prok3 Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 I've always thought the stuff very interesting and fun and was wondering if there's a soul out there with a similiar (or differing for conversational value) opinion on the matter. Here's the url of a huge archive of video game music: http://www.vgmusic.com/ My favorites include music from Mario Brothers, Castlevania, and Zelda (yes, very old, but I still love them). Have there been efforts to record music for a video game with an orchestra or with "classical musicians?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corncan Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 A LOT of the Final Fantasy series has been recorded with orchestras, opera, etc. A lot of their pieces have been transcribed for orchestra, but those CDs are hard to find in the US Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vieuxtemps Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Not to my knowledge, though notice how the really crappy games plagiarize Bach for music: Gyruss (Toccata in d) and I think Moon Ranger (2-Part Invention in d) are a couple. An Asian game called "Puyan" from one of those 250-in-one cartridges used a weird version of Dvorak Humoresque. My favorite video game music is Zelda (first and Link to the Past), Metroid, and the Mario's. I never played Castlevania. Is the series good? -Aman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerulean Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Good for you prok3! I am glad someone finally shares my sentiments and/or emotions about game music. I love game music much from a lot of games and the website you posted is excellent. I am checking it out myself. My favorite game music comes from FF 6, FF7 , Chrono Trigger, Zelda and many others. I do not want others to dismiss this as just kids' stuff, and no, game music is not "digitized, simple music" as others have ignorantly told me. Many game music have been made into orchestra music and I daresay they do sound good. Too bad those cds are awfully expensive as they are Jap imports. [This message has been edited by Cerulean (edited 06-07-2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mu0n Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 There's a huge chunk of my brain which is reserved to video game music. Even if I'll eventually go senile or have Alzheimer one day, these melodies will still prevail in there. There's one from Castlevania that sorta sounds like Paganini's Caprice #2, don't you think? Nobuo Oematsu (FF series music composer) really did some great stuff, especially in FF6 (or FF3 US). prok3, one band has made mp3s from old NES games: http://www.minibosses.com/ There are several other groups that rendered more 8-bit songs with real instruments, but last time I checked, their results fell short of what the minibosses accomplished. The official C-64 tune was one of the 2-part inventions. If you want to plunge into another huge pocket of retro computerized music, search for a SID player and SID files, which are dumps of C64 music. There has been some truly amazing stuff composed for the C64, especially when one considers the limited capabilities of its 3-voice chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plateau Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 The Xenogears soundtrack contains some of my favorite pieces ever, regardless of genre. Square has a knack for finding impressive composers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mu0n Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 OMG, what about the megaman series? Anyone who played one of the 8-bit ones has to remember its music. Ninja Gaiden series? KOEI strategy game series? ok, I'm going to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuangKaiVun Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Star Wars: "Jedi Power Battles" (PSX) and "Phantom Menace" (PSX) have the music from the movie. In fact, "Phantom Menace" has a VIDEO of the music depicting John Williams with the LSO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prok3 Posted June 8, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Oh yes! Megaman!! I forgot. Yes, I really like the music to that as well. That might be the game I played when I was younger simply because I liked the music-- there was one such game, but I'm having trouble remembering. Yes, Mu0n, I know what you're talking about in reference to the song on Castlevania that sounds sort of like Paganini's 2nd Caprice. I agree. Ironically, I'm trying to learn Paganini's 2nd Caprice right now...haha. Has anyone else heard the orchestral recording of the original main theme from Zelda? It's pretty cool. It was labeled "John Williams- Zelda" when I downloaded it, which confussed me. Did he simply conduct in the recording or did he orchestrate the music? He didn't actually compose the theme at least did he? Thanks for the link to Minibosses, Mu0n. I'm listening to their rendition of Castlevania right now and I'm liking it [This message has been edited by prok3 (edited 06-08-2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prok3 Posted June 8, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Mu0n, I'm having trouble finding Taxan. What system was the game originally written for? I've looked under Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Super Nintendo and haven't been able to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mu0n Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 quote: Originally posted by prok3: Mu0n, I'm having trouble finding Taxan. What system was the game originally written for? I've looked under Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Super Nintendo and haven't been able to find it. Sorry about that. It's for Nintendo. Taxan is the company that made it. The name of the game is 8 Eyes (you probably assumed it was the name of the piece). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prok3 Posted June 9, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 Oh haha...yeah...sorry about that. Neat music. It makes use of counterpoint. Hints on baroque style and is very catchy. Fun stuff. Thanks, Mu0n. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vieuxtemps Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 I forgot about Megaman too! I really like the end music of 3. Sure it takes a while to get there--that's why you use an emulator with a save feature, hold down UP on the 2nd controller (jump cheat), or both. Hehehehehe... Speaking of emulators with save capabilities, I think I'll check out that Castlevania tonight... -Aman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mu0n Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 quote: Originally posted by prok3: Oh yes! Megaman!! I forgot. Yes, I really like the music to that as well. That might be the game I played when I was younger simply because I liked the music-- there was one such game, but I'm having trouble remembering. I remember '8 Eyes' from Taxan had that effect on me. The game was too hard and boring to finish within a 2-day rental, but the music was fantastic all over. Check out the one (or two) available midis on it on that vgmusic site. quote: I'm curious how the actual composition of music for a video game works. What technology do the composers make use of? I figured they'd use Finale or Cakewalk, but is there anything else? Also, does the company commission the music from a certain composer, and how do they decide which composer to give the commission? It depends- if the console has some variant of a midi chip, all that's needed is a midi keyboard of ANY quality, and a one-man composer team is enough, e.g., Nobuo working for Squaresoft for FF4,5 and 6 for the SNES/Super Famicom. But recent games make use of digital recording (e.g. the song employing a famous singer in Japan, I think, in FF8). I don't think that regular classical composers would do video game music, or at least, not on a regular or even sparse basis. I think you have a definite category of video game music composers that are employed full time by video game companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natnot Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 MuOn - Wow, someone else likes the Ninja Gaiden music! I have the old Sega master System Version, love those tunes. Other music - Has anyone played Doom 64 (the Nintendo 64 version, not the original)? The best game music ever, in my opinion - lacks a tune, but creates so much atmosphere through use of sound, it really enhances the game. Also the music for PC Quake, by Trent Reznor from NIN is good, very synthesized. And how could I forget Tetris and Super Mario (Game boy)- absolute classics! [This message has been edited by natnot (edited 06-08-2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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