Uematsu used inspiration from medieval Europe when composing the soundtrack, taking a two-week break to travel to Europe and looking at old castles in Germany. For example, the intro to the battle theme from earlier titles was reinstated, and a few of the tracks, such as Pavilion of Doga and Une and Gurgu Volcano, were remixes of their original counterparts. Uematsu also noted that because Final Fantasy IX was returning to the series' roots, the soundtrack would be influenced by older titles. Though originally Uematsu planned subtle, classical-sounding tunes that would fit the game's medieval setting and feel, he decided that just one genre of music would be boring. However, because of the emphasized cartoony and fantastical natures of Final Fantasy IX, he found both serious and silly pieces could fit in well.

For Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, Uematsu said it was hard to put exorbitant music in due to their emphasized realism. Uematsu was given a lot of freedom for the Final Fantasy IX soundtrack. Uematsu originally tried writing the music for Final Fantasy IX using only traditional instruments (non-electronic/digital), but felt the sound would 'be unbalanced' and 'a little boring'. One such track is the original main theme that would have played on the world map, but even if Uematsu really liked the track, it ended up not being used due to there not being a suitable place for it in the game.

He initially composed around 160 tracks, but it would have required six CDs to release and was deemed too large, and around 20 of the tracks he composed ended up not being used. The series's composer, Nobuo Uematsu, finished composing the music for Final Fantasy IX in a period of little less than a year, a rather long development time compared to the time he used with previous Final Fantasy soundtracks, despite working over 12-hour days.

6 Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack Revival Disc.

5 Uematsu's Best Selection - Music From The Final Fantasy IX Video Game.

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