Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour 2018 (Detroit): A Review

Saturday July 14, 2018, Vince and I attended the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour at the Fisher Theater in Detroit. As I have historically done when attending game music performances, I wanted to write a review of the concert while the event is still fresh in my mind.  And while I’m tougher on these events than most fans, I’m also more fair than the reviewers who immediately disdain these performances because they aren’t Beethoven.  Before I go further, here’s my usual caveat that I’m not the normal concert goer for this kind of event.  The audience for these events seems to average even younger in age than I am, and many seem to be inexperienced with attending a concert with classical origins like this.  I’m a professor of music with a doctorate in performance.  This was the third game music concert I’ve attended, and if you’re interested, you can read my other reviews of A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy and Symphony of the Goddess, both of which I’ve attended in the last couple of years in Southeast Michigan. 

This KH Orchestra shared many of the same features as the other game music performances I’ve seen: a young and enthusiastic audience that many classical or jazz concerts would kill for (an usher told us the concert was 80% presold), attendees in costumes— though notably few compared to the other game music concerts I’ve seen— with elaborate hairstyles, tee shirts, and game memorabilia in hand, particularly keyblades. Drinks and snacks were allowed into the venue; I saw numerous beers in adult sippy cups as we watched the performance.  And, of course, there was the largest, snaking line ever to get to merchandise, "merch" to this crowd, before the show, at intermission, and after.  In fact, the show start was held for at least 10 minutes, no doubt to allow as many patrons as possible to make their purchases. 

One difference between this and the other game music concerts I’ve seen stood out immediately: the orchestra was not onstage warming up.  Instead, they walked out at 8:10, tuned, and began the concert promptly. The pianist walked out with the conductor for a solo bow, similar to how Benyamin Nuss was featured at A New World, though the piano never played a solo number at this event. But Simomura’s writing often features piano and oboe, so I was glad to see the pianist receive recognition.  I did think the pianist was quite expressive and one of the best players in the orchestra. (As a side note, considering how much piano is featured in this music, the piano could’ve been tuned much better, especially in the upper register.) Both the pianist and conductor put their earpieces in to hear the click track and the concert began.  

There was no printed program, and especially disappointing, no list of performing musicians, but pieces were announced on the projection screen as they began.  The program from the evening follows: 

Hikari Orchestral Version

Dearly Beloved KH 2 Version

Destati 

Organization XIII

Traverse Town

Treasured Memories

The World of Kingdom Hearts (medley)

-Spoken cutscene-

Fate of the Unknown

Threats of the Land: Battle Medley

(45 minutes)

Intermission (20 minutes)

Heroes and Heroines: Characters’ Medley

Lazy Afternoons... at dusk I will think of you 

Vector to the Heavens 

Wave of Darkness

Daybreak Town: The Heart of X

-Spoken cutscene-

The Other Promise

Let Darkness Assemble: Final Boss Medley

Passion - Kingdom Hearts Orchestra Version

(50 minutes)

Encores:

Toy Story Medley from Kingdom Hearts III

Fantasia Alla Marcia for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra (credits)

(10 minutes)

There were also some differences in this game music concert and the others I’ve been to. The most notable was that there was no speaking from stage, no MC to address the audience. An audience member beside us said she’d seen the concert in New York last year and that Yoko Shimomura came on stage and thanked people for attending and supporting her music. I didn’t expect that to happen in Detroit, but hoped for some spoken interaction from someone involved in the project, even a video message as Koji Kondo had in Symphony of the Goddess.  While I did appreciate the focus solely on the music, as Vince said when we were leaving, this made the event feel “cold.” It feels unusual to me for a concert these days to have no speaking to the audience, and I, too, felt the disconnect Vince referenced. Aside from two cutscenes with Japanese dialogue and English subtitles, there was no speaking at this event.  There were no lighting changes and the projection was always of scenes from the game, rather than ever focusing a live camera on the orchestra members and highlighting them on the big screen.  The micing was also very subtle and I never noticed that there were any sound effects from the game used.  

Another difference is that unlike the Video Games Live or Symphony of the Goddess model, where the creative team travels and “rents” a local orchestra to play the event, the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra is a touring group of musicians that travels playing together regularly. I thought this would lead to a better rehearsed sound and more passionate playing, but that wasn’t the case, at least not tonight. The brass was especially weak, missing notes often in the battle themes where they should’ve been the most climatic.  The choir was also very out of tune, particularly in Fate of the Unknown, and the micing of the choir was very off at the beginning of the concert, giving an unsuspecting tenor a near solo. While the conductor was commanding in his physical presence, the tempi in medleys took a while to settle from section to section, and the balance issues— drums often too loud throughout, cellos too soft at times when they had the melody— were never addressed. Of course, there’s a mixing team working live in the event, so the players onstage may be unaware of the sound in the auditorium; in this case those amplifying the sound should know better what to raise and lower. Aside from crouching down for some soft moments, since there was no addressing the audience, and only bows at the end of the first and second acts, Vince wondered why the concert had a conductor at all instead of just a click track; in essence, he was a metronome. The arrangements were either short themes or extended medleys; the former felt too abrupt and the latter dragged on at times. 

We were told by audience members beside us that the Traverse Town selection was a new addition to the concert from what they’d seen last year in New York. I knew as well to expect music from Kingdom Hearts III, and was incredibly disappointed that the footage was just edited down from the same D23 clip released a year ago.  My understanding was that one of the unique things about the Kingdom Hearts concert versus the Distant Worlds or Video Games Live! concerts is that there would be new music premiered from the upcoming game.  How disappointing then to see the same scene I’d already watched several times on social media promos in a shortened version for this “premiere” clip!

Overall, Vince and I enjoyed the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour the least of the game concerts we’ve attended. I can partially chalk this up from his viewpoint to his unfamiliarity with the music; KH is a series I’ve played extensively and he’s only watched part of my playthroughs. But honestly, the lack of dialogue with the audience was a big part of our feeling this way too. Also many of the arrangements felt simplistic and didn’t seem to have the same emotional range that the Symphony of the Goddess concert did. That said, most people don’t have the viewpoint I’m coming from and aren’t listening and expecting the same sound my critical ear is. And bringing in a new audience to an event like this is great outreach, even if only a small portion attend another concert.  If you follow any internet comments about this event, the fans loved this evening. So my bottom line is as usual: if you’re a fan of the series and its music, check out the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra when it comes to a place near you. 

Playing Games: Audio of Final Fantasy XV (part 2)

One thing I've learned from my students is that I should qualify the study of certain games with: spoiler alert!  Interestingly, the consensus seems to be that this applies for modern games only.  I still do say spoiler alert before I play the ending of the original Mega Man in class, but that just gets a laugh.  However, I'm well into Final Fantasy XV now-- between a few different saves, close to 100 hours-- and am starting to think about my late game audio reactions.  While I haven't yet quite finished the story, I'm basically just messing around with side quests and hunts near the end game at this point.  In a way, it's to extend the game, but it's also for me to collect my initial thoughts about the long duration audio experience of the game.  So, warning: spoiler alerts -- at least in terms of the audio-- are probably inherent with these thoughts.  I can definitely say that hearing the musical ending to the story of this game is a delight I'm anticipating, yet delaying at the moment.  I'm such a nerd-- does anyone else really play with these thoughts in mind?  
 

Chocobo Theme 

One of my fascinations of game audio is the examination of themes and their development across games in a franchise.  It's such a powerful homage to use themes from previous games, and yet utilitarian as well.  While composers probably struggle with how to put their own stamp on these classic themes, they convey instant information to the seasoned player.  Consider the Chocobo Theme of Final Fantasy; this is obviously one of the most popular theme in the Final Fantasy universe.  Long time players of the series like me expect to hear a Chocobo Theme in a Final Fantasy game and look forward to discovering how it will be presented.  I mentioned in my previous Final Fantasy XV post that my first encounter with he theme was when Prompto sings it with made up lyrics just prior to when Chocobos become available to the player.  Now having ridden them for hours, I'm thinking more about the how this version of the Chocobo Theme relates with previous versions.  FF XV keeps the theme in G major, the most common of themes across the franchise, especially the early part.  In using strummed/picked instruments as well as fiddle/violin, the theme here has a very bluegrass-rock folk feel as well as a sense of improvisation.  In a way, it reminds me of music I would've heard at family reunions growing up in North Carolina.  This works well for riding an animal around outdoors.  Overall, it's a great Chocobo theme in my opinion.

Shimomura gives a nod to Final Fantasy VII and Uematsu...

One other musical moment that jumped out at me would be very much lost on a less experienced Final Fantasy franchise player.  As I was exploring, I immediately noticed that the town theme of Meldacio Hunter, called "The Hunters" in the FF XV soundtrack has a striking resemblance to Under the Rotting Plate (pizza) from Final Fantasy VII.  These are both in E minor, the and virtually the same tempo-- I clock FF VII at 79 bpm and FF XV's theme at 80 bpm and both have notable soft percussion along with a distinctive recurring bass motive.  In the FF VII instance, the piece has a second section that makes use of the main theme of FF VII that the main theme of FF VII.  In "The Hunters" from FF XV, I don't hear an explicit use of another theme in the game, but the noodling electronic guitar often uses the melodic B-F# interval and my ear is pulled to hearing a loose version of the B-F#-A-G-F#-E theme from Hammerhead.  This is certainly more obscure than the Chocobo Theme would be to many players, but no less strikingly obvious for those who know the series well.  What a meaningful audio tribute to Uematsu and the history of the series, but in a more subtle manner than a repeated theme like the Chocobo or Victory themes.  Compare them for yourself...

I could go on all day about these theme comparisons across the franchise... but for now two shorter thoughts just to finish this up.

Spicy Spoken Dialogue

I'm enjoying the voice acting of FF XV very much.  However, there are quite a few lines with a sexual innuendo that really stood out to me.  Consider first the female representation.  Cindy is obviously a sexualized character and when you approach her she often greets you with the line, "What can I do you for?" with a southern accent.  Makes me feel at home!  Or my favorite is when you make adjustments to your car and she's leaning over it in a mildly ridiculous fashion as the camera angle is from behind and says "And this goes... there!"  I've got nothing against a sexual joke, and a video game isn't supposed to be perfectly appropriate at all moments, but I suppose in my "old age" these really stood out to me.

Two others that have to do with male banter:  The most blatant line in the game came very early to me when I was fishing.  Gladious can say to Noct when he reels in a fish: "Puny, just like yours." This sort of male banter isn't unusual in any way, but left me wondering why the writers went with a putting down of Noct's member.  Why not reverse it?  Why couldn't the line be: "Wow, that one's a real whopper, just like yours!"  I guess it wouldn't be as funny that way, but the line left me wondering why the designers decided to diss his penis size rather than praise it.  Another example: one of the lines when you approach the Longawythe cafe worker about complete hunts is "think you're up to the task?"  Again, this is perfectly innocuous, but something about the way that the actor delivered the line in this particular take and the inflection of the word "up" struck me as another knock on Noctis' manhood.  "Ah yeah... here it comes!" is one of Prompto's lines possible when just about to eat.  Whew, Prompto, I'm getting thirsty myself...

The Radio

The last aspect I wanted to touch on in this second writing on the audio in Final Fantasy XV is the radio.  This is a really under appreciated part of the game in my opinion.  I love the ability to hear music of my choice from the franchise during the gameplay.  Now, I'm such a purist that I wish the tracks had been the original versions of the music, out of tune and clunky pieces from the first Final Fantasy, for instance, instead of the updated GBA releases.  But, that's probably just me longing for more nostalgia.  Since before the game was ever released, there were lists published of what music would be available to hear.  But not every track from another game is available, obviously; only certain tracks are.  How were decisions made about which tracks would be used from the various games and which would not?  How was the order of the tracks within each game album decided as well?  I'm guessing the first one was chosen to be a very iconic tune from the game that would help players to recognize it immediately.  Still, these are questions that I'd be interested to know more about and doubt there will be much discussion over.  I've also been fascinated to notice how the tracks are titled.  For instance, from Final Fantasy VI "Darryl's Airship" or "Second Airship" or something like that is titled "Searching for Friends."  Were these updates to the translations for these titles?  Or did I just never know these titles correctly?  More to investigate.

The interactivity of audio is still the most striking part of this Final Fantasy game to me.  For instance, the way that summons are announced as available is initially by a musical cue.  Before any other onscreen notice of the availability, the music changes and then summon command becomes visually available.  Also, the way to know that you're about to have a random encounter in the main world, Lucis, the music changes to an audio cue and Ignus says: "That Magitek Engine-- it's close!"  These are simply huge improvements.  I can't attend GDC this year, but if I could, no question I'd be at the talk about the music of Final Fantasy XV.  Below's a preview if you want to whet your appetite.  

I'm hoping to finish up my thoughts about the audio once I've completed the game in a third part to this Final Fantasy XV audio series.  

  

Playing Games: Audio of Final Fantasy XV

It's a snow day in Ann Arbor today and I've enjoyed much of the day doing some research playing Final Fantasy XV.  I am, of course, am taking notes as I play.  The backstory for me is that I finally got a PS4 on Black Thursday because the system came with a number of games: Ratchet and Clank, The Last of Us, and Uncharted IV with the promo, and I also purchased Star Wars: Battlefront (won GANG's 2016 awards for Best Interactive Score and Best Music award last year) and World of Final Fantasy and have been messing around in those as well.  I've been playing FF 15 for about 35 hours since then and thought I might write some reactions and thoughts.

Overall, Final Fantasy XV represents a major upgrade to the audio of any previous Final Fantasy game I've played (FF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 13).  The implementation seems to me to be very much more clever and well-designed than any of its predecessors.  Final Fantasy XV has a car radio and a Portable MP3 Player that allow for player choice of music during much of the gameplay.  This isn't the first time that a Final Fantasy game has had the ability to play the soundtrack in the game; Final Fantasy Legend II had an in-game jukebox.  Soundtracks from the previous Final Fantasy games are available for purchase at a relatively cheap price (100 gil) compared with many of the other stores' wares.  Listening to these soundtracks is one of my favorite parts of the game and at times I have to remind myself to listen to the Final Fantasy XV soundtrack!  (PS- Driving around in a car listening to Final Fantasy soundtracks is literally my life turned into a virtual game.)  While putting on these older tracks stirs up nostalgic properties, it also changes the feel of the gameplay dramatically.  The intensity of tracks like Jenova from FF VII or the emotion of FF VI Celes Theme change the feel of gameplay in virtually opposite directions.

Interestingly though, these soundtracks aren't complete.  For instance, the Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack in-game in FF 15 has the following tracks: Prelude, Opening (I think of this as the main theme), Main Theme (I think of this as the Overworld theme), Matoya's Cave, Battle, Mount Gulg, Airship, Sunken Shrine, and Castle Cornelia.  Missing are numerous themes including Garland's Castle, Town, Ship, Floating Castle, Ending Music, Castle Shrine, Menu Music, Sleeping, and Game Over music.  I can understand why several of these wouldn't be included, for instance game over, sleeping, and menu, music would be out of place.  However, I wonder if some of these are missing because of gameplay mechanics.  For instance, while there are a few airship themes included, perhaps there's no sailing ship theme because there's no sailing ship.  Also, I must note that despite the in game listing these as "Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack," these are not truly original, but rather updated soundtracks from more recent remakes of the games.  I do miss those true, old school, out of tune sounds.  Here's a list of all the music you can hear on the Final Fantasy car radio/ MP3 player.

Another standout audio moment for me was nearly immediate in the gameplay.  As the heros push their broken down car down the road while Stand By Me plays, although it's not the classic Ben E. King recording we all know, but rather a 2016 version recorded by Florence and the Machine.  As far as I'm aware, this is the first time licensed music has appeared in a Final Fantasy game I've played.  I wonder: is this the first time for licensed music in an FF game, ever?

Another of my favorite audio moments happens after some battles when Prompto sings the Final Fantasy victory fanfare on a nonsense syllable.  The victory fanfare also plays when the player levels up by resting overnight, but Prompto occasionally sings it out on the field immediately after battle.  When the victory fanfare plays in Final Fantasy XV, it's in the key of C, the most commonly repeating key for this fanfare in the series; Prompto sings it in the highest key for Final Fantasy yet to date, E.  I wonder if there was a given starting pitch for the voice actor, Robbie Daymond's, singing or just a direction the voice actor to "sing the theme" without giving a starting note and consideration of how this line would fit into the game's tonality or the franchise's musical lineage?  Prompts also sings "I want to ride my chocobo all day" to the tune of the Chocobo Theme.  Not only is it a clever throwback to use this famous theme again, but in my gameplay, Prompto began singing this shortly before I had access to the chocobos, making it a teaser for what was to come.  I'm fascinated at the idea of players making up their own lyrics to game audio, something I've done since a young child, and love this homage to the many fans who have created their own words and sing their favorite game audio.

Am I gushing too much?  Another favorite: the way that the designers implemented musical layering into the gameplay.  I don't recall that being a trait of previous FF games I've played.  For instance, in previous games, there's no different in the musical sound depending on the speed of your chocobo.  But in Final Fantasy XV, when you ride the chocobo fast, the music is in a much fuller mix than if you're just standing on your chocobo in place or walking slow.  These aren't groundbreaking techniques, rather similar to a variety in the audio depending on your racing position in Mario Kart 8.  FF 15 uses the same technique again in the towns, with different areas having slightly different mixes of the same theme as you wander around.  In fact, my favorite audio in the game so far is in the town of Lestallum.  I love the Lestallum theme!

But of these variations that are heard as the player meanders about, my absolute favorite is when you really get into the thick of the market in Lestallum.  The music here sounds like a Mariachi band is playing during a night out at a Mexican restaurant and I LOVE it!

That said, the audio's not perfect.  There's a pretty clunky implementation issue at times when the player dismounts the chocobo-- an awkwardly long silence and then a jarringly loud restart of the music.  But that's a small, technical point.  And making up for it are clever moments like the "'Professor's Protégé" side quest where you have to capture frogs and the easiest way to find them-- at least for me with a surround sound set-up-- is following their sounds.  Overall, this is by far the most impressive audio implementation I've ever seen from the Final Fantasy series and a much needed upgrade for the franchise.  Given all the music there is to hear, I can say I'm about 35 hours in and beginning to hum a few of Yoko Shimomura's melodies.  Am really hoping more of them grab me and become memorable hits of their own on the radios of future Final Fantasy games.

Are you playing Final Fantasy XV?  I'd love to hear your thoughts about the audio.