Andrew Aversa wins Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu Arrangement Competition @ SquareSound
A little over a month ago I saw a contest posted at Squaresound.com, an unofficial hub for all music Square-related. Contestants were invited to remix any Nobuo Uematsu track for the chance at winning some nice concert tickets. I went through and scrapped three sketches before I finally arrived on an idea I liked, and submitted it twenty minutes before the contest deadline. So, seeing this post on the front page of Squaresound was definitely a pleasant surprise:
“All the judging reports are in, and we have a winner of our Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu Arrangement Competition! With an impressive combined score of 96.22% from our judges for his Final Fantasy VI medley entitled “Dirt Devil,” Andrew Aversa is our winner! Congratulations Andrew!
For his efforts, Andrew will receive two free VIP tickets to the upcoming Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert in Chicago, Illinois on March 1, 2008. These tickets include prime seats at the concert, a free program and concert CD, and the ability to attend an exclusive meet-and-greet with Nobuo Uematsu following the performance. He’ll also receive a copy of the OverClocked ReMix fan album Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream.“
OK, so getting a copy of my own album is pretty funny, but this contest has turned out to be an awesome experience. With 52 other contestants, I’m sure things were really close - I loved the runner-up entries, personally. Kenley Kristofferson of the Into the Score podcast had the second place spot
with an awesome Final Fantasy VI big band arrangement, which I was happy to see since he’s a great guy and a real champion of video game music as legitimate art.
Anyway, despite the distance, I’ll be heading to the Distant Worlds concert in two weeks with Jillian Goldin and I think we’re both going to be reduced to fanboy and fangirl (respectively) when we get to meet Uematsu after the show. I’ll let y’all know how it goes!
(Oh, and you can download the winning remix right here.)
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February 20th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
That’s awesome man, congrats. I’d look forward to the meet ‘n’ greet myself
March 16th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Hello Andrew,
I’m Alex Lamonte (5th place contestant.) I never had the chance to congratulate you on winning the competition. You did a fantastic job and I admire your work. I’m not very skilled using all of the software and audio production devices that you use, but I’m trying to learn how to use Reason in my Mod. Music Tech Class.
I hope you enjoyed meeting Uematsu, I’m sure that was an amazing experience and keep up the good work!