Josh's Comments: This is the most original arrangement of Costa del Sol that I've ever heard. At first, I didn't know that it was Costa del Sol until I recognized the melody. I really like how the jazz style brings out more in this piece. The transitions are perfectly written and the musical drive is spot on. I especially love the section from the 2 minute mark on. The music became so catchy and enjoyable. The atmosphere was abrupt, but fitting. It's as if the room was dark and someone switched on the light. The ending was great as well. Overall, I loved this arrangement. A brilliant idea with brilliant execution. Thank you for providing such a great arrangement!

Ronin's Comments: The arranging here is sublime. So many different genres all merged into one arrangement. The only slight drawback comes with the structure of the piece.

Josh's Comments: This arrangement of the FF VII Main Theme is certainly one of the best I've ever heard. Not only do you have a brilliant and emotional performance, but it is so fluent. The timbres, harmonies, and fluid transitions really grip the listener from start to finish. I really love the choice of instrumentation. It's very minimalistic and that really suits the piece you've chosen to arrange.You have harp, violin, and flute (not sure if there is anymore in the mix or not). They all compliment each other well. One of the things that I think could've been improved on is the dynamics. They are little too subtle at times. For example, at 2:24 this should be louder and more emotional to fit what the arrangement is building up to. This is a gorgeous piece so don't be afraid to milk it and be more diliberate with the emotion. Aside from that, this piece is just gorgeous and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you so much for providing a wonderful arrangement.

Ronin's Comments: The instruments here are used to great effect and they complement each other exceptionally well, but more could have been done to try and develop away from the source material.

Josh's Comments: I'll be honest here...this is one of the pieces I skip when I play the FF7 soundtrack in my cd player. However, this arrangement is the exception to that rule. This modernistic approach gives the original a complete makeover. I love the electronic elements and the sound effects as they really add to the quirky style of the original. The only thing that didn't set well with me was the ending. It felt too abrupt to me. I must give the arranger props for making me like a piece that I thought was utterly annoying and skippable. You certainly don't mind sticking out by doing something different and I congratulate you on a wonderful arrangement. Thank you.

Ronin's Comments: Great structure and perfect use of synths to add an extra dimension to this often overlooked piece of music. The percussion is simple, yet effective, but the overall combination of the layers brings this piece to life.

Josh's Comments: I like this acoustic version of Tifa's Theme. It's soothing and offers a bit more to the serenity of the character this theme describes. The idea to feature guitar here is a great one indeed as this adds so much more depth. The new transitions written really bring this arrangement together... creates a nice flow. The arrangement itself is conservative, but offers enough new material to stand out from its original counterpart. Gorgeous is all I can use to describe this. All isn't perfect here, though. I felt that this arrangement was a little too short. Perhaps adding a solo section in the guitar with a slight variation on the melody would help lengthen this out? In closing, listening to this was a treat for my ears. I really enjoyed the additions to this theme. Only thing is, the arrangement wasn't long enough to satisfy me.

Ronin's Comments: A very nice and refreshing arrangement, just a shame it couldn't have lasted a bit longer. Further development would have definitely been interesting.

Josh's Comments: A technical arrangement of Farm Boy isn't what I expected to hear in this contest, and I'm impressed by its arrangement. I didn't even know this was Farm Boy to start with. I actually had to listen within the complexity of the right hand to hear the melody. The ending reprisal of the theme is completely identifiable. The transitions are smooth and the piece flows together. However, there is one thing that keeps this from being perfect... musicality. And the reason for that is that there is a bit too much complexity and not enough simple sounds to contrast with. Sure there's a quite section in the end and this does drive from beginning to end, but perhaps make a quieter section to make your ending more profound. With all of that said, this is a really nice arrangement. It sounds like I would hear this on the Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection because it's that creative to its arrangement. Well done!

Ronin's Comments: A masterclass in piano playing, but the structure could have been defined a lot better. At times it was very difficult to discern the source material and some slower sections could have definitely added to the overall feel of the piece.

Josh's Comments: This arrangement has some nice orchestration, and creates a nice ambient effect; however, the music takes a good while to build. The first two and a half minutes feature a string motif, bass, brass and the rest of the orchestra providing some relaxing chords. Upon listening to the motif in the strings, I was expecting the piece to get much louder and sooner. Instead the loud section was more of a mezzo forte. Perhaps put more percussion (like a taiko drum) into the section to break the repetitiveness and add something to help build into your final statement at the three minute mark. I must admit that the strings are very catchy in this and I really do like this arrangement as it cleanses the soul upon listening. Thank you for making a nice arrangement.

Ronin's Comments: This arrangement attempts to add a whole new feel to the original piece and pulls it off with consumate ease.

Josh's Comments: I'm not sure which track this is an arrangement of, but the melody reminds me of the battle theme from Final Fantasy VI. I really like the aggression here and the instrumentation fits this style well. The piano features are great additions and really work well with the strings and percussion. I simply enjoy the epic, yet sinister sound created here. My problem with this piece is that it's too short! Give me more of this! It seemed like too abrupt an ending, perhaps add something softer and more dark in sound then bring the aggression back to finish the arrangement. All in all, this is a great listen. My only complaint is that it isn't long enough to satisfy.

Ronin's Comments: It's a shame this arrangement was so short as what's here is good. It feels like it was cut off prematurely.

Josh's Comments: The introduction to this orchestration is quite nice. The FFVII Main Theme starts this medley with a peaceful and warm feel. The piano work isn't anything too complicated and suits the musical direction well. The transition into Aerith's Theme is perfect with the mallets, piano, and strings. This section is nice and innocent in sound and the chords at 2:24 - 2:36 remind me of Lord of the Rings composer Howard Shore with a twist of James Bond composer David Arnold... and that's quite a romantic sound. The next theme, which is The Forgotten City, transitions well again. A nice building orchestral passage with the strings; however, the transition with the organ into One Winged Angel isn't as smooth as the rest. Now once we're at the OWA section itself, the music sounds quite evil, but it is a bit too minimalistic and doesn't seem to drive this suite much. Now to wrap things up, the arranger ends this suite with an effective reprisal of the Main Theme. Although this is a great medley, there isn't enough drive in the orchestration. At times the minimalistic orchestration is to the arrangement's detriment than to its benefit (as in the case of OWA). That aside, this remains a solid orchestral suite. Congratulations.

Ronin's Comments: A pleasantly surprising medley which contains a good level of harmonisation and solid transitions between the different pieces. The One Winged Angel was a slight downside in the piece though, which is a shame.

Josh's Comments: This orchestration contains both the Opening Theme and Tifa's Theme and I must say that is a nice suite. The opening is nice and quiet and then moves into a flowing rendition of Tifa's Theme. I found the new harmonies and chord changes to fit the musical direction of the piece rather well. My favorite part of this arrangement is at 2:14 when Tifa's Theme is given a more light texture. The variation that the melody is given is nicely written and made me smile. Overall, this is a great orchestral work. Congratulations!

Ronin's Comments: An ambitious arrangement which tries to cover too many bases and for this reason, falls a little short of what it could have been.

Josh's Comments: The first piano medley in this competition is an interesting listen; however, the performance was a bit hairy. They are only minor mistakes like fingers slipping and playing wrong notes. The structure of the arrangement is solid. Transitions are normally smooth and fluent. I'd say the best part of the this arrangement is the first five minutes. It's more musical than the other half. The section that includes "Fighting" fails to excite me and its no fault of the performance, but rather that bass line which hardly changes to fit the dissonant chords. One Winged Angel was alright in terms of transitioning to the ending of this medley, and this arrangement certainly ends well. In closing, this is a nice medley but with almost four minutes of material that doesn't drive musically it can lead to disinterest from a listener's standpoint; however, there are many shining moments. The opening themes and the Forgotten City were phenominal. Congratulations on a job nicely done.

Ronin's Comments: Kudos to playing this whole arrangement live, that must have taken a lot of practicing. It's a shame that the performance and structure of the piece started to degenerate a bit over time, but it is to be expected.

Josh's Comments: This is a different arrangement and is a nice creative look at the music of FF7. I love electronica and this medley utilizes nice sound effects and creates some great beats. The opening of the medley is superb with a nice rendition of Corel Prison. After that we have one of the town themes. A couple things with this section in particular is that the style as opposed to the previous section is inconsistent and loses the musical drive. Perhaps an Industrial approach would've made the transition smoother. Following the second part, we have the Main Theme, Aeris' Theme, Yuffie's Theme, Chocobo Theme, and Weapon Raid. These five, although transitioned well together, they still seem inconsistent in terms of musical direction. What I would've done is made the style changes more subtle and let the Corel Prison intro set the tone and just build it from the ground up. The intro is the best part of this medley, but there is still more room for improvement.

Ronin's Comments: A well thought out and executed medley.

Josh's Comments: This arrangement is something that appeals to the piano enthusiast and is quite conservative in its rendition. Aside from some chord changes, different instrumentation, and slight variations on the flute melody, this doesn't distinguish itself apart from the original piece. The piano takes a more prominent role here with strings as accompaniment and flute as the melody. As far as the musicality is concerned, there is a nice serene sound and the piano adds quite a bit to the emotion and keeps the piece moving. To me this doesn't sound like a finished work because the musical thought is not complete. The musical direction is inconsistent with the message conveyed by the style and emotional quality of this arrangement. However, despite its flaws this still is a relaxing listen.

Ronin's Comments: A nice take on Aerith's Theme which starts to develop more once the flute comes into the picture. It's a shame it wasn't developed further though.

Josh's Comments: A softer rendition of the famed final Jenova battle theme isn't something that I had expected in this contest. The idea is great but the execution of it wasn't so great. First of all, the arrangement fails to set itself apart from the original with the exception that the instrumentation and ending is different. I don't hear much variation or originality. There isn't much musical drive to keep the music pushing forward from beginning to end which tends to not immerse the listener. The main thing to remember here is that when arranging you should give it your style and your personality. That is what makes each arrangement unique. This softer rendition has so much potential to be something truly extraordinary. Take this idea a step further and add something that makes it yours. Always push the bar and always be yourself.

Ronin's Comments: A fairly no-frills arrangement that doesn't really add anything to the original version.