Where Are the Ancients? The Place of the “Voices of the Lifestream” in Final Fantasy VII Free

During the adventure, the player hears multiple times a sound which I will name the “Moan of the Planet.” These moans are remnants of the Lifestream, represented by a unique vocal sound effect. It is unclear whether this moan sounds continually on some level of reality or only intermittently. It is clear that this vocal sound effect can be heard at certain key moments by both the player and the characters. The “Moan of the Planet” is heard three times. At each occurrence, the plot mentions the Planet in some respect: its vital energy, and therefore the Ancients, its means of defense against any aggressor through the Weapons, which were created after the Jenova crisis, or the threat of the Meteor, which will subsequently be stopped thanks to the Planet’s vital energy. Regardless of localization or other conditions, the voice sounds come from only one sound effect. As an example, Figure 1 shows a spectrogram of the sound file (Audio Example 1) used at every occasion.

Figure 1 represents the sound effect, which consists of four notes, each of which undergoes portamento to a different pitch, and whose timbre resembles a “moan” composed of several human voices. The range used to generate the spectrum in Figure 1 goes from 20 Hz to 2000 Hz, as no other frequency except harmonics of very low intensity go beyond that frequency. In addition, the resolution of the observation window is 16384 Hz, a range with sufficient audible differences to draw conclusions. In the figure, we observe four different wails, each represented by a downward portamento, but the second one uses a frequency that rises slightly before getting lower again.

If we focus on the sound effect and its specific texture, we can focus on the pitches and, in effect, the musical motif being played. The sound is treated to pitch-shifting, but we can approximate the notes with Western notation and based on the equal temperament. The notes have been rounded at the closest twenty-five cent multiple, their actual values annotated with indicative “+” or “-” signs (Example 1).

This four-note motif forms a melodic profile. If we only look at the beginning notes, once the semitone cent intervals have been reconfigured on an equal scale, we can represent this as: D5–D♭5–F5–C5. The intervals between the notes are changed as the motif is “dilated” vertically. The melodic profile is more apparent when we only look at the beginning notes: starting from the first note, there is a chromatic descent towards the semitone, then a rise to an enharmonic major third interval, and a descent towards the lower fourth interval. In other words, the melodic profile can be written as shown in Example 2.

In this depiction, I have deliberately used an enharmonic equivalent to emphasize the overall direction of the whole four-note gesture’s profile. This melodic profile, however, is important to the musical universe of FF7 since the “Moan” sound presents the melodic profile of a motif that we will find in various parts of the game’s score, all related to the Ancients. I will call that motif the “Scream” even though the word “scream” is not quite relevant in some cases as it can also be considered as a moaning. I do so to clearly delimit the moments when I speak of the sound effect named “Moan of the Planet,” or the musical motif that results from it, the “Scream.”

The three occurrences of the moaning sound effect happen in three different situations. Firstly, in Cosmo Canyon, the voices are presented during a narrative scene, which establishes the “Moan of the Planet” as a key element of the game, and the Lifestream as something phenomenally evident in the gameworld. Then, secondly, it is heard in Mideel when the characters literally fall into the Lifestream and arrive at the heart of the spiritual energy. We are now in a situation where the “Moan of the Planet” is not simply something heard by those with the right powers or special abilities, but a reality, a diegetic element. Finally, it is heard when the Planet’s future is threatened again while the group of heroes is unable to destroy the meteor. In this situation, the voices may be diegetic (the Planet is really worried about its future), or even an extradiegetic call to the player, since the mission was a failure. In each case, the “Moan” is a response to the Planet under threat.

The three occurrences are articulated differently. The first time the player hears the “Moan” is in Cosmo Canyon as Bugenhagen explains that the Planet is dying. On this occasion only, the sound is heard without any music overlapping it. This helps to draw attention to the sound for the player, establishing it as a memorable moment. The second time players hear the “Moan” is in Mideel, and this time the sound is overlapped by music of very high volume and intensity (“Attack of the Weapon”) as well as other sounds depicting the destruction of the town. When the sound is heard for the final third time in the Highwind airship, it is heard with an overlapping music of normal volume and intensity (“The Highwind Takes to the Sky”).

When the voices are heard in Cosmo Canyon, the group of heroes is talking for the first time to Nanaki’s adoptive grandfather, Bugenhagen. In this sequence, the cycle of life is explained in more detail to the player, and Bugenhagen adds that the Planet is dying, as he has heard it wailing. Once the cries are heard, Cloud wonders, “What was that?” Bugenhagen answers, “That was a scream from the Planet. Didn’t you hear it? As if to say…I hurt, I suffer…” (Figure 2).

The fact that this sound is linked to the cries of the Planet shows that the planet can be seen as a living being, which carries the spiritual energy of all living things, including the spiritual energy of the Ancients. We may develop a few theories about the nature of this energy and the presence of those cries. It is highly probable that the connection between the Ancients and the Planet allowed them to gain a special status—some kind of power and wisdom that let them keep a small amount of consciousness after death. Or we could say that the tragedy of their extinction has upset the Planet so much that we still hear echoes of it. The Lifestream could be compared to the Styx or the Acheron, which in Greek mythology are the rivers of the underworld that run through the earth. On these rivers, the psychopomp Charon is tasked with ferrying the dead to the underworld. Here we find mythological imagery that may have inspired the Lifestream. The cycle of life and reincarnation may also have been inspired by religious concepts, such as saṃsāra in Śramaṇic beliefs.

The Cosmo Canyon sequence, while an interesting development of the lore of the game, is not enough to let us reach a conclusion. Later into the adventure, after Cloud gives Sephiroth the Black Materia at the Northern Crater, the planet’s Weapons are all released as a safeguard against the impending destruction, which causes many disasters for the planet’s inhabitants. One such creature, Ultima Weapon, appears upon the party’s return to Mideel to visit Tifa and an ailing Cloud, creating an earthquake that causes the Lifestream to surface. As Ultima Weapon circles the city, we hear the planet’s moan in the background of the non-diegetic “Attack of the Weapon” music, which ceases once the enemy leaves the city. We could interpret the moans as a scream, an alarm or a cry of terror and despair caused by the Weapon’s might. And of course, if the moan is heard, it means the Lifestream is not too far away. Right after, Cloud and Tifa fall into the Lifestream as the ground breaks under their feet, and while they fall, we can still hear the voices. This time, the two characters are the closest to the spiritual energy running through the Planet. These two occurrences create a narrative thread between the sound effect and the plot of the game: each time that the voices are heard, the Lifestream is either mentioned or close to the characters and the players. As we shall explore below, this connection is crucial for understanding the association between the game’s music and the “voice of the Ancients.”

Finally, the third occurrence of the “Moan” effect is when, after getting the Huge Materia back and sending the Shinra No. 26 rocket to the meteor, Nanaki hears the sound. He interrupts the discussion to mention that moan, and Cloud answers, “Hey, how do we know that this is really the Planet’s scream?” Tifa then asks: “Did you forget? Bugenhagen told us.” (Figure 3).

This scene follows the failure to destroy the meteor that was summoned by Sephiroth to destroy the Planet. Therefore, we may say that the Planet is aware of that failure and grieving, getting scared, or realizing that it is in real danger. This awareness of danger is made audible by its moan through the Lifestream.

Now that we have highlighted this motif, its melodic profile, as well as the scripted moments when it is heard regarding the lore, we must investigate the use of an instrument in relation to the “Moan of the Planet”: the voice.

FF7 is not the first time that the series has used voice in an important way: in Final Fantasy VI (Super Nintendo Entertainment System, 1994), a voice synthesized through phase modulation (PM Synthesis) is used several times in the game, most notably during the opera scene and in the final boss battle theme “Dancing Mad.”⁷ Synthesizing voice is extremely complicated, as the human voice is not only defined by a variation of frequency, but also other parameters such as the inflexion of phonemes, in addition to the vibrato traditionally used for operatic singing. However, in FF7, technological progress, and above all, the use of more efficient MIDI synthesizers and MIDI expanders, allows for a more realistic synthesis of the voice (for example: the choirs on “Mako Reactor” or “Mako Cannon–The Destruction of Shinra”). The large number of channels available on the PlayStation makes it possible to use several channels for vocal sound, which allows voices to be more comprehensively embedded in a larger ensemble and provides a more convincing impression of a choir through separating out the sections across channels. For example, a SATB choir can be spread across four channels (one for each section), along with orchestral elements. In FF7, the choir is synthesized, but we also have sampled recordings of real voices in “One-Winged Angel” to add lyrics to the music.⁸

Nobuo Uematsu’s musical language in FF7 combines a variety of musical styles, including a strong thread of neo-romanticism. In keeping with neo-romantic classical Hollywood film music and its ancestors of nineteenth-century symphonic and operatic music, Uematsu uses leitmotivic narrative semiosis. Uematsu started giving instruments a narrative function in Final Fantasy IV (1991) when the use of more realistic synthesized instruments was made possible on the SNES. Uematsu continued this practice, and in FF7, one of those instruments is the voice, which in every situation is used to signify the presence or the influence of the Ancients.

Voice is first heard in the game in “Mako Reactor” (Example 3), which plays in every Mako reactor that the players visits. As discussed above, the Mako reactor extracts the Planet’s life energy and contains the Ancients’ lost knowledge. A sonic link starts to emerge between the voice and the Ancients in this music. Of course, at this point in the game, new players are not aware of this narrative link, as this is only foreshadowing. Gérard Genette, a French narratologist, mentions this process as a “prolepsis” and designating by prolepsis “any narrative maneuver consisting in recounting or evoking a later event in advance.”⁹ In “Mako Reactor,” the choir is used as an antiphonal response to the main melody, which is played on tubular bells, while the strings, the synthesizer, and the percussion play the track’s ostinato (not shown on Example 3).

As discussed above, the melodic profile of the “Moan” sound effect is also rendered as a melodic motif, which to avoid confusion is here called the “Scream” motif. Here, the choir echoes the motif played by the tubular bells and sounds a distorted imitation of the “Scream.” The choir alternates between two chords (i–vm7–i in G minor and i–iv–i in B♭ minor) to create a link between the different melodies made by the tubular bells. The imitation is made possible by the fact that the choir is also singing the “Scream” motif in a more prolonged and subtle way as shown in green on the figure above. The “Scream” motif is a version of the “Moan” sound associated with particular characters and portrayed by the voice as an instrument. This is the leitmotif of the Ancients, living and filling the space occupied by the Lifestream.

Beginning with exploring the voice as an instrument, and with the narrative context where tracks that contains the voice are used, we will find a direct link between the voice, key moments that mention the Planet’s life energy or the Ancients, and the “Scream” motif.

“Shinra, Inc.” is the music for the company of the same name. It is heard in its offices or when an executive from the company is present during a scene. In this piece, the choir is once again used as a plaintive response to the main melody. The link between Shinra and the Ancients becomes clear when considering that Shinra is responsible for the extraction of Mako across the Planet: Shinra is responsible for the destruction of the Planet’s life energy. In this track, the choir moves parsimoniously, meaning that the chord progression is made through a voice leading that progresses directly towards the adjacent note, in a chromatic manner (Example 4).

In this piece, the “Scream” motif appears mirrored, and more compressed, due to the chromatic nature of the chord progression that leads to a linear motion of the voices. Much like “Mako Reactor” (which also has a narrative link to Shinra) the motif should be seen as one step of the global choir progression between each part of the theme, separated by the whole-note rest at the end of each progression. Additionally, during the adventure, especially the introduction in Midgar, these two pieces (“Mako Reactor” and “Shinra, Inc.”) are often used in close proximity, establishing and reinforcing the link between the voice and Mako, and therefore, the Ancients.

The use of the voice occurs again in “In Search of the Man in Black,” but more in passing, as it only uses the voice to highlight a four-measure phrase in A minor 7. However, the narrative connection is as follows: “the man in black” is a reference to Sephiroth, who is described during this sequence as wearing a black cape. Sephiroth, who is actually Jenova in disguise, is also linked to the Ancients: Jenova was responsible for their extinction two thousand years ago, and Sephiroth is the result of a genetic experiment that involved injecting Jenova cells into a fetus to give birth to a being with enhanced strength and abilities. As a member of Shinra’s elite forces SOLDIER, Sephiroth received ongoing exposure to Mako. Additionally, the real Sephiroth is hidden in a Mako chrysalis at the Northern Crater. Here, the use of the voice indicates elements that the player does not know yet when that music is heard, acting as a prolepsis. Indeed, the player will later learn that Sephiroth died by falling into the Lifestream during the events in Nibelheim; his body ended up at the Northern Crater because of the convergence of the Lifestream’s flow. We notice that the latent, stasis state of Sephiroth in his chrysalis is represented in this track by the A pedal point (and a stretched A minor 7 chord from the choir), which lasts thirty-two measures. Here, the choir takes on a mystical nature, a distant and static reverberation of the “Scream” (Example 5).

We notice what seems to be the “Scream” motif on the electric piano. However, the motif is distorted, twisted, and vertically dilated. If we interpret the musical components, we get an association of the “choir + motifs” on electric piano, with the same meaning as “tubular bells + choir” in “Mako Reactor.” It seems that through these musical examples, two “Scream” + choir elements are systematically or often, used together. However, it is through the musical pieces directly linked to the “Moan of the Planet” that the use of the “Scream” motif and the voice becomes more interesting. There are three pieces with titles that directly reference the Lifestream: “Lifestream,” “Listen to the Cries of the Planet,” and “The North Cave.”

While “Lifestream” does not use any choir, it uses a melodic profile shaped as the “Scream.” In its introduction, we hear a motif that is only used in two places: in “Opening–Bombing Mission” right at the beginning of the adventure and in the last measures of “The Planet’s Crisis,” and thus at the end of the game, creating a cycle, a loop similar to the cycle of life on the planet. In my analysis, I attribute this little musical motif to the Lifestream because the context of the use of these three pieces leads to this conclusion. In the “Opening,” the motif is heard when Aerith notices Mako leaking onto the streets of Midgar and in “The Planet’s Crisis,” the world is saved thanks to the Lifestream intervening to stop the meteor and stop its impact. Another important parameter that links this motif to the Lifestream through the “Opening” and “Lifestream” is the fact that the introduction to both pieces is articulated similarly as indicated in Example 6.

Here, since there is no voice, the semantic link between the motif and the articulation of the music is drawn slightly differently. In this particular context, we are witnessing the Lifestream in its purest, most concrete state: a flow of life energy that runs through the Planet and is exploited by Shinra. Much like the mimesis of a liquid flow used in “Lifestream” through the impression of ebbing given by the violins—the strings seem to come and go on G and F chords—this image of the motif that we associate with the choir is on its “mobile” form, unlike the stasis suggested in “In Search of the Man in Black.” The Lifestream thus possesses two states: one mobile and the other static.

The static state is exploited in “Listen to the Cries of the Planet” and “The North Cave.” In these two pieces, the choir is used with only one chord, or a very limited two chord progression, not unlike its use in “Mako Reactor” and “Shinra, Inc.” Interestingly, “Listen to the Cries of the Planet” is used only in the City of the Ancients. During the main quest, the player only comes to that place twice: first during the quest for Sephiroth and then when Bugenhagen suggests going back to the City to find some way to destroy the meteor and save the Planet. Here, the choir is used on a two-chord progression, as mentioned earlier, and the “Scream” motif can be heard very faintly with the violins playing pizzicato but in reverse (Example 7).

The use of a mirrored motif, in which each interval of the initial motif is inverted (horizontal mirror), or in which the notes are played backward (vertical mirror), is a relatively common practice in music. For example, the choir in “Shinra, Inc.” uses the same principle. Here, the association between the reversed “Scream,” the static choir, and what reminds us of the Lifestream’s liquid movement is interesting. All the key elements, including the repertoire of motives linked to the Ancients, are used almost simultaneously in the same composition. While the player does not know the track’s title, to us the music seems to confirm that the “Moan of the Planet” does indeed come from the Lifestream. That is where we see the voice of the Ancients wandering aimlessly through the Lifestream that follows and the “Scream” motif after that. The harmonic (and imagined) movement is created by the strings, while the static state of the lost voices from the underworld is heard in the background. Finally, in a discreet, almost imperceptible way, the pizzicato violins play the motif of distress, of a cry for help that seems lost in the bottomless immensity of the Planet, like a distant echo trying to reach us.

Finally, a static version of the motif occurs in “The North Cave”¹⁰ and is heard at the Northern Crater and as music for Overworld in the last part of the game. The ingredients used for this piece are similar to those from “Listen to the Cries of the Planet” and many other musical pieces for the game (notably the second part of the “Main Theme”).¹¹ Yet again, we hear an ostinato on a harmonic oscillation between two chords that creates a disquieting mood, a main melody on the oboe, and finally, the Ancients’ choir. Using this music at the Crater is not a meaningless decision, and most of all, it reveals the use of a specific mood for the last dungeon in the game. However, it being used as Overworld music in the last part of the game is interesting: at this point, the “Moan” of the Ancients and the Planet cannot be ignored. This is an emergency, the meteor is coming, and it seems that nothing can stop it. Here, the ostinato is played on a piano backed up by a synthesizer pedal. The oboe is playing a melody that, as we will hear, tries to develop the reversed “Scream” motif in a hesitant manner. As for the choir, it remains on the same chord and plays staccato with emphasis on each beat in the measure, while a diminuendo makes it slowly disappear (Example 8).

Through the repetition and diminuendo, the choir is creating a distant, almost subterranean echo that gets progressively lost in the vastness, while the “Scream” is played in a distorted, almost broken manner on the oboe. The hesitant manner in which the oboe plays the entire motif could refer to the Ancients struggling within the Lifestream, which is controlled by the spirits of Sephiroth and Jenova. The piano alternates between B♭m and E♭m chords (function i–iv). This harmonic oscillation is heard again mirrored in “Mako Reactor” (Gm–Dm7; i–vm7).¹² Uematsu’s compositions rarely use the same harmony more than once in a game, if we put aside own arrangement of main characters theme; the most obvious example of a reused harmony in FF7 being that of the chord progression from the “Prelude” in “Dear to the Heart” playing over Cloud’s theme (measures seven to twelve). However, the reuse of two plagal degrees remains one of the most common re-uses in FF7. More importantly, hearing the voice of the Ancients in this particular place is not meaningless. When Jenova appeared, it left an impact on the surface of the planet called the Northern Crater. This wound has been healed by the Lifestream converging in this place, hence why Sephiroth’s body can be found here after he fell into the Lifestream in Nibelheim. The Planet’s energy, the Ancients’ knowledge and their last remaining trace, are still healing the Planet. This is the reason why we can “hear” their voice here. The perpetual echo opens up a variety of interpretations, such as the Ancients singing a prayer to heal the Planet for two thousand years, and this litany being almost eternal and uninterrupted. The different layers are superimposed on each other to create this perpetual sound mass.

Lastly, a semantic link between the Ancients and the voice can be witnessed in “Reunion.” The first use is juxtaposed with “The North Cave” during the Crater scene, where Cloud is manipulated into giving Sephiroth the Black Materia. Yet again, we notice a global stasis in this musical piece represented by the ostinato on strings and harp. The choir intervenes in the second part accompanied by a melody on the flute that resembles the one from the “Forested Temple” with its chromatic descent. Here, the choir has a double function: the chords are relatively long (¾ measures per chord), but it uses a harmonic progression, breaking the stasis and bringing movement. Here is the whole progression (Example 9).¹³

The global ambitus of the chords is rather narrow. The harmonic range of the progression is a tritone going from B♭7 to Em. Each chord does not progress to the next by more than a major third, the more common progression being a second. The progression of the voices is compact with each note traveling towards its adjacent note, which is either chromatic or diatonic. All of this contributes to a static impression despite a harmonic color journey specific to the romantic musical language. These micro-variations, or micro-harmonic tremors, can be compared to a disturbance in a field: the stasis is slightly disrupted before discreetly returning to its initial state before being disrupted again, and so on. Inside the voicing of Example 9, we can hear what resembles the melodic profile for the “Scream” motif (altos, measures 58 to 60, C–A–C–B), but this may be simply a result of the harmonic choices. Either way, the semantic link is created by first, the proximity of the pieces heard in this moment: “The North Cave,” “Shinra, Inc.,” “JENOVA,” “Anxiety,” and “Those Chosen by the Planet,” which are all linked to the Ancients. Secondly, the place where they are heard, the Northern Crater, which is the convergence point of the Lifestream as mentioned earlier and thirdly, the instrumentation and motifs being used.

Once the semantic link between the motif, the orchestration, and the Ancients is established, we notice that the motif’s melodic profile is used again in other musical tracks in the game. These tracks will not be directly used in plot situations where the Ancients are mentioned or implied. However, a distant, slightly distorted link can still be drawn. By extension, the Scream’s melodic profile is also used in pieces related to Sephiroth, as it is the same melodic profile as for his musical theme. This is made clear by its use in “Those Chosen by the Planet” which, as we recall, is also used in “Reunion” and “The North Cave” (Example 10).

The “Scream” motif has been highlighted in red, and we noticed that in addition to using the melodic profile the motif has been compressed to seem more chromatic. It has been prepared by the chords sung by the choir before, which are an indication of the entire motif. In every track related to Sephiroth (including “Birth of a God” and “One-Winged Angel”), we notice the systematic use of this motif. In “Birth of a God” it is heard on violins and the organ at m. 25, and in “One-Winged Angel” it is heard in voices and violins during the lyrics “Sors imanis, et inanis.” Therefore, using the motif linked to the Ancients in the tracks related to Sephiroth is not a meaningless choice. As a result of a scientific experiment using Jenova’s cells, where she was mistaken for an Ancient even though she is responsible for their extinction, the link between Sephiroth and the Ancients is established.

The link between Sephiroth and the Ancient is a rather maleficent one. This is a perversion of their heritage, a distortion of their intentions. Sephiroth and Jenova want destruction, while the Ancients favored peace and harmony. This might explain Nobuo Uematsu’s choice to make the motif more “chromatic,” more vertically compressed—in other words, spookier.

Just as the heroes are surrounded by the Ancients’ knowledge through the materia or the events they witness and people they meet, the FF7 score uses a motif and an instrument that creates many different pieces. As shown below in Table 1, the “voice” instrument is used in many tracks related to the Ancients, and only them.

These pieces are all linked, closely or distantly, to the Ancients, and they create a semantic link between the musical material and the now extinct civilization. This motif is used in different forms, static or mobile. In a static state, it is compressed into one chord showing different states of the Lifestream and the Ancients’ life. In a mobile state, they seem to run through the Planet and are able to signify their presence or their help, a minima their influence. With the static state, we notice a residual echo of the Cry of the Ancients that still remains within the depths of the Planet, a witness of a past struggle against Jenova that changed the whole world’s fate. Considering the tracks using the “mobile/moving” state, we can observe that those are all linked somehow to Shinra’s negative influence on the Planet. The mobile state is used in Mako reactor, Shinra’s building or weapon, and Sephiroth’s related music. On the other hand, the static form is used in a more peaceful way, showing natural link with the Planet and Ancient’s civilization as in the City of the Ancients music “Listen to the Cries of the Planet” and the ending cinematic “The Planet’s Crisis,” when the Lifestream emerges from the bowels of the Planet to repel the meteor. Therefore, to the question “Where are the Ancients?,” we might answer: everywhere. Their fight against Jenova two thousand years ago certainly impacted the future of the Planet, and in any part of the game, even in the music, we can find their trace. The question is not “Where are they?” but “Can you hear the cry of the planet?”¹⁴