A Symphony out of this?

[greg]

One of the best, if not the best, theme from any video game- the music to the world map of Final Fantasy 7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/c-HBnhhtSmo

The idea of making a symphony (or at least the first movement of one) out of this to me would be a really sweet idea. Think of an epic, late Romantic style. But if this was done, you'd have to get permission from who?...

[Renfield]

You'd need Nobuo Uematsu's permission - but he's already scored it for orchestra, and written various overtures of it. Have a look.

[greg]

You'd need Nobuo Uematsu's permission - but he's already scored it for orchestra, and written various overtures of it. Have a look.

Oh, I'm familiar with a couple of the orchestral performances on youtube. But the thing is, for one, what I've heard sounds overorchestrated, which nearly kills some parts, and for another, I could imagine this material being used for some bigger, like the opening of a 20-minute long symphony.

But you did answer my question- thanks! I was confused whether I'd have to get the publisher's permission or his. I'll most likely do that one day, though not now, of course...

[Guido]

Not convinced that this near the top of music composed for games at all... There are many very very talented composers in this industry - the Giants soundtrack for instant was magnificent...

Diablo II's music ain't half bad either, though as with all game music it is meant to create an atmosphere and mood, so don't expect it to be great music abstracted from the game. Here's a few tracks. Spot the 'subtle' Wagner reference... It comes right at the climax of the game and is fairly apt I think...

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=7b6d917fdf52c5315a3d773badf21430125565354dcf79dec95965eaa7bc68bc

Not going to pretend I have great depth of knowledge of this field though.

[Renfield]

Not convinced that this near the top of music composed for games at all... There are many very very talented composers in this industry - the Giants soundtrack for instant was magnificent...

Diablo II's music ain't half bad either, though as with all game music it is meant to create an atmosphere and mood, so don't expect it to be great music abstracted from the game. Here's a few tracks. Spot the 'subtle' Wagner reference... It comes right at the climax of the game and is fairly apt I think...

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=7b6d917fdf52c5315a3d773badf21430125565354dcf79dec95965eaa7bc68bc

Not going to pretend I have great depth of knowledge of this field though.

YES! Giants: Citizen Kabuto is, in general, one of the hidden glories of the PC game catalogue.

And I agree about Diablo II, as is the case with pretty much everything in the Blizzard oeuvre; apart from some of the early World of Warcraft "ambience" pieces, perhaps, that sounded more than a little bit pedestrian. The opening overture for Wrath of the Lich King, however, bowled me over: it's a genuinely impressive orchestral suite, and the performance is electrifying (even more impressive, for a game soundtrack).

[greg]

Not convinced that this near the top of music composed for games at all... There are many very very talented composers in this industry - the Giants soundtrack for instant was magnificent...

Diablo II's music ain't half bad either, though as with all game music it is meant to create an atmosphere and mood, so don't expect it to be great music abstracted from the game. Here's a few tracks. Spot the 'subtle' Wagner reference... It comes right at the climax of the game and is fairly apt I think...

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=7b6d917fdf52c5315a3d773badf21430125565354dcf79dec95965eaa7bc68bc

Not going to pretend I have great depth of knowledge of this field though.

I'm not a huge gamer, so I've never played any of the Diablo games, unfortunately. 

I'll have to get back to this- you mention a Wagner reference, and it's a bit ironic since I'll have to wait to listen because at the moment I'm completely absorbed in Gotterdammerung now, and don't want to lose my place.

[Renfield]

1) Diablo II is mandatory gaming for anyone who's ever touched a mouse with the intent to use it.

2) The suite I mentioned above, by Russell Brower. Like a lot of Wagner, it will make less sense if you're not acquainted with all the themes it includes - and, impressively for this sort of music, develops. However, I still consider it a great (relative) achievement in terms of composition and [especially] orchestral execution, for its context. I mean, first of all, a choir that can actually sing! And a take note of that coda.

The sound is YouTube sound, alas.

[But the actual recording from the soundtrack CD sounds surprisingly good, to boot; certainly far less 'flat' than the previous two soundtracks, for "vanilla" World of Warcraft and the first expansion, from both of which a number of the themes in the present "overture" are drawn.]

[nut-job]

But you did answer my question- thanks! I was confused whether I'd have to get the publisher's permission or his. I'll most likely do that one day, though not now, of course...

How do you imagine the publisher will ever know you wrote this symphony?

[greg]

How do you imagine the publisher will ever know you wrote this symphony?

Good point...... 

[Guido]

YES! Giants: Citizen Kabuto is, in general, one of the hidden glories of the PC game catalogue.

I'm glad that someone else out there knows about this... It's one of my all time favourite games. It sold hardly any copies though so there will never be a sequel. 

And yes, Diablo II is maybe my favourite game of all. People still play it in huge numbers on the internet, more than 10 years after its release.

[greg]

Okay, now that I've listened to a lot of those links....... there's a lot to like. Very good audio quality and very good writing- the only bad thing is when it tends to sound like it's genre at moments- but overall, very good for video game music.

[Renfield]

I'm glad that someone else out there knows about this... It's one of my all time favourite games. It sold hardly any copies though so there will never be a sequel. 

And yes, Diablo II is maybe my favourite game of all. People still play it in huge numbers on the internet, more than 10 years after its release.

I bought it when it came out, on account of how fresh it looked, and a friend got to see it when he came over (NB I was still a school, so you can imagine the context). Not a year or two later, said friend wrote a (very good) strategy guide to the game on GameFAQs!

So I do wonder at how bad the promotion failed, as I've not yet met one person who's tried the game and not loved it, for some reason or another.


Re DII, suffice to say I'm returning to it for the third (or is it fourth?) time now, in anticipation of DIII.

So we should have a while to renew our relationship. Have you heard there's even a 1.13 patch eventually coming out?