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61 Frames Per Second

You Can't UNhear It: Time's Scar

Posted by Bob Mackey

It's true; the Chrono Cross soundtrack is one of the most ass-kickingest collections of music to ever exist in our unworthy world. And the pinnacle of said soundtrack--at least, in my opinion--is the opening song, "Time's Scar;" Yasunori Mitsuda's stirring mix of wistfulness with a sense of urgency may be the highest point of his career. That's being said, I've probably heard the song hundreds of times in my life; and because I'm such a big fan of Time's Scar--and anything Mitsuda--something very minor about the recording of the song makes me cringe every time I hear it.

Crank up your speakers to 11 and wait for the sound at 00:16.



Did you hear that tiny little thump? It has haunted my dreams for the past decade.

I have no idea what it is, but it certainly can't be part of the composition. Was something being plugged in? Was a music stand kicked over? Did the conductor drop his Big Gulp? Whatever the case, every time I listen to Time's Scar, I tense up until that little thump comes and goes.  It's a pretty big blemish on an otherwise awesome recording/song--and if you think I'm being a tad crazy about this, just remember: I wouldn't be a gamer if I didn't get psychotically obsessed over meaningless details.

To calm my Hooksexups, and make you less worried about me, here's an awesome guitar arrangement of Time's Scar that's played using official Procyon Studio (Mitsuda's HQ) sheet music. I would pay for an entire album full of stuff like this:



Related Links:

OST: Chrono Cross
Where is Yasunori Mitsuda?
The End of Time and the Beginning of Fan Drama


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Demaar said:

I'm determined NOT to listen to this song until I've forgotten about this news post! Because like the Wilhelm scream, I will never be able to ignore it/not notice it again *shakes fist*

October 14, 2008 10:18 PM

Amber Ahlborn said:

...I think you're hearing things, or maybe misinterpreting things you hear.  At around 00:16 I hear a subtle, muted guitar strum.  I've heard that sort of thing before in guitar music that had a lot of layers to it.  It sounds like a very intentional part of the song.

October 14, 2008 10:21 PM

Bob Mackey said:

Never sounded like a strum to me, and I never heard that sound elsewhere in the song.  If it was intentional, then the recording of the sound was fudged.

October 15, 2008 12:35 AM

Demaar said:

Hmm OK, I gave in and had a listen. I definitely notice it now, and it definitely sounds out of place. I guess I always just assumed it was a sound effect or something (from the book opening lol), but then I went to the OST and it's on that too.

October 15, 2008 8:27 PM

Ian said:

Yeah, I've heard that...never was able to figure out what it was though.  It doesn't really sound like an instrument to me, but if it isn't, then what is it?

October 16, 2008 10:45 AM

Bob Mackey said:

From my experience with dabbling in music (and you really don't have to dabble for more than a minute to discover this), it sounds like something is being plugged into an amplifier.  But A.) Who would be stupid enough to do it then, and B.) Why was there no second take?

I wouldn't put anything past Square, though; the FFVI Grand Finale album is a TERRIBLE recording.

October 17, 2008 9:37 PM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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