I never noticed before how David Newman's Jingle All the Way and David Arnold's Independence Day share some similarities. July 1996 -> November 1996, coincidence?

Wow, The Red Canvas is pretty good. Reminds me of Goldenthal.

GRANBLUE FANTASY ORCHESTRA -SORA NO KANADE-
The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Hirofumi Kurita
Composed & Orchestrated by Tsutomu Narita
Main Theme & Additional Music Composed by Nobuo Uematsu



Ripped, translated, scanned, etc. by nextday.

Battle with the Great Primal Beast (http://picosong.com/TnYu/) http://i.imgur.com/v9WfOyB.gif

Download: https://mega.nz/#!AUc2ACwR!5onR8D8OmCOlZbCXoZBdRawMpAXSqQJxV7YhGX3XC_Q

Here's a rare album that I was able to pick up. A limited number of copies were sold at the orchestral concert in Tokyo last month.

Granblue Fantasy is a turn-based RPG set in a world of floating islands and airships. It is one of the most popular mobile games in Japan right now having surpassed 12 million users earlier this year. In addition to numerous CDs and merchandise, which includes a piano album by Keiji Inai, it's also receiving a TV anime in January (rumored to be 4 seasons). The lead composer for the series is Tsutomu Narita, a self-taught composer with experience writing for wind orchestra, chamber orchestra, and brass band. He is also known for being one of Nobuo Uematsu's apprentices. Uematsu contributed the main theme and a few additional themes (such as the battle theme) while Narita arranged and orchestrated all 18 tracks on this album. It's a strong major debut for a composer that is only 32 years old. I expect we will hear much more from him in the future.

Quality upload as usual, nextday. Many thanks!

Wow, at this point it's almost expected... wonderful share as always :)

Oh and there's also an upcoming Granblue Fantasy console adventure game coming with those two composing the music as well. They are really pushing it as the next "Final Fantasy".

Thanks for Granblue Fantasy Orchstra.

Never paid much Attention to this Thread, has there been any more
Videogame Music posted in here ?

Thanks for the incredible quality share nextday, I must say, I'm really enjoying most of this so far (currently at half). The piece "Encounter with the Supreme Ruler Separated from the Sky (http://picosong.com/Tn2T/)" reminds alot of Hamazu's "Saber's Edge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbULEiuFgo)", mostly due to the rhythm and piano section, but this just takes it to the next level with the better orchestration it has here. The Main Theme is also a nice comeback from Uematsu (despite obviously having to be arranged some parts here by another person) who hasn't been doing that strong lately on me.

By the way, has anyone seen the first part of Mahoutsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus' Bride)? The intro and credits music shows some promise already and the ensemble size is quite decent.

Thanks for Granblue Fantasy Orchstra.

Never paid much Attention to this Thread, has there been any more
Videogame Music posted in here ?

Not a ton recently but most of the good orchestral game music has been shared. Lots of the recent posts were more orchestral concert albums that have come out lately. As I mentioned in regards to FFXV, few games will have 100% orchestral music because it is harder to make that fit with world map or dungeon exploration.

Thanks for the incredible quality share nextday, I must say, I'm really enjoying most of this so far (currently at half). The piece "Encounter with the Supreme Ruler Separated from the Sky (http://picosong.com/Tn2T/)" reminds alot of Hamazu's "Saber's Edge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbULEiuFgo)", mostly due to the rhythm and piano section, but this just takes it to the next level with the better orchestration it has here. The Main Theme is also a nice comeback from Uematsu (despite obviously having to be arranged some parts here by another person) who hasn't been doing that strong lately on me.

By the way, has anyone seen the first part of Mahoutsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus' Bride)? The intro and credits music shows some promise already and the ensemble size is quite decent.

I know... what the hell has Uematsu been up to lately? Twenty years ago he was writing some of the loveliest melodies in the history of not just media scoring but of MUSIC ITSELF - and now he's barely doing anything at all and FF14 was the most crushing disappointment. Remember when he used to write stuff like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88_PGUa69aE

I know... what the hell has Uematsu been up to lately? Twenty years ago he was writing some of the loveliest melodies in the history of not just media scoring but of MUSIC ITSELF - and now he's barely doing anything at all and FF14 was the most crushing disappointment. Remember when he used to write stuff like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88_PGUa69aE

Well at least we got Lost Odyssey out of him, which is still one of my favorites. I still wonder what the hell caused him to write such average music for FF14. Plus from what I can tell, while Uematsu can write a melody he can't orchestrate or arrange all that well so writing for modern games requires good arrangers. But maybe he just decided to relax and leave the writing to the young composers.

Also, wow this Granblue Fantasy Orchestra album is stupendous. Lovely orchestrations and recording. Will take a while to digest all these themes.

Whew... miracles happen... Drifters gets a 2CD release on christmas. I hope it does not stay exclusive to the BD-Box. Now a Hellsing soundtrack box pls...

for Amano fans
Concertino for Electric Violin and Electric Guitar
Masamicz Amano / Kawagoe Sohwa Wind Ensemble
from KYO-EN X Volume 1 (2007)

DL (Thread 176366)


BAND ISHIN 2015
バンド維新2015

FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!B9IiSY4Q!ma-D1iztcHrtMl049MKAbTl65RzCF-dq8TVSMq1nMlw)

Well at least we got Lost Odyssey out of him, which is still one of my favorites. I still wonder what the hell caused him to write such average music for FF14. Plus from what I can tell, while Uematsu can write a melody he can't orchestrate or arrange all that well so writing for modern games requires good arrangers. But maybe he just decided to relax and leave the writing to the young composers.

Indeed, Uematsu can't orchestrate for toffee - but that never mattered one jot because he was a master tunesmith and his sense of drama was flawless. Shiro Hamaguchi was the perfect complement for him. Whereas other lesser composers end up working with orchestrators because they actually need help with the rudiments of symphonic composition or they have an ability to translate on-screen drama into musical drama... Uematsu used an orchestrator purely because he knew nothing about orchestrating. Uematsu's mouthwatering melodies, heartbreaking harmonies, and pitch-perfect dramatic narrative went to Hamaguchi who slathered on the orchestral colour (and a veritable torrent of woodwind trills!) and that was that, instant classics. Now, I don't know... I have absolutely ZERO Final Fantasy nostalgia, I never played the games, and I don't give a shit about any of the characters - I am as unbiased as you can get and I'm interested only in the music - and I think Uematsu's work then was almost miraculous, and now it's thoroughly boring.

Lost Odyssey isn't bad, but it's no Final Fantasy 7. Where's the six minute love theme that will still be heard in the concert hall twenty years from now?

The Granblue Fantasy Orchestra album has its moments, but am I the only person who's sick of this paint-by-number Japanese orchestration which seems to be going for the world record of number of snare and bass-drum strokes you can squash into five minutes of music?

The Granblue Fantasy Orchestra album has its moments, but am I the only person who's sick of this paint-by-number Japanese orchestration which seems to be going for the world record of number of snare and bass-drum strokes you can squash into five minutes of music?

I've been hearing this album a lot lately, and you're absolutely correct on that: it's as Japanese as it can get in it's hat of tricks of japan orchestrations, but there's more than just your standard snares and taiko drums playing during that whole time, right? One of my favorite examples is the "Leviathan Omega" track, which is probably the most Japanese of all the tracks you can found in this album, you got your snares, you got your taikos, but you also got some colorful rhythmic section accompanied with the use of vibraphones that makes me remember of Japan's 1991-1996 Orchestral Game Concerts, and I couldn't be more happier about that. That being said, I'll give you that the melody reeks of standardized pop repetitiveness behind all the prettiness of it's sound.

In the end, as long as one of the most (if not, the most) prestigious of Japan orchestras out there, can improve something from this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ5TBh5Qkdk) to this (http://picosong.com/TyZm/), it'll take a while before I can even consider getting sick of it :D (I know that bland FFXV concert did).

Yes Uematsu wrote some fantastic melodies and we have plenty of good orchestral versions of the highlights. Sadly though we are limited to the highlights in that regard and I just can't listen to the original soundtracks that much anymore whether FF7, FF8, etc. This is why I am hoping the FF7 Remake will give us properly orchestral versions of the full soundtrack or at least most of it.

Here's the Granblue Fantasy piano album that I mentioned for anyone interested: https://mega.nz/#!kUlG1AgY!jHbnqpFilfUGukf6RFhmd2cRUtv9ltxL7PBhE9KazG0

Arranged by Keiji Inai. Performed by Duke of Pianeet (a.k.a. Yui Morishita). Slightly different song selection.

there's more than just your standard snares and taiko drums playing during that whole time, right?

Oh, absolutely - I didn't mean to say it was devoid of worth, only that I'm tired of every modern Japanese orchestrator thinking he needs to have the snares going "ta, ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta" and the bass drum delineating every bar line through 99.9% of the music. It reeks of laziness. The music, as you say, is structurally little more than J-Pop, which explains a lot. That's the problem with all these concerts of runaway money-printing franchises that just don't have very good music. Kancolle, for example, has people literally tripping over themselves to make arrangements of the score - we even have fan collectives actually hiring orchestras and making albums. Is any of this because the music is just THAT WONDERFUL, or is it because Kancolle has sexy girls with big tits, is phenomenally successful, and makes a shit-tonne of money?


In the end, as long as one of the most (if not, the most) prestigious of Japan orchestras out there, can improve something from this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ5TBh5Qkdk) to this (http://picosong.com/TyZm/), it'll take a while before I can even consider getting sick of it :D (I know that bland FFXV concert did).

Same here; I'm just left with the same sense of emptiness; the thought that the modern symphony orchestra is capable of so much and the leitmotivic film score is perhaps the greatest modern storyteller... and we get track after track of happy, bouncy tunes that 12 year-old girls can dance to, that might as well be called "Super♥Lover♥Flower♥Sassy♥Romance♥Girl KITTEN★POWER NYAA!! meets ORCHESTRA!"

Oh, absolutely - I didn't mean to say it was devoid of worth, only that I'm tired of every modern Japanese orchestrator thinking he needs to have the snares going "ta, ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta" and the bass drum delineating every bar line through 99.9% of the music.

A valid point which I have to agree to. I prefer French school to everything but the kitchen sink. If you look at the master (Williams) you will notice that the bass drum is used very sparingly, more like a "wow" effect than orchestral color. Many greats have this precise sense of knowing when to use what in which quantity. I mean during the entire 5th Symphony, Beethoven only ever employs the trombones at the very end for one of the greatest finales to a musical piece ever. If you start your piece with a bass drum at fff it becomes very hard to top that.

Damnit Tango! Now that you mentioned it I can't stop hearing how standard the orchestrations are here. It became more obvious when listening in the car because the speakers have more bass. Typical standard of having almost every main theme played with solo instrument and not much in the way of meaty orchestra. I went from Granblue Orchestra to Distant Worlds and immediately was more interested in the fuller orchestra.

Forming some thoughts on Granblue Fantasy Orchestra as I listen. I see what y'all mean about the formulaic structure of some of the writing, but in most cases I'm experiencing the problem, it's mostly the writing itself that doens't grab me. The main theme starts out nice, but I kept waiting for some darker tones or meaningful B section to draw out a little more drama from the melody, but that doesn't really happen. That's to its design, as a bouncy, happy tune for a lighthearted fantasy game, but its repetitiveness and relentless cheeryness grates after awhile. It's like holding your breath for the whole duration. Ya just want it to go somewhere.

Can't say I really mind the snares. I love percussion in all its forms, and it livens up the tracks nicely where its used. I'll take it over how a great deal of early-to-mid-90's game orchestra albums could sound like sleepy Elfman(Finally sat down w Dracula New Classic during a spontaneous Castlevania soundtrack marathon for the games, and holy lawd is it a snoozefest)

I generally prefer the color of the orchestra better in the more atmospheric tracks, but I can't say much for the melodies themselves. Fremie Island and Lumacie are both quite nice, w the former sounding Amano or Hisaishi-ish in places, but doubtful I'll really remember a lot of this in the long run.

Colossus Omega rules.

EDIT: Yeah, these drums are starting to grate after three straight pieces.

Please comment more in this thread :) Seems you have plenty to contribute to our discussions.

Some random cutesy idol soundtrack... you know how it goes. Straight out of Tenkai Knights (http://picosong.com/TCMc). Good to hear Hoashi still gets to flex his muscles. A little appetizer for Table Tennis perhaps.

I quite like the orchestration for Granblue! Sure it has your cookie-cutter stuff, but this shows some great promise for Tsutomu Narita as a composer and arranger. And the fact that Uematsu is probably teaching him how to write melodies like him shows that the future isn't so grim. If Narita can churn out tunes like the master tunesmith Uematsu is, we have a great future ahead.

Narita is NOT by any means Hamaguchi, but he has made some nice FF orchestrations in Hamaguchi-san's absence. Certainly better than trite Nakamura makes. I am so glad he got schlepped off to the side in favor of Narita.

And it is about time I hear some Matsuo again! Nice to see a dual CD release for Drifters! Hopefully there is more Warsaw this time.

I just recently revisited Laura Karpman's Everquest II score and once again realized how great of a composer she is. I just love her style and attention to melody. Thundering Steps is quite possibly my favorite out of the whole bunch as well as the Character Creation theme.

ALSO, is it just me or does Tragic on Granblue Orchestra sound very similar to Forever Rachel from FFVI?

Coming from repeated listens of Granblue, you should be right at home with Valkyria, which seems to be in similar spirit: Valkyria TGS Trailer 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnuFNnNSFC4). There's a certain air of enthusiasm present and no matter orchestrational shortcomings (just as I don't approve the constant bass drum hits and sweels in Granblue), as cheesy as it sounds, the feelings of grandeur are properly conveyed here too regardless. And that's what matters.

And Tanaka's back with class: Gravity Daze 2 TGS 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywWof1b8L7Y), quite the endearing vocal reprise of "Old Town". The gameplay featurettes also indicate a TON of cool and relaxing jazzy pieces. I very much approve. And if the little story snippets are proberly scored we should be in for a treat.



@JBarron2005: I agree, the game music world needs more people like Laura Karpman, composers with actual talent and not merely pretenders who cloak themselves with pompous nonsense ("Really guys, I listened to the master tapes of Star Trek: The Motion Picture") but have never demonstrated any talent whatsoever in their scores. Only pastiche. Seeing more and more games coming out with incredibly dull and lifeless music with by the numbers RC pastiche also isn't helping things either. The quantity of scores like Everquest II in the (western) game world is far too low. What's Lennie Moore up to these days anyway...

The last time Karpman worked on a noteworthy game score was Disneyland Adventures (https://soundcloud.com/pyramind/kinect-disneyland-adventures-8?in=pyramind/sets/kinect-disneyland-adventures) and that was 5 years ago.

how about a laura karpman best of compilation then?

And Tanaka's back with class: Gravity Daze 2 TGS 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRf5XKeo-DQ&list=PL67E3F1A03C31DD97), quite the endearing vocal reprise of "Old Town". The gameplay featurettes also indicate a TON of cool and relaxing jazzy pieces. I very much approve. And if the little story snippets are proberly scored we should be in for a treat.

It's a vocal arrangement from the very first track of Gravity Daze "Discovery Of Gravitation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRf5XKeo-DQ&list=PL67E3F1A03C31DD97)", seeing how much content the trailer is promoting for the game, I hope to GOD they give Tanaka better resources for more live orchestral recording, considering most of the positive feedback of his first work (Also the game scenes, Gunbuster much? :D). Really really excited to see how this comes!

I know... what the hell has Uematsu been up to lately? Twenty years ago he was writing some of the loveliest melodies in the history of not just media scoring but of MUSIC ITSELF - and now he's barely doing anything at all and FF14 was the most crushing disappointment. Remember when he used to write stuff like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88_PGUa69aE

Bit late, but I'll always reach back a bit for my boy Uematsu.

The problem specifically with his FF14 work was, true to form for FF14 1.0, a lack of proper direction. As far as I know he wrote the entire soundtrack bereft of basically any context for what the game would be about, or where the music would play. That's why if you listen to all his 14 stuff it varies wildly in tone and quality, and a lot of pieces didn't end up being good fits for the actual gameplay they were accompanying.

(although I'll always hold Tempest as one of his best battle themes)

Masayoshi Soken has, fortunately, been blowing it out of the park repeatedly in 2.0 and has been slowly re-adding a lot of the Uematsu tracks where appropriate to game content and they're all well received. Hell, there was a bit of a stir when they finally put Twilight over Thanalan back into the game - you can buy individual music scrolls in game to change the background music of your personal housing and ToT instantly went into the tens of millions of ingame currency for awhile there.

Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Mqf2KBBEc

Well this is unfortunate news: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-rogue-one-replaces-929387


Also, I saw this video essay on the state of film music and thought it was worth sharing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcXsH88XlKM

Well this is unfortunate news: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-rogue-one-replaces-929387


Also, I saw this video essay on the state of film music and thought it was worth sharing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcXsH88XlKM
nothing unfortunate about the replacement,judging by deplats mediocre harry potter scores.he is not very good at action.firewall has silvestri temptrack written all over it, largo winch scores are second rate arnold bond scores.godzilla was pretty bland.i hope giacchino goes back to his MoH style for this.

Isn't this getting out of control, lately? Studios going crazy and restricting and replacing everything because frankly they don't have the slightest clue what artistic integry is and second, they don't really understand what people want at this point and are just flipping crazy.
Studio interference in artistic vision is getting to the point where it's open opression of artistic talent and it's made even worse by the fact that in most cases it actually costs them profits. When will they learn that sticking to a liberal agenda practices by a crazy minority is not going to fly well with common-sense of the masses. Most people are sick and tired of disrespectful reboots, remakes and sequels. Proven facts of bribery in media, bullying of actors and discomfort on everyone working in this godforsaken industry is getting to parody level. Every actor, photographer, composer etc. with at least all screws right in their head is getting vocal about it. Won't be long now until a studio orchestra is throwing a tantrum at Giacchino and the RC clones and tells them to "fuck off" (I know they are doing it behind camera). Over the years there have also been some marvelous jems of "serious" actors from your childhood bashing their colleagues on live camera because "the studio forced you on us (you prick)" Zimmer recently openly bashed a film he was working on and is also fed up by superhero movies in general. And remember Ben-Hurt... I don't.

Coming from TGS is kind of cathartic: Who in their right mind would want to work in an industry as an artist where you feel uncomfortable all the time, can't have the freedom to create what you envision without the studio knocking at your door every second, you can't have fun, you can't even tell a joke anymore and you must obey ridicolous rules and practices? I'm of course generalizing but it's not far off from the hard truth that nobody seems to love doing anything no more over there.


@hater: I know I beat a dead horse but Desplat is at least a real composer, classical trained and he earned the respect of orchestral studio musicians. A respect they don't share for Giacchino, although they won't say that on camera. I bet all the mediocrity of Desplat was studio decisions and it's pretty clear to me. He can't do action? Rise of the Guardians! He also wrote some wonderful stuff for Secret Life of Pets. He is yet another victim of studio meddling.

You do realize Alexandre Desplat was replaced because of schedule issues?

Sorry to bring up more of GD, but I just found this special live concert for Gravity Daze 2 with 5 players (Tanaka on the keyboard) if anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdTrmwQuHVc

Oh, BUGGER... Out goes a fine composer who hasn't quite hit his stride yet but who would FLOURISH given the right assignment, in comes a non-musician who lives and breathes amateurish pastiche and tuneless, lobotomised John Williams impressions.

I didn't know if Desplat would do a good score or not, but I wanted to finding out. Michael Giacchino... HE must be thrilled, but a collective groan went up in the film music community today.

If he goes full-on John Williams, this could be at least interesting... it may even be his best work to date, but it's going to be instantly forgettable as an artistic statement.

Oh, BUGGER... Out goes a fine composer who hasn't quite hit his stride yet but who would FLOURISH given the right assignment, in comes a non-musician who lives and breathes amateurish pastiche and tuneless, lobotomised John Williams impressions.

I didn't know if Desplat would do a good score or not, but I wanted to finding out. Michael Giacchino... HE must be thrilled, but a collective groan went up in the film music community today.

If he goes full-on John Williams, this could be at least interesting... it may even be his best work to date, but it's going to be instantly forgettable as an artistic statement.

I've given up on the idea that he might actually write another decent pastiche of John Williams. Though who knows maybe they will pull a Jurassic Park and throw in some classic John Williams material rather than having Giacchino adapt it.

On another note, James Horner's Magnificent Seven is out. I'm not clear just how much he wrote and how much this other guy did but it certainly feels like Horner at times.

it's going to be instantly forgettable as an artistic statement.

I really don't think "artistry" has been on Disney's (or any other movie studio for that matter) radar for a very long time. It's all product, product, product to them now.

I really don't think "artistry" has been on Disney's (or any other movie studio for that matter) radar for a very long time. It's all product, product, product to them now.

Oh, I know - but sometimes you get artistry as a by-product - Williams' Force Awakens, for example. ;)

Oh, I know - but sometimes you get artistry as a by-product - Williams' Force Awakens, for example. ;)

Yes, but Williams is a Force unto himself with power sufficient to repel the Dark Side. :)

A happy occurence this evening; about fifteen years ago I was friends and business partners with a guy who had a friend who owned an estate agency business. The estate agent purchased the long-disused building next door and went in to start clearing out ready for renovation. It was completely inhabitable and they had to wear hard hats whilst in the premises. In the centre of a huge room there was a stack of things that neither the estate agent nor my friend could identify. I was invited to check it out, so in we went with hard hat and torches, and what did I discover? About 500 classical albums of 78rpm records from the 1910s up to about the mid 1940s.

Most of them were completely destroyed (the records themselves had literally turned to dust) by decades of poor storage. I spent the next three days in that room (only leaving to sleep) sorting through everything. I found just thirty albums which were physically in one piece and looked as though they might play. Attempts on the least-valuable album yielded poor results; though the record looked stable the moment it went to be cleaned the grooves literally flaked away. Worried about doing more damage, we abandoned the project and what survived went into storage. Neither friendship nor business arrangements survived, but I got to keep the records. Years went on, I forgot they existed... until this evening, when they turned up and I decided to have another go.

Having been in a dry and temperature-controlled environment since around 2004, I theorised that it might be worth trying to clean them again. Oh, boy...

Here is one side of Bruno Walter conducting Schubert's 9th Symphony in 1938. If the rest of the records (Schubert's 9th takes up six shellac records) have held up as well as this one has, I think I'm going to be able to transfer the whole thing and, what's more, achieve better quality than any of the "professional" restorations made of this recording in the past. I'm really excited!

https://mega.nz/#!35ZkkZhI!0lrJT6u8JjfmLtzGRWw6aT_Khi5jMQvuFBiG8FbwJf8

The Magnificent Seven seems to be largely based on Horner's Legends of the Fall action style, which was revisited in The Missing, except Legends and The Missing had amazing themes. This one, not so much. Not sure why there was no attempt at an adventure theme. I guess there was no room for one with all that brooding underscore. I've not seen the movie, but from the music it feels more "period thriller" than "action/adventure".

Best tracks: 8, 13, 17, 20, 21, 23, 25, and 26 (obviously)

@pensquawk: Tanaka seems to really love playing band at the moment: Another little stage performance from TGS with gameplay presentation inbetween. Tanaka also comments on the score a little. A little preview of some new themes as well, played on electric violin. Kohei Tanaka X TGS 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kzoku7q8Ds#t=24m34s) Fantastic camera work too, I have to say.

For anyone who wants a little appetizer for the game score, here's a compilation of the two special stage concerts, just the music:

Gravity Daze 2: Special Stage Concert (https://mega.nz/#!o1IhEKpQ!Or3UZec-svXRaNY7iMeiCmw13cb5YnARpVC3pbW4c1Y)

Keyboard/Piano: Kohei Tanaka

hello

does anyone knows this tune from what movie is?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL_xh-5FS5o
some people claim that this tune comes from Lucie Ball show of 50s but unfortunately on youtube videos i cant find it from that specific tv show
it has to be a 50s tv show or movie i am searching this tune for over 25 years

any help would be appreciated

@pensquawk: Tanaka seems to really love playing band at the moment: Another little stage performance from TGS with gameplay presentation inbetween. Tanaka also comments on the score a little. A little preview of some new themes as well, played on electric violin. Kohei Tanaka X TGS 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kzoku7q8Ds#t=24m34s)

Man, they're really promoting the crap out of this, aren't they? Makes me think we might get something bigger than from the first game, and hopefully this will payoff from all that fake brass we've been getting on Endride and One Piece. One can only hope.

@tangotreats: I'd like to conclude a bit with the Granblue Fantasy Orchestra before moving on with the next topic, I totally agree with your point about the music that this concert is based off, not being that very good to begin with, but I still stand on about the use of percussion during this whole event, isn't really a deal breaker for me. It's not Phantasy Star concerts, levels of insulting (using techno percussive loops during the whole track in a live playing and what could've been good music if it wasn't due to that element?) and even I've heard this sort of thing happen with the greats such as Amano, where sometimes he goes on full march mode with the snares and timpani during almost the whole track (http://picosong.com/TL5z/) (I know, I'm cheating by using Giant Robo as an example due to all the sources he took and it's way better music than what I'm trying to point out) or sometimes, depends on the nature of the music that is based off? Like Hamaguchi's full on march of Girls Und Panzer, if you get through the constant marching snares and timpani (which, mind you are alot more variable), the music is really good on it's own.

Also, how daaaaaaare you question the artistic integrity that was put on to make this concert come true!? Of course these HUGE () and BOUNCY () tunes were played because on how great and memorable were on the game!!1

Now, is it the best concert of games we've had this year? f**k hell no, that belongs to me, to The Orchestral SaGa concert, can't go wrong when you have Hamaguchi, Yamashita and Kameoka on the arranging and orchestrating process and it even did the hybrid rock/orchestral track way better than what the FF XV concert with that sloppy drumming on the background. (Sorry, but I really found that concert on it's whole pretty boring).

In the end, what I gain from listening on this, was to discover and look forward to Tsutomu Narita's future works, and hopefully we'll get less percussion and more sweeping melodies next time, because I as you, prefer the story telling element of an orchestra, but I don't mind either if it also plays the percussion, it's wierd, but, my mind kind of ignores that after a while and focuses on the rest of the woodwinds, strings, brass.

Star Wars: Rogue One: When I saw that article about Desplat's replacement, my fears instantly were made true and I so called it: Giacchino was sooner or later gonna have this role, it was quite predictable to say the very least -proceeds to have those horrible Jurassic World flashbacks-. Giacchino, doing all the popular Disney movies, meanwhile, Joel McNeely, a man who could pretty much do a better Williams impression, stuck with it's crappy sequels and neverending spawns of Tinkerbell movies. Stay classy movie industry :D

...I still stand on about the use of percussion during this whole event, isn't really a deal breaker for me.

I seem to be misquoted; again. I have absolutely no problem with percussion - percussion has been a part of the modern symphony orchestra for centuries and properly deployed, it can be incredibly powerful. The Amano cue you provided is interesting because that is an example of music which knows how to use percussion properly, for dramatic effect, and most important knows when to shut up - like from 2:24 to 3:04 when the snare rhythm is completely absent. That cue tells a story, it develops, it changes mood, it builds tension and allows that tension to break, and is interesting both as a listening experience and as a matter for analysis. The snare rhythm serves a purpose here; its repetitious nature suggests inevitability and focus - a driving force at play, a steady march of evil.

My problem in Granblue is the lack of imagination - and looking at the bigger picture, the paint-by-numbers orchestration which has been done a thousand times in Japan already. It's just "the way" orchestral versions of playful J-Pop tunes are done. That particular style of percussion is over-done in Japan to a point of cliche and isn't anything as complex as picking instruments of the orchestra to enhance your storytelling - it's just there to give a rhythm against which the aforementioned bouncy tunes can play and still have something for the percussion section to do. I imagine the snare player with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra considers that he didn't spend years at University to sit at the back of a world-famous orchestra tapping out triplets in unimaginative arrangements of poor music made by unskilled musicians.


It's not Phantasy Star concerts, levels of insulting (using techno percussive loops during the whole track in a live playing and what could've been good music if it wasn't due to that element?)

Well, that was a different kettle of fish entirely - substantially it was a pop concert at which an orchestra was present as a bonus - and obviously they threw a drum-kit and all these electronic noises in with the orchestra to appeal to an audience probably more at home getting concussed in a mosh pit) - and despite it all, some of the music was truly excellent; Souhei Kano's arrangements particularly made a genuine effort to make something special. I didn't find all the sounds to my taste but as a purely musical experience it was fascinating; harmonically, orchestrally, melodically unique and imaginative.

In comparison, we have Granblue - which, to its credit, gives the floor completely to the orchestra, but conversely underuses it with crappy music and bland, cliched arrangements.


Like Hamaguchi's full on march of Girls Und Panzer, if you get through the constant marching snares and timpani (which, mind you are alot more variable), the music is really good on it's own.

That, and in music that is meant to evoke a particular style and era, marching snares and timpani are entirely appropriate and complimentary.


(Sorry, but I really found that concert on it's whole pretty boring).

Aye. It had a few moments of interest for me, but on the whole it was forgettable. The only reason I remember Starlit Waltz is because it's by Basil Poledouris. ;)


In the end, what I gain from listening on this, was to discover and look forward to Tsutomu Narita's future works, and hopefully we'll get less percussion and more sweeping melodies next time, because I as you, prefer the story telling element of an orchestra, but I don't mind either if it also plays the percussion, it's wierd, but, my mind kind of ignores that after a while and focuses on the rest of the woodwinds, strings, brass.

I just hope he expands - significantly - his musical language, and realises what the orchestra can actually do. He obviously has the textbook skills in abundance; let's just hope he finds his imagination and a sense of melody along the way.


Star Wars: Rogue One[/U]: When I saw that article about Desplat's replacement, my fears instantly were made true and I so called it: Giacchino was sooner or later gonna have this role

It was almost inevitable; when the new trilogy was announced I was sure that Williams would turn it down, or they wouldn't even bother to ask him, and Giacchino would be involved. Now, we're going to find out what a Giacchino theatrical Star Wars score sounds like regardless.


Giacchino, doing all the popular Disney movies,

It feels like Giacchino is scoring nearly bloody EVERYTHING lately!


...meanwhile, Joel McNeely, a man who could pretty much do a better Williams impression, stuck with it's crappy sequels and neverending spawns of Tinkerbell movies.

Joel McNeely... technically a million light years ahead of Giacchino, but still not an interesting composer to me. Like John Debney, he lives by his ability to provide budget impressions of other composers who have either retired, died, turned down your movie, or asked for a fee you can't afford.

The only person who should sound like John Williams is John Williams. The moment a composer tries to ape another composer I completely lose interest in their music and professional respect for them as a musician.

Star Wars doesn't have to be Williams to be good. To "fit in" it needs to be melodic, intelligent, motivic, developmental, character-driven, and composed and arranged in a traditional, orchestral manner. Apart from that, anybody can do it. Yoshihisa Hirano with a big orchestra could do a MEAN Star Wars and he could do it without even ALLUDING to John Williams' theme.

The problem in Hollywood, John Williams has been the best for so long, and he's now the ONLY composer currently working there who has the power and commands the respect to be able to write music outside of the "norm" - themeless, simplistic, bombastic wallpaper a-la Media Ventures.

All that "I hate composers doing impressions of other composers" aside, I actually hope Giacchino does attempt a John Williams impression with Rogue One, but only because if he doesn't it's guaranteed to be a genuinely terrible score, and I would take a shoddy John Williams impression over that any day.

I seem to be misquoted; again.

Oops, didn't meant my reply to come that way, I guess this is what happens when I'm very limited on the choice of words I use, sorry about that!


The Amano cue you provided is interesting because that is an example of music which knows how to use percussion properly, for dramatic effect, and most important knows when to shut up - like from 2:24 to 3:04 when the snare rhythm is completely absent. That cue tells a story, it develops, it changes mood, it builds tension and allows that tension to break, and is interesting both as a listening experience and as a matter for analysis. The snare rhythm serves a purpose here; its repetitious nature suggests inevitability and focus - a driving force at play, a steady march of evil.

Interesting, I never looked it at that way (besides the fact that I lack any of the musical knowledge to actually tackle back when it comes to theory territory). The segment you mentioned with no percussion is actually one of my favorite parts of that cue, it portrays a grand sense of heroic struggle when those heavy strings come into place right before they get back to the snares bit. Point taken.


Souhei Kano's arrangements particularly made a genuine effort to make something special. I didn't find all the sounds to my taste but as a purely musical experience it was fascinating; harmonically, orchestrally, melodically unique and imaginative.


Actually, I did mention before that Souhei Kano's arrangements were the pieces that grab my attention the most (and also loved every bit of Fractale), skillfully arranged and orchestrated, I just love Kano's orchestrating attention for detail and at the same time he can put a convincing melody, it's almost insane. Even after various listens on his pieces, I still discover something new about it every once in a while and I wish we could get more out of him. I also liked some Amano arrangements, if it wasn't for the fact that they had electronica loops playing most of the time, like how Sagisu shits on the hard working orchestrations he's done to put his earsore bundle of HEAVY PERCUSSION LOOPS playing on the whole freaking track.

I'll actually take, Kano's p̶i̶e̶c̶e̶s̶ arrangements over all the ones played from Granblue any day. Damn, now I REALLY want to see what Souhei Kano could provide if he'd had the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra under his belt without the asterisk of getting the credit of "arrangement", but I guess that's asking way too much!

Oops, didn't meant my reply to come that way, I guess this is what happens when I'm very limited on the choice of words I use, sorry about that!

No, no, my fault. I guess I just have a kneejerk reaction to any kind of meaty discussion, as I am so used to saying something perfectly clear and having my words twisted out of all recognition in order to "justify" an attack. I have always respected your posts here.


Interesting, I never looked it at that way (besides the fact that I lack any of the musical knowledge to actually tackle back when it comes to theory territory). The segment you mentioned with no percussion is actually one of my favorite parts of that cue, it portrays a grand sense of heroic struggle when those heavy strings come into place right before they get back to the snares bit. Point taken.

Thaaaaaaaaat's what I was getting at. :)

Granblue plays it so safe. I wouldn't care, except that I am aware that I am hearing the same number of musicians, and the same calibre of musicians, as produce this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAnVrdQ3qFk - with 80 musicians, Narita manages to produce less of an overall effect and less orchestral colour than Schreker did with just 23 in his Chamber Symphony - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ReOj-e05JQ


Actually, I did mention before that Souhei Kano's arrangements were the pieces that grab my attention the most (and also loved every bit of Fractale), skillfully arranged and orchestrated, I just love Kano's orchestrating attention for detail and at the same time he can put a convincing melody, it's almost insane. Even after various listens on his pieces, I still discover something new about it every once in a while and I wish we could get more out of him. I also liked some Amano arrangements, if it wasn't for the fact that they had electronica loops playing most of the time, like how Sagisu shits on the hard working orchestrations he's done to put his earsore bundle of HEAVY PERCUSSION LOOPS playing on the whole freaking track.

Quoted for truth. The Amano arrangements are a little safer, but still highly skilled I think. Amano is more conventional than Kano - from what I've heard of Kano so far (not NEARLY enough) his brain is wired up like Hirano's. Like Amano, his orchestrations bely his training in wind bands; but his orchestral technique is so unique, all it takes is one chord and you know it's him just by the way he voices his harmonies. And once you start bringing actual composition into the mix (also in common with Amano and Hirano, he may receive "arrangement" credit but he's doing far, far more than that) you get something really, really wonderful.

On that Phantasy Star album, compare "Let The Winds Blow" (Kano) with "Save This World" (Amano) - both are slow, and lengthy grand romantic themes initially written by the same person - but the latter brings to mind Giant Robo, and the former brings to mind Fractale!

Resonant Nation - Kano again. Everything thrown in the mix here; we're getting techno shoved down our throats, electronica, and God-knows what else... But there's more creativity in that one chord at 4:22 than there is in all of Granblue put together.

La L'inno per il Idola - Kano again. The theme at the beginning is very much a product of its composers - it has a lot in common with Save This World and with other scores by the same team - most notably the Mario at the Olympic Games series... but the arrangement. The very first chord again cries out Kano with that awkward dissonance in the brass. Then things really start to kick off, and in comes a solo tenor vocalise - dissonant, dangerous, exciting. The whole piece is like that - it's got so bloody much in there it almost feels like it's going to come apart at the seams. Music that just makes you silently say to yourself "Oh, shit..." because you realise stuff is coming in faster than your head can process it.


I'll actually take, Kano's p̶i̶e̶c̶e̶s̶ arrangements over all the ones played from Granblue any day. Damn, now I REALLY want to see what Souhei Kano could provide if he'd had the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra under his belt without the asterisk of getting the credit of "arrangement", but I guess that's asking way too much!

I cannot for the life of me understand why this hasn't happened. Either Fractale sold collossally badly, or he pissed somebody off in the industry and now nobody will hire him. How in the name of bloody hell can you appear completely at random, from the middle of nowhere, write the score of the decade for an anime series, than disappear? Why isn't he going to Warsaw? If they can afford TWO orchestras for Shiro f****g Sagisu and he can't even WRITE for orchestra, where is Kano? Good lord, give him a crap 40 piece orchestra in Sound Inn AT LEAST...

nextday, do you know by chance if Tanaka had multiple sessions for Gravity Daze 2? Because the cutscenes sound significantly larger than the gameplay tracks so far. After recent videos and interviews the game also appears to be HUGE compared to its predecessor so I imagine you would play it safe with a small studio ensemble for gameplay and hit it big time for story moments. Also a grand symphonic seafaring moment is the very first thing you hear from the demo so this could turn out to be really REALLY special, even by Tanaka's standard. Maybe they even hired the Tokyo Philharmonic for one or two pieces, wouldn't surprise me.

Sorry if I also won't shut up about it but there's just so much professional fun across the board with this project I just can't help but be a little affected :D

Bungou Stray Dog's 2nd season PV is out, judging from the music used in the trailer (like the cue from 1:15 onward) is Iwasaki going to be taking a more orchestral approach this time? Sounds a bit like Kuroshitsuji 2. The soundtrack for the first season was pretty barebones with a few synth-heavy pieces for the orchestra. This sounds a lot more high budget.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeX94e7V0_w

since everyone and his grandma is making up fake pun giacchino rogue one tracklistings let me have a stab at it:

1.Holst to a Crawl
2.Opening Credits-Director Krennics Cut
3.Mary Sue got arrested
4.I,Rebel
5.A not so Simple Plan
6.A Lecter in the Art of War
7.The Burning Ambush
8.X marks the Wings
9.Troops n`Tropes
10.Hitting the Space-Bar
11.Endor opens, Endor closes
12.Hitting the Space-Bear
13.Worlds Worst Waterslide
14.I�ve built my own Lifesaver
15.Eclipse and a half
16.Running on Asteriods
17.Inflitration of a Rogue Nation
18.Nothing to Beach about
19.Grand Theft AT-AT
20.Sith hits the Fan
21.Run,Aldo,Run!!!
22.Victory by Force
23.Republican End Credits

edit i forgot to include the mandatory digital bonus tracks

24.Better call Assault
25.A Sidious Man
26.The Empire smiles back
27.A Mute son and a Death Star
28.Jedi another Day
29.BONUS Cantina Band Song 2Drunk2Suns
30.BONUS Cantina Band Song Blaster Master

have two random once before i go to bed:

Rancor Encore
Gorgeous Luke Ass

So I have not listened to Amano's score to Giant Robo... anyone have it so that I might enrich and educate myself?

So I have not listened to Amano's score to Giant Robo... anyone have it so that I might enrich and educate myself?

Vinphonic's got you covered here. (Thread 57893)

"Gorgeous Luke Ass" made me spit out my tea all over my new suit. ;)

As far as Giacchino's Star Wars I think we're going to get...

1. John Williams - Main Title (dry acoustic, badly orchestrated version)
2. World's Worst Suspense Cue
3. Themeless Action Cue (incorporating John Williams - Main Title)
4. Themeless Action Cue
5. Themeless Action Cue (incorporating a chord progression from John Williams - Imperial March)
6. Themeless Action Cue
7. Themeless Action Cue (quoting John Williams - Something)
8. Sparse Themeless Piano-Led Emotional Cue
9. Themeless Action Cue
10. Action Cue with Imperial March badly interpolated
11. Themeless Action Cue.
12. John Williams - Main Title (dry acoustic, badly orchestrated version with awkward segue into poorly edited medley of Tracks 3, 2, 8, and 1)


Bungo Stray Dog

That sounds like a VERY big ensemble... Fascinating! Could we be able to get a substantial symphonic score from Iwasaki after all these years?

I love your prediction, worst thing, it isn't gonna be too far off. :laugh:

ah, how cruel you ppl are! I was expecting one track like 'New Action Cue' or 'New love theme' in the tracklist. ;)

So, I understand from the Forum That Shall Not Be Named that Akira Ifukube's original 1954 Godzilla score has just received a full re-recording, conducted by Ifukube's prot�g� Kaoru Wada! Score re-recordings happen rarely nowadays and as far as I know, almost never in Japan - so this makes me very happy. Ifukube's score was and still is one of the seminal film scores and I'm so happy to be able to experience it in good quality at last.

I am a little strapped for cash at the moment so it'll be the end of October before I can order it... so think of this as a public service announcement rather than as a promise of an upload. ;)

http://www.e-onkyo.com/music/album/nopa1232/

I recently discovered the magic of Godzilla music, too bad some of the best Godzilla albums aren't available for download, in lossless at least, like the Toshiba-Futureland albums. The 50th perfect boxset is great in content but the sound quality is not the best..

jeff kurstenackers wildstar score is some of the best mix of modern and classic i�ve ever heard.both volumes are on spotify, over 2 hours of music.some of it is spectacular.tons of highlights.

Senzoku Gakuen uploaded the 2016 Composer Festival featuring Katsuhisa Hattori, Toshiyuki Watanabe, Akira Senju, Akira Miyagawa, Taro Iwashiro and Kosuke Yamashita.

Each composer premiered new piece at the concert. Here is the entire program:

Toshiyuki Watanabe
"Hymn to the Forest and the Earth" (Premiere)
https://youtu.be/op3NzHsP7-s?t=141

"Toshiie to Matsu ~ Main Theme"
https://youtu.be/QIsWLAmFGdo?t=117

"Daichi no Ko ~ Main Theme"
https://youtu.be/3jiOHlmM4ic?t=15

Kosuke Yamashita
"Wriggling Waltz" (Premiere)
https://youtu.be/HHJATJHmkk8?t=248

"Chihayafuru ~ Main Theme"
https://youtu.be/YqYMQJJ8ji4?t=19

"Small Wish"
https://youtu.be/hM4r0Eof_EQ?t=125

Taro Iwashiro
"Discontinued Ballet" (Premiere)
https://youtu.be/7xJsWdxh-bo?t=252

"Ephemeral Bonds"
https://youtu.be/gZ1OY3S4UJg?t=19

Akira Miyagawa
"Love is Pain (from the musical 'Rubichi')" (Premiere)
https://youtu.be/jUU51d2KxKw?t=442

"Olivastro of the Wind"
https://youtu.be/NpC6U1Rt428?t=112

Akira Senju
"Caritas, Message from the beginning for Orchestra" (Premiere)
https://youtu.be/zVEaMrMKwW4?t=270

"Taki no Shiraito ~ Overture"
https://youtu.be/-89EOsYzTkc?t=127

"Fuurin Kazan ~ Main Theme"
https://youtu.be/uI-lGwvZJwc?t=18

Katsuhisa Hattori
"Endearing Life (2016)" (Premiere)
https://youtu.be/ZABU3_EzvyY?t=267

"Andante Romantico"
https://youtu.be/oyYglbQF54g?t=121

"Free Land"
https://youtu.be/K1WrYC-4Blk?t=77

That sounds like a VERY big ensemble... Fascinating! Could we be able to get a substantial symphonic score from Iwasaki after all these years?

Agreed. It's probably the largest ensemble I've ever heard him use, maybe even the same size as the one he had in Origin: Spirits of the Past. I wouldn't be too surprised if he actually recorded this at some other country like Moscow or Warsaw. I almost thought someone else like Ooshima had taken over the second season music until I saw his name in the credits. Whatever the case, this isn't the type of ensemble where anyone sane would just record one or two songs and call it a day, I'm expecting a huge symphonic score here. It'll be a massive departure from the stuff he's been doing the past five years, for better or worse. At the very least, I expect it to similar to his very classical score for Black Butler II:

https://clyp.it/g0peze2s

On second thought, I'm not sure if this has a much bigger ensemble than the one he used of BBII, but that one was also quite sizeable. Where was that recorded even? VGMDB doesn't have anyone other than Iwasaki listed for it.

Agreed. It's probably the largest ensemble I've ever heard him use, maybe even the same size as the one he had in Origin: Spirits of the Past. I wouldn't be too surprised if he actually recorded this at some other country like Moscow or Warsaw. I almost thought someone else like Ooshima had taken over the second season music until I saw his name in the credits. Whatever the case, this isn't the type of ensemble where anyone sane would just record one or two songs and call it a day, I'm expecting a huge symphonic score here. It'll be a massive departure from the stuff he's been doing the past five years, for better or worse. At the very least, I expect it to similar to his very classical score for Black Butler II:

On second thought, I'm not sure if this has a much bigger ensemble than the one he used of BBII, but that one was also quite sizeable. Where was that recorded even? VGMDB doesn't have anyone other than Iwasaki listed for it.
He posted a while back about a lengthy orchestra session (6 hours) for it but I didn't really think much of it at the time. He also recorded a track with his usual opera singer Yuri Kasahara.

As for Black Butler, neither of the soundtracks had musician credits so that's why none are listed.

Kurtenacker

Yeah, I guess a kick in the nuts is better than a slow disembowling with a rusty sword. Occasionally nice orchestrations, no actual music though...


Iwasaki six hour session

SIX HOURS? That's a good hour of score, there. (Assuming they recorded everyone in the same room at the same time...)

This *could* be special. Knowing the style Iwasaki has adopted in recent years, combined with his well-known and frankly stupefying dislike of orchestral music, I will reserve judgment... but it certainly would be odd to have such a long session with such an apparently big orchestra and not competently exploit them. (Unless your name is Jeff Kurtenacker; OH YES I WENT THERE.)

Thank you for the Senzoku Gakuen concert. Lovely to hear new music from everybody, particularly Hattori Sr - he's getting on now and it's nice to hear he still composes.

SIX HOURS? That's a good hour of score, there. (Assuming they recorded everyone in the same room at the same time...)

...

Thank you for the Senzoku Gakuen concert. Lovely to hear new music from everybody, particularly Hattori Sr - he's getting on now and it's nice to hear he still composes.
I know, right? The guy will be turning 80 this year and he's still writing music and performing on stage. It's nice to see. I was also a bit surprised to see Yamashita there considering he's over a decade younger than the rest of them.

Also, I checked on that Iwasaki post and he says it was 6 hours because he recorded the instruments (strings, woodwinds, brass, horns) separately with him recording piano during intervals.

Also, I checked on that Iwasaki post and he says it was 6 hours because he recorded the instruments (strings, woodwinds, brass, horns) separately with him recording piano during intervals.

Disappointing, though definitely understandable because holding that supposedly massive team of musicians together in one spot for six hours would require a budget well outside of normal weekly anime, not to mention a very large expensive studio with lots of mics all around which definitely wasn't the case from the pictures he posted. Iwasaki doesn't seem to be the type who wants to argue with dozens of musicians all at once during a recording session either.

It's quite strange hearing such a massive shift in the style of the music for the second season though. Considering this was the extent of the "orchestra" used during the first season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzZsGgEg_ss

Checking in for the first time in months to say hello. Glad to see this thread is alive and well!

BTW, anyone heard Hirano's new music in this drama soundtrack? Amazon JP (https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E7%B 3%BB-%E6%97%A5%E6%9B%9C%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E-%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E%E3%80%8C%E3%82%86%E3%8 1%A8%E3%82%8A%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%8C%E3%81%AA% E3%81%AB%E3%81%8B%E3%80%8D-%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%8 3%BB%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%88% E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-%E5%B9%B3%E9%87%8E%E7%BE%A9%E4%B9%85/dp/B01D3MOAM0)

Checking in for the first time in months to say hello. Glad to see this thread is alive and well!

BTW, anyone heard Hirano's new music in this drama soundtrack? Amazon JP (https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E7%B 3%BB-%E6%97%A5%E6%9B%9C%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E-%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E%E3%80%8C%E3%82%86%E3%8 1%A8%E3%82%8A%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%8C%E3%81%AA% E3%81%AB%E3%81%8B%E3%80%8D-%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%8 3%BB%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%88% E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-%E5%B9%B3%E9%87%8E%E7%BE%A9%E4%B9%85/dp/B01D3MOAM0)
Hello, I see you're still alive too.

That Hirano is more on the jazzy side than the orchestra side. Main Theme (http://picosong.com/TuUJ/)

There's also some rock tracks and other filler. He does manage to sneak in a bit of piano and strings but overall it's not too interesting. It's drama soundtrack, though, so that's to be expected. Hopefully he will get an anime project soon.

Welcome back :)

It's always a pleasure to see veteran members alive and kicking.

good news everyone.since desplat was "forced" to leave rogue one, luc besson hired him to score his upcoming scifiaction adventure valerian and the city of a thousand planets, which should spawn a trilogy.

good news everyone.since desplat was "forced" to leave rogue one, luc besson hired him to score his upcoming scifiaction adventure valerian and the city of a thousand planets, which should spawn a trilogy.

I wouldn't say forced, he just had schedule issues due to all the reshoots the movie had to face.

If I were Desplat and I was signed on to score F*****G STAR WARS, there isn't a "schedule issue" on this planet that could keep me away.

Seriously. Scheduling issue? For the sake of a double-booking Desplat would turn down Star Wars? REALLY?

I just don't believe it unless directly confirmed by Desplat. STAR WARS is every Hollywood composer's wet dream. For him it would be a prime opportunity to write in unashamed Golden Age style (with unlimited budget) AND getting away with it.

Well the massive Ten Commandments set is out from Intrada including almost the full complete score in stereo. Also, Varese just released a much expanded Hellboy by Beltrami for those who are into those things. I am very excited to hear the full Ten Commandments score in stereo which based on the samples will sound pretty fantastic.

Well the massive Ten Commandments set is out from Intrada including almost the full complete score in stereo. Also, Varese just released a much expanded Hellboy by Beltrami for those who are into those things. I am very excited to hear the full Ten Commandments score in stereo which based on the samples will sound pretty fantastic.

Hope The Ten Commandments is released here in the Shrine.

I just don't believe it unless directly confirmed by Desplat. STAR WARS is every Hollywood composer's wet dream. For him it would be a prime opportunity to write in unashamed Golden Age style (with unlimited budget) AND getting away with it.
That's what happened with Yared and Troy, and look how that turned out.

Uematsu Final Symphony VIII – Mono no aware (http://rspoplay.se/?m=aGgri6jqUWtXyLPpXrFiVg)


The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performs music from Nobuo Uematsu’s Final Fantasy VIII – Mono no aware (arr Roger Wanamo). Conductor is Giedr� Slekyt�. Recording from the concert Final Symphony II in the Stockholm Concert Hall, June 2016. The film is available until October 23, 2016.

Just a lurker here that thought you guys might be interested.

The film is available until October 23, 2016.
Downloading it as we speak. Will upload afterwards. Watch this post.

Edit:

Raw 720p FLV video: https://mega.nz/#!4ANHAa6J!_PQH37Oun5fPu2BeOUSEFzkV2rWt3ZTgcMLbPM8t1Hk
Re-encoded and trimmed MP3 audio: https://mega.nz/#!9FU1QSyR!WEX1uxaVSDVO2khOM4DtFSE1TaW3IFnVUJIrr-pgIbI

The audio has a frequency cut-off at 16 kHz so it's essentially 128kbps CBR.

Out of curiosity and I think it's interesting - what works, whether classical or soundtrack, do posters of this thread revisit the most?

I believe most of us are busy with our respective jobs so probably do not have enough time to listen to new music all the time. After years of musical exploration and now stuck in a corporate job, most of my listening sessions happen while commuting and working. There is so much good music out there, so it may not be possible to pinpoint your particular favorites, but try to list up to 10 works/arbitrarily broad categories you listen to the most. I'll start - in no particular order:

1. Ravel - solo piano works
2. Debussy - Preludes, Etudes, Images for solo piano
3. Kanno - orchestral works recorded in Warsaw
4. Scriabin - Piano Sonatas Nos. 5-10
5. Hashimoto - Rahxephon
6. Iwasaki - various tracks from mostly Kekkaishi, R.O.D., Kenshin, 009
7. Oshima - Tatami Galaxy, Tempest, Tenchijin
8. Hirano - Ouran, arranged tracks from Ali Project and Final Fantasy
9. Feinberg - Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-8
10. Choro Club - Aria soundtracks

I think above ten are my personal absolute favorites that have/will stick with me for years.

I tend to listen to more mainstream soundtrack music than classical, though I also like classical too and much of my favourite soundtracks have classical similarities.

For example one score I love a lot it's Nichijou which has some very classical tones or cues to it. I really love listening to it a lot. Maybe some others.. it varies

Music from 2 Japanese TV mini-series: Kenkaku Shobai ("The Swordsman's Trade") and Kumokiri Nizaemon ("The Cloud Thief"). 35 tracks by Keisuke Shinohara, 11 tracks by Sigeru Umebayashi and, sadly, only 1 track by Michiru Oshima.

GO HERE: Thread 210169

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3sCcAvPiAPKqTFV7uJzV3q-ifa57Ez89vGcLPHJgPiF9vKxA7DicV7MiOFWVG_JDv613wdF7y 0rnmpxTS4_3PIus8z15Mjsu1ZQq7AAA-W3FOHlDlSVfeKJJQQIPAw5OChtf5C0JdNgLjw3Zy98KUPs1pgO WRiVHUc5wHkPv1-ncY1vbSaWyDndm-VTyswd3LRaUx6QgFmprrLyZ8rFRRcBMoR2rxsN1FW0JOQmd5bB pb5yipJQsgCxujpGqIT4gKbX1mnq6Kcygof_LNMr8AGNSXQ6OI cDbYB3tLfP0r7vuSxqIMW-QNKWXIlqUvRQauOjkqGt58XLCbTFdlgcQ_7QaPRivF0SierQe3 BnVn7jOgqYetG1Fum-JAzW3j9po4iN2WCSwHGs83BWxL6USxsZwW5aQLfapJbwLfHOsK dvrrA5DhqOrWLX-PHUAJ6Ymq6S5gXKJ4VwufsBATk25FEsRaC8uIGcO9iyUpDztwZ oTAcF7vyzqykyf32Q-eNnk8pLR-pyYz_T2ql_NNxFJGVmLlsrleNftqpblIcSaepgQP_W6oHdWqDA M1zQJQDwcDjKiqVRvBUADzfzZ_qpTciunhwfT2So-Tv0U1bRd-VtOZqJN=w791-h350-no

I wonder... does anyone miss the music of Leonard Rosenman? Or am I the only one?

Also, with the state of most film music today, I really wish that we could resurrect Jerry Goldsmith and Michael Kamen. Those guys made great action scores, and Kamen did both the original Die Hard and Lethal Weapon movies. Jerry Goldsmith was... Jerry Goldsmith; the only man who could actually surpass John Williams.

Although, to be honest, Leonard Rosenman is a bit of an acquired taste, but if I had to choose between Rosenman and Giacchino, especially for an action film or Star Wars, I'd choose Rosenman. He might have been repetitive, but at least he knew how to utilize and orchestra to its fullest extent and actually create themes and motifs that would stick with you, regardless of whether or not you liked them.

Out of curiosity and I think it's interesting - what works, whether classical or soundtrack, do posters of this thread revisit the most?
My playlists are mostly compilations of various soundtracks. I prefer to cherry pick rather to listen to works as a whole (not always, of course).

Oshima, Kanno, Hisaishi, Hirano being some of my favorite Japanese composers.

On the classical side I listen to quite a bit of Alkan, Ravel and Debussy.

Same here, mostly my own selections from different soundtracks - Hollywood to Kanno, Sahashi, Hisaishi and more. Occasionally other music - classical to electronic stuff. It really depends on what mood i'm in and what I feel like listening to. I can't really think of ten works I return to more regularly than others.

Thank you very much nextday for the Final Fantasy piece, and also a massive thanks for the wonderful composer concert, these sort of things almost always slip under my radar so I'm really grateful for your effort to bring them into the spotlight. I'm only now having the time to dive in but it's really great so far (but theres much better pieces they(Yamashita?) could have picked over Hana Yori Dango, especially after THAT waltz).



@Akashi San

It would be cheap to just say "Legacy of..." but one advantage in making these collections is to save yourself the trouble of thinking too hard about what you love and always have the very best things in your collection available with just a few clicks, I also intend to share the rest of them by the end of this year.


But rather than individual scores, I most frequently revisit certain categories depending on the mood I'm in, so here's an attempt to categorize an earnest ten list:


1. Classic/Romantic/Baroque: Most of the time it's Beethoven or Dvorak for me. Tchaikovsky's work with his three ballet masterpieces is up there as well. Mozart's famous Requiem turns up quite a lot too.
2. Grand Orchestral masterpieces like Scheherazade (my favorite is Ozawa with the Boston Symphony), Daphnis et Chloe, Pictures at an Excibition, Alexander Nevsky, Rite of Spring, The Planets, etc.
3. Japanese Legacy Composers: Hisaishi, Oshima, (Yoko) Kanno, Amano, Tanaka, Sahashi, Sato, Senju, Iwasaki, Yamashita, Watanabe and Hirano.
4. Symphonic game music: Orchestral Game Concert I-V, Spielemusikkonzerte, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Xenosaga: Episode I, Afrika, Katamari, Age of Pirates, Orchestral Nintendo, Sangokushi, Outcast, Colossus and Tiara.
5. Works from Hollywood: Williams, Horner, Goldsmith, Morricone, Rozsa, Herrmann, (Carl) Davis and Holdrige as well as various individual masterpieces like Batman, Conan, Stargate, Final Fantasy, Talespin and Hunchback.
6. Symphonic Anime scores like Hellsing, Kantai, Tytania, Ah! My Goddess, Fractale, Fafner, Inuyasha, Stormy Wolf, The Cat Returns, Nichijou, Romeo X Juliet, The Boy who saw the Wind and Candidate for Goddess.
7. Japanese Rollercoasters like Doraemon, Girls und Panzer: Der Film, Yamato 2199, Takaki's Precure, Pokemon, Starfox Assault, Kirby of the Stars, Palutena's Mirror, Is the Order a Rabbit?(?), Seitokai Yakuindomo or Nanoha 2nd A's.
8. Symphonic score albums for media from Ultraman Great, Ifukube's Godzilla Fantasy and Symphony Ihatov to Shadows of the Empire, Band of Brothers and Lord of the Rings (Johan de Meij).
9. British symphonic music: From Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Walton to Watership Down, Gormenghast, Doyle, Tall Ships Suite and Ron Goodwin.
10.Retro masterpieces with Higuchi, Sugiyama and Saegusa at the top as well as various symphonic (Image) albums from Heidi and Rennyo to Gaia Gear and Sailor Moon.

I normally listen to whatever in my collection I feel like enjoying at any one time. Typically I get tired of something quickly if I listen to it more than a few times in a week. But I also like to make playlists sometimes of my favorites because some scores have only a few really exciting tracks.

1. Ravel - solo piano works
2. Debussy - Preludes, Etudes, Images for solo piano
3. Kanno - orchestral works recorded in Warsaw
4. Scriabin - Piano Sonatas Nos. 5-10
5. Hashimoto - Rahxephon
6. Iwasaki - various tracks from mostly Kekkaishi, R.O.D., Kenshin, 009
7. Oshima - Tatami Galaxy, Tempest, Tenchijin
8. Hirano - Ouran, arranged tracks from Ali Project and Final Fantasy
9. Feinberg - Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-8
10. Choro Club - Aria soundtracks


Looking at the actual play count #'s, I noticed anything Kanno wrote dominates my playlist... Plagiarism allegations aside, I think it's interesting that most of us seem to love what she has written. I would have to also include Poulenc, Bartok, and Prokofiev in this list somewhere...

We all have our personal preferences, and our tastes are ever-evolving. It's just sometimes fun to see what stayed in our personal classics. Back when I started listening to music more seriously, I went scavenging for almost everything that's mentioned in this thread, but only a few composers' works actually ended up getting a regular listen.

@Vinphonic: Thanks for writing out a detailed response! I say none of your choices surprises me at all judging from what you have posted over the years. :)
@nextday: Surprised to see the name Alkan! I feel he is under-talked outside the piano enthusiast circle. His music is not my favorite but I do like one or two recordings done by Hamelin.

I was going to post this anyway, but it does fit into the theme of "our personal classics" - this is mine. I identify with Vaughan Williams more than with any other composer, and this piece represents the closest humanity will ever come to utopia. It made none other than Rachmaninov cry at its premiere.

The words come from Shakespeare - Vaughan Williams selected a passage from The Merchant Of Venice and set them to music, creating this fifteen minute serenade to music itself. The piece was written in 1938 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Sir Henry Wood's first concert - Vaughan Williams wrote specifically for the group of sixteen star soloists which he co-selected with Wood, and was premiered by musicians hand-picked from three of London's finest orchestras (The BBC Symphony, the London Symphony, and the London Philharmonic) in October of that year. Two weeks later, this recording was made at none other than Abbey Road Studio 1, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the same soloists. The piece has been recorded many times since, but there is just something magical here. Not even 1930s sound quality can spoil the magic.

I am working on a restoration of this historic recording. Since it has cost me a great deal of money in sourcing quality copies of the original shellac 78s and even more time in meticulously performing the restoration, combined with the fact that it is now out of copyright, I am going to break with my "everything is free" tradition and release it commercially, coupled with Wood's 1936 recording of Vaughan Williams' Second Symphony. What you are hearing here is unfinished; it's pretty bloody good, even if I say so myself, and already exceeds the quality of other commercially-available restorations of the piece, but there's more to come. I hope that if anybody here likes this "sample" then they will buy the finished product. It's going to be released LOSSLESSLY and at a sane price (�8, $10, €10) and there may be some additional bonus material... I will let the thread know when it's available and how to get it.

In the mean time, enjoy this freebie. ;)


RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Serenade To Music
(Specially composed for and dedicated to Sir Henry J. Wood on the occasion of his Jubilee)
The BBC Symphony Orchestra (then called simply The BBC Orchestra)
with... Isobel Baillie, Lilian Stiles-Allen, Elsie Suddaby, Eva Turner, Muriel Brunskill, Astra Desmond, Mary Jarred, Margaret Balfour
Heddle Nash, Frank Titterton, Walter Widdop, Parry Jones, Harold Williams, Roy Henderson, Robert Easton, Norman Allin
conducted by
Sir Henry Wood

1938 studio recording, restored from 78s.



https://mega.nz/#!95ZQjQxA!Wd4wI02cDfVEUJXIQhokmCj78yUB-yJxiRwFvsKa8gQ

Xenosaga: Episode I
I'll never understand how Mitsuda accomplished this since it sounds like it was professionally orchestrated, but he did it all himself with no training? Strange that it references Horner's Aliens as well.


Looking at the actual play count #'s, I noticed anything Kanno wrote dominates my playlist... Plagiarism allegations aside, I think it's interesting that most of us seem to love what she has written.
If you cherry pick the best stuff, you too could be an amazing composer. Same goes for Horner.

If you cherry pick the best stuff, you too could be an amazing composer. Same goes for Horner.

Well, if you must say so... :awsm:

I'd really like to lock up Mitsuda in my Schroedinger's Composer experiment. Take any composer with shady credentials, give them paper and pencils, lock them in a room, and tell them to write a short piece of music (say, 60 seconds) fully orchestrated. Food, drinks, and toilet facilities will be provided. Until the door opens, we won't be sure if they're a composer or not - but when the door opens and they either a) hand over the finished manuscript, or b) admit that they can't, we will have our answer. I would like to do this with Kanno, too.

Besides the orchestral tracks in Xenosaga are there other pieces by Mitsuda that demonstrate his unexplainable, underutilized talents?

I can't think of anything else that even comes close. Inazuma Eleven was mostly orchestrated and co-composed by Kameoka, Palutena's Mirror was mostly Sakuraba, orchestrated by Kameoka again (also his best work by a mile) and everthing else was orchestrated by either Kameoka or someone else. Xenosaga was a very special case, he apparently almost worked himself to death for the score, became ill because of stress and overwork and yet he did go beyond anyone's expectations and delivered something truely astounding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R6Fd2IbAaY. I guess we have to wait till January to find out if it was all a fluke.

I've not heard Inazuma Eleven. Clicked through some tracks on youtube, unexpected Williams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ecHCxLU-fY

That was one of Kameoka's. ;)

Been more interested in jazz, game music and electronica lately than symphonic music. The stuff has been starting to bore me lately, and I wouldn't want to fall out of love w the orchestra, so I've been giving it a break for ahile. Yoko Kanno, Vaugn Williams, Iwasaki and Higuchi are all still reliable standards. Need to explore classical more when the mood finally strikes again.

Everyone is talking about Ten Commandments but no one has realized that other Masterpiece has been released.George Delereues La Cinescenie La Poy de Fou! Its Music written in 1982 for a Medevil Theme Park.Huge Orchestra, even bigger choir.Amazing themes, incredible fanfares.Half filmscore, half Medevil Music not unlike those parts of Flesh and Blood and Conan.and the Finale is SPECTACULAR.

I'm listening to Masashi Hamauzu's orchestrated parts of the first Chocobo's Dungeon and I'm in awe... that, and the other orchestra album, I'm literally dazzled by how great it is.. has this guy done any more like this? and what orchestra did this..? I'm curious to have more info

If you're referring to Coi Vanni Gialli, the orchestra is just your average Japanese studio ensemble. I don't know if Hamauzu is credited on anything similar - his FF13 tracks (the second score, orchestrated by Miyano) has similarities... But I am not an expert with Hamauzu...

I dunno, maybe I'm just a simple kind of guy but I really loved what I heard.. to me it was very beautiful. It sounds way too good to me to be an average Japanese studio ensemble. Maybe you actually don't need to have a huge studio to have a good sounding orchestra.

The orchestrations and arrangement were a "collaboration" between Hamauzu & Yasuo Sako (at least in Coi Vanni Gialli), who's worked mostly as an arranger on the projects I've seen in vgm (like the Monster Hunter series). I don't doubt Hamauzu can orchestrate a little (and by that I mean, so limited that sometimes I have my doubts if whether or not he can write for brass sections at all), but one has to think on how different it sounds from the rest of his works and on the fact this was the only ONE project, in which Sako was involved.

Music wise to me, nothing spectacular, but I find the tone in general of it to be quite charming for a casual listen.

EDIT: From what I've gather after reading the credits on the CD, Hamauzu worked on 6 tracks of the 11 in total (1-3, 6-7, 11) and Sako did the rest.

I'm listening to Masashi Hamauzu's orchestrated parts of the first Chocobo's Dungeon and I'm in awe... that, and the other orchestra album, I'm literally dazzled by how great it is.. has this guy done any more like this? and what orchestra did this..? I'm curious to have more info

Ooooh, thanks for remindin me of that one! Well worth a revisit!

Apparently i have to check ever bloody cd on spotify that has vaguely to do with filmscore, gamescore or whatnot.I found another incredible classic orchestral album in the vein of Arturo Rodriguez From the Earth to Mars and Kaskas Tone Poems.Oscar Navarro Concert Band Collection.I was inspecting a cd full of big band tunes.What i got is incredible 80s like orchestral filmscorelike music.several huge suites, each a treat on its own.great orchestrations.very varied, tons of little themes and motives.huge highlights....LOVED IT.the first 19mins noahs ark suite is already worth buying the whole thing.his capture the flag score was great, this is MUCH MUCH better.

Edit There is even a SECOND Cd chockfull of more of his brilliant Concert Band Works called Music and Live.Its also on spotify and like the first one not to be missed.

edit 2: He did not write Capture the Flag, that was Diego Navarro,I just bought all of his cds from his online shop.listen to it on spotify.the two cds there are 2.5 hours of uninterrupted brilliance.can�t wait for more.
Edit 3: his youtube channel and soundcloud page have lots of music not available elsewhere it seems.time to dive deep into that.

Michiru Oshima "Nagasaki Green & Blue"
https://youtu.be/ldT60VAmRaQ?t=60


Oshima posted her yearly recap (http://michiru-oshima.net/?p=910&cat=5&oya=) today so here's a couple tidbits
- Recording of "Kazabue ~ Double Concertino for Marimba, Clarinet, and Orchestra" with the Boston Modern Orchestra and Mika and Richard Stoltzman. (CD release in February)
- Recording of unknown project with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. (to be announced in December)

Is Oshima really conducting the orchestra with the same pencil she used to notate the score? That, my friends, is a real musician. :D

I'm sure that, technically, you can conduct with any sort of object that even remotely resembles a stick. :p

Well, of course you can, but it's more customary to use a baton - weighted at the end to reduce strain and aid more graceful movement than you're likely to attain through waving a stubby HB pencil around! :P

My point was that Oshima's tool of choice, in a world dominated by "composers" who can't compose... is a pencil. With nothing more complicated than a stick of graphite encased in wood, she makes marks on paper and gives that paper to humans with musical instruments, and guides their interpretation of those pencil marks with the very same pencil. Oshima is an artist, and her music is art. That she started her musical career as an Electone player makes it even more miraculous.

Everyone is talking about Ten Commandments but no one has realized that other Masterpiece has been released.George Delereues La Cinescenie La Poy de Fou! Its Music written in 1982 for a Medevil Theme Park.Huge Orchestra, even bigger choir.Amazing themes, incredible fanfares.Half filmscore, half Medevil Music not unlike those parts of Flesh and Blood and Conan.and the Finale is SPECTACULAR.


Thank you for this wonderful news, I just hope it's not as heavily narrated as the original album. That aside I also think the RC take on La Poy de Fou! by Nick Glennie Smith is at least worth a listen. I have this general rule that any Zimmer or RC score with woodwinds is worth a listen and anything without woodwinds can go right into the trash bin and it stays true for this one as well.




Michiru Oshima "Nagasaki Green & Blue"
https://youtu.be/ldT60VAmRaQ?t=60


Oshima posted her yearly recap (http://michiru-oshima.net/?p=910&cat=5&oya=) today so here's a couple tidbits
- Recording of "Kazabue ~ Double Concertino for Marimba, Clarinet, and Orchestra" with the Boston Modern Orchestra and Mika and Richard Stoltzman. (CD release in February)
- Recording of unknown project with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. (to be announced in December)


Glorious news.
Was Nagasaki Green & Blue a commission? or is there an album for it? Anyway I take it that the Budapest score is NOT the TV score for LWA?! (Could it be Rokka 2?) That means there is still the possibility of another Moscow session :D




Well, of course you can, but it's more customary to use a baton - weighted at the end to reduce strain and aid more graceful movement than you're likely to attain through waving a stubby HB pencil around! :P

My point was that Oshima's tool of choice, in a world dominated by "composers" who can't compose... is a pencil. With nothing more complicated than a stick of graphite encased in wood, she makes marks on paper and gives that paper to humans with musical instruments, and guides their interpretation of those pencil marks with the very same pencil. Oshima is an artist, and her music is art. That she started her musical career as an Electone player makes it even more miraculous.

Quite the endearing sight, isn't it :)
However, Oshima has mentioned in several interviews that she works mostly with computers now, using a DAW. The glorious Rokka no Yuusha was mostly done digitally before she wrote it to paper.
So it would be more accurate to say that she has a pencil in her mind as well as her hand ;)
Nonetheless, if she is blessed with long life and continues to spiral upwards she might end up as the greatest Golden Age composer who ever lived.

So it would be more accurate to say that she has a pencil in her mind as well as her hand ;)
Nonetheless, if she is blessed with long life and continues to spiral upwards she might end up as the greatest Golden Age composer who ever lived.

Would be the MOST accurate to say that pencil and paper ceased to be the only or even most relevant way to create great musical art decades ago, but I'll agree w that last part. ;) Oshima can spin a melody like nobodies business.

It may not be the only way, but I worry about anybody who calls themselves a composer and lacks such a basic skill.

I'm all for using technology (if you learn to write a score in Sibelius and you're comfortable with it, and the technology doesn't interfere with your artistry, it's difficult to think of a convincing reason why you would chose instead to drown in thousands of sheets of paper) but the fact that Oshima *could* write a score with nothing more than pencil and paper - taking thoughts from her head and expressing them on manuscript paper in the same manner as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, etc, etc, etc is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

And a nice contrast to other people who have the gall to say they're composers and have every single piece of technology you could ever hope for in their big fancy studios... except a piano, a desk, paper, and pencils.

As for a Budapest session for Oshima, interesting and possibly worrying. Budapest (with the greatest respect to any Hungarian readers) is where you take your project if you've barely got any money. It's still going to be better than a tinny Japanese studio orchestra recorded in Tin Can Studios, but "premium" this one isn't. I wonder if their new Moscow relationship has come to an end? Or perhaps this is just something else? Either way, it's going to be great music. :D

I read her blog entry and didn't see a mention about the Budapest Symphony. Maybe it's the same orchestra that recorded Nichijou?

I'm just a monolingual British grunt, so I'm working with Google Translate here... but indeed, the article seems only to mention Hungary, not the Budapest Symphony specifically. The room in Oshima's picture (tiny though the picture is) isn't familiar... I would've suggested the Budapest Scoring Orchestra but their website shows their usual recording space (Hungarian Radio Studio 22) and it's not that. Come to think of it, it looks very poorly equipped...

We will see... :D

La Poy de Fou has no narration at all.And with RCs albums, i really enjoyed Jeff Ronas Songs of the Sea (and of course the disney fireworks music from gavin greenaway) Chad Seiters Recore is also much more modern than expected, but his classic scoring skills really show there, too.But i prefer his oldschool scores Fracure, Star Trek, Lego Jurassic World.I liked Jeff Kurtenackers Wildstar much more.Its more classic with bit of modern,while recore is the other way around.Wildstar also has some badass Western music.Legend of the Blue Horizon and Two Guns and an open Frontier are supercool.Currently i am busy with orchesterworks.I loved almost everything from Oscar Navarro.Then i got recommendations for Paul Dooley,Mason Bates and David Maslanka and thats gonna take a while.But Dooley was great so far, and Mason Bates is very cool.

Was Nagasaki Green & Blue a commission?
It was a commission for Nagasaki, her hometown. To be used for promotional things such as tourism. There's some other versions here (piano, strings, jazz, etc.): https://www.planet-ad.com/michiru-oshima/


I read her blog entry and didn't see a mention about the Budapest Symphony. Maybe it's the same orchestra that recorded Nichijou?
She specifically names the orchestra on her Facebook post.

(posted in English)
"I was so much busy in this year too. I had many recording sessions with Boston Modern Orchestra, Boston Young Musician’s Orchestra , Chinease great musician Yazhi, Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo studio musician for the CD, Animation, Game, Concert and etc..."

It may not be the only way, but I worry about anybody who calls themselves a composer and lacks such a basic skill.

I don't. Many composers out there work mainly w computers their whole lives, admit without shame(or maybe a little) they can't even READ music, and still regularly create works of incredible wonder I'd put up their w the masters in terms of the emotions their music bring me, if not technique. Composers like, say, Uematsu. :) Whether one can physically notate music on paper by hand, and whether the music being notated is actually any good, are also different questions. Lennie Moore wrote the score to that Outcast game entirely by hand, made a big deal about it, and I still think it's mostly dull as dishwater.

Glad to hear Oshima can write an entire score that way. It speaks dividends of her drive and discipline, and she's a composer w a particularly prolific and fascinating history, but relative to other conposers and in the larger context of what it takes to be good, great or even brilliant musician, the comparison between her ability to write music on paper and X composer who can't as a comparison of process, not talent. You can take whatever process works best for ya as long as the music speaks to your talent.

I respectfully disagree with your respectful disagreement. ;)

Claiming to be a composer who cannot write music is, to me, analogous to claiming to be a writer who cannot write, or a racing driver who cannot drive. Now, I'll grant you that it's the words that are inside that matter and not the form of technology (a pencil and paper is technology, just as a complicated DAW is technology) you use to express them, and that Hamlet dictated verbally to somebody with a pen and paper would still be Hamlet.

The thing is... like it or not, being a composer (a real one, anyway) carries with it certain requirements of knowledge and understanding which is acquired one way or another - usually by traditional teaching but also by good old fashioned hard graft, self-teaching. (Self-taught is used today as a pejorative; I think it is confused with the term "uneducated" because one who is self-taught is not uneducated - he is simply educated by his own drive and his own resources rather than by a professor - but I digress...)

That kind of musical "turn of phrase" - musical eloquence if you will, comes with study and with learning - just as a great part of Shakespeare's enduring success is his language eloquence. Would Romeo and Juliet be remembered today as one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written if it were "ROMO AND JULIT they was two ppl who fall in love but their families r different class and stuff so they dont approve so they r sad and juliet takes sleeping pill but romo think she dead so he kill himself then julit wake up and she sad cuz romo ded so she kill herself two the ned."? In that train-wreck sentence, we are introduced to the main characters, and we understand pretty much every salient part of the plot. Why is it totally ineffective?

There are always exceptions who prove the rule, but generally I find that the rule itself is this: Composers who have that musical turn of phrase, that eloquence, that ability to effortlessly manipulate the language of music, that awareness of history, and that technical skill... usually learned how to write music while they were learning all those things. Depending on the task at hand, different levels of ability can be eminently suitable. For example, you don't need a Shakespeare to come up with "ORANGES for sale, three for the price of two!" or "TOILET OUT OF ORDER - please use other cubicle", he would be overkill writing a technical manual or a review of some TV show, but for something which will be remembered, something with artistic merit and something which lives longer than the instant gratification emotional response it produces in humans, you need a Shakespeare. Many of the "composers" who "can't" are in the wrong jobs; they should be writing mobile phone ringtones, scoring thirty-second commercials, writing "music-on-hold" for businesses, etc - jobs which would be easily accomplished by someone of very average musical skill; all the Hamauzu's, Yokoyama's, Sagisu's, and Sawano's out there. (Sagisu, particularly - I think he's a FANTASTIC pop arranger.)

Finally, one man's dishwater is another man's masterpiece. Outcast is derivative, to be certain - but I believe it to be genuinely a masterpiece; I cannot evaluate it for its original purpose (scoring an adventure computer game) as I never played Outcast, but as a composition I find it truly awe-inspiring. It is approaching its twentieth year and even on its 1,000th listening it holds my attention; whereas so much music written by so many "composers" doesn't even hold my attention the first time around.

Totally agree that "quality of music" and "method of composition" are not the same thing - but there is a very strong correlation between the musical education of the composer and the quality of his or her music, and with musical education almost always comes the ability to write music; just as it is difficult to imagine a writer of Shakespeare's calibre growing up as a master manipulator of the English language whilst lacking the ability to write it down.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to listen to Outcast. ;)

I just know that, unlike w literature, if you put me to listen to two wonderful pieces, one written by someone who could write music on paper, and one who couldn't, and they both sounded great, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and more to my point, I wouldn't care. I don't conflate "process" with "education." (and Hamauzu, Sawano, et al are obv educated, to say nothing of whether they write on paper. You lost me completely there.)

Oh, absolutely, same here - hence me saying "strong correlation" instead of "unassailable fact" - as I think I said quite clearly, I don't care how they get there as long as they get there - but at the same time, I find that the composers who can't write music, like the racing driver who can't drive a car, tend not to get there - at least by my criteria.


Hamauzu, Sawano, et al are obv educated

I actually didn't say they weren't - I said I thought them of "very average" skill and better suited to more pedestrian careers within the musical world; doing pop music arrangements, writing media music, to repeat two examples.

In any case, the only musical education I can find for Hamauzu is that he was taught to play the piano and sing by his parents, and later played piano in a student ensemble at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

Sawano allegedly studied composition, arrangement, orchestration, and piano under Nobuchika Tsuboi, whoever that is - when I search for him, the only results that turn up are inside Sawano biographies.

Educational credentials aren't everything, to be sure - but, to me, the quality of their music conflates very well with the quality of their education.

In other news... Barely see you around here, these days - are you OK? :)

Ah, OK. Wasn't quite sure what you were sayin' there. Disagree, of course: I think they must be well-suited to their particular spheres within the musical world to have acheived such success and popularity within them. ;) And poor Hamauzu got stuck w crap game after crap game forever, only to land a kingmaker like Final Fantasy and become a worldwide concert star. Dude, writes his own suites now. He's a fascinating success story, and another interesting example of game composers evolving as they reach different media that you see all the time these days. I really like following musical career trajectories like that.

I've come to understand why neither of 'em are your cup of tea very well, tho, so don't worry, won't bother defending em.


Ehh, I'm just ekeing out a life, as usual. I still lurk these forums plenty, but I rarely have much to add or talk about. As a writer, I've been drained of self-confidence and haven't written a review in almost four years. Listening to music has slowed to a crawl, I honestly don't know how you guys find and consume so much.

listened to 5 hours of Oscar Navarro in a row.so much of his music sounds like a game concert.love it.LOVE IT.

Since I've started this new job in June, I honestly don't know how I find the time to breathe or eat, let alone continue consuming so much music - I guess having no friends and no social life can work to one's advantage sometimes... ;)

You should start writing again. You know the old adage; the best way to get back to writing is to write something. Anything. Even if it's total crap. If only to grease up the gears in your brain and get moving again. Get back that confidence, do your thing.

I know those guys are successful; to borrow terminology from a good friend of mine (can you believe it's nine years ago since we were killing each other in the Yoko Kanno thread?) I don't conflate popularity with quality. ;)

And, speaking of Final Fantasy... I wonder if anybody would give a shit about Hamauzu if he hadn't scored Final Fantasy. That's not a reflection on him; more a reflection on the phenomenom that being attached to a super-franchise can end up doing wonderful things for you that have very little to do with your work and everything to do with the association that your name now carries. Like when you see a shitty movie going straight to DVD and it says "From the second-unit assistant grip who bought you Jaws!"... Hamauzu hit the big time with FF, and he's very, very fortunate to have done so. As a result, he gets orchestrators, sessions with ginormous ensembles, fame, concert appearances, and all the rest... but I wonder what we could've had if, say, Yamashita (getting into the industry about the same time Hamauzu took over FF) had been there instead of him.

It is blind bloody luck that capapults composers into the big time; sometimes they turn out to be great, sometimes they turn out to be terrible.

Like Natsumi Kameoka on Kantai... do you think they chose her because she's fantastic? Or was it a case that nobody gave a shit, she was available, they needed a composer, they hired her and she was obviously thrilled by the chance to finally go out on her own and do something great outside the shadow of Mitsuda. Now, we're in a position where Kameoka could become the next big thing - if she plays her cards right. There's more Kantai to come and the movie score, and then once her name is really out there she'll start getting assignments. Don't get me wrong, I'm PLEASED... but I wish it didn't feel so damn random.

Aaanyway... most massive digress ever. Take care folks. :D

TT

Edit: What on earth is this??? http://vgmdb.net/album/61912 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AHOUYdEn6E

Edit: What on earth is this??? http://vgmdb.net/album/61912 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AHOUYdEn6E
Oh, I added that. I didn't even think to check if it was on YouTube so thanks for that.

Sounds good. A CD would be nice though I'm not expecting one. I'm not really expecting the Blu-ray to turn up online either.

Obviously the blu-ray won't have a good recording. Terrible venue to have an orchestral concert. People walking around, talking, and you can even hear announcers in the background at times.

The Star Wars is strong in this one.

No one cares for oscar navarro ?
Oh and you can add nigel hess to must have composer list

In regards to the recent Mitsuda discussion, it seems like Azure Revolution will really be a return to Xenosaga level of excellence: Anthem of Jutland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJj45x0wsqA)

feel free to participate in my Hidden Treasures (filmscorelike) Thread in the FSM Forums.We need to join forces to find them all.

In regards to the recent Mitsuda discussion, it seems like Azure Revolution will really be a return to Xenosaga level of excellence: Anthem of Jutland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJj45x0wsqA)

I take it that Xenosaga is something one should check.

I don't quite understand the love Xenosaga receives. It's noteworthy because it's the only score Mitsuda has, to my knowledge, claimed to orchestrate himself, which I am 99% sure is outright nonsense. You don't go from virtually no musical education into programming sound effects and chiptunes for early video games, and then suddenly write a surprisingly well-orchestrated work which is good enough to put before the London Philharmonic. You just don't do that.

It has its moments... but Yamashita's score for the Xenosaga TV anime is infinitely superior with an orchestra half the size...

So Leatherhead just shared Hallow... and you know, Wada just wouldn't be Wada without everything he has done since 2000 being almost copy-pasted from Inuyasha (and even that was not an entirely original effort) BUT I think he really stepped up his game for this one. Sure, in parts it's very much Inuyasha Movie 5, but it's just so much more sophisticated in orchestration and also much more classical. This feels very much like he gave a damn. I got bored really fast by the original D.Gray-man and only finished it once, but Hallow is after just one listen already among my three favorite Wada scores.


Xenosaga: I actually think the game score and the animation score are in the same league, and I say that as a massive Yamashita fanboy. As a whole Yamashita's score is of course superior but moments like "The Resurrection", "Zarathustra" or "World to be Born" just outshine anything from the tv score in my opinion. It's very much a classic film score with a wonderful mix of Gregorian Chants, Horneresque action and a bit Dies Irae. Not to mention its performed by a top-class orchestra. There's just maybe too much song and E-Guitar for my liking in parts but that's just minor nitpicks. Nothing Mitsuda did since (solo) came close to this level of quality.

Now with regards to Mitsuda's questionable background surrounding the score I personally find it equally nonsensical to fake your abilities just for one occasion and then ever since have Kameoka and friends credited for everything else you do. If you want to be a professional hack, learn from SAGISU. Maybe, just maybe he put in months of work researching classic and film scores, trying to transcribe them and trying to write something that matches it (he plays piano and guitar so he can read music). Xenosaga would then be him going out of his league to play a game he is not qualified for in the least but he ends up winning it anyway by the sheer force of will.

Azure Revolution so far seems to have no modern elements whatsoever, has a full-blown anthem and everything credited to Mitsuda alone again. With the same level of excellence I mean to expect a classic film score with truely wonderful moments.

You can play piano and guitar and be unable to read music. You can swallow all the history you like, but you cannot convince me that somebody with almost no musical education and no prior experience can spontaneously develop the ability to do something that infinitely smarter musicians study for years to be able to do to a reasonable standard.

There is much talk of this "Mitsuda nearly worked himself to death for this!" and I have to ask the "elephant-in-the-room" question; is Xenosaga really so miraculously good that one can take it as the magnum-opus of a great artist, to which that artist gave so much of himself that he nearly died? That makes no sense at all. Additionally, if I'd never orchestrated anything before in my life, the opportunity came up to work the London Philharmonic, and I knew I wouldn't be able to accomplish the task myself without putting my health at risk... I'd hire a sodding orchestrator! Every single film composer who ever lived - completely regardless of their skill - has called upon the services of an orchestrator at one time or another if the schedule demanded it.

That and one has to ask additionally... if Xenosaga "nearly killed" Mitsuda, how many times did SEVEN separate Giant Robo scores kill Amano, how many times did Turn A Gundam kill Yoko Kanno, how many times did Katamari Damacy kill Tajima, how many times does scoring twenty different dramas a year kill Yugo Kanno, etc, etc, etc? What we have here is a hamster which, for some bizarre reason, tried to carry an anvil to the peak of Mount Everest, without asking any of his skilled mountaineer friends to help, and by some dubious miracle, he managed to get a fair way up the mountain and survived.

Far from thinking "Wow, that hamster is amazing!" I am more inclined to think a) "Stupid hamster for trying to do something he was so massively unqualified for on his own," b) "If you really needed that anvil at the top of the mountain, why would you hire a hamster?" and c) "It's all well and good to think what a fantastic job the hamster did, but the work that almost killed him could've been done by a skilled mountaineer faster, better, and without the mountaineer breaking a sweat."

Nearly killing yourself doing a job isn't smart - it's a sign that you're either incapable of doing the job properly or incapable of managing your time or resources.

TL;DR - What's in Xenosaga that's so fantastic it's worth nearly dying for?

Hahahaha you're thinkin' of Chrono Trigger, my man. ;)

According to his own thoughts in the liner notes, Mitsuda did want to go w an orchestrator at first but decided no better time to try to wrap his head around orchestral writing in order to better articulate the instrumental nuance and timbres he felt would be appropriate. Apparently he didn't like the process very much, which is prolly why he passes duties along to Kameoka and co nowadays.

A pity, I think he could develop a real talent for it. Xenosaga is definitely Mitsuda through and through, regardless of the expanded orchestral palette, which mainly serves to enhance his style rather than expand it outward into some grand new pinnacle of beauty he'd never reached before. Which is fine by me, and I feel Xenosaga was a rousing success(still prefer the Chrono series, but I seem to be the one vgm guy in here)but I do wonder what could have been, and believe he could write the pants off Kameoka easy(Kantai Collection hardly impressed me tbf) if he kept up w it.

Just in time for the second season Akiba Winds uploaded the Hibike! Euphonium concert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roHQZZkMcIQ) from march featuring Matsuda's score and the EXTREMELY popular pop brass.

Akiba Winds also released quite a lot of nice jazz & band arrangements albums, including an orchestra version, for comiket. Makes me wonder if more gems like Tanaka's Gunbuster Poem are out there but will most likely never see the light of day outside Japan.

Here's a sample from their recent albums: Butter-Fly (http://picosong.com/a3BT/)
Their Lucky Star OP arrangement is just nuts :D (Not that the original song wasn't nuts before).

Nearly killing yourself doing a job isn't smart - it's a sign that you're either incapable of doing the job properly or incapable of managing your time or resources.

TL;DR - What's in Xenosaga that's so fantastic it's worth nearly dying for?

It's how dysfunctional Japanese office/business culture works. Yes, it's extremely stupid, unproductive, burns workers out, and has been a driving force behind their decades-long run of alarmingly high suicide rates.
It has a built in explanation for why he had to take the ridiculous work demand (not senior enough to reject it without ending his career for 'not working hard enough / being a team player / fitting in with our corporate culture'), for where all the extra hours of work came from (like you say, he's not a trained orchestrator, it must take forever to get it right or at least good-enough when you don't know wtf you're doing), and for why he never had to do it again (once you collapse from the lack of sleep and lack of proper nutrition but the project is successful, you've run their Klingon pain stick ritual and proven you're a company man and can politely tell them to F off when they ask you to do something stupid).

The older/wiser/better composers you mention had enough reputation before Japan's economy dove into their permanent economic stagnation (1995 or so?), whereas Mitsuda was still basically a nobody around 2000. Untrained, worked under other people before that, only had two (? just Xenogears and Chrono Cross, right? and those were under a different company) game scores formally credited to him. If he'd said no to Xenosaga, they would have shown him the door, and that'd be that. It's not like they had a shortage of other people they could have called for the job.

Very true, and point taken - Japanese work culture is just... different. I still don't entirely buy that his superiors would have allowed this - what would have posessed them to entrust such a prestigious and expensive project to such a "nobody" - surely if Mitsuda was a nobody to the extent that asking for nothing more than the necessary tools to do a job would have finished his career, he would also be a nobody who would never be offered the London Philharmonic and a luxurious overseas recording schedule.

If you're not a trained orchestrator, you can't just work really, REALLY hard and you suddenly become one. Mitsuda's music career went essentially "piano lessons with parents" -> "job at game company programming sound effects" -> "making chiptunes" -> "major symphonic score with the London Philharmonic Orchestra".

I don't speak Swedish, and no amount of wishing, praying, or staying up late would give me the ability to speak Swedish. However bad I want to be able to speak Swedish, however badly my career might depend on me suddenly being able to speak Swedish... the only real way I'm going to genuinely and competently learn to speak Swedish is with a good, skilled teacher, good textbooks, and untold months of intensive study. Unless I am some kind of language savant, that's just the way it is.

If I were the money guy on Xenosaga, and I knew that Mitsuda didn't have at the very least a dozen well-documented examples of composing and orchestrating for a decent-sized ensemble... I wouldn't let him anywhere near the London Philharmonic. Why would I take that risk? Mitsuda's nobody, and if he goes to London and cocks it up, I've wasted �100,000 and humiliated myself, my project, and my company in front of one of the world's finest orchestras. I'd lose my job. No, to hell with that - I'd have told Mitsuda he can score the thing with keyboards, or I'd have told Mitsuda to sod off and given the job to someone with a proven track record.

Comparitively, if I were year 2000 Mitsuda, I wouldn't have said "no" to Xenosaga. I'd have lathered on the bullshit, but essentially told the truth: "Thank you so much for the wonderful opportunity - I will work very, very hard to show you that the confidence you've shown in me is well placed. In order for me to give you the very best music score I can for your prestigious and splendid game, I humbly request the services of an orchestrator as I have not worked with a big orchestra before and it's important to me that I deliver a quality score, as the standard of my work reflects not only on myself but on this company - I am very proud of our reputation and very keen to help us maintain it."

Play the game...

If you're not a trained orchestrator, you can't just work really, REALLY hard and you suddenly become one. Mitsuda's music career went essentially "piano lessons with parents" -> "job at game company programming sound effects"


(And then clicking the quote button ate a half-written post, so I'm stuck trying to reword stuff again)
Stuff I came across digging through wikipedia because I was hazy on stuff from 15 years ago:
I need to point out here that he DID go get a music degree in between there. Not an orchestration degree, and I can't find any info on the school listed, but he's not just a self taught guy plinking at a piano for ideas. It's easy to miss because the piano gets mentioned in a bunch of places and the music degree much less so. (And, um, because there was a run of posts about untrained people getting good gigs through popularity while a bunch of talent is overlooked.)

The formal music training, even if it's not the right kind, makes brute forcing some orchestration a LOT more plausible. I mean, like that Swedish example, you or I could totally fake translating a page of Swedish text to English, with some really tedious searching through some college textbooks and a dictionary, and masking some parts just by being fluent in the target English language well enough that normal English speakers would think it looked fine.

A guy who at least half knows what he's doing ought to be able to scrape by in the Xenosaga scenario, since he's also the guy in control of the "source text" being translated - he can change stuff that isn't working out, and you'd never know from the final version, unless he told you.
Which apparently he did do and did tell, since it's buried in the wiki entries.
"...At one point in the development process, Mitsuda planned to use a separate person to orchestrate his compositions after an early piece proved unworkable and had to be scrapped, causing him to lose confidence in his own ability. After working for several months, however..."

That, and the music degree, answers a bunch of those questions. He WAS supposed to have an orchestrator, and the wording implied that he DID initially think he could handle it, and he DID have parts he couldn't make work and had to just outright change. Now I wouldn't want to translate a lot of Swedish, but I could do a little, and I could see Mitsuda thinking he could manage to orchestrate, finding out it was a lot harder than the short bit he did that one time in class ten years ago, barely managing to do what he'd committed to, and then very wisely never committing to doing it again. It seems to check out in terms of plausibility, and then reasonably sane followup decisions.

Also, a different section also points out that, yeah, it's not like some Namco accountant immediately said "omg book London!" right at the start. Well, it's not directly stated that way, but it lists a bunch of stuff that was recorded locally instead of London. Which makes more sense. Combined with the other referencing months of work, London probably wasn't even in the original plan and only happened much later in the process, when he actually had some stuff ready and other stuff recorded and the company decided to go bigger.

Sorry for this post being all over the place, the lost version was better organized.
But yeah, all the wiki material makes it look more like he bit off more than he could chew and then had to scramble to make it work, not like some corporate boss made him do it.

Fascinating, thank you! I have done a bit more research and I cannot find any sign of a music degree - only that, lacking any drive or direction in life, he enrolled in one of the lowest-rated junior music colleges in Tokyo, was roundly criticised by his instructors for his incompetence, and halfway through his course was railroaded by a teacher (who was presumably trying to get rid of him) into applying for a low-grade job with Square.

His Japanese Wikipedia article mentions "graduation" from the Muse Academy but reading about Muse heavily suggests a pop-oriented training school, not a musical conservatoire of any merit. That kind of education WOULD be more in line with Mitsuda's skill and with the skill he would have needed when he was starting out - working with limited synthesized sounds of the time mean your music must be disproportionally melodic and rhythmic in order to be effective; that's exactly what you'd learn at Muse and it's exactly where I see Mitsuda's strengths.

Yes, we could fake knowledge of Swedish under controlled circumstances - we could auto-translate with Google Translate, read dictionaries to help us understand the parts that don't translate well, and use our knowledge of English to tidy up the finished document - and it would probably be "good enough" - that's fair, but if we went into a room with a team of Swedish businessmen who started speaking Swedish and we'd led them to believe we could, we would be instantly fucked.

This springs to mind... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRskvLyCoU0

You cannot fake it with London Philharmonic; they're the best of the best. Did Mitsuda really put those notes down on manuscript paper himself, figure out bowing, transpose the woodwind and brass parts as appropriate, write out parts for each player bearing in mind the physical limitations and range of the respective instruments, allow gaps for woodwind players to breathe, consider tone colour and chord voicing, etc, etc, etc? If he did, he's either the smartest human being who ever lived, or the luckiest human being who ever lived, to have blundered through that INSANELY difficult process with absolutely no previous experience and ended up with something convincing.

If he's faking it, and something comes up and someone asks Mitsuda an awkward question about orchestration, or he has to make last-minute changes to the score at the session, what happens? He cocks it up and looks stupid, or somebody else does it, proving my proposal that a) he didn't do all this stuff on his own, and b) no sane company would have put him in that position in the first place.

The orchestrations in Xenosaga aren't anything exceptional, but they're pretty good - not particularly noteworthy, but solid, professional, and appropriate. You can't brute-force pretty good. You could probably get as far as "Some way, somehow, managed to scrape through and avoid a complete disaster."

All this is theory, of course.

Stunning work by 25-year-old composer/conductor Taku Matsushiba for the new series Yuri on Ice.

This is an original piece he wrote for episode 1: http://picosong.com/aRnF/

One of the most exciting debuts in a long time.

nextday: Just started with the current season skipping through some shows this evening but seriously, what is it with Opera this season: Yuri, Drifters (Italian opera in the PV), Stray Dogs 2 and Izetta all have (and will have) full Operatic pieces :D

And against anyone's expectation, the most traditional sounding Iwasaki in recent memories and the spinoff to Strike Witches actually has a real orchestra (and sounds promising) while the main series was mostly cheap stuff with one or two standouts... what gives :D

I hope the rest of this season does not drop the ball.


EDIT: Oh and Izetta is a promising debut from MICHIRU, I would not exactly call it appropriately scored because of the E-Guitars (more fitting for a recent Final Fantasy game) BUT there's the opera piece (which I hope was original), wonderful flute+harp+fantasy, a convincing WW2 propaganda march and surprisingly good Yuki Kajiuraesque music (thanks to the brass writting).

I also quite like the series so far, mainly because it actually has good structure with things like an "opening scene" but nonetheless I have to go a bit Grammar-Nazi regarding the NOT-Third Reich :rolleyes: : What is it with the Japanese anime industry and refusing to research German language for more than 5 seconds. If you think engrish is bad you ain't seen or heared nothing yet. 5 seconds on wiki and you would know it's either "Neues Berlin" or "Neu-Berlin" or "Das neue Berlin" NOT simply "Neue Berlin" which is a mistake no elementary teacher here will forgive.

Stunning work by 25-year-old composer/conductor Taku Matsushiba for the new series Yuri on Ice.

This is an original piece he wrote for episode 1: http://picosong.com/aRnF/

One of the most exciting debuts in a long time.

What the... What? WHAT?!

I must confess... I started playing this and I got to 1:08 before I realised I had stopped breathing and my mouth was hanging open.

Are you serious? Is this for a stupid anime about ice skating? This is SUBLIME. The orchestration is utterly flawless. If I were looking for one criticism, it would be that the tenor is pushed just a little beyond his vocal comfort zone at 2:14... Apart from that, what can I say? THIS IS GORGEOUS.


spinoff to Strike Witches

This must be the smallest orchestra in the history of humanity... but it is indeed very promising. That finale cue, the typical Japanese "I achieved something amazing against all the odds!" cue... it's lovely.

Iwasaki is interesting. Love that introspective, dissonance-infused string orchestra. I hope it becomes something big.

Judging by the first episode, Matsushiba will be handling all the orchestra pieces that play during the ice skating segments. The rest of the BGM was non-orchestral and was likely handled by the other composer, Taro Umebayashi.

Matsushiba is a new employee of Piano Inc, which employs Yoko Kanno. He was hired earlier this year after obtaining his masters from Tokyo University.

Now the question is: will this be a one-off score or will he go on to become a prominent composer?

Additional Walll of Tangotext:
You keep hammering on this, so I'm going to be blunt and hammer back some:
Look, it's not fucking magic. It's a process, it's laborious, there's a lot of knowledge involved, but that knowledge is not bound in an ancient tome of a dead language guarded by angry egyptian mummies. You don't have to born under the right star and selected by a chorus of little naked angel things to go train on a mountaintop with a two hundred year old monk. Its skill ceiling is not infinite and your favorite orchestra are professionals, not gods. Like anything in music today, sadly, we produce multiple times as many of these people than we have actual music jobs for.

You can bring up speaking Swedish live and in person to skeptical Swedes all you want, but unless you demand all orchestrators must be superhumans who only orchestrate live in front of an orchestra that will perform it right that instant in front of a panel of bored senior orchestrator-judges, it doesn't really work.
Reality is they do this at a desk, well in advance, in nothing like real time. You know this. You know enough to explain bits and pieces of it in the middle of your rant. You know it's not rocket surgery.

Maybe sit back, calm down, and deal with it already? You're wasting a lot of words on outrage over some guy getting a job too big for himself that one time fifteen years ago which led to him... repeatedly hiring someone you like, eventually resulting in her also finally getting known?
It's a really really weird thing to be upset about.

I'm not upset or outraged, nor was I wasn't ranting or "hammering on" about anything to my knowledge. I have nothing to "deal with" - at least, nothing that is relevant to this discussion. I don't know how you managed to derive that from what I wrote, but there you go. I thought the respect and gratitude I expressed for your input, and the Youtube video of a clip from a popular comedy show would've conveyed that I believed we were having an interesting debate, learning a little, exercising the grey matter, etc - indeed, I thought to myself today how nice it is to actually have a proper discussion about something with some genuine back-and-forth debate and without either party getting insulted or belittled; until you posted that ill-mannered, disrespectful, obscenity-laced diatribe. Why do people react so badly when faced with reading something longer than a Twitter-sized sound-bite? Why is complexity of thought so offensive, and why do I hear posts on which I have expended considerable genuine effort denigrated as a "wall of text"? You could've simply ceased to participate in the discussion. You could've maintained your courtesy and asked for me to clarify what I meant. Instead, you made a conscious and calculated decision to say something inflammatory, insulting, and rude.

Back to the kind of grown-up conversation this thread has cultivated so successfully for the past eight years - thank you Nextday - so it looks as though Matsushiba was bought on board exclusively to deal with the "source music" if you will. If there is more of that nature, and it would seem odd at this point for there not to be... this could turn into something really special. Not as a score for the show, but as pure music. Fascinating to see that he is a proper graduate of a respected music school - it's wonderful to see someone from such a background taking up a job as a composer in media. The concept of somebody who knows what the **** they're doing taking up a job as a composer is quite relevant today.

It is wonderfully gratifying, and also a little bit terrifying, to hear such skill coming from one so young. If he keeps it up, what could he be doing twenty years from now? I hope it's not a one-off. He needs to play the game, like Souhei Kano singularly failed to do, and keep himself out there. If he plays his cards right... he really could be the one to watch for the future. :D

[Edit: Wow, I keep listening, I keep loving it more. Those crystalline strings, heartbreakingly old-school romantic, tragic harmonies with traces of jazz colouring... clearly modelled on the shamelessly passionate Puccini-esque erotically charged larger-than-life love aria but with moments of pure film-score... They could've licensed some crappy cheap recordings of Puccini and other classical pieces for a fraction of the money and nobody would've noticed or cared... but they commissioned original music and paid for a good quality performace... and the composer is clearly going to all this trouble out of love for the artform and for the "every composer's wet dream opportunity" - to write in a style which is so rarely employed today. He took a thankless brief - presumably along the lines of "write four minutes of something operatic for people to skate to", completely resisted the obvious temptation to throw together a quick sound-a-like... and wrote THIS. I'm gobsmacked and overjoyed. :D

I'm trying to read and learn stuff here. It's my usual thing. I don't post often; I usually don't need to, or don't have anything to add that someone else didn't already say. I'm kind of stuck responding now because it's my own fault for getting in to it and it'd be kind of stupid of me to join a conversation and then just vanish in the middle.

I'm not that one guy (who will go unnamed (partly because, uh, I've forgotten who it was exactly)) who used to openly insult you all the time. I like reading your posts. I like reading every post here, except maybe the one guy who used to drop in a one-line download beg here and there. It's why I've spent, good god has it been six years already? I'm gonna have another one of those I-feel-old moments, lurking here. It's just that every once in a while I'm baffled by unexpected contradictions and unexplainably strongly held beliefs in the content.

I don't know how you thought you sounded for the last few pages, but it came across as gradually more and more insulting and arrogant, as you dug in deeper to trash talk Mitsuda for some reason. Go read back thinking "how could this line have been taken negatively?" if you want to understand. You heaped glory on the role of orchestrator in order to highlight how one guy must be incapable of it, dressed down any attempt at even suggesting that Mitsuda might at least have some training, damned his output with faint praise while also insisting he couldn't possibly have done it without stealing credit from some unknown helper, and humblebragged about how you would have done so much better at planning and negotiation if you'd been his boss or been him. You have done these things at length. They are, indeed, walls of text. You write well, and that's part of why I felt motivated to engage in this subdiscussion, because it's really weird to see you start like an expert and then spiral into bizarro-land. And chopping your posts into little quoteblocks to weave in comments would be cruel butchery. I don't really have a horse in this race, as in, some kind of loyalty or antipathy to the specific composer, it's just some guy I remember having written some pleasant bleeps and bloops in the 90s. I just looked at where the conversation was going a while back and wanted to know what was going on.

Now, you're doing the indignant pretend-to-be-offended thing and presenting yourself as the only mature adult, where you eloquently insult me by saying I so horribly insulted you. Yes, with my "obscenity-laced diatribe" with its single word of obscenity, because a normally pretty casual thread has to occasionally be held to the standard of high debate when it suits you. You're wrapping yourself in pretend moral superiority to "win" a tiny slice of an internet debate with someone who posts less than ten times a year. Okay. You spent a paragraph telling me to shut up. And by responding again, I've risked that I might have only horribly offended you even more and accomplish less than nothing, and I may get verbally disintegrated for the attempt. Do we need to do this text tone meta-analysis thing? Will it help?

---------- Post added at 07:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:58 PM ----------


Stunning work by 25-year-old composer/conductor Taku Matsushiba for the new series Yuri on Ice.

This is an original piece he wrote for episode 1: http://picosong.com/aRnF/

One of the most exciting debuts in a long time.

If you'd said "here's a remastered recording from 1920, from the last work of a then-prolific and famous, but now forgotten opera writer. They don't write them like this any more." I would not have questioned it at all. I'd just nod and think "yeah, sounds like decent opera to me."

They've got this guy writing for random fujoshi bait shows? What the hell? Put him on that Legend of the Galactic Heroes remake or something!

Yuri on Ice is only the best anime of the season, stands to reason it'd also have some of the best music. Sayo Yamamoto, the director, always had an eye for great music(she helmed Fujiko Mine.) Wouldn't surprise me in the least if that opera piece was arranged by Kanno. Reminds me heavily of her sojourns into the genre.

And yeaaaaah, that Mitsuda conversation did a great job reminding me of the real reason I rarely care to post here anymore.

Yuri on Ice is only the best anime of the season

I wanted to deny this. I wanted so badly to deny this. I wanted to make some kind of joke implying "ha ha, you are joking, but I know you are joking and will also joke!" But then I looked up the new season ( https://www.livechart.me/fall-2016/tv ) and I've got nothing. If anyone needs me, I'll be hibernating for another few months.

It IS really good tho! Your "fujoshi bait" crack earlier leads me to assume you think it's some kind of Free!!-type dealie, but the first ep was so lovingly crafted and charming that I would honestly recommend it. It's vibrant and splendidly animated w great characters already and a clear love of the human form and human movement. If you haven't heard that opera piece set to the skating scene its matched with, you're doing yourself a massive disservice!

My anime plate is so empty right now that I tried Qualidea a few days ago entirely on the basis of liking that lullaby in the soundtrack (hindsight spoiler note: the show is not as good as the music).
Will report in on my adventures On Ice later.

update:
kneejerk book-cover-judging bait assumption followup: maybe?
some new guy wrote like four minutes of completely convincing opera for this: very yes!
regrets: none

Stunning work by 25-year-old composer/conductor Taku Matsushiba for the new series Yuri on Ice.

This is an original piece he wrote for episode 1: http://picosong.com/aRnF/

One of the most exciting debuts in a long time.

Absolutely love this!!!

Well, thank you for your reply. As a matter of fact, I did go back to read everything I'd previously written because I was completely floored by your post and I did not understand how we got from "I think this / I think that / Oh, yes good point but how about this / Yeah, I didn't think of that / Here's an analogy / Yeah, but did you think of this? / Good point, no I didn't..." to "Get over it, stop ranting, it's not fucking magic..." etc.

I'm not doing the indignant anything; for what it's worth I actually was hurt - precisely BECAUSE we were, I thought, having a productive and mutually respectful conversation which you suddenly and (seemingly randomly) turned round into telling me off for talking too much and ranting. I am also hurt because you now assume my expression of upset is designed to score points off you - when in fact, it's a pure expression of surprise and disappointment and YES, ABSOLUTELY a public expression of my belief that your post was completely unnecessary. I have no wish to win anything, particularly a small-potato argument with somebody I don't know in internet land; please give me a little more credit than that. ;)

I continue the topic because I find it interesting; knowing about composers and what they can do and the circumstances under which their most famous works were gestated helps enhance my enjoyment of their music. I continued discussing that because you did - and because I was interested in what you had to say. The Mitsuda story is an interesting one, and one, I think, worthy of debate. I honestly cannot see where I moved from "writing well" to "bizzaro land" - if there has been such a drastic change in my attitude in a post I would very much welcome a pointer or two, but there is no need to start yelling at me.

If you meant no offense, I take none, and on with the show.

Yuri on Ice: I watched the first episode of the show - well, I skipped through it, and the first thing I thought was "this reminds me of Lupin III" - at the time I had no idea who the director was... then I looked it up and there you are, it's Sayo Yamamoto! She really brings her art background with her - even to Yuri on Ice. I called it stupid to begin with but am I wrong? Is it worth a proper viewing?


And yeaaaaah, that Mitsuda conversation did a great job reminding me of the real reason I rarely care to post here anymore.

Without a hint of attitude, may I ask why? I have always thought that full-on, meaty discussions are what make this thread. Posting music seems almost coincidental sometimes. That's certainly what's kept me here for so long. It makes this forum feel a bit "beyond" your typical internet link depository - "give me the music and piss off." Does it really bother people so much? Is it ME? Or it is the discussion itself?

Since it's kinda my fault for instigating this out-of-the-line discussion with my "Xenosaga is excellent" comment allow me to mediate:


Some people (myself included) just like to speculate and discuss seemingly trivial things (almost endlessly) over subjects they care a great deal about. Sometimes from little snippets you get here and there about your subject of interest you form together theories and search for evidence to support it... mainly because you care for the subject and it brings you joy... it's also the standard procedure for anyone who attended or learned from university (at least thats what I hope people still learn there).

For example, when I say stuff like "Giacchino is not a good film composer and is not liked by musicians" I have plenty of evidence to support it and I don't even need to point out his scores in detail. From Conrad Pope's frequent comments about how Desplat was FORCED from Rogue One because Disney didn't like his score because it took risks and Giacchino always plays it safe,to Mike Verta's comments how many of his collagues and friends have zero respect for him, think him unsuited to work with an orchestra and give him the middlefinger behind his back, to Seth McFarlane openly adressing the matter on John Williams lifetime achievement show broadly on stage and in detail behind the camera. Finding these things so that your wild speculation and opinion might become fact is something I (and I believe I speak for Tango here) find stimulating.

Now in the debate that took place, no matter the subjects Tango talked about he didn't insult anyone, at least I got out of it that despite his disbelieve in Mitsuda's orchestration skills he thinks that A: He is a superb melodist because of his education and videogame background and B: His score for Xenosaga is worthy of the London Philharmonic, which must say a lot because the British have a special sense of patriotism.

He didn't use foul language or any insults below the standard of serious (read scientific) debate. But I don't want to insult anyone either so let me just say I read the raw posts before they were edited and you just can't come out of the blue with some wordings there. You may call someone in a debate snobish and arrogant, only speaking from his ivory tower without getting a slap from reality, fair enough, but just imagine you were having a real life debate and your sitting in a chair and exchange ideas and suddenly a participant erupts, stands up and calls everyone names... that's just the end of your academic career right there and the same kind of thing wouldn't fly in a professional work environment either. I'm of course exagerating and I sure hope this thread does not come across as an academic music circlejerk and granted, I really enjoy this thread when "casual" but I also like to discuss things at length when it interests me and this thread here is about the only place on the internet where I can do that without anyone throwing a temper-tantrum when he finds an opinion he doesn't like.

In the past I think I contributed to people leaving the thread because I said this score or that score (like Desplat's Godzilla) where objectively bad but instead of engaging in debate (of which I am guilty of myself) asking why I think that and to come to an understanding, we just took it too personal. We may have learned that studio decisions forced Desplat down which he admits in a composer talk round and we would have discovered that I think Desplat to be a professional composer who is very much capable of writing great things, I would vehementely defend him if someone would insult his abilities anyday. But instead all I got was "this thread is always constantly negative... you don't like Godzilla, why you hate Desplat, I'm leaving..." which is a shame because no matter our petty differences, we're still part of the 0,1% of population earth that cares for "Background" music.
It also turned pretty hostile when I did go into musical terminology, most people lose me there and think I somehow attack them for not knowing the musical vocabulary, it's just difficult to accept for some people that music is a language like any other (but unlike Tango I think music is actually the easiest language one can learn on earth) and some people can speak fluently in music and some people just don't and that reflects on the quality of their work.

Point of it all is I hope we can all get along being civil and friendly with each other as always. I hope we can continue discussing and debating without belitteling each other or thinking someone has a superiority/snobish agenda. We're all here because we love music and enoy sharing our ideas and interests with people we care about (to varying degrees).

I'm back and unoffended and super happy about de-escalation and openly willing to admit I overreacted at tone. Also, I don't see any edits anywhere that removed anything from the way it was when I first saw it.

As an aside, I want to also say that I'm not disagreeing with the length of any of tango's posts. I meant "wall of text" in a slightly joking shorthand kind of way and didn't expect it to be taken badly, since a few posts up from that he'd been also jokingly ending his with a "TL;DR" line.

If I can in any way help to explain where I was coming from as tones harshened, I could sort of catalog the progression on my end.
I mean, someone I'm used to reading posts by says something that's not really controversial or unreasonable, and says it in their usual enthusiastic way that I'm used to. Ok. That's normal. I'm inclined to believe it at face value.
A different person disagrees, which is also normal. First party is adamant, which is also a thing that often happens and is not wrong or even a slightly bad event. It does, however, cause me to consider it in a little more depth. That'd be where I remembered how nasty Japanese corporate culture can get and suggested that as one plausible explanation. I was wrong, so I can't honestly begrudge the response to that one, cause it's partly my fault, isn't it?
But still no harm done, and it encouraged me to dig a little deeper for some actual facts, which presented a much more reasonable looking set of much more plausible explanation. (also, another good bit that didn't have a chance to get mentioned because it was so obvious on a forest-but-trees level that I missed it, but it's coming, honest!)
--- dividing line where I start to get a little miffed ---
Right, this is the part tango might not like. I feel like attacking Mitsuda's credentials, beyond a certain extent, is a low blow, and could very very easily be read as unprofessional, and possibly only being stated to remove any possible favorable explanation for why he might have legitimately pulled off a stunt that seemed like it should have been beyond him. Now, when I go back and read it in the mindset of "let's say he didn't mean it that way, could I read that in a different light?" Yes. And yet, I can still understand where that one got under my skin.

To a certain extent, when we're discussing something like "Orchestration is hard" - which I've never not believed is true - and then I'm trying to see how someone might plausibly achieve a subset of it under pressure, education is happening! I'm learning a little more about how it works. I start to believe, even more, that it's a real thing that a person might actually learn some of. Tango even helpfully explains some specific pitfalls a novice would have trouble with! But the flip side of that is, I also start to see that it's something even I could learn, given enough time and effort and guidance. I post again.
--- dividing line where tango gets offended ---
Yeah. That happened. Why did I react so poorly? I felt like you tried to pull rank on me, beat me down with a dictionary, and told me to shut up. But we're still cool. Even at the lowest point there, I understood that you weren't being even one percent as nasty as a person might be in an argument, and hopefully no one thinks I was trying my hardest to be nasty either. I mean, it's tango, and I have the unfair advantage that he posts a lot and I post rarely, so I read more into his mind and think "eh, he only intended that to be about 21.33 percent (repeating of course) as that looked, maybe round down to account for british humor". He can't do that with my posts, the last two days are like a double digit of my output and half of that is me being squeamish about a little glistening topless manflesh.

--- the good bit I promised earlier ----
So: a while back I went and listened to some Xenosaga, because why not? Exciting discussion is occurring, and if I don't refresh my memory on the actual music I might say something thirty seconds of effort would have told me my memory was wrong about. It was before the more negative bits, but I didn't understand it until after.
Here's the smoking gun on "did he do this work himself", or rather, the negative image of a missing smoking gun. The part where it all came together for me when I couldn't sleep after a loud noise woke me. The one thing I can actually legitimately contribute as proudly part of my actual for real experience and not a hunch:
...where in the fuck are the woodwinds? Not the Celtic flute, we already know Mitsuda likes using that, he'd done it a couple years before. Where's the clarinets? I'm a clarinet man myself. Where's the oboe, bassoon, the standard transverse flute, maybe a recorder or something if you're feeling fancy? This is a real orchestra that plays real music for real as their day job and records for other people as a side gig, right? They don't lack those players. No self respecting orchestra lacks those players. Hell, they've got understudies that are basically either the main person's top student or the person who came in second in the audition, and they've got a list of fifteen other people after that!

But Mitsuda, as we've come to learn, is a piano guy and also sort of a guitar guy. Is "Junior College" the Japanese-to-English way of saying what we'd call a Community College here? Solid foundations, awards a sort of half-degree? Wouldn't have had a composition major learn at least two other instruments like a four year school would? Ah. There we go.

All the obviously PS2-sound-chip tracks sound exactly like him. The live player tracks also sound like him... but of course with the chiptune-like arpeggio constructs dialed down to something a human can do, and... no woodwinds. Because he's a guitar guy, he's halfway there to wrapping his head around how a violin works, and he's relying a lot of strings and brass and piano. Obviously they're not identical, but the concept of the left hand work on the neck is something he's familiar with and knows not to ask the impossible of. That's one minefield it might take a year of experience to know how to avoid, and he gets to skip it by knowing a related family of instrument.
But he's not a woodwind guy, and I am, and I can very well imagine how a composer who's never touched a clarinet might write something that is absolutely unplayable.
But an orchestrator wouldn't. It's their job to know that. I could almost say it's their main job job know that. They won't hand you the certificate at the end if you can't do that. There's no way they wouldn't have utilized those instruments, and the non-live-orchestra stuff he's written does use woodwindy sounds. And this is the part where I finally know he didn't have much help. For the 20ish minutes of London output, he relied on a smaller subset of the skill. He did the parts he could figure out how to do, and he avoided (or outright failed at, and that's the one the wiki says got him all depressed?) his weaknesses. And that means you don't get to hear the woodwinds that should be there, because they're not playing or are just holding a few background notes, because certain intervals or trills that look perfectly innocent on a director's score are blatantly impossible for us to play, because our instruments were last redesigned in the 1830s and do not actually work as intended. This is learnable, but if he didn't have a halfway-there related-instrument background it could have taken longer than the time he had to do it. If he'd had access to an orchestrator, wouldn't he have at least had a little wind action in there? Even just thirty seconds of that twenty minutes? Was it there and I just missed it? Did he show up with the score and the wind section looked at it and said "I have to play this? Tomorrow? This note is lower than my lowest note and I'd need three pinkie fingers to play this passage. Sorry, I can't even fake that."

Also, I think maybe "faking it" is used differently and more strictly in the UK than the US, and that might have caused extra confusion. It doesn't always mean failure here, it can also be going in without a plan and pulling it off successfully and convincing you that we meant to. Like how we've spent two hundred years playing something Mozart wrote for a guy who's custom instrument had four more notes that we don't have. Like Spock giving it his "best guess" in Star Trek 4. Or how - and I think most instruments have at least one of these stories - a great composer demanded the impossible of us, but it wasn't in a solo bit where anyone would notice, so we chickened out and told him "yes sir" and now it's part of our official repetoire that we have to play a different note there.

What the hell? Wall of text alert! ;)

So much to say, so little time, so I will break with personal tradition and be very brief...


--- dividing line where tango gets offended ---

Not offended, just keen to correct misaprehension. :)


Wall of text

Perhaps I have a kneejerk reaction to hearing my posts described as such; it is usually a precursor to someone ignoring what I said or complaining that it takes too long to read. If it took ten seconds to make these posts, I wouldn't care - but as we all know it takes a long time to type this shit and an even longer time to formulate the content. A lot of the conversation in this thread veers into "original research" territory and that means referring to encyclopedias or websites, sometimes trying to interpret machine translations of text originally written in a foreign language, listening to CDs for reference, etc. The next time you spend two hours thinking about something, working out what you want to say, and saying it - after a terrifically stressful day working for Pol Pot Ltd - and somebody shoves it back in your face calling it a "wall of text" and then starts yelling at you for imagined disrespect... You'll get it. ;)


I felt like you tried to pull rank on me, beat me down with a dictionary, and told me to shut up.

I'm genuinely sorry you thought that, although equally genuinely I don't know where you got that impression from what I wrote. I am aware that I can sometimes write in a tone that make my motives ambiguous, but I keep reading back and I cannot see any of this. I certainly didn't pull rank - I have none, and neither do you! We're just two (presumably) guys. I believed we were getting to the meat of a discussion I found very interesting - I had the impression you felt likewise in your enthusiastic and detailed replies. I went on about orchestration because I've been trying to learn how to do it for almost twenty years and I am still not anywhere approaching competent. I cited a handful of the insane list of things you need to be aware of not to belittle you, or Mitsuda for that matter, but moreover to underline my point that this stuff isn't something you can just casually learn how to do - and that no sane producer would expect somebody without prior experience to be able to do it.

To my knowledge, I wasn't nasty at all - not directly, and not even if you chose to interpret my words that way. I certainly was after your post, which I feel that you utterly deserved - but until that point I see nothing but levity and respect in my posts; hence my thinking "What the hell?!" when you went nuts on me.


Woodwinds

A full woodwind section is playing in every orchestral cue of Xenosaga; they're not doing anything particularly fancy, with the bulk of the hard work done by brass and strings, but they're around. As I said, the orchestration on Xenosaga is the work of somebody who is pretty good at orchestration - it sounds like Mitsuda's themes and harmonic ideas, but somebody else doing the orchestrations. I don't care if they DID - my interest is purely academic. As I've said before, Mitsuda has enough ability outside of orchestration to deserve to be known as a musician. It doesn't matter a bugger if he can't orchestrate. And, if he *can* - we arrive back at my original question; where did he learn how to do it?


attacking Mitsuda's credentials, beyond a certain extent, is a low blow, and could very very easily be read as unprofessional

I'm not a professional; I'm just some dude who spends a lot of money on CDs and has a desire to talk about them on the internet. ;)

Though I must clarify here; I didn't attack Mitsuda's credentials. I remarked on his lack of credentials. That is not the same thing. It is a fact that his musical education was incomplete and problematic, and it is a fact that the music college he attended barely rates, and that he consciously sought a lower-ranked music college because he lacked the confidence to attend somewhere prestigious. It is a fact that the composition teacher frequently cited in Mitsuda biographies has absolutely zero online presence except in Mitsuda biographies. It's a fact that Mitsuda had barely any prior experience at arranging for live musicians prior to Xenosaga, and certainly none that would prepare him for working with one of the world's premiere symphony orchestras. If I'd said "Mitsuda is a dumb c**t" or "Xenosaga is f****g s**t" I'd understand where you were coming from...

ANYWAY... so much for being brief. I'm sorry. I think I'll stop now and go to bed...

Goodnight everybody. :D

Edit: UK "faking it" basically means actually not being able to do something but combining confidence, ingenuity, and a reliance on the ignorance of your observers to somehow stumble through without creating an utter disaster. I thought that's largely what you meant.

Nonetheless, here's to cross-cultural misunderstandings, and two nations divided by a common language. ;)

Well after reading that debate...

I am a self-taught composer. I knew nothing about orchestration prior to my experiences from my first album. HOWEVER, I am currently studying methods and learning from people who do know what they are doing. Sure I am learning still and I am almost 30 years old, but I have a sense of what sounds good. I listen to the great composers and I do my best to take from their experience to strengthen and develop my own sound.

Pretty soon I will be attempting the largest orchestration I have done ever. It is a very intimidating beast, but overcome it I shall ;). I am really fortunate to have some great mentors. Plus I keep in mind what I have always wanted to hear since I became a VGM/Anime music fan. And I believe that makes it easier to create pieces that people have enjoyed. Take "Find Your Way" from FF8 for the Materia album "Successor", I love Hamaguchi's form of writing and so I studied it when I approached the music. I put my own spin on it, but overall I did my best to add color, atmosphere, but NEVER would that color and atmosphere overshadow the stunning melodies that Uematsu wrote. I believe that is why Uematsu and Hamaguchi were so great together because Hamaguchi knew exactly how to bring Nobuo's melodies out and with some really robust orchestration to compliment that.

I'm no means as good as Hamaguchi-san, but I love studying his form in the hopes I can produce an effective and enjoyable arrangement.

^^ That's why I love Uematsu even though, by his own admission, he can't orchestrate, read music, write music, and has no musical education. He's a tunesmith. When you're orchestrating for Uematsu, you don't *have* to overdo it - you're not polishing a sow's ear into a silk purse, you're taking something which is inherently good and repurposing it according to the strengths of a particular size and shape of ensemble. You're not trying to hide the essence of the music; you're trying to spotlight it. You're right, that's where Hamaguchi and Uematsu fit together so well; Uematsu draws the picture, Hamaguchi colours it in; he stays within the lines and picks a colour scheme appropriate to the atmosphere suggested by Uematsu's pencil drawing. So many orchestration relationships don't have that kind of synergy - to extend the metaphor, you often end up with a composer providing a piece of paper with a crude drawing of a square box with a triangle on the top and a note that says "Stately home in England, has fountains and grass, mid afternoon in summertime, mid-range view angled to the left" and handing it over to an orchestrator who produces an oil painting of Blenheim Palace - with the attendant arguments over who "composed" and who "orchestrated" - usually skewed with shameless bias towards the preference of the person making the argument casting his favoured musician in the superior post of composer. There is orchestration in which the orchestrator colours a basically complete picture provided by the composer, and there is orchestration in which the orchestrator essentially paints a picture him/herself based on vague instructions... and every graduation in between. :)

I like Hamaguchi's work for Shin Chan movies and Shirobako. One day I hope to buy the Shin CHan Movie BGM soundtrack.

Ugh, short notice maintenance yard work stuff at home. I'm not built well for digging ditches.

JB, I'm not sure if I've ever commented on your Final Fantasy related work before, since I've drifted far away from that series, but it's still good to see that you're doing it and enjoying it. I have fond gaming memories of chunks of the 90s stuff.

Tango, you've got nothing left to worry about. You've thoroughly addressed anything where I could have pointed to any short excerpt that set me off. What little was left is the weird one-time thing where a dozen small misreads compound enough to cross some threshhold of annoyance. Which hadn't happened before, because they were kinda spread out over four or five posts, so I could only ever get it quite that wrong because I was poring over them at the same time for the discussion instead of reading daily like normal. And now it's all been explained, so it's like, could that even happen again now? The same stuff wouldn't register, so it wouldn't add up to ARGH or even add up to zero. I probably won't blow up on anyone for another five years.

Vinphonic, on the middle bit there about face to face, absolutely, certain parts of the last couple days would never have happened if we were all hanging out in the same physical room and able to see each others faces and classic internet-style catastrophic misreads can't happen. Someone would have laughed here or "huh?"d there and then someone else would have clarified on the spot. (Not that in person shouting matches never happen, of course, but they come out of different sources)

Unfortunately, I've got no helpful advice for the internet "did I just step into a minefield again?" moments like the recent Star Wars one. I'm terrible at it. I remember at least one time I've even been terrible at it here, a long while back. I don't even know I've done it until after I've hit the fifth or sixth mine sometimes.

Aye, aye! If you're ever over here in England (contrary to highly dubious news reports, England hasn't turned into an atomic bomb crater since the Brexit vote) don't hesitate to let me know - beer is surely a language that transcends the international barriers?


I probably won't blow up on anyone for another five years.

Here's hoping we're all still here in five years to hold you to that. ;)

This is one of the reasons I hate the internet; sure, as you say, punch-ups and what-not still happen in the real world, but in internet land misunderstandings fester, and kneejerk reactions can be replayed over and over again.

As for minefields... what's the first thing you do if you trigger a mine and manage not to die? You run like hell trying to get away from the explosion and out of minefield as quickly as you can - and in doing so, you probably set off a dozen more mines... Common sense says "Oh, that was lucky - but I'd better be even more careful now I know there are mines around" - but human nature says "SHEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT mines, AAARGH RUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!"

Stunning work by 25-year-old composer/conductor Taku Matsushiba for the new series Yuri on Ice.

This is an original piece he wrote for episode 1: http://picosong.com/aRnF/

One of the most exciting debuts in a long time.

If one were to look for more tunes like this, what should one search for? I've had this one on repeat since yesterday and still can't get enough of it. Before this one was brought to my attention, it was "Il Mare Eterno Nella Mia Anima" by Taku Iwasaki from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure that was a regular item on playlist everyday. Now there's two of them. Would love to discover more!

Many thanks again, nextday, for sharing that piece!

England has isolated itself. It will be gone soon.

England has isolated itself. It will be gone soon.

I know politics and internet forums never mix, so I will ignore this obvious troll and just remind everyone that I bought up Brexit as a joke, as a precursor to talking about beer in a conversation intended to cultivate friendship. I absolutely did not intend to provoke a serious discussion about it, much less provoke aggressive, confrontational, overly negative, and factually inaccurate comments about it.

Sunstrider:


Well, Drifters should have one or two: I hope for something like Morricone's Vattel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZDGrL2bDOQ#t=1m55s)

Izetta has one (albeit not as energetic): Opera Scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbHlc0i9_-o#t=12m34s)

Stray Dogs 2 should definetely have one

EDIT: Ups, totally forgot Conqueror of the Universe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9htEc_3aXA0). Takaki and Matsushiba together on LotGH would be a match made in heaven.

Other than that only Yoko Kanno and Iwasaki frequently do Opera pieces in their work.


There's also the fantastic Maria and Draco (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH6agVrah84)


Not exactly opera, but: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CKtC7rn3eE

Go Shiina just excells at this stuff:

http://picosong.com/akB4

http://picosong.com/akBJ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XrooIRZv54

Quite baffling that the only place for original opera score these days in media is Japanese Anime/Games.




Talking about this season a bit more, if you're an oboist you should be very happy with the premium product advertisement in Euphonium 2, also Tango might like the little foot-fetish scene underscored by none other than Borodin ;)
Also 3CDs!? what is Matsuda up to. I guess one cd will be source music and so far it's been really lovely drama sound but could there be some actual "serious" moments this time?!
Also some trivia: For the movie version they actually rerecorded some TV score and source music for 5.1 sound systems. What utterly commendable dedication and care.

Keijo!!!: Some of it would fit right in Majestic Prince, especially the quieter moments. The string writting is excellent, more at home in a SciFi setting and some cues really get your blood pumping... this sports comedy is absolutely ridiculous. Some standout moments should appear soon, go Matsuo!!! :D



On a sidenote, what is it with Nintendo downplaying Skyward Sword any chance they get. It's one of their most if not the most accomplished orchestral effort so why are there just three tracks on the 30th Anniversary collection while others get ten. Worse is the fact that the master tape still exists, they just outright refuse a soundtrack relase when every other little entry gets one, what the hell :(

Without a hint of attitude, may I ask why? I have always thought that full-on, meaty discussions are what make this thread. Posting music seems almost coincidental sometimes. That's certainly what's kept me here for so long. It makes this forum feel a bit "beyond" your typical internet link depository - "give me the music and piss off." Does it really bother people so much? Is it ME? Or it is the discussion itself?

Well, um, yes. At the risk of putting too fine a point on it, yes, the problem is you. Salty, speculative Tango, especially about a composer you don't like, is my least favorite flavor of Tango, cuz regardless of how polite you're being to the person you're discussing w or how long or short your posts are, you have a way of seeming more interested in tearing the artist in question down when you get like that than making any intelligent, elucidating points, and evilwurst had it right the first time. I was more than happy to let him take over that conversation cuz yeah, I was getting right tired of your tone too, and you do it A LOT. Often I'll pop in to see what the topic is and where it's headed and 99% of the time, I just don't even want to bother. I disagree? Who cares? I ALWAYS disagree w this thread. What would saying anything accomplish?

I can take or leave most discussions about music to be perfectly frank. If I still found talking about music at all stimulating or engaging, I'd still be writing about it. I'll gladly check out the music that gets posted in here, but no, I find many of the "discussions" that get floated in here more off-putting than interesting. The very notion of engaging w this thread has been extremely unappealing to me for a loooooooooong time, and I'd be lying if I said you were not the biggest contributing factor to that.

PS: Yuri on Ice is in fact cool and good and will probably have more good music and you should watch.

@evilwurst


I really enjoyed reading your insightful comment on Xenosaga as a woodwind player. It's always interesting to me to hear about scores I love from the perspective of "the performer" so to speak. I mostly have to rely on breath controller "to get the feeling for it" or I just hold my breath and exhale while playing on piano for brass and winds (something I learned from Mike). I now have to ask, is there a particular composer who you think just blows others out of the water in terms of wind play, or your favorite score where woodwinds dominate... classical or contemporary, I would really love to read your suggestions :)

Symphony of the Godess will end in early 2017, once again being updated with new music now.once it ends, there is enough material for 3 cds.i hope nintendo stops being dicks and releases it in 2017.and final symphony 2 hopefully will be released in 2017.

I would love to be able to talk more about clarinet stuff, but I only ever got a brief glimpse at the really good stuff. Went to college intending to major in it, ended up sidelined early on by an injury that never healed right, and I try not to complain about that too loudly because I'd already figured out by then that I liked everything except the public performance part.
But I had some amazing good luck in being born in the right time and place to have met the teachers I did. I had my foot in the doorway to another world, maybe even a hand and shoulder.

There are threads at woodwind.org spread out over ten years or so, at every level of skill, ranging up to principal chair clarinetists in EU orchestras getting into fantastically technical debates about the merits of slightly different key layouts. Somehow every time I hit google looking for details about some obscura I only half remember, I end up at that site and then suddenly it's hours later and the sun is rising. Um. Basically for any question you have, it's probably best to ask them, by way of asking google, which will ask their archives for you and point you to that one time they got very deep into it in 2004. I'm about on the level of someone who can maybe help you phrase the question!

If you've already talked to Mike Verta about breath controllers, you're already way ahead of me on that. The last time I looked into it, I ended up... watching a video about it that he put on youtube. (If I remember it right, he uses a keyboard and the actual breathing part is a different device for just that? If I were doing it, I'd probably have to get one of the full on electric wind controllers, but my understanding is that those use the exact same hardware inside that you can get in the standalone mouth part. So it should work the same way.)

Well, I appreciate what you say. I know I'm not to everybody's taste. I still think it's possible for someone to say as much without actually talking to me like I'm a piece of shit off the bottom of your shoe. ;)

I will admit that sometimes I really do "go for it" in this thread. I think I do because in no other thread is even possible to express such opinions; so when I'm in here I end up turning into "evil laughter while ripping some asshole composer to pieces" Tango. Perhaps it's the anti-reaction to all the disproportionate praise that some people receive. I have never someone attack a poster for their innate positivity, or that they seem more interested in expressing their undying love of every note a composer writes than they do from making intelligent, illucidating points. There's a time and a place for beng smart, and there's a time and a place for good old fashioned "letting off steam" - but I like to think even in my less cerebral, more severe and abrasive moments I still manage to make a good point.

Nobody's perfect. Least of all me. But we all do the best we can. :)

So am I the only one who picked up Intrada's Ten Commandments? Or perhaps someone is excited about Cheyenne Autumn getting a release with decent sound finally? No? All excited about Japanese projects that I can't for the life of me follow even with the hints in this thread. I for one have been really loving digging deep into the melodies and motifs of The Ten Commandments now that I have the full score to dig through (once I remove those disturbing chants, at least the ones I can).

I got Ten Commandments, but between the overzealous noise reduction and numerous shameful technical fuckups I can't listen to almost all of it. Shame, really... great score.

No sir, quite excited to have this one finally in my collection as well ;)

But I must confess I don't really have the desire to revisit the complete score anytime soon. I much prefer CD 5 and 6. It's more than enough to make me happy and I think I'm not losing much. I'm also awaiting the rerecoding of Ben-Hur in 2017 with enthusiasm since I quite like Tadlow's recent output.



Oh and speaking of Japanese projects, Oshima's Little Witch TV score has surfaced... and it's NOT Moscow. It's either a domestic studio ensemble or Budapest. It's the same piece as heared in the OVA but the same theme without the same worldclass performers and engineers... well, some of the magic is lost. BUT I think it's nothing I can't fix in my studio, it sounds pretty dry so much is possible. Either way they probably did not have enough budget for a full hour of score to record in Moscow. Still very much excited for more Oshima.

And about the OTHER Michiru: After episode 2 of Izetta there is no doubt left for me that the opera piece is not a fluke. This is not simply just another promising anime debut, this is far more: A serious display of talent at classical symphonic writing. Some of the music would fit a Final Fanatsy game like a glove. But THAT final cue, it's unbelievable for a newcomer, could be from an 80s Spielberg film, especially the final 30 seconds. She also composed music for the new ZOIDS project so I hope she can establish a career real fast.

After checking out her bio, it's no wonder, she has some serious chops and look at that, she composes opera pieces too: MICHIRU (http://michiru.jp/en/)

I got Ten Commandments, but between the overzealous noise reduction and numerous shameful technical fuckups I can't listen to almost all of it. Shame, really... great score.

Shameful technical fuckups? Like what? I avoid the albums because they each have a dance or two as part of the already short presentation. I find the energy the music has towards the second half to be quite fantastic, and something I never noticed in the previous versions. Though typical Intrada I can't remove certain chants because they are in the middle of 4 minute crossfade cues.

LOL, why the hell did they re-record the main title piece with such a crappy tiny ensemble when they've already got it in the bag - TWICE - with the Moscow orchestra? At least we know there is one - I knew (well, I strongly suspected) that we'd never get Moscow in a million years for the TV score. My money was on either re-using cues from the short films with cheap non-Oshima stuff as filler, or something completely new and cheap with no Oshima at all. It's good to hear Oshima is involved, and there is going to be an orchestral score.


Shameful technical fuckups? Like what?

The piss-poor sound quality (inferior to previous releases) caused by an obsessive need to suck away every last fragment of hiss... the weird clicking noise running through a fair bit of Disc 6. I've seen the Intrada apologists on FSM jumping down the throats of anybody who dares to point this out, and even seen Intrada themselves weigh in with DOWNRIGHT LIES that it is technically impossible to do anything about those noises without causing more damage - when any competent engineer will tell you removing infrequent and conspicuous clicking noises is elementary and can be done without causing any damage whatsoever.

This kind of cock-up is happening more and more frequently. From the atrocious mastering on Fitzpatrick's Conan, to the dry and constricted Ben Hur, to this... I am sure they are employing mastering engineers who either aren't very good or have hearing problems. It is the only possible explanation.

Just like the world of music itself, the pursuit of quality is now unfashionable.

And about the OTHER Michiru: After episode 2 of Izetta there is no doubt left for me that the opera piece is not a fluke. This is not simply just another promising anime debut, this is far more: A serious display of talent at classical symphonic writing. Some of the music would fit a Final Fanatsy game like a glove. But THAT final cue, it's unbelievable for a newcomer, could be from an 80s Spielberg film, especially the final 30 seconds. She also composed music for the new ZOIDS project so I hope she can establish a career real fast.

I looked at the first episode and I meant to mention the "other" Michiru... there was definitely something going on there that was worth hearing... and now, we have episode 2, and we know that Michiru really is genuinely talented - REALLY talented. That finale cue is a serious IOW to Yoko Kanno and by that I mean it's an obvious copy - Macross Frontier called and it wants its introduction cue back - but it's gorgeous all the same and it is pushed in a different direction to Kanno's cue - and it's wonderfully orchestrated. From the video on Michiru's website, we see that she is another composer who can write music with nothing more complicated than a pencil and paper, and that skill points to a solid musical education. (Which we can see from her biography - a proper composition qualification, classical study, and an interest in other musical genres. The waltz at the front of the episode is lovely - melancholy, mysterious, playful, a little sexy, and crucially uses the colours of the symphony orchestra. (It also feels like it's scored to picture...)

Thanks to episode 2, Izetta is now my "pick of the season" - I think Drifters is going to be fantastic, but to an extent we know what we'll be getting. Izetta, on the other hand, is a really brilliant debut score by a new composer in their thirties; it surprises me to say, but that interests me a little more than the prospect of a big Warsaw score by an established name... even if Hayato Matsuo has been wasting away on shit shows for so long and suddenly has TWO airing at once... (What the hell is with Keijo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? How did he ever get an orchestra for that? I mean, SERIOUSLY... I watched the first episode and it's literally nothing but tits and bums.)

Hmm. Just yesterday I noticed the same thing in D.Gray-Man Hallow. (same music got re-recorded for about six tracks). Wasn't even going to mention it, but now there's another example and it's starting to look like a pattern. Contracts and performance copyrights, maybe? I could see that interacting poorly with wanting to partly re-use some recordings while doing new material with a different group. In the case of D Gray Man, some of it has to be ten years apart; the old show ran 2006-2008, and the new one just recently.

The possibility of contractual stumbling blocks may be the reason why years-later sequels end up getting original music. There were 103 episodes of the original D-Gray Man and four soundtrack CDs - and it was worth getting Kaoru Wada back with a decent-sized orchestra TEN YEARS LATER for the 13 episodes of Hallow - AND wasting time at that session recording music you already had in the can? Surely nobody would do that unless there was some idiotic legal reason why they had to.

I'm glad that whatever it is exists, because otherwise we'd have the same three scores rptated through every single anime series forevermore... :O

DA KYO SHO OH - Kaoru Wada/Miracle Percussion Ensemble (1999)


1-5 Mitos Brasileiros / Ney Rosauro
I) Curupira II) Iara III) Saci Perer� IV) Uirapur� V) Mula sem Cabe�a
6 HAYASHI / Motohiko Adachi
7 Ko for Conductor and 8 Percussion Players / Shuko Mizuno
8 MATRA for Solo Marimba, Solo Timpani and 5 Percussionists / Akira Nishimura
9 Da-kyo-sho-oh for 6 Percussion Players / Kaoru Wada
10 Toccata without instruments / Ramon mayer
11 Bossa Nova without instruments / William J. Schinstine
12 Rock Trap / William J. Schinstine
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!Fhpy3Z5J!vXmnEwECmQf3_NeY2ErNyt06Ut3iOQTT1A3O6qc_fpk)


Akira Ifukube
SYMPHONIC FANTASIA / SYMPHONIC ODE "GOTAMA THE BUDDHA" (1989/2013 Remaster)
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra cond. by Kazuhiko Komatsu


1 SYMPHONIC FANTASIA, 1983
2-4 SYMPHONIC ODE "GOTAMA THE BUDDHA" (Kokyo Juge: Shaka) 1988-89
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!p54X0BAJ!sUFmkgXC0jzHvHtr17f5fEgNVaOVlU0jB5h0tDugpbM)


(Kaoru Wada is a disciple of Akira Ifukube)

I can agree with you on the clicks on Disc 6 but to suggest that the main soundtrack of The Ten Commandments sounds worse than previous releases is insane. It immediately grabbed me with how good it sounded, though I haven't gone back and compared it to the previous one directly.

The Legacy of Japanese Composers
The Works of Yoko Kanno
Volume 2



Download (https://mega.nz/#!I4QFmZbB!g5iP9vCoWxZmct5-eVtCVueHhUAsccDAIcfyYPvZ5qk)



Yoko Kanno not only took the anime scoring world by storm, she also excelled at crafting artistic musical paintings for games and other media.

Nobunagas Ambition: Yamashita's scores are nice film music and all and I definetely appreciate the Rozsa and Hollywood homages from Masako Otsuka but Kanno is not only the one who started the musical legacy of this franchise but also crafted the most unique and most beautiful soundworld for the series. I made two custom albums. One is sort of an extended score for Nobunaga V. I took the Kanagawa Philharmonic tracks from the 30th Anniversary since they blend quite nicely with the Warsaw tracks and made the album listen a much more satisfying one for me. The other one is a custom compilation of the previous four that flows like an actual album and shows that even when given a normal studio-sized ensemble, she can work wonders. We can also hear many of her trademarks that would later blossom in Turn A, Aquarion and Macross.

Memories: Kanno's taste for Opera shines brilliantly here and gives us a truely mesmerizing operatic film score.

The Creation: Much has been said already about this symphonic marvel, so I think it needs no further recommendation, a wonderful introspective score, feeling more intimate than everything else she has done.

As for the rest: Gochisousan is the usual classic Kanno, working a light-hearted orchestral adventure with the Vienna Opera Ball Orchestra and finishing with a full-fleshed symphonic piece. Song to Fly is another showcase of her ecclectic genius. I've also included her chorale in this one. The single pieces are various symphonic pieces in otherwise quite different genre albums.


With that said, this completes my Yoko Kanno Legacy Collection. But it's not over yet. There are quite a few artists left and right now it looks like I can share them all in the coming months.


As always, enjoy the music and take care.









PS: If you ever wondered why my folders contain pictures labeled "disc" and "artist" it's purely for cosmetic reasons:



PPS: Also quite a lot of pages of pure dialogue these past weeks :O

I can agree with you on the clicks on Disc 6 but to suggest that the main soundtrack of The Ten Commandments sounds worse than previous releases is insane. It immediately grabbed me with how good it sounded, though I haven't gone back and compared it to the previous one directly.

"I haven't listened to the thing in order to verify if you're right or not, but nonetheless your opinion is insane."

:seriously:

Anyway, if you're referring to the original film recording, as far as I'm aware that's never been released before except in mono on vinyl in 1957, so a comparison would not be possible. That and I'm not at all interested in every single fart, whistle, and scrape recorded at the original session - though I know some people do like to have *everything*, The Ten Commandments works better as a symphony than it does a film score - at least, it does to me.

Nonetheless, it sounds like it's got too much noise reduction and high-end missing as a consequence. Likewise Disc 4.

Disc 5 is probably the best sounding of the lot, and the better presentation of the score overall - containing the 1960 stereo re-recording, but again has more noise reduction and less high-end than in its cleaner and clearer 1989 CD release by MCA records.

Disc 6 sounds like utter crap and is playing at the wrong pitch, but is the completely redundant budget 1966 re-recording so it doesn't really matter to me.

This release allegedly came from master-tapes, although it's obvious that Disc 6 is a shoddy vinyl transfer.

It's nice to have this music available, but I wish they would hire a mastering engineer who knows what the hell they're doing. When a digital remastering from nearly thirty years ago sounds better than one from yesterday and allegedly made from better source material, surely even the biggest fan has to grudgingly admit that something is wrong. This release amounts to lots of tedious recordings from the original soundtrack, a poor transfer of the redundant 1957 mono soundtrack, a slightly better transfer of the 1960 stereo soundtrack available better elsewhere, and a REALLY poor transfer of the redundant 1966 cheapo re-recording. And repetition... SO MUCH REPETITION.

What I meant was I hadn't done an A/B testing back and forth with the two. But I have been listening to the full score on the new release quite a few times already and was quite excited by the way it sounded overall. Of course certain parts are still in mono and can't be helped but the stereo tracks are fantastic. For example compare The Exodus on both versions, the original and the Intrada. Yes the original is clear and clean on the highs but has almost no lows. I don't necessarily want all of the tracks in the main program because certain dances and chants are distracting but I find the expanded version does a great job of telling the story so much better than the shorter albums. I haven't really listened to the other discs so much yet besides Disc 6, where yes I noticed the pops.

I don't have any of the mono recordings on hand to compare, just a MP3 I got of what appears to be the 1989 MCA release. This version has great highs but lacks in lows.

Edit second time:
See here is the thing, there is room for disagreement over how mastering should be done and room for preferences of a certain version over another. But to say the mastering engineers involved in the release have absolutely no idea what they are doing is a bit much, especially considering his numerous projects with Intrada, La La Land, and Kritzerland, which have generally turned out fantastic. http://www.malonedigital.com/projectlist.htm#.V_rdV_REc7w

Outa curiosity—since I haven't listened to the set yet—I threw the Prelude from disc 5 into Audition, added generic mastering (reverb, exciter, widener, though no loudness) and it sounds much more alive. There is, of course, an attendant rise in hiss, but it's worth it, otherwise it's quite flat and dull what Intrada put out. No sparkle.

The Legacy of Western Games
The Orchestral Music of European and American Video Games





Part I � Symphonic Collection



Download (https://mega.nz/#!0UVxWCDY!7j89Ryc2uxyLhaUY9icAMIRubG2jNiy4dl-gX0oEiyQ)

Outcast is perhaps the greatest symphonic (western) game score I have ever heard. I instantly get transported to an alien world and don�t want to leave until it�s over. In that sense it has the same Siren-like quality for me as a romantic violin concerto. And the Moscow Symphony is one of my absolute favorite orchestras. I also don�t quite understand the criticism of repetition but seeing the same thing said about Giant Robo I guess I�m just more leaning to proper symphonic structure than to spectacular individual moments and in that regard Outcast succeeds with flying colors.

The Russian Pirate games also fall in this category. Beautiful romantic symphonic scores. I actually used them for Witcher 3 in combination with ZERA and they work magic with the beautiful landscapes.

Everquest II is a truly great orchestral fantasy score, which is as far away from the usual Hollywood sound and more in the soundworld of symphonic albums. I combined the official soundtrack with a few pieces from Doublehex�s passionate complete score album. Laura Karpman is severely underused as a game composer and it looks like she has retired from games 

Bob & Barn (Paul Arnold & Andrew Barnabas) gave us two symphonic game score with much homage to classic Hollywood and classical works. Not on the level of Dave Roylance but certainly keepers.

Quidditch World Cup & Total Annihilation are the only two Soule scores I really care about aside from his contribution to Mists of Pandaria. TA has perhaps the best action music for a strategy game ever and QWC is thoroughly spectacle from start to finish.

Now on to two German game scores I am very fond of but more because of nostalgia than anything else. There�s some genuine good classical writing in Anno 1701 and it is Sillescu�s best score to date. But the really special one for me is Gothic 3. Composer Kai Rosenkranz was a rookie let loose for the first time on a quality orchestral ensemble and he definitely succeeded in crafting a beautiful symphonic sound world. The only fault is the lack of good action but he more than makes up for it with his enthusiasm. A rather tragic fact, his friend died during the production of the game and the last piano track was actually played by Rosenkranz during his funeral. You can really feel the heavy emotion in this piece.

On to two very grim scores, one is Kotor II: The Sith Lords. Mark Grisky wrote boring John Williams rip-off after boring John Williams rip-off before and sadly after this game. The Sith Lords is the only time where you can hear a different voice than Jonny coming through and I would even say his short little motifs are pretty iconic.
In Dante�s Inferno Schyman is letting the orchestra play the sounds from hell itself. Atonal, clusters upon clusters, strange articulations, string and vocal effects. All is very convincing but not quite on Christopher Young or Goldenthal level.

Ultima X is very much a classical fantasy score of the 80s with a few little winks to Conan and Lord of the Rings. Republic: The Revolution is a very unorthodox Hannigan score and I think his most original effort. Also quite nice to hear fantasy marches and anthems from someone not Japanese. I�ve also included the Wing Commander Orchestra project here.



Part II � The John Williams Collection




Download (https://mega.nz/#!gEcWmBqS!IIAlMcANjZWs51e3H9i5tit3-8SbzC8AGJ6-Zs45F1w)

Now there�s no debate that John Williams is one of the most influential media composer who ever lived. I guess this is self-evident considering over half of any decent orchestral western game composer tries to imitate him as close as possible. Dozens fail in the attempt and deliver something worthy of mockery but here�s a collection of scores that I find sound convincing enough.

The game collaborations with Spielberg, the Medal of Honor series in particular nailed Williams close to perfection. I don�t know how Giacchino nailed it so perfectly here and then ever since, delivered embarrassing rip-offs or unstructured uneducated messes. I guess his orchestrator, Tim Simonec did not only do the heavy lifting but also put in extra effort to create a symphonic narrative. Nonetheless here we have some of the best John Williams pastiche ever recorded. The Nazi theme in particular and the way it�s used is just as memorable for me as any good Indy moment. BUT in Underground and Airborne we already hear cracks in Giacchino�s abilities, Underground more so (I don�t like it). He can�t do long-form symphonic writing, which I think is essential for every good film composer and is the crucial difference between Williams wannabes and truly great composers. Lennertz also contributed some good stuff for the series, "Hymn to Brothers Lost" and "Dogs of War" in particular, not quite Hymn to the Fallen quality but still damn good.

On to some really great firecrackers (if you love Williams):
LAIR is a beast of a score, lacking subtlety but making up for it with sheer bombast with callbacks to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Conan. John Debney really outdid himself with this one. Not a note of originality but sometimes you just want a quick fix of Hollywood�s most bombastic moments and LAIR is definitely one of the scores to go for that. I�m always listening to Tazermonkey�s excellent arrangement. Which I think is far superior to the official release.

Star Wars Kinect and Battlefront are pretty damn good impression of Williams and very enjoyable rides. Listening to the little snippets from Battlefront also makes me wish that Boba Fett should have had a far bigger role in Jedi so that we could have heard more of his fantastic theme. Benny Oschmann is another one of the selected few who can give a convincing Williams but considering his age and aspirations I have great hopes for him. I hope he succeeds with his career, unlike another composer who did Williams: James Hannigan.

Hannigan's Order of the Phoenix was a good example of a game score outshining its movie counterpart by a large margin. It also did help that the game employed Williams themes and the movie mostly abandoned them. But instead of giving us similar fantastic moments like Doyle�s goblet we were only left with the game to remind us of the good old days of film scoring.



Part III � The Fantasy Collection



Download (https://mega.nz/#!hd8wgaxZ!ZzAZ_KPLH20XzO6lrC3QrI1BuzXvxYr_VOFJrAQMjgQ)

The two greatest individual voices in this field are Grant Kirkhope and Steve Burke. I�m very glad they are still getting work since I enjoyed their music since childhood. Steve Burke delivered a damn good fantasy score with Kameo and also has some pretty beautiful orchestral suites on his site. Kirkhope�s best effort as an orchestral composer was Kingdoms of Amalur, while the action is undoubtedly Williams he has enough of an original voice to compensate. His Viva Pinata and Banjo scores are also nice afternoon listens.

Hannigan still leans a bit on Williams but I think Half-Blood Prince was a step into the right direction with its use of thematic consistency. A shame it all spiraled downwards with Deathly Hallows.

Unlike many other I�m not very fond of Wintory�s esotheric avant-garde scores but I definitely appreciate his talent. With Banner Saga he did something I can not only appreciate but also enjoy.

The game music of World of Warcraft aside from a few exceptions left me very much cold but the various cinematic scenes and arrangement albums did not. It sure helps I love Kameoka so it�s a given I very much like Echoes of War together with the suites and cinematic pieces composed for the various cutscenes and logins.

Rayman Legends is just pure fun to listen to for me. The composers knew what they were doing and there's numerous homages to classic film scores. It very much feels like a score where the musicians just had great fun. Not a symphonic adventure by any means but an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

The Puppeteer is another case of Japanese influence positively affecting the quality of a score. This endearing little coproduction brought forth Doyle's better side. The REAL Doyle who composed Henry V, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing and Goblet. I love how small and intimate, yet adventurous this little ballet gets. I sure wish more western film composers were given such opportunities.



Part IV � Scifi and Individual Pieces



Download (https://mega.nz/#!wYs0lQQa!KzeaWkgCcJOv_Y_UGnR-Z-eXjY6H37jnaOmAjUHQSh0)

Killzone (the orchestral scores for the three games put together) is a damn good SciFi score. A menacing march with a very iconic theme and motif and its use throughout the series pretty much make this a classic Hollywood score. �Make it intense� was probably written on every page (or screen) the composer wrote :D

Lego Universe is a testament how the Hollywood environment just sucks levity and fun out of everything these days. If taken out of this environment, even brainless percussion bangers deliver melodic adventures.

Starcraft II (a compilation out of Echoes and cinematics) is very much good SciFi with a touch of fantasy. Also a little bit Williams here and there. Again, a combination of official releases and Doublehex�s passionate complete album. I think Legacy of the Void succeeds in being decent film music while Overwatch, sadly, does not.

My custom arrangement of the Bad Company scores shows that it�s very much film music with a decent theme. The Theme of Bad Company 2 is also pretty good action. Warhawk is pretty good mindless Hollywood bombast, but I will say that it has moments of just loud noises I find very abhorrent.

Bioshock 2 was the right mix of avant-garde and traditional film score for me. I�ve also included some tracks from Bioshock 1. I will say that it has some pretty damn creepy moments. I find them interesting because I know which instruments are making those sounds, but the weak of heart should avoid this and Dante�s Inferno.

The rest are individual pieces I quite like in scores otherwise forgettable. The Old Republic is also a waste of good opportunity. Instead of making it solo Moore which could have resulted in a fantastic symphonic SciFi score similar to Outcast we have only little snippets of good music and I have neither tolerance or will to search thousands of files for 10 minutes of good quality.

I will say that H�lsbeck�s Rogue Leaders is a tragedy. I can only imagine how good the unreleased score sounds, considering the trailer piece has pretty convincing incorporations of Williams themes.


Still if the western game music world has three major problems it�s very much living in the shadow of Williams (just leave the man and his music alone), the over importance on loops which favors RC sound, and the lack of classical educated composers capable of long-form symphonic writing. It�s pretty unsettling that every year dozens of quality orchestral game scores get released in Japan, often played by tin-sized studio orchestras while the west usually employs the biggest facilities and orchestras of the world wasted on boring nothingness that would have worked better with artificial sounds anyway and would have saved everyone time, money and nerves.

But I don�t want to end on a depressive note so let me say there�s still some good stuff coming out that I enjoy, it�s just that most of it is not exactly orchestral and the ratio of good old orchestral scores in western gaming is far too small for my taste. That�s all.


So that concludes a rather big collection. Yet I think all those scores are worth a listen and I hope they brings you joy. You can still buy most of them from various online outlets so don't hesitate if you find something you love.

Enjoy and take care.

So that brief hiatus in the thread was just a calm before the storm, eh? Another incredible collection to dive into. I love these! There is always lots of amazing tunes in them that would have otherwise slipped below my radars for sure. Consider your post liked, and yourself repped!

Alderamin's first soundtrack is out.

http://picosong.com/aJQ5/

That is indeed one amazing collection! (just like all your previous ones) I've been trying to cover the most notable Western game soundtracks on my website, so a collection like this is really helpful and valuable to get some inspiration! Nice shout out to Rogue Leaders - Huelsbeck's N64 score for Rogue Squadron is one of the very few 'original' (as in 'not compiled from John Williams' existing compositions') Star Wars soundtracks that are actually worthwhile, so Rogue Leaders could have indeed been something special...

I mostly agree with your assessment regarding the general state of orchestral Western game music, although I might be a bit more optimistic (partially because I don't mind orchestral scores performed on synths rather than live instruments). I think the issue mainly lies with the conservativism of mainstream/big budget titles - there's indeed very little interesting music emerging from these sources these days, be it orchestral or not (there's the odd spark of brilliance and originality like Infamous 2).

Thankfully, indie gaming is picking up the slack, helped by digital distribution outlets like Bandcamp that have allowed the number of Western game score releases to explode in the last few years. That doesn't mean that the overall level of quality has increased, but given sufficient time, it's possible to unearth gems like Element4l and Risk of Rain (arguably both non-orchestral) that ten years ago would have never received an album release. Orchestral scores (particularly live ones) are still rare for indie titles, but then again we get Austin Wintory's impressively varied and consistently strong output, all for relatively small games - and thankfully, his individuality carries over into larger titles like Assassin's Creed Syndicate. So yeah, Western game music is currently a bit lower on (live) orchestral highlights than I would like, but it generates enough other outstanding music that I'm not feeling bored :)

Alderamin:

Nice Suite, nextday :)
Good God, Inai did it again! I especially like the folksy, Irish tone. And the last action track is another testament how Inai has this magic touch in making otherwise simplistic action seem much more grander than it really should be. And the best part is that's not even the really good stuff yet. We have to wait for OST 2 for that and I sure hope there's still enough interest by January (I also want to try another remaster).




teufelsbratscher:

Thank you for the kind comment. I have also not lost hope and I know two or three projects coming out this year and the next I will definetely check out. Oh and I quite enjoy synthy scores as well. Many of Kirkhopes works are synth and I still hold some Nintendo and Sony soundchip soundtracks close to me. Nowadays I frequently check Basiscape soundtracks and anything by Tamiya Terashima (I recently enjoyed Breath of Fire 6). And it's true that we still get good synth stuff from time to time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6u4EsjBlb8.

Alderamin - so far - makes me very, very happy. That said, I've had "Oh, my God, that's WONDERFUL!" reactions to Inai scores in the past and then discovered that there's only five minutes of good music in the whole show... so I will reserve proper judgement. A few things are clear; firstly that Inai will, sooner or later, get the right combination of project and budget and when he does, he will produce something that will stand with any of the most noteworthy orchestral scores. Familia Myth and Heavy Object don't even begin to scratch the surface of what this guy can do.

Alderamin takes us, I think, further than we've been before but we will have to resume waiting for the Inai score that makes everybody go "Oh, wow..."

My original impressions on Alderamin when the first episode premiered in July. I stand by it. Alderamin has flashes of pure, white-hot genius. Inai reveals himself again as one of the best orchestrators in the business. It is within his capabitlity to write scores that can stand with the very best. This isn't necessarily one of them, but there's enough in here that we now know beyond any shadow of doubt that when Inai really aims for the stars, he's going to leave us all open-mouthed.

I can't wait for the second soundtrack - I've been skimming the show on and off and there are indeed some genuinely wonderful moments that didn't make it to OST 1.

Inai needs a big Warsaw score. NOW. And a director to delicately remind him "Right, you have a huge orchestra - use that and forget the ethnic instruments and the percussion." - on that day Inai will write something that completely seals his reputation. Until then, Alderamin is another step towards Inai showing off his true potential, but there are many more steps to take.

debbie wisemans the musical zodiac is pretty good.small orchestra but used very well.

Final Fantasy X Concert (October 8, 2016)
WDR Funkhausorchester K�ln, conducted by Wayne Marshall / Benyamin Nuss, piano
Arrangements by Masashi Hamauzu & Tsutomu Narita

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VQB6M50e_o
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_eeVpivDxA

Part 3 & Part 4 have not been uploaded yet.

Thanks a lot!

Vinphonic, thanks for the collection; I've been rediscovering some old favorites in there. And also thank you for the nice comment re: Lair. I had actually deleted all of my old files a long time ago, so it was neat to hear the old rip again.

Just out of curiosity, what are your frustrations with the LLL release? I'm not a fan of the scattered track order and some of it mastered is too hotly for my tastes (which unfortunately has happened with a few other LLL albums).

Yeah, I agree, the track order is my biggest gripe. Sometimes I wonder if I'm one of the tiny minority who actually wants an album to "flow" and "tell a story". It's one of the things that I believe many soundtracks, Japanese ones in particular, lack. It's especially frustrating if I know the composer wrote something complete with ebb and flow and then for the soundtrack it's scattered all around, losing the energy and momentum that you get when you put them in sensible order. It's the reason I still keep your arrangement around while the offical release collects dust in my closet.

Following the legendary shrine duo, here’s something nextday and I are very much happy to present.





A nextday / Vinphonic Co-Production

Yuya Nagahara conducts the Active Planets Orchestra
Travelling August 2015: Orchestra Concert "Flowery Notes"
Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall



Music from AUGUST: Adult Visual Novels (Erogē)
Composed by Active Planets (Unit)
Orchestration and Arrangement by Reah Mushiuta
Vocals: Yoshie Kaneyasu, MARIE, Akiko Horikawa, Rena Yamashita
Download (https://mega.nz/#!ZQ0whbDY!t9g6k-U-MTASmJka2FC3XeM7Hrf7Le5c_p941CdIGss)
FLAC / 15 Tracks / 112min

Album, tags and composer credits provided by nextday. More detailed information on VGMdb (http://vgmdb.net/album/62090).
The concert was held at the Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall on the 22nd of August in 2015. All of the orchestral music is from Adult Visual Novels by game company August (http://www.august-soft.com/).



Official Promotional Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB0j5RwQE6s)

Here we have a concert easily on the level of Granblue Fantasy with numerous 10 minute long orchestral suites with operatic song, violin concerto, organ and sax.

The Japanese are a special breed, that’s for sure, but you rarely see so much celebration, care and dedication for a media product concert, not to mention one about essentially soft porn :o
And yet here we are, two hours of grand symphonic music. August is a company who shows much compassion for combining Anime porn with romantic string melodies and produced some orchestral ensemble recordings of their music in the past but this just trumps everything they have done so far. Granted, it does fall into the trap of typical orchestral J-Pop arrangement occasionally but there are moments in this lovely gem that are just sublime. It certainly uplifted my spirit. And remember this is from a niche within a niche. But you truely know a concert is special when a Japanese audience completely freaks out. Granted in best manners only at the very end but just listen to the reaction from the audience!

I also wanted to watch the Blu-Ray (the ability to watch the performance from various section perspectives intrigues me). Unfortunately amazon does not ship the Blu-Ray to my address and it’s already a niche concert so buying the damn thing is near impossible unless you know Japanese/Japanese friends so I ordered the CD instead. You can buy the album from iTunes and amazon by the way.
With that said, take two hours of your time and take on a lovely symphonic journey that melts your heart.



Ladies and Gentlemen, please enjoy!

It should be noted that the concert isn't entirely instrumental: it's about half instrumental, half vocal. 100% symphonic though.

It's a quality concert all things considered. Obscure music, performed by an obscure orchestra, arranged by an obscure composer. I wasn't expecting much but there's some nice moments.

The arranger is pretty young too - he just turned 30 and this was his first time arranging music for an orchestra concert. I'd say he did a good job.

Ah, yes. Medal Of Honer: Front Line, easily Michael Giacchino's best work. It also has the distinction of not having any puns for track titles, like so much of his later work, which is really annoying. If this were my first exposure to Giacchino, then I would easily want to have him score a big grand movie, but... having heard the rest of his resume, I just have to wonder if maybe the Medal Of Honor series was just a fluke.

Yuya Nagahara conducts the Active Planets Orchestra

This is awesome! Thanks for the share!

Ah, yes. Medal Of Honer: Front Line, easily Michael Giacchino's best work. It also has the distinction of not having any puns for track titles, like so much of his later work, which is really annoying. If this were my first exposure to Giacchino, then I would easily want to have him score a big grand movie, but... having heard the rest of his resume, I just have to wonder if maybe the Medal Of Honor series was just a fluke.

I remember in 1999 thinking "Wow, Michael Giacchino is FANTASTIC! What would I give for this guy to score a Star Trek movie, or a Star Wars movie, or BOTH!"

Nearly twenty years later... just look at what happened... He became the guy who scores EVERYTHING, and hasn't come even remotely *close* to even *matching* his first major score.

If his career had followed the trajectory his first score suggested, we would be having conversations like "WOW, Michael Giacchino's Star Trek score is seriously making me consider getting rid of my copy of Horner's Wrath of Khan." and "Medal Of Honor was great, but the stuff he's doing now really shows it up as an amateurish pastiche he wrote at the start of his career - just listen to what he does NOW!"

Instead, we are having conversations like "Well, Tomorrowland was OK, I guess..." and "Oh, fuck, why is Giacchino scoring this movie, oh well, at least he's not Hans Zimmer!"

Edit: You will recall my unfavourable reaction to the recent Intrada "Ten Commandments" set... I am never one to complain about something without having a better solution to propose - so I have started to restore the score from factory-sealed mint copies of the albums which I managed to track down in the USA. I have started with the 1966 recording, which is the worst sounding on the Intrada set. Not perfect (the recording itself is astoundingly bad) but I think it's light years ahead of the Intrada. This is a "work in progress" I threw together this evening to see if it was worth continuning.

http://kiwi6.com/file/joz899gbyj

giacchino seems to have fun with dr.strange.the music for the end credits is on youtube (master of mystics) and its very appropiate for the (propably)trippy ditkoesque sequence will get to see.Music sounds like dr.who and sherlock meet led zeppelin.not an indication how the rest will sound like (except for the theme itself) but pretty cool.score should be on spotify friday.

giacchino seems to have fun with dr.strange.the music for the end credits is on youtube (master of mystics) and its very appropiate for the (propably)trippy ditkoesque sequence will get to see.Music sounds like dr.who and sherlock meet led zeppelin.not an indication how the rest will sound like (except for the theme itself) but pretty cool.score should be on spotify friday.

Here'a the video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4uoNAFfvKg

See that is Giacchino finally stepping out into a different area. It is fresh and I like what you get in that clip. So many of his scores feel so safe these days and I wonder if he was really restrained or that was all he could muster. But since I have a soft spot for well done progressive rock, that is nice to hear the mixture of elements there.

WARNING: The takedown police (everybody's good friend [email protected]) have just come after me (135 notices in the space of just under one minute) and eviscerated my Mega account, and ALMOST EVERY NOTICE they filed was fraudulent - they have taken with them vinyl transfers which are out of copyright, obscure Japanese LPs from the 1970s, non-commercially-exploited BBC Proms recordings, Super Sentai, disgraced Mamoru Samuragoch's symphony, the Grieg/Schumann piano concerto conducted by Boult that's abandoned and made by a defunct record company, rips of a CD given away freely on the front cover of a magazine, and more - in other words, damn near everything, and out of that just three legitimately owned by Universal Music or its affiliated labels.

Anybody who has a Mega account, and haven't been threatened with this insanity, GET IN THERE NOW and rescue what you can.

Yup, this is reportedly happening to multiple posters here. I never created a MEGA account but good to know for those who did.

Yeah, I saw. AberFuckface&Twat is sure it's some pissed-off person taking revenge on the forum, but it's quite obvious that a mad bot is doing this.

I had about 48gb of uploads, of which 11 are still up for the time being. I am expecting that the whole account will be closed down sooner or later. I don't care - I already have another three Mega accounts and it will probably take me a day, maybe two, to re-upload what's been lost. I've always consciously kept my uploads to a minimum and as a only occasionally-broken rule I only ever share obscure or old things... Which makes this kinda hilarious in a way - that this super-duper bot would go after me for a 1938 recording of a classical piece that's been out of copyright for thirty years.

I shudder to think how much others have lost. I really hope people don't just "give up" here - the best thing to do - for EVERYONE - is to be pissed off for fifteen minutes, then make a new account, re-upload stuff, and get on with it.

Three or four years ago, we all uploaded on the understanding that our links would last a few weeks at the most. Then Mega came along and people started getting complacent. People started putting all their eggs in one basket.

This sucks, on a dl spree now. Maybe from now on, let's just post the part after https://mega.nz/#! so that no links are actually posted, and everyone can just add that part themselves

This could work out. As long as the link is sufficiently obfuscated that it doesn't look like a link any more, it should be fine. Of course, we will get dopey people crying "I CLICKDED THE LINKES AND THEY DID KNOT WERKS!" but it's better than having to deal with a completely manual PM-based link distribution system.

I was thinking about going https://changeme.nz/#blah blah - be sure to replace changeme with mega to get the link - yours would work just as well.

2016/10/14
PILI HEROES MUSIC COLLECTION LII 61

以霹靂音樂為引，讓傳奇故事作畫

與我們一同進入天籟世界，探索出發！



霹靂音樂開啟全新冒險：古原爭霸第二主題曲「烽火中的人」、第二片尾曲「江山樓影」、插曲「月光啊」、夸幻 之父、皇暘耿日、玉梁皇、琥珀、孤星淚、楓橋傳說。

豪氣獨贈「槍界傳說」迷你專輯、以及三款神兵名鑑系列明信片。

雙重享受，一次滿足！





專輯曲目

CD1霹靂狼煙之古原爭霸劇集原聲帶【貳】曲目

1.烽火中的人（古原爭霸第二片頭曲）

2.掣風懸武（玉梁皇角色曲）

3.單鋒劍魔（應笑我角色曲）

4.生死靈馱（陰陽驛站）

5.天暘聖耀（皇暘耿日角色曲）

6.情許緣盡（齊天變與君凰雪靈）

7.楓橋傳說（亂世狂刀再步楓橋）

8.流月亮川（流月亮川場景曲）

9.琥珀（琥珀角色曲）

10.夸幻之父（夸幻之父角色曲）

11.山海奇觀（曠世窮武之會）

12.紅塵再現天子驕（紅塵雪天子槍武曲）

13.釋然（紅塵雪情境曲）

14.天人永距（紅塵雪與聖君士）

15.月光啊（琥珀之歌）

16.孤星淚（孤星淚角色曲）

17.瘋王（邪天子角色曲）

18.逆天魔繭（夔禺疆武曲）

19.師徒情（黑衣劍少情境曲）

20.江山樓影（古原爭霸第二片尾曲）



CD2【槍界神話】迷你專輯 曲目

1.萬夫莫敵（生命練習生過關斬將）

2.上邪之槍（生命練習生終招）

3.月下鴛鴦（練習生與紅塵雪）

4.今幾古人堪敵兮（生命練習生壯烈曲）
https://mega.nz/#!U99A2SiY!bJ29BQEb8oyD_5DTdkO9aEqzWVK3E4zwpDNRMvfzgPQ

Tomoki Kikuya - Mini Ika Musume na Hibi

I love this piece SO MUCH. You have no idea how beautiful it is.. <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3f3ygmuyl0

A nextday / Vinphonic Co-Production

Yuya Nagahara conducts the Active Planets Orchestra
Travelling August 2015: Orchestra Concert "Flowery Notes"
Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall


I can't quite believe what I'm seeing here... I actually played a few of their games. AFAIK this is the only eroge music that got an orchestral arrangement - if you exclude the anime-fied Air, I guess.

Thank you so much for sharing!

So Christopher Tin actually composed some nice music for Civilization VI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KdE0p2joJw). Also a really beautiful game intro.

He talks about his piece "Sogno di Volare" a bit here while you can hear snippets from the full version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkVd0IdQfQ

The concert version has been uploaded on the official channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBRdazOBeA

EDIT: And the intro piece A New Course (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2aB_uXLVSA) and Sogno di Volare (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQYN2P3E06s) are now online as well... damn what a theme! A shame he didn't compose more music for the game.

You can buy them on his website https://christophertin.com/store.html



@PonyoBellanote: I didn't even bother to check out the osts, now I'm regretting that. At this point maybe it's better to check every cutesy anime album under the sun in chance of finding such lovely music than it is to avoid most of them on the presumption that you won't find anything worthwhile.

@Akashi San: Oh the first time I saw this my jaw dropped to the floor as well. An eroge company pushing and organizing an orchestral symphonic concert... just unbelievable.

@PonyoBellanote: I didn't even bother to check out the osts, now I'm regretting that. At this point maybe it's better to check every cutesy anime album under the sun in chance of finding such lovely music than it is to avoid most of them on the presumption that you won't find anything worthwhile.

I'm as surprised as you, trust me! A lot of animes that are slice of life or.. just the most ordinary animes, tend to have pretty soundtracks! Example: Nichijou or this one! I tend to find more music that is recorded live in a studio, in a orchestra in more animes than any other animation production outside.

This could work out. As long as the link is sufficiently obfuscated that it doesn't look like a link any more, it should be fine. Of course, we will get dopey people crying "I CLICKDED THE LINKES AND THEY DID KNOT WERKS!" but it's better than having to deal with a completely manual PM-based link distribution system.

I was thinking about going https://changeme.nz/#blah blah - be sure to replace changeme with mega to get the link - yours would work just as well.
Either way should work, as long as it doesn't direct the clicking bot to where the files are. And yes, there is no way around the people who cannot figure out how our link replacements work, but I think most of us here by now check in regularly, and we could always just say check post #16950 or something and leave it at that.

So, they announced today that the new Full Metal Panic is a 4th season airing next fall. The staff was announced... but not the composer.

Hopefully they announce Sahashi soon. That would be nice.

I see that the new series will have a new director - who has never worked with Sahashi before, and has in fact never worked with *any* decent composer.

Before, I thought the odds of getting Sahashi were zero to near impossible. Stranger things have happened, but I really think at this stage that any hopes of Sahashi coming back for this should be filed away as "wishful thinking" rather than as something in any way plausible.

Conversely, there's a second season of something called Reikenzan airing soon that'll have a largely reworked creative staff, up to and including the director, but the composer of the first season, Ryo Kawasaki, IS returning.

Not announcing the composer for FMP yet is a lil worrying if you really like Sahashi(I like surprises, to tell you the truth), but there's not a lot of hard precedent for these things going one way or the other. It all comes down to what the director AND the production committee funding a given series AND the label the composer is signed to all want and/or are able to negotiate.

Well said; it could well turn out to be someone who knocks Sahashi right out of the park.

Kaoru Wada just recently came back for both D-Gray Man and Kindaichi... I dunno... We'll see.

I wish Sahashi would come back too, but only if he's going to do something fantastic. Soul Of Gold was fun enough, and it was the closest Sahashi has come to recapturing his golden era in but calling it a "return to form" surely can't be taken seriously when you consider just what Sahashi's form WAS ten, fifteen years ago. I don't want him on FMP if all it's going to be is the precursor to another "Didn't Sahashi used to be amazing?!" conversation.

What I really want from Sahashi is for him to come back properly - a straightforward "here is a new show and the director asked for Sahashi" - forget about contractual obligation, fan expectation, special favours, just Toshihiko Sahashi doing a big prestige score with a good budget. Something that really inspires him. Recent Sahashi suggests he's just bored of the work - which I can somewhat understand after being in the business for almost thirty years.

It could go either way and I would be fine with it at this point. There's a fair share of talented young composers around who should get more work. And even if Sahashi is chosen I don't expect Gundam SEED Symphony.



Speaking of anime, am I the only one really impressed by this season?

Not only are symphonic albums and concerts popping up more and more frequently, we also have the rise of Opera to marvel at. In ONE season we have FOUR pieces that equal "Il mare eterno nella mia anima". Shows about butts&boob battles or putting together a dictionary get symphonic scores performed by large orchestras. Not to mention a couple of lovely orchestral scores by small to medium-sized intimate ensembles and some really fun and wacky moments if you like hybrids. We see the emergence of TWO composers who could inherit Yoko Kanno's legacy and heck, even Yokoyama did something decent for once.



After three episodes, here's my recommendation for soundtracks to definetely put on your buylist/watchlist:

Izetta: Fantastic score so far. MICHIRU establishes herself as a name to definetely get excited for in the future. Classical opera, enchanting waltzes, bold marches, Williams level brass writting, full orchestral Kajiura that actually impresses and fantasy anthems. Soundtrack out Dec, 21 :D CDJapan / Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MCXU1W1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477410270&sr=8-1&keywords=%E3%80%8C%E7%B5%82%E6%9C%AB%E3%81%AE%E3%8 2%A4%E3%82%BC%E3%83%83%E3%82%BF%E3%80%8D%E3%82%AA% E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B5%E3%82 %A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E 3%82%AF)

Drifters: Now it's confirmed, this is Hellsing 2 and yet more. This is the music for an historical epic. My guess is that we get one or two pieces every episode, so maybe an hour of score. A shame you can't buy the soundtrack separately but the shows pretty popular so I strongly suspect it will turn up on christmas. Out on Dec, 24. Bonus/Enclosure. CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/GNXA-1870) / Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.jp/DRIFTERS-Blu-ray-BOX-%E7%89%B9%E8%A3%85%E9%99%90%E5%AE%9A%E7%94%9F%E7%9 4%A3-%E4%B8%AD%E6%9D%91%E6%82%A0%E4%B8%80/dp/B01LTHKLV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477410355&sr=8-1&keywords=drifters)

Yuri on Ice: I guess it needs no further explanation. The opera piece is mesmerizing and all the other insert pieces have a strong Yoko Kanno vibe to them, and the little score snippets suggest a rather large ensemble is present as well. Taku Matsushiba makes a very strong first impression. This man needs to score something prestigeous asap. The soundtrack is out on Dec 21: CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/EYCA-11291) / Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%80%90Amazon-co-jp%E9%99%90%E5%AE%9A%E3%80%91Oh-%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B1%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9-%E3%83%A6%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AA-%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%8 3%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%82%BD% E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0COLLECTION-%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E7%8 9%B9%E5%85%B8%E4%BB%98/dp/B01MA5F5G7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477158544&sr=8-1&keywords=Oh%21+%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B1%E3%83%88%E3%83%A 9%21%21%21+%E3%83%A6%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AA%21%21%21+on +ICE+%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB %E3%83%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%8 2%BD%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0COLLECTION)

Keijo!!!!!!!!: So far there's quite a bit of pathetic tone to this otherwise upbeat symphonic score. The string writting is right at home with Majestic Prince and STAR WARS and if the little fanfare and battle snippets are any indication there will be at least one show-off piece in the later episodes. No soundtrack announced yet but no Blu-Ray disc has it listed as a bonus so chances are still high for a sepatate release.

Stray Dogs 2: Iwasaki is truely back, I can't believe it. We're back to the glory days of Read or Die but with the developed orchestral sensibilities. Not that I don't love the ambivalence of his recent output but it's so refreshing to hear him go almost full traditional. There's a ton of string pieces and another great opera piece so far and my guts tell me there will be more exciting stuff soon. Soundtrack is out on Dec 28: CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/LACA-15619) / Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.jp/TV%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E3%80%8E%E6%96%87%E8 %B1%AA%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%8 9%E3%83%83%E3%82%B0%E3%82%B9%E3%80%8F%E3%82%AA%E3% 83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A6 %E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%8 2%AF02-%E5%B2%A9%E5%B4%8E%E7%90%A2/dp/B01M6450EJ/ref=pd_sim_15_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NDEMRYA0QRT8TRSE9QG9)

Sound Euphonium 2: I've always been a sucker for Matsuda's sweet drama sound and this one could turn out really special as well. Not as easily identifable themes than in the first season but more mature interwoven thematic material. I guess he will also do an arrangement of Polovtsian Dances and another brass (wind?) quartet concerto. So far it's been lovely romantic string pieces but I suspect more dramatic orchestral pieces will appear later. Soundtrack out next Year, January 11: CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/LACA-9479) / Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.jp/TV%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E3%80%8E%E9%9F%BF%E3 %81%91-%E3%83%A6%E3%83%BC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A9%E3%83%8B%E3%8 2%A2%E3%83%A02%E3%80%8F%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8 %E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%8 3%89%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%80%8C% E3%81%8A%E3%82%93%E3%81%8C%E3%81%8F%E3%82%A8%E3%83 %B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9%E3%80%8D-%E6%9D%BE%E7%94%B0%E5%BD%AC%E4%BA%BA/dp/B01LYPF3A5/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1477158891&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=hibike+2+ongaku+endless)

Brave Witches: Really small but intimate orchestra, a more substantial heroic war score than the main series with some really inspiring and uplifting moments. Very trumpet heavy. Don't miss it on Dec, 21: CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/COCX-39789) / Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%96%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%96%E3%82%A6%E3%8 2%A3%E3%83%83%E3%83%81%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA-%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%8 3%BB%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%88% E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-%E4%BB%AE-%E9%9F%B3%E6%A5%BD-%E9%95%B7%E5%B2%A1%E6%88%90%E8%B2%A2/dp/B01LY3AAIV/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1477159074&sr=1-1&keywords=TV%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E3%80%8C%E3 %83%96%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%96%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A 3%E3%83%83%E3%83%81%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA%E3%80%8D%E3% 82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB %E3%82%B5%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%88%E3%8 3%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF)

Fune wo Amu: Sometimes Ike really hits gold, this seems to be one of those rare occasions. I thought we had to wait till Virgin Soul but this is just as fine. It certainly evokes Watanabe's Space Brothers a bit and the uplifting and romantic orchestral pieces are performed by a decent-sized ensemble. As someone who does not like his music for everything, this one does it for me. Out on Dec, 21: CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SVWC-70204) / Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M62OTZU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477159344&sr=8-1&keywords=%E8%88%9F%E3%82%92%E7%B7%A8%E3%82%80+%E3% 82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B5 %E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9%E3%8 3%83%E3%82%AF)


Other shows where I very much like the music and will check out the soudtrack when it's shared:

Stella no Mahou: Some lovely string and woodwind action (no soundtrack yet, most likely bonus)

Nobunaga no Shinobi: Lovely theme but I doubt an official release.

Flip Flappers: It certainly has style but don't expect much orchestral stuff. Still, I will definetely check it out regardless. (Soundtrack next year, Jan 17)

Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume: It's MONACA, so a couple of orchestral pieces are a given. We even heared one in the PV. (No soundtrack yet)

ViVid Strike!: There really trying to make this one sound "EPIC", let's see if they succeed with that. So far it's alright.

Monster Hunter Stories Ride On: Yes, I'm serious. The usual crap is there but there's some nice orchestral tracks this time as well. At least worth to check out those.


Apart from that, ClassicalLoid is a major disappointment. How do you fuck up such an awesome (musical) concept. Shame.
As for what I am actually watching, I (try) to follow Izetta, Yuri, Hibike 2 and Flip Flappers. Drifters and Keijo are a given regardless of how the shows turn out.





EDIT: My Wallet will bleed... updated Izetta and Drifters. Also worthy of note, when Keijo gets an official release we have the situation that everything great got a soundtrack while most of Yokoyama and Takanashi was banned to Blu-Ray. Not looking so grim now ;)

Thank you !

So I suspect that Songo di Volare by Tin is part of his next album. The reason for this was that he was asked in an interview what he would do after The Drop That Contained the Sea, he said he would be an album cycle based on flight. Sogno di Volare is literally called "The Dream of Flight" which further supports that notion. AND in Calling All Dawns he opened the album with Baba Yetu so it seems to me that this will be an indicator of his next great album. This is all just speculation of course, but given the information he has said prior gives me hope that I am correct :).

Anyone know when we will get to hear the score to Drifters?

So I suspect that Songo di Volare by Tin is part of his next album. The reason for this was that he was asked in an interview what he would do after The Drop That Contained the Sea, he said he would be an album cycle based on flight. Sogno di Volare is literally called "The Dream of Flight" which further supports that notion. AND in Calling All Dawns he opened the album with Baba Yetu so it seems to me that this will be an indicator of his next great album. This is all just speculation of course, but given the information he has said prior gives me hope that I am correct :).

Anyone know when we will get to hear the score to Drifters?
I hadn't heard about that. There was a 4.5 year gap between Calling All Dawns and The Drop so hopefully the new album comes out before mid-2018. ;)

Drifters probably not until next year. It's being released at the end of December.


Edit: The DMCA trolls just hit my account. All bogus claims like tango. Only 17 files so not too bad. Should be back up by morning.

Edit2: I should clarify that none of my files were Universal albums. Also, the @umusic.com email that claimed mine was different from the one that claimed tango's files.

Edit3: My solution is going to require the user to solve a CAPTCHA before being redirected to the download. For example: https://anon.click/bamef84

Edit4: Everything has been reuploaded. Easy.

WARNING: The takedown police have just come after me (135 notices in the space of just under one minute) and eviscerated my Mega account...

Today I had 130 MEGA takedowns, apparently filed by someone representing umusic.com, which appears to be Universal Music. According to MEGA's own policy they won't take down a file unless the complainer also supplies...

1) a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf;
2) a statement...that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
3) a statement...that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

Considering the kinds of files that are being taken down (like the recording that was handed out free at a memorial for the composer), it's unlikely these requirements were met. I'm quite unhappy and have gone into battle with MEGA over this. If I end up losing, I will not concede (unless I win).

Today I had 130 MEGA takedowns, apparently filed by someone representing umusic.com, which appears to be Universal Music. According to MEGA's own policy they won't take down a file unless the complainer also supplies...

1) a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf;
2) a statement...that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
3) a statement...that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

Considering the kinds of files that are being taken down (like the recording that was handed out free at a memorial for the composer), it's unlikely these requirements were met. I'm quite unhappy and have gone into battle with MEGA over this. If I end up losing, I will not concede (unless I win).
Well, considering neither of you are the rights-holder... I wonder what will happen. I bet they will side with the fake Universal representative.


Edit: In other news... soundtracks were announced for Izetta and the KanColle movie. The movie soundtrack is a nice surprise - means there's enough new material to warrant a standalone release.

For a number of the files that I had taken down, I *WAS* the rights holder - factually, and legally.

Look carefully at the Mega T&Cs - they offload all responsibility on to the complainant. They require a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner, a good-faith statement, and a statement that they are, or are agents of, the copyright holder. Not one of those requirements involves fact or proof. It just asks that a complainant fills in a form which Mega will assume is accurate and act accordingly. They are asking for a statement, not for evidence. This means they can do automatic takedowns and if anybody complains they can say "We acted in good faith!"

It is possible to contest the takedowns - but apparently you have to supply Mega with your name and address (which they will provide to the complainant as part of the counterclaim!) which I am not going to do in a billion years - I would prefer it if the black helicopters didn't come for me, so I am going to "suck it up" as they say and re-upload.

Ultimately, arguing about who is the rightsholder and the complainant has legal dominion over the material taken down... is elementary. In 99% of cases, we have uploaded illegally and violated Mega's T&Cs in the process. We can hardly complain if somebody else does the exact same thing to get our illegal uploads taken down. I would grudgingly call it poetic justice.

Nextday: I love the URL anonymizer idea. All that we need to do to keep the bots away is disguise the URL. The URL might go down, of course, but I'd rather go around changing URLs than downloading gigs and gigs of files...

Really glad to hear about Izetta and Kancolle - I had a feeling Izetta would be released, and Kancolle was a foregone conclusion - even if there ISN'T necessarily enough new material to warrant a new release, you can bet that they'd put out another CD anyway, as Kancolle prints money. Nothing beats the opportunity to take existing assets and monetise them. I really, really hope the movie score is substantially original, though... I can do without five minutes of new music interspersed with cues off the TV show... :D

Nextday: I love the URL anonymizer idea. All that we need to do to keep the bots away is disguise the URL. The URL might go down, of course, but I'd rather go around changing URLs than downloading gigs and gigs of files...
I must stress that a short URL alone isn't enough to keep the bots away (there are scripts that can easily unshorten URLs). For anyone re-uploading their files, I recommend using a service that offers either captcha or password protection for links. There's a bunch of them so pick whichever one works for you.

Also, I noticed that they only went for my threads. The links that I posted exclusively in this thread are untouched. Hopefully a second wave isn't coming.

Stray Dogs 2: Iwasaki is truely back, I can't believe it. We're back to the glory days of Read or Die but with the developed orchestral sensibilities. Not that I don't love the ambivalence of his recent output but it's so refreshing to hear him go almost full traditional. There's a ton of string pieces and another great opera piece so far and my guts tell me there will be more exciting stuff soon. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that the new season of Stray Dogs, at least what we've seen so far, is a much darker work than the previous shows Iwasaki has worked on in the past 5 years, and so he went back to his older roots of ROD and Witch Hunter Robin with this one. Iwasaki always excels when he's working with very dramatic and serious material, whereas his usual action shows tend to be a bit more of a mixed experimental bag (he even complained recently on Twitter about how shallow Qualidea Code was and how he made his soundtrack just as shallow to match the show- he wasn't a fan). Unfortunately, these first four episodes of Stray Dogs were flashback filler, so when the series resumes next week it'll be back to the same lighthearted action feel as S1. The music used in the PV hasn't been used in the show so far though, so I hope that Iwasaki's supposedly large orchestra work didn't go to waste.

Izetta is quite nice as well, I'm reminded a but of MONACA's work. But the show itself is doing absolutely nothing for me so I might just drop it. Drifters is fun but the music doesn't come within an inch of Hellsing Ultimate's.

Also, I don't know if anyone watched Thunderbolt Fantasy last season, because it has Sawano, but I have to say, the music director really knew what he was doing. The music itself was typical noisy Sawano fare but I've never seen it used so well. Being a show about crazy kung fu puppets with supersonic movements and energy attacks may have had something to do with it though.

Also, I don't know if anyone watched Thunderbolt Fantasy last season, because it has Sawano, but I have to say, the music director really knew what he was doing. The music itself was typical noisy Sawano fare but I've never seen it used so well. Being a show about crazy kung fu puppets with supersonic movements and energy attacks may have had something to do with it though.

Generally speaking I think that's one thing most folks agree Sawano is good at. While opinions may vary about his music on it's own I'd always say that when listening to it in context it almost always works fine (except for Xenoblade X imo). His music is composed specially for big moments with the silence into "the drop". Unfortunately I feel like he does this FAR to often (and by often I mean he does it for literally every song) so it makes it really boring to listen to out of context. There isn't any complexity to it. No real depth. And I've never really seen him challenge himself anymore as he seems to stick with over the top action shows these days. But I do still find myself coming back to his stuff every now and then. I'm a grade A sucker I guess =/.

if anyone has anything from rex mitchell, please upload it.he already passed away.there is nothing to buy, nothing on spotify and only a handful of tracks on youtube.almost everything sounds like more music from a japanese game concert.its fantastic!

@Zipper: If "Agnus Dei" and "Victory?" are Iwasaki at his most shallow I'm not complaining ;) But I sure hope the rest of Stray Dogs stays consistent in tone to the first episodes. Let's pray.

@Leatherhead: No worries, there's some tracks from Sawano I also revisit occasionally. I can't sit through one of his albums back to back but there's some moments that can end up in my playlist. After the years have gone by I would say he deserves a place to stay. At least he does that ONE THING well. Certainly more so than Yokoyama whose appeal I can barely understand.

So I was going through Sachiko Miyano's discography and found this glorious gem: http://picosong.com/a7hv/

Classic hollywood adventure theme.

Edit: Picosong seems to be down - http://kiwi6.com/file/1vfqeo1eui

Oh, so I can use picosong to post music here. Seems very simple. Good, I've been meaning to make a post in this thread regarding some of my favorite cues, so come instances where I can't find what I'm looking for on YouTube, picosong is my resort for tracks from my own collection. Along with that, I've been meaning to read and post here more regularly.

Amazing cue you posted, by the way!

Generally speaking I think that's one thing most folks agree Sawano is good at. While opinions may vary about his music on it's own I'd always say that when listening to it in context it almost always works fine (except for Xenoblade X imo). His music is composed specially for big moments with the silence into "the drop". Unfortunately I feel like he does this FAR to often (and by often I mean he does it for literally every song) so it makes it really boring to listen to out of context. There isn't any complexity to it. No real depth. And I've never really seen him challenge himself anymore as he seems to stick with over the top action shows these days. But I do still find myself coming back to his stuff every now and then. I'm a grade A sucker I guess =/.

I feel the same, but I'm not as tolerant of it as you are. Often times shows will structure entire scenes around his trademark "Sawano Drop". Just look at 7 Deadly Sins, Kill la Kill, and the worst offender, Attack on Titan. It's lazy on both the soundtrack and the show. Unlike a lot of others here though I don't hate Sawano. I loved his work on Unicorn. Say what you will about how "unskilled" it was, but it was a perfect grand complement to the show, and took itself quite seriously unlike almost all his future works. The way the music was used also had none of that "Sawano Drop" garbage tied to the actual scenes as far as I remember. But now? He has surpassed the hack Kajiura when it comes to reusability because entire scenes in the shows he works for are meant to accommodate his same bombastic cue. He doesn't even have to look at the show he's composing for and he could make the same soundtrack for it as all his other ones. Kajiura, as repetitive as her music was, never had the same scene-for-scene tie in cues to the shows she worked on quite like Sawano.

So I was going through Sachiko Miyano's discography and found this glorious gem: http://picosong.com/a7hv/

Classic hollywood adventure theme.

Hahaha, Horner robs Britten, Haishima robs Horner.

Gorgeous orchestrations, but the piece leaves me curiously cold... It reminds me of one of those classical music comedies where the clich�d "finale" cadences just keep on coming and the piece never actually finished... this one never starts. An awards ceremony fanfare you play after you announce the winner, there's a big drumroll and the spotlight points into the audience, but the winner isn't there. Lots of foreplay, but no love-making. Three minutes of awe and wonderment chord progressions; the close-up of the proud adventurer protagonist as she looks forward in amazement and joy, and you expect the perspective to shift and for us to see the what she sees - but we just see her excited face and then we cut to some guy in a coffee shop ordering a latte. Lots of disconnected and related big gestures but no thread of consistency, no forward motion, and no sense of purpose.

A point repeated multiple times to a point of redundancy making you thirst for the big climax, but there's ju

I was wondering why your post suddenly cut off... then I got the joke. ;)

Still, I think it's interesting to hear these western style orchestrations from Miyano, who usually has more Japanese orchestrations. Hearing modern day music with THAT sound always makes a little optimistic.

The Lecacy of Japanese Composers
Kosuke Yamashita


Kosuke Yamashita embodies the very principle of any great composer: Composition = Orchestration. The man is not even close to the age when Williams wrote the first STAR WARS and already demonstrates a genius at both disciplines that equals the Hollywood greats in their prime. Not to mention his melodic genius that produces killer theme after killer theme. Yamashita is also no stranger to collaborations. His genius at orchestration made him a prime candidate for Hisaishi to arrange his music for various occasions. To this day he is a sought after arranger for many orchestral projects and his reputations is equal to that of a great composer (lucky that he IS one as well). Considering his age that’s an enormous accomplishment. An interesting and rather saddening fact is that (like Jerry) he wrote his most accomplished work for obscurities (from anime to games) and only few people are even exposed to his music. Still, he managed a nice successful career regardless, working in all fields of Japanese media and beyond. He currently works for a prestigious project that will hopefully put him on the radar of many directors and producers currently unaware of his gifts.

So let's dig in:


Part I – Universe (SciFi scores)



Download (https://mega.nz/#!YwAhCRCR!QsP6WaSzju_PKx85kaPluFw80YJFkssO3pQPMZrmcKc)

Yamashita wrote one of the best SciFi scores for the Anime medium with Glass Fleet, a highly energetic and thematic classical score that excels on all fronts. Almost every note is pitch-perfect. His mastery of orchestration at the age of 32 is just astounding. It’s an instant classic and certainly among the very best scores the anime medium has to offer: From the heroic theme A boldly soaring in “Michel” or the dramatic Theme B galloping in “Cleo of Swift Wind” to the playful and majestic “To the Flag of Freedom” and the innocent and romantic “Friendship”, it’s a great score and an incredible showcase of Yamashita’s genius.

Xenosaga: The Animation was in many ways a precursor to Glass Fleet. But this beast is much more “Hollywood” and rhythmic than the more classical Glass Fleet. It’s a perfect throwback to the glorious days of Hollywood ScFi. Yamashita also incorporates quite a bit of the game’s soundworld, meaning a healthy dose of synth pads and vocals. He also draws from his experience with Nobunaga’s Ambition and quite a few familiar moments appear.

Yamashita wrote perhaps the most mesmerizing epilogue for an Anime ever with Ozuma. He employs a full choir for the final reprise of his Main Theme and it evokes various kinds of overwhelming emotions, almost Mahler-esque. “Emergency sensor Barados” is a fantastic action show-off piece that brilliantly incorporates the Main Theme, with various orchestration stunts such as the use of organ. There’s a lot of chilling atmosphere in this one, accomplished by clever use of synth pads, organ, bells and esoteric flute. If you love experimental Jerry you will love “Ozuma and Arika”.

Dragonaut: A typical Japanese case of a ridiculous and silly SciFi-Anime getting a proper orchestral score. More contemporary than his other SciFi classics: Beats, E-Guitar and pounding synth bass, but all interwoven into a great orchestral voyage with a few peaks into the classical realm. Great usage of Leitmotif and thematic development. After Tanaka, here’s another composer who you can look up when you want to learn how to use an E-Guitar in an orchestral context AND what you can accomplish with a tiny ensemble.


Part II – Determination (Sport and Adventure scores)



Download (https://mega.nz/#!E0pEGSRA!NJWNxwLJ_9wmyTGSEoPqaScUzh27cogE05oa0DWqSn8)

Chihayafuru is perhaps his most uplifting and inspiring score. It has a fantastic theme, one of the very best he has written. It’s also used A LOT in the score. Thankfully Yamashita excels at Leitmotif writing so no problems there. For this sports drama he goes to various places, a full blown orchestral march, a beautiful romantic Love Theme and an incredible happy, bouncy and playful theme for the second season. A fair bit of synth pads and ethnic instruments are also present. But it’s really the drum kit that kicks things up a notch: One of the greatest examples of a drum kit easily doing almost the whole orchestral percussion part if you know what you are doing.

Another theme to die for is Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii (The World is Still Beautiful). A beautiful fantasy score that while it lacks proper action thanks to inadequate budget, still impresses thanks to its gorgeous theme and classical charm: beautiful waltzes, romantic love theme and serene song.

Shion no Ou ~ The Flowers of Hard Blood is a typical Japanese scoring practice. A seemingly mundane or ridiculous thing is scored like an epic film. You would not think it’s just music for a sports show. In this case it’s shogi. But Yamashita scores it like a great psychological love drama. Only the few uses of synth and beats give it away. Great score.

Yamashita ventures a little into Sentai territory with Digimon Xros Wars but not without a fair share of Hollywood pieces and yet another great theme. Quite a lot of delicious sax as well. Shame about the tiny budget though.

Part III – Ambition (Game scores)



Download (https://mega.nz/#!B9hQXDLY!8YnpT8PhlPtybzc9uf02nacVNe9S4bWs6Xj5FaKzIJg)

Yamashita really started his career and became famous with Nobunaga’s Ambition, taking over after Yoko Kanno left. He pretty much became the series main composer with seven game score and an orchestra concert under his belt. They are all great and beautiful film scores and Yamashita pretty much scored all games like Hollywood movies, using almost every instrument ever used for film. They are very much uplifting and inspiring in nature, which makes sense considering you are encouraged to conquer the lands of Japan. My favorites are Nr. 4, for which he worked with the Czech Philharmonic, and Nr.7, again recorded with a big ensemble and some truly glorious moments that serve their purpose as a farewell from Yamashita to the franchise. Ever since the series stayed true to Yamashita’s legacy and stays Hollywood focused.


Part IV – Journey (Symphonic scores and collaborations)



Download (https://mega.nz/#!Eg51CBIC!_yOLWqAmYm81dbAESqs8Sew7TyXiM4PH_nrq_BMMT20)

Reign of Revolution is yet another masterpiece from Yamashita (for an obscure game) and another of the rare cases where he got his hands on a proper symphonic ensemble and choir. What amazing results! An epic fantasy adventure that would work just fine as a symphonic album. He also ventures occasionally into his Nobunaga soundworld. I’ve also included his Overture piece for good measure and because of similar spirit (shared by Tango).

For Call of Chaos he almost lets the magic happen twice. Although not as substantial or cohesive as R2, it has many sublime moments and is more classical. Again working with a big ensemble.

On to his collaborations:

For Yamato Resurrection he did some great arrangements of Miyagawa’s iconic score. Guest appearance by Mahler. It’s all a precursor to the upcoming Yamato 2202, hopefully another Glass Fleet.

For the symphonic game album Orchestral SaGa –Legend of Music- he arranged the works of four composers to a grand symphonic journey. His orchestration skills and style shine so brilliantly here, that it might as well be his own symphonic work. He was also blessed with another symphonic ensemble: The FILMharmonic Orchestra of Prague. A mesmerizing work from start to finish. Scans by Leatherhead.

Hayabusa -The Long Voyage home- is for all intends and purposes a beautiful Hollywood SciFi score. A collaboration project of Nobuyuki Tsujii and Kosuke Yamashita where Yamashita did most of the heavy lifting. Also a sublime moment of Soprano Vocals.

Another collaboration where Yamashita overshadows his partner is Glass no Kamen. He arranged the heavy meat of Tamiya Terashima’s music into a beautiful, lyrical, majestic and romantic symphonic body. There’s just so much magic and spark in this one you have to hope that these two will collaborate again sometime in the future.

Casting Blossoms to the Sky is another beautiful and lyrical score and a special case where Yamashita arranged music from and composed together with the master (Hisaishi). There’s some stunningly beautiful moments in this gem. Album by nextday.

Individual pieces: For various game projects he arranged music that is not yet officially released but a few pieces are out there and they are just marvelous. Don’t miss the next SaGa: Scarlet Grace because Yamashita is arranging with a symphonic ensemble. For Konichiwa Anne he composed and arranged an insanely cute and heartwarming opening and his Wriggling Waltz is just stunning concert work.


Part V – Action (Tokusatsu scores)



Download (https://mega.nz/#!g9hVXLRC!j7Hwm0ougN3cINd0JNQFtZ-qdQLcsdVS95D8tgkj388)

Another brilliant side of Yamashita is his gift for energetic orchestral action with guitars, drum kits and synth pads. Nowhere shines this side brighter than in the scores he wrote for Super Sentai. Whether orchestral rides like Magiranger, proper symphonic adventures like Gokaiger or ridiculous fun like Ninninger, it’s all spectacle: Killer themes, upbeat action and glorious fanfares. For the numerous movie versions I combined certain scores I was not exactly happy with standalone. Space Sheriff Gavan (and Kamen Rider X Super Sentai if I remember correctly) is by Tangotreats.


Part VI – Romance (J-Drama scores)



Download (https://mega.nz/#!tsIFQa6R!5-8JH5ANEpsH6b6pfwNolfxDyzFHup55DTxUpPgFz5Q)

You cannot exactly overcome the idioms of the Japanese drama sound but within that soundworld Yamashita crafted some amazing scores.
Renai Neet is a lovely romantic score with another theme to die for, often played on soprano sax. Delightful marches, enchanting Jazz and beautiful romantic moments make this a joy to listen to. FLAC by nextday.

He wrote a similar delicate and beautiful score for Papa to Musume no Nanokakan (Father & Daughter). But I feel this one is even stronger in the romantic department and a bit more mature. There’s some genuine moments of grandeur as well.

Hana Yori Dango: He wrote some really great themes for this one, “Returns” in particular. More Hollywood than the usual drama and some sublime moments.

For Her husband he wrote perhaps his most joyful theme, with genius trumpet counterpoint. Runaway feels more like a Hollywood thriller and for Yamato Nadeshiko Shinchi Henge (The Wallflower) he goes nuts with orchestral grandour, pompous Jazz, frentic rock and pounding beats. Yukan Club finishes things with a mix of classic, baroque, Jazz and Rock.


Everything is in FLAC of course if possible and tagged. One good thing about this collection is the fact that I own most of the CDs (being a Yamashita fanboy) and I believe it's the first time Glass Fleet or Ozuma are shared in FLAC here. If someone is not credited let me know.




Composer Profile: Kosuke Yamashita



Trademark: Orchestral Acrobat, Magic Drummer, Killer Tunesmith

Inspiration: Classical Repertoire, Hollywood Legacy, various 80s band work

Music Education: Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku, Piano Player, Songwriter

Occupation: Japanese Composer Arranger Association, University lecturer at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music

Worked with notable Orchestras: Czech Philharmonic, Kanagawa Philharmonic, FILMharmonic

Most known work: Super Sentai Magiranger & Gokaiger, Chihayafuru, Nobunaga's Ambition

Orchestral Skill-Level: Outstanding

Melodic Sense: Outstanding

Style: 80s Film Score, 80s Television, contemporary classic

Score Cohesion: Good (Some need rearranging)

Vinphonic
Part III Part IV Music files are corrupted zip rar
Request to re-upload

I will never understand why sometimes MEGA has to be a dick. No clue why it happens. I uploaded Part III & IV again and they should work now. I also am as of now unaffected by the purges, probably because I almost always share in the thread and upload on three different accounts.

I will never understand why sometimes MEGA has to be a dick. No clue why it happens. I uploaded Part III & IV again and they should work now. I also am as of now unaffected by the purges, probably because I almost always share in the thread and upload on three different accounts.

I just tested Part III results
Part III - AmbitionThe Legacy of Kosuke Yamashita [11] Nobunaga's Ambition \ 03. Ranseiki \ 21. When の 小波 (イ ベ ン ト 1) (CD 初 收录 曲) .flac. The file has been damaged
Part III - Ambition The Legacy of Kosuke Yamashita [11] Nobunaga's Ambition \ 07. Tendou 24. Remnants of the line (tragic イ ベ ン ト) .flac. The file has been damaged
Part III - Ambition The Legacy of Kosuke Yamashita [11] Nobunaga's Ambition Scans \ Scan_46.png. AmbitionPart III -Ambition.zip: The archive has been corrupted

Part IV - Journey
Ok no problem

I just tested Part III results
Part III - AmbitionThe Legacy of Kosuke Yamashita [11] Nobunaga's Ambition \ 03. Ranseiki \ 21. When の 小波 (イ ベ ン ト 1) (CD 初 收录 曲) .flac. The file has been damaged
Part III - Ambition The Legacy of Kosuke Yamashita [11] Nobunaga's Ambition \ 07. Tendou 24. Remnants of the line (tragic イ ベ ン ト) .flac. The file has been damaged
Part III - Ambition The Legacy of Kosuke Yamashita [11] Nobunaga's Ambition Scans \ Scan_46.png. AmbitionPart III -Ambition.zip: The archive has been corrupted

Part IV - Journey
Ok no problem
It seems to be something on MEGA's end. Not a problem with the file he uploaded.

I downloaded a corrupt file before from MEGA but someone else who downloaded the exact same file had no problems. Not sure why it happens.

It seems to be something on MEGA's end. Not a problem with the file he uploaded.

I downloaded a corrupt file before from MEGA but someone else who downloaded the exact same file had no problems. Not sure why it happens.
Again, I downloaded the same problem
Still the same damage

If you thought that eroge concert was unheard of....

Miku Symphony preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gThlC2JYAOk

What will Japan come up with next?

Try again, topSawyer. I uploaded it again and it works now. I guess there is a sporadic chance of MEGA corrupting the archieve of large filesizes. I don't know what triggers it, considering the last few collections had no problems whatsoever and I used the same file. It is a Mystery...



"Super♥Lover♥Flower♥Sassy♥Romance♥Girl KITTEN★POWER NYAA!! meets ORCHESTRA!"

I remember while following the Untitled Concert series... they performed Tomita's Miku piece from Ihatov once but the hologram during the performance looked almost unbelievable (and was touchable). It was a little akward seeing the conductor (and Miku) getting flustered while he kissed her on the hand but then again... TECHNOLOGY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5uEEKpMVic&t=0s)

I also love the conductor all smiling and happy while the players probably think "wtf is this shit?" :D

I also urge everyone to follow the Untitled Concert series (題名のない音楽会): They do cover game music occasionally, with famous appearances from game directors to composers, arranged by the A-list (Yamashita, Kameoka etc.) If anyone has access to the program in HD that would be a dream come true:

Smash Brothers X (Brawl) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZYMRfok40U#t=12m36s)

Legend of Zelda (arr. Kosuke Yamashita) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1kSnUcsi8E)

Dragon Quest III (conducted by Sugiyama) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZYMRfok40U#t=21m06s)

Part III – Ambition
Ok no problem thank you very much Vinphonic ^_^

In addition Vinaphone WinRAR has a repair record function
I suggest you use his repair files ^_^

I also urge anyone to follow the Untitled Concert series (題名のない音楽会): They do cover game music occasionally, with famous appearances from game directors to composers, if anyone has access to the programm in HD that would be a dream come true:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZYMRfok40U#t=12m36s

Legend of Zelda (arr. Kosuke Yamashita) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1kSnUcsi8E)
Well here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUl54f4GS4g&index=5&list=PLo8fy5J8r2BXfjqRlgn-qYCnx1l2o_2LY) is the Legend of Zelda performance in 1080p HD. Of course, Yamashita arranging Zelda isn't all that new considering his previous involvement with the series. ;)

Curiously, I noticed that the Yuri on Ice composer arranged music for the Untitled Concert program this week. Did I ever mention that he also wrote an opera duet piece for the show? It should be coming soon.

What will Japan come up with next?

To answer your question nextday, how about (virtual) ballet with everyone's favorite Japanese icon for the memorial concert of Tomita in november... seriously, now Miku has entered almost all forms of high cultural music. At this point it wouldn't surprise me if a Vocaloid Opera is in conception 0_0

http://www.dr-coppelius.com/

I wonder if Yamashita is responsible for the arrangements in the Japanese-exclusive Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary concerts. Or just that piece?

EDIT: THIS: http://zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_Zelda_30th_Anniversary_Concert
WHERE can I find this?
This is far better than what we have touring the US

I wonder if Yamashita is responsible for the arrangements in the Japanese-exclusive Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary concerts. Or just that piece?

EDIT: THIS: http://zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_Zelda_30th_Anniversary_Concert
WHERE can I find this?
This is far better than what we have touring the US
That's pretty interesting. In a perfect world Nintendo would release it on CD or bundle a CD with Breath of the Wild (like they did with Skyward Sword) ...but it's Nintendo so there's almost a 0% chance it gets released.

Interestingly, they played the BotW main theme but still haven't announced the composer. They also didn't list the arranger anywhere ...because Nintendo doesn't like crediting their composers/arrangers (except for Kondo).


At this point it wouldn't surprise me if a Vocaloid Opera is in conception 0_0
About that... http://www.opera-aoi.com/intro.html

Also, according to new info the Miku Symphony album is 88 minutes in total with 75 minutes of that being instrumental-only. Full arranger credits on VGMdb now (http://vgmdb.net/album/62587).

Soo... I actually had this compilation "in work" for some time but with recent fun and games in Mega land... I decided to press on and finish it. After all, what could be a better way to resume uploading than by looking back on some of the stuff I've posted over the last few years?

Ladies and gentlemen (well, mostly gentlemen - do we have any ladies any more?) - I present to you, Eine Kleine Vinylmusik - a potpourii of music transferred from vinyl by yours truly.


EINE KLEINE VINYLMUSIK
A Potpourii of music transferred from vinyl by Tangotreats
Various Artists
Link (password protected - the password is my username in lower case) - https://itsssl.com/BRvEH





Eine Kleine Vinylmusik (with apologies to Mozart...)

I don't pretend the sound quality is superior (it isn't) or that I'm somehow more genuine in my love of music because I listen to it. I have a certain romantic, nostalgic attachment to vinyl because it takes me back to "better times" - if you wanted to hear some music you didn't already own, you got on a bus and went to a record shop, made your choice, and paid your money. Then you got a bus home, holding your prize in your hands which trembled with the excitement of having something new.

The smell of a record, the feel of a record, the delightfully labourious ritual of removing a record from its sleeve, placing it upon a turntable, and cueing it up... all lost to today's world of convenience in which you can discover an artist, listen to their music, get bored of it, and discard it - all within the space of ten minutes, with no financial outlay, and no need to move from your chair. That's why I still play vinyl. It's one of the techniques I use to slow my life down, relax, and truly revel in a piece of art.

My love affair with recorded music began in 1987; I was three years old and my mother had to lift me up to the counter of WH Smith so I could pass the assistant 50p from my chubby chocolate-covered fingers and become the owner of Kylie Minogue's "The Locomotion" - and a penny of change. Not one part of that love is related to sound quality.

Vinyl is crap.

It's a nasty, and technologically obsolete means of reproducing sound. It's stood the test of time, and it should be applauded for that, but let's not come up with any nebulous reasons why scraping a piece of chipped diamond through a piece of circular plastic is the pinnacle of sound recording technology. It really isn't. Sadly, many fine recordings and much great music is "trapped" on vinyl, never having made the jump to CD. Whether that is because of oversight or obscurity, it creates a real and genuine need for high quality vinyl transfers.

This album has no programme and no story arc. This is about a man's adventures with his record player. Be prepared for a devasatating clash of cultures; in this collection you will find intimate chamber music, ravishing French impressionism, 70s disco, ballet, Western and Japanese film music, classical standards, dated synthesizers, and a Japanese trumpet concerto dripping with New York jazz. I'd be surprised if you liked everything (I'm not sure *I* like everything here) - but hopefully you'll like *something* in this hodge-podge of excerpts and may be encouraged to listen to the full albums.

The final track - Space Oddity - is a tribute to David Bowie, who passed away the day I started working on this compilation. The arrangement is by David Matthews from Side B of his 1977 concept album "Dune" - the orchestra is led by the great Sanford Allen.

A number of the tracks on this album come from LPs that were kindly loaned to me by members of FFShrine for transfer. For their kindness and generosity, I offer my thanks:
Herr Salat for tracks 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
Kanyenda for tracks 2 and 10.
Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, and 14 come from LPs in my own collection.

Also, the cover art deserves a special mention - it was painted (with actual paint, on an actual canvas) especially for this collection by my mum, who is, in addition to being a thoroughly awesome mum, also a talented artist.

I do intend to get everything up again eventually, although it will be slow going... So, please please please, don't hesitate to ask me if you would like anything particular to "jump the queue" - I will be happy to re-upload on request.

Enjoy :)
TT

Haha, that cover is great. Props to your mother. :-P

Thanks for all your work transferring this music over the years.

A warm thanks from me as well, your transfers are in the best sense of the word "hidden treasures". Not in a million years would I have otherwise known such lovely music from Higuchi and Sugiyama exists if not for your and Herr Salat's efforts. The thread also evolved into a treasure trove of various kinds over the years with many people, including myself, contributing. I would argue that you can find music here which is not available anywhere else on the whole internet. Best of all, being a niche thread on a popular sharing forum offers pretty decent protection from various people and institutions. I would not dare to try my luck with Varese but until ANY of my files, which I posted exclusively in the thread, get taken down I would say it's pretty safe. I checked my old account yesterday and every link from over three years ago is still working (It does help that most are Japanese I guess).

You are both very welcome, and thank you for the kind words! Nextday, you made my mum blush. ;)

That's exactly my attitude to this thread. What goes on here... doesn't go on anywhere else on the internet. This thread isn't just about "let's give away free music" - there's also the aspects of education, archiving, and looking after abandoned cultural artifacts.

I predict that - unless somebody on the staff here gets their brain in gear, figures out which account is responsible for the takedowns, and bans it - every single person on this forum who has files on Mega will eventually be targetted. Don't take it personally when it happens. This is ongoing. Assume that some time in the next few weeks you'll lose everything, and plan for the worst.

Crucially, also remember... posting un-obfuscated links - and Mega itself - is still as safe as it ever was. These takedowns are all committed fraudulently by a bot, and they are reporting links that they could only have access to if they hold a working and live account of this forum. A lot of us have had Mega links go undisturbed for YEARS - and that is unprecedented in the world of file sharing. When Megaupload closed down, we were used to links lasting a month at the most. Now, suddenly we upload something to Mega and we expect it to stay there until the sun blows up. We can never assume that. The moment you put a link in a public place, you're relying on security by obscurity - our links tend to survive because they are low-throughput, minority interest - often from defunct or foreign labels or of sufficient age that even if the copyright owner still exists as an entity they won't care what's going on.

Download links of big movies and chart pop music will get taken down. Ours generally won't in the greater scheme of things - except in unusual cases like this one.

Please, folks - don't lose your bottle. We need to keep going. Forget about all this "PM for links" nonsense. Just keep going. Hide your links behind a password-protected service (https://itsssl.com/ comes highly recommended) to stop the auto script from reporting your links, but apart from that... business as usual. :)

So, I stumbled across this recently, and I figured some of y'all might be interested in it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/materiacollective/materia-collective-presents-hero-of-time

It's a KickStarter for a project named Hero of Time. It's an hour-long arrangement of music from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, played by a live orchestra (hopefully in Bratislava) and is inspired by the likes od Okami, Skyward Sword, and numerous Ghibli films. There's only about eight hours left in the KickStarter, so I figured I might as well give it some kind of a boost.

I got as far as the video talking about their incompetent orchestrators, and how proud they were to be able to record with "not just ANY orchestra - one of the best in the world!" - the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. Really?

Also, listening to the most unbelievably bland and hopeless samples on the page, and laughing at the completely pointless stuff they're wanting to do which explains the ludicrous $50,000 they want to finance this project. MUST HAVE TEH VINYLZ0RZ!!!!112

On the topic of Kickstarters, George Oldziey is up for round two, though this time it is questionable if it will reach its goal:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1373816047/wing-commander-orchestral-recording-project-volume?ref=nav_search


Hero of Time: Sigh, always no love for A Link to the Past. I once toyed with the concept of a 45 minute symphonic album in five movements, but I seem to be the only one who cares for it anymore. Orchestral samples have gotten pretty good (even more convincing with a few tricks within Cubase) so maybe I should get to it in a year or two.



VINYL: Just for the record, Final Symphony is getting released on Vinyl, same with Last Guardian and Kizumonogatari (not completely in love with it but I have rarely seen a Japanese movie scored this PERFECTLY, and judging by the second movie's receptions it's going to be a blast as well)

Yeah, I got Oldziey's begging letter about part two. The amount he wants to raise is still high for the project, but at least it's a more realistic goal than they're asking for that Zelda crap.

As for the music... well, volume one is enough. Not that it's offensive, but there's really nothing in volume one that makes me think "Wow, we really need more of THIS." - it's chords and brass triplets and absolutely sod-all else. Arguably, the 8 minute Wing Commander Suite distils the score down quite well.

If Oldziey actually tried to write a Wing Commander symphony, that could be interesting - but doing paint-by-numbers orchestrations of the cues directly from the game - complete with loop points and fadeouts - there is very, very little point. There is probably enough thematic material in Wing Commander to sustain a 45 minute symphonic treatment - THAT would be worth the money...

Actually, while I'm (kinda) here, I may as well ask tangotreats something: What would you say makes good orchestral music? (I apologize in advance for any incorrect terminology I end up spouting)

I ask because I'm somewhat of a budding music composer, and I find your posts about music to be a really fascinating read in terms of understanding aspects of writing, arranging and playing out music that I previously hadn't considered. It's gotten to the point where I want to try do an orchestral piece or two, inspired by what you've said elsewhere, and I'd like to know what you have to say on the matter.

I'm not sure how to best go about this, since there's so many ways to do so. I don't even know what areas I could ask for your advice on, simply because I don't know what it is that I don't know. The best thing I can think of right now is to just post links to a few pieces that inspire me and ask for your thoughts on them.

1. Aspects of Love (Enemy Zero, com. Michael Nyman) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENh_am7oLXE

2. Flowery Wind (Nobunaga's Ambition: Chronicles of Heaven, com. Yoko Kanno) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU36hWcAUgA

3. Glory of Cyrodiil (Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, com. Jeremy Soule) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpALQ_zZdV4

4. Puzzle Number 002 (Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, com. Tomohito Nishiura) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upz0nq-wZQk

5. Forest Glade (Kameo: Elements of Power, com. Steve Burke) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpALQ_zZdV4

6. Expansion of Blockade (End of Evangelion, com. Shiro Sagisu) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLm-tu1ye1Y

(Also, I apologize if any of the above comes off as incoherent; I'm not really sure what to ask of you beyond the opening question. And yes, anyone else can join in if they've got some ideas. Thanks for reading this.)

Hero of Time: Sigh, always no love for A Link to the Past. I once toyed with the concept of a 45 minute symphonic album in five movements, but I seem to be the only one who cares for it anymore. [...]

VINYL: Just for the record, Final Symphony is getting released on Vinyl [...]

Totally agreed on Zelda: Ocarina has gotten more than enough fan service. I haven't subjected myself to one of "Symphony of the Goddesses" concerts, but I'd appreciate seeing some love thrown towards the "Underground" track for the first game, and my favorite battle theme is the "Temple" track from Zelda II. I also believe that if, heavens forbid, a Zelda film or television project is created, that A Link to the Past offers a richer narrative and world than Ocarina; the Light and Dark World concept I believe would be easier to translate for the screen without throwing time travel into the mix, the goal of rescuing the seven maidens, repelling Agahnim, the final showdown in the pyramid... Musically, instead of more pops arrangements, I'd be interested in someone trying to create a one-act Zelda ballet or something; simplistic fable narrative, using the games' themes, arranged into forty minutes of concise bliss. But that's probably too arty for mainstream tastes. I'd say probably the best Zelda arrangement I've heard is the Wind Waker Concerto for Spark and Orchestra from one of the Symphonic concerts.

Interesting that you've interest in a Zelda suite. When I was an idiot undergrad in college, I remember jotting notes to arrange a five- or six-movement suite from FFVI that I called "The War of the Magi." I'd given each movement a title and wrote down which thematic material I thought could be woven into each to form a concise narrative approach. I remember considering sharing it in this thread at the time but figured that it would be very presumptuous of me to assume that anyone else would be interested in such an undertaking, and lacking both the musical talents to complete it myself or the financial resources to encourage such interest in others, I let that dream die. The closest iteration to that that I can recall is streich's own "Cantata for Dancing" as an adaption of Dancing Mad that took on a greater ambition. Perhaps someday Merrignon Studios will give VI, a more-deserving score, the full symphonic treatment it gave to VII.

Also, in addition to vinyl, that same company is also pressing physical CD releases for Final Symphony and a new printing of Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo; having physical copies of neither, I figured the $25 for both was too good to pass up.