Hello everybody,

I'm starting this thread because my favourite type of music is, by far, big orchestral action music. By action I mean not only combat music, but also upbeat and fast-paced cues. I love the energy, the power, the intensity of this kind of music. It really boosts you up, and stands as a great challenge for composers. So I've decided to start a thread to share that with other people. And I'd also very much like to listen to your suggestions.

I only ask you 2 things :

-As much as possible please don't only mention your favourite cues, upload them, as I do myself, so that everybody can share the joy.

-The music must be orchestral, but a modern beat into it is also welcome (as in the Matrix Reloaded or recent James Bonds)

Here is a first selection of some action cues I have much appreciated to start with, I'll upload a lot more if this thread has enough feedback. And believe me when I say that I have truly rare wonderful gems to share with you.

Army of Darkness - 27 - Building the Deathcoaster

Atlantide - 16 - Just Do It

Cutthroat Island Complete (CD 1) - 09 - The Carriage Chase

Dinosaur Complete -11- Raptors - Aladar Meets The Herd

First Knight (Complete) - 01 - Night Battle

Johnny English - 08 - Parachute Drop

Krull complete score disc 2 - 08 - Inside The Black Fortress

Lady In The Water - 11 - The Great Eatlon

Powell & Gregson-Williams - Shrek - 14

Robocop - 15 - Showdown

Sahara - 01 - Ironclad

SeaQuest DSV - 02 - Preparing For Battle

Spy Hard - 08 - Track 8

Spy Hard - 23 - Track 23

The Fast and the Furious- Tokyo Drift - 02 - The Fast and the Furious- Tokyo Drift

The Matrix Revolutions - Complete Score - 08 - Sin, Toil, Extra Vermouth

The Never Ending Story - 06 - Bastian's Happy Flight

http://www.sendspace.com/file/vifqxt

As you can see, it's only western music this time. Next times I'll add eastern composers. Anime music contains countless superb cues in this genre.

Enjoy! And please allow me to enjoy yours.

Edit from the 10-01-2008:

This thread has much evolved since its debut. It has now become a thread devoted to orchestral music in general, not only action music (although I do prefer by far action music, it would be a pity to exclude great non-action cues).

Moreover, from now on you'll occasionally be able to find whole scores here, even though making personal selections of favourite music still stands as the main purpose of this thread. So if you have some orchestral scores you really enjoy and wish to share with other orchestral fans, please post them here because you can be sure it's a place where they will be much appreciated.

Thanks again to all the contributors who posted their wonderful music here, and let's continue to share some great music.

Album: Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn OST - 14 - Dawn Brigade.mp3 (http://www.filefactory.com/file/7e4650/n/14_-_Dawn_Brigade_mp3)<br />

Album: Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn OST - 16 - On Glory\'s Wings.mp3 (http://www.filefactory.com/file/e2cba7/n/16_-_On_Glory_s_Wings_mp3)<br />

Album: Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn OST - 05 - Bearer of Hope.mp3 (http://www.filefactory.com/file/f15680/n/05_-_Bearer_of_Hope_mp3)<br />

Fire Emblem has some epic orchestral music. the stuff you uploaded is glorious, thank you so much!

they are very different to the ones you uploaded, but still orchestral, orz.

The Matrix Revolutions - Complete Score - 08 - Sin, Toil, Extra Vermouth



I don't see this track on the 2CD complete score. Is it an alternate track title?

Nice, very nice compilation! I don't particularly go for the beat stuff - Tyler, Mansell, etc, but otherwise I think all this is great. Good job on the Seaquest DSV and Army of Darkness -- two of my favourites and I didn't know anybody knew they existed!

I think you should make another rule though... That when you say "orchestral" music, you mean music "played by an orchestra" - not crummy synthesiser tracks...

prestonjelmet: That track is on CD1, track 8 of my 2CD promo album of Matrix Revolutions. I'd be interested to see what the tracklisting is on yours...

thanks

Here are five of my favourites - all from Western movies again.

1. Lee Holdridge - Star Battle (Star Command - 1984) - http://sharebee.com/663162e2
2. Basil Poledouris RIP - Tango Urilla (Starship Troopers - 1997) - http://sharebee.com/16be657c
3. Jerry Goldsmith RIP - Breakout (Capricorn One, 1979) - http://sharebee.com/e4518ff3
4. Bruce Broughton - Chopper Chase (Narrow Margin, 1990) - http://sharebee.com/65be858b
5. Alan Silvestri - Clocktower Part 2 (Back To The Future, 1985) - http://sharebee.com/7313f833

Enjoy :)

D

Nice job, mates!

Of course I do prefer by far a real ochestra performance, but I have nothing against the fact of listening to some good synth music composed in an orchestral style : for instance Sakimoto's music or Motoi Sakuraba's last Star Ocean's scores.

Anyway it's not to me to decide what people upload. What I ask you is to remember some good orchestral action music you loved, that really moved you, that took you to the guts, and to upload it so that all of us can enjoy it.

Oh! Another thing.

As much as possible please use the format I used :

Album - Track - Title

It's easier for sorting. But of course, on top of this you can also add Author and Date.

I have nothing against the fact of listening to some good synth music composed in an orchestral style : for instance Sakimoto's music or Motoi Sakuraba's last Star Ocean's scores.

*grumbles*

Fair enough... You'll only get real outta me though... ;)


Anyway it's not to me to decide what people upload.

You seem to be placing rules and restrictions over just about every other facet of the process... ;)


Oh! Another thing. As much as possible please use the format I used :Album - Track - Title It's easier for sorting. But of course, on top of this you can also add Author and Date.

There's no rhyme or reason to the way you laid out yours... Sometimes you've used Album Title - Track Number - Cue Title. Sometimes you've used Film Title - Track Number - Cue Title. Sometimes you've used Composer - Film Title - Track Number - and variants thereon. ;)

Wouldn't you say it was more of a necessity, than an optional extra, to include the name of the poor sod who actually wrote all this wonderful music?

That said, if I contribute anything more to this thread, I will use your convention. Is this applicable to the filenames as well, or are you just interested in the way it is presented here? Because everybody likes these things differently anyway - the way you organise your stuff isn't the way I do or somebody else does - so invariably everybody will rename and retag everything the way they like it...

*grumbles*

Fair enough... You'll only get real outta me though... ;)

My english isn't good enough to understand this sentence...


There's no rhyme or reason to the way you laid out yours... Sometimes you've used Album Title - Track Number - Cue Title. Sometimes you've used Film Title - Track Number - Cue Title. Sometimes you've used Composer - Film Title - Track Number - and variants thereon.

Fair point (I've been a bit careless with Shrek), so I precise :

Album OR movie - Track - Cue Title


Wouldn't you say it was more of a necessity, than an optional extra, to include the name of the poor sod who actually wrote all this wonderful music?

You're right. I was only thinking to myself here because 95% of the time I know who composed what without having the information. But it's in fact important to mention the author because perhaps it's not obvious for most people who aren't hardcore score listeners.

My english isn't good enough to understand this sentence...

I meant that I would only upload things played by real people. Sorry! :)


You're right. I was only thinking to myself here because 95% of the time I know who composed what without having the information. But it's in fact important to mention the author because perhaps it's not obvious for most people who aren't hardcore score listeners.

So much music passes by and nobody ever mentions the name of the composer. It's absolutely awful. I think the composers are owed at least the honour of knowing their name has been mentioned. It also means that if somebody likes a piece, they might want to go out and search for more stuff by the same person. :)

2. Basil Poledouris RIP - Tango Urilla (Starship Troopers - 1997)

That's an obvious choice. I've long hesitated whether I put this very one in my first selection or not (I initially chose 30 something). At the last moment I chose Robocop instead. I'm happy to see we think the same way!

Nothing wrong with an obvious choice - it's a very fine track. Actually, seeing Robocop (one of those masterpiece scores that really made me sit up and listen, and helped get me interested in film music) in your compilation made me think of other Poledouris scores, and then my mind just started playing Tango Urilla in its entirety... So I thought I'd add it to the pile.

I love the whole cue (well, I love the whole score) - when it bursts into that gorgeous fanfare at 1:44, it just puts a massive grin on my face, and the off-rythym brass interlude at 2:41 makes me jump up and conduct, every single time. :)

If you'd like to avoid the more "obvious" choices and go for less well known things, that's good too. I tried to make my selection a nice mix of obvious, (Starship Troopers, Back To The Future), not-so-obvious (Capricorn One), and pretty obscure (Star Command, Narrow Margin). :)

[Edit: Interesting story behind Robocop - for some reason Poledouris didn't conduct. The score was recorded in the UK by the Sinfonia of London (SUPERB orchestra) and was conducted by Howard Blake - a fine composer in his own right, and a very friendly fellow. I sneezed on him at a concert in London as he was leaving the podium and he turned round to me and said "Bless you!" Anyway, when he arrived for the session and saw the film he was involved with, he almost turned around and left, as he absolutely hated the film, hated violence in cinema - thought it was absolutely disgusting, bordering on pornography. He was persuaded to stay, and he eventually agreed to conduct the score - under extreme duress - on the condition that there was no playback. He conducted the cues as he wished to, ignored the click track, and almost pretended there was no film there at all. Even with that level of friction at the session, the score came out as one of Poledouris' best, and an absolutely FLAWLESS performance by the orchestra.]

Noooo! not neverending story, that's giorgio moroder, doesnt he only do electronic scores.

This thread is such an awesome idea. i will contribute by posting harold faltermeyer theme to beverly hills cop and wendy carlos music for clockwork orange.

Hahaha at spy hard tracks. i just watched that movie, i didnt notice it had orchestra score. does the soundtrack comes with weird al yankovic song and the indian desi song played from the car radio. if so could you post the indian song.

Brian tyler did some orchestra music for tokyo drift ?

By the way, i will be traveling to the future in my toaster time machine to retrieve new orchestrated film scores from jerry goldsmith, michael kamen, basil poledouris, georges delueres, nina rota, elmer bernstein, jerry fielding, bruno nicolai, malcolm arnold, ralph vaughan williams, angelo francesco lavanigno, alex north, bernard herrmann, les baxter, and max steiner.

ps. I was joking about posting those music, i was not joking about my time travelling.

By "obvious" I didn't mean "easy", but "important", "naturally among the first to be chosen", "unavoidable"...

I also agree on the fact that this thread will help people discover new scores (starting by me!), including the obscure ones you mentioned.

Noooo! not neverending story, that's giorgio moroder, doesnt he only do electronic scores.

The crazy thing is, I actually enjoyed that cue too. I'm almost ashamed to say. ;) The orchestral(ish) parts are by Klaus Doldinger.


i will contribute by posting harold faltermeyer theme to beverly hills cop and wendy carlos music for clockwork orange.

I love both scores dearly (I was blasting Axel F out of my car on the way home from work this evening) but I don't think even the broadest interpretation of "orchestral" could be applied to either of these. Axel F is 80's pop electronica, and A Clockwork Orange is experimental 70's synthesiser interpretations of (mostly) pre-existing classical pieces... (Except Carlos' stunning Timesteps piece... WOW...) [Edit: Timesteps, not Timescapes... I really need sleep.]


By the way, i will be traveling to the future in my toaster time machine to retrieve new orchestrated film scores from jerry goldsmith, michael kamen, basil poledouris, georges delueres, nina rota, elmer bernstein, jerry fielding, bruno nicolai, malcolm arnold, ralph vaughan williams, angelo francesco lavanigno, alex north, bernard herrmann, les baxter, and max steiner.

You've just listed almost all my favourite composers - and reminded me how bloody dreadful it is that they're all dead...


ps. I was joking about posting those music, i was not joking about my time travelling.

Can I borrow your time machine then? I have some things I'd like to do... ;)

Noooo! not neverending story, that's giorgio moroder, doesnt he only do electronic scores.

Hahaha at spy hard tracks. i just watched that movie, i didnt notice it had orchestra score. does the soundtrack comes with weird al yankovic song and the indian desi song played from the car radio. if so could you post the indian song.

Brian tyler did some orchestra music for tokyo drift ?

I red your reply several times and I really don't get what you mean...

When a music is played using a string ensemble, brass ensemble, woodwinds, some timpanis, harps... YES, it IS orchestral, even though synth or modern percs are added to the mix.

I LOVE this type of music too! Very nice idea.

I have a bunch of "orchestral action" songs in my playlist, so I'm gonna share the ones I think you'll like. Some of these have a definite "modern" feel, but they're all pretty much orchestral (as in performed by an orchestra). And action-ey too, obviously.

I'm sure my song list is going to seem pretty crazy because of all the variety; but please don't pay attention to the song names, simply listen to them. I guarantee you'll enjoy them if you like this style.


ORCHESTRAL ACTION MUSIC PACK!


(NOTE: some of these are personal edits and/or have names made up/modified by me, sorry :laugh: )


1. Chrono Cross - Time's Scar (2:29)

2. Final Fantasy VIII - Battle Theme (Orchestrated) (3:45)

3. Star Wars Trilogy - John Williams - Hyperspace (3:47)

4. SWT - John Williams - The Asteroid Field (3:11)

5. SWT - John Williams - The Battle of Hoth (11:42)

6. Metallica - The call of Ktulu (Instrumental, S&M album :-D ) (9:34)

7. Evangelion the Movie 1.0 - Shirou Sagisi - Battaille Decisive (4:44)

8. Neon Genesis Evangelion - Shirou Sagisi - Decisive Battle (2:21)

9. N.G.E. - Shirou Sagisi - The Beast (N.G.E.) (1:36)

10. Pokemon - Battle! (1:03)

11. Pokemon - Spirit (1:45)

12. Super Smash Brothers Melee - Pokemon Stadium (1:48)

13. RAGE - Alive But Dead (Instr. Orchestra Version) (6:06)

14. RAGE - Alive But Dead (5:55)

15. Requiem for a dream theme (6:24)

16. Saint Seiya - Galaxian Wars (1:40)

17. Saint Seiya - Glide! Pegasus (1:43)

18. Saint Seiya - Golden Warriors (2:13)

19. Saint Seiya - Intense! Cosmo (0:35)

20. Saint Seiya - Revenger Phoenix (1:16)

21. Saint Seiya - Sanctuary, Precept of Death (1:09)

22. Saint Seiya - Seven Generals (1:47)

23. Scorpions - Crossfire (instrumental) (Moment of Glory album) (6:47)

24. Scorpions - Deadly Sting Suite (instrumental) (Moment of Glory) (7:19)

25. Superman the Animated Series - Main theme (1:00)

26. The Real Adventures Of Johnny Quest- Main theme (1:00)

27. Batman the animated series theme (1:01)


DOWNLOAD HERE! (Filefactory link) (http://www.filefactory.com/file/934379/n/Orchestral_action_rar)


I hope you like them as much as I do! (And if you did like them, please say so! :p)

WOW! This is going to be fun, I can tell you!

I can say a word about all your choices, but I'm too lazy, so I'll comment only some:

-Saint Seiya : Oh no! You doubled me on this one! It was meant to be my next upload. Well, I don't know how people can read in my mind like that... This is an absolutly great choice. People MUST know Saint Seiya's music, and not only the action stuff, but all of it.

-Scorpions : excellent choice! one of the most bombastic cue I've heard.

-Pokemon : unavoidable. Can't bear the anime but indeed superb music. The action cues are incredibly upbeat. Listen to this if you lack energy, it's better than 3 cups of coffee.

I'll do more comments later on... Just now I'm sleepy.

Thanks a lot!

May I ask you another favor?

Please don't upload too many cues in a same post (yes I know, I did it myself, but it was only to make a good starting point). With too many tracks people are overflooded and can't "digest" all the music. A better way is to upload one or a few tracks at a time, so we can concentrate on it and appreciate it as it deserves.

And then you can post again later other cues that matters to you, and so on.

This is my favourite kind of music too, and I have a whole bunch that I'll get to uploading in a bit.

[Edit: Interesting story behind Robocop - for some reason Poledouris didn't conduct. The score was recorded in the UK by the Sinfonia of London (SUPERB orchestra) and was conducted by Howard Blake - a fine composer in his own right, and a very friendly fellow. I sneezed on him at a concert in London as he was leaving the podium and he turned round to me and said "Bless you!" Anyway, when he arrived for the session and saw the film he was involved with, he almost turned around and left, as he absolutely hated the film, hated violence in cinema - thought it was absolutely disgusting, bordering on pornography. He was persuaded to stay, and he eventually agreed to conduct the score - under extreme duress - on the condition that there was no playback. He conducted the cues as he wished to, ignored the click track, and almost pretended there was no film there at all. Even with that level of friction at the session, the score came out as one of Poledouris' best, and an absolutely FLAWLESS performance by the orchestra.]

Please more!!

I just love all this trivia stuff. It makes any subject more lively. Music isn't something that falls from the sky but is made by real persons, with their flaws and qualities.

If you have more "fun facts" like that, please express yourself again.

By the way, how many orchestras has this city ? And not only are they numerous, but they are also very good!

prestonjelmet: That track is on CD1, track 8 of my 2CD promo album of Matrix Revolutions. I'd be interested to see what the tracklisting is on yours...

Comparing to what I have, it's a shortened version of "Tetsujin." It's missing the first minute and twenty seconds.

I had to split these into smaller packs since I have a really slow upload speed. I also don't know the composers so I'll just list the album / game / movie it came from.

Pack 1: http://www.sendspace.com/file/uf90jz

Advent Rising - Stolen Transport

Advent Rising - Bounty Hunter

Lair - Diviner Battle

Metal Gear Solid 4 - Metal Gear Saga

Metal Gear Solid 3 - Virtuous Mission

World of Warcraft - The Shaping of the World

Pack 2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/m4fdau

God of War II - The Isle of Creation

Smash Bros Brawl - Ike's Theme (Fire Emblem)

Kameo: Elements of Power - Danger in the Sky

The Bourne Supremacy - Bim Bam Smash

Battlestar Galactica - Prelude to War

Ninety Nine Nights - Defender of Truth

Pack 3: http://www.sendspace.com/file/c9yqzy

Battlefield 2142 - Main Theme

Metal Gear Solid 2 - Main Theme

Transformers 2007 - Optimus vs Megatron

Transformers 2007 - Arrival to Earth

Snow falling on Cedars - Tarawa

Appleseed Ex Machina - Synchronicity

Excellent choices! Thanks a lot.

Here are some composers I know in it :

-Advent Rising : Tommy Tallarico
-Lair : "big" John Debney
-Metal Gear Solid 3-4 : maybe Gregson-Williams, needs confirmation
-World of Warcraft : Jason Hayes, Glenn Stafford among others
-Snow falling on Cedars : the great James Newton Howard
-The Bourne Supremacy : John Powell
-Transformers : Steve Jablonsky

Someone correct me if I'm wrong

I'll listen carefully to your list, and I'll post my comments when I'm done.

Thanks everyone and keep going, this thread's awesome!

I had to split these into smaller packs since I have a really slow upload speed. I also don't know the composers so I'll just list the album / game / movie it came from.

I've just listened to the cues from your selection I didn't know already. Wonderful choices.

Really liked "Metal Gear Saga". Nice melody modulated in different ways. Very interesting to listen to.

World of Warcraft - The Shaping of the World : very epic. Good choice!

The whole Advent Rising score stands as one of the most impressive effort in western game music. That's an obvious choice for this thread.

"Ninety Nine Nights - Defender of Truth" and "Smash Bros Brawl - Ike's Theme" : well composed but sounds a bit too synth to my ears.

Battlestar Galactica - Prelude to War : Fantastic! I love the way the strings are used, reminds me of Elliot Goldenthal's music. I insist : EVERYBODY YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS ONE.

Kameo: Elements of Power - Danger in the Sky : a true gem. Glad to know this one now!

Appleseed Ex Machina - Synchronicity : another superb discovery. Strangely enough sounds more western than eastern.

I thought that I would do my share as I also love this type of music and have loads of it on my computer. So here is the first part of my favorite Action Orchestral Tracks.

From my Movie and Tv Collection

PART ONE:

24 OST - Copter Chase Over LA - Track:10 (Sean Callery)

Star Trek Enterprise OST - Phaser Fight - Track:7 (Dennis McCarthy)

The Best of Star Trek, Vol 2 - Suite from Way of the Warrior - 'Yo!' - Track:11 (Unknown Artist)

Batman Begins Expanded Score - The Chase - Track:13 (Disk One) (Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard

http://www.filefactory.com/file/a84271/n/Part_One_-_Orchestra_Music_rar

The Metal Gear Solid 2, 3 & 4 soundtracks are all indeed by Harry Gregson-Williams.


I'll do more comments later on... Just now I'm sleepy.

Thanks a lot!

I thought you were talking about my choices? Hmm, I hoped you'd say a little more about my selections to see if I was on the right track... :p

I thought you were talking about my choices? Hmm, I hoped you'd say a little more about my selections to see if I was on the right track... :p

I didn't forget you O:] . I'll do more comments on your (excellent) selection when I'll upload more Saint Seiya's music. And by the way, I hope you don't mind if I upload some of the same tracks, but in better quality (encoded with lame -insane).

I thought that I would do my share as I also love this type of music and have loads of it on my computer. So here is the first part of my favorite Action Orchestral Tracks.

Thanks a lot for your contribution!:)

I'll listen carefully to your list, and I'll post my comments when I'm done.

The whole Advent Rising score stands as one of the most impressive effort in western game music. That's an obvious choice for this thread.
Unfortunately the only good thing about that game :(

[Edit: This argument is pointless as nobody here is prepared or able to conduct an adult conversation. Arthierr, I wish you the best with your thread. My involvement in it has concluded.]

Each to their own.

[deleted in the interests of saving breath whilst talking to brick wall]

Everybody, here is a very special post. First let me explain. I recently discovered that one of the member of this forum is also a wonderful composer whose music I admire since years : Jeremy Robson AKA Streichorchester http://www.jeremyrobson.com/. To my opinion his music match the complexity of the greatest professional composers.

He allowed me to try to sample (render with a synth) one of the most complex cue he wrote (or at least that I heard from him), an incredible 10 minutes frantic, bombastic piece of music, matching exactly this thread.

I did my best, using a soundfont I made myself. And here's the result. I tried to make it sound as good as possible, but my tools are limited, so be indulgent. But I do find that it sounds rather good, given the fact I'm not a professional musician.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/98h8gi

Enjoy! And please give me some comments about it, I'm really interested in your opinions about this.

I precise that Streichorchester isn't really involved in this post. He only gave me his agreement to do so. I'm posting this only because I'm a fan of his music and I want other people to discover it.

dannyfrench, I believe you're confusing orchestra music with symphony orchestra music. Orchestral music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestra) is sometimes played by less than 40 musicians.

Also, I thought that the "BIG" in the title referred to the hopeful size and importance of the thread, not the size of the orchestras.

But, since you insist...

Final Fantasy VIII - Battle Theme: Performed by the Tokyo Philarmonic Orchestra

3. Star Wars Trilogy - John Williams - Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra

6. Metallica - The call of Ktulu - Performed by Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

7. Evangelion the Movie 1.0 - Shirou Sagisi - Battaille Decisive - Performed by the London Studio Orchestra

13. Alive But Dead (Instr. Orchestra Version) - Performed by the Prague Symphonic Orchestra

14. RAGE - Alive But Dead - Performed by RAGE and the Prague Symphonic Orchestra

15. Requiem for a dream theme ("Lux Aeterna") - Arranged by Clint Mansell and Kronos Quartet

All Saint Seiya Soundtracks - Seiji Yokoyama - Performed by the Andromeda Armonique Orchestra

23. Scorpions - Crossfire (instrumental) &
24. Scorpions - Deadly Sting Suite (instrumental) - Performed by Scorpions and the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra

Other songs - Smaller studio ensembles (violins, viola, cellos, piano, percussion) but still sound awesome

Please don't generalize.

Bah

Edit: I'm really tired of this. No more comments. Goodbye.

I thought that I would do my share as I also love this type of music and have loads of it on my computer. So here is the first part of my favorite Action Orchestral Tracks.

Star Trek Enterprise OST and The Best of Star Trek :
For me the best of this first selection, real old-school orchestral action, what McCarthy masters perfectly. Especially "Phaser Fight" is very much recommended.

Batman Begins Expanded Score - The Chase - Track:13 (Disk One) (Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard:
I'm really not a fan of Zimmer, to say the least, but this cue is interesting. It has something hypnotic due to its strings ostinato and regular rythm.

Also thanks for the quality of your mp3s.

Please more!=)

I'm adding this for you. You HAVE to listen to this.

It's the music of Ultima X: Odyssey, a canceled game, composed by Chris Field and performed by The Northwest Sinfonia (yes, a real orchestra! With real people using real instruments!).

There are only 6 tracks but WHAT TRACKS!! The 4 action cues here are among the best I've heard from a young composer, this guy is a pure musical genius!

http://uxo.stratics.com/content/music/music.php

Enjoy!

Ok, I'll come back and comment on these:
** WOW ** :-D

What a terrible pity this was canned... Imagine how much more music like this we will now never hear... Thank you for that! :)

Ok, I've changed my mind...


dannyfrench, I believe you're confusing orchestra music with symphony orchestra music. Orchestral music is sometimes played by less than 40 musicians.

I'm not confused - just very distinct in the way in which I interpret the term "orchestral".

I am a composer, conductor, orchestrator, and classical music reviewer. I'm not a musical rookie.

The physical "orchestra" as an entity is never defined so rigidly - an orchestra can be 10,000 people or 10. The C64 Orchestra, for example, is only twelve musicians. You'd be better off using the term "ensemble" or "chamber ensemble" but if you wanted to push a point, you could still refer to it as an orchestra. Just a bloody small one!


Do you see what I'm getting at? Music can incorporate an orchestra, or the sounds of an orchestra (through a synthesizer) and yet, in my view, still not be "orchestral music" by that definition.

To take a case in point, Saint Seiya - one of my all time favourite scores, by the way - is performed by a small orchestra. But I do not believe it belongs in the category of "orchestral music" because it is clearly disco; structurally, musically, harmonically, it is seventies-style disco music. If Saint Seiya is orchestral music, how about MFSB - The Sound Of Philadelphia? Glorious disco track, with a seventy-piece Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. Does it feature an orchestra? Yes - a considerably bigger and better one than Saint Seiya. Is it ORCHESTRAL? Technically, yes - but philosophically, and in this context no.

Requiem For A Dream - you really can't tell me it's orchestral music on the grounds that there are musical instruments playing. Goldfrapp, The Divine Comedy, etc, use orchestral arrangements in their songs. Are they writing orchestral music? No.

In the world of modern classical music, the terms "orchestral" and "symphonic" have started to mean almost exactly the same thing. This is wrong of course, because "symphonic" means something entirely different. However, in an effort to simplify terminology for a non-musical crowd (ie, the majority of film music listeners) the definition of "orchestral" has shifted to suggest a particular kind of music - that features orchestral performances, but which also adheres to a certain style and standard of composition.

The anime / video game music community, particularly, have a habit of stealing various musical terminology and appropriating them into meaning different, occasionally wrong, often inaccurate things: "Orchestrated" , "Conducted", and "Composed" are often confused and some people even think they're exactly the same thing. "Orchestrated" means something that sounds like more than a few people are playing, etc. ("Orchestration" just means the act of taking music and deciding what instruments play which melodies, harmonies, etc. My first piano concerto is fully orchestrated - and it's never been played by anybody. It's on manuscript paper. Coincidentally, so is a light jazzy piece I wrote - it's orchestrated, and it includes parts for about twenty orchestral players in additional to sax, drum kit, etc - and I do NOT consider it orchestral music.

Likewise, "orchestral" now seems to mean anything which a) includes musicians playing instruments commonly found in a symphony orchestra, b) has the sound of a) even if produced by synthesisers, c) almost any film, television or anime score that isn't outright metal, rock, or some other genre, etc...

I'm trying to get people to see the word "orchestral" and see it differently.

Case in point - most of the music of Hans Zimmer (and likeminded composers). He uses a (ridiculously big) orchestra, but it doesn't sound like one. He drowns it in synthesizers and simplistic percussion loops. He treats his orchestra like a keyboard. It doesn't *sound* symphonic - because broadly speaking, it's not.

On the other hand, I consider Wendy Carlos' "Tron" to fit into this category, even though it is a orchestral-synthesizer hybrid piece. Why? Because it is, first and foremost, a symphonic piece. Orchestral and symphonic are two words which aren't just about the physical composition of a performance ensemble - they're about a sound, a vibe, a technique - whatever you want to call it. "Tron" is a symphonic, orchestral score that incorporates synthesizers as well.

Likewise the music of people like Jerry Goldsmith - accomplished orchestral composers who used electronics to augment and enhance the sound of their arrangements.

See the difference? Or am I making no sense at all?

Here's another contribution after all:

Tron, "The Light Sailer", Wendy Carlos. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Douglas Gamley.

http://sharebee.com/f9887217


Also, I thought that the "BIG" in the title referred to the hopeful size and importance of the thread, not the size of the orchestras.

If that was the intended meaning, fair enough - in the world of film music, classical music, the term "Big Orchestra" is often used to denote something like Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman, or the symphonies of Shostakovich, for instance - it implies solid, high quality symphonic music. Alternately the "Big" usually refers to the size and scope of the music. Throwing synthesizers, or a hard rock beat, or lots of percussion, at something doesn't make it big or epic. It makes it loud and annoying.



(List of uploaded cues, together with performance credits)

Most of those belong.

Metallica, Saint Seiya, Requiem For A Dream, emphatically do not.

Evangelion - I'm in two minds over this. I would let it pass as a borderline entry - I admit I'm biased as I hate the Evangelion scores, however.


Please don't generalize.

I haven't - in fact, I have been doing nothing but trying to encourage the rest of you NOT to generalise - because all this music has been placed under the banner of "orchestral" where not all of it belongs.

There is music that DOES belong. I will try to provide as much of it as I can to try to get you all to hear what real, intelligent, orchestral ACTION music is all about. There have been some examples of it here but not many.

We are drowning in a mixture of crap, not crap but doesn't fit criteria, not crap but isn't orchestral, and not crap but is synthesised.

In any case, this isn't my thread and so it isn't my place to criticise the choices made, or the specifications laid down as to what and what can't be uploaded.

As I have said several times now, I was simply expressing my disappointment at the broad, sometimes faulty interpretation of "orchestral" as it has caused this thread to fill up with fairly common pieces - some good, some really dreadful, whereas if the criteria had been tighter, this could have been a truly special thread - a sanctuary for truly brilliant masterpieces.

Everybody thinks everything is a masterpiece. It isn't. Transformers may sound great in the film, but as music, it is a piece of shit. And it's well known, discussed constantly, and available in twelve different threads...

All I was suggesting is maybe it would be a good idea to leave out that populist rubbish and concentrate on some things that most of you probably won't be all that familiar with - but would probably absolutely LOVE if you heard them.

Peace, gentlemen. :)

Welcome back my friend. Glad that you managed to cool your mind a bit.

For me your contribution has ceased the moment I red this

Arthierr, I wish you the best with your thread. My involvement in it has concluded.]

But that's ok, no problem, that was your choice and I had nothing against it.

BUT:mad:, I got REALLY pissed when I red this

[Edit: This argument is pointless as nobody here is prepared or able to conduct an adult conversation.]

Nobody here? I am here. So I'm not adult enough for you?

I didn't say a word then by respect for your past contributions, and your marvelous article about Folk's score.

But let's now forget that, I do appreciate again your GOOD comments. And next time THINK before posting comments that could be disrespectful.

If, as I suspect, you are effectively telling me to bugger off, I will do so happily.


Nobody here? I am here. So I'm not adult enough for you?

That wasn't directed at you - I would have thought you would have known this, as we have never said a bad word to each-other, and all we have ever done when having a discussion on this forum is either outright agree, or discuss and agree to disagree. I am fairly offended that you assumed I meant you, as this tends to disrespect the friendship we had thus far established.


But let's now forget that, and next time THINK before posting comments that could be disrespectful.

I appreciate that you took my comment badly, but there really is no need to start patronising me and talking to me like a three year old. I find THAT comment disrespectful, and might be justified in saying perhaps YOU should *THINK* before posting comments in such a forthright, blunt manner.

I find that most of my time on this forum is spent being flamed and disrespected by almost everybody. And now to add insult to injury, on one occasion where my endless diplomacy failed, I am now being told to be more respectful... The mind boggles.

If, as I suspect, you are effectively telling me to bugger off, I will do so happily.

No, I'm not, at all. That's why I edited my message at the end with this "I do appreciate again your GOOD comments". You know that I admire your musical culture and enjoy your comments.;)

I LOVE this type of music too! Very nice idea.

I have a bunch of "orchestral action" songs in my playlist, so I'm gonna share the ones I think you'll like. Some of these have a definite "modern" feel, but they're all pretty much orchestral (as in performed by an orchestra). And action-ey too, obviously.

I'm sure my song list is going to seem pretty crazy because of all the variety; but please don't pay attention to the song names, simply listen to them. I guarantee you'll enjoy them if you like this style.

Kreachure, I've just finished to listen to all your list, and here's what I can say (I'll do much more comments on Saint Seiya later).

I'm glad that you didn't just stick to movie/anime/game and chose to promote orchestral arrangements of pop/rock songs. Nice choice, even if RAGE - Alive But Dead (Instr. Orchestra Version) doesn't really match the theme of this thread (the others do).

I particularly enjoyed the Scorpions ones, I've got already this wonderful album and the cues you've selected are indeed my favourites. Everybody please listen to this! It's an icredibly powerful (I could even say crazy) combination between an hardrock band and a big symphonic orchestra. The result is so intense that I was literally sweating at the end of my listening!

The superheroes themes in your list are what they're meant to be: heroic, powerful and emulating. It's an obvious choice for this thread. Well done! By the way, if someone here has the score of "Flash" it would be really nice, thanks.

Requiem for a dream is an interesting track. In the same genre I particularly recommend "Christopher Field (X-Ray Dog) - Lord Of The Rings Trailer Music - Gothic Power"

http://www.sendspace.com/file/o90yaq

Christopher Field? Yes, it's the same guy that composed the music of Ultima X: Odyssey! Just look a bit before in this thread, I've put a link to this marvelous score. What a pity we still don't hear more from him.

I won't really comment the music of John Williams (too easy, it's perfect). That's also why I didn't chose one of his cue in my initial selection.

There's much to say about the orchestral arrangement of Final Fantasy VIII by shiro hamagushi. A great composer himself, he's also extremely skilled in orchestration and conducting. As you guessed I enjoyed very much Final Fantasy VIII - Squall's battle theme (orchestrated), I also particularly appreciate the track "the man with a machine gun" from the same album (It would be a good idea to include this in your next selection).

Thanks! I'm looking forward to hearing to your next list.

Thanks much for your comments on my picks.

I was afraid you wouldn't be fond of some of them, but I was fortunately wrong. The Scorpions pieces are indeed unique and spectacular (I'm still searching and waiting for something similar to that to appear!), and I'm glad you liked the animated themes; I've always considered them to be greatly underrated.

I put the Alive but Dead instrumental orchestra version in there just for comparison, so you're right on it not matching the theme. :laugh:

Speaking of "trailer music", if you want to blow your brains out with a ridiculous amount of Christopher Field (and similar artists like Immediate's) music, you should check out this thread right here (Thread 44056), and if you're really sadistic, this torrent right here (http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3936719/Immediate_Music) (if you know how to work those thingamajigs).

There might be a couple hundred cues you may like from those... :naughty:

As for the Flash score, I couldn't find any official releases, but don't worry, I'm still working on it! :D

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!:love:

I didn't know these! Thank to you, I'll have weeks of new music to listen to.

Nice job!;)

And now a new upload for you. This one is very special for me because it's in my 5 top list of best soundtracks. I've chosen some orchestral action cues from the OSTs of Saint Seiya. It's composed by Seiji Yokoyama and performed by the Andromeda Armonique Orchestra (thanks for the confirmation, Kreachure;)).

Memorial Box CD1 - 12 - Illusion of 12 Temples

Saint Seiya Original Soundtrack I - 04 - Burn Cosmo

Saint Seiya Original Soundtrack II - 05 - Gilde! Pegasus

Saint Seiya Original Soundtrack II - 13 - Beautiful Gold Saints

Saint Seiya Original Soundtrack VI - 09 - Soldier Dream

http://www.sendspace.com/file/f9hn8n

Rarely have I listened to such power in music. Especially listen to "Gilde! Pegasus", it just one of my favourite action cues (well, maybe even MY favourite).

Oh! I forgot to mention that the quality of these mp3s is optimal, encoded with lame insane (except the memorial box wich is 192k but good anyway).

Enjoy!

If you're referring to The Flash, the early nineties TV show, with music by Shirley Walker... I have it. ;)

I'd be happy if you could upload it.

Thanks a lot ;)

No, I'm not, at all. That's why I edited my message at the end with this "I do appreciate again your GOOD comments". You know that I admire your musical culture and enjoy your comments.;)

Stop editing your messages so they're less aggressive, after I've already read them and got pissed off by them. ;)

I like to think all my comments are GOOD comments, even if they're not necessarily comments which many people seem to agree with. I have my opinion as to what constitutes orchestral music. When challenged, I have discussed it further, provided historical backup, and examples that support it. Obviously this viewpoint is (despite me believing fervently that it is correct) not one shared by anybody here, so I will gracefully bow out of that particular topic of discussion.

I hope you will not mind, if, inspired by this thread, I go on to create one which contains music that fits my interpretation of "orchestral" - as whilst I have the utmost respect for your thread and for the music posted here (who can't love Saint Seiya...) I think this is a missed opportunity - and would still like to create a place where real symphonic masterpieces may be shared, discussed, and enjoyed.

Now, no more off topicness, I promise. (Well, ignoring the fact that 95% of the music here is off topic - but I don't want to get into that one again...!)

Sometimes you say something unfair because of you're taken by the immediate emotion, then you think more and re-equilibrate things a bit. So what I REALLY think is after my edits.

Not only I won't mind but I'm looking forward to reading this thread. I'll even participate if you agree.

Here you go, my friend.

http://sharebee.com/b515fec2

Two interesting thoughts:

a) Shirley Walker's style is very similar to Danny Elfman's. Walker claimed to have nothing to do with Elfman's "style" - she was often thought by many (including myself) to be the real talent behind things like Edward Scissorhands, and Batman - both of which she orchestrated and conducted. She hit back in various interviews, keen to state that Elfman's style is Elfman's style, not hers... But listening to things like this - a score from 1990, predating (or at least written at roughly the same time as) most of Elfman's most popular works, it's hard to believe her. Listen to this, and tell me it doesn't sound like a much maturer Elfman...

b) What a goddamned shame she's not around any more. A fine composer and one of the most skilled orchestrators we've ever had.

Sometimes you say something unfair because of you're taken by the immediate emotion, then you think more and re-equilibrate things a bit. So what I REALLY think is after my edits.

Not only I won't mind but I'm looking forward to reading this thread. I'll even participate if you agree.

Hell, I'm certainly guilty of that. It's amazing how you can fire off ten pages of ranting, and then look back on it a few hours later and think "Oh, God..."

As I say, I don't want to dump on your thread... I just think there's a market for strictly orchestral, symphonic music and I think it should be separated from the other genres - disco, electronica, metal, etc, which are showing up here.

I'd love to receive any contributions of course, from you. :)

You obviously have excellent taste - but you are able to enjoy more different styles than I am. That, I believe, is my loss. :)

You obviously have excellent taste - but you are able to enjoy more different styles than I am. That, I believe, is my loss. :)

Funny what you say! Generally people think I'm an elitist because my tastes are rather specialized, and because I can't stand the latest crappy pop singer or hip-hop group.

In that case I suppose you're an ultra-elitist ;) .

Evangelion - I'm in two minds over this. I would let it pass as a borderline entry - I admit I'm biased as I hate the Evangelion scores, however.

Evangelion is pretty good at times, like that violin piece that played at the end of The End of Evangelion that was obviously a rip off of Victor Young's My Foolish Heart.


There's much to say about the orchestral arrangement of Final Fantasy VIII by shiro hamagushi. A great composer himself, he's also extremely skilled in orchestration and conducting.

The only problem with his orchestration is that he overcompensates for lack of good wind writing by adding trills everywhere. It's annoying that everything ends up so flowery because of it.



Anyway, enough of this Mickey Mouse bullshit, it's time for some REAL orchestral action music: http://www.sendspace.com/file/rp7mtq

If anyone likes these selections I have lots more.

arthierr: I'm glad you liked my links so much! :-D

streichorchester: I think it would be nice if you actually told us what's in your RAR file... :p

Since I'm such a nice guy, I'll do it for you:

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra - Symphony No. 6: Hanson's 6th (Allegro) (1:55)
Armenian Philaharmonic Orchestra - Suite: The Battle of Stalingrad (1949) - II - Invasion (1:30)
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky - 09 - The Battle On The Ice (9:43)
Linda Finnie - Ivan the Terrible, Op. 116 [Concert Scenario]: IV. Fire (2:03)
Linda Finnie - V. Tartars and Canoneers: i) Allegro moderato (1:00)
Linda Finnie - Ivan the Terrible, Op. 116 [Concert Scenario]: VI. The Storm (9:26)
Prokofiev - October Revolution Cantata - VI. Revolution (10:33)
Sergei Prokofiev - The Year 1941: In the Struggle (4:54)
Moscow Symphony Orchestra - The Fall of Berlin, Op. 82 (ed. Adriano): XI. Storming Seelo (6:26)
Г. Свиридов - Тройка (3:09)
Vaughn Williams - Track 02 (3:47)
Celia Nicklin - Henry V (adapted by Christopher Palmer): VI. Agincourt (15:17)

Just tryin' to help... :D

Thanks Kreachure, really a kind help. I do appreciate.
But if you don't mind, I think you must have quoted the tags, wich are sometimes not very meaningful (unless you can read russian).
So here are the filenames of streichorchester's selection (more explicit).

Hanson - Symphony No. 6 - VI. Allegro.mp3
Khachaturian - The Battle of Stalingrad - II - Invasion.mp3
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky - 09 - The Battle On The Ice.mp3
Prokofiev - Ivan the Terrible - IV. Fire.mp3
Prokofiev - Ivan the Terrible - V. Tartars and Canoneers_ i) Allegro moderato.mp3
Prokofiev - Ivan the Terrible - VI. The Storming of Kazan.mp3
Prokofiev - October Revolution Cantata - VI. Revolution.mp3
Prokofiev - The Year 1941 - I. In the Struggle.mp3
Shostakovich - The Fall of Berlin - XI. Storming Seelov Heights.mp3
Sviridov - The Snowstorm - 01 - Troika.mp3
Vaughan Williams - Dona Nobis Pacem - II. Beat! beat! drums.mp3
Walton - Henry V - VI. Agincourt.mp3

Damn, I was just going to post something sarcastic and you beat me!

Streich: Now THAT is BETTER! That stuff BELONGS!

Kreachure:

But that would ruin the surprise of awesomeness within!

Anyway, you posted the tags which I'm too lazy to edit, so here is the tracklist that shows the composer names:

edit: beaten!!

Most are from film scores, but I included some film score-like pieces as well.

Also, I would have added more of the Khachaturian but emusic likes to let people download fucked up tracks full of sound artifacts so I don't have a decent version of it.

Really interesting selection. Didn't know half of it. I'm learning things tonight!

Thanks!

(more comments after listening)

A special Hikaru Nanase (AKA Masumi Itō) post this time.

Nice composer and singer, very prolific in anime music, some of her action cues are really worth listening.

I particularly appreciate "Scrapped Princess OST Vol. 2 - 13 - Dragoon no Tatakai". Begins with an incredible hi-string ostinato coupled with deep trombones. Just fascinating!

Chrno Crusade Gospel II - 04 - Militia no Katsuyaku

Noein Original Soundtrack 1 - 01 - Shangri-La

Noein Original Soundtrack 1 - 02 - Kakute, Tatakau

Scrapped Princess OST Vol. 2 - 13 - Dragoon no Tatakai

Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Original Soundtrack - Atmosphere - CD1 - 08 - madder murder

Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Original Soundtrack - Atmosphere - CD1 - 09 - crimson annihilate

Tactical Roar Original Soundtrack - 19 - Senkan Hasshin

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bbopsd

Enjoy!

Well this is my preferred style of music too.
Every Zimmer album contains a lot of this stuff. Half of the tracks have usually thriving percussion, choir and bombast.

Also trailer music falls in this department since it's even more 'action' than most scores.

it's time for some REAL orchestral action music


I think most people in this forum are much like me. We're not music scholars but people who discovered and fell in love with orchestral music mainly via post 70s or 80s film music (or anime, or even games). Even if I sometimes listen to classical or modern non-filmic orchestral music, my culture is relatively limited when it comes to the composers you chose (except Prokofiev and Khachaturian). That's why I find this selection much interesting from both a musical and cultural POV. I wanted this thread to be way to discover new music and new facets of orchestral music, and you added here one approach that lacked so far. I can only thank you for that.

As a wannabe film composer I've found it's always good to know your roots. These are the classical composers that Williams, Horner, Goldsmith, etc. learned from. Except Sviridov, who is sadly the most overlooked Russian film scorer I can think of. But his music will forever live on as the theme from Metal Gear Solid.

The only problem with [Shiro Hamaguchi's] orchestration is that he overcompensates for lack of good wind writing by adding trills everywhere. It's annoying that everything ends up so flowery because of it.

Indeed he uses much trills, but in fact I LOVE trills, and ornaments in general. For me it's one of the things that makes orchestral music so complex and rejoycing to listen. I find that some new composers (I'm looking at you Media Ventures!) don't use these subtleties anymore, and compensate with an excess of beat.

And because we speak of him, here is a selection of his action cues I much enjoyed. It's his own music this time, not arrangements.

Final Fantasy Unlimited Music Adventure Verse 1 - 12 - Demon Gun Dissolve.mp3

Final Fantasy Unlimited Music Adventure Verse 1 - 13 - Demon Gun Shot.mp3

Final Fantasy Unlimited Music Adventure Verse 2 - 27 - Omega.mp3

Final Fantasy Unlimited Music Adventure Verse 2 - 31 - Demon Sword.mp3

Final Fantasy Unlimited Music Adventure Verse 2 - 36 - Airborne Assault .mp3

kiddy grade - 12 - LA MUSE.mp3

kiddy grade - 15 - Crisis.mp3

kiddy grade - 20 - Expectation.mp3

http://www.sendspace.com/file/dmvvt9

Happy listening!

Great selections so far everyone, thank you! I must admit I didn't know of most of these composers/performers. But now I do! :-D

I'm going to share now a few other songs I seemed to have overlooked for my first pack. (Sadly, these are the last ones I have that suit the theme... :sad: )

I apologize for the quality of some of these, but these are seriously the best shape I could find them in (I had a hard time finding some of these gems at all!). Again, they seem pretty random, but I think they're adequate. Well, here goes! :p

(NOTE: Again, some of these are edits/compilations I made myself, and I modified their names too, sorry!)

1. Rescuers Down Under - Bruce Broughton - Rescuers Down Under Medley (10:25)
2. Halo 3 - Marty O'Donnell - The Greatest Journey (3:11)
3. Justice League - Lolita Ritmanis - Main title(1:00)
4. MechWarrior 2 - Jeehun Hwang - Track 09(?) (1:39)
5. Metal Gear Solid - Various(?) - Encounter (2:18)
6. Ron Grainer & Murray Gold - Doctor Who Theme [Album Version] (2:28)
7. Tintin: The animated series - ? - Main title (0:59)
8. Robotech - Ulpio Minucci - Main Title (1:34)
9. Yasunori Mitsuda & Tsuyoshi Sekito - Chrono Trigger Medley (Arranged Version) (2:03)

MEDIAFIRE LINK! (http://www.mediafire.com/?z4mmlxs1uyd)

Now, to run away before I get scolded by professional musicians/critics! :-P

they seem pretty random, but I think they're adequate.

No problem, that's exactly what I wanted, an ecclectic approach to orchestral action music.

Thanks for your nice selection! As usual I'll comment later after listening.;)

Here is another part of music

PART TWO:

Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter Promo Score - The Ghosts' Theme - Track:01 (Tom Salta)

Lost Planet OST - Main Theme - Track:8 (Jamie Christopherson)

Medal of Honor Frontline OST - The Halftrack Chase - Track:8 (Michael Giacchino)

Trusty Bell - Chopin's Dream OST - Leap the Precipice - Track:5 (Disk One) (Motoi Sakuraba)

There will be more as I have lots more music on my computer.


http://www.filefactory.com/file/b0c0bc/n/Part_Two_Orchestra_Music_rar

If you're referring to The Flash, the early nineties TV show, with music by Shirley Walker... I have it. ;)

Thanks for this, dannyfrench! Just listening to it, great score but strangely enough the main theme by Danny Elfman isn't included (I mean the theme playing during the opening). Legal problems?

Here is another part of music

Very nice list, thanks!

I added a new link to Streichorchester' Theme144. Corrected a few things in the sampling. Now sounds much better. So if you want to listen to it in better quality here it is :

http://www.sendspace.com/file/98h8gi

It's the music of Ultima X: Odyssey, a canceled game, composed by Chris Field and performed by The Northwest Sinfonia (yes, a real orchestra! With real people using real instruments!).!

I remember hearing these many years ago when I played Ultima Online and thought they were pretty neat. They seem to have been inspired by the usual fair of composers including Prokofiev's Battle on the Ice and John Williams.

Rule City reminds me of Kagome's theme from Inuyasha, but so does every triple-meter theme that begins with a rising 5th.

Thanks for this, dannyfrench! Just listening to it, great score but strangely enough the main theme by Danny Elfman isn't included (I mean the theme playing during the opening). Legal problems?

Whoopsie!

http://sharebee.com/5e8ea9d9

streichorchester:

Having listened to your piece several times now, and listening to the improved edition as we speak...

The good: A fine piece of upbeat orchestral music - that would sound magnificent in a performance by a real orchestra.

The bad: Quoting Kanno...? Shameless, absolutely shameless! Thieving from a thief who thieves from other thieves? And Gundam Stargazer? And Independence Day? Also, inevitably it is suffering through its synth performance (amazing job, Arthierr, but synth will never be the LSO...)

The ugly: As you have said yourself, one of the hardest things about being a fan and a composer simultaneously, is that it becomes difficult to process your inspirations, filter them through your own musical psyche, and generate an original style. With your piece, I'm getting nothing that tells me it's *you* writing - with the utmost respect to you, my friend, this strikes me as more of a ten minute medley of other pieces by a massive roster of other composers, but where is Jeremy Robson in all this? What do you do the way nobody else does? What is there that people will, after extended exposure to your music, be able to hear and say "Oh yeah, that's Robson..." in the same way that you can say "That's Goldsmith / Williams / Poledouris..."?

It seems like you're so caught up in emulating a particular technique, that you're short-changing your OWN influence in an effort to write something that fits the pattern. Something that Average Joe will hear and say it sounds like film music.

Nobody's saying you have to completely reinvent the genre and start using nutty instruments. Nobody's saying that the old style isn't good any more. That's not the reason for my critique.

Twenty people all sit in front of a cottage (a movie), are given canvases (manuscript paper) and a pot of watercolours (a symphony orchestra), and are instructed to adhere to limitations of technique - let's say they all must paint the cottage so it looks sensible and like a cottage, not do anything crazy, and they must use nothing except their brush and paints (write a symphonic score, don't include part for backwards tape, artillery shell, farting elephant, what have you). At the end, you have twenty pictures of your cottage (compositions). They all used the same materials but it's the way THEY saw it that gives it that uniqueness.

To extend the analogy, it seems to me as though you saw the house, remembered what somebody else's picture of a house looked like, and took the facets of their picture and applied it to the house you had in front of you. Why? What's important is how it looked to YOU - and how your life experiences, artistic experiences, mood, personality, influenced you to paint in the way you did. Otherwise you have a workmanlike picture that anybody could've painted.

I hope you will not be offended by this - a fine piece is a fine piece... But a man with your undoubted skill, impeccable taste, and the musical encyclopedia inside your head, shouldn't be short changing himself writing pastiche... :)

It seems like you're so caught up in emulating a particular technique, that you're short-changing your OWN influence in an effort to write something that fits the pattern. Something that Average Joe will hear and say it sounds like film music.

I hope you will not be offended by this - a fine piece is a fine piece... But a man with your undoubted skill, impeccable taste, and the musical encyclopedia inside your head, shouldn't be short changing himself writing pastiche... :)

No no, you got it right. It's SUPPOSED to be a collection of various techniques employed by composers, and the list of influences could go on to include Horner (Legend of Zorro), Silvestri (Eraser), Poledouris (Starship Troopers), etc. It's an experiment in various action styles and ostinato writing and sounds nothing like the more original action-oriented pieces you'd find on my webpage, although even they have their own set of influences.

I've not heard Gundam Stargazer, though. Please tell me my theme (first heard at 0:45) isn't from there, because I thought that was pretty original when I came up with it.

In that case, I'll shut up and say that it succeeds perfectly for what you were trying to achieve!

Your melody doesn't remind me of anything - but it's hard to hear it underneath all that Kanno. ;)

I'm obviously not getting enough sleep, because I meant Gundam Stardust Memory - not Stargazer. This score is a) terrible, and b) THE most disgusting examples of plagiarism I have ever heard. If you think Kanno is bad, try this out for size:

"Mitsuo Hagita - The Naval Review" (allegedly...) No further comment from me is necessary! Boy, did I yell when I heard this...

http://sharebee.com/d50bab4a

As far as the influence on your piece is concerned, refer to 4:33 and compare with the following... http://sharebee.com/3f82118d

This example of probably pillaged shamelessly from something else (as is about 96% of Stardust Memory) so you'll probably be able to tell me what from, and no doubt that you fully intended to borrow from it. ;)

All the best :)
D

AHAHAHAHAHAHHA HOLY SHIT!

That's not Gundam, baby! That's ripped off of where I got the idea from too!

edit: wow, was that Glory thing written before copyright laws existed in Japan or something??

edit 2: in the spirit of this thread, here's the original action cue (not the Glory cue) in case anyone doesn't know the source http://sharebee.com/0de78383

I've also found Star Trek II, I think, and in the past I found many quotations in some of your cues (Malta, Crusader...). But I know you're learning, that you'll certainly be a great composer with a unique style, but now you're experimenting, deconstructing ang reconstructing to train and gain skill.

I draw a lot. Today I have my own style but when I was learning, my drawings seemed to be coming straight from "The savage sword of Conan" by Buscema/Alcala. It's natural to absorb the style and techniques of the masters you admire and then develop yours.

I've also found Star Trek II, I think, and in the past I found many quotations in some of your cues (Malta, Crusader...). But I know you're learning, that you'll certainly be a great composer with a unique style, but now you're experimenting, deconstructing ang reconstructing to train and gain skill.

Hmm, I can't remember if I quoted Star Trek II, but that was definitely during my Conan-obsession period, which is what inspired me to write The Crusader.

Yes, just checked, 4:33 is much like 1:14 from Star Trek II - 19 - genesis countdown.
And we can hear a similar 3 tuba notes at the beginning of Horner's cue.

Edit : CRAP! Just listened to Brainstorm. I knew it was Horner! But still it's similar with ST2 with a faster tempo.

Blast, of course it's Horner... The whole score is sodding Horner anyway! (By way of 2010 by Davis Shire...)

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into a discussion about plagiarism.

[Edit: F**K ME! (at the Gundam -> Brainstorm...)

Here is the first part of my Toshihiko SAHASHI's selection. Very, very talented composer, mastering all kinds of musical genres, he's extremely prolific in the anime area.

It was really hard to choose because all his scores are loaded with superb action cues, so I greatly encourage you listen to the whole OSTs if you like these (and I bet you will).

Black Blood Brothers - 19 - Shimei.mp3

Black Blood Brothers - 29 - Haseru.mp3

Black Blood Brothers - 43 - Gin Katana.mp3

Capeta Ost - 09 - Capeta No Toushi.mp3

Simoun Original Soundtrack 1 - 09 - Tsubasa To Tsubasa.mp3

Simoun Original Soundtrack 1 - 10 - Tokubetsu Na Mira1 To Tameni....mp3

Simoun Original Soundtrack 2 - 02 - Tatakau Sora No Hate.mp3

The Big O Original Score - 03 - Stand A Chance.mp3

The Cosmopolitan Prayers Complete Album - 08 - Tatakai 3.mp3

Zipang Original Soundtrack - 35 - Battle Mirai.mp3

http://www.sendspace.com/file/cpbro0

By the way, dannyfrench, don't you have some good SAHASHI scores to upload ? ;)

I do. And I will do so. ;)

And I will do my Sahashi compilation after all since you now seem to like compilations, Mr "No thanks, I Like To Listen To The Whole Score!" ;) ;) ;)

Hey, Streichorchester
I am absolutely in love with the music you posted on the last page, can you upload and post some more (even though it doesn't exactly fit into the threat, so you can mp me if its easier) I would really appreciate it. Whole albums would be nice if you got any..
Thanks

Sure thing. I'm actually going to upload something a little different but it should impress if you like those "classical" selections.

May I suggest, Streich, that you allow people to listen to both of your superb orchestral suites that aren't in your website anymore : "Malta" and "Crusader".

I've been lucky enough to get these in the past, but now it's gone.

arthierr:

Those are old and embarrassingly badly orchestrated. I'm still hoping to one day redo them when I buy some massive sampling equipment, but I don't have the funds right now. Also, I don't want to spread around my midis as much as my recordings because I don't want James Horner getting a hold of them for when he needs ideas for Avatar.

---------------------------------------------------------

Here's some more action music for those interested. I call this collection HARDCORE BALLET:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/mfltid

Bartok - The Miraculous Mandarin: It's not an easy listen - no standout themes or tonal center. It kind of bridges the gap between Bartok's colourful folk-like compositions and his forays into the avant-garde.

Bartok - The Wooden Prince: Ah yes, much more thematically connected and down to earth. It's very reminiscent of Prokofievian ballet music or symphonies, which is why Horner used a bit of it in The Land Before Time.

Borodin - Prince Igor: Folk dances and choirs and beautiful chomaticism in the themes. It's full of popular tunes, but lots of people don't actually realize they came from an opera written by a chemist in his spare time. The Polovetsian Dances make up the most spectacular segment of this opera, and can easily be considered ballet music.

Copland - Rodeo: Speaking of popular tunes, everyone knows this one. Since Copland's music is so schizophrenic it's hard to find pieces that are through and through "action-oriented" so I went with the easy selection here you may remember from beef commercials. James Horner borrowed this sound for his score to An American Tail 2: Fievel Goes West.

Khachaturian - Gayane: pronounced "guy-nuh". The most famous part from this is the Sabre Dance, but everyone's heard that a million times so I went with a more obscure selection. Also, you might recall Gayane's Adagio was used in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, and subsequently Horner's score to Aliens.

Khachaturian - Spartacus: Does Khachaturian's genius know no bounds? He's perhaps one of the most underrated composers if you look at his more unpopular works such as this two-hour ballet. While the Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia is everyone's favourite selection, for this I chose the Orgy at Crassus's Villa which was used to great effect in the movie The Hudsucker Proxy along with the Adagio.

Khachaturian - The Valencian Widow: Another relatively unknown Khachaturian ballet that takes place during the Spanish Renaissance. It's a comedy, so it carries that patented Khachaturian snare ostinato in full force.

Nielsen - Aladdin: The composer who will always be overshadowed by Sibelius was probably a better colourist than Sibelius as heard in his best work Aladdin. Yeah, he wrote six symphonies that people seem to like, but I can't for the life of me remember how they go even though I own all six.

Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet: Sergei Prokofiev, one of film scoring's godfathers, was just as good at writing ballets, if not better. His Romeo and Juliet proved he was just as good as Tchaikovsky, and earned him a spot as the 20th century's foremost ballet composer (along with Stravinsky.) James Horner steals quite a bit from this work, as heard in the selection here which can be found in the Stealing the Enterprise cue from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

Prokofiev - Scythian Suite: After hearing Stravinsky's revolutionary The Rite of Spring, Prokofiev set out to do one better by writing a ballet called Ala and Lolli. He failed miserably (or so he thought) and the result is this colourful tale. James Horner used this in Battle Beyond the Stars.

Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe: When I first heard this I was in awe of its majestic grandeur and colourful orchestrations, not to mention it was a ballet accompanied by full chorus. The themes and harmonies during the openings of both acts really stuck with me, but here I present the exciting finale as per the action-oriented nature of my selections. There are also portions of this ballet ripped off by Joel McNeely for his Shadows of the Empire faux-soundtrack.

Shostakovich - The Golden Age: Here's a Russian composer who is actually NOT known for his ballet music, though he tried. For the most part they just seemed like extensions of his symphonies and film music, and don't carry the thematic inventiveness or pleasant listening experience of his Jazz Suites. This is only here because I'd hate to leave Shostakovich out. Go listen to his Jazz Suites and symphonies.

Stravinsky - The Firebird: Stravinsky is mostly known for his three big ballets: The Rite of Spring, Petrouchka, and The Firebird. Of the three, The Firebird is the most "listenable" in suite form since the melodies are simple, the harmonies are simple, and the result is good ol' fashioned Tchaikovskian tradition. The more flowery sections seemed to have inspired John Williams for his score to Hook, but here I've selected the Infernal Dance heard in Fantasia 2000.

Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring: I couldn't have made this collection of kick-ass ballet music and not included some selections from The Rite of Spring. Yeah, we all know the trivia: riots broke out at the premiere, John Williams borrows heavily from this, it scored the dinosaurs in Fantasia, etc. But did you know that Trevor Jones took a melody from this for his You Have the Power cue from Dark City? The more you know...

Vaughan Williams - Job: Vaughan Williams is a great composer who can write some of the most beautiful pastoral music you've ever heard, but he has a dark side that can be seen in his symphonies nos 4 and 6, and this ballet. His symphonic scherzos are often reminiscent of the kind his BFF Holst wrote, but this is just weird. Cool, but weird.

William Walton - The Quest: I think somewhere along the way Joel McNeely thought to himself "Gee, this ballet sounds a lot like Star Wars, so why don't I rip it off for Shadows of the Empire? No one will notice because who's ever heard of The Quest?" If you like Shadows of the Empire you will probably like The Quest, but if you LOVE Shadows of the Empire you'll hate The Quest for reminding you that Shadows is just a rip off of this. The selection here actually isn't any of the portions you hear in Shadows, but it's still awesome.

Phew! Awfully impressive! And remarkable comments, sure help to appreciate the music.

Thanks!

Hey, Thanks streichorchester,
Those are amazing!
Arthierr mentioned something about your website. I was wondering if i could get a link to that. A simple google search didnt seem to turn up anything...

Hey, Thanks streichorchester,
Those are amazing!
Arthierr mentioned something about your website. I was wondering if i could get a link to that. A simple google search didnt seem to turn up anything...

Please read Page 2 of this thread, it's all there.

I'm going to share now a few other songs I seemed to have overlooked for my first pack.

Thanks, Kreachure! :) Just listened closely to you selection. Nice selection overall.

I just love this magnificient 10+ minutes suite from Rescuers Down Under by Bruce Broughton. He's a very skilled and talented composer, but too much underrated.

I remember hearing the main theme of Tintin some years ago, the first time I was totally amazed by this superb melody coupled with a strong rythm. Excellent choice!

Yeah, what ever happened to the Tintin guy? That was probably one of the most memorable themes I can remember from my childhood along with the animated Batman and Gargoyles.

this is a great idea ill compile some stuff and upload it within the next week

You're welcome, thanks! :)

I don't have much personal time these days, so I'll do my best to update this thread from times to times as much as I can.

That's why I greatly appreciate contributions so that everybody can keep enjoying the music.

First of all, I want to thank everyone that's been contributing to this thread. I've had an opportunity to listen to some 'new' or rather different material thanks to you guys.

I do have a request to people using sendspace, if you can, please use sharebee:smrt: or any other mirroring site when you upload the files, sendspace seems to max out at times and it's speed seems to drop drastically if you are browsing any other site :sad:

I'm still going through the material here but right off the top I've liked the Scorpions, Metallica and Rage songs. I need to loop through the rest of the songs a couple of times to identify composer.

Keep up the great work and keep sharing

- The man

Today's update is a special orchestral versions of pop/rock songs. I've chosen on purpose upbeat and powerful music that can be used to illustrate action scenes. I'd like to know who the arrangers are because they did a fantastic job here! =-O One I know is the great Louis Clarck who's an incredible arranger/orchestrator/conductor.

Classic Police - Arrested.mp3

Classic Queen - Flash.mp3

Classic Queen - I Want It All.mp3

Classic Rock - Eye of The Tiger.mp3

Classic Rock - Get Back.mp3

Louis Clark; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Toccata & Fuge in D Minor.mp3

The London Symphony Orchestra - It's A Sin (Pet Shop Boys).mp3

The London Symphony Orchestra - The Final Countdown (Europe).mp3

The London Symphony Orchestra - Two Tribes, Relax (Frankie Goes To Hollywood).mp3

The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra - Money, Money, Money.mp3

The Sensation of Sound - Pop Goes Classic - St. Elmo's Fire.mp3

And finally, *RARE* *RARE* *RARE* : this is a live recording from the music of "La Revue BONHEUR" from "le Lido de Paris" by Jean-Claude Petit. The music takes place in a medieval indian setting :

La Revue BONHEUR - 18 - Les Guerriers.mp3

La Revue BONHEUR - 19 - Le Palais de la Maharani.mp3

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2m8qni



(asdfgh987652002 : Sharebee is limited to 100 mb, for bigger size I prefer sendspace, no need to truncate)

Streich, just finished to listen closely to your hardcore ballet. Very grand and powerful music, and nice orchestra performance.

I only knew The Rite of Spring inside it. Concerning the classics I obviously know the tunes everybody heard thousand times, and a bit more because I also like to explore new good classical from times to times.

But this selection is almost totally knew for me, I wish to thank you for that because one of the last place I usually go to find music is ballets (reminds me too much of balls hugged in stockings).

Do you know The Queen Symphony? It fits in quite nicely with your classic rock posts. It is, as the name suggests, a full symphony constructed out of fragments and melodies of Queen songs.

Those Louis Clark arrangements used to a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, back when I was getting into classical proper...

Thud, CLAP, thud, CLAP, thud, CLAP! Those were the days...

Yeah, I collect those. Just adore the arrangements. The first "Hooked on classics" were pretty basic in terms of arrangement, but later he applied a marvelous personal style to the songs, and "The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays Abba" (Disky DCD 5246) for instance is probably one of the best example of pop-orchestral arrangement I could have heard.

If someone appreciate I'll upload more.

The anime The Slayers had a lot of great action music -- it's got an adventure/mideival feeling to it, while most of the tracks from Next are more intense and emotional. Here's a few of my favorite tracks (more soon, if people like) Good stuff!

The Slayers OST 1 - 05 - A Great Sword Battle Without Warning!
The Slayers OST 1 - 08 - Legend of Holy War
The Slayers OST 1 - 14 - A Heroic Action For You/Dragon Slave! (the first half is rock, while the second half of this track is better orchestral)

The Slayers OST 2 - 02 - Lina Inverse Goes to the Front!
The Slayers OST 2 - 03 - Revival of the Evil Lord
The Slayers OST 2 - 08 - I'll Give You This Dragon Slave!
The Slayers OST 2 - 15 - The Time of the Decisive Battle Has Come!

Note: The Slayers OST 1 and OST 2 are very rare, maybe out of print.

Slayers Next OST 3 Sound Bible - 06 - Prelude to Annihilation
Slayers Next OST 3 Sound Bible - 10 - Hellmaster Fibrizzo
Slayers Next OST 3 Sound Bible - 11 - Lives Fall, Lives Left Behind
Slayers Next OST 3 Sound Bible - 12 - Darkness, Naught or Chaos
Slayers Next OST 3 Sound Bible - 13 - Lord of Nightmares
Slayers Next OST 3 Sound Bible - 15 - Unstoppable Emotion

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HW0Y3UB5

Enjoy!

Thanks for your contribution! :) It is much appreciated.

Many excellent cues. I particularly enjoy the 3rd ost where we can hear that Osamu TEZUKA gets a bigger orchestra and clearly masters it better. The music reach then a really high level of power and grandeur.

Another update for your enjoyment! I really adore these cues, and for this reason I wanted to share them with you. If you also have some particular action cues you very much enjoy, please post them here. They'll be much appreciated.

***

Alan Silvestri - Super Mario Brothers - Police Car Chase.mp3
Typical good Silvestri. A very structured cue, as if it came from a suite.

Basil Poledouris - The Touch - Destiny Awaits.mp3
An incredible almost 13 minutes long piece, starts slowly in a quasi-religious tone, then the percussions come progressively, and finally it's time for some big heroic action! The last great score of Poledouris.

Brian Tyler - Alien Vs Predator - Requiem - Decimation Proclamation.mp3
Another very long and unbelievably intense cue. This can be considered as a model of action-horror music, even if Tyler sometimes "borrows" from other composers (4:07 comes directly from KRULL by James Horner).

Carolin Petit - Untamed Africa - Migration.mp3
A rare score from a documentary. A nice ostinato induces an exciting tension during the whole cue. Remarkable!

David Arnold - Stargate The Deluxe Edition - Mastadge Drag.mp3
A very joyful cue! This is probably the most memorable cue of Stargate.

Hans Zimmer - Cool Runnings - The Walk Home.mp3
Not big fan of Zimmer, but this one is great. Heroic, glorious and joyful.

James Newton Howard - Waterworld - Escaping The Smokers.mp3
A classic from JNH. Back when he started scoring movies he needed to impress Hollywood. Mission accomplished! We can feel his ambition and energy in this piece.

Joel Goldsmith - Kull The Conqueror - Deep Freeze.mp3
Personally I find that Joel is far from his father (musically), but this score has some really interesting moments, this particular notably. Also nicholas Dodd (fabulous orchestrator/conductor) did a magnificient job here, as usual.

John Debney - Chicken Little - Chase To Cornfield.mp3
"Big John" sounds much like Silvestri in this cue. But it's Debney anyway, with all his talent.

Marc Shaiman - George Of The Jungle - George To The Rescue.mp3
I just adore this lively and emulating piece! (Run, George! Run!). Shaiman puts so much life, humor and energy in his music.


http://rapidshare.com/files/135352766/Orchestral_part_2.zip


Have fun! :)

keep it coming more orchestra

If someone is interested, I'll post some more of my favourite orchestral action cues. Just choose what genre you prefer for the next update :

-american/european film music

-anime music

-western orchestral game scores

-eastern orchestral game scores

-pop/rock orchestral arrangements

If someone is interested, I'll post some more of my favourite orchestral action cues. Just choose what genre you prefer for the next update :

-american/european film music

-anime music

-western orchestral game scores

-eastern orchestral game scores

-pop/rock orchestral arrangements



oh yes please

What would you like ? Please choose wich of these genres you prefer and I'll upload a nice compilation.

What would you like ? Please choose wich of these genres you prefer and I'll upload a nice compilation.



you decide it be like a pick n mix

Sure thing, I'll find some rare great orchestral cues.

cool thanks

id love a good action orchestra track from start to finsih you know what i mean not go all big then go quite

From "The Rock" complete score
Hans Zimmer & Nick Glennie-Smith --> "Hummel Gets the Rockets"
http://rapidshare.com/files/137989207/102_Hummel_Gets_The_Rockets.mp3.html


From "K-19 Widowmaker" OST
Klaus Badelt --> "War: Allegro"
http://rapidshare.com/files/137993883/03_Track_3.mp3.html



Also, the infamous Sergey Rachmaninoff Prelude Op.3 No2, orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski.
Performed by Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Love the brass in this one.
http://rapidshare.com/files/137994856/08_-_Rachmaninoff_-_Prelude.mp3.html

Thanks Tsobanian.
The Rock contains much action, and this cue is one of the best.

Thanks Tsobanian.
The Rock contains much action, and this cue is one of the best.

Yes this "uncut" version, is one of the best action cues that I have ever heard in my life.

thanks

Here's a new update everybody. In this one I tried to find more RARE cues than before (it's rather unoriginal to do a compilation including The Matrix because everybody has it already ;) ). So you'll find here globally lesser known cues, but great anyway.

***

Bennett Salvay - Jeepers Creepers 2 - The Big Battle.MP3
A superb action/horror cue composed by a young and talented composer. Really chilling.

Classic Rock - Gloria.MP3
A grand symphonic arrangement of the original song.

David Arkenstone - Quest Of The Dream Warrior - The Journey Begins- Kyla's Ride.MP3
This composer is wonderful. I'm a fan of his music. He does a lot of fantasy/new-age stuff. His website : http://www.davidarkenstone.com/

H. Sakimoto & M. Iwata - Ogre ~ Grand Repeat ~ - Revolt.mp3
A true orchestrated version of this superb theme. Loved it in the game, love it more with a real orchestra.

Hirohshi Takagi - Beet The Vandel Buster Animation Soundtrack - Confrontation~ A Desperate Situation, Be Driven Into A Corner.MP3
This is probably the best cue of this anime score. Extremely energetic and powerful.

Kouhei Tanaka - Busou Renkin Original Soundtrack - Busourenkin Hatsudou!.MP3
He's one of my favourite composers. And this is one of the best theme he composed. Absolutly superb.

Masashi Hamauzu, Shiro Hamaguchi - UNLIMITED-SaGa OST - March in C.mp3
A very nice march, joyful and emulating.

Robert Folk - The Neverending Story II - The Next Chapter - Flight Of The Dragon.MP3
Folk composed an out-of-this-world score for this movie. This piece is a pure gem, an epic cue in the great tradition of eighties film music.

Takayuki Negishi - Card Captor Sakura Original Soundtrack - Sakura No Theme II.MP3
Sublime melody in this one! This is one of my favourite anime music cue. Fresh and Upbeat.

Yamashita Kousuke - Hana Yori Dango Ost - Dash!.MP3
And last but not least, a wonderful piece by another of my favourite composers. An incredibly beautiful melody which makes you feel better.


http://rapidshare.com/files/138010495/Orchestral_action_update_3.zip

***

Enjoy! And I have many, many more rare great orchestral action cues, as good or better than these. You just need to ask.

thanks

is there any tracks that will scare the shit out of me

You mean you'd like some action/horror music ?

I can find that. I'll make a nice compilation of scary cues and post it this week.

I can find that. I'll make a nice compilation of scary cues and post it this week.

Yes brother, I'd also like to have some cues with scary-spooky-eerie-queer-uncanny-darksome-occult mood.


2 themes that I love from the Biohazard Orchestra Album.
They are quite enough scary...
http://gh.ffshrine.org/song/447/3
http://gh.ffshrine.org/song/447/5

2 themes that I love from the Biohazard Orchestra Album.
They are quite enough scary...
http://gh.ffshrine.org/song/447/3
http://gh.ffshrine.org/song/447/5

Wow, that's scary. Better avoid listening to this in the dark.

GONE....

GONE....

Bennett Salvay was not young or new in film music industries... ;-)

some example: Aloha Summer (1988), Nature of the Beast (1994), Winnie (1988), Burning Bridges (1990)

see ya

CheefBrody

Whoopsie! I spoke too fast here. Thanks for the correction. And please make us benefit again from your remarkable musical culture.

Wow, that's scary. Better avoid listening to this in the dark.

You think? When you're in your house alone at the darksome nights, try the following music:

Again from the "Biohazard Orchestra Album", but the piece is not orchestral. It's the theme "At Deep Mountains and Dark Valleys, the Night Begins", the music that plays on the first floor of mansion in Biohazard/Resident Evil 1. The piece is arranged for pipe-organ solo, and performed by organist Aotani Michiko. It's really scary!
http://gh.ffshrine.org/song/447/1



Composed and orchestrated by Franz Liszt.
"A Dante Symphony", movement I: "Inferno".
http://rapidshare.com/files/138676145/Liszt_Dante_Symphony_Inferno.mp3.html



Composed by Modest Mussorgsky, orchestrated by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and arranged by Leopold Stokowski.
"Night on a Bald Mountain" (or "Night on a Bare Mountain") symphonic poem.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/h3ueor



From Constantine OST
Klaus Badelt & Bryan Tyler --> "Circle of Hell"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/loscu7



Composed and orchestrated by Edvard Grieg.
From the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, the infamous "In the Hall of the Mountain King".
http://www.sendspace.com/file/p949fl

Cool! Some classical! Thanks my friend, I'm less a classical guy, so what you're adding with your posts perfectly complements my own posts to reach the whole spectrum of orchestral action.

thomasdaly: You want the shit scared out of you? Happy to oblige you, sir! Wait until I get home from work this evening... ;)

thomasdaly: You want the shit scared out of you? Happy to oblige you, sir! Wait until I get home from work this evening... ;)

You mean you're posting this from work ? HOW DARE YOU !? You're a naughty employee. ;)

This thread is made of win. x3




edit: ok, I just wanna thank all of you for this!!!!!! you guys really made my day! lately I have been listening to the same old stuff over and over and had gotten stale...Now I have a TON of music to listen to :D

you guys rock!

This thread is made of win.

Glad that you appreciate :)

I'd be happy to listen to your favourite action music if you have some. I'm eager to discover new music and new composers.

I LOVE this type of music too! Very nice idea.

I have a bunch of "orchestral action" songs in my playlist, so I'm gonna share the ones I think you'll like. Some of these have a definite "modern" feel, but they're all pretty much orchestral (as in performed by an orchestra). And action-ey too, obviously.

I'm sure my song list is going to seem pretty crazy because of all the variety; but please don't pay attention to the song names, simply listen to them. I guarantee you'll enjoy them if you like this style.


ORCHESTRAL ACTION MUSIC PACK!


(NOTE: some of these are personal edits and/or have names made up/modified by me, sorry :laugh: )


1. Chrono Cross - Time's Scar (2:29)

2. Final Fantasy VIII - Battle Theme (Orchestrated) (3:45)

3. Star Wars Trilogy - John Williams - Hyperspace (3:47)

4. SWT - John Williams - The Asteroid Field (3:11)

5. SWT - John Williams - The Battle of Hoth (11:42)

6. Metallica - The call of Ktulu (Instrumental, S&M album :-D ) (9:34)

7. Evangelion the Movie 1.0 - Shirou Sagisi - Battaille Decisive (4:44)

8. Neon Genesis Evangelion - Shirou Sagisi - Decisive Battle (2:21)

9. N.G.E. - Shirou Sagisi - The Beast (N.G.E.) (1:36)

10. Pokemon - Battle! (1:03)

11. Pokemon - Spirit (1:45)

12. Super Smash Brothers Melee - Pokemon Stadium (1:48)

13. RAGE - Alive But Dead (Instr. Orchestra Version) (6:06)

14. RAGE - Alive But Dead (5:55)

15. Requiem for a dream theme (6:24)

16. Saint Seiya - Galaxian Wars (1:40)

17. Saint Seiya - Glide! Pegasus (1:43)

18. Saint Seiya - Golden Warriors (2:13)

19. Saint Seiya - Intense! Cosmo (0:35)

20. Saint Seiya - Revenger Phoenix (1:16)

21. Saint Seiya - Sanctuary, Precept of Death (1:09)

22. Saint Seiya - Seven Generals (1:47)

23. Scorpions - Crossfire (instrumental) (Moment of Glory album) (6:47)

24. Scorpions - Deadly Sting Suite (instrumental) (Moment of Glory) (7:19)

25. Superman the Animated Series - Main theme (1:00)

26. The Real Adventures Of Johnny Quest- Main theme (1:00)

27. Batman the animated series theme (1:01)


DOWNLOAD HERE! (Filefactory link) (http://www.filefactory.com/file/934379/n/Orchestral_action_rar)


I hope you like them as much as I do! (And if you did like them, please say so! :p)

dude! That was an awesome set! I especially enjoy the FF8 orchestral battle music, so AWESOME!!!!

anyways, here is the action music from the game "The Darkness" :)
I apologize for I do not know who composed the music for this game but this is the second track of the OST.

http://sharebee.com/dadab78b

You mean you're posting this from work ? HOW DARE YOU !? You're a naughty employee. ;)

Weeell, it's our quiet period... I have to be on call just in case, but there's not a lot to do at the moment, so I have to stay awake somehow. ;)

Scary Music Pack:
http://sharebee.com/904f650c

I've actually taken a slight liberty with the title - I don't think it's all necessarily "scary" music - but it's unsettled, dark, and fully orchestral...

Jerry Goldsmith - Alien - (It's A Droid)
The National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Lionel Newman

Well, what can I say? Recognised as one of the most masterful of horror scores of all time, Goldsmith's Alien really does have it all - ear-shattering full blown terror, wet-your-pants suspense, and even a beautiful warm, romantic theme to represent the ship. This cue isn't romantic, but it's definitely the other two...!

Elliot Goldenthal - Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Toccata And Dreamscapes)
The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dirk Bross�

A lot of people hated the movie, and a lot of people were annoyed that Nobuo Uematsu wasn't approached regarding the score. Goldenthal, certainly Hollywood's most adventurous, avant-garde, individually unique composer, penned a score which was massive beyond all belief. It is now regarded as one of his finest works. This cue is brutal, atonal, dissonant, highly experimental, and incredibly unsettling. Expect pure, unadulterated chaos, performed by 100 of the world's finest musicians, recorded in one of the world's most loved studios.

Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo (Prelude and Rooftop)
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Joel McNeely

Hitchcock's masterpiece, and also Herrmann's - the score to Vertigo has become one of the most easily recognised pieces of music ever written for cinema. It is also one of the most effective. Herrmann's modernist approach, eclectic orchestrations, and meticulous classical education come together to make a score that is romantic, tragic, terrifying, and suspenseful - all at the same time.

Howard Shore - The Fly (The Ultimate Family)
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Howard Shore

The score that introduced Shore to the mainstream - and what a score, with a haunting main theme, stunning neo-gothic orchestrations (provided by Homer Denison) and a superb performance by the London Philharmonic. This cue is from the film's grisly climax.

Randy Miller - Hellraiser III (Emergency Room)
Studio Orchestra, conducted by Randy Miller

Miller's work on the third Hellraiser film is actually very Goldsmithian in its approach (listen to those continuously off-beat rhythms you just can't anticipate) which is never a bad thing. This score is nowhere near as fine as Christopher Young's first two scores in the series, but is nevertheless a solid piece of work, and contains some wonderfully muscular orchestral music.

Jerry Goldsmith - The Omen (The Demise Of Mrs Baylock)
The National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Lionel Newman

Yes, I love Jerry, I admit it. He's my favourite composer - undoubtedly, and my biggest influence. He deserved far greater recognition for his fifty year career of unadulerated excellence - The Omen earned him his only Academy Award (despite seventeen nominations) and, even after thirty years, has lost none of its power or impact. Notable for its use of the devil's tritone (a musical chord that creates a natural dissonance - in centuries past, composers were forbidden from using it in religious music, lest it evoke Satan - hence its eventual nickname) it's one of the finest - and scariest - compositions ever penned. The Omen was a low budget picture, and so desperate were the producers to enlist Goldsmith's services, that they actually requested a budget extension of 20th Century Fox, explicitly so they could afford him.

Jerry Goldsmith - The Final Conflict - Omen III (The Bloodling)
The National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Lionel Newman

Goldsmith was back for Damian - Omen II in 1978, with a score largely similar to the first one. However, when he returned a third time to score The Final Conflict, he adopted a vastly different style. Goldsmith's technique was in a state of flux around the late seventies and The Final Conflict is a wonderful "hello" to his early eighties style - it's difficult to describe, and anyway, why talk about it when you can listen to it?

Enjoy! :)

THAAAT'S my dannyfrench !

Well, I suppose I just have to drop "Toccata And Dreamscapes" from the compilation I'm preparing...

(more comments later)

dude! That was an awesome set! I especially enjoy the FF8 orchestral battle music, so AWESOME!!!!

anyways, here is the action music from the game "The Darkness" :)
I apologize for I do not know who composed the music for this game but this is the second track of the OST.

http://sharebee.com/dadab78b

Thanks!
Composed by Gustaf Grefberg
http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,74580/

Thanks!
Composed by Gustaf Grefberg
http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,74580/

oh cool! I didn't know he did the game "Enclave" as well...now THAT was a good game.

GONE....

and I don't have forget what I have to send to you, I'll send it to you by private message...

I'm looking forward to listening to it. ;)

GONE....

wow thanks

GONE....

Great stuff, Cheef. We can feel the hardcore collector.

May I ask you a favor ? As I'm much interested in your opinion and tastes, I'd like to listen to a compilation of what YOU like in the orchestral action style. Could you post a selection ? And also a few comments to explain why you choose this ?

GONE....

I've been lurking this thread (and these forums -- great place to come for music) for a while, on and off, waiting for someone to mention a soundtrack that has bits that fit perfectly with this thread's theme, IMO (even though I haven't had the opportunity to listen to any of it yet :().

Is anyone here familiar with Masamichi Amano's work on the nineties anime OAV Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still?

Excellent series, excellent music -- people run around touting it as one of the great accomplishments of anime music, supposedly.

However, the only mp3s I have are oldish 128k rips... But I might throw up some of what I have anyways if there's interest.

Haha, to be honest I'm a bit nervous about posting this because I'm worried you guys will be all "whoa that guy is a total hack he stole from such and such" and ruin my enjoyment of the series and score. :(

No need to be nervous. The principle of this thread is this :

Do you have some orchestral action YOU really enjoy ?

Do you want others to enjoy it as well ?

If so please post what you like, it will be much appreciated. This thread has a rather good frequentation, so what you'll post here will be well noticed.

And yes Giant Robo is great. There are many fans here. Please go ahead!

Edit : also I like it very much when people posting explain why they choose such and such cues. I enjoy reading comments.

It's getting kind of late over here, but I think I'll whip something up tomorrow. :)

Scary Music Pack:
http://sharebee.com/904f650c

I've actually taken a slight liberty with the title - I don't think it's all necessarily "scary" music - but it's unsettled, dark, and fully orchestral...

Remarkable, my friend.

Vertigo : This piece is a movie music classic among movie music classics. Horner stole 1:04 for KRULL (but with talent). A magnificient piece.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within : one of my favourite scores. Pure orchestral grandeur as it's been rarely heard in movies. Totally mind-blowing.

The Fly : very nice horror piece, the rumbling of the timpanis during almost the whole cue induces a primal fear.

Emergency Room : a rare one, nice dig! There's a strange sound at the beginning sounding like a mix between a scream and some hi strings. Really chilling and disturbing.

Goldsmith : your comments are good enough, no need to say more. Excellent choices (I would have added Poltergeist, though).

nice one

There's another coming tomorrow ! Be ready !

In fact I found so many interesting horror/action cues that I divided them in 3 packs. I'll post them one at a time.

By the way, it was a REAL pleasure to dive into my collection to look for specific cues.

Spandam

I'm a huge fan of Masamichi Amano's work. I have Giant Robo 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7. Please upload anything new I would be hugely grateful.




I've been lurking this thread (and these forums -- great place to come for music) for a while, on and off, waiting for someone to mention a soundtrack that has bits that fit perfectly with this thread's theme, IMO (even though I haven't had the opportunity to listen to any of it yet :().

Is anyone here familiar with Masamichi Amano's work on the nineties anime OAV Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still?

Excellent series, excellent music -- people run around touting it as one of the great accomplishments of anime music, supposedly.

However, the only mp3s I have are oldish 128k rips... But I might throw up some of what I have anyways if there's interest.

Haha, to be honest I'm a bit nervous about posting this because I'm worried you guys will be all "whoa that guy is a total hack he stole from such and such" and ruin my enjoyment of the series and score. :(

Here's the first part of my orchestral horror pack. Listen to this if you have the guts. ;)

***

Basil Poledouris - Starship Troopers - Bugs!!.mp3
A classic. Begins with slow hi and lo strings to install tension. The 2nd part features a sort of tribal rythm with a strong hi strings ostinato quite frightening.

Elliot Goldenthal - Sphere - Manifest Fire.mp3
This composer has a unique style quite noticeable. This cue looks much like what he did for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The use of hi string ostinato with powerful low trombones is a classic fear generating technique, perfectly mastered here. This is used in most cues I selected.

Hikaru Nanase - Noein Original Soundtrack 1 - Kakute, Tatakau.mp3
Superb gothic cue featuring a choir (chanting in what language ?).

James Horner - Aliens - Futile Escape.mp3
Horner apparently didn't like this score. Quite weird because it's one of the most fascinating horror/SF score I've heard.

Kaoru Wada - Inuyasha Ost 1 - Shitou.mp3
One of my favourite anime composers. This cue is incredibly tense.

Kevin Riepl - Gears Of War - Fish In A Barrel.mp3
Fantastic suspense/horror score. And this has been composed "only" for a VG. The OST is loaded with fabulous action cues. Highly recommended!

Masanori Takumi - Claymore Original Soundtrack - Ooki Na Ken.mp3
Yes there are a beat and electric guitars, but there's also an orchestra playing quite strongly. Dark and powerful.

Patrick Doyle - Needful Things - The Arrival.mp3
A magnificient piece beginning by a light spellbinding strings motif, followed by a nervous Doyle style pulsating song with latin choir. I remember the first time I saw the film I was fascinated by the strings motif.

Sahashi Toshihiko - The Cosmopolitan Prayers Complete Album - Kiki.mp3
Very much inspired by Jaws, but the melody is original. The writing of the trumpets, french horns and trombones at 00:34 is just admirable.

Takanashi Yasuharu - Jigoku-Shoujo Original Soundtrack - Jigoku Nagashi.mp3
A bit less orchestral but totally chilling and disturbing.


http://rapidshare.com/files/139244983/Orchestral_Horror_part_1.zip

***

Enjoy! There will be more.

Thanks man!
I need more Basil Poledouris, love his orchestrations!


A few more scary classical masterpieces:
Camille Saint-Saens --> Danse Macabre, Op. 40
http://www.sendspace.com/file/3f241g

trivia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Macabre_(Saint-Sa%C3%ABns))




Sergey Rachmaninoff --> The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, symphonic poem
http://www.sendspace.com/file/yv8vb6

trivia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_the_Dead_%28Rachmaninoff%29)




Anatoly Liadov --> Baba Yaga for orchestra, Op. 56
http://www.sendspace.com/file/6hhjqn

What is Baba-Yaga? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga)





Anatoly Liadov --> Kikimora for orchestra, Op. 63
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jpiuaf


What is Kikimora? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kikimora)

OOOOOH ! Yes !

That's the way to go, my friend. A true cultural approach with external links to enlarge your knowledge.

That's a first class post, thank you very much.

Also you can enlarge your posts to all orchestral action, not necessarily scary.

OOOOOH ! Yes !

That's the way to go, my friend. A true cultural approach with external links to enlarge your knowledge.

That's a first class post, thank you very much.

Also you can enlarge your posts to all orchestral action, not necessarily scary.

Thanks mate! I will post some more action cues, but need to find'em first. Don't remember on which DVD I have'em....
Now I am donwloading the "Starship Troopers" expanded score!
http://forums.ffshrine.org/showpost.php?p=797375&postcount=1

Poledouris FTW!!

Thanks man!
I need more Basil Poledouris, love his orchestrations!

In fact the orchestrations are by Greig McRitchie who also orchestrated incredible scores like "Conan", "Aliens", and "Krull".

Just look at this list : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574507/

In fact the orchestrations are by Greig McRitchie who also orchestrated incredible scores like "Conan", "Aliens", and "Krull".

Just look at this list : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574507/

Oh crap, thought he orchestrated his compositions for the Starship Troopers OST.

Well, he's certainly part of the process too.

Now I am donwloading the "Starship Troopers" expanded score!
http://forums.ffshrine.org/showpost.php?p=797375&postcount=1

Poledouris FTW!!

Thanks a lot ! I had a poor 192k version, now I have the best mp3 quality. Nice discovery !

Also your Danse Macabre, Op. 40 by the New York Philarmonic is far superior to the cheap version I had.

Could you find some classical orchestral action wich inspired JAMES HORNER, please ? I would be really interesting to listen to.

I received some private messages from people having trouble uploading files. Well, here's how to do it :

- You make an archive (zip, rar) of your selected cues

- you go for instance on rapidshare http://rapidshare.com/index.php
on the main page you click on "choose"

- You select your archive

- You click on "OK" and then "upload"

- and you just have to wait.

Easy, isn't it ?

Edit : you DO NOT need to have an account. You can upload freely and anonymously.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/d10c5e/n/01-THE_BATTLE_OF_BO_WANG_PO_TENCHI_WO_KURAU_II_ROUND_ 1-1_mp3


This is Round 1-1 from Tenchi wo Kurau II. I definitely like the touch with the wind!=)

Thanks, qqqqqqwe.

Interesting, where does this arrangement come from ?

I really adore those old Capcom arcade games, I have some very good memories of them. Tenchi wo Kurau II is extremely fun.

You can get it from Jessie's thread,

Thread 57031

A Village Overflowing with Happiness(Gives you that feeling of wandering around a village)

http://www.filefactory.com/file/f42660/n/24_A_Village_Overflowing_with_Happiness_mp3

Bonus Track(Definitely like this song)

http://www.filefactory.com/file/7aa2d4/n/27_Bonus_Track_mp3


Recollection(The action is on and off in this song)

http://www.filefactory.com/file/1e5a89/n/22_Recollection_mp3

Thanks, qqqqqqwe. Much appreciated. :)

Even if it's heavily synthetized, it's composed in an orchestral style. "Recollection" considerably reminds me of David Arnold's Independance day.

I know.....I figure I'd share it here anyways.

For this week's update, as many people seem to enjoy it (me too), here's a special ORCHESTRA + BEAT selection. All these cues are just incredibly energetic, upbeat and powerful. As there are too many cues this time to comment them individually, I'll just do a few remarks :


There are several cues by Toshihiko Sahashi. Well, I did it on purpose because he's my favourite eastern composer.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=114
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshihiko_Sahashi


A composer I recently discovered and who totally blew my mind is Kousuke Yamashita. He's a rather young composer (born in 1974) but has the talent and the skills of the most experimented composers.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=32506


The Super Sentai cues (Magiranger,...) are just terrific. I downloaded them by curiosity and was totally impressed by their intensity and the way the composer perfectly combined a big symphonic orchestra with a modern beat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Sentai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahou_Sentai_Magiranger


A special mention for Headhunter's "Jack's Theme" wich is one of the most beautiful cues I've heard in western game music. Just listen how the use of the piccolo enhance this piece and give it some elegance and subtlety. Kudos, Mr Jacques ! http://images.mmosite.com/bbs/smile/3.gif
http://www.richardjacques.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jacques

***

Jerry Goldsmith - Looney Tunes Back In Action - Car Trouble.mp3

Joel Goldsmith - Kull The Conqueror - Saving Zereta.mp3

John Debney And Christophe Beck - The Tuxedo - Superhuman.mp3

Kousuke Yamashita - Dragonaut -The Resonance - Moero! Howling Star.mp3

Kousuke Yamashita - Getsumen Toheiki Mina Ost - Kyarottouepon .mp3

Michael Giacchino - The Incredibles Ost - The Incredits.mp3

Noriyuki Iwadare - Sega Saturn History ~saturn Was Our Youth~ Theme Of Grandia.mp3

Richard Jacques - Headhunter Ost - Jack's Theme.mp3

Tanaka Kouhei - One Piece - GomuGomu Bazooka!!.mp3

Tatuya Hirakawa - Mahou Sentai Magiranger - Magical Stage 1 - It's On Magi!.mp3

Tatuya Hirakawa - Mahou Sentai Magiranger - Magical Stage 1 - We Are The Magic Kings! .mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid - Shissou.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Fullmetal Panic - Counterattack.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Gundam Seed - Gundam Shutsugeki.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Simoun - Oozora No Auriga.mp3


http://rapidshare.com/files/140827992/Orchestra_and_Beat_Selection.zip

***

Enjoy ! And if you like it, please leave a thanks or a comment so I can post more. http://images.mmosite.com/bbs/smile/1.gif

My dear arthierr
This is really brilliant. May I ask yourself and our friends here on this thread. Could you please recommend and upload music which has HARD BEATS. What I mean is not the James Bond type hip hop beats, but like in Matrix Reloaded (Mona Lisa OverDrive). I would like to know more music which has hard bass beats with orchestra. Please help!

Here is an example and contribution to arthierrs 'beat and orchestra' theme.

Its composed by Richard Jacques (yes, him from Headhunter) for Pursuit Force

http://rapidshare.com/files/140835246/HARD_BEAT_vs_ORCHESTRA.rar.html

Wow ! This music is great ! (but it's hard to be disappointed by Richard Jacques... ;)).

Headhunter 1 and maybe 2 feature such cues, but you must know that already.

In fact I'm not a specialist of beat, I'm more an orchestra junkie. But I'll search in my collection and in the web if I can find similar cues.

I'll post them if I find some.

And also if you happen to find some more, please post them.

Would you like me to upload the whole of Pursuit force arthierr or do you already have it?


Wow ! This music is great ! (but it's hard to be disappointed by Richard Jacques... ;)).

Headhunter 1 and maybe 2 feature such cues, but you must know that already.

In fact I'm not a specialist of beat, I'm more an orchestra junkie. But I'll search in my collection and in the web if I can find similar cues.

I'll post them if I find some.

And also if you happen to find some more, please post them.

Yes, please post, my friend !

If it's like Headhunter, everybody should absolutely listen to this.

Here you go buddy arthierr. Some tasty 'beat vs orchestra' music

Richard Jacques
Game Score (Promo)
320 kbps - 13 Tracks

http://rapidshare.com/files/140869329/Cristobalito_-_Richard_Jacques_-_Pursuit_Force.rar.html

Thank you very much for this superb (and rare) OST.

I was searching my collection for hard beat orchestral cues and I literally found DOZENS of them ! Mostly in anime music.

I'll post some in 1 or 2 days, tell me then if it's what you're looking for.

Cool, can't wait! Thanks arthierr!
Anyone else out there, please join in on artierr's sharing plan!


Thank you very much for this superb (and rare) OST.

I was searching my collection for hard beat orchestral cues and I literally found DOZENS of them ! Mostly in anime music.

I'll post some in 1 or 2 days, tell me then if it's what you're looking for.

I hate beats, beats are crap, this isn't orchestral, stop messing with my head, AAARGH!!!

...Here's one of my favourites... ;)

Yoshihisa Hirano is a genius, and I don't use that word lightly. If you can give me the name of any other composer who is writing music of a quality that would stand up in the concert hall, for silly anime shows, I'll eat my hat.

This cue is from his latest score - Top Secret ~ The Revelation, also known as Himitsu - The Revelation. If this isn't one of the most outstanding two minutes of music you've ever heard I'll be surprised. How many different influences, and yet he pieces them together so well. If you've ever wanted to hear modernistic chromatic classical music mixed with a rocky percussion section, AND it not sound cheesy and crap, this is the place to go.

This is an example of something I still believe qualifies as orchestral. This is orchestral music - played by an orchestra. It's written with an orchestra in mind, by a clearly talented composer with ridiculous orchestration skill.

http://sharebee.com/8f660c15

If I could, I'd hire this gentleman for the next Bond movie, and offer him any sum of money he wanted, and absolutely no restriction on orchestra size, and no artistic guidance. I'd say, "here's the movie - here's �1million, score please!"

Thanks for this very good cue. Truly brilliant. The use of bagpipes is quite original in an anime score.

Yoshihisa Hirano is a composer I don't know very much, I've heard much, much about him (once again in your post) but didn't have the opportunity to get his music.

Could you post an introductory selection of his music for those like me who don't know him but are quite curious to discover him ?

Cristobalito2007, just listened to Richard Jacques' Pursuit Force.

FABULOUS SCORE ! Jacques is truly one of the best game composers on the market. This score rivals with Headhunter in terms of beauty and power, and is more action-oriented than the latter (well, with "pursuit" in the title no wonder why... ;)). Thanks a lot.

I'm preparing a selection of hard beat-orchestra cues. Will be uploaded tonight.

Thank you my friend. Can't wait for your selection of 'hard beat-orchestra' cues.
Now here is another little gem for you and the readers of this thread.
Its a departure from the 'hard beat-orchestra' cues for a moment. Its for your original 'big orchestral' game music search.

The gorgeous music for this RPG game. It references Stravinsky and Ravel, as well as Rodrigo and Villa-Lobos. Listen to the wonderful string work in the Overture for example.

Rygar - Legendary Adventure Symphonic Poem (aka - Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi)
Composed by - Hiroaki Takahashi & Takayasu Sodeoka
Performed by - Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra

All these tracks are performed by the Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Konstantin D. Krimets.

http://rapidshare.com/files/141293031/Cristobalito_-_Rygar_-_Legendary_Adventure_Symphonic_Poem.rar.html

Enjoy!

I've already learned a lot about good action music thanks to this thread.

Some other great orchestral music I like. My file contains a few tracks of the following. Not all tracks are massive action but good cues nonetheless thanks to the great use of choir.

Outcast
Original Soundtrack by Lennie Moore
Performed by The Moscow Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Recorded at Mosfilm Studios; Moscow

Kameo
Original Soundtrack by Steve Burke

Ninety Nine Nights
Original Soundtrack by Pinar Toprack

http://rapidshare.com/files/141304272/outcast.rar.html

Hmm, I thinking about starting a thread about "Big cinematic choral music" :)

Agreed. Outcast is a masterpiece. Amazing music indeed. Kameo and Outcast already have other threads.
Would you please be so kind to upload Ninety Nine nights? That sounds intriguing.


I've already learned a lot about good action music thanks to this thread.

Some other great orchestral music I like. My file contains a few tracks of the following. Not all tracks are massive action but good cues nonetheless thanks to the great use of choir.

Outcast
Original Soundtrack by Lennie Moore
Performed by The Moscow Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Recorded at Mosfilm Studios; Moscow

Kameo
Original Soundtrack by Steve Burke

Ninety Nine Nights
Original Soundtrack by Pinar Toprack

http://rapidshare.com/files/141304272/outcast.rar.html

Hmm, I thinking about starting a thread about "Big cinematic choral music" :)

Rygar: this score is a pure marvel. If only more games could afford such first class music...

Outcast : top notch game score. I'm a big fan of Lennie Moore since years.
http://www.lenniemoore.com/
http://www.audiogang.org/index.php?option=com_myblog&blogger=Lennie%20Moore&Itemid=47
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=176921195

Kameo : I discovered this one thanks to the contribution of ThePhotoshop, earlier in this thread. Excellent OST.

Ninety Nine Nights : I didn't know this one. Thank you for posting it. I'll listen carefully to this cue.

arthierr
Any idea where we can find lennie Moore's Plague of Darkness? I've been looking for it for ages!


Rygar: this score is a pure marvel. If only more games could afford such first class music...

Outcast : top notch game score. I'm a big fan of Lennie Moore since years.
http://www.lenniemoore.com/
http://www.audiogang.org/index.php?option=com_myblog&blogger=Lennie%20Moore&Itemid=47
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=176921195

Kameo : I discovered this one thanks to the contribution of ThePhotoshop, earlier in this thread. Excellent OST.

Ninety Nine Nights : I didn't know this one. Thank you for posting it. I'll listen carefully to this cue.

arthierr
Any idea where we can find lennie Moore's Plague of Darkness? I've been looking for it for ages!

Sorry, I didn't find that one (but I tried...). There are some cues on his website.

But one thing you can do is to contact him directly :
[email protected]

I've tried this in the past, sometimes it works, but sometimes, due to copyrights problems, composers can't officially release their music. Anyway you should try, and it would be nice for Mr Moore to receive a kind word from a fan.

I did write to him funny enough. He was grateful for interest but said that we could only download the MP3's on his site.
Glad you enjoyed the Rygar


Sorry, I didn't find that one (but I tried...). There are some cues on his website.

But one thing you can do is to contact him directly :
[email protected]

I've tried this in the past, sometimes it works, but sometimes, due to copyrights problems, composers can't officially release their music. Anyway you should try, and it would be nice for Mr Moore to receive a kind word from a fan.

Full Pinar Toprak N3 Soundtrack: http://rapidshare.com/files/141324966/N3.rar.html
Contains also a Vivaldi remix.

If you want the full outcast OST let me know.

Also a few other great tracks: http://rapidshare.com/files/141330358/orch2.rar.html
John Williams - Duel of the Fates
Vangelis - Movement 10
John Debney - Movement 5
Clint Mansell - Death Is The Road To Awe
Brothers In Arms - Main Theme
Paraworld - Main Theme
Prey - Ouverture
Jesper Kyd - Apocalypse
Knights Of The Temple - To Battle

Also coming up: 13 unreleased cues from the game Kameo

All my other orchestral action music is trailer music (which i'm not allowed to upload) or movie soundtracks you probably have heard already many times :) )

Thanks licenturion

Do you have Trinity and Beyond? Not the album by Stromberg/Moore, but the Trailer Music tracks from Immediate? Be good if you can post that. I know arthierr would dig it too.
Also a question, is the Overture by Soule for Prey the only real orchestral track of the OST?


Full Pinar Toprak N3 Soundtrack: http://rapidshare.com/files/141324966/N3.rar.html
Contains also a Vivaldi remix.

If you want the full outcast OST let me know.

Also a few other great tracks coming up:
John Williams - Duel of the Fates
Vangelis - Movement 10
John Debney - Movement 5
Clint Mansell - Death Is The Road To Awe
Brothers In Arms - Main Theme
Paraworld - Main Theme
Prey - Ouverture
Jesper Kyd - Apocalypse
Knights Of The Temple - To Battle

Also coming up: 13 unreleased cues from the game Kameo

All my other orchestral action music is trailer music (which i'm not allowed to upload) or movie soundtracks you probably have heard already many times :) )

All my other orchestral action music is trailer music (which i'm not allowed to upload) or movie soundtracks you probably have heard already many times :) )

Thank you very much for all your contributions, Licenturion. :) Much appreciated.

In fact it's possible that me and other people have already listened to some cues but :

- Many people visiting this thread also didn't, so it's great for them to discover this music,

- the contributions are a way to express what we like, it's a personal choice to promote such and such cues or composers.

For these reasons it doesn't matter if it's been already heard by some of us. So please post what you're personally fond of. I'm curious to listen to what other people like.

Well, this is a great since we all get to know new stuff

My music taste in a nutshell :)
------------------------------
My favorite game soundtrack of the moment: Alone in the dark
My favorite game soundtrack ever: John Debney - Lair (Expanded)
My favorite movie composers: John Debney, Patrick Doyle, Craig Armstrong
My favorite track of all time: Hanging & Escape by craig armstrong
What I hate: music that is too structured, or consists for 95% of orchestral synths, fake choirs and fake percussion
What I love: full force choir and orchestra and music 'with a sense of impending doom and eternal damnation' sound in it :)

I'm gonna post some new cues tommorow from my collection and I'll try stay out of 'media ventures' waters :)

As for the question of Cristobalito2007. I have all Immediate Music, Two Steps From Hell, X Ray Dog and many more albums. But since the whole war that's been going on between trailer music companies and ffshrine users I can't post this stuff. But Immediate Music just released a public album called 'Trailerhead'. Also the track I posted from the Prey OST is the only one worth listening too. All the rest is just elektronic mish mash.

But instead I'll post something else. I'm also a huge fan of 'epic metal'. Such a dutch band called epica wrote a soundtrack for a movie recently. I included some great tracks of it. As always all tracks from me include choir :). It's only orchestral music I included of course: http://rapidshare.com/files/141336966/epica.rar.html

You haven't heard this probably before :p

Full Pinar Toprak N3 Soundtrack: http://rapidshare.com/files/141324966/N3.rar.html
Contains also a Vivaldi remix.

If you want the full outcast OST let me know.

Also a few other great tracks: http://rapidshare.com/files/141330358/orch2.rar.html
John Williams - Duel of the Fates
Vangelis - Movement 10
John Debney - Movement 5
Clint Mansell - Death Is The Road To Awe
Brothers In Arms - Main Theme
Paraworld - Main Theme
Prey - Ouverture
Jesper Kyd - Apocalypse
Knights Of The Temple - To Battle

Also coming up: 13 unreleased cues from the game Kameo

All my other orchestral action music is trailer music (which i'm not allowed to upload) or movie soundtracks you probably have heard already many times :) )

To illustrate what I was saying, I didn't know 2/3 of this selection !

Now thanks to you my ears have tasted this wonderful music.

To illustrate what I was saying, I didn't know 2/3 of this selection !

Now thanks to you my ears have tasted this wonderful music.

Great!
I'll join you guys then in this thread. Have a lot more great stuff that I'll post soon. I also learned already a lot :)

And for the people who like live performances. This is the track Vangelis - Movement 10 live with a big orchestra and choir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg468dLdtuw

Rygar - Legendary Adventure Symphonic Poem (aka - Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi)
Composed by - Hiroaki Takahashi & Takayasu Sodeoka
Performed by - Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra

Every time someone mentions this score I have to point out that the overture takes from Goldsmith's 13th Warrior (Horns of Hell) and track 4 hints at the theme itself. There might be more but I haven't listened to it in a while.

Every time someone mentions this score I have to point out that the overture takes from Goldsmith's 13th Warrior (Horns of Hell) and track 4 hints at the theme itself. There might be more but I haven't listened to it in a while.

Since I was reading your comments on this forum, I also catched this virus of comparing all music pieces. Can be quite fun sometimes. ;)

Sorry streich, your slightly wrong there. Goldsmith's First Knight was the temp score for the Overture. Definately the trombone sounds like part of 13th Warrior. I know the bit you mean.


Every time someone mentions this score I have to point out that the overture takes from Goldsmith's 13th Warrior (Horns of Hell) and track 4 hints at the theme itself. There might be more but I haven't listened to it in a while.

As requested, here's a special HARD BEAT + ORCHESTRA selection. I tried to find something moreless similar to the exemple you posted. Tell me if it's what you're looking for. If so, I have more.


***

Dekaranger Music Collection Volume 1 - Megalopolis Is A Clear Nihon [Bgm] [M-4].mp3

Dekaranger Music Collection Volume 1 - Scramble Dekamachine! [Bgm] [M-23, M-24].mp3

Digimon Savers Original Soundtrack - Chouhatsu.mp3

Kajiura Yuki - Erementar Gerad Ost 1 - Amagake.mp3

Kajiura Yuki - Tsubasa Chronicle Original Soundtrack - Future Soundscape I - Believe.mp3

Kenji Kawai - Ultraman Nexus - Original Soundtrack - Nexus -Dash-.mp3

Nakagawa Kotaro - Code Geas Hangyaku No Lelouch O.S.T.2 - Air Surfing.mp3

Oohashi Megumi - The Third ~aoi Hitomi No Shoujo~ ost 2 - Kurushi Tatakai.mp3

Otsuka Ayako - Zegapain O.S.T.1 - Aruteiiru.mp3

Tenjo Tenge - Shippu.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Angel Links - Action!.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Black Blood Brothers Original Sound Track - Gin Katana.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - The Big O Original Score - Stand A Chance.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Zipang Original Soundtrack - Battle Mirai.mp3

Yamashita Kousuke - Dragonaut -The Resonance- Original Soundtrack - Kyuushuu.mp3

***

http://rapidshare.com/files/141396482/HARD_BEAT_and_ORCHESTRA_1.zip


Good listening !

By the way, the french horns in this piece Yamashita Kousuke - Dragonaut -The Resonance- Original Soundtrack - Kyuushuu.mp3 are certainly the most powerful I've heard. This cue has surely been inspired by Matrix Reloaded (Mona Lisa OverDrive), but those french horns are awesome, and to my ear stronger than the model.

I've just been reading through some of the collections here and I've been really impressed. I thought I might add a few from my playlist, just to contribute.


1. 'Village' from SimCity SNES by Soyo Oka. Performed my Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra. Taken from Orchestral Game Concert 2 CD.

This isn't really fast-paced until an awesome section within the middle.

2. 'Evening: The Sunset / Twilight Time' from Days of Future Passed by The Moody Blues.

This probably doesn't fit the category, but I really appreciate the arrangements in the whole album and the whole scope of it.

3. 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Main Title' from 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' by John Barry.

There is a SEVERE lack of John Barry in this thread.

4. 'End Titles' from Hulk by Danny Elfman.

Elfman's best score in my opinion, mainly because it sounds absolutely nothing like Danny Elfman. He's a little too storybook for me, but he proved his versatility with this one. This is just a really short section of the main theme.

5. 'Bowser's Final Battle' by Mahito Yakota from Super Mario Galaxy.

I was really nervous when I heard that Koji Kondo would have only a slight role in composing Galaxy's score, but as soon as I heard it I was in awe. Yakota is more than a worthy successor. This track is my favourite track of the score. My version is not the best of quality unfortunately, so if anyone owns a high-qual version, I'd be very interested. I could download the full album, but eh.

6. 'Ecstasy of Gold' by Ennio Morricone from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

So, like a lot of these, this one is pretty obvious and maybe that's why it hasn't been talked about. But I recently deleted a whole bunch of Ennio stuff and I'm really regretting it. This is the only one I have at the moment.

7. 'Fountain of Dreams' by Hirokazu Ando from Kirby Super Star. Performed by New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. Taken from Smashing... Live CD.

Once again, this is a staple choice. Regardless, it is one of my favourite live video game music performances.

8. 'Farandole' by Georges Bizet from L'Arl�sienne.

This is just to prove I am slightly cultured. I love Bizet, and this piece is energetic, fun and bombastic to boot.

9. 'The Last Waltz' by Jo Yeong-Wook from Oldboy.

This is way away from the proposal of 'action' music, but few can deny it is awesome.

10. 'Pruit Igoe' by Philip Glass from Koyaanisqasti.

Partially electronic, this is still a really layered, progressive orchestral piece with no big moments but remains an epic listen.

11. 'Scene 48', 'Scene 51' & 'Scene 65' by Shiro Sagisu from Casshern.

Watched Casshern, thought it was uninspired rubbish. But wow. The OST. These three tracks compliment each other extremely well. Turn them up loud and they will punch the breath out of your chest. Seriously.

12. 'Riddle of Steel / Riders of Doom' by Basil Poledouris from Conan the Barbarian.

I know, I know. I'm patronising you to think you don't know about this one. But this list is for me as well as you, and I couldn't make an list of orchestral action music without this. It doesn't make sense to me. And another listen to it NEVER hurts.

13. 'Buoy Base Galaxy' by Mahito Yakota from Super Mario Galaxy.

I probably didn't mention this is my favourite game soundtrack of this generation so far. This track is quite literally tucked away in the game on a very small level which you spend barely any time on, which is a shame because it has a great energy.

14. 'Ancient Voices (All-Stars Version)' by Russ Landau from Survivor.

This is a really odd choice, but it is really overlooked because of its short length and the fact it is attached to a reality TV show. The All-Stars edition brings in many different tribal elements from all across the world to branch off of the main theme. Epic.

15. 'Guns' by Harry Gregson-Williams from Welcome to the Jungle ( orThe Rundown in the US).

Can't believe noone has mentioned this, or maybe they have and I just browsed over it. This track and some tracks from The Bourne Supremacy are what come to mind when I think 'action/orchestral'. Get it!

16. 'The Vote' by James Newton Howard from The Village.

The ONLY reason I put this in was because I was disappointed that The Great Eatlon from Lady in the Water had already been put up. Damn. Howard has a string of awesome collaborations with M. Night Shyamalan, Lady in the Water being the very best, while The Village was the one that got an Oscar nom. They both deserved one, in my opinion.

Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/141449751/Orch-Action.zip.html

Sorry streich, your slightly wrong there. Goldsmith's First Knight was the temp score for the Overture. Definately the trombone sounds like part of 13th Warrior. I know the bit you mean.

I'll have to relisten to First Knight, maybe Goldsmith reused some bits for The Horns of Hell. I was referring to the fast bit with the strings and staccato horns which I can pinpoint in The 13th Warrior track.

The biggest ripoff in the word of soundtracks for me is 300 - Returns a King and Victorius Titus. If it was for me Tyler Bates wouldn't get another scoring job ever again.
Vicotorius Titus: here (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic/105-6861830-3393218?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=Victorius+Titus+%28Vocal%29&x=0&y=0)
300: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVVHTBAA-VU

I know the phrases you mean. Yes, I agree that Horns of Hell did build on First Knight's brass and woodwind flourishes. Thanks for developing that thought.


I'll have to relisten to First Knight, maybe Goldsmith reused some bits for The Horns of Hell. I was referring to the fast bit with the strings and staccato horns which I can pinpoint in The 13th Warrior track.

Yes, I agree. Masamicho Amano did the same thing for Ominusha Overture, but made it sound like a kind nod rather than a rip off. Does Tyler Bates still work much?


The biggest ripoff in the word of soundtracks for me is 300 - Returns a King and Victorius Titus. If it was for me Tyler Bates wouldn't get another scoring job ever again.
Vicotorius Titus: here (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic/105-6861830-3393218?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=Victorius+Titus+%28Vocal%29&x=0&y=0)
300: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVVHTBAA-VU

artiherr!!!!
Thank you so much for your hard - beat orchestra compilation. I'm downloading it now. All your selections are new to me and I appreciate your research (into your collection). A big (heterosexual) kiss for you! :)

licenturion
Thanks for your epica! Interesting stuff.

I'm not developing any "thought", I'm saying with 100% confidence in my abilities as a composer, orchestrator, and general music enthusiast that it is based on this section from The 13th Warrior: http://sharebee.com/4f4b80e2

Also included is the other portion taken from track 27 - Swing Across. I listened to all 75 minutes of the complete First Knight score and there aren't any similarities more blatant than this one. Case closed. :)

Sorry, your wrong there Streich. I had the good fortune of interviewing Takayasu Sodeoka back in 2005. Its a fact that the temp score was First Knight. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. :)


I'm not developing any "thought", I'm saying with 100% confidence in my abilities as a composer, orchestrator, and general music enthusiast that it is based on this section from The 13th Warrior: http://sharebee.com/4f4b80e2

Also included is the other portion taken from track 27 - Swing Across. I listened to all 75 minutes of the complete First Knight score and there aren't any similarities more blatant than this one. Case closed. :)

Wow ! One night of sleep and so many new posts to deal with. Well it's sunday, I've got time. Let's see...

I've just been reading through some of the collections here and I've been really impressed. I thought I might add a few from my playlist, just to contribute.

Billy, I can see it's your first in this forum (at least with this name). Well for a first post it's a PRETTY IMPRESSIVE post.

I'll listen to your selection while reading your notes and comment later.

Bravo !

Sorry streich, your slightly wrong there. Goldsmith's First Knight was the temp score for the Overture. Definately the trombone sounds like part of 13th Warrior. I know the bit you mean.


I'll have to relisten to First Knight, maybe Goldsmith reused some bits for The Horns of Hell. I was referring to the fast bit with the strings and staccato horns which I can pinpoint in The 13th Warrior track.

Please, guys, anybody can say something but it's better to prove it with facts. Although I appreciate your discussion, if you find more similarities in other pieces, please upload the cues discussed so that everybody here can listen to it and say : "Yes, he's right, X sounds indeed like Y."

That said I have a sincere esteem for both of you. And I'm sure you're both right. Things aren't necessarily "OR" but can be "AND". See "False dilemma".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma

I second that. Billy, thanks for your cool uploads.
Arthierr, I'm really digging your hard-beat orchestra. You really made my Sunday.


Billy, I can see it's your first in this forum (at least with this name). Well for a first post it's a PRETTY IMPRESSIVE post.

I'll listen to your selection while reading your notes and comment later.

Bravo !

arthier
Here is more music for your Big Orchestral Music project. Another rare one I understand.

Kishin Symphony Concert
Classical composer Kaoru Wada brings us more great music for Episode 1 of Kishin. Its a concert recording. Very cool, very 80's sound to it (even though it was 1995). I also have Wada's classical music I can dig up if anyone wants it. I have excluded track 6 which is an audio-play, 44 minutes.

Shinsei Nikkyo Choir
Maria Kawamura & Yuriko Yamanoto (Singers)
Shinsei Nihon Symphony Orchestra

http://rapidshare.com/files/141547703/Cristobalito_-_Kauru_Wada_-_Kishin_Symphony.rar.html

Enjoy!

http://image.hotdog.hu/_data/members3/579/651579/images/Inuyasha/Zene/kaoru-wada.gif

Kaoru Wada
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaoru_Wada
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=275

One of my favourite composers. Great orchestrator/arranger also. He's got a personal style quite recognizable. He arranged the sublime score of Actraiser by Yūzō Koshiro. My favourite scores from him are :
InuYasha
Strange Dawn
Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight (TV)

Thank you for the upload.

Your welcome. Sadly, as usual Wiki is inaccurate. It omits his classical work. Namely his Folkloric Dance Suite, which is mutually developed in Ninja Scroll, which as you know, Wada did.

Here are some samples -
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Orchestral-Music/dp/B0000016GO

Glad you like it. Would it be possible for you to please share those albums you mention (your favourites) sometime?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaoru_Wada
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=275

One of my favourite composers. Great orchestrator/arranger also. He's got a personal style quite recognizable. He arranged the sublime score of Actraiser by Yūzō Koshiro. My favourite scores from him are :
InuYasha
Strange Dawn
Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight (TV)

Thank you for the upload.[/QUOTE]

Glad you like it. Would it be possible for you to please share those albums you mention (your favourites) sometime?

The fact is I'm not a score collector, but a good music collector, wich means I rarely keep full albums but rather than that only the good, listenable stuff inside it. So I only have partial versions of these albums (only what I like).

But there's a torrent here with complete 320k versions of Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight (TV)
http://torrents.sumotorrent.com/details/139405/Record%20of%20Lodoss%20War%20TV%20OSTs.html

Some InuYasha OSTs (but not all) can be downloaded here
http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/i

Sorry, your wrong there Streich. I had the good fortune of interviewing Takayasu Sodeoka back in 2005. Its a fact that the temp score was First Knight. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. :)

Is it possible he wasn't completely accurate then? Because the clip I made speaks for itself, and it's entirely possible to have more than one source of inspiration, especially if they're both Goldsmith scores. Also are you going to tell me that track 04 at 0:59 is the theme from First Knight and not The 13th Warrior, because that one's a dead giveaway.

The Goldsmith track shifts from A minor to G minor (a full step down), the Sodeoka shifts from E minor to D minor (a full step down.) The next step is doing a note for note comparison of the 16th note ostinato in the violins (which isn't hard if you use Sound Forge's awesome time compression/expansion.)

Arthierr. Okay, will check em out. Thank you.
Streich. Of course. Check out Masamicho Amano for some other Goldsmith references, especially Battle Royale I and II


The fact is I'm not a score collector, but a good music collector, wich means I rarely keep full albums but rather than that only the good, listenable stuff inside it. So I only have partial versions of these albums (only what I like).

But there's a torrent here with complete 320k versions of Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight (TV)
http://torrents.sumotorrent.com/details/139405/Record%20of%20Lodoss%20War%20TV%20OSTs.html

Some InuYasha OSTs (but not all) can be downloaded here
http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/i

Would it be possible for you to please share those albums you mention (your favourites) sometime?

In fact Strange dawn is so great (and incredibly RARE) that if you wish I can up what I have. 90% of the score is still there and I only removed the boring stuff (non-orchestral, guitar, ultra-ambient...).

Arthierr. Okay, will check em out. Thank you.
Streich. Of course. Check out Masamicho Amano for some other Goldsmith references, especially Battle Royale I and II

Yep, I'm very familiar with the references in Battle Royale II *cough* Starship Troopers *cough* but actually I didn't detect a whole lot in the first one. Actually, there was only one theme (the choral theme) that reminded me of something from Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony. If you recognized anything, let me know so I can add it to the list. It's an overly long list mainly consisting of plagiarisms by James Horner and Yoko Kanno, but there's always room for more!

http://image.hotdog.hu/_data/members3/579/651579/images/Inuyasha/Zene/kaoru-wada.gif

Kaoru Wada
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaoru_Wada
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=275


Kaoru Wada's music is sometimes very simple, but very addicting. Derek Oren's and my new arrangement for ocremix.org is based on his style (along with Uematsu's themes from Final Fantasy 8) and I guess would be appropriate for this thread:

http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadsong.cfm?id=6801331

Speaking of Sound Forge's compression/expansion tool, I used it to isolate the "Fithos Lusec" chant from Liberi Fatali and transposed it to fit the music. I think it turned out well.

You're totally welcome to post your music and arrangements here. I enjoy them immensely.

Very good arrangement. The choir extraction is quite impressive. Indeed at some points Wada's style is hearable, but still Jeremy ROBSON's style is most noticeable.

Now if I may, is it me or does this seriously lack of reverb ? I would have added more light/close reverb at the begining, and far/wet reverb in the 2nd part.

The finale is really awesome, but to savor it plainly I would have left 3-4 sec. after it. The song ends too abruptly.

You're totally welcome to post your music and arrangements here. I enjoy them immensely.

Very good arrangement. The choir extraction is quite impressive. Indeed at some points Wada's style is hearable, but still Jeremy ROBSON's style is most noticeable.

Now if I may, is it me or does this seriously lack of reverb ? I would have added more light/close reverb at the begining, and far/wet reverb in the 2nd part.

The finale is really awesome, but to savor it plainly I would have left 3-4 sec. after it. The song ends too abruptly.

There's actually not a whole lot reverb can do to get the sound we wanted at the beginning, that is, a small ensemble style in a small room. The winds do seem a bit exposed because of this, but that's also because the samples are very closely miced. The strings actually work much better in that respect.

The reason there isn't any space after it ends is because it just barely fits under the maximum size restriction at a good compression, and it would be too much work to go back and speed up some tempos. There were plans to add lots of space for shore/surf sounds as per FF8's opening fmv, but we had to scratch that idea after we found it was nearing the size limit.

By the way, a few times I included cues from Getsumen Toheiki Mina by Kousuke YAMASHITA in my selections. Because it's a marvelous score.

In fact I've posted the whole OST some months ago. It's still available, so if you want it, here it is :

Getsumen Toheiki Mina OST (for big symphonic lovers!)(megaupload)
Thread 55847

Action music by Yoko Kanno - first set:

http://sharebee.com/ea7ff546

It was bound to happen sometime in this thread, and even though I'm sure most of us are already familiar with Kanno's work and posting this might be a bit redundant, it gives me a chance to talk about the work.

First, it is important to note that even though I condemn Kanno for her blatant plagiarizing, I can't help but admire the sheer skill and relevance of the composition and orchestration of these pieces. It is some of the best orchestrated music of the past 20 years because a) it is well played, b) it is highly motivic, c) it uses the entire orchestra effectively, d) it draws inspiration from classical music as well as film scores, and e) aside from the plagiarisms, I can't hear a bad note in them.

There are theories that it is impossible for someone of Kanno's resume (or what we know of it) to be able to compose/orchestrate like this, and the fact she tends to compose 90% of her output in other genres is almost a slap in the face to us orchestra snobs. I really can't get enough of this stuff. From my perspective, if she is not getting help, she is a master or a prodigy of some kind. If she just one day decided to compose orchestral music that sounds like Prokofiev, whatever difficult self-training she endured was complete by 1994 when she single-handedly composed and orchestrated the scores to Macross Plus and Nobunaga's Ambition Tenshoki.

It is the near-pinnacle of orchestral achievement to sound like Prokofiev, Copland, Ravel, etc. but Kanno can accomplish this with such ease. It is only one step down from the top tier: Mahler (whom is strangely absent from Kanno's long list of sources.)

There are many trademarks across Kanno's work, or signatures if you will: low strings ostinatos, high strings ostinatos, loud and exposed brass clusters, quick flourishes in the winds, slow rising stepwise motion in the bass line, off-kilter melodic rhythms used as ostinatos, movement around the circle of fifths, and many more. The fanfares always seem to resemble Holst's Jupiter from The Planets or John Williams's music for the Olympic games. Many slower pieces carry an Impressionistic tone reminiscent of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe or Pavane for a Dead Princess. The ostinato-heavy action pieces with chorus bring to mind Orff, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Penderecki all at once. It really could be a subject of a larger study; Kanno inserting classical music into her work as composers might have inserted folk songs or other ethnic characteristics.

The best way to describe Kanno's work is "schizophrenic" in that you can neither tell where it came from or where it's going. Not much of the orchestral music really connects with the anime or game it is written for and always seems like it would fit better in a Golden Age swashbuckler epic or Star Wars or even the concert hall. The end result is that the music is often chopped up to fit random scenes and some pieces reused over and over with others only getting a solitary appearance. It's like scoring your anime with bits and pieces of Mahler's 8th: the result is confusing and maybe even a tad pretentious (:D). Nevertheless, it's still fun to listen to on its own.

Now onto the tracks:

Set No. 1:

Brain Powerd - OST 2 - 06. Warriors
Brain Powerd - OST 1 - 07. Chemical Dance
Brain Powerd - OST 1 - 11. Ground Zero
Macross Frontier - OST 1 - 17. TALLY HO
Macross Frontier - OST 1 - 18. The Target
Macross Plus - OST 1 - 09. Break Out - Cantabile
Nobunaga's Ambition Tenshouki - 1. The War Hawk
Nobunaga's Ambition Tenshouki - 5. Spring Waves
Nobunaga's Ambition Tenshouki - 6. Haouden Suit
Nobunaga's Ambition Tenshouki - 11. Battlefield of Light:
Sousei no Aquarion - OST 2 - 11. Heaven's Gate
Sousei no Aquarion - OST 2 - 12. Exodus
Sousei no Aquarion - OST 2 - 13. BLAQARION

Set No. 2: Coming soon...

As a bonus, here's a rather medium-lengthed analysis of each track. It requires some knowledge of classical music, music theory, and film scores. Read at your own risk.

http://jeremyrobson.com/kannoanalysis1.txt

Dear Streich
Thank you for your Kanno and yours thought on her.
Additionally, I very much enjoyed your composition. Keep up the good work.

Remember, Battle of the Girls in Battle Royale I is taken from Masada - Our Land - Goldsmith. And what did you think of Amano's redux of Klendathu Drop in Battle Royale II, namely Time of War. I enjoyed Amano-sans work more actually. I find him a more talented composer, the orchestrations and woodwind counterpoint are more rounded. What do you think?

Action music by Yoko Kanno - first set:

THIS is exactly what I was aiming for when starting this thread (mmh... well, this post even exceeds my expectations).

Thank you very much, Streich. I'll take the time to appreciate your post as it deserves and make some comments later (very busy this week).


http://smileys.sur-la-toile.com/repository/Respect/applaudissements-185.gif

I've just been reading through some of the collections here and I've been really impressed. I thought I might add a few from my playlist, just to contribute.

Thank you very much for this remarkable contribution. Not all action-ey but all interesting. Here are some comments about the pieces I didn't know.

Orchestral Game Concert : even with various levels of arrangements/performances, these concerts are highly enjoyable, and it's so moving to hear the game tunes we liked played by a big orchestra. BTW, I can see that your version is in low quality, are you interested in HQ versions of the 5 concerts ?

'The Last Waltz' by Jo Yeong-Wook from Oldboy : the melody is magnificient. Very nice piece.

'Pruit Igoe' by Philip Glass from Koyaanisqasti : quite enjoyable. In fact I occasionally listen to some good symphonic progressive rock. I'll post some in my next uploads.

Casshern : was on my listening queue since a long time. So in fact I've listened to this for the first time thanks to your list. Awesome cues.

Super Mario Galaxy : I also discovered this one thanks to you. Once I finished listening I immediately looked for the complete OST in HQ. And guess what ? I've found it :
Super Mario Galaxy Original Soundtrack Platinum Version
http://www.megaupload.com/fr/?d=TY2N9QID

Remember, Battle of the Girls in Battle Royale I is taken from Masada - Our Land - Goldsmith. And what did you think of Amano's redux of Klendathu Drop in Battle Royale II, namely Time of War. I enjoyed Amano-sans work more actually. I find him a more talented composer, the orchestrations and woodwind counterpoint are more rounded. What do you think?

The Klendathu Drop one was pretty obvious, but wow, I never would have guessed the Masada rip. It really does sound like Goldsmith once you realize that IT IS. You seem to be pretty good at this, so why not help me with some of Kanno's music. There are like 10-20 orchestral cues that sound extremely familiar that I just can't place. Most recently I discovered this:

http://jeremyrobson.com/frontier10.mp3 (from the Macross Frontier OST)
http://jeremyrobson.com/larlesienne.mp3 (from Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2)

Action music by Yoko Kanno - first set:

http://sharebee.com/ea7ff546

It was bound to happen sometime in this thread, and even though I'm sure most of us are already familiar with Kanno's work and posting this might be a bit redundant, it gives me a chance to talk about the work.

Speaking of her, I point out that almost ALL her albums and singles can be downloaded in HQ in this thread :

Yoko Kanno 'Music' Collection
Thread 44707

Thanks a lot to Jedinewtype.

Streich
I will surely have a go at the Kanno, sure. May I divulge your and arthierr's attention slightly to John Williams? Namely his first 2 harry potter scores. What would you gents suggest his influences were? I'm looking for any classical influences (ripped or inspired), especially for the swirling strings and keyboard crescendos he often used for Phoenix theme.


The Klendathu Drop one was pretty obvious, but wow, I never would have guessed the Masada rip. It really does sound like Goldsmith once you realize that IT IS. You seem to be pretty good at this, so why not help me with some of Kanno's music. There are like 10-20 orchestral cues that sound extremely familiar that I just can't place. Most recently I discovered this:

http://jeremyrobson.com/frontier10.mp3 (from the Macross Frontier OST)
http://jeremyrobson.com/larlesienne.mp3 (from Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2)

I will have to listen again to some tracks, but I recall many are reworking (and improving if I may say) of john William's fugues and marches for Far and Away.

Streich
I will surely have a go at the Kanno, sure. May I divulge your and arthierr's attention slightly to John Williams? Namely his first 2 harry potter scores. What would you gents suggest his influences were? I'm looking for any classical influences (ripped or inspired), especially for the swirling strings and keyboard crescendos he often used for Phoenix theme.

I'll have to relisten to them with my detective's cap on since nothing immediately jumps out at me when listening to them. Superficially, I guess you could say that Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker plays a role (Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies) but I think everyone who's a fan of the score to Hook noticed that Hedwig's theme is taken from there. A large portion of Stravinsky's Firebird (from the entire ballet, not the suite) was used in Hook, and I think that inspiration was taken through to Harry Potter. There are also many similarities to Home Alone, which again was heavily influenced by Tchaikovsky. It's the celesta that does it, really.

Cristobalito, to answer your PM I've made 2 more packs of HARD BEAT + ORCHESTRA selections. I'll post the first tonight and the other next week.

I'm sure you'll enjoy them, there are many rare and great cues inside. :)

arthierr
Thank you buddy. I'm so grateful...and I CANT wait to see your next treasure chest of goodies.

Streich
Thank you for that (J Williams sources). Yes, I knew of Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, but I appreciate you sourcing some actual pieces. V interesting my friend. If you do have anymore thoughts on William's fantasia music I would be really interested. Streich, what do you think about Rautavaara's work? I think I might post some here. Its very mystical I find.

Here is a little compilation I just fixed up.

http://rapidshare.com/files/142314338/Cristobalito_s_-_BIG_ORCHESTRAL_THREAD_.rar.html

Yuzo Toyama - Matsura (Symphonic Poem) - Kauru Wada conducting
Ace Combat Zero - Balkan War (Mission 18) - Choral and Hard Beat
Dancing with Domz - Christophe Heral - Beyond Good and Evil Ost
Allegro Molto - William Walton- Sinfonia Concertante (Fast and interesting music)
Heal - ICO - Michiru Oshima (Think Silent Hill on a good day)
18 - Magic Knight Rayearth (melodic and lyrical)
Ominusha Overture - Masamichi Amano (Excellent choral music with hints of Goldenthal's Titus - makes Tyler Bates look shit)
Battle of the Planets - Symphonic Suite 10 - Koichi Sugiyama (God of game music)
Allegro molto - Symphony 1 - Douglas Bostock (Another fast and interesting orchestral piece)
Second Coming - Final Conflict - Jerry Goldsmith (Gorgeous choral overture)
Good One - John Williams - Phanton Menace Unreleased
Allegro fuoco - Janis Ivanovs - Symphony 5 - (Yet another exciting orchestral piece)
Chasing the Surfer - John Ottman - Rise of Silver Surfer
Finale (Allegro deciso) - Englund - Symphony 2 - Last cinematic classical piece

Hope you like my quick bash at this.
Enjoy

Streich, I've learned a lot listening to your choices while reading your analysis (not finished, still some to listen). Thanks for such brilliant comments.

I was wondering if you could analyze in the same way (musically and concerning "similarities") 2 of my favourite Kanno pieces :

Yoko Kanno - Genesis of Aquarion Original Sound Track - high spirit.mp3
http://www.sendspace.com/file/tnpg4k

Of course, the ride of valkyries is obvious. Probably Horner' Cocoon at 1:12. 2:40 strongly reminds me of something, maybe Rosza. Also 1:22 is extremely familiar.

Yoko Kanno - Vision Of Escaflowne OST 1 - Over The Sky, The - Flying Dragon.mp3
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1qkbkq

00:45 probably from one of the Indiana Jones. 1:18 from Williams' ET, a bit 2:18 also. What else ?

Here is a little compilation I just fixed up.

http://rapidshare.com/files/142314338/Cristobalito_s_-_BIG_ORCHESTRAL_THREAD_.rar.html

Yuzo Toyama - Matsura (Symphonic Poem) - Kauru Wada conducting
Ace Combat Zero - Balkan War (Mission 18) - Choral and Hard Beat
Dancing with Domz - Christophe Heral - Beyond Good and Evil Ost
Allegro Molto - William Walton- Sinfonia Concertante (Fast and interesting music)
Heal - ICO - Michiru Oshima (Think Silent Hill on a good day)
18 - Magic Knight Rayearth (melodic and lyrical)
Ominusha Overture - Masamichi Amano (Excellent choral music with hints of Goldenthal's Titus - makes Tyler Bates look shit)
Battle of the Planets - Symphonic Suite 10 - Koichi Sugiyama (God of game music)
Allegro molto - Symphony 1 - Douglas Bostock (Another fast and interesting orchestral piece)
Second Coming - Final Conflict - Jerry Goldsmith (Gorgeous choral overture)
Good One - John Williams - Phanton Menace Unreleased
Allegro fuoco - Janis Ivanovs - Symphony 5 - (Yet another exciting orchestral piece)
Chasing the Surfer - John Ottman - Rise of Silver Surfer
Finale (Allegro deciso) - Englund - Symphony 2 - Last cinematic classical piece

Hope you like my quick bash at this.
Enjoy

Very nice ! Thanks a lot. And very ecclectic, I appreciate.

Sousei no Aquarion - Exodus
This track and the next one probably don't deserve to be analyzed because of how heavily they borrow from Elliot Goldenthal's Titus and Alan Silvestri's Van Helsing, but admittedly there are some interesting harmonic elements going on that almost ALMOST make those plagiarisms forgivable. The choir and strings at 0:45, for example, is a brilliant bridge and retransition to E minor. The off-key clusters in the choir and piccolo at 1:20 is typical Kanno fare by now. Then 1:30 marks the Titus rip, right down to the wind trill in the same key with a chorus chanting "Andronicus" underneath (maybe they're saying something else here, but to me it will always sound like Andronicus.) 2:43 always reminds me of the choral interlude in the track "To Die For" from Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to The Lion King, but this melody is actually taken from Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas, specifically the famous Dido's Lament "When I am laid in earth" but with some changes in the harmony that are more Bach-like. The rest, as they say, is Silvestri's Van Helsing. The giveaway is the little fanfares that tail each ostinato section at 3:52 and 4:13 that are very typical of Silvestri's action scores (Mummy Returns, Eraser) but Van Helsing (which was used in Macross Frontier) bears the closest resemblance. The final cluster chord that ends the piece in the wrong key is something entirely new from Kanno and I'm not sure what to make of it. Just like the Haouden Suite from Nobunaga's Ambition it makes use of the major 7th interval, and might simply represent ambiguity instead of finale.


Streich : I can see you quote Silvestri a certain number of time. As a very good orchestral composer yourself, what do you think of his orchestral music ? Because his first real orchestral score was Fandango (1985), and it was really an enormous challenge for him because he had no experience at orchestra writing at that time (he even was about to resign). It's funny to see someone starting so late at this becoming one of the major Hollywood composers (some even say he's the best action composer). Your opinion ?

Streich, I've learned a lot listening to your choices while reading your analysis (not finished, still some to listen). Thanks for such brilliant comments.

I was wondering if you could analyze in the same way (musically and concerning "similarities") 2 of my favourite Kanno pieces :

Yoko Kanno - Genesis of Aquarion Original Sound Track - high spirit.mp3
http://www.sendspace.com/file/tnpg4k

Of course, the ride of valkyries is obvious. Probably Horner' Cocoon at 1:12. 2:40 strongly reminds me of something, maybe Rosza. Also 1:22 is extremely familiar.

Yep, starts with Ride of the Valkyries, then at 0:30 it is practically note-for-note Korngold's Violin Concerto (3rd movement) which he based on his film score to The Prince and the Pauper. 1:00 is kind of a reworking of the "Belle" song from Menken's Beauty and the Beast. At 1:37 it returns to the Violin Concerto. You have to wonder if anyone in the orchestra (the violinists at least) noticed something. 2:39 is referencing the opening to Prokofiev's Scythian Suite. What part of Cocoon did you think this sounds like?

If you want to hear the Korngold concerto, just search for it on youtube.



Yoko Kanno - Vision Of Escaflowne OST 1 - Over The Sky, The - Flying Dragon.mp3
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1qkbkq

00:45 probably from one of the Indiana Jones. 1:18 from Williams' ET, a bit 2:18 also. What else ?

This is essentially Kanno's own "Adventure on Earth" from E.T. 0:47 sounds like Prokofiev to me, but I can't place it at the moment. Any whole-tone stuff Kanno does like at 1:08 can be traced to Mercury from Holst's The Planets. The 1:18 part through to the end is a dead giveaway for E.T.


Streich : I can see you quote Silvestri a certain number of time. As a very good orchestral composer yourself, what do you think of his orchestral music ? Because his first real orchestral score was Fandango (1985), and it was really an enormous challenge for him because he had no experience at orchestra writing at that time (he even was about to resign). It's funny to see someone starting so late at this becoming one of the major Hollywood composers (some even say he's the best action composer). Your opinion ?

Well, I'm sure Silvestri had experience writing for various ensembles, be they were rock or synth-pop or even disco. If you can write good voice-leading, it's not hard to translate that to full orchestra (Uematsu, for example.) Silvestri writes great action music, but also great "emotional" scores like Forrest Gump and The Abyss, which Kanno rips off all the time. The key to Silvestri's success is having a knack for thematic writing. When you get into the action bits, he's all about the ostinato: Predator, Back to the Future, Eraser, Van Helsing. I wish many modern composers, for both films and games, would learn how to incorporate themes into their action writing as Silvestri and Williams do. Giacchino is kinda good at this thematic integration, but then I really don't think his use of harmony is that good. It's tough.

I will have to listen again to some tracks, but I recall many are reworking (and improving if I may say) of john William's fugues and marches for Far and Away.

Well, you're right about Blowing Off Steam from Far and Away being used in Turn A Gundam in its entirety almost note-for-note, but I wouldn't say it was improved. It was turned into a Copland-esque showpiece which would obviously sound neater than a "simple" film score. But other than that, there is nothing else from Far and Away I can detect in Kanno's work.

What part of Cocoon did you think this sounds like?

Right now, I'm too lazy to listen to the whole (expanded) score to look for this cue. I'm not even sure it comes from it, but it sounds VERY Horner-esque to my ears.

Part 2 of the requested HARD BEAT + ORCHESTRA selection. Enjoy !

***

James L Venable - Powerpuff Girls The Movie (Promo) - Mojo Builds With The Girls.mp3

James L Venable - Powerpuff Girls The Movie (Promo) - The Powerpuff Girls.mp3

Kajiura Yuki - Tsubasa Chronicle - Future Soundscape I - A Song Of Storm And Fire.mp3

Kajiura Yuki - Tsubasa Chronicle - Future Soundscape I - Through The Gate.mp3

Kanno Yuugo - Hataraki Man Original Soundtrack - Otoko Switch Iri Masu.mp3

Konami - Ongakushu Produced By Kentarou Haneda - Gothic Neclord.mp3

Kotaro Nakagawa - Go Go Sentai Boukenger Precious Album Vol.3 - The Movie - 13 (BGM).mp3

Kotaro Nakagawa - Go Go Sentai Boukenger Precious Album Vol.3 - The Movie - 22 (BGM).mp3

Kotaro Nakagawa - Go Go Sentai Boukenger Precious Album Vol.3 - The Movie - 26 (BGM).mp3

Mitsumune Shinkichi - Zero No Tsukaima Soundtrack - Louise.mp3

Takanori Arisawa - Digimon Tamers Uta To Ongaku Shuu Ver. 2 - Digimon Tamers No Theme.mp3

Tanaka Kouhei - One Piece - Music & Song Collection 2 - 13.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - Angel Links - Launch! The Angel Links.mp3

Toshihiko Sahashi - FullMetal Panic Original Sound Track 1 - Tatakau M9.mp3

Yamashita Kousuke - Dragonaut -The Resonance - Force Of Mind ~ Main Theme.mp3

Yasuhiro Misawa - Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! - Tomodachi Kara Nakama he.mp3

***

http://rapidshare.com/files/142412369/HARD_BEAT_and_ORCHESTRA_2.zip


Mitsumune Shinkichi - Zero No Tsukaima Soundtrack - Louise.mp3 is a cute and charming piece matching very well the characters it refers to :

arthierr
Thank you VERY MUCH for your second excellent collection of hard beat versus orchestra music. Its even better than the first pack. Thanks! I especially enjoy the One Piece track and PowerPuff girls tracks. Love the hard beat and tense strings on those. Looking forward to your 3rd pack when you have time. Have you heard my compilation yet? Let me know what you think. Did you not like any?

arthierr
Thank you VERY MUCH for your second excellent collection of hard beat versus orchestra music. Its even better than the first pack. Thanks! I especially enjoy the One Piece track and PowerPuff girls tracks. Love the hard beat and tense strings on those. Looking forward to your 3rd pack when you have time. Have you heard my compilation yet? Let me know what you think. Did you not like any?

I've had an awfully busy week, so I've only listened to half of it. But now I'm on week-end so I'll finish it and Streich's Kanno list. I'll post comments once done.

I'll greatly update this thread this week-end, so watch out for interesting things to come !

Action music by Yoko Kanno - first set:

http://sharebee.com/ea7ff546

It was bound to happen sometime in this thread, and even though I'm sure most of us are already familiar with Kanno's work and posting this might be a bit redundant, it gives me a chance to talk about the work.

I could say many things about Kanno, it's easier for me (because of my average english) to just list a few comments :

- Her orchestral music is incredibly good and tastes like freshly baked cookies.

- Kanno's compositions are extremely complex and well-written (almost formal perfection). It's first-class orchestral music.

- her orchestrations/conducting is among the best, existing these days.

- Her r�sum� is either surprisingly short, or very incomplete. There's no clear and logical explanation for such skills in orchestral writing and orchestration.

- Her music uses a LOT of rip-offs and references. the mixing of various material (classical, movie...) is insane but surprisingly well done and effective.

- I'm pissed off when I read admirative reviews or laudatory comments about her music WITHOUT pointing out the fact that an high percentage of it is rip-offs. By the way, about her "borrowings", do you want to read something QUITE FUNNY :


J.V.: I wonder where your inspirations come from, because you almost never listen to music?
Y.K.: At home, I have no CD player nor minidisc player. I only listen to music at the studio, it's true. Regarding my inspiration, indeed, I avoid asking myself the same question (laughs). But I think that, paradoxically, it is more the pictures that influence me, that guide me. The problem is that I'm often asked to write the music one or two years before the movie is released. So I asked for them to send me "production drawings". My imagination does the rest. I tell myself my own stories, invent my own pictures, let myself be influenced by the things I saw and I think appropriate to the subject. For me, music is exactly like an illustration.

Full interview here :
http://members.shaw.ca/ykdb/resources/interviewsyokokanno_japanvibes.html

- What I suspect : she has a team of EXTREMELY skilled composers/orchestrators who do most of the job, while she mostly gives indications. This hypothesis is conforted by this :


AL: Does this mean that in the case of composition, you put yourself to work right away?
KY: Yes, of course. Thanks to the team I have, I have the possibility of working for one and even two years, but that's not what makes me how I'm going to occupy my days. I take much time imagining what gives a story, then I receive the first design where I notice there's a dog in the story. I say to myself the puppy barks, "ou-ou-ou", then when he swims in a special combination, he goes, "poi-poi-poi". And that's when I start to write.

Full interview here :
http://members.shaw.ca/ykdb/resources/interviews/yokokanno_animeland.html

If anyone disagrees or has any comments, please express yourself.

There's nothing to disagree with there, it's a perfectly valid theory. Composers who are in high demand and are paid the big bucks usually have teams, especially composers who are in demand for their song-writing abilities, not their tedious, spending all hours of the night in Finale, listening to 1000s of hours worth of classical music, orchestration abilities. Also, if you don't make your credentials or musical history beyond "piano lessons" available either through bios or interviews, it makes it even less likely you are the genuine article. If you are asked about the soundtrack to Escaflowne and all you can talk about is the opening song, people are going to assume you had nothing to do with the orchestral music. If you said you recorded in Warsaw because it was the "best" place, people are going to assume you had nothing to do with the orchestral music.

Orchestration and orchestral composition is hard for beginners because there is a lot there to digest. There is a lot of history and many conventions. That's why you can take university-level courses in it. To spend time learning it takes a good portion of your life, and if you are as successful at it as Kanno is, it's time you would be proud of and would at least mention in interviews from time to time. Whether to studied it formally at an institution like James Horner or spent years learning it on your own in your free time like Danny Elfman, you learn it nonetheless and it becomes a regular part of your vocabulary as a composer. For it not to be a part of Kanno's vocabulary is suspicious, as ANY orchestrator would agree.

For now Kanno's name is attached to music she did not write because it's plagiarized. In time we might learn her name is attached to music she didn't write OR orchestrate because she has ghost-writers working for her. It's very possible, but thus far there is not enough evidence to make that accusation. All we have are our suspicions.

Here is a little compilation I just fixed up.

http://rapidshare.com/files/142314338/Cristobalito_s_-_BIG_ORCHESTRAL_THREAD_.rar.html

Yuzo Toyama - Matsura (Symphonic Poem) - Kauru Wada conducting
Ace Combat Zero - Balkan War (Mission 18) - Choral and Hard Beat
Dancing with Domz - Christophe Heral - Beyond Good and Evil Ost
Allegro Molto - William Walton- Sinfonia Concertante (Fast and interesting music)
Heal - ICO - Michiru Oshima (Think Silent Hill on a good day)
18 - Magic Knight Rayearth (melodic and lyrical)
Ominusha Overture - Masamichi Amano (Excellent choral music with hints of Goldenthal's Titus - makes Tyler Bates look shit)
Battle of the Planets - Symphonic Suite 10 - Koichi Sugiyama (God of game music)
Allegro molto - Symphony 1 - Douglas Bostock (Another fast and interesting orchestral piece)
Second Coming - Final Conflict - Jerry Goldsmith (Gorgeous choral overture)
Good One - John Williams - Phanton Menace Unreleased
Allegro fuoco - Janis Ivanovs - Symphony 5 - (Yet another exciting orchestral piece)
Chasing the Surfer - John Ottman - Rise of Silver Surfer
Finale (Allegro deciso) - Englund - Symphony 2 - Last cinematic classical piece

Hope you like my quick bash at this.
Enjoy

In your selection you posted also non-action music. You did right, because it's great orchestral music anyway. So if anybody wants to post non-action music because you find it exceptional and worth sharing, please do so.

Yuzo Toyama - Matsura (Symphonic Poem) - Kauru Wada conducting : very interesting and rare. Bravo for finding that!

Ace Combat Zero - Balkan War (Mission 18) : SUPERB! At first looks like Media Ventures but 10 times better. A marvelous fusion of orchestra, choir, flamenco guitar and modern beat.

Allegro Molto - William Walton- Sinfonia Concertante : excellent, the use of the piano adds some freshness and lightness. It would be nice to include some Walton again in your next list.

Heal - ICO - Michiru Oshima : this one has apparently a problem, the mp3 must be corrupted. Could you check ?

Allegro molto - Symphony 1 - Douglas Bostock : reminds me of John Williams' style. Very nice.

Second Coming - Final Conflict - Jerry Goldsmith : believe it or not, I still hadn't listened to this one until you included it in your list. Why ? Because I have so much albums waiting to be listened that I tend to postpone many classic scores. Great cue.

Edit : forgot my favourite in your list.
Ominusha Overture - Masamichi Amano : magnificient and impressive piece, sounds much like Goldsmith. 2:15 is admirable. 2:50 is very inspired by Carmina Burana.

Cristobalito : promise, I'll post the third part of my HARD BEAT + ORCHESTRA compilation this week-end or next week's beginning (it's a big pack, with 20-25 cues inside). The fact is that it makes 3 times in a row that I post BEAT and ORCHESTRA lists, so it's good to change a bit.

So just now I'm preparing a new compilation of more classic, traditional, orchestral music. I call it the FEEL-GOOD ORCHESTRAL MUSIC compilation. You'll see, it's a good one. I'll post it today.

Some great tunes here - much appreciated. I was wondering if I could request some very rare big orchestral soundtracks, mainly Giant Robo 1-3 and 5. Got 4 6 and 7 after watching the anime and it has hands down the best compilation of classical and re-tuned pieces to date on any program

Well, searching the forum I've just found that for you :

Giant Robo OSTs 1-7 (Masamichi Amano)
Thread 49552

Thanks to dannyfrench, one of the great contributors of this thread.

A RIGHTEOUS Feeling!!!
http://www.filefactory.com/file/971071/n/A_RIGHTEOUS_Feeling_mp3

Heres a good one you might like.

Nice one. Adventurous and upbeat. Where does it come from ?

Thank you !

Great Beyond All!
http://www.filefactory.com/file/31cf73/n/Great_Beyond_All_mp3

Its from Bounty Sword.....THE FIRST! =)

For this week's update, I wanted to share with you a tracklist I sometimes use to relax and recover from a long day. So here's a FEEL-GOOD ORCHESTRAL MUSIC pack. All these cues are refreshing, soothing or boosting, and help feel better. So for once not all cues are actioney (most of them are) but all of them are very enjoyable.

***

Basil Poledouris - Lonesome Dove - Night Mares.mp3
Poledouris enhances any genre he touches. This western mini-series got a sublime score thanks to him. This cue is heroic and adventurous, and even includes some castanets and Zorro-esque trumpet at some point!

David Arkenstone - Celtic Book of Days - Heart of Spring.mp3
A masterpiece. THE most relaxing cue I've heard. Arkenstone has been marvelously inspired when he composed this.
http://www.davidarkenstone.com/

James Hannigan - Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (game) - To Catch an Owl.mp3
SPLENDID piece, full of emotion and beauty. IMO far superior to the movie score by Nicholas Hooper.
http://www.jameshannigan.co.uk/

Jeremy Soule - Guild Wars Soundtrack OST - Autumn in Ascalon.mp3
A grand, majestic fantasy piece. Listen to how elegant and enchanting the piccolo ostinato sounds.

Jerry Goldsmith - Medicine Man - The Trees.mp3
The most memorable cue of the movie. A pure moment of grace and charm.

Kurt Bestor - Evening Angels - Africiana.mp3
Nice ethnic hymn from this talentuous composer.
http://www.kurtbestor.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Bestor

Maarten Spruijt - Skate Ride To Freedom.mp3
Interesting piece, very hollywoodian. Composed entirely with an orchestra sound library (impressive, isn't it ?).
http://www.maartenspruijt.com/

Michael Kamen - Concerto For Saxophone featuring David Sanborn - 3rd Movement.mp3
Kamen wasn't only a good movie composer, he was also an accomplished composer in many genres, including pop, rock and classical. This piece is very cinematic and powerful.

Nicholas Pike - Captain Ron (Promo) - Set The Mainsail.mp3
A tense and busy piece evoking the excitement of a trip departure. We can feel the fresh breeze of the sea while listening to this.

Sakimoto Hitoshi - Romeo x Juliet Original Soundtrack - Neo Verona.mp3
Very gracious and upbeat. At last Sakimoto managed to create an almost full score with a real orchestra, the result is admirable.

Taku Iwasaki - Binchou-tan Soundtrack - Sora no Ue.mp3
Incredibly soothing, a true remedy for your nerves. The anime is ADORABLE, highly recommended if you like relaxing and poetic animes with ultra-cute characters.
http://anime.mikomi.org/series/1291.html

Taku Iwasaki - Yakitate!! Japan - Daybreak Symphony.mp3
Could be great if used in a sport event. Very boosting. The rythm reminds me of Queen's "We will rock you".

Taku Iwasaki - Yakitate!! Japan - Royal Theme.mp3
Noble and majestic. Superb theme.

Tanaka Kouhei - Top wo Nerae 2! Original Soundtrack - Nono.mp3
As usual the maestro Tanaka composed a wonderful piece.

The Taliesin Orchestra - Orinoco Flow - Book of Days.mp3
A very nice orchestral arrangement of Enya's song.

Trevor Jones - Dinotopia - Ceremony Of The Sunstones.mp3
One of my favourite scores and IMO Jones' best score. He created for this mini-series a truly awesome score, with several gorgeous themes, fully rendering the magic and enchantment of the world of Dinotopia. Thumbs up, Mr Jones !

***

http://rapidshare.com/files/143608490/FEEL-GOOD_ORCHESTRAL_MUSIC.zip


This is my list. Now what is YOURS ? Are you ready to take up the challenge and post your own selection of FEEL-GOOD ORCHESTRAL MUSIC ? I'm eager to listen to the rare precious gems you can find.

Hey arthierr, I was listening to your compilation and was wondering if you've heard the soundtrack to the IMAX movie Everest? It's sort of New Age-y, yet Hollywood-ish. I had it, but can't find it at the moment.

That Captain Ron piece is really good. Is the rest of the soundtrack like that?

Hey arthierr, I was listening to your compilation and was wondering if you've heard the soundtrack to the IMAX movie Everest? It's sort of New Age-y, yet Hollywood-ish. I had it, but can't find it at the moment.

Just tried it with Amazon's samples, sounds very good. I'll try to find it.


That Captain Ron piece is really good. Is the rest of the soundtrack like that?

It's one of the best cues. There's some orchestral pieces and a lot of carribean, steel drums stuff. You can judge by yourself :

Captain Ron Promo - Nicholas Pike
http://rapidshare.com/files/114248535/Captain_Ron__Promo__-_Nicholas_Pike.rar



BTW, looking forward to reading your Kanno analysis part 2. ;)