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Author	Topic: Woah... Video Game Music is starting to sound like Film Music!

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	WOW. I was just playing World of Warcraft for like the past 4 hours and I must say I was VERY impressed by the orchrastal sounding score. Finaly they are getting over the technobable that has seemed to plague many video games lately. I swear I thought I was listening to a James Horner score.. those familiar drums and horns like that of the Battle at Falkirk music from Braveheart was instantly recognizable. I mentioned this in the general chat of the game and somebody whispered me that it sounded like Horner to him too.. and there are cues that sound like Zimmer when you get into higher lvls. I like this ALOT. It's great that video game music is getting influenced by film music. The more they mesh the better.
posted 12-02-2004 06:20 AM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	I’m not sure it’s an influence, or rather it depends on how you look at it I'd like to think of I as a progression of a genre. I mean, games have been around for a while now; why not have a big orchestral sound if one is required? (Thank you Michael G and Jeremy S) I'm still waiting for my 4 Disc FF Game Score...(but I know I’ll never get it because of cost ) --Bri NP: The Phantom of the Opera [Message edited by Crono/Kyp on 12-02-2004]
posted 12-02-2004 07:46 AM PT (US)

Justin Standard Userer	It's been said that game music is becoming just as huge as movie music especially in Japan. More and more games now days focus on the music to carry the storyline. I applaud it.
posted 12-02-2004 08:51 AM PT (US)

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	It's interesting to note that Harry Gregson-Williams did the music for the Metal Gear Solid 2 game. So It's already starting to filter through. I just never really noticed it before I played this game.
posted 12-02-2004 09:20 AM PT (US)

Erik Woods Standard Userer	Check out my 3 hour show dedicated to Video Game music at http://www.geocities.com/cinematicsound/on_demand.html Enjoy! -Erik-
posted 12-02-2004 10:58 AM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	Justin's right. Game Music in Japan has been huge for a long time. Big multi disc sets and special limited editions of soundtracks like Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX are some examples. And let's not forget the large marketing arms behind most of the Final Fantasy releases. Wish we here in the States got cool stuff like that --Bri
posted 12-02-2004 01:04 PM PT (US)

Al Standard Userer	No mention of Danny Elfman's music for Fable? It's fantastic; like a fantasy-extension of his work for Spiderman.
posted 12-02-2004 02:13 PM PT (US)

Justin Standard Userer	I had no clue Elfman did music for Fable?!?? Man now I definitely have to check it out. Good info Al. I can't believe I missed that. Also looking forward to hearing HGW's music in Metal Gear Solid 3.
posted 12-02-2004 02:28 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Didn't Danny Elfman compose only the main theme for Fable?
posted 12-02-2004 10:58 PM PT (US)

Al Standard Userer	There are some orchestral cues during the actual gameplay itself which sound a whole lot like Elfman and most of them utilize his main motif in some form or another; the village theme even has a dash of his trademark female choir. But there are also plenty of non-orchestral cues that are obviously not Elfman. There is a month-old interview on a video game website, I believe, in which he talked about his involvement--but to be honest, I can hardly remember. I think he did more than just the main theme but certainly not the entire game. (Update) I just found the Sound and Vision magazine interview, and he did compose only the opening theme, apparently. Whoever composed the other orchestral cues did a fantastic job of incorporating both Elfman's style and the motifs he established in the main title. [Message edited by Al on 12-03-2004]
posted 12-03-2004 12:22 PM PT (US)

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	I wish they did something like that with City of Heroes. Being an MMORPG fanatic I know what it's like to wander around in a world all evening and want to listen to some great music. The game si plagued with Techno.. a crying shame since it seemed to be screaming for some Williams or Goldenthal or Elfman-style fanfare. Imagine flying through the city zapping bolts of energy at badguys to a Superman-like theme! ((of course, that's when I pop in the Superman CD hehehe))
posted 12-03-2004 01:23 PM PT (US)

ridan Standard Userer	IJ and the Emporer's Tomb is an excellent Orchestral game score, as is the score for The Hobbit game.
posted 12-10-2004 05:58 AM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	I thought I would bring this subject up again as I've gone hogwild recently, chasing down some of these video game soundtracks. Some recent acquisitions... Warcraft III World Of Warcraft Diablo II, Matt Uelmen Myst III: Exile, Jack Wall Rise Of Nations, Duane Decker Total Annihilation, Jeremy Soule Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Jeremy Soule Neverwinter Nights, Jeremy Soule Kessen, Reijiro Koroku Kessen II, Reijiro Koroku Onimusha III, Masamichi Amano & others Delta Force: Blackhawk Down In many cases, there are no soundtrack releases but the various game companies will offer a preorder bonus disc as an incentive and will include some of the game music on the disc. Some recent acquisitions in this area are... Lineage II: Chaotic Chronicles, Bill Brown Guild Wars, Jeremy Soule Warhammer 40K: Dawn Of War, Jeremy Soule Shadow Ops: Red Mercury I recently found Michael Hoenig's scores for Baldur's Gate online, as well as Inon Zur's music for Baldur's Gate II: Throne Of Baal. Apparently, the company that made the game, Interplay, released a special edition of Baldur's Gate II and advertised a bonus disc with music from the games but the disc did not have any music at all. So Interplay put the music up on their website. Of course, Interplay is not around anymore but I was able to find this music online in other areas. If anyone has a proper track listing for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows Of Amn & Baldur's Gate II: Throne Of Baal, please share it. I mentioned this in the Prince Of Persia thread and I will mention it here as well. I am looking for the original soundtrack releases of Icewind Dale II and Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, composed by Inon Zur. Whew... If anyone has these, please let me know.
posted 12-28-2004 10:23 PM PT (US)

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	You're mention of Lineage 2 gave me nightmares. I played that game for like 4 months str8. Have you played Dungeon Siege? There is some great music in that as well
posted 12-29-2004 07:52 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Jeremy Soule composed the music for Dungeon Siege, according to his website. I haven't played the game but have been thinking of picking up the game. What file format are the music files in?
posted 12-30-2004 12:01 AM PT (US)

Justin Standard Userer	Very good grabs BMike....all awesome game scores. If you haven't already, pickup Metal Gear Solid 3. Brilliant stuff! I finally completed the game and gave the 2 discs a spin and loved it. All the music is present.
posted 12-30-2004 07:50 AM PT (US)

MarkA Standard Userer	I've been trying to find many of those CDs, without luck. Where did you find them if I may ask ? quote: Originally posted by BMikeJ: I thought I would bring this subject up again as I've gone hogwild recently, chasing down some of these video game soundtracks. Some recent acquisitions... Warcraft III World Of Warcraft Diablo II, Matt Uelmen Myst III: Exile, Jack Wall Rise Of Nations, Duane Decker Total Annihilation, Jeremy Soule Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Jeremy Soule Neverwinter Nights, Jeremy Soule Kessen, Reijiro Koroku Kessen II, Reijiro Koroku Onimusha III, Masamichi Amano & others Delta Force: Blackhawk Down In many cases, there are no soundtrack releases but the various game companies will offer a preorder bonus disc as an incentive and will include some of the game music on the disc. Some recent acquisitions in this area are... Lineage II: Chaotic Chronicles, Bill Brown Guild Wars, Jeremy Soule Warhammer 40K: Dawn Of War, Jeremy Soule Shadow Ops: Red Mercury I recently found Michael Hoenig's scores for Baldur's Gate online, as well as Inon Zur's music for Baldur's Gate II: Throne Of Baal. Apparently, the company that made the game, Interplay, released a special edition of Baldur's Gate II and advertised a bonus disc with music from the games but the disc did not have any music at all. So Interplay put the music up on their website. Of course, Interplay is not around anymore but I was able to find this music online in other areas. If anyone has a proper track listing for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows Of Amn & Baldur's Gate II: Throne Of Baal, please share it. I mentioned this in the Prince Of Persia thread and I will mention it here as well. I am looking for the original soundtrack releases of Icewind Dale II and Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, composed by Inon Zur. Whew... If anyone has these, please let me know.
posted 12-30-2004 11:55 AM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	I chased them down on eBay. With the exception of World Of Warcraft, I ended up having to buy the Collector's Editions of the games themselves in order to get the soundtracks. Some were cheap and some I got hosed on. Fortunes of war, right? For Delta Force: Blackhawk Down, I bought a used copy of the Platinum Pack, which has the soundtrack as high quality bit rate mp3s on one of the discs. Regarding Kessen and Kessen II, I can't say enough about these two scores. I recalled TimT and Jeron gushing about these scores and I chased them down. I found Kessen II through eBay and ordered Kessen from CDJapan. Big huge orchestral scores performed by the Moscow Philharmonic for this series of games that take place during Feudal Japan. Kessen is getting harder to find so if anyone is remotely curious, get it now. If anyone wants to hear a sample, let me know and I'll e-mail you a 96kpbs mp3 so you can hear some of it.
posted 12-30-2004 12:38 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Justin, I have Metal Gear Solid 2 by HGW. Was he hired again to write music for this one?
posted 12-30-2004 12:39 PM PT (US)

Alexborn007 Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by BMikeJ: Justin, I have Metal Gear Solid 2 by HGW. Was he hired again to write music for this one? He was indeed! The 2-CD soundtrack was released in Japan on 12/15 and is fantastic (especially if you enjoyed MGS2) NP: Sanjuro (Masaru Sato)
posted 12-30-2004 12:55 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	My quest continues... I now have an original Baldur's Gate soundtrack and have purchased the bonus disc for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows Of Amn, which contains Michael Hoenig's score on it. Also on its way to me is the bonus disc for Icewind Dale II, which is supposed to have music from Inon Zur on it.
posted 01-02-2005 11:38 AM PT (US)

Alexborn007 Standard Userer	Another title worth considering to those of you looking into some great video game scores: Ace Combat 05 - The Unsung War Namco composer Keiki Kobayashi uses three principle themes throughout the game-- a wonderful action motif, a loving theme based off a song called "The Journey Home", and a sweeping, patriotic theme for the main squadron "Razgriz". The last two are given amazing performances by the Warsaw Philharmonic at the end of disc 3. Most of the material is synthesized orchestra mixed with actual samples, so it can start to sound a little like MV writing from time to time, but Kobayahsi never lets it become derivative. One cue worth noting is "The Unsung War". It takes the action motif and "Razgriz" theme, then weaves it into a 7 minute chroal track backed by snare drums and some orchestral hits. If memory serves, this is the first Ace Combat game (and one of few video games) to take several themes and develop them so well. The album released spans 4 CDs and includes every bit of music used for the game. It is definitely worth picking up for anyone who enjoys a lot of fast paced, and energetic action writing (plus those two fantastic orchestral arrangements)
posted 01-02-2005 12:14 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Thanks for the info on Ace Combat 05. Those two orchestral arrangements have peaked my interest.
posted 01-02-2005 12:34 PM PT (US)

craig Standard Userer	So, how many game soundtracks did Harry Gregson-Williams do besides MGS2? What are their names? And are they all still available?
posted 01-04-2005 07:27 PM PT (US)

Alexborn007 Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by craig: So, how many game soundtracks did Harry Gregson-Williams do besides MGS2? What are their names? And are they all still available? I do not think he has composed any other Video Game's music score. There is a Vol. 2 of Metal Gear Solid 2 called "The Other Side", but it is music by Norihiko Hibino; he is the composer of the more incidental music heard in the game, and it utilizes the same "sound" of HGW's material. Other than this, that is about as involved as HGW is with video game music (unfortunately!) Here is a great interview he did regarding Snake Eater's music: http://www.music4games.net/f_harrygw_mgs3_snakeeater.html
posted 01-04-2005 07:44 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Aaron, what file format are the music files in on Dungeon Siege?
posted 01-04-2005 11:22 PM PT (US)

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by BMikeJ: Aaron, what file format are the music files in on Dungeon Siege? It's some kind of encrypted Windows Media format. Winamp recognizes the file but all the tracks come out sounding like static. You know, that aweful sound you get when you put a data cd in a cd player.
posted 01-05-2005 10:20 AM PT (US)

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	Ahh. It's sime kind of windows media format. When I play it in Winamp all I get is static. The same kind of noise that a data cd makes in a regular cd player. Oh and if anybody wants Lineage 2 music I have some samples that came with my pre-order cd. EDIT: Sorry for the double post. I'm still really sick and making dumb mistakes on the forums. Grrr I need sleep BAD. [Message edited by AaronR1074 on 01-05-2005]
posted 01-05-2005 10:21 AM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Bill Brown also has some Lineage II music on his website. If there are any Bill Brown fans around, check out the new Lady Death animated film on DVD. Bill wrote the music and there is a soundtrack available from ADVision. He wrote a big orchestral score with a chorus. He also has samples of this on his website. Great composer, nice guy.
posted 01-05-2005 11:15 AM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Well, I just got the Bonus disc for Icewind Dale II and it has 4 mp3s of Inon Zur's music, encoded at 192 kpbs. Gee, thanks, Interplay... Here is the address for a review of the Collector's Edition soundtrack. http://www.tracksounds.com/reviews/icewind_daleII.htm This is what I thought I was getting... If anyone has this, I'd really like to get a copy. [Message edited by BMikeJ on 01-05-2005]
posted 01-05-2005 01:11 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Well, I picked up Dungeon Siege at Walmart for $10. The music files are located in an archive file that is proprietary to the game. I was able to find a piece of software that let me get to the music files and they are mp3s, encoded at 128 kpbs. There appears to be 2 hours of music. I'm in the process of putting the music into a listenable form.
posted 01-09-2005 04:46 PM PT (US)

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by BMikeJ: Well, I picked up Dungeon Siege at Walmart for $10. The music files are located in an archive file that is proprietary to the game. I was able to find a piece of software that let me get to the music files and they are mp3s, encoded at 128 kpbs. There appears to be 2 hours of music. I'm in the process of putting the music into a listenable form. Nice, have fun with Dungeon Siege It's a pretty fun game. Gonna easily give you like 60+ hrs of gameplay. When you get the files going think you can upload them to me? My AOL IM is the same as my screen name
posted 01-09-2005 06:55 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	I started playing the game last night. It's totally addicting... I put in a good 4 hours. Regarding the music, it's going to take a few days to put it all together. I'm sure we can work out some kind of arrangement.
posted 01-09-2005 07:03 PM PT (US)

Justin Standard Userer	Walmart has some incredible deals on PC games. I honestly just don't like their monopoly mentality, but dangit...they continue to have the best deals. I almost grabbed Enter The Matrix just for the fact it was only 9 bucks, but the game is only ok. Music is brilliant though. Sticks to the films
posted 01-10-2005 07:54 AM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	The music is good. And I think this new Matrix online game is supposed to have new music by Don Davis.
posted 01-10-2005 11:55 AM PT (US)

Justin Standard Userer	That'd be awesome. I'm anxious to see how that will go. If it's monthly pay I probably won't jump on it, but if a score release is done I will pick it up of course
posted 01-10-2005 02:01 PM PT (US)

AaronR1074 Standard Userer	Mike have you heard the Zone of Enders 2nd Runner soundtrack? The opening song in that is fantastic. Crazy Japanime pop music.
posted 01-10-2005 02:07 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	I haven't heard it. I have a feeling it would make my ears bleed.
posted 01-10-2005 04:34 PM PT (US)

BMikeJ Standard Userer	Interplay screws me again... I just bought a second copy of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows Of Amn because I was told that the bonus disc was different from the one I got in the Baldur's Gate II Collection. It's different, alright... The disc label is different. The disc contents are the same. And there's no soundtrack on there... Interplaaaay!!!!!
posted 01-11-2005 05:56 PM PT (US)

Mike type thing Non-Standard Userer	Wow, great thread on video game soundtracks. I may have to reread and make some comments, but first: quote: Originally posted by BMikeJ: The disc label is different. The disc contents are the same. And there's no soundtrack on there... I can't remember exactly, but the bonus disk situation with BGII was weird. You received a bonus disk for preordering the game in general - a white disk with grey lettering that only contained some character items. If you preordered the CE, you would get a similar disk, but it may have had the words "Collector Edition" on it - I'm not sure. The soundtrack came with the CE, but I can't remember if it came in the actual box. That is the disk you want, and it is white with gold lettering and comes in a blue and gold cardboard slipcase. I believe it has data on it, so track 1 has no music and you have to start on track 2.
posted 01-20-2005 05:11 AM PT (US)

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