Music Producer Reacts: In The Balance (FFXIV Nald'thal Theme)
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- čas přidán 21. 04. 2022
- A Music Producer's reaction and analysis of In The Balance - Nald'thal's Theme from FFXIV Endwalker's soundtrack.
Let's talk about the music from this new boss fight, explained from the perspective of a Music Composer & Producer but in a way that everybody can understand.
I lost count of how many FFXIV music reaction videos I made thus far, but everytime I make one, I learn something new as this game's music keeps innovating itself at every expansion.
Let's see what Soken did this time to blow our minds!
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------- ▼CREDITS▼------
- Emet-Selch dancing video by: @ureshiiiiii
- Composer: Masayoshi Soken, Ryo Furukawa, Tea
- Remixes by: me
- Game: Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker - Hudba
![[DALNODO] In The Balance ( Nald'thal Theme ) COVER](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cuc0tDQlfSs/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you so much for all your kind words about my singing! Really enjoyed your reaction. Subscribing to your channel now 😃
I forgot to say, my name is pronounced tea as in green tea! Cheers!
Whoa! I don't know how much, if anything, you contributed to the song beyond your vocals, but that was one of the few song, even by Soken, that made me pause so much it made me not want to play the game, just listen. You did a fantastic job, and Soken outdid himself yet again, and I'm gonna have to look up this Ryo Furukawa as well.
I hope you come back for more FFXIV tracks.
That’s you?! Your vocals are AMAZING! I can’t stop listening.
Edit: I’d also like to request a potential collab or interview with Alex!!! 🥳🥳🥳
Really lovely performance! :)
@@omegagilgamesh thank you! 😊
We're devouring banger over banger at every FFXIV patch, what a delight
Soken is keeping you busy this year!
a la Keanu Reeves: no, YOU'RE a delight! :D
@@AlexMoukalaMusic
Don't forget his coworkers :)
One possible reason for that sudden dark shift is because the boss shift between the two half's of the god, one represents life and one death.
And it comes in when the first line is "And when we reach our ends..."
The twin nature of Nald'thal is also reflected in the time signature, with the A section being in 3/4 time and the B section switching to 4/4. This track has *layers*.
yes 2 half is right!! its not exactly representing life and death though, but more of overseer of the underworld and god of commerce ;)
maybe the first half sounds like sweet sweet cash AHAHA and the dark shift sounds like the underworld.
@@xjayex actually Nald does say he is the keeper of the living with his opening line, and Thal says he is the keeper of the dead
Doesn't the first half represent trade?
My favorite part of the song is that where you might expect cymbals to be struck you actually have the sound of coins clinking together. The song literally uses the exchange of money to keep the tempo and it's amazing.
Soken is a Pink Floyd fan confirmed?
Well it is the theme of the Traders.
divinity is the color of gold
@@rumpatumpboobadoop3728
“Shining rays of Gold, embrace my spirit.”
One of the things I think I love about this one is the tone that's set.
Most gods of death in various media are somber, grim characters who carry out their duty because it's a requirement of their universes. Hades, the Raven Queen, Pharasma, etc. etc.
Nald'thal's not about that, because he's not just the god of the dead, he's the god of commerce as well. He governs something that directly affects people's livelihoods DURING life just as much as he is the shepherd and guide to their afterlife. So what kind of song does a god like him get?
A dance tune that might as well be a glorious waltz celebrating life just as much as it is respecting its conclusion! Even more, it could be said that this isn't just a dance, this is Life and Death's dance!
There's just so much joy in this song dedicated to a god of such a somber topic that I can't help but be impressed. It's the perfect, happy palate cleanser to our (ultimately triumphant) fight against the forces of despair.
Still kind of funny when Azeyma calls him out for "almost smiling that time".
The Lyrics refer to the guilds of Ul'Dah. Blood and Water referring to Gladiator and Pugilists guilds and the Alchemists guild. Rubies referring to the Goldsmith Guild. Silken Veils weaving a rainbow for the Weavers and the Miners having the Gold below. I'm not sure if the Dreams on our backs we carry is a reference to the refugees, but I would like it to be.
It's also just referencing the culture of Ul'dah. Nald'thal is the patron god of the city, and their lives and culture revolve around commerce, life and death. Dreams on their backs could just as simply be national pride. That through their fortunes, both good and bad, they carry the dreams of this desert city onward.
If it was a song of prayer, it'd be unlikely to include lyrics for refugees that wouldn't exist until very recently in the timeline.
@@dolphinboi-playmonsterranc9668 I mean.. Mhachi refugees founded Belah'dia, which ultimately split into the twin city-states of Ul'dah and Sil'dih
Oh wow I never knew!!!!
Perhaps Dreams represents the Thamaturges?
Not only did this raid give us this banger, it also showed us why everyone in the story always yells "THAL'S BALLS!!!"
The buildup to his balls were indeed worth it. 10/10 would listen to this song and wipe at Thal's Balls again.
THAT TRAP BEAT REMIX. I NEED THE FULL VERSION. GIVE IT TO ME. I NEED IT INJECTED DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS.
Edit: By the Twelve i hadn't even heard your modernized take on the song. Alex you're just way too talented and your content is a gift to this community I love you.
I think the bit you said at the end really rings true. Video game music has become so diverse and complex in genres for a while now, and a lot of it can stand on it's own even without the context of the game it's in. A lot of Soken's music, and really, just music from FF14 and Final Fantasy in general proves this fact. Of course, playing the raid and seeing how the music matches up with the gameplay is also a treat as well of course!
Exactly.
It's really hard to write a sountrack that can stand on its own two feet outside of a game while also fitting the game's story and mechanics as much as FFXIV's music does.
And if a soundtrack isn't able to stand out of the game like that, it doesn't necessarily mean it's bad! However I may not be as excited to listen to it outside of the game.
So you can be sure that when I lose my mind over a piece of music here, it's simply because of how good it is on its own
I've always loved video game music more than band/group music because the most memorable video game music is accompanying an epic/memorable moment that I am actively experiencing. Whenever a video game song I love plays, I just get goosebumps and am taken back to that moment in my head. I'm also able to relate to it more because I can associate with something that I love. I've been finding myself playing video game albums more and more than just listening to music on radio since it's more readily available.
@@AlexMoukalaMusic I love the breakdowns you do, it's always very well explained and you do a great job explaining things. It always amazes me when music from a video game stands on it's own from the game(Final Fantasy 15 has some really amazing tracks that stand on their own like Somnus Ultima and Hell Fire).
I see your point that people who haven't played games may not love certain songs as much as players of the game because contextual elements are missed (which i can sometimes give alot more impact to particular songs), But as a counter point I would say that to players of a particular game, certain songs with the context implications can be incredibly powerful which is something I love about video game music (For example the theme for Soul of Cinder from Dark Souls 3). Sometimes players of a game find it hard to seperate the narrative context of a song from the song itself which is why songs, which on their own aren't phenominal, can be so beloved.
It's similar how I've felt with certain movies or series, that's created way more emotional and fantastical pieces of musical art than the ones who cater to the industry of music and listeners solely.
Makes one wonder if all this might be the disconnection of reality. A lot of pieces of music are born out of something, an inspiration, usually lyrics, whether it be for romance, a place, a moment and so forth.
Movies and especially games, such as Final Fantasy that is all based in a fantastical unreal world you could only dream of, of places, characters, events and moments that could never happen IRL, or simply the perfection of a written story, and connecting a piece of music to that.
I wonder if it elevates it, gives the composer a grander vision with the inspiration being fantasy itself rather than the music being the fantasy imitating real life which can often be not that fantastical. It's like a layer on layer, where the game or movies is inspired by RL and amazing things of it, makes it even greater, and then the music is inspired of that greatness to go further.
E.g Ul'dah being a mix of middle eastern cultures but goes more than that by mixing other cultural bits and the music does the same where it takes instruments or vocals that aren't normally used in that culture but creates something new, something that anyone may never have thought of IRL, but in a fantasy world it makes sense and works so amazingly.
As it stands, when creating a fantasy world it's not restricted or dictated by cultural norms, it takes inspiration from them and stereotypes, but at times mixes them together or breaks them on purpose to appear different, and I think that is mirrored in music which both tries to imitate culture and a timeframe said instruments were used, but then suddenly you got an electric guitar or modern vocalist thrown in, or simply mixing medieval european instruments with feudal japan ones with a gothic/christian orchestra.
I mean yes and no.
The music for FF14 without context is still great don't get me wrong.
But KNOWING the story behind it makes it only Better. Dragonsong is a GREAT example for that.
you know there are a lot of people who jumped onto the "X react to xiv stuff" wagon once the game really picked up in popularity and I feel like a lot of them are just kind of reacting for views and not really giving any kind of feedback about what they're supposed to be knowledgeable about. It's really the opposite for your videos, they are very informative and you actually provide a lot of examples and feedback and I just wanted to thank you for that because it makes it a lot more interesting to watch
Agreed, when I watch these videos I feel like I learn something and get a better appreciation for the content. With most other ones I'm just... watching someone react to it. Which is exactly what it says on the tin, but it shows a greater level of mastery and care to really break it down section by section like he does.
Whenever I hear a banger in FFXIV, my first thought is always "Can't wait to hear Alex react to this."
Seriously, good content. Do FFXIV videos as much as you want, cause I'll always be ready for it
As an ul'Dahn native at heart, this song and battle made me die and go to heaven.
Can't wait to see what Soken does with the Fury.
I wasn't sure if we were getting Nald'thal in the first tier, I didn't remember if all of them were properly introduced beforehand.
And then we hit the boss room and I went "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WE *ARE* FIGHTING HIM NOW."
I feel like the theme for the other 3 is our Rhalgr/Ala Mhigo music. I'm expecting Halone and Thaliak to give us non-vocal BGM for 3/4 bosses in the other wings (Ishgard and Sharlayan tones), and Nophica and Llamayen to claim the 4th vocal tracks for Gridania and Limsa respectively.
It's more likely we'll get a song for Nophica and Llymyan. Sadly.
@@jaeusa160 Unless we end on Oschon, which I find more likely.
@@Offbeaten the way they talked about the locked gate/teleport thing, i feel like some gods won't be in the alliance raid at all since it didn't seem like it'll just be the gods in the three alliance raids. That said, i still wish we get to fight them all. Also, oschon is gonna be interesting all things considering
One thing I love is the "we pray" repeating ALSO reminds me of Shadowbringers' "We fall"
Hells yeah! This song was a real treat, made it hard to focus on the fight when you're jamming so hard!
Loved your analysis and thank you for including groovy Emet!!
Lol that video was funny to look at. gj
Do you use like MMD for that stuff, because if so, or even anything similar, I doff my hat to you. That's some great work :D
Can confirm, have died a couple times now cuz I was too busy jamming :D Sorry healers!
My rotation went shit because I got headache it’s the badest music from all raids. So sad
Thank you for the video. It was much-needed hilarity, and it's appreciated you let Alex use the clip in such a great way.
Soken's range is so fucking crazy to me. Jeremy Soule was my favorite VGM composer prior to playing FFXIV, after playing FF, I can't even begin to think of anyone that holds a candle to Soken. I hadn't ever played a game were the music alone is reason enough to play the game. What an absolute god.
@SystemsReady This song just makes me want to play P5, it's very much in line with his style in P5.
Same thing with persona 5 amazing music
You know a song is a banger when your FC runs of the raid are going "GIMMIE THE ORCHESTRION ROLL. GIMMIE IT. I WANT IT IN THE HOUSE NOW."
OH MAN THERE'S CLARINET IN IT, THAT'S MY BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY.
I got it. Definitely in my house now.
Got it my first run through. It's so damn good
I have it, constantly on repeat in my home I share with my sister and in my apartment!
This is me every run. I'm fighting the entire alliance over the sheets more than the armor sets or the minion.
Makes you think of a Dancer entering a trance on that "We Pray" crescendo.
And at the word “Twinfold” I can just see them folding their hands together in a prayer/namaste manner, closing their eyes and smiling :)
If you perform Standard or Technical Step at the right moment the GCD lines up perfectly with the beats on "We Pray" and when I realized this I was screaming on day one.
That "We praaayy, we praaayy" part just gives me chills! Its soooo good. I literally do the raid just to get to the end boss. One of my favorite songs in the game.
Huh, that gameplay looks familiar... :)
Fantastic analysis as always Alex! There are so many nuances that laymen like me don't even notice, it's incredible how many little details go into a great song like this.
One of the best tracks in this game for sure. Soken and the sound team cannot be stopped!
They don't miss!
One of the badest tracks in game I get headache when playing this fight
@@vorpalstrike9536 Sad for you I guess
@@vorpalstrike9536 I'm sorry I think you misspelled "badass" let me fix that for you.
@@Intrepimid dude It sounds like Jennifer Lopez
Alex: Every region has a musical theme that lowkey ties to their religion. Ul'dah, Gradnia, and Coerthas will be great!
Me: Alex confirmed it. Limsa is a godless state.
They believe in the Navigator though, on a serious note.
@@SuperRamos619 Oh definitely. Llymlaen for sure, but I think that Nymeia would be another pateron deity as she looks over celestial bodies (a particularly favorable deity for sailors) and her mark was in La Noscea.
@@Churchtwinblades Nymeia was temporarily the matron goddess of Ala Mhigo, though that was mostly a political move by their king.
@@SuperRamos619 iirc their worship of the navigator isn't anything large scale like the other city-states, but smaller scale, more personal
Anybody whose walked through the plaza of Limsa Lomisa knows that it's a godless place lol
The reason why Alex is my favorite channel for talking about music and the education involved is because he breaks it down by instrument and section. It really parses out what contributes to what. Keep on being amazing, Alex.
"its if the sun went dim and the night fell over the desert"
OH
MY GOD
SO ON POINT IN GAVE ME SHIVERS
I think the craziest thing is the insanely well-placed, seamless time changes between 3/4 and 4/4 at 0:50 and 5:30 (the one at the beginning is hard to catch unless you listen to all of it together) that fits thematically. The lively, grooving, yet structured, rhythmically beating heart of the 4/4 section while the darker, minor waltz-y groove in 3/4 which represents Nald (lively markets) and Thal (waltz to the underworld). Also the transitions between times is super seamless just like how Nald'Thal flips in game, the color of the arena morphing and shifting without any hard transitions
Great ear!
I noticed those changes too while reverse analyzing the track after shooting the main reaction. Tho I'm just discovering about the two sides of Nald'thal so I just learnt something new thanks to you!
Are they 3/4? Sections of it sound far more like 6/8 to me, and the nods to Arabian styled music have me further convinced, since Arabic music tends to favor the eighths (and just irregular time signatures in general). Either way, it's exciting to see other people picking it up because I absolutely geeked out about it to my partner and family, and they pretty much left me at "that's nice mai" lmfao.
@@maightandmagic perosnally for me it's 6/8 at 210BPM.
But you can also read that as 3/4 at 105 BPM
@@maightandmagic It might be in 6/8, and rhythmically it makes sense in 8 as well, but I feel like it beats in 3 better than it beats in 2, which makes me think it's in 3/4
@@FlashOfLightning854 totally fair. the day i ever distinguish successfully between 3/4 and 6/8 is the day i die and even then i'll still be wrong lmfao.
Alex is too good, he can change his clothe while reacting to the soundtrack.
Joke aside, this show us you aren't just spend a few mins to create this but put a lot of thought into it. Thanks for always introduce me to masterpiece soundtrack Alex!
He has glam plates ready on hotbar. XD
You might have meant it as a joke, but seeing how he goes from a clear shirt to a black one... I can't help be see a parallel with Nald-Thal going from Life to Death. I wonder if that was planned...
His reaction at 5:50-6:22 pretty much summed up the ENTIRE raid for me and my friend group day one. Such a fantastic track to finish of arguably one of the best pieces of content I've played. Soken really nailed the music this expansion for sure!
After having Ul'dah as my home city for so long when I heard part of the city theme built into the Nald'thal track, well my Hype meter into overdrive
And wont lie, I may have caused a wipe on the scale Mechanic just to listen to the whole thing again when this patch dropped.
Also, When you brought in the Ultimecia comment I knew you were a man after my own heart.
Keep up the great stuff Alex.
By the way, there's nothing more badass than one of the first gameplay-included uploads of this track *including a three-way Healer LB3 to resurrect the entire alliance.*
It caught me off guard in the raid when this started playing because it was so unexpected and just fit the theme of both a God with a dual personality, but also Ul'dah's patron deities so well.
I don't know how Sokken keeps nailing it like this, but FFXIV just has seemingly endless amazing music.
Considering Nald'Thal is the god of the Underworld, Balance, and Commerce. The Dark undertone makes sense as he also metes out the punishments of the damned, while giving the rewards to the blessed.
While we all agree that the music is amazing, the average person wouldn't know why or how. Alex bridges the gap and show us just what magic the music team or Soken did to make all of us go "Wow!" and i appreciate that greatly
I was playing In the Balance on my phone one time and my sister asked if it was a new track from Disney and she thought it was great. I simply said no and didn't bother to explain where the song is from because I know she will not relate lol she's not in any sense a gamer
I literally can't even choose a favorite "part" of this song, because to me it is just absolute aural bliss from start to finish. I genuinely loved everything about this track and my only disappointment is that it isn't longer somehow.
I'd say if anything, my favorite thing about this song is how beautifully it embodies the subject matter. The theme is on point, the instruments are gorgeous, the vocals are stunning, the lyrics, and the tonal shift... I AM NOT AS GOOD WITH WORDS AS YOU ARE BUT THAL'S BALLS THIS TRACK IS MAGIC.
"A love letter to Ul'dah and its people..." is SPOT ON. Ul'dah and the NPC's there have a special nostalgic place in my heart as it was the city-state where I started my XIV journey back in early 2015.
Anyway, as always your energy just flies off the screen, and this was an awesome way to kick off the weekend. Thank you as always for sharing your passion for music with the community!
Halone is the diety of Coerthas and HOLY SHIT I cannot WAIT for her music. When you mentioned organs being tied to Ishgard I already had chills just thinking of what it could be.
I LOVE this track. When we got to Azeyma and Nald’thal, I absolutely freaked out as someone whose home city is Ul’Dah. I felt so proud, hyped and gOD all those layers.
Thanks as always for you putting into professional words all the thingies I notice in music, and pointing out things that I didn’t notice before that just enhance the experience. Great video, Alex
The one thing that drives me up the wall for this song is that the precussion has added sounds of the gold coin clinking together, and I think that's the coolest fact I've learned about this song!
This song is in my head... irrevocably. It is one of the catchiest songs to date in XIV and so many of them are so amazing. This is a song that if I listen to it too close to going to bed, I will not sleep because it will keep playing in my brain and I cannot get it to turn off.
Makes sense for the modulation. The song is the theme of the twin gods Nald, the god of prosperity, and Thal, the god of death, coming together as one.
One of my favorite little details in the song that wasn't mentioned here is the sound of coins clinking together throughout the song representing Ul'dah's very money-focused culture
I love how Alex just freaks out when the "may we..." part hits, because I swear that part is a musical limit break
I just found out that the singer of "In The Balance" has a CZcams channel with more of her music.
Beautiful voice, you can check her out here:
czcams.com/channels/UW18GVtay90oMjznLQh9RQ.html
Also If you want to request any track analysis, you can do so on Patreon:
patreon.com/AlexMoukalaMusic
On top of all of that, you can find the remix at the end of the video here:
czcams.com/video/bxTpRsihE5A/video.html
And the seiyu who did the Nald'thal voice is the one who did the Emet-Selch voice. It's connected.
What's really also cool is that the track is basically inspired for a prayer for Nald'thal's theme. Since it is the original 1.0 Ul'dah theme, its fitting that the track is just a prayer that the citizens could sing for festivals in the Twin gods's honor, with night and day perfectly hiding in the song.
I've listened to her 2019 Album "Unknown Places" and it's pretty good :) She's great!
Oy. Psit. Hey mister moukala...
czcams.com/video/0CJLlcufZFo/video.html
you should take a look at a fan favourite Susano no lyrics because the boss sings him self lol. search for susano with voice lines
Alex's dancing is literally me the first time I stepped in that fight. You just gotta stop everything and dance to it.
I honestly got chills from this song running the raid on Day 1.
Soken and the team just keep on one-upping themselves and it's a HUGE part of why I love FFXIV.
I love all your videos on FFXIV music! Thanks so much for the amazing content!
You wouldn’t imagine how hyped I was as an Arab when I saw the pre-boss area and then the music. Everything was so amazing and close to home :) thank you for this wonderfully passionate analysis!
the quality of this analysis, the polish and effort you put into this video, and your clear passion are second to none! this is such fantastic content, thanks for bringing so much love and care to what you do
Glad that it feels that way on the other side! :)
I really worked a lot on this video specifically. I always do but this one really made me go deep haha
I happy cried when I first ran the raid, and happy cried when this video was released. I absolutely love that you're able to explain why I have so many emotions about music into words I can understand!!
Soken and his team keeps nailing it every time! And yeah, makes sense they had the instruments they used, since Nald’Thal is the god worshiped in Ul’Dah! Felt those vibes throughout the whole thing!
The "We pray" repetition at the end reminds me of the Shadowbringers theme, with the "Who flies, who falls" etc vocals.
This song was so unexpected but it's so welcome. I absolutely love the music from the new raids, the new age vibes from the main raid track are so nice and then this song just came in so funky ❤️
Bless Soken
There are fights that have great music where sometimes it is hard to appreciate it. Usually, it's because either the boss is too loud, or the mechanics take too much concentration. But that fight seemed really great for music.
I keep wonder if it's because the boss mechanics are visual which frees up the audio processing in your brain to appreciate the music.
I think surely the fight being a 24-man raid made it an easier experience to appreciate!
The same can't be said about bosses like Good King Moogle Mog when he first came out
@@AlexMoukalaMusic It does make me wonder about boss / encounter design and just how tightly you could tie the two mechanically. I know an MMO would always make that more difficult because of latency, but if some day we get a Soken-led Rhythm Combat game... Well, that would be something.
That shirt is fire. I've been loving this song since it came out and listening to it a ton, so it was great to hear your thoughtful and insightful commentary.
Its always such a joy seeing you hear new tracks for the first time, keep them coming!
It's so incredible that my first reaction to the song is to say, 'In the Balance is one of the coolest tracks we've gotten in a while!' while surrounded by the amazing OST that is Endwalker. Soken is amazing, and I love Daiki Ishikawa and Takafumi Imamura's work too. They've got a fantastic team over there right now!
Man nothing makes me smile more than seeing someone else enjoy a good bop
he nailed down this song. id love to hear an egyptian vocal track by soken. maybe more throat singing songs like ravanna's theme, since that genre is really underrated in games.
Ravana's track is such a masterpiece!
I once read that the singer for that one was a random Square Enix employee who happened to know throat singing. Absolutely nailed it
@@AlexMoukalaMusic He's a member of the localisation team as far as I know. He also had to be persuaded to sing the part because he really didn't like the sound of his own voice, as crazy as it sounds.
Doing this alliance raid for the first time- I was jamming out so hard I died lol. Wasn't paying attention.
I LOVE THIS PART SO MUCH 5:27
You expect it to do a sudden climax beat drop because of the percussion slowing and focusing in. You even say "Okay Let's Go!" lol. But what it actually focusing in on is that glissando that brings it to that nice divine sound. Giving that tug feeling on your chest and it just- UGH MWAH. I love it so much. The percussion kicks back in doing a new lead up to the chorus. Maybe it's just the lyrics influencing this feeling but it just reminds me of fire's grace and how it can both roar and sway.
And then of course- the beat drop just makes my heart soar.
Something I only recently noticed: In the beginning of the theme, whatever it is they’re using to add to the beat, it sounds like coins clinking against each other.
I love how I know no shit about music but you explain in a way so simple and not only explain, you show too and then I can perfectly understand everything about the music you analyzing.
Keep the good work!
I once saw an interpretation of some of the musical tricks in this song that I absolutely love. During the verses of the song, the time signature is in 6/8 and its style reflects something like a waltz. It's peppy, upbeat, makes you wanna get up and do the Bee's Knees dance irl. But when it hits the pre-chorus and chorus, it subtly shifts to 4/4 time, and resembles something more like a march.
As this is a song about the twin-headed god Nald'thal, whose heads represent the land of the living and the land of the dead respectively, these different sections with their time signatures represents each of these aspects of Nald'thal. Nald, with domain over the living, gives us a sprightly and energetic dance to represent life. Whereas Thal, with domain over the dead, gives us a more assertive and relentless march, to represent an inevitable and unstoppable walk to the end of life.
I'm not sure how much of this was intended by Soken, if any of it, but I think it's a really cool interpretation anyway.
10:00 was perfect lol the Emet dance just slew me. I'd love to hear a full 'modernised' version of this song you made it sound even more amazing.
The coins klinking to the beat - chefs kiss!
I'm still excited for your massive "The internet sings Close in the Distance", Can't wait ♥
Saw this in the sub list and clicked it faster than I would for dps LB3. Thal's Balls, it's great!
That Emet dancing meme will never get old. lol. Awesome video and analysis! Subbed!
I am always amazed by what music creates, especially in sokens case. I don't know anything about music theory. But I feel things while hearing it. And when you describe what's happening and where it's coming from I am like: aaah wow THATS why!
The remaining myths of the realm raids should have Nophica (Gridania), and Lymlaen (Limsa) as unique boss music. Maybe Halone (Ishgard) or Thaliak (sharlayan) but they have more recent and better musical representation already in game.
For Limsa I'd love to hear more Seashanty influence, something you could imagine that was a shanty evolving with the times in to a more anthemic song
For gridania, perhaps something more harmonic and natural with woodwinds, strings and the like
Anyway they go I'm sure Soken and the team won't disappoint!
That's what I'm thinking/hope for as well
Bless the Navigator, I think you're onto something!
The first 3 boss' music hits like Stormblood/Temple of the Fist in places for me, so I'm thinking it's a non-vocal Rhalgr music.
I'm hoping we get 2 more non-vocal tracks for the first 3 bosses again in the other wings, Halone/Ishgard with Nophica (vocals), and Thaliak/Sharlayan with Llamayen (vocals).
@@jaeusa160 The problem there is that there's already a hymn to Rhalgr in-game: The Measure of His Reach.
That's what I thought too. Nophica and Lymlaen being the next two final bosses to have a representation of all three starting City States. In fact, I would go as far as guessing Lymlaen to be the last, as I suspect Oschon will only appear in the final raid, and since both of them of Wind-aspected, they have to appear together.
Oh I'm so glad you reacted/covered this song, I absolutely love it and have done so since hearing part of it in the 6.1 story trailer.
There can never be too much content on FFXIV. If I'm being honest I've been waiting for your take on quite a few pieces of Endwalker's OST... there's just so much crazy awesome stuff in there.
The lyrics are interesting to me in that, unlike most songs, its the words of the chorus that change, not the verses. First verse and second verse are identical from "O twin gods bless this land" to "Life, death will follow". I'm sure this relates to Nald'Thal's focus on balance and being two halves of the same coin or something. Did my head in a bit when I noticed it, though. Its so unusual.
Soken has done it again! He will always be an amazing composer for XIV, and I’m looking forward to seeing(and hearing) what he comes up with next!
I was waiting for you to find In The Balance! One of my FC mates won this music and immediately put it on the company orchestrion. Especially since a lot of our company is from Ul'dah, this particular piece has meant a lot to a lot of my friends. I'm so stoked about how awesome this is that I am positively BURSTING with excitement for the next two city states god fights. I NEED Lymlaen's song to just be yohoho and plunder and rum. GIVE LIMSA THE PIRATE ANTHEM IT DESERVES!
what an incredible analysis! your passion for music is absolutely infectious!
I'm here for my music analysis lecture!!! :3
i have a hearing disorder where my brain can't sort noises from each other and they all blurr together in the foreground. So seeing videos like this lets me really dig my little fingers into the music i love bit by bit and adore all the pieces together.
I love your analysis. Learned a lot from just watching your reactions, keep up the good work.
I always love how I come out of these videos more deeply appreciating music I already loved.
Dude, that Emet-Selch dance gets me every time
Bro has serious moves. Shame he didn’t share more of that with us…
bro i cant watch your videos because when you tied back that little tie in at like 5:13 i Actually screamed
im so hype about music and hearing the actual technical words used to describe what grabs me heart and soul is gonna make me go nuts on the twelve
Y'know I look forward to patch day just for the new music alone! Soken & gang just keep knocking it out of the park! It was also really lovely to see Soken Quote RT this video with his own kind words too. And as always, loving the funky takes every time
This was the finest and balance reaction ever Alex Moulkala Music has really done a successful reaction man
Awesome analysis! The Persona Dancing bit at the end got me good 😂
Alex, thanks for taking my appreciation for this song even higher! I love your breakdowns
I love your breakdown and explanation of the music. I dont know anything about music, but you made me understand what you where talking about.
Love your analysis to this music! I am myself still trying to get the music scroll from this raid, it is an absolute banger and I can't wait to hear the future of the theme is from the rest of the alliance raid.
The whole zone music called Pilgrimage is also such heart warming to enter the raid too
PLEASE i need the version you put together at the end amazing!!!
That last part you were covering I couldn't put my finger where I felt like I heard something like this before until you said Persona and then it was like, "holy crap yes!!!!" And now I need that persona version of this song for me to hit repeat on
Wow. I just discovered your videos and you are an amazing talent. Your knowledge of music is clearly immense and it really shows. These reactions make all the rest I’ve watched look amateur in comparison. Thank you so much for explaining all of this amazing musics intricacies to us less knowledgeable.
Ahhhh thank you this sound gave me so much Persona vibes. Though my limited Persona knowledge stuck it more in 5 than 4. Glad I hadn't been the only one to think that.
I love these commentaries so much! I hope i'm wrong, but i'm not sure we'll get a track about Ishgard but rather looks like they're going for the 3 guardian deities for the 3 starter cities (Limsa, Gridania & Ul'dah). We got Thal'Nald now, we'll probably get Nophica for Gridania & Llymlaen for Limsa. 24-man raids are in 3 parts, so it would make sense i guess? I'm so eager to hear those themes and the story of those cities through music, and hopefully a commentary for those too!
They manage to fit so many interesting musical ideas in such a short time frame with this theme and it's so freakin great.
As somebody who started in Ul'dah and keeps using Ul'dah as his main hub, this song hit me so hard!
It completely blew my mind and made me feel proud to be part of the Immortal Flames!
I have been looking forward to this video since I first heard the song. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into these. I've learned so much about music from you and a much deeper appreciation for the music that I was already jamming to.
Loving the analysis and remixes! You've helped me appreciate this track even more.
This was amazing! I really want a full version of that rift at the beginning it's too good 😭
My visceral reaction to both the original song, when I first heard it, and just now after hearing your remix. Dang, I need a full version of your remix so badly, now.
Another fantastic video about an incredible song! Thanks for making these Alex. You really help me, as someone who doesn't know a lot about music, understand why these songs are so impressive and why I enjoy them so much!
Yesss!!! I needed this! ✨✨✨ Funnily enough the whole song made me cry for some reason! Yes it was making me want to dance and bob my head a lot but it also managed to make me well up in my eyes too, it’s such a weird sensation. 😩
Man it's just betters my mood to see U so lively. Thanks
Dude, you gotta make a full club mix for this track now...! The bit you did at the end was so good/sparked so much potential.
This song lives rent free in my head permanently. It's so good. FFXIV has some of the best composers in the MMO genre right now.
I love this song so much, I was far too impatient to wait for the next soundtrack release and ripped the audio data out of the game files, added some cover art, and threw it into my music library as a placeholder “single”.
Also, I adore how much you get into the music in this game. (Especially as a person whose FC grudgingly puts up with her periodic nerding-out on the FC Discord about callbacks or foreshadowing in the music using leitmotifs, and such…)
Seeing someone who can appreciate the fidelity in the song as much as me who's like: that sounds cool. Is awesome :D