Back in February of this year, composer and content creator Alex Moukala (aka the Warrior of Funk) put out a call on Twitter asking the Final Fantasy XIV community to help with an ambitious project of his. He wanted to create a fan arrangement of the song “Close in the Distance” where everyone’s voice would sing together as one big chorus. It’s the emotional track that plays in the final zone of Endwalker, embodying the entire journey up to that point. And it’s a song that so many FFXIV players have connected with.
To participate, you just had to a submit a recording of yourself singing along to the song, and Alex would do the rest of the work by editing everyone’s recording into one track. Just a week after the call, he had received over 1,200 submissions. As it turned out, he got so many submissions in total that it became a months-long project. With fellow musician and cover artist Husky by the Geek helping with the arrangement, and content creator Denmo Mcstronghuge producing the video, it got done. But many more familiar faces contributed to the project as well.
You can watch the video and listen to the FFXIV community arrangement of “Close in the Distance” below (from Alex Moukala’s YouTube channel).
Singer-songwriter J’Nique Nicole, who is the vocalist for the English version of NieR: Automata‘s “Weight of the World,” took part in the FFXIV community arrangement of “Close in the Distance.” Even singers from the FFXIV soundtrack itself were part of the mix; Susan Calloway (“Answers” and “Dragonsong”) and Amanda Achen (“Flow” and “Tomorrow & Tomorrow”) both contributed.
You’ll also hear and see opera singer Paolo Andrea Di Pietro, singer and YouTuber Studio Nicktendo, and so many other notable creators like Enochian Tori (singer and YouTuber), Elizabeth Rage (singer and cosplayer), Lollia Rose (singer and YouTuber), FamilyJules (YouTuber and musician), Adriana Figueroa (singer and YouTuber), and Zepla (streamer and content creator).
The video included several collages from the video versions of recordings sent by participants. If you took part, you may find yourself contributing to the gang of voices. And you may even spot more familiar faces from the FFXIV community singing along. Alex shared his thanks at the end of the video and through Twitter, also reaching out to the FFXIV team, including composer Masayoshi Soken and singer of the original version Jason C. Miller.
Those who’ve been following Alex’s work and music are probably aware of his adoration for FFXIV and it’s soundtrack, funky basslines over remixed video game songs, or breakdowns of complex compositions. But this project is emblematic of the larger FFXIV community and his ability to bring everyone in it together for something that represents the game so well.
