete

Mods fix everything — choose your perfect soundtrack
for 7th Heaven Mod Manager!


Full Soundtrack Mods Overview
The Yamaha converted the original 100 music tracks into XG format files. Although the quality is obviously high, the final result differs from the original PS1. De gustibus. In the official PC re-release version, the ogg tracks suffer from lower clarity and volume due to higher compression. Additionally, there are looping issues and music bugs. However, thanks to mods, you can change the tracks to your liking and have a bug-free experience. Pick whatever you prefer based on the nostalgia of the original version you played way back when.

Noteworthy albums:
FF7 Master Materia OST (https://bit.ly/3RSztDH) by hian (incomplete)
FF7 Remake (http://bit.ly/3W2IlZ5) by BitSymphony (incomplete)
FF7 Orchestral Album (https://bit.ly/3S1qZdf) by Pontus Hultgren (incomplete)
FF7 OST Remake (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvs-Z5LJPfeupnL2yNPeEQefkwsJzBHSL) by CinemAsif (complete)

Discontinued:
Spoiler: show
   →  Another preservation work is "OST CDs Maximum quality mod (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=14816.0)" by FBX (https://www.patreon.com/firebrandx/overview). It's based on the OST CDs as they are better in sound quality than the PS1 midi files and or PSF files. (incomplete) **DISCONTINUED**
   →  Another remaster work is "Synthetic Origins: FF7 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNRafIhbJER0RBRnJZMhjmNrwmHoP5IE3)" by Mathew Valente / TSSF (https://linktr.ee/tssf). A tedious work and appreciated attempt executed with painstaking accuracy. This is basically taking the sequences (https://i.ibb.co/cXNMvJJ/Explication-Musiques-FF7.jpg) and utilizing samples from the original synthesizers and samplers with much less editing that was required to have the PS1 play it back at that time. Mathew, the sound engineer (owner of original samplers/romplers/sample libraries) adds a bit of flavor showing what the music would have sounded like if full patch instead of single samples were used... when it does not sound bad. FF7 has something like 60 to 70 samples, an educated guess is that we know 80% of the sources. These samples were identified from many people, see for example G-boy's spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1brPjhDt2pW3H1nfThFMHVldDX9qzPRXujVGGwTZfgN8/htmlview#gid=0) as a good reference. Long story short: a much crisper sound and high quality samples bring us basically a remastered version. Also plugins, reverb released around the same year, many other stuffs, are all taken in consideration... and much more is happening behind the scenes. (incomplete) **DISCONTINUED**



→ Back to FF7 Must Install Mods ← (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=21345.0)
Title: FF7 OST | A Bite of History
Post by: Kuraudo on 2022-12-08 02:54:56

History & Nobuo Uematsu
For FFVII, Nobuo Uematsu (https://vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Nobuo_Uematsu) composed the 1997 PS1 OST in just 8 months, using mainly MIDI synthesizers. (https://equipboard.com/pros/nobuo-uematsu) This was a significant reduction from the usual 2 years that previous Final Fantasy titles took. To minimise the game's load time, Uematsu had to sacrifice advanced audio quality and voice performance. But he was not happy with the loss of quality that was necessary at the time.  FFVII was the first game in the series to feature a track with digitised vocals: "One-Winged Angel" is considered to be Uematsu's most recognizable contribution to the music of the Final Fantasy series. In addition, the 1998 PC port included four sets of MIDI songs (https://archive.org/details/FinalFantasyVII-CD/Manual/page/n3/mode/2up) (awe, midi, xg and ygm) for Sound Blaster AWE, General MIDI, XG and Yamaha sound cards. It also had four sets of soundfonts (FF7, FF7M, FF7S and lb2), a soundfont manager, and a license for Yamaha Corporation's S-YXG70 software synthesizer. The Yamaha converted (https://web.archive.org/web/20080202054141/http:/www.yamaha.co.jp/english/news/98042102.html) the original 100 music tracks into XG format files. Although the quality is obviously high, the final result differs from the original PS1. De gustibus. In the official PC re-release version, the ogg tracks suffer from lower clarity and volume due to higher compression. Additionally, there are looping issues and music bugs. However, thanks to mods, you can change the tracks to your liking and have a bug-free experience. Choose according to your preference based on nostalgia for the first version played in the past.
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Nobuo Uematsu - Interview & Info
Spoiler: show
FFVII OG Music General Info - Wikipedia's page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII#Music) - 2002
Nobuo Uematsu's Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuo_Uematsu) - 2002
Possible Music Gear (https://equipboard.com/pros/nobuo-uematsu)
Polygon: How Nobuo Uematsu Composed FF7's "One-Winged Angel" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BzkrgVivk4)- Jan 2017
EDAMAME Arcade Channel: FFVII Legends Reunion || Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu, Yoshinori Kitase (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMPkaJROnz0) - 2019
FFVII Music – Yamaha XG MIDI PC Version (https://www.pixelrefresh.com/final-fantasy-vii-music-yamaha-xg-midi-pc-version/) - April 2020
TheLineOfBestFit: Final Fantasy Music with Uematsu (https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/articles/nobuo-uematsu-music-final-fantasy) - July 2020
Fantasian - Official Nobuo Uematsu Behind the Scenes Clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbblKwyi72Y) - Mar 2021
Fantasian could be last Uematsu's fully worked OST (https://www.thegamer.com/fantasian-could-be-nobuo-uematsu-last-soundtrack/) - Mar 2021
Fantasian Soundtrack out now (https://www.rpgfan.com/2021/08/02/nobuo-uematsus-expansive-fantasian-soundtrack-is-out-now/) - Aug 2021
SE MUSIC Channel: Nobuo Uematsu & Masayoshi Soken: The New "True Uematsu Sound" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKmCEvsUShg) - September 2022
After 35 years of Final Fantasy, what’s next (https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/12/21/final-fantasy-composer-35/) - Dec 2022
How Nobuo Uematsu’s 35 Years at ‘Final Fantasy’ Changed the Gaming World Forever (https://www.soundoflife.com/blogs/people/nobuo-uematsu-final-fantasy) - Apr 2023
The Music Journey of Nobuo Uematsu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln81Fd_gIYM) - Feb 2024
FFVII REBIRTH Special Talk Session Nomura, Nojima, Uematsu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okZYq0KjXvg) - Apr 2024

The Role of Role Play | Diggin' in the Carts | Red Bull Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUrcYA-TkzQ&t=194s)
Nobuo Uematsu (final fantasy composer) Beep interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CED4Kf6oHZc)
Nobuo Uematsu Discusses The Final Fantasy Main Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH33-HJnrsg)
FANTASIAN | Nobuo Uematsu Short Interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJR1wua8OJs)
1up/James Mielke Interviews Nobuo Uematsu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1QPNZ_bzlE)
Talking with Nobuo Uematsu & Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy's Creator) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W4Q099XpJ8)
Final Symphony - Interview with Nobuo Uematsu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1rbdoUmZGI)
Diggin' In The Carts - Nobuo Uematsu (Hidden Levels) - Red Bull Music Academy Presents (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQyCS26pMag)
Geauxtv: Interview at the Boston Symphony Hall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur9kxjCss4o)
FFVII REMAKE Theme Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYQ76fma2HM) - Feb 2020

Other Authors:
SEM Talk: Shotaro Shima #1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dtDwrmzcJ8) - October 2023
SEM Talk: Shotaro Shima #2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74OpW25z7c) - October 2023
Soken (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8xZo5XhLlA)
Soken 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRqnUOl2gwg)
https://composer.spitfireaudio.com/en/articles/behind-the-music-of-final-fantasy-vii-remake
https://blog.audiokinetic.com/en/square-enix-final-fantasy-vii-remake/
https://www.square-enix-games.com/en_GB/news/interview-making-music-masashi-hamauzu
https://blog.native-instruments.com/behind-the-scenes-of-final-fantasy-vii-remake/


-------

Information & Known Issues
Spoiler: show

Info:
Official Track Titles (https://bit.ly/3qKkm31)
Music file names (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=18421.msg259218#msg259218)
"Why the hell do they have mouths: a Final Fantasy 7 PC retrospective" - PC port interview (https://www.pcgamer.com/why-the-hell-do-they-have-mouths-a-final-fantasy-7-pc-retrospective/) - 2017
TwilightFantasy's Thread (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=5387.0) - 2006
AKAO's music information (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=6571.0) - 2007
Hinting at the many PC midi issues (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=6055.0) - 2006
Aali's post on lb2_awe (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=7646.msg92677#msg92677) - 2008
Covarr's Thread #1 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=8493.0) - 2009
Covarr's Thread #2 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=10546.0) - 2010
Reunion's Audio Replacement features (https://thereunion.live/features.html) - #1 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17678.msg251467#msg251467) #2 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17591.0) #3 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=15786.msg221465#msg221465) #4 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17591.msg251706#msg251706) #5 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=9658.msg248990#msg248990) #6 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=16937.msg240660#msg240660) #7 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=18062.msg255202#msg255202) #8 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=18201.msg256898#msg256898) #9 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=15956.msg251034#msg251034) #10 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17186.msg249070#msg249070) #11 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=11649.0) #12 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=14914.0) #13 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=11867.0) #14 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17186.0) #15 (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17591) - 2011 to 2014 ish
Not present in the OST: fanfare, cintro, mogu; Not used: Comical, oa, lb2_awe, fin (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=12787.msg187365#msg187365) - 2012
FBX's thread, tidbits (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=14816) - 2013
sound effects description (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=15786.msg221465#msg221465) - 2014
How does FF7 PSX generate sound effects? (https://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=23229.0) - 2016
ID total of 732 sound effects (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17296.msg248003#msg248003) - 2016
Audio effect flags (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17292.msg245909) - 2016
Sound effect looping info (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=17296.msg247251#msg247251) - 2017
Reverse Engineering of FF7 PSX sound effects system (https://web.archive.org/web/20190320140257/http://sdamo.io/ff7/index.php) - 2018
Nisto's psfisolate (https://github.com/Nisto/psfisolate) - 2019

Main PC music sync issues:
1) "Barret's arm gesture at the start of the game will sync with the music." that's a deliberate choice in Reunion 06. (https://youtu.be/uIwI10hvra4?si=ayIoWXkNx1Q5o8Cw&t=466)
Actually Cloud's first jump at the start of the game should sync with the music and not Barret's arm. Like here: PS1 JP. (https://youtu.be/btK42Qv8hYY?si=ry6caVSxH7vOMhKn&t=351)

2) Cloud and Sephiroth's scene, music sync issue (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=12787.msg239277#msg239277) - "The music lock / unlock function does not work correctly in the PC game. The flag is being reset to 0 on field change, when it is supposed to carry over. This broke the music on the following fields (list is likely incomplete):

blin67_3: "Who are you?" fails to continue playing after Cloud looks into the chamber.
canon_2: The music will change to "Bombing Mission" during the Hojo cutscene.
chrin_1b: "Turks' Theme" fails to continue playing.
mtnvl6b: "Those Chosen by the Planet" fails to continue playing during a Cloud's Past scene.
nvmkin1: The alternate "Main Theme" fails to continue playing during the Cloud Revealed scene." from The Reunion Database (https://thereunion.live/) (CTRL+H "music" "SFX" "audio")
 
Correct Version: here. (https://youtu.be/ELt0-heDj0I?si=i_FCCRUloS872JOy&t=20020)
Incorrect Version: here. (https://youtu.be/D6-lbtqQ7oY?si=4Q8rhlHe_vjJ0sKK&t=61963)

3) Yuffie's Recruit - Theme Song not playing; Kalm Choco dance's music cut short; Kalm flashback when Cloud's running back into reactor plays wrong song (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=19571.msg272276#msg272276)

4) PC Turks Theme issue? (https://steamcommunity.com/app/39140/discussions/0/846958001174056487/?l=english#c846959876040917920)

5) Five music tracks that get cut off early in the PC version are all fixed in SAC mod (https://bsky.app/profile/thestrifeisrife.bsky.social/post/3ltb5mkwrr22q)

PC SFX issues:
0) Phoenix Summon camera goes far away from the Phoenix for one instance (compare with PS1)
1) Ladder on the ship deck? (https://steamcommunity.com/app/39140/discussions/0/451850020331666394/)
2) PC vanilla SFX inferior to PS1? (https://github.com/julianxhokaxhiu/FFNx/issues/158)
3) Bahamut missing sound after blue flames? (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=20716.msg285381#msg285381)
4) Tifa's Lifestream Sequence - vanilla SFX issue (https://github.com/julianxhokaxhiu/FFNx/issues/212)
5) Cait Sith roulette, Comet2 SFX issues fixed (https://github.com/julianxhokaxhiu/FFNx/issues/35)
6) Leviathan and Omnishlash SFX issues and SFX volume not applied fixed (https://github.com/julianxhokaxhiu/FFNx/pull/76)

Other
1) PS1 vs PC port - thelifestream.net (https://thelifestream.net/ffvii-the-original/ffvii-version-guide/playstation-versus-pc-port/)
2) Cut content - glitterberri.com (https://glitterberri.com/final-fantasy-vii/)
3) The Cutting Room Floor - tcrf.net (https://tcrf.net/Final_Fantasy_VII)


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Don't forget to purchase "FF7 Revival OST (https://bit.ly/3qKkm31)" official 2019 release by SE -  This is a reprint, its audio is a hi-res 24bit/96kHz quality.


→ Back to FF7 Must Install Mods ← (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=21345.0)

Other FF7 Compendium:
Spoiler: show

FF7 Before Crisis (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=20884.0) - CCR & EC (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=21192.msg289408#msg289408) - Remake (http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=18973.0) - Remake Intergrade (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=20557.msg283891#msg283891) - Rebirth (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=21192.0) - Midgar Undiscovered (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=20523.0) - FF7 Must Install Mods (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=21345.0) - Soundtrack options (https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=21296.0)
Title: Re: [FF7PC] Soundtrack Options
Post by: leatitia on 2022-12-29 22:43:43
I could share the SXG2Ogg audio mod of ElNino so we preserve it for the Future since his release was in 2013.
Title: Re: [FF7PC] ► Soundtrack Options - COMPENDIUM ◄
Post by: obesebear on 2023-08-30 19:02:26
I grabbed some of the Ever Crisis tracks and might see what I can do about looping them for in-game use.