Video Game Music

[p0llux 398]

On 21/06/2023 at 2:37 PM, Jay said:

Anyone here anticipating Final Fantasy 16's score?

 

The music from the opening fight pretty much sold it for me. Masayoshi Soken outdid himself here. Linked it below.

 

Lots of progressive rock, progressive metal, symphonic rock influences here. The instrumentation is very much in the same vein as RCP scores. After listening to so much JW and golden age orchestral scores which are all very sophisticated, this piece is pretty simplistic in comparison, but it's highly enjoyable due to the rock influenced pulsating bassline/chords giving it the forward momentum it needed to keep my attention for 6m41s. The choir is basically singing a symphonic rock influenced verse, it's quite interesting. It's a bit of fast food for the ears, but it's done more tastefully than your average RCP score.

 

 

[Jay 37,369]

Wow Squenix works fast, already taken down 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

New Paesano.

 

I believe it's Peter's theme, Miles' theme and then the new theme for Venom that will appear in the game.

 

 

[p0llux 398]

@Jay Edited with someone else's link. Who knows how long that'll last? Lasted longer than mine. It really is a fantastic piece.

[Jay 37,369]

Thanks! 

[Schilkeman 964]

Was reminded of this little gem last night. The early days of Xbox Live Arcade.

 

 

[Marc 768]

Here's a 26min piece I've arranged and produced based on the Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack !

More than 30 musicians from all over the world are playing on it, there's also a big choir, and it has all the twists and turns you'd expect from a progressive rock epic 

 

[crocodile 8,017]

Finally, Final Symphony II is getting a release this Friday! For now, it looks like digital-only but maybe we will get a physical release as well.

 

 

Quote

1. Fanfare (In a Roundabout Way)

2.Final Fantasy XIII (Utopia in the Sky)

3.Final Fantasy IX (For the People of Gaia)

ABOUT THIS TRACK

(Festival of the Hunt | Vivi’s Theme | Mourning the Sky | Silver Dragon etc.)

Composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

Arranged by Roger Wanamo.

4. Encore: Final Fantasy IX (Not Alone)

5. Final Fantasy VIII (Mono no aware)

6. Final Fantasy V (Library of Ancients)

7. Encore: Final Fantasy V (Battle at the Big Bridge)

8. Encore: Final Fantasy (Main Theme)

 

About this album

 

Presented as full length, beautifully orchestrated suites, one for each of the games included, Final Symphony II features the music of Final Fantasy V, VIII, IX and XIII, as performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded inside the stunning Stockholm Konserthuset.

 

Spotlighting much loved themes from composers Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu, such as Blinded by Light, Festival of the Hunt, Waltz for the Moon and Reina’s Theme to name a few, Final Symphony II tells the story of each title through music and is the ultimate tribute for fans of the long-running role-playing game series.

 

Note: The Bandcamp release includes the HD version of the album: 24 bit / 48 kHz FLAC!  

credits

releases August 4, 2023

 

Credits:

 

Performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

 

Conductor: Andreas Hanson

Piano: Mischa Cheung (tracks 3 and 4)

 

Recorded, mixed and mastered in June 2023.

 

Music composed by Nobuo Uematsu (tracks 3-8), Masashi Hamauzu (track 2) and Jonne Valtonen (track 1).

Music arranged by Roger Wanamo (tracks 3, 4, 5 and 8), Jonne Valtonen (tracks 6 and 7) and Masashi Hamauzu (track 2). Track 2 orchestrated by Jonne Valtonen.

 

Creator, Director and Executive Producer: Thomas Böcker

 

Mixed and mastered by Lars Nilsson at Nilento Studio, Gothenburg Sweden in June 2023.

Recording Producer: Lars Nilsson

GM, Secretary: Jenny Nilsson

Recording Engineers: Michael Dahlvid and Jesper Gjöbel

Editing: Lars Nilsson and Michael Dahlvid

 

Photos: Nadja Sjöström

 

Special thanks to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Square Enix Co. Ltd.

 

Final Symphony II © & ℗ 2015-2023 Merregnon Studios. Licensed by Square Enix.

FINAL FANTASY is a registered trademark or trademark of Square Enix Group Co., Ltd.  

 

Karol

[Marc 768]

4 hours ago, crocodile said:

Finally, Final Symphony II is getting a release this Friday! For now, it looks like digital-only but naybe we will get a physical release as well.

 

 

 

Karol

 

Yesss, finally !!

I remember asking Jonne Valtonen about it 3 years ago and he told me they weren't planning on recording it so this comes as one very nice surprise 🙂

The first one was extraordinary, I especially love that fireworks effect in the FF7 piece !

[crocodile 8,017]

Yes, I had a chance to attending a concert of I earlier this year and it was phenomenal. Going to see II next year. 

 

The original is one of my favourite albums of the past decade. Now this is how you arrange preexisting music into concert format.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,369]

On 30/06/2023 at 3:03 AM, Marc said:

Here's a 26min piece I've arranged and produced based on the Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack !

More than 30 musicians from all over the world are playing on it, there's also a big choir, and it has all the twists and turns you'd expect from a progressive rock epic 

 

 

 

WOWWWWW!! 

 

 

I finally had a chance to watch this, and this is GREAT!  So impressive on every single front - the arrangement, the performance, the visuals.  It must have taken as long to put the video together as it did to arrange and record the music! 

 

Great, great work!

 

BTW, what's that japanese voice bit about 15 minutes in?

[Jay 37,369]

On 04/04/2023 at 9:17 AM, Jay said:

Well, the official Xenoblade Chonicles 3 OST album has finally been announced!

 

It will be 9 hours long, 140 tracks!!

 

 

Here's the official page for it:

 

https://www.procyon-studio.co.jp/special/xbostportal/en/xb3ost.html

 

Regular Edition (Digital): August 2, 2023 (Wednesday), ¥6,750 JPY (approx $50 USD)

Regular Edition (Physical 9-CD): August 2, 2023 (Wednesday), ¥7,260 JPY (approx $55 USD)

Limited Edition (9-CD): July 29, 2023 (Saturday),  ¥16,800 JPY (approx $125 USD)

 

 

There's no pre-order links for the Regular Edition yet

 

Limited Edition Pre-order link and extra stuff info:

 

https://www.procyon-store.com/en/products/xb3ostle

 

 

 

They are also putting out a Limited Edition 20-CD box set with music from all 5 games/expansions for  ¥20,000 JPY, which is about $150 US.

 

https://www.procyon-studio.co.jp/special/xbostportal/en/xbosttble.html
 

 

I believe this is the ONLY way to get Future Connected and Torna on physical disc!

 

 

 

Anyways, I couldn't find any pics of either box, or the tracklist for XB3, anywhere yet.

 

 

AAand this just dropped this week, on Wednesday.  Anybody listened yet?  I'm about to start...

[Marc 768]

6 hours ago, Jay said:

WOWWWWW!! 

 

 

I finally had a chance to watch this, and this is GREAT!  So impressive on every single front - the arrangement, the performance, the visuals.  It must have taken as long to put the video together as it did to arrange and record the music! 

 

Great, great work!

 

BTW, what's that japanese voice bit about 15 minutes in?

Thank you !!

It was a lot of work indeed, the whole project took me about 8 months but I think it was all worth it in the end 
About the japanese voice, it's an actual line from the game which Cait Sith says at that particular moment right before facing off Sephiroth (which is when we hear "Birth of a God") English translation is : "We can still get out of it! Even if we can't get EVERYTHING back to normal!” “We should be able to protect what's most important!!!”

[Jay 37,369]

8 months!!  Wow!!

 

By the way, I've been meaning to ask, the video footage of the people performing is never from the actual performance we're hearing, right?  Everyone submits their tracks, you edit it all together, then later get them to mime to the final edited track right?

 

Thanks for explaining the Japanese part!

 

I also wanted to say I like how you made One Winged Angel more epic without doing it the same way the Final Fantasy VII Remake guys did.

 

Just great work all around!

[Marc 768]

Quote

8 months!!  Wow!!

A few weeks to come up with the whole structure and a basic mockup which I first send to my bass player for him to work on his part, then a few more to figure out which part I'd like to be played by whom, contact everyone, prepare their backing tracks/sheet music, and then finally record my parts and properly arrange the piece, mix it, edit the video, prepare some teasers also ! I always spend hundreds of hours on these but, well...I just love doing them 
 

Quote

By the way, I've been meaning to ask, the video footage of the people performing is never from the actual performance we're hearing, right?  Everyone submits their tracks, you edit it all together, then later get them to mime to the final edited track right?

Yes, most of the performers film their videos separately from their audio, however in some cases what you see on screen is actually their live take !

 

Quote

I also wanted to say I like how you made One Winged Angel more epic without doing it the same way the Final Fantasy VII Remake guys did.

 

Thanks, it's such an iconic piece of music ! It's been covered a lot so I knew I'd have to put my own spin on it, kudos to all the performers who helped me bring if to life 🤘

[Jay 37,369]

Awesome, thanks for that! Keep up the good work! 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

 

[Jay 37,369]

On 04/04/2023 at 9:17 AM, Jay said:

Well, the official Xenoblade Chonicles 3 OST album has finally been announced!

 

It will be 9 hours long, 140 tracks!!

 

 

Here's the official page for it:

 

https://www.procyon-studio.co.jp/special/xbostportal/en/xb3ost.html

 

Regular Edition (Digital): August 2, 2023 (Wednesday), ¥6,750 JPY (approx $50 USD)

Regular Edition (Physical 9-CD): August 2, 2023 (Wednesday), ¥7,260 JPY (approx $55 USD)

Limited Edition (9-CD): July 29, 2023 (Saturday),  ¥16,800 JPY (approx $125 USD)

 

 

There's no pre-order links for the Regular Edition yet

 

Limited Edition Pre-order link and extra stuff info:

 

https://www.procyon-store.com/en/products/xb3ostle

 

 

 

They are also putting out a Limited Edition 20-CD box set with music from all 5 games/expansions for  ¥20,000 JPY, which is about $150 US.

 

https://www.procyon-studio.co.jp/special/xbostportal/en/xbosttble.html
 

 

I believe this is the ONLY way to get Future Connected and Torna on physical disc!

 

 

 

Anyways, I couldn't find any pics of either box, or the tracklist for XB3, anywhere yet.

 

 

 

This arrived at my house today!  It just left Japan on Thursday, not bad.

[p0llux 398]

The soundtrack in this game is actually not bad at all. Love the game too. It's not without the usual Bethesda flaws, but it's very enjoyable.

Can't forget the other big game with another great OST.

Ok game. Ok soundtrack. Shit company. 

 

[Schilkeman 964]

33 minutes ago, p0llux said:

The soundtrack in this game is actually not bad at all.

It's a shame Charles Soule ended up being such a shithead. I would have loved to hear his Starfield soundtrack, assuming he did it.

[Faleel 5,354]

16 minutes ago, Schilkeman said:

It's a shame Charles Soule ended up being such a shithead. I would have loved to hear his Starfield soundtrack, assuming he did it.

The comic book writer?

[Schilkeman 964]

18 minutes ago, Signals said:

The comic book writer?

oops, I meant Jeremey. I got my Soules confused lol

[Marc 768]

Here's an alternate version of a song I originally composed for the End Credits of my Final Fantasy X Concept Album "Children of Yevon" 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

The remastered/extended/DC edition of Peter McConnell's brilliant Grim Fandango soundtrack has another limited pressing on vinyl:

https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/grim-fandango/products/grim-fandango-2xlp-vinyl-soundtrack

[Stark 316]

Recently got Mancina’s Sorcery, which I believe is my first game OST on CD. What are good places online that sell games’ CDs? (in america)

[karelm 2,914]

6 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The remastered/extended/DC edition of Peter McConnell's brilliant Grim Fandango soundtrack has another limited pressing on vinyl:

https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/grim-fandango/products/grim-fandango-2xlp-vinyl-soundtrack

Hey, I orchestrated that!  Must own it but don't have vinyl.  😘

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

The game itself celebrates its 25th anniversary today. And it's still one of the best, a rare case of a game that feels unique and personal enough to be called a masterpiece.

[karelm 2,914]

17 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The game itself celebrates its 25th anniversary today. And it's still one of the best, a rare case of a game that feels unique and personal enough to be called a masterpiece.

Oh really?! I must have been at the 20th anniversary then where the cast read excerpts at E3.  Jack Black was there too.  I was probably the only person in the theater who never played the game but it was so unique to see something you worked on being adored by so many people!

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

It's a game that very easily could be turned into a film, because it's so character driven to begin with. Only that would feel a bit pointless, because it would probably just be the game without the game. But if Schafer hadn't written it as a game, it would have made a great film instead.

 

Its story is also so complete that despite many cries for a sequel, and despite me wanting to visit that world and its characters again, I don't see a place for it (and neither does Schafer, I think).

 

It's art:

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Austin Wintory is a fan, too:

 

[karelm 2,914]

21 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Austin Wintory is a fan, too:

 

He was my classmate and told me how much those projects meant to him.  We literally talked about how big a fan he is.  

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Our own @ChrisAfonso just popped up in Austin Wintory's latest video:

(Timestamped)

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

The full Grim Fandango concert:

 

[Tydirium 1,167]

This just came out today. Anyone else enjoying?

 

 

[Jay 37,369]

New Final Fantasy song

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

3 hours ago, Tydirium said:

This just came out today. Anyone else enjoying?

 

 

 

Yeah, I cut down the album a bit, but it's really good. I'm impressed

[LSH 969]

7 hours ago, Tydirium said:

This just came out today. Anyone else enjoying?

 

 

I’ve heard around the first third of it and I do think it’s rather good. However, despite some similar harmonic decisions, it doesn’t sound totally right for the Avatar universe…. and I can’t quite put my finger on why.

 

It does remind me a lot of Gareth Coker’s game music. Which is a good thing, I’ll add.

[midgemania 54]

13 hours ago, LSH said:

I’ve heard around the first third of it and I do think it’s rather good. However, despite some similar harmonic decisions, it doesn’t sound totally right for the Avatar universe…. and I can’t quite put my finger on why.

I have a couple of thoughts that first came to mind when I heard the behind the music trailer:

 

1) The vocals are not mixed in the same way as the movies. Here they primarily used a choir or vocal ensemble of singers. The sound of the recording stage is very prevalent in the sound, whereas in the movies it’s clearly a multitrack of perhaps 2-3 singers. Not sure exactly how many, but it gives them a presence and bite that is lacking from the game music. 
 

2) The non-orchestral elements take a backseat to the orchestra, whereas in both film scores it’s a true hybrid approach, and they sound as if they were conceived simultaneously rather than added on after the fact. 
 

I think Toprak’s music is a fine achievement in and of itself, and I enjoyed listening to it. But it doesn’t feel like Avatar, which makes me slightly disappointed as I was really hoping it would sit alongside Horner and Franglen in the canon. 
 

EDIT to add - it’s also an extremely dense mix. The sound washes over you rather than giving you interesting pops of texture and colour to listen to - although I suppose that’s no bad thing for a game score. 

[Marc 768]

Happy New Year everyone 
 

 

[Jay 37,369]

Just watched - I really enjoyed it!

 

I had forgotten that Square made those CGI cutscenes for the Playstation reissue of the game.  That was fun to see again

[CuriousMan 16]

Fighting Force II; this has quite an atmospheric soundtrack.

 

Aside from the main menu and level themes, there's also a bunch of music cues heard only in the cutscenes.

 

With this exception:

[Faleel 5,354]

The rhythmic world of Koji Kondo, maestro of Mario

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/video-games/2024/02/26/koji-kondo-mario-zelda-nintendo/

[Laserschwert 475]

George Oldziey is running another Kickstarter campaign for a second volume of live orchestra recordings of his Wing Commander soundtracks:

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1373816047/george-oldziey-vol-2-of-wing-commander-live-recording

 

 

The first (successful) campaign resulted in an amazing album, especially for someone like me, who played Wing Commander 3 for weeks when it got released. Its soundtrack got burned into my brain, so these recordings were exactly what I needed.

 

Here's a short documentary about that first campaign and its recording sessions:

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

I didn't know about the previous one. I played the original Wing Commander over and over again on the Amiga, but WC3 (the first one with an Oldziey) score only a few times on a friend's computer (I didn't have the hardware for it back in the day). Gave it another try much later, but found that it hadn't aged very well (compared to Lucas Arts' glorious X-Wing series). So I'm hardly familiar with the music.

 

I do have one Oldziey soundtrack though: Ultima IX: Ascension, almost the oldest video game soundtrack release in my collection (probably Broughton's Heart of Darkness came first). There's some lovely stuff on it (and it makes a big deal about being THX certified). Although as far as I remember, I originally got it because of that one theme that I later learned wasn't original at all, but in fact Rule Britannia.

[Thor 7,508]

I never played WC 1 and 2, but played 3 twice through, I think, as well as WC 4 once or twice as well. My dad (it was his computer we used, I didn't have one myself) had a flight stick, which made it easier to navigate. However, I was mostly into it for the cut scenes and the ambiance and character interaction onboard, not the actual missions.

 

I remember one frustrating mission in 3, where you have to get back to the mothership on time, before it jumps, but if you don't make it, you're left alone in space. The game doesn't end or anything, you're just left floating about. I don't know if it was a bug or not, but it was very creepy.

 

Oldziey's orchestral recording lifts the material to what it should have sounded like in the first place, so curious how this second volume will turn out.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

15 hours ago, Thor said:

My dad (it was his computer we used, I didn't have one myself) had a flight stick, which made it easier to navigate.

 

A stick is the *only* way to play these games. I just got Elite Dangerous in a Steam sale a week ago and can finally put the HOTAS I bought years ago to some use.

[Thor 7,508]

My review of Waveshaper's A VOID HOPE, for anyone interested:

 

https://celluloidtunes.no/a-void-hope-waveshaper/

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

2 minutes ago, Thor said:

A VOID HOPE

 

That's SW episode X, isn't it?