Bring a Gundam Seed concert to NYC and I'll be on a plane tomorrow. ;)

I see you don't use the V.I.P. term lightly :0
Maybe you can ask him why his father suddendly gave up composing solo around the mid 2000s while you're at it, if he spent all time on teaching his son, that would at least explain a great many things ;)

@kantaris: Welcome :) Don't worry, none needed. Though WE DO have some folks here who are part of the "professional/amateur" music-making or music-teaching process ;) Streich is quite famous for his video-game arrangements, Josh and Tango are also fellow composers I highly respect. I (mostly) specialize on the mixing/editing/mastering aspect of music (though Pensquawk and Tango are obviously very knowledgeable in those fields too). Then we have nextday with his "V.I.P." news about the business side and rare shares. Then there's incredibly passionate players like Herr Salat, who ensure that hidden gems stay alive in their respective threads as well as bringing some gems to our ears perhaps no one else but here gets to hear. And finally we have our passionate or interesting conversations and discussions with Zipper and friends I really enjoy. Even some "old friends" are still around lurking about ;) We even had a visit from various composers in the business sharing some of the good stuff with us. We have our disagreements, on a VERY rare occasion things get a bit too heated but really, this place is keeping itself alive through discussion, interest, passion and love for music (I'm mostly done with ranting at this point ;)). And on a sitenote, there is actually no proper place (in the west anyway) to discuss anime "score" music in the first place, although to my ears it deserves as much attention as your big movie industries (recently started a youtube channel just for that). For all these things I'm very grateful this place continues to exist :)






Hendrik Schwarzer
Happy Family: The Original Film Score
TELDEX STUDIO Orchestra
Conducted by Bernhard W�nsch

(https://mega.nz/#!YvwXBR7T!wUsxgTBjE11RYLV35cVb-Xb-KJnEbihxGn4OVSU_kUI)

SAMPLE 1 (http://picosong.com/w3HwH) / SAMPLE 2 (http://picosong.com/w3ah7) / SAMPLE 3 (http://picosong.com/w3ahK)

MAKING OF: Scoring Happy Family (https://vimeo.com/231294273)

Vinphonic, I really have to trust more your musical tastes.

That and the Wodan albums are in FLAC in TIDAL if you want me to grab 'em for ya.

Bring a Gundam Seed concert to NYC and I'll be on a plane tomorrow. ;)Real talk here, does the States even have a decent film score ensemble anymore other than the usual LA players? I just listened through some of Gerhardt's old recordings with the National Philharmonic and it puts modern LA to shame.

EDIT: I just remembered that the National Philharmonic was British. Still, there were the dozens of other fantastic ensembles for each Golden Age film studio back then.

Yep, National Philharmonic was a hand-picked studio ensemble made up of London's top players - some from the LSO, RPO, Philharmonia, BBCSO plus freelancers. In terms of raw skill and quality of individual musicianship, they probably had an edge over the LSO at one stage - although the LSO as an integrated, full-time orchestra which substantially all performed together under the long-term direction of a world-class conductor, would've unquestionably been the superior ensemble.

I would say that the States doesn't have any (shit-hot) film-score specific ensembles any more due to lack of use - but any number of orchestras that rate as world class. The New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Baltimore, Boston Symphony, Cleveland, Louisville, Atlanta Symphony, etc... the list goes on. (Nor any other country; correct me if I'm wrong?)

The LA studio orchestra (singular) has lost some of its lustre in recent years - but you can count on any musician who's seriously committed to music in the Hollywood Studio Symphony still playing real music in other orchestras to stop them from losing their minds. You'd be surprised to see where those guys turn up. :)

Edit: Yeah, the question for Amano from me would be very simple. Well, it would be a couple of questions.

1. Did you stop composing because you were sick of it, or because nobody is asking you any more?
2. Are you artistically fulfilled orchestrating for morons, or do you just do it to pay the bills and because it's fun to conduct the Warsaw Phil every few years?
3. Do you think you'll ever score anime again?
4. Did you know I tried to buy a shit-tonne of CDs from your company a few years ago and they told me to **** off because I wasn't Japanese?

:D :D :D

If it slipped under everyone's radar, Christopher L. Stone scored/will be scoring Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair: The Movie :D

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dragon-s-lair-returns-movie-cartoon#/



AND The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing a Playstation concert next year... but this is a "western" event so of course "Horizon: Zero Dawn" and no Gravity Daze :(
I hope to god Tanaka will have his solo album to make up for that because if they don't announce it in the program I have little expectation it will turn up.

Speaking of Tanaka, a Royal Philharmonic treatment with the London Voices for his recent "Not an angel, Just a Dreamer" would be quite something :D


@Ponyo: By all means ;) (though Wodan is already in FLAC) Do you also happen to have his remastered Europa Park album? https://shop.europapark.de/en/Europa-Park+Classic+2016+-+Download.htm The site still doesn't work for some reason, but perhaps I should just buy it from my phone.

*sigh*

Christopher L Stone isn't scoring anything. He *might* score the Dragon's Lair Movie, *if* it gets made, which given that the Indiegogo campaign finished nearly two years ago and we haven't even got the 60 second teaser trailer that the campaign was funding which Bluth would then use to get investors to stump up the other US$70million... seems pretty bloody unlikely. (Add to that, Stone hasn't been a "thing" for twenty-odd years and if investors DID by some miracle decide to fund a very expensive movie (made with a technique nobody uses any more, directed by an 80-year-old animator who hasn't been big since 1997 and only made two films in the past) about a thirty year-old video game nobody remembers, he would be the first person to go.)

Also, Tanaka is not doing an album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Us knowing, as the result of a machine-translated tweet, that he wishes he could work with the RPO is not a confirmation, or even a suspicion. (I'm not saying it's IMPOSSIBLE - but I am saying that there is no confirmation that it's happening or even that it's been planned. We know nothing except that Tanaka likes the RPO. Everybody on the planet who's ever heard an orchestra likes the RPO.)

The closest thing to a possibility I can think of is that a recording was made at the 2015 RPO One Piece concert in London and someone is planning a CD releasel. Unlikely to say the least.

Ah, Tango, always the downer. Never change.

@Vinphonic, Sorry, but I don't have that. I kinda depend on TIDAL, which is a store/streaming site, from which I get music thanks to a program and a 3 month trial. Sadly, it seems that the Monster movie is the only thing they had of the composer. :( Also, it sucks that I can't watch the pitch, I need to pay for that.

One thing: The Teaser was released in September. And it is certainly within the realms of possibilty that it gets green-lit according to recent progress. And given that he already scored the games and some of the sneak peaks, its very likely he will stay on board. But you're right that a certain part of it is my deepst wish for YET ANOTHER wasted talent to finally score something with the power of Talespin again. And I DO KNOW they are past their prime but likewise, I jump at any straw reviving traditional handdrawn animation. Perhaps netflix with its billion dollar investments into Japanese Animation is more eager to fund it, who knows.


The Tanaka translation is: "How about a new work with the RPO for next comiket". Previously he said "it would be nice to see Gravity Daze in concert"... and a few months later it came to pass. Tanaka certainly has enough influence to make it happen. I will agree its again "wishful thinking" in parts but still within the realm of possibility.

Now that Sahashi is finally confirmed scoring FMP (live-orchestra and "scored-to-the-scene" by eye-witnesses, not exactly trustworthy, but good enough for me) and Evergarden is turning out to be a new landmark title (the whole series is already finished and the screening of the first two episodes confirmed its an orchestral score and that it left a very strong impression on the audience), I continue to remain optimistic about things.

If a foreign composer can break into anime and make its big debut as a serious film composer, writing lush, lyrical and energetic orchestral pieces for one of Anime's most prestigious and biggest titles, a German composer can live in a "bubble" and score things like in the 80s and an American TV series in 2017 can be scored like 20th Century SciFi Films, anything can happen.

I feel the same as you, but I don't have much hopes for this to ever become a feature length film, Don Bluth is 80, and a proper, well developed movie takes 4 years to make. Unless the whole developing of the movie was done with the pitch and now the only part to do is animation, which can take a year of two is lucky.

But.. as much as nostalgia is a major selling point these days, and even if somehow doing traditional animation these days is more cheaper than your average big budget CGI production, this isn't a thing that you can get revenue from. At least in the box office. Even with nostalgia, this is a very niche audience..

But in my perfect, dream world, nothing I wish more than for this movie to get made, for it to be a big, HUGE box office sucess, enough that studios would attempt to make a traditional animation comeback like in the 90s.. but that won't ever happen. Disney is the only one that can allow themselves to make a 2D animated movie and have sucess, because of their brand, people would go watch it anyway no matter what it is about - but, they don't want to. They spent thousands on CGI equipment and research/development, now it's gotta pay off.

But in my perfect, dream world, nothing I wish more than for this movie to get made, for it to be a big, HUGE box office sucess, enough that studios would attempt to make a traditional animation comeback like in the 90s.

Amen to that.


but that won't ever happen.

Never say never. With a little luck and confidence, we can look forward to a great and long-awaited adventure!

Don Bluth will finish this movie. I firmly believe in it.

I would be very happy if he could. Me, and all of his fans, and himself, too. Finally doing the movie he wanted to make for years. And a marvelous goodbye, in a way.

Exactly. And that is why he will finish this film. It will be his legacy. :)

Thank you!

I feel almost 50% of my posts are about Tanaka... oh well, after his recent pop singles I believe there can never be enough :D

So how about a podcast that actually goes indepth about Tanaka's career, his forgotten video game work and hidden gems, talking about his writing style and what makes him one of the greatest composers alive right now. Take a couple of cups of coffee and I hope you will discover even more gems by the master. But a bit of knowledge about musical and technical vocabualry is recommended.

http://www.supermarcatobros.com/podcast/2017/10/22/episode-290-kohei-tanaka

For those members of this thread who enjoy classic British film scores, Kritzerland just released a compilation of music from those films that was I'm assuming all conducted by the original composers around the time they released the films. It sounds quite good from the first few samples. It features music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Brian Easdale, John Addison, Arnold Bax, Arthur Bliss, Richard Addinsell, Mischa Spoliansky, William Walton, Benjamin Frankel, Nino Rota, and Malcolm Arnold.

New Taishi sample: http://picosong.com/w3GEy/

Is there any plan to release "Naotora OST" 4? I am checking Japan iTunes Store every week.

Hope there will be a LIVE Orchesta NHK Concert of NAOTORA (finger crossed), I will fly straight to Japan....

I *expect* a Naotora OST 4 will appear at some point - theoretically there would be one more session between the last release and the end of the show, though Kanno's Naotora isn't following the "usual" pattern of releases.

Using last year's score as a comparison, OST 1 appeared later in February, OSTs 2 and 3 in July and October respectively, and a "Complete Collection" in December that was mostly repeats but did have a few new/unreleased cues.

Kanno's Naotora had OST 1 early in January, OST 2 in April, and OST 3 which wasn't really a full OST but a hastily-released short album concentrating on a particular story arc, in August. It feels like they're making space in the schedule for one more soundtrack... but it hasn't been announced yet, so who knows?

Saegusa's Opera Composition
2008 Mono-opera "Grief" (English)
2013 Opera "KAMIKAZE" (Japanese) dedicated to all those throughout the world who lost their lives in the Second World War
DVDrip (mp3)
Grief (https://mega.nz/#!MIpgERpT!Jw6yQl17E6GRXpmDzqWm2Y6UuhA2pQ3xjLOL4aa1SaQ) / Kamikaze (https://mega.nz/#!xMIRGYqA!8_mtD8o0q_QfbQcs6foKHhXF4dd5PG_ZyEke0YWh2f8)

4 tracks from Twenty-Four Eyes OST(1987).. hard to find. sigh (mp3 (https://mega.nz/#!1UpH0YCS!3abblDr22Cg3wpczdxwKv1vU5xsNNoGgTyEINgmw7n4))
His new opera buffa "A Midsummer Day's Madness" premieres today.

Youtube link
Yamato Takeru (Japanese) 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVVtF3F3rR8&t=3622s) / 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOuAjVHKTxU&t=7s)
Jr. Butterfly (Italiano) 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQLAJ-mJcFY)/ 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8oke5xPyO8) / 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHsOlPLUKpQ)
(Japanese) 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qiu_jj9um9o) / 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7T72VwnBAk)
Chushingura (Japanese) 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO4XNoYGBa0) / 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgXdBIXq-dE)

Debney ripping off Star Trek 2 again for Orville 7. I take it back, THIS is the weakest score of the show so far. Stereotypical modern-style action score for the earth-based scenes, stealing from James Horner for the space-based scenes. Utter crap. Episode tired and boring. Oh, well.

Debney ripping off Star Trek 2 again for Orville 7. I take it back, THIS is the weakest score of the show so far. Stereotypical modern-style action score for the earth-based scenes, stealing from James Horner for the space-based scenes. Utter crap. Episode tired and boring. Oh, well.

Don't worry, the show won't last another season. Can't wait for the soundtrack, rip off or not.

I'm coming to think it might just take off.

Ratings have sustained pretty well, and like everything MacFarlane has ever done, the critics utterly hate it and the fans utterly love it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets a second season, and possibly more.

Star Trek Discovery just got announced for Season 2. If Orville gets canned and that piece of crap continues I will lose my mind...

It will get renewed. It's been averaging close to 7m viewers per episode according to Wikipedia.

Huh? What? A Seth McFarlane show? Live action one? In which he stars as the main protagonist?

Okay that's a rare sight.

If Orville gets canned and that piece of crap continues I will lose my mind...

I will lose my mind if a movie is announced and its NOT scored by Broughton ;)


It will get renewed. It's been averaging close to 7m viewers per episode according to Wikipedia.

Next thing you know, general audiences would actually prefer music and drama like in the 80s if given the choice...



EDIT: Sailor Moon 25th Anniversary concert is out in december.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/KICA-3269

Also let it sink in that this year we have over twelve orchestral albums by the Tokyo Philharmonic alone.

I'm coming to think it might just take off.

Ratings have sustained pretty well, and like everything MacFarlane has ever done, the critics utterly hate it and the fans utterly love it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets a second season, and possibly more.

Star Trek Discovery just got announced for Season 2. If Orville gets canned and that piece of crap continues I will lose my mind...

Okay, let's have a serious discussion about Discovery.

I have been having a blast. I love the characters, each story is interesting and asks ethical questions, and I love the Klingon perspective. We know the Klingons are wrong - what they are saying is wrong. It is no question that they are the antagonists. But I love how they give an empathetic voice for them. It's not just humans versus evil aliens. It shows us the aliens, in the context of their culture, and makes us understand WHY they are doing what they are doing, and more importantly, why it is important to oppose them.

The actors are great in their roles, the production values are off the charts, and the story is engaging. The theme of "The Enemy Is Us" is such a relevant narrative to be talking about, because right now we ARE tearing ourselves apart. Between the Alt Right movement in the US, the Brexit clusterfuck in UK, and the Migrant Crisis in Europe, and of course ISIS in the Middle East, the entire world is in crisis, of seeing the enemy in their neighbors.

I have never watched a single Star Trek episode before Discovery, but I look forward to every Sunday.

Brexit

Someone hasn't watched Yes Minister: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doe7UOjZ7m4


the entire world is in crisis

You know there was a time when we actually ATTACKED our neighbors and killed millions if we had disagreements, that concept was still the norm 100 years ago (WW1!). NOW we have a situation where invading another European country is an absurd thought out of a Fantasy film. Despite what the media tells you, the migrant crisis is nothing lifechanging, life goes on as usual and it actually is a job creator thanks to new security and medical personel needed to maintain the refugee camps.

And if you look at any global statistics regarding worldwide hunger, death by disease, crime rates, homocide, child abuse, political oppression etc. If there's one trend in the last hundred years its that it all points sharply downward. The world today is a paradise to even 50 years ago during the Cold War, where the US government actually killed its own citizens for the "Red Scare" and here in Germany there was terrorism almost every week.

Today, the misused ideology of communism is thankfully no longer supreme. There's actually FAR MORE Democracies on the planet than ever before.

Scientific research is one step away from establishing Fusion Power Plants and various other technologies ensuring that we can avert the energy crisis. Today you pretty much CAN live in a Sci-Fi home that was a wonderful thought in 80's SciFi films. We have Holograms, Drones, VR and honest plans to colonize Mars in the coming decades. New political concepts such as universal income are now in almost every political debate.

Today, we are all in theory connected to each other trough the internet and right now you can even write a tweet to the President of the United States of America, clothed in immense power, and he might reply back to YOUR question. Without an insane amount of paperwork or connections required, you can now engage in conversation with political figures directly.

To bring it back to music, IF YOU WANT you can converse with Tanaka on his blog, with Michiru Oshima on her website and with Kan Sawada on his twitter (he writes A LOT). Creators and artists can nowadays directly interact with fans and critics all around the world, something unthinkable 20 years ago.

Regardless what you think, the media (all of them) lives by painting everyday a disaster, that's how they make money and how they MAKE UP stories that are maybe 5% true but 95% made for shock value.

FACT is the world today is more peaceful than ever before. The only real problem left is how to eradicate Religion, specifically ISLAM and bring Enlightment, Logic and reason to the Middle East. And how to silently kill of North Korea.

Bringing all that back to the Star Trek talk, The Orville is a show about what our future can be, scored full of levity and optimsm. A world you want to live in.

Discovery is a miserbale world of contant warfare by horrible, unlikeable people, with no score of levity. Even excluding my own opinion that the actors (especially the lead actress) suck, the coloring sucks, the editing sucks, and the writing is obviously politically biased (Alt-Right/Trump hate), to me The Orville is a show looking to the future, and Discovery will be a show stuck in the past.



If I can fight Tango's pessimism, the world is nothing :D:D:D

^^^ That post alone is enough to make me give you a full month of unrestrained optimism.

You rock. And thank you. :)


Brexit...

...Is not a "cluster-fuck" - it's not going to be simple, and it's a fractious topic for sure, but in the end it's a decision we made to leave an organisation that wasn't working for us.

As a rule, I tend to try to stay away from politics on this forum - and on the internet at large - but I feel that the world misrepresents Brexit and this assumption I see - "nobody sane possibly wanted Brexit, so I can assume I'm always in the company of people who voted to remain and trash-talk leave voters with impunity" is extremely insulting. (I'm not saying that's what you were doing - only that I see it done quite often and so perhaps I'm overly sensitive to any commentary about Brexit that even *appears* to come from the positions of "why the hell did you idiots do that?" and "Brexit is going to be an unmitigated disaster!" Describing it in the same sentence as the election of Donald Trump - which really IS a cluster-fuck, and one which could ultimately be responsible for humanity's first nuclear war - gets my hackles up.)

The Yes Minister clip is interesting, because you really need to look at it in context; the EU we joined around the time (and voted to enter in a referendum) that was current (then called the EC) was vastly different to the one we voted to leave.

I could talk at length about what Brexit means to me, but this isn't the place to do it. I have no wish to go off-topic into a quagmire of political wrangling; I will only say that there are two sides to every story, and that the issue of Brexit is far bigger and more complicated than suggested by writing it off as a "cluster-fuck".

And yes, Discovery sucks. (Well, I think so - for a number of reasons, some more straightforward than others...) That I *will* talk about more, but alas visitors have just arrived so I must attend to family commitments...

Peace, folks. :)

Edit: ON another topic... I've just been recently revisiting Hiroshi Takaki and Slavek Kowalewski's work on AKB0048. There's a lot of talk about the action music and the orchestral versions of AKB48 songs... but have people missed one of the most glorious score cues of all time - Ginga no Oasis? It's so gorgeous.

http://picosong.com/w37Sr/

Discovery and every modern action film in a nutshell:

https://youtu.be/o3K44GQwxbA?t=11m12s

Don't let the filters and dark color gradients confuse you into thinking that something is "darker" or carries more "thematic weight".

:roflspock::roflspock::roflspock::roflspock::rofls pock:

A small update: Sho said he would ask his father about that Hollywood recording. I'm not expecting anything other than "it was cancelled" but it would be nice to know some details.


Stumbled upon this: https://soundcloud.com/tastyisteak/sdorica-main-theme
Man, those are some realistic sounding samples.
I know it's been 3 weeks, but the composer finally replied to me today. He said that it was half orchestra, half samples. It's nice that he managed to make it sound somewhat convincing even without the budget for a full orchestra. It would be good if more composers were smart about their budget.

Bloody hell, you're amazing, you know that!




@Zipper: Certainly a modern "Nerd" classic :D

@Nextday: Regarding synths, did Mario Odyssey have an orchestral session? Half the time I'm convinced its synth, the other half they somehow resurrected Eminence from the dead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elCw7c2kCvY&t=8m42s (minor spoilers from the very beginning, don't watch further if you want to play it). The credits say nothing.

@Tango: Did Kowalewski score anything else? If I look at Evan Call, why's he not anywhere to be found?

Regarding gorgeus cues, this week's GLT had a beautiful cue by Suehiro: https://vimeo.com/240312852

One of the very few anime this season I recommend, other than Ancient Magus Bride (but really only for the visuals).

Also is it just me or has 50% of every anime series something to do with London?!. How much times has it been marveled at, destroyed, leveled or imitated (Princess Principal last season). Even God Save The Queen and He's a Jolly Fellow in my anime scores...

Your Suehiro video is blocked on copyright grounds - ALREADY... What the hell? :(

Mario Odyssey: Well, that's a real orchestra, that much is certain, so they must've had a session... It sounds a step ahead of Galaxy. Interesting! Obviously the new composer is keeping the Mahito Yokota vibe going... As for the orchestra... it sounds domestic. Nicely recorded, but it does sound like a Japanese ensemble. The credits give the orchestra as Special Band - "The Super Mario Players" which is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

As much as it pains me to say, this interests me...


also is it just me or has 50% of every anime series something to do with London?!

Haha, I know... I guess we're in vogue at the moment, though it's become a bit of a trope lately in Hollywood, too - it seems like a requirement that every major blockbuster has a scene of famous London landmarks getting blown to pieces.

LWA was set in England too - and whoever was the art director did their research. There's lots of stuff going on in the background - stop names, logos, architectural style, etc - and best of all, we didn't get flattened in a nuclear apocalypse!

Its up on vimeo now.

I wouldn't say in vogue now when in ages past even Big Fire had a go at it... or who could forget the double penetration by Nazis and the Catholic Church... and on the other hand you have things from the K-On movie up to shows like Kiniro Mosaic with its nonestop hardon, recently in the OVA or even a brandnew animation studio formed exclusivly by people with a hardon for English culture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3O_oD0eQY8 (piece composed by Ruka Kawada, also inhouse composer for the studio)

"The studio, which is named after a village in southwestern England, is led by anime director Motoki Tanaka, also known by the pen name Tensho. Bibury is also a model location for the anime Kiniro Mosaic."

In that regard Princess Principal absolutely nailed the Victorian aesthetic too. They really don't joke around with their research.

The little I heard of Odyssey sounded fantastic, I honestly can't help til it releases somehow..

I've been to Bibury a few years ago. It's simply lovely. :)

Discovery and every modern action film in a nutshell:

https://youtu.be/o3K44GQwxbA?t=11m12s

Don't let the filters and dark color gradients confuse you into thinking that something is "darker" or carries more "thematic weight".

The fact that they consider the DC films to be intelligent under any capacity proves that they have no business in this conversation.

And to just play catchup with some of the previous comments...

@ Vinphonic: Don't let me give you a false assumption. We were born into the best possible time to be alive. As a society, as a people,we have so much more going for us than a hundred years ago, or even ten or twenty.. Just going off the top of my head:

* We are more understanding of the natural power that being white, male and straight gives, and are moving (slowly) to ammend that.
* We are fighting against sexual harassment and power against both genders.
* The internet allows instant communication and gives a wider understanding of different people and perspectives.
* We are living healthier, longer lives.
* We are understanding that healthcare is not a right, and should not be based off of one's economic status.
* Our films are representing a greater range of individuals, featuring POC and women in prominent roles.

But it would also be foolish to say that all was fine and dandy. Each of the continents have significant issues to resolve, as I have pointed out in my last post. There is a lot of finger pointing going on now. Each country is dividing itself in several different ways. Looking at my country, the Alt Right and the Neo-Nazis are seperating the Republican perspective, while on the Liberal side neither the Progressives or the Moderates seem capable of forming a concise gameplan. Racism is on the rise (the Southern Law Poverty Center says that following the wake of Trump's election, racism and hate crime was at the highest point it had ever witnessed).

So the theme of "The Enemy Is Us" is, what I would argue, a very relevant theme for a Star Trek show. And the show itself is something that I enjoy...a narrative where characters are king. The personalities and conflicts of characters should be the driving point of a narrative, and Discovery understands this. The Orville fails to give us any sympathetic characters with real distinctive traits, and each of its episode just seems to flounder. I gave up on it after just a few episodes for that reason.

Not to mention the jokes were really bad.

The fact that they consider the DC films to be intelligent under any capacity proves that they have no business in this conversation.It's amazing how you managed to completely miss the satire of that video. Maybe next time, spend more than ten seconds watching something before making a comment?

Discovery is crap. Whatever "deep" messages it has are nothing new for the realm of Star Trek, and just because it uses all the modern cinematic tropes to make something look visually serious doesn't make it a serious series. It fetishizes that dark atmosphere using poorly rehashed techniques that people like Nolan, Snyder, and Abrams have all popularized. It's quite funny how it ends up being more derivative than Orville, which at the very least makes itself to be some kind of a parody with some real love for Trek. No such tongue-in-cheek exists for this bland, blue-filtered show where everyone is always upset and angry and unlikeable. Just like the DC films.

Some more food for thought- the original Trek was made to go against the dark and pessimistic attitude people had during the Cold War and Vietnam. Its optimism was what made it stand out. Discovery doesn't follow this example, rather, it cashes in on the same pessimism and anger that people continue to have nowadays, just like the rest of those modern action films. In that sense Discovery is a betrayal of Star Trek's very core themes, just like Snyder's Superman is a complete betrayal of his very core character. It is because people find optimism and romance to be "corny" that all films nowadays either have to be some kind of parody/subversion or exercise in being dark and angry. It's this mindset that allows entities like Remote Control and Philip Glass to thrive with their banging droning noises and exercises in monotony.

Maybe next time don't use a poorly made satire video to try to make a point?

How is it poorly made? The only one who seems to have hard time understanding it is you.

It's not a matter of understanding. It is just not very funny or interesting. It has the appeal of someone that is trying too hard to make its point.

RLM hit gold with its analysis of the Star Wars prequels, but they have just degraded into irrelevancy the past few years. Their jokes are incredibly stale, and I find trouble taking any of their critiques seriously. They have forgotten the absurd dark humor that allowed their original videos to be so endearing.

We are more understanding of the natural power that being white, male and straight gives, and are moving (slowly) to ammend that.

NO POLITICS AROUND HERE PLEASE. It just makes my head ache.


We are understanding that healthcare is not a right

You silly Americans ;)



@Zipper: Agree 100% regarding "modern" entertainment. And RLM are getting better with age me thinks. The nerd crew specifically points out just what irks me these days to no end (even Mike loves them ;)) That "edgy" humor at the beginning was always a bit cringeworthy.


EDIt: Thanks to Sawada, I now know he was responsible for the intro to Dragon Ball Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEbwejTLV70
But according to him that's the only time he worked on anything video games, such a shame.

We are more understanding of the natural power that being white, male and straight gives, and are moving (slowly) to ammend that.

I do not fit into the category of "white, male, and straight" (only 66.6% I'm afraid) and neither do several other members of this thread. Please don't start that crap here, of all places.


Person A: Here's a funny video that is clearly satire and satirises the thing we were talking about; I am posting it to inject some levity into potentially inflammatory discussion.
Everyone but Person B: Hahaha!
Person B: CLEARLY that can't be taken seriously because it says that [insert something that was obviously part of the joke] and that's just stupid.
Person A: Uh, it's satire - it's not meant to be taken seriously. Didn't you get that it was satire?
Person B: WELL, I WOULD'VE DONE IF IT WERE FUNNY BUT IT WAS SHIT, IT WASN'T FUNNY, THE PEOPLE WHO DID IT USED TO BE FUNNY BUT NOW THEY'RE JUST BIG DUMMIES, DEGRADED INTO IRRELEVANCY, INCREDIBLY STALE, AND ALSO SCREW YOU GUYS I'M GOIN' HOME!


Every time I feel like leaving the thread something happens that reminds me why it's still worth staying around. ;)

For the record, I found the video funny and interesting. Obviously the Plinkett videos will always be RLM's gold standard but his videos are still as relevant as ever.

Discovery is every other contemporary show, in space, with Star Trek words constantly thrown in to assure us it's Star Trek. If I blot out that cheap and patronising fan service, and look at the show as "2017 Gloomy, Depressing, Excessively Colour-Graded Sci-Fi Show About War And Broken Humans And Expensive Visual Effects With 95% Style And 5% Substance" I actually find it tolerable, maybe even a cut above its competition. But the thing is, they're telling us it's Star Trek. It's not, and I'm not just saying that because it's visually unconnected from TOS which takes place just a decade later - I get that you cannot make a high-budget TV show in 2017 that's part of a internationally famous franchise in the same way you'd have made a low-budget children's TV show in 1966. But then why the hell go to the trouble of setting something in an already very populated timeline, within a decade of crashing into Captain Kirk chasing the lightbulb monster, the guy in the crappy dinosaur suit, and pointy-breasted women with miniskirts and too much makeup being totally unable to do anything except work the radio and get put repeatedly in their place by virile, manly men?

Why not avoid the inevitable retcon-fest, arguments about canon, and fan-fallout that's going to occur when you meddle with a 50-year-old internationally loved story, and go in the other direction? Why not pick up 10 years after Deep Space Nine, show us how the Federation rebuilt after the Dominion War... Who makes alliances? Do we make peace with the Cardassians? How's our relationship with the Dominion after Odo went home and used his influence in the Great Link? Thousands of questions, thousands of answers, all of them would take place in the Trekniverse, nothing would piss on established history, and you could tell your own stories without constraint. Don't yammer on about characters who've been done to death just because they evoke brand familiarity; no Admiral Jake Sisko, no Emperor Martok, no Grand Nagus Nog, no name-dropping, no finding the wreckage of DS9 out in space so we can have a nostalgic walk around a lovingly re-created version of the old set... Just a new, fresh, exciting story, in the Trek universe, that respects Trek history, and that takes the story forward, to boldly go where no-one has gone before - instead of obsessing over filling gaps in 50 year-old stories that didn't need filling in the first place.

Or why don't we pick up after Nemesis? Or go fifty or a hundred years past that? Or even further - do a show in Captain Braxton's time, where time-travel is commonplace and technology is light-years ahead of what we knew in DS9 and Voyager? WHY NOT???

Why not? Well, because they've got nothing else to give us, so they tempt us with names we're familiar with and fall into that modern cliche trap; "We cannot do anything original - the closest we can get is to tell an "origin" story or a direct prequel or sequel. We cannot create any new story, so we will pick up an event from an earlier series and talk about that instead. We will tentatively introduce new characters, but give them indelible connections to more famous characters which will give us endless opportunities for fan-service. We'll bring in relatives of the Kirk and Spock and all the rest, but we'll tease them about whether we'll actually see Kirk and Spock in the flesh. We probably won't, but if the show starts to tank, we definitely will."

For me, Discovery was almost guaranteed to be terrible the moment they announced:

1. The way we used to tell stories in the 1990s wouldn't work now.
2. Oh yeah, we respect Trek, but at the same time this is going to be nothing you've ever seen before.

In response:

1. Yes, you can - hello, Orville.
2. It's nothing we've ever seen in Star Trek. It's something we've seen 100,000,000,000 times before on every single modern TV show and modern movie ever made.

I do not fit into the category of "white, male, and straight" (only 66.6% I'm afraid) and neither do several other members of this thread. Please don't start that crap here, of all places.

Dude, I'm not starting any crap here, I'm not targeting everyone. I am talking about how WE, as a global society, are improving ourselves, and was just throwing out a lot of points. You guys are making more of a deal out of this than I ever intended.


"2017 Gloomy, Depressing, Excessively Colour-Graded Sci-Fi Show About War And Broken Humans And Expensive Visual Effects With 95% Style And 5% Substance"

What part of Discovery is depressing and gloomy? Is it that Michael has regrets and sincere grief over her actions? Is that, despite the fact that she is going through a sincere state of mourning, chooses to uplift those around her? Is it that she feels she needs to pay for her actions? Is it that she is trying to do the right thing, when the right thing is very hard to do?

I mean, they could have set it after DS9, but the issue is that they want to draw in new viewers. There is nothing wrong with wanting to expand their audience, and saying "Hey, the rebooted movies introduced a ton of people to TOS timeline, let's work it off of there". That's a pretty reasonable statement. All of your suggestions - and as someone who knows jack shit about Trek lore, supposes they could be good ones - requires familiarity with the previous shows. And saying "Hey, we need you to watch X or Y amount of episodes before you can watch this new series of ours" is just not going to work.

You keep on insisting that they are providing fan-service, but as someone who is totally new to the franchise, I don't see it. The closest they bring is having Michael be the adopted sister of Spock, and I am more than willing to say that is a bit meh. They felt the need for Michael to be attached to some big name in Trek, and I don't think they had to. But otherwise, I feel what they are doing makes sense.

The discussion about the differences between The Orville and Discovery in their tone and presentation reminds me of a (no longer online, regrettably) video analysis by Lindsay Ellis that compared Independance Day to Spielberg's remake of War of the Worlds, and when she discussed why both films were so different. They were both were alien invasion films, but while the former was incredibly idealistic and hopeful to B-movie levels, the former was a horrifying look at what humanity could sink to when put under an apocalyptic situation. The reason for the change in tone, Lindsay theorized, was that something had happened in between the two films that had completely shifted the climate, and therefore what audiences wanted out of their media - 9/11.

It's an odd tangent to delve into, but considering that the only other post-9/11 Trek series Enterprise had issues trying to reconcile what it wanted to do with real world events, I couldn't help but wonder if something similar was going on here. It's especially worth noting that Discovery, like nearly every other live-action film or show since 2005, takes a lot of inspiration from Lost, a critically acclaimed, insanely popular show that came out after 9/11 and featured concepts/themes strongly associated with the disaster (a plane crash setting off a chain of events, an air of constant paranoia and tension, etc).*

I think that, to me, really sums up the gulf in difference between the two shows. The Orville feels like a Star Trek spin-off that very well could have been made in the 90's, or at least an alternate timeline where the creative team never made Voyager. Meanwhile, Discovery is very much a modern live-action show that only could have been made in a post-9/11, post-Lost media landscape. Neither are objectively good or bad; it all depends on your tastes, and that's perfectly fine; but it's something that I find interesting to note.

*Yes, I'm aware that might also have to do with the fact that Discovery takes a lot of stylistic and tonal influence from the Abrams films, and Abrams was one of the creators of Lost, but it strikes me as curious all the same.

I feel like Discovery is another example of 'The Borg legacy'.
The original Star Trek, and much of TNG, was very much about how 'as time goes on and we evolve both socially and tech wise' we will become that much better of a species.

Then The Borg, the antithesis of Trek's idealized tech future, was unleashed by a new generation of jaded writers.
-It goes very much in line with other late 80s 'anti' movements like Frank Miller's Batman.

After that you eventually get things like DS9's War with The Dominion, that...yes...made DS9 pretty damn good, but did take even MORE away from Star Trek's optimistic future.

Discovery is probably going to be about Section 13, which was mentioned in DS9, which will make its' tone tolerable and needed.


====
Personally, I see no reason to compare both shows as they're both trying to do things different from one another.
It's akin to comparing Toy Story with Toy Soldiers.

I enjoy both shows, Discovery for the 'Decent Into Dark Trek' and The Orville for it's more idealistic space opera.

I don't want to beat this dead horse again, but I'm seeing a bunch of sites saying Yoko Kanno received her musical education from the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris? Is there any truth to this or is it just another part of her long string of inconsistent myths? I'm 90% sure the woman doesn't speak French.

I believe they're getting her mixed up with her namesake, the not-so-famous pianist, the "other" Yoko Kanno. ...

http://www.kilie.com/yoko/

---------- Post added at 10:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------


"Hey, we need you to watch X or Y amount of episodes before you can watch this new series of ours" is just not going to work.

I totally agree; and all other Trek series have managed this. They sit comfortably within the "universe" and yet they exist on their own. You don't have to have watched TOS to enjoy TNG, TNG to enjoy DS9, DS9 to enjoy VOY, VOY to enjoy ENT - though it can add richness to the "lore" - knowing Star Trek gives you bonus enjoyment.

Discovery has the reverse problem - it doesn't fit into the universe, so if you *have* watched the others, it's harder to get into. It messes with the foundations on which Star Trek is built. One of the things Star Trek taught us is that if you're travelling in time, going back to the past, you try to stay the bloody hell out of the way, and not do things which will change the timeline. There is an episode of DS9 - recognised as one of the best episodes of all time, and a piece of landmark television - which has the crew thrown back in time into the middle of a seminal piece of earth history - their presence leads a historically important figure to his death. The entirety of the Federation and Starfleet is wiped from existence. Captain Sisko is forced to impersonate the dead man and finish his work, so that the timeline is restored. It's a fundamental trope in every single piece of sci-fi ever made; you go back in time and stuff you do in the past can hurt the future.

And yet, Discovery goes back in time and meddles with the past; it tramples on history repeatedly and egregiously in pursuit of a story. It is ironic that the show that has spent 50 years teaching us that history is crucially important, and that you're morally obligated to preserve it at all costs, takes such a cavalier approach to its own history - in doing so, displaying contempt both for the series that gave birth to it, and for the fans who helped it become the international phenomenon it is today.

For anyone interested, you can catch this year's Hollywood in Vienna concert at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwmjJtPHxh8.

How the hell did Final Fantasy end up there?!

Well, you can certainly see the passion by the players when finally Goldsmith is on the menu, wish I could say that about the other performances.

Also, opening with that lackluster overblown LLL was disappointing (that visual contempt by players who wish they could play Steiner is something else...)

La La Land is mediocre kitsch. How much I dislike all of this overblown nothingness as the definition of what film music is. All the choir with their near constant "oh" "ah's" for effect that is all over this kind of music. Why not add word(s), I don't care what they say.

Harry Gregson-Williams? What is his music doing there? Listen to that horrible choir. Everything must be epic. Guy's a fraud :D

Yes, what on earth is Final Fantasy doing on the programme? How is that FILM music or Hollywood?

Mostly clunky performances.

Speaking of Final Fantasy, Mitsuda's session in Brussels was for Episode Ignis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfyMzP5R3HE

Liberi Fatali was shoved in there amongst Disney scores because it was largely influenced by Menken's Hunchback.

I believe they're getting her mixed up with her namesake, the not-so-famous pianist, the "other" Yoko Kanno. ...So it seems. Guess the Santa Anna college professors need to do a bit more research next time.

https://amara.org/en/videos/5wEIG20kcB2a/en/1086138/

On the topic of Kanno, I always knew her music had insane production values, but not TEN TIMES that of your average anime music budget.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2009-12-18/interview-shiro-sasaki

I guess Macross is a "special" case because it's more (pop) music-centric than other shows. The "ten times" figure seems to involve *ALL* the music in the show, of which Kanno's Warsaw score would be only a part.

My Dead Horse ;)

I note that the interview is from 2009 and even then, Justin Sevakis notices and remarks on the downward trend of large-scale orchestral scores in Japan. Sakaki dodges his question and instead talks about Macross Frontier, one huge and (at the time) recent show with a large-scale orchestral score and a pant-wettingly high music budget - oh, where have I seen that logical fallacy before - looking at an individual event instead of the bigger trend...

That other Kanno... who the hell is she? I can't even get any search results about her now. The only way I had that website I posted was because I went back through a 2008 discussion in the Kanno vs Uematsu thread and pulled it out of there; the site has not changed or been updated since. What is known of her suggests an almost parallel upbringing with "our" Kanno, her "blog" is a mainly about poltics, with the very occasional mention of music - including an unfortunately-named concert on the theme of "golden showers" in 2010, then it all goes dark...

Just another oddity in the Kanno story...

!!!!

Sorry what was that, can't hear you over the sound of the Tokyo Philharmonic, The Tokyo Symphony, Warsaw, Boston SoundtREc, BPO, LSO, Budapest, Toho and numerous largescale domestic studio orchestras in my Japanese media :p (its joke Mr. Spock)

Just you wait till the end of the year, if you think my GD2 work was good editing, wait what I have in store ;):D

On the topic of Kanno, I always knew her music had insane production values, but not TEN TIMES that of your average anime music budget.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2009-12-18/interview-shiro-sasaki
And then Macross F ended up breaking sales records for anime soundtracks. The first soundtrack sold nearly 200,000 copies. As far as I know, that record still stands today.

Kanno always gets a massive budget because she earns it.


That other Kanno... who the hell is she? I can't even get any search results about her now. The only way I had that website I posted was because I went back through a 2008 discussion in the Kanno vs Uematsu thread and pulled it out of there; the site has not changed or been updated since. What is known of her suggests an almost parallel upbringing with "our" Kanno, her "blog" is a mainly about poltics, with the very occasional mention of music - including an unfortunately-named concert on the theme of "golden showers" in 2010, then it all goes dark...

Just another oddity in the Kanno story...
What's there to say? I mean it's a strange coincidence that they share the same name and were born in the same city, but stranger things have happened. However, since you asked... her real name is Yoko Yasukawa now (she still uses her maiden name Kanno) but she also goes by the alias Yoko Saraswathy. She had a new website, but it's been down since last year: https://web.archive.org/web/20160422022301/http://dattamusic.org/

I know, it just adds yet another "weird" thing to the Kanno story. Nobody would care if it weren't for every other Kanno oddity.

That other Kanno... who the hell is she? I can't even get any search results about her now. The only way I had that website I posted was because I went back through a 2008 discussion in the Kanno vs Uematsu thread and pulled it out of there; the site has not changed or been updated since. What is known of her suggests an almost parallel upbringing with "our" Kanno, her "blog" is a mainly about poltics, with the very occasional mention of music - including an unfortunately-named concert on the theme of "golden showers" in 2010, then it all goes dark...I found a Japanese interview with that Kanno about her time in France, but she doesn't talk too much about her achievements: https://www.alsoj.net/flute/magazine/view/347/886.html

Still, unlike the other Yoko Kanno, she speaks about music the way you expect a very experienced and classically taught musician to.


And then Macross F ended up breaking sales records for anime soundtracks. The first soundtrack sold nearly 200,000 copies. As far as I know, that record still stands today.Well, that's because Frontier was banking on its pop songs. But given Kanno's other works which have arguably even more foreign ensembles and big name players/singers outside of Japan, it's stupendous she gets as much support as she does. Not even Sawano, whose discs sell insanely well too, has the same level of production values.

After long consideration, I've decided it's finally time for me to make a move, for a variety of reasons. This thread is no longer what it used to be, and no longer cares about the same things it used to. What drew me here has passed. I wish you all the very best of happiness and joy, here and around, and I thank you all, each and every one, for your conversation and contributions. They say that the way you decide it's time to change something in your life is when that which you used to love, you find yourself starting to hate. If something fun stops being fun, stop doing it, and find something else to be happy about.

The proper orchestral score in Japan is dying. I do not wish to be around to see it die. So, I will move my life on to other interests and new passions.

I will still visit The Shrine sporadically, for however long it continues, and I may turn up from time to time in other threads - but I will no longer monitor or comment in this one.

My services in audio restoration / vinyl transfer / whatever are still available - please PM if you want to discuss anything. I will not re-upload on request but may occasionally in other threads. Anybody else, feel free to use anything I've done in your own projects or re-upload as you see fit.

Good afternoon, ladies(?) and gentlemen, and goodbye. :)

LIEN TELECHARGER PLOAD PLZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-- Tangotreats, over and out

I stand by what I said, observe and work on and am fundamentally opposed to your assessment, but I can do nothing to change it. So be it then.

In any case I wish you the best of luck, happiness, that your health stays well and of course a wonderful evening, old friend :)

Goodbye

I wonder if this thread can even survive without tango. Probably not.

It's weird. I've only been visiting this thread for about a year and a bit (since the controversy with Shin Godzilla's soundtrack, if I remember correctly), but I'm genuinely quite sad to hear that you're going. I understand why, and I won't stop you from doing whatever you feel will make you happier in the end, but I won't deny the fact that I will miss your contributions to this thread.

Even when you weren't posting music that might have otherwise gotten swallowed up in the void, you'd almost always be around to give your (very passionate, very well articulated) opinions on soundtracks and composers, both old and new, the state of the film music industry, or music-related topics that you cared about. Despite how much people would disagree, I've enjoyed reading your posts; they gave me a perspective and insight on soundtracks, music writing and music appreciation that I don't really have at this point in my life, they gave me viewpoints that I would otherwise never consider, and they would even lead me to check out shows/films/soundtracks that I might never have given more than a passing glance (you're pretty much the reason I decided to watch The Orville's pilot episode, and it's damn good! Thanks for that!).

I wish you the best of everything in life, tango. It was awesome talking to you while you were around. Thank you for everything.

Ride on, shooting star.


I wonder if this thread can even survive without tango. Probably not.

It will survive. The course of the discussion will undoubtedly change with tango's absence, but that will always happen when members of a community come and go. That doesn't mean the thread is condemned to fade away into nothing. We'll carry on discussing orchestral soundtracks and their quality on this here forum thread until we end up leaving at various points in time, and then it'll be the next generation of forum-posters who will continue the discussion in whatever way they see fit, and so on and so forth. That's how it's always been, and that's how it always will be.

I don't know. I feel like I'm going to be less interested in this thread with tango gone. His insights added a lot to the discussion and no one is better at writing walls of text.

It's actually crazy to see how many of the top posters in this thread no longer actively post here (active defined as 1 post per month):

I still post, but in individual Threads, which I thought was what was required. I usually don't put a "head's up" here either, since I don't want to overdo it. But if it keeps this Thread interesting here are my 2 latest posts:
Rota's "Uragano": Thread 220273
Legrand's "Fuga dal Paradiso": Thread 220272

I'm a bit sad to see Tango decide to leave this thread as well. We'll see if it can be kept alive despite that. I like to be able to pop in and mention new and interesting works on occasion. It is hard to keep up with all the stuff getting released at any given time. So I hope people will continue to write about new releases and share them.

As long as interesting music gets composed and people want to talk about it, I don't see this thread going away anytime soon. I very much enjoyed Tango's passionate speeches, but at the same time I must admit that a lot of the topics talked about in this almost 800-page thread have been repeated over and over nonstop. There are only so many times you can talk about Hans Zimmer or Yoko Kanno or anyone else within the span of a few years before the same nonending arguments and speculation pop up. If that boredom is one of the reasons Tango decided to leave, I can't blame him. He's been with this thread since the very beginning and seen it all.

Many people have been scared off by the intensity of some of the discussions here (leading to random throwing around of the "elitest" insult whenever someone feels challenged), and though no one else wants to say it out loud, Tango was admittedly the very voice of most of those discussions. If he is gone for a long time, I wonder if new people will start frequenting here more often without any fear of their favorite composer being bashed.

I love this thread because of the depth of knowledge everyone has about the various composers and the anime industry as a whole, especially Tango and Vinphonic. Try discussing music seriously on any other anime forum and see how far it goes before a few angry Kajiura fans get mad at you for not calling her the greatest composer of all time.

I'm a bit sad to see Tango decide to leave this thread as well. We'll see if it can be kept alive despite that. I like to be able to pop in and mention new and interesting works on occasion. It is hard to keep up with all the stuff getting released at any given time. So I hope people will continue to write about new releases and share them.

Oh absolutely, I'm really sad to see Tango go, because we've conversed on for years (I will treasure these conversations) but I must admit over the course of this year I felt we were no longer understanding and listening to each other. I still think its weird to go from "one month of unrestrained optimism" to "ok, everything sucks now, bye" over the course of a single page but oh well. That's life.

I also hope it continues, SirusJr. I will continue to do what I have always done, I simply can't turn off or switch my passion and I will continue to share stuff from all around the world that might interest people who love classic film music, either in this thread or elsewhere. I will continue to gush out about composers I love (Tanaka and friends) and if I have something to complain about, might as well post it here ;)

I will take part in discussion about music and every topic under the sun if people want to discuss it. If it doesn't last then it just shouldn't be. But even when arthierr left and Tango was gone for almost a year, it still kept spinning.

I also share Zipper's sentiments that it is very rare to talk about anime and game music with serious appreciation for the music and not as a simple attatchment to a name or product.


@nextday: It's not so crazy if you consider this thread is almost TEN years old. A LOT can happen in someones life across the span of a decade. Even arthierr left not because of the state of the thread but because of life reasons. And I know for a fact some of those you listed are still around, but I get what you mean. And hey, as far as I'm concerned your a huge part of the reason I always enjoyed visiting the thread (still hope for some clarification on Amano's Hollywood score).

@nextday: It's not so crazy if you consider this thread is almost TEN years old. A LOT can happen in someones life across the span of a decade. Even arthierr left not because of the state of the thread but because of life reasons. And I know for a fact some of those you listed are still around, but I get what you mean. And hey, as far as I'm concerned your a huge part of the reason I always enjoyed visiting the thread (still hope for some clarification on Amano's Hollywood score).
Some are still active but they rarely post in this thread. I checked. And I said I'm probably going to be less interested, not that I'm going to stop posting. I'm not pulling a tango or anything. I'm just saddened by this sudden news.

I was surprised by the level of thematic quality I heard in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 watching the movie last night. Not saying it is anything ground breaking but I was surprised to hear such nice touching music as you hear in the theme played in Family History cue. The film also seemed to have overall a more emotional gravitas to it that was missing in the original.

I was surprised by that too, considering how pivotal the pop songs are to the film both in story and in marketing. The music is mixed very loud in some scenes (but usually only for juxtaposition with a joke); it sometimes went too much for the "epic!!!" vibe but the softer moments are captured well.

Whoever was talking about Naotora recently... Vol.3 was announced for November 22nd - http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/SoundTrackInt/info/487839

It says it's the music of the "final stage" so it is most likely the last volume.

Excellent!

I once said Virgin Soul is the TV score of the year. That was foolish of me.

Number 1: Naotora
Number 2: The Orville
Number 3: Virgin Soul (is the final release date announced yet?).


I also wonder if Kaoru Wada's Godzilla Film concert gets a release... oh it will surely, considering the twenty orchestral albums for the last couple of month of this year... and that's excluding the stuff that will get a CD in the not so distant future like Secret of Mana or Tales 2017. Who honestly is rich enough to buy em all ?


@Guardians: Despite a couple of neat moments, for me GotG2 is another entry in the "what could have been great" book of Hollywood scores ;) And I still have not forgotten Bates plagiarism.

Naotora is my favorite score this year if only for the Amatora Suite (which I have listed to dozens of times). Virgin Soul was announced for December in this tweet: https://twitter.com/baha_virginsoul/status/911195509238333440

No updates since then. I guess it will probably be the end of December. I hope The Orville's score is released soon too, but that won't be until after it finishes airing.

My favorite score of the year... that's tuff. I will wait until the end of december to finally decide, but you can be assured Naotora is a very strong contender, perhaps the last volume will finally seal the deal.
But you can be assured the Suite is my favorite "piece" of music this year, no questions asked.

But overall, not only filmscore, but as a compositional package in all manners of styles, a creative outburst of unseen proportions, it has to be Gravity Daze 2 for me. There's just no contest, the music is just insanely good across all genres, from film score to game score. That hours upon hours of excellent music was all written, orchestrated and conducted by Tanaka himself is nothing short of genius. There's even much thematic and motific development hidden in various hybrid cues that goes unnoticed until you have listened to it a couple of times ("Fate Spiral" is just absolutely nuts with incoporating every major theme of the score in under a minute). It really is the best potpourri game score you have ever heared.

Can you imagine it, Sony gave Tanaka a ludicrous budget, an armada of brass (and he was born to write for brass!) and he completely knocks it out of the park in all genres, from British film score to various Jazz and Rock styles and he even completely improves the pieces from GD1 as a bonus. And to make it even more amazing, the music (not even so much the game, which hits all my marks of finally being able to play a Gainax Anime) also became a hit, had numerous performances from small band to concert hall, even becoming the poser child for Sony's Orchestral Concert. On a sidenote, Michiru Oshima's "Full Throttle" from LWA is earingly similiar to his work in GD2 and we should not forget Oshima, despite her symphonic qualities also has a passion for rock and heavy metal.

If someone somehow still hasn't heared it, here's my edit, mix and arrangement of the game score without loops and proper end closure, a full package and an absolute joy to revisit everytime. One of my few works I'm very proud of.

Thread 215297

If Chrome's translation is accurate, some of those track titles sound promising.

I'm interested how "Chivalry" and "Tremendous Hope" will sound like ;)

The next weeks are certainly going to be interesting.



Oh my... Naoki Sato rips off Hook :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEhmWp4p5a8

Soundtrack out on Dec, 06.

MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR
GARY SCHYMAN & NATHAN GRIGG
MP3 320 VBR
(dont any of you fuckos even THINK of asking for flac it aint happening)


Nathan Grigg and Kelli Schaefer - Fires of War (3:55)
Nathan Grigg - The New Ring (2:35)
Gary Schyman - "He Waits For You" (0:39)
Nathan Grigg - "I Deal Only In Truth" (4:05)
Nathan Grigg - The Siege of Minas Ithil (1:15)
Gary Schyman - The Lower City (1:33)
Nathan Grigg - Shield Maiden of Gondor (0:58)
Nathan Grigg - "Some Things Were Lost Forever" (2:09)
Nathan Grigg - "I Must Defend the Gate" (1:35)
Nathan Grigg - The Upper City (1:36)
Nathan Grigg - "It's Not Enough for Them to Destroy Us" (1:38)
Gary Schyman and Nathan Grigg - A Show to Remember (2:35)
Gary Schyman - The Arena (1:34)
Nathan Grigg - "I Come For Him!" (1:02)
Nathan Grigg - "Don't Go Alone" (1:35)
Gary Schyman - The Warchief's Camp (1:34)
Gary Schyman - Cirith Ungol (1:36)
Gary Schyman - "My Precious" (0:59)
Gary Schyman - With Prophecy...Comes Torment (0:53)
Gary Schyman - "She Is Not Our Ally" (1:16)
Gary Schyman - One More Vision (1:25)
Nathan Grigg - Return to Minas Ithil (2:02)
Nathan Grigg - The Courtyard Battle (1:05)
Gary Schyman - Flight of the Witch King (0:32)
Gary Schyman - Castamir's Bargain (2:35)
Nathan Grigg - The Nazg�l (1:32)
Gary Schyman and Nathan Grigg - The Fall (3:14)
Nathan Grigg - The Blade of Galadriel (2:06)
Nathan Grigg - The Two Lives of Baranor (1:34)
Nathan Grigg - "I Will Not Be Protected" (1:31)
Gary Schyman - Kings of Old (1:33)
Gary Schyman - "Sacrifices Must Be Made" (1:16)
Gary Schyman - Rise To Power (1:31)
Gary Schyman - Worse Than Death (1:36)
Gary Schyman - "Either Way's A Win" (1:14)
Nathan Grigg - The Fort Assault (1:32)
Nathan Grigg - "I Named Him After You" (3:03)
Gary Schyman - "I'll Defend the Fort Like It Was My Own" (1:15)
Gary Schyman - A New Overlord (0:45)
Nathan Grigg - "It Was Like You Were Stuck On a Spit..." (0:54)
Nathan Grigg - Carn�n's Song (2:32)
Nathan Grigg - Beasts of Carn�n (3:13)
Gary Schyman - "They Are Summoning Death" (0:53)
Gary Schyman - Gorgoroth (1:35)
Gary Schyman - Tar-Goroth (1:35)
Gary Schyman - Seregost (1:35)
Gary Schyman - The Ice Cave Chase (1:04)
Gary Schyman - "Undeath Will Become Undeath" (1:34)
Gary Schyman - Hammerhand (0:52)
Gary Schyman - The Beasts Invade Fort Seregost (1:33)
Gary Schyman - The Drake (1:36)
Nathan Grigg - Drake Riding (1:31)
Nathan Grigg - "Why Do You Keep Fighting?" (1:10)
Gary Schyman - "A Drake Would Have Been A Great Asset" (1:12)
Gary Schyman - "They Are No Longer Men" (0:42)
Gary Schyman - Lord of the Dead (1:36)
Gary Schyman - No Escape, Even in Death (0:54)
Gary Schyman - Arise and Serve (1:34)
Nathan Grigg - "You Fight For Mordor" (1:26)
Gary Schyman - Barad-D�r (1:32)
Gary Schyman - "Open Your Eyes" (3:01)
Gary Schyman - Minas Morgul (1:41)
Gary Schyman - The Witch King (1:05)
Nathan Grigg - "They Are One" (1:22)
Nathan Grigg - Shadow of War Theme (2:36)
Nathan Grigg - Kharb-durbg�-hai (Masters of Beasts) (1:42)
Gary Schyman - Kink�-hai gulshu (Seers of the Shadow World) (1:29)
Nathan Grigg - Kark�-hai kutmushu (Crafters of War) (1:33)
Gary Schyman - Ran-hai balk-sh� (Lords of Pain) (1:36)
Gary Schyman - Krum-mark�-hai (Soldiers of Glory) (1:32)
Gary Schyman - Sherk-shokk�-hai (Blood-drinkers) (1:32)
Nathan Grigg - Bashzikri-hai (Shadow Knives) (1:55)
Gary Schyman and Nathan Grigg - Snaga-hai gaishu (Slaves of Fear) (1:38)
Nathan Grigg - Khurk�-hai (Consumers, Devourers) (1:34)
Nathan Grigg - Kharb-durbg�-hai Kutmashku (Overlord) (1:33)
Gary Schyman - Kink�-hai gulshu Kutmashku (1:32)
Nathan Grigg - Kark�-hai kutmushu Kutmashku (1:32)
Gary Schyman - Ran-hai balk-sh� Kutmashku (1:33)
Gary Schyman - Krum-mark�-hai Kutmashku (1:39)
Gary Schyman - Sherk-shokk�-hai Kutmashku (1:31)
Nathan Grigg - Bashzikri-hai Kutmashku (1:36)
Gary Schyman and Nathan Grigg - Snaga-hai gaishu Kutmashku (1:34)
Nathan Grigg - Khurk�-hai Kutmashku (1:33)
Nathan Grigg - The Eastern Desert (1:35)
Nathan Grigg - The Market (1:35)
Nathan Grigg - The Menus (2:03)
Nathan Grigg - The Army of Minas Ithil (1:13)
Nathan Grigg - Tribe Song Medley (4:11)


https://www.mediafire.com/file/17ij4qq6c1ho5n7/MESoW.rar


So since I got tired of waiting on somebody to upload a soundtrack from a $300 collector's edition, I decided to take matter into my own hands and go to eBay. But let me tell you guys, the $19 I spent were the LEAST painful part of this experience. Whoever mastered this soundtrack decided to not put any metadata on the disc. So guess who had to enter everything in manually, especially those final tracks with the weird ass names and the accents all over the place?

*raises hand*

It took me an HOUR from opening the disc before I could actually listen to the music. Jesus, you would think some metadata would be the least we could ask for. At least we got per track credit in the booklet. That was nice of them.

As for the music...its okay. It's not intelligent an intelligent score; we are not getting layers of musical depth here. But it's fun. Or maybe I'm shallow. Maybe it's both. Whatever the case, I would say the very best tracks are signified by not being named after "quotes". Those, I think, are cinematic cues, and they seem to my ears as the weakest part of the score. They jump from one musical idea to the next so quickly, it's like being caught in an amusement park ride that doesn't know when to stop.

The biggest complaint I can give to the score is that, somewhere along the way, Grigg and Schyman lost the unique voice that "Shadow of Mordor" had. Now this seems to be the Gary Schyman in Middle-Earth show...which is not bad, necessarily. I like Schyman alot. Between Bioshock and Dante's Inferno, he is one of those game composers that just don't get enough work nowadays.

But hey, it's a fun score, and I think I got my money's worth.

Oh my... Naoki Sato rips off Hook :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEhmWp4p5a8To be fair, given how much that film looks like it's trying to ape Spirited Away, going the Williams route is a lot more interesting than making a Hisaishi pastiche.

To be fair, given how much that film looks like it's trying to ape Spirited Away, going the Williams route is a lot more interesting than making a Hisaishi pastiche.

I don't think that's music from the movie. It's just trailer music. The company probably couldn't get or afford the Hook music so they just paid someone to cheaply put something very similar but not copyright infringement.

This is not our side of the world, Ponyo ;)

In 90% of cases, Japanese trailers feature pieces from the actual score and then most often a promotional song. A bad case is the recent Iwasaki teaser for Red Apple, just ten seconds of score before the song, a good case is Evergarden, which is 100% a score cue and the trailer is even build around this piece of music. In fact all Evergarden trailers are gorgeous not just on a musical level.

I can guarantee the piece in the trailer for DESTINY, even if it somehow is not part of the original soundtrack, is written by Sato. He always loved to pay homage to Williams scores if I think about it. Case in point, Jurassic Park and Star Wars in Machine Robo Rescue.



Between Bioshock and Dante's Inferno, he is one of those game composers that just don't get enough work nowadays.

I can suscribe to that. Also add Lennie Moore, James Hannigan, Oschmann, Kirkhope and about a dozen others that don't get nearly as much work as they deserve.

A bad case is the recent Iwasaki teaser for Red Apple, just ten seconds of score before the song.Yeah really, how does Iwasaki keep getting shafted with that? That cue was one of the unreleased ones from the TV show. The same for the Mahouka movie trailers. Not a single one of them have any new music from the films themselves.

I'll never understand how trailer music independent of the film's composer ever became commonplace in the west. I assume it's time constraints, but even that doesn't explain everything. Not even John Williams on Star Wars has the luxury of escaping it.

I'll never understand how trailer music independent of the film's composer ever became commonplace in the west. I assume it's time constraints, but even that doesn't explain everything. Not even John Williams on Star Wars has the luxury of escaping it.

Hollywood movie trailers have surprisingly long production periods, and thanks to digital editing and samples, things can change on a dime if the studio wants it too. I can't even imagine how many test screenings something like a Star Wars trailer must go through. If you record the music with an orchestra, that's it: you're more or less locked in to whatever version the composer was writing to. What if the orchestra pauses for dialogue, or is quieter for narration, and now you want to have that all changed? It's less of a headache to just ask some computer monkey to whip up a shoddy Imperial March, and remember to send the stems.

One of the primary composers to get Hollywood accustomed to getting decent trailer music in ridiculously short amounts of time was John Beal, in the early '90s. He could do it all: write new versions for the updated cut, copy a temp but be original enough to get away with it, finish it all quickly and efficiently, write any genre of music you foisted upon him. There were others in the same line of work, writing music for advertisements, but he was the biggest name for film marketing.

If you record the music with an orchestra, that's it: you're more or less locked in to whatever version the composer was writing to. What if the orchestra pauses for dialogue, or is quieter for narration, and now you want to have that all changed? It's less of a headache to just ask some computer monkey to whip up a shoddy Imperial March, and remember to send the stems.That is a very reasonable explanation. My only problem with it is that nowadays, film trailers are edited like music videos. Gone are the (somewhat cheesy) voiceovers that gave the audience a general impression of what a film would be about; ever since the 2000s, film trailers have focused more one overlapping character dialogue layered over scenes and quick-cutting to give the most information in a trailer. Therefore, I can't really see having to create new music making much sense since modern film trailers revolve around cutting the clips and dialogue to match the pace of the music.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even if he is no longer an active composer, Asakawa is still writing music for himself. And in an almost John Williams tradition, this is as digital as he is willing to go:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=800854643419969&set=p.800854643419969&type=3&theater

And it doesn't sound like his melodic sense has gotten rusty one bit (admittedly this was from 2007), even if he uses just a single hand:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=800842620087838&set=a.109609212544519.16376.100004863221489&type=3&comment_id=802185683286865&reply_comment_id=802211329950967&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D

Regarding trailers: It's really a complicated issue. Skeleton gave a good summary. I would also throw in the aspect that almost no one from the higher-ups has either a love for classic film music or respect for score composers anymore.


Japan in far more ways than one remains an isolated industry despite Hollywood and every major player recently wanting some cash from it. They still don't use trailer companies (does such a company even exist over there beside some small companies that do commercials?) because of a respect for the composer profession (its a very musical country, I've done some research and written some articles on this subject in my Legacy post). Recently I feel they want to stay away from outside influences and run things pretty much like they have always done.

Needless to say, some Japanese trailers are a work of art itself. And you can judge how much respect they do have for the score composer by listening to recent anime, game and movie trailers. I hope it can remain isolated.

Case in point, Japanese "inspiration" alive and well, this time Chicken Run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFDCZ46mJv0 (why do these type of films get ludicrously good Hollywood scores and then almost impossible to obtain soundtrack releases, if a release at all. I desperately want to hear Shiro Hamaguchi's and Kohei Tanaka's Tamagochi scores, but perhaps we will never hear them.



@Asakawa: I sure hope for a miracle. But for fun, here's what Iwasaki, certainly another gifted composer, has to say about digital:


And a bit of news: Toshiyuki Watanabe shared yet another unspecified anime project recording with a good-sized brass section and some winds, "very dynamic and powerful music". He also has this to say: "I'm expecting to be an active composer from now on" (wonky translate).


AND a goodie:





Hirofumi Kurita conducts The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Voces Tokyo
Monster Hunter: 13th Anniversary Suite
Arranged by myself

(https://mega.nz/#!x2IAVADD!2LWRBvC_uPg9saYcW8R1897n-_zbY6uYnk5GEFnGtyk)

Gotta say this year is a cut above the other albums, rivaling 2009. The addition of choir and some really good arrangements make this a keeper. Granted, a bit overblown in parts but very strong arrangement and thematic incorporation make it interesting throughout. This is also a little sneak peek of a project I will share either at the end of december or at the start of the new year ;)

Enjoy

And a bit of news: Toshiyuki Watanabe shared yet another unspecified anime project recording with a good-sized brass section and some winds, "very dynamic and powerful music". He also has this to say: "I'm expecting to be an active composer from now on" (wonky translate).
He was referring to his assistant, Hosung Lee, who assisted him on this untitled robot anime and Mazinger Z. He is saying that he expects him to be active as a composer in the future.

Lee previously composed music for a Korean animated film, but everything is synth except for the strings: http://picosong.com/wnY76/

Thanks for the clarification. It's still best to not put much trust in machine translations.

Does he say for how long he was working with Watanabe? Is this just a collaboration or is Hosung Lee his apprentice?

As I said, it was just on this project on Mazinger Z. He's had assistants in the past - Yutaka Yamada (Tokyo Ghoul) was his assistant on Majestic Prince, for example.

Watanabe is a professor at Senzoku Gakuen and Yamada was one of his students. Lee might be one his students too.

That makes sense. Btw I wonder if this years Senzoku Gakuen composer festival will be uploaded on their youtube site sometime soon. Yamashita's Wriggling Waltz and Watanabe's Hymn to the Forest and the Earth are two favorites of mine from last year.


EDIT: Preview of Akira Miyagawa's Yamato 2202: Warriors of Love (http://picosong.com/wn9Qv/) (Soundtrack out next year, Jan 24. Needless to say I LOVE this adaption, everything about it, the musical references to 60s Star Trek are of course a bonus)

And a little preview of Kado, should a soundtrack be announced, Horner reference at 2m43s: Birth of the Universe (http://picosong.com/wn9Em) (totally forgot in Japanese media, there's sometimes JUST MUSIC so sometimes you can pretty much download an episode, hit convert and you're pretty much done :D)

Here's a track from Danny Elfman's score for "Justice League". John Williams' Superman theme can be heard both at the beginning and at around 2:26:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXHwmYX1Dwo

Here's a track from Danny Elfman's score for "Justice League". John Williams' Superman theme can be heard both at the beginning and at around 2:26:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXHwmYX1Dwo

elfman also brought back his batman theme.definately joss whedon fanservice galore.it doesn�t make sense continuity wise but who cares?

Here's a track from Danny Elfman's score for "Justice League". John Williams' Superman theme can be heard both at the beginning and at around 2:26:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXHwmYX1DwoI'm surprised they went in that direction. At the same time, it doesn't really offer anything new. It's just the Batman theme with some snippets of the old Superman theme with bland filler transitions to pad them out. In other words, it suffers from Giacchino syndrome.

Unfortunately, I have to agree.

Although it is quite the middlefinger from Elfman and I don't want to be a downer, but after I listened to his "Heroes" track I'm convinced the score will not end up as good as for example Spiderman 2 which was not even that good compared to Batman. On that note I will see a modern superhero movie again if Sam Raimi directs and Christopher Young co-composes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkzEXTMK5Hs



EDIT: Symphonic Gamers 2 will be broadcasted on NHK BS on Nov 12 and surely find its way on youtube and other platforms soon after: The program includes Mario, Donkey Kong Country 2, FF, Suikoden, Mega Man and Nobunagas Ambition.

GUILD WARS 2 - PATH OF FIRE
MACLAINE DIEMER, WILBERT ROGET II, STAN LePARD, BRENDON WILLIAMS
mp3 256 vbr, bought off of Amazon



https://www.mediafire.com/file/8sskzhf5k7p68rz/GW2PoF.rar

Maclaine Diemer - Path of Fire (2:42)
Maclaine Diemer - A New Journey (2:16)
Maclaine Diemer - Welcome to the Desert (1:13)
Wilbert Roget, II - Army of the War God (2:09)
Maclaine Diemer - Reins of the Raptor (2:14)
Maclaine Diemer - Destiny�s Gorge (2:57)
Maclaine Diemer - Elona Reach (3:54)
Maclaine Diemer - Forged in Fire (2:07)
Maclaine Diemer - Sanctuary of Truth (2:52)
Brendon Williams - Sands of Chaos (2:06)
Maclaine Diemer - Dunes of Despair (2:15)
Maclaine Diemer - Sands of Time (2:18)
Stan LePard - Highland Hares (2:25)
Wilbert Roget, II - Enter the Fire God (2:35)
Maclaine Diemer - Highlands Kraal (2:05)
Maclaine Diemer - Pricklepatch Hollow (1:32)
Maclaine Diemer - Veins of the Dragon (2:33)
Wilbert Roget, II - Minions of Kralkatorrik (2:18)
Maclaine Diemer - The Prophet�s Shadow (1:52)
Maclaine Diemer - Tomb of Primeval Kings (2:25)
Brendon Williams - Marked Target (2:09)
Maclaine Diemer - On the Banks of the Elon (2:42)
Maclaine Diemer - Ravaged Ascension (2:06)
Stan LePard - Desert Skimming (1:56)
Brendon Williams - Battle in Draconis Mons (2:18)
Maclaine Diemer - Arid Dawn (2:53)
Maclaine Diemer - March of the Awakened (3:25)
Maclaine Diemer - Sulfurous Wastes (3:34)
Maclaine Diemer - Deadly Encounter (1:41)
Maclaine Diemer - Maws of the Ruptured Heart (1:58)
Stan LePard - Sands of the Djinn (2:14)
Maclaine Diemer - Veterans of the Desolation (2:10)
Wilbert Roget, II - Undead of Elona (2:04)
Maclaine Diemer - Dirge of the Father King (2:32)
Maclaine Diemer - Halls of the Undead (2:53)
Wilbert Roget, II - Eternal Conflict (2:12)
Stan LePard - Legendary Ascent (2:18)
Maclaine Diemer - The Opulence of Vabbi (2:41)
Maclaine Diemer - Forsaken Nobility (2:45)
Brendon Williams - The End of War (2:29)

Whatever happened to Jeremy Soule anyways? I thought he was the composer of Guild Wars but he's been pretty inactive the last few years.

Still sucks that EQNL got cancelled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7kAMjlj_zY

Last time I heared of him was around the time he had his "Symphony" in the works. I really enjoyed his contributions to Mists of Panderia so I have no clue what happened to him...

Last time I heared of him was around the time he had his "Symphony" in the works. I really enjoyed his contributions to Mists of Panderia so I have no clue what happened to him...

He still works on the symphony "The Northerner", but he also wrote music for the episodic VR game "Heart of the Emberstone".

Here are some of Soul's comments about this game: https://ru-ru.facebook.com/OfficialJeremySoule/posts/1557386007682584

I'm surprised I haven't seen Ni No Kuni 2 soundtrack posted yet. Did it not get released around the time the game was released in Japan? Or was Japanese release delayed too?

EDIT: Thanks for the share of Shadows of War Doublehex. I'm hoping Schyman will end up doing something interesting for the new VR game he announced on Facebook recently. He is excited about it, which suggests he is getting some freedom.

I didn't even know NNK2 was released. How long ago was this?

SirusJr: I would be jumping to the first release with vigorous joy... but its not out until January next year: http://vgmdb.net/album/70541

Also a great opportunity to post another podcast I enjoyed, an indepth discussion about arguably one of Hisaishi's finest scores: http://www.supermarcatobros.com/podcast/2017/7/27/episode-278-ni-no-kuni

Sonic Forces is out, I played it through.

As expected, the little orchestral parts that it has, are very good. Because it's the LSO, and because orchestral parts in Sonic games, they are scarce, but very good.

Can't wait for the OST.

I didn't even know NNK2 was released. How long ago was this?It wasn't, it's not coming out til January of next year.

EDIT: And beaten to it before I noticed there was another page.

Vinphonic: I really like those Marcato guys and their film music podcasts as well. It's a shame they're just limiting themselves to game and western film composers because they're missing out on a lot.

I didn't even know NNK2 was released. How long ago was this?

I thought it was already released in Japan and it was supposed to come out in the US in November along with DQXI but now it seems both games are delayed until January 2018 here.

I thought it was already released in Japan and it was supposed to come out in the US in November along with DQXI but now it seems both games are delayed until January 2018 here.

No no. Ninokuni was suposed to release in November everywhere but got delayed to Jan 2018.

DQXI was never given a release date for Europe/USA, just a 2018 release.

In any case the game score has been given plenty of exposure through previews and trailers and this one has a chance of being equal or even surpassing the first one. At the very least its Hisaishi at his best, creativly.

AND my god... Oshima's recent romantic film score is absolutely delightful. Can't wait till my CD arrives to say the least.

So essentially we learned never to trust Sirusjr when it comes to release dates, ever.

Sonic Forces' good LSO tracks

https://streamable.com/e4cyu
https://streamable.com/ncndx

Piano version of Fist Bump
https://streamable.com/wfevp

New PV for Darling in the FranXX.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x68a75e

It's not Sawano, but Asami Tachibana, another person from Legendoor. It seems she's collaborated with Yuki Hayashi in most of her projects so far, and worked with Sawano on Owari no Seraph. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the music that makes her anything more than a Sawano clone at this point, right down to the cheesy Engrish pop with Mika Kobayashi. You can even hear a "Sawano drop" in the trailer alone.

The show looks cookie-cutter as hell, so I don't have high expectations for this in any way.

Tatsuya Kato's been sounding different lately.
I think Frank will be her break but she's doesn't do epic vocal sings like Sawano so I guess they asked her to follow Sawano-san. I am hoping it will be her big break.
Also that Kan Sawada dude I like a more than I Thought I would for some reason. I wish someone's share Doctor X it sounds cool.

@Zipper: At least Asami Tachibana plays Horn and studied composition and arrangement: http://picosong.com/wnggL/

Tatsuya Kato has been more leaning on western film composers as of late:

http://picosong.com/wngVq
http://picosong.com/wngVc/
http://picosong.com/wngVY/

So essentially we learned never to trust Sirusjr when it comes to release dates, ever.

Well I'm very out of it on the game releases front considering the few JRPGs coming out worth anything. And following the Japanese release of something is even less important to me.

At least Asami Tachibana plays Horn and studied composition and arrangement.Sawano also studied composition and is very proficient on the piano. I think he's a lazy hack, but wouldn't consider him truly talentless like Tyler Bates. Whatever the case it seems Trigger has formed quite the bond with Sawano's company. Him for Kill la Kill, Hayashi for Kiznaiver, and now their assistant for this new show. Though there was Suehiro for Luluco.

Those Kato samples are nicely orchestrated, but also surprisingly devoid of actual substance? I wish Tango were here to better articulate these things.

Oh I merely pointed out his recent shift towards western film music, not that any of it is any good (well, the few minutes of Masamune-kun are arguably his best effort yet and the Broadway-esque Love Live Theme at least nice pastiche) and those Tachibana tracks are to show that at least she can do a few pastiche pieces, a string quartet piece is something I NEVER have heared from Sawano.






A nextday / Vinphonic co-Production


JAGMO presents:

Touhou Gensokyo Symphony Orchestra -Dream Festival-
Performed by JApanese Game Music Orchestra, conducted by Daisuke Nagamine
Arrangements by Erika Fukasawa, Kunio Matsuzaki, Yutaro Matsunaga, Ryotaro Yagi and Syuwa Nagai


(https://mega.nz/#!9zJRmYzb!EBwemWYFl_bt3esAspL0xFNeuLWbt62O-DNBcNXJB2M)

Music and concert information provided by nextday
Album arranged, edited, mixed and mastered by Vinphonic

Unfortunately, Japan is still lightyears behind delivering state of the art sound but I did what I could with the less-than-stellar raw material. But at least JAGMO releases their concert performances now and hopefully the NHK performance tomorrow is more to the standard of last year and their recent commercial suite release. Their Castlevania Suite might turn up here as well in the future ;)

Enjoy



And here's a new trailer for Shiro Hamaguchi's Girls und Panzer Cinematic concert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdT9YZKP-Js) (that cute Beethoven I just couldn't resist :D)

Does anyone here have the second and third Wataru soundtracks? They were uploaded years ago and deleted since.

I don't know if the complete orchestral score has been shared in FLAC around here before but just in case:





Tomoyuki Asakawa & Toshihiko Sahashi
Chou Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru
Studio Orchestra

(https://mega.nz/#!orIyCDCZ!cbOrves-B7H6dqHe1EpvrLMTSMQyl8KetwF_aLaFFUE)

Pure orchestral (funk) bliss. Especially "Fight! Dragon Round" by Asakawa is a favorite. In the words of James Newton Howard, this is music from a forgotten era (though Oshima and Tanaka still remember).

The real treasure hunt btw is getting Hattori's film albums of Slayers in FLAC.

The full "Justice League" soundtrack has been released, and Watertower Records (Warner Brothers' record label) has put the whole thing up on their official Youtube channel.

Here are all of the Danny Elfman tracks (ie, none of the pops songs included on the album), all arranged in the proper order:

The Justice League Theme — Logos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yk_DFCV_J4)

Hero’s Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojyuFzWA0v4)

Batman on the Roof (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYiwvjWAtIk)

Enter Cyborg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IdZ5Gbtsts)

Wonder Woman Rescue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JP8XtHXyn8) (Features an Elfmanized version of Junkie XL's Wonder Woman theme.)

Hippolyta’s Arrow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbnlwWvuot4)

The Story of Steppenwolf (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=src1At0Ip0g)

The Amazon Mother Box (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvyniileyM)

Cyborg Meets Diana (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6BlQolnCp0)

Aquaman in Atlantis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulFCd-s3oUI)

Then There Were Three (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH72fkHWVD4)

The Tunnel Fight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1d2bfl0qaw)

The World Needs Superman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpahORlXzZ0)

Spark of The Flash (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQiLV8Dv50g)

Friends and Foes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ6mS3Ulgb0) (Features Danny Elfman's Batman theme and John Williams' Superman theme.)

Justice League United (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8TtCl7N4rE)

Home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QtbCmj71B0)

Bruce and Diana (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD4M9o4DOHM)

The Final Battle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLNV2MgNDBw) (Features Danny Elfman's Batman theme and John Williams' Superman theme.)

A New Hope (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmkJslDi9Pw)

Anti-Hero’s Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a0DJn1eByM)

The Tunnel Fight (Full Length Bonus Track) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGKnDECu32U)

The Final Battle (Full Length Bonus Track) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S02hk2htqX4) (Features Danny Elfman's Batman theme and John Williams' Superman theme, although the latter is oddly truncated compared to its longer appearance in the non-extended version of this track, which can be found above.)

Mother Russia (Bonus Track) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6RbKwoW-4g)

And here's the whole album as one long video:

Justice League Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Danny Elfman (Full Album) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb-4yGh2QbM)

Also, here's the entire album on Spotify:

Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (https://open.spotify.com/album/6khOkamTyj8JXrf0wiMLSe)

What does everyone think of the album as a whole?

Also, what do you think of the track "The Final Battle" (the regular version, not the extended bonus track) in particular? What are your thoughts on how Danny Elfman utilized his own Batman theme and John Williams' Superman theme? Also what are your thoughts on the Elfmanized version of Junxie XL's Wonder Woman theme?

@Vinphonic:

Many thanks! The action music is absolutely nuts, even by Asakawa standards. This is said too often, and I'm sure quite a few will disagree, but I think he's the only living composer whose technical skills with an orchestra can rival that of John Williams. Blah blah why did he retire blah blah.

Sahashi's funk is delightful in its own way, but I do feel as if he got too overpowered by Asakawa in this to really shine.

With Williams I honestly have to reflect more on it. In levels of ability and channeling the concert world with absolute confidence, I believe Hisaishi is on a similar level, Kanno is of course off the charts, Tanaka is not that far off and Sawada and Matsuo came pretty close in Doraemon/Drifters. Asakawa has far too few projects to be sure how great he really is, but what is there still beggars belief that someone as talented as he is would willingly walk away from the conductor's seat to the harp. I would also say he is really channeling the Golden period that came before Williams, and 50s/60s Broadway. Oshima wrote like that until FMA but she can still do it, DEEMO is proof. And Tanaka channels Golden Age films and recently Goodwin like nobody's business.

Coincidentally, both Sahashi and Asakawa LOVE old James Bond scores so its no surprise they teamed up together.


Speaking of Sahashi, a bird flew in my ear, telling me that Sahashi has in fact three projects for next year, so if we exclude FMP, that means two more (I bet on Saint Seiya but I don't believe he can ever top his early 2000 years, as Mike put it, Sahashi was shooting lightning out of his ass from 1999 - 2009. Its the opposite with Sato, who I feel could really take off now, or Oshima, who in terms of technical ability and confidence, has never been better than from Zetsuen no Tempest to Shirayuki.

Btw Sahashi's new netflix series premiered a few days ago. From what I could hear so far this is straight out of his vintage years (His Sentai stuff).



@Beechcott: Thanks for the heads-up. Overall, despite the "sound" moving into the right direction, it still feels manufactured and corporate-controlled to me. It still has all those tropes and modern scoring conventions that drive me nuts. Like the executives still chained Elfman from truely going back to his Batman years. There are some really nice moments here and there (the score even has woodwinds) and hearing his Batman theme in full force and some old Superman moments is something completely unexpected (also a giant middlefinger to Zimmer but his distaste for RC has always been visible), I really enjoyed certain tracks, but the score overall is not the one we need right now. It needed to be full on romantic, full-on melodic and full-on adventurous. But its not possible to write like that in Hollywood anymore, as JNH confirmed during his concert tours. Maybe I'm too harsh on it because Elfman really tries here to fight against RC and that we even end up with what we got is a small miracle in itself but I nonetheless expected more.

His sound is very much rooted in Steiner/Korngold/Broadway as you say, but I was speaking more of his skill handling an orchestra in general. I don't think he's as flexible as the eclectic Tanaka, or creates as many memorable themes as Oshima, but like Williams his orchestrations are so staggeringly dense, and his ability to layer melodies and shift from one to another is absolutely unmatched. Even Kanno at her peak can't write at such a level. Compare Escaflowne to Five Star Stories and it is a world of difference. And he accomplished this with an ensemble half that of Warsaw. Imagine what he could do if he had Oshima's Moscow or Sahashi's London.

His body of work isn't very large, but then again, neither was Korngold's. Jungle Emperor Leo, Five Star Stories, Candidate for a Goddess, Wataru. Each one of those four is already a masterpiece, but he also left us with around a dozen NHK live action films and documentaries (Asian Highway is right up there with Katanagatari, Princess Kaguya, and maybe even Naotora for some of the best traditional Japanese orchestral music). I think Asakawa left us with enough music to give a good judgement of his skill and growth as a composer. There is no arguing with his education or credentials, so moving onto the harp was probably something more personal for him. This is a guy who had spent his entire childhood studying music, and attending Japan's best music college at just 13. I can't blame him for getting a bit fed up with it, if that is his reason.

Justice Leage:
The more I listen to it, the more it sounds like Elfman's work on the Avengers. Coincidentally, it's the same director. I have to wonder if he wanted to write in this half-assed confused hybrid style, or if it was Whedon who told him to. His heart just isn't in it. But his heart hasn't been in anything for almost 20 years.

The bar isn't set very high for Yuugo Kanno to do a decent job on his Batman at this point, so I hope he delivers something worthwhile and not a Psycho-Pass rehash like everyone is expecting.

Camrip Clip of �Godzilla: Monster Planet� from Japanese TV, where you can hear music by Takayuki Hattori: https://twitter.com/TIMETUNNEL3/status/929340062893871105

But its not possible to write like that in Hollywood anymore, as JNH confirmed during his concert tours.

Do you have a source? I'd like to see (or hear) what he said.

Guys, I am new to this thread, and I am a bit overwhelmed by it all. I have spent hours poring over your posts going back years, and have learned a great deal and found some fantastic tips for scores that I might never have known about otherwise. Of course many of the old links are expired, but still there is a wealth of information here. I have been collecting and listening to classical music and soundtracks for thirty years, but only recently did I discover the amazing treasures of orchestral music produced by Japanese composers that have never been on my radar. Thank you for helping make them accessible to me.

Here's a question -- I have fallen in love with the LOST ARK theme running 3:37 that is easily found on Youtube, but I can't figure out who the composer is, and whether there are additional orchestral cues for this game. Does anyone here know anything about it?

Thanks in advance!

A warm welcome from my side :)


I'm now nostalgic because actually it was the same for me, around 2010/11 I really got invested in Japanese scoring and found this thread which I followed with growing interest... granted I knew Tanaka and Hisaishi before and a few years prior I got hooked on anime, so a few names were familiar but a whole world opened up to me that I never could imagine was exactly what I sought but didn't really think existed anymore... around 2012/13 I really grew fond of this thread and all the hidden marvels and discussion.
Up until this point I really dug deep into the Japanese scoring world, and even if some links shouldn't work anymore, most of the Japanese stuff after 1995 should be in my Legacy thread (http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=219666&highlight=). Somehow I managed to cram all my uploads and projects over the years into a single post and even managed to make a narrative arc out of it, so if anyone wants to be truely overwhelmed by over 20 years of amazing classical film/game/anime music, dive in.

I honestly feel my life (on the musical side at least) is richer thanks to my (earnest) participation in this thread for almost six years.

And LOST ARK is certainly a game to be watchful of a soundtrack release. In many ways this will be Zera 2.0. We did discuss it briefly a few months back but I remember hearing James Newton Howards' Peter Pan in one of the trailer pieces. So here we definetely have a film score enthusiast scoring it.

@suro-zet: Well, Godzilla: Monster Planet could be it. Hattori returning to glory. Perhaps I should be more hopeful and just buy the album. Afterall, my blind faith in Oshima paied off big time with Haikara-san (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GrNOCYxpf0). And every Hattori album with a blue and black color palette turned out amazing afterall :p

@Beechcott

"Today you are simply not allowed to write music like Prince of Tides. I can not write a score like it anymore. It is something from a forgotten age..."

- James Newton Howard, on November 3 at Royal Albert Hall.

Prince of Tides is a score JNH wrote in the early 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJVEPxGN8jYI

@Beechcott

"Today you are simply not allowed to write music like Prince of Tides. I can not write a score like it anymore. It is something from a forgotten age..."

- James Newton Howard, on November 3 at Royal Albert Hall.

Prince of Tides is a score JNH wrote in the early 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJVEPxGN8jYI

Thank you.

That's sad. The main thing that I don't understand is why there is so much pressure from the top (producers, studio heads, etc) to avoid overly classic-sounding film music. Why does it matter to them? Do they really think (for instance) that Pirates of the Caribbean would have made less money if Alan Silvestri hadn't been replaced? They seem to think that classic styles of scoring would cause them to lose money or something (unless I'm missing something). I just don't see why, though.

There are a dozen reasons. A couple off the top of my head are:

- Audiences actually think that "overtly classic-sound film music" is 'old news' and they will be very bored if there's anything resembling a classical sensibility in a movie. This is what caused Gabriel Yared's score for Troy to be thrown out after one test screening in 2004. I know a guy who listens to anything with 'Zimmer' stamped on it but is put to sleep by anything from before the '60s.
- Audio speakers and their capabilities are always getting better. Not too long ago a new format called 'Atmos' started being implemented, and it has speakers on top so that you can perceive sound traveling 'above' you. This is never going to be used for music of course. Sound effects and dialogue are these days what are always in the forefront of the mix. The ability to reproduce low bass and LFE so well also makes directors want to hit audiences with quick pulsing sound design effects that seem to pierce the ear, rather than do a good job at balancing the music with the other elements. And how much memorable music is that technique going to produce? It always baffles me to see directors say how much they love the music in their movie, and oh didn't he do a great job... but the music is barely even audible over everything!

^Having watched Dunkirk a couple weeks ago, I can definitely agree with those sentiments about what Atmos is being used for. Even Zimmer's recent "music" for it was more droning than usual. The sound effects overpower everything. The closer films get to emulating a realistic soundscape, the less they are capable of using actual music, nevermind the romantic type from the Golden or Silver Age.

Audiences actually think that "overtly classic-sound film music" is 'old news' and they will be very bored if there's anything resembling a classical sensibility in a movie. This is what caused Gabriel Yared's score for Troy to be thrown out after one test screening in 2004. I know a guy who listens to anything with 'Zimmer' stamped on it but is put to sleep by anything from before the '60s.

But is it really the audiences complaining most of the time (Gabriel Yared's Troy notwithstanding)? In the majority of cases, might it be the studios just assuming that they will?

But is it really the audiences complaining most of the time (Gabriel Yared's Troy notwithstanding)? In the majority of cases, might it be the studios just assuming that they will?

TBF, I am also put to sleep by Golden Age scores, but I love classical and Silver Age. If you gave me a choice between Goldsmith or Herman, I would choose Goldsmith every time.

In the majority of cases, might it be the studios just assuming that they will?

Well yeah, if something doesn't work then Hollywood isn't going to keep at it, especially something as cosmetic as the music. Here's another example: on X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) it was the first time since 2002 that John Ottman would be writing music for an X-Men movie. He wanted to bring back his old theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_VqNEoqC5E&t=29s) but was told 'no' by the director, who was "terrified" that something as rousing and melodic and orchestral-minded as that would immediately disgruntle audiences. Fortunately Ottman managed to get a producer on his side and was able to put it on the main titles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAE8Yt22jCs&t=2m1s) (with some flashy synth stuff added to appease the director, which Ottman regretted having done). Of course, audiences didn't care one way or another, they probably didn't even notice it was the same theme from 2002. It's a fear probably more based on superstition and paranoia than anything else.

Keeping all those articles this year about Hollywood being on its last breath in mind, I think the death of classical film music is in fact bringing the downfall of films in general. No matter the special effects, films are only interesting and stay in peoples minds through the symbiosis of drama and music, a practice thousands of years old in entertainment but forgotten in favor of technology.

Regarding the Golden Age, leaving personal preferences aside, most people are also disinterested because the "sound" is mostly unappealing to a lot of folks thanks to terrible sound quality by today's standards. Thankfully the many rerecordings actually made the sound problem nonexistent ina lot of cases, but most often the performance is not up to par to the 50s and 60s. But the Golden Age was a necessary period regardless in transitioning film music from concert music into its own genre.

If you actually listen to it by modern standards, it becomes insanely energetic and lyrical music, in fact sometimes more engergizing than the silver age to be honest. How can Sea Hawk and King's Row put anyone to sleep?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-RPzAbW7No

That said, I understand if people prefer the Silver Age, afterall it is still the most accesible and instantly loveable subgenre of orchestral music. And Williams is its greatest icon.

In that regard I'm glad a certain place continues the Golden Age tradition, or rather uses it to further develop the orchestral sound. In fact, I know I said "The Golden Age lives on" and similar remarks but really that is not exactly the truth. Most of Japane music I love is not strictly classical, and not exactly Golden Age, and not exactly Silver Age either, not to mention the numerous Jazz and Pop influences eventhough it sounds like Rozsa or Tchaikovsky on the surface. I can only call it "The Japanese classical sound" at this point:

The pinnacle of this sound was in fact written this very year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9yKWYuwMIk) (apparently John Williams is a massive fan, if you believe IMDb)
Ex2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCUULTF_iNw)
Ex3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkoJOvwYffw)
Ex4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXRsedJMV1A&list=PLAY2aAj333CpFJ4H1Dx2ASVxTb7RY0dt3&index=8)
Ex5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cpqxwzfyfk&index=3&list=PLAY2aAj333Cq6THzjlexLtr59UWVGR8XN) / reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmdBcrYeQ9g)
Ex6 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLUg2IkgbUw)
Ex7 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbknqf6pnSs&index=2&list=PLAY2aAj333Crjpt8yLZeWAvxib-aASIyW)
Ex8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkNjCfMjRXA)
Ex9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpRFARaZ8EU&list=PLAY2aAj333CqENUzLJGoKqseenZi_8gWf)
Ex10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTOGejgsWEI)
Ex11 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYmy7IT5BQY&list=PLAY2aAj333Cq_Vt5f_2EvQ333MGDZ3oRf&index=4)
Ex12 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYgcwNu70G0)
Ex13 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3qXDOofxs4)
Ex14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok2N_-jZsGw) / reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx_0eXw-TFM)
Ex15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnvQQxdIiQY) / reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWXQUhBsUVM)
Ex16 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb3vHh7hdWM&list=PLAY2aAj333Co-5GyZz8VaGMbm_aCJOij1) / reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-EScDRKx5Q&t=6m44s)
Ex17 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDuTS0V_qGg&t=6m35s)
Ex18 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcLjmxout-A)
Ex19 (https://vimeo.com/221629903)
Ex20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XFOs8VFeSs&list=PLAY2aAj333CphhCU18bJnjcS-vNV33n1G&index=4)

I'd be lying if I said I really didn't jawdrop at most of those. Literally.

Vinphonic I really need to hang out with you

Well yeah, if something doesn't work then Hollywood isn't going to keep at it, especially something as cosmetic as the music. Here's another example: on X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) it was the first time since 2002 that John Ottman would be writing music for an X-Men movie. He wanted to bring back his old theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_VqNEoqC5E&t=29s) but was told 'no' by the director, who was "terrified" that something as rousing and melodic and orchestral-minded as that would immediately disgruntle audiences. Fortunately Ottman managed to get a producer on his side and was able to put it on the main titles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAE8Yt22jCs&t=2m1s) (with some flashy synth stuff added to appease the director, which Ottman regretted having done). Of course, audiences didn't care one way or another, they probably didn't even notice it was the same theme from 2002. It's a fear probably more based on superstition and paranoia than anything else.

Do you have a source on that, because I would love to hear that in the words of Ottman or Fuller. It really sounds surprising to me that Fuller would have such a hard rein on Ottman like that, since they have such a close working relationship.

TBF, I am also put to sleep by Golden Age scores, but I love classical and Silver Age. If you gave me a choice between Goldsmith or Herman, I would choose Goldsmith every time.All talk of actual quality aside, I don't know how Herrmann's music can put anyone to sleep when it tends to be so loud and abrasive. It's miles above something like RC because of just how harmonically dense it is, but it still follows that loud wall of sound philosophy.

(Herrmann has created a lot of lyrical music, I know, but I don't consider that to be typical of him).

Well, I hope we all understand that I am not being literal when I say that Golden Age puts me to sleep. It just does absolutely nothing for me - whenever I hear something from that time period, I just find myself becoming bored.

Do you have a source on that, because I would love to hear that in the words of Ottman or Fuller. It really sounds surprising to me that Fuller would have such a hard rein on Ottman like that, since they have such a close working relationship.

You're thinking of Singer. But yeah, according to Ottman, there was a lot of pressure on Singer to stay "modern" and avoid the orchestra, and aside from the main titles that's what the score ended up sounding like.
Here Ottman is talking a bit about it before working on the movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXpXbD0R03I&t=17m23s), and then after the movie was released at about 23:30 (http://www.filmmusicmag.com/audio/fmr/ots/OTS213-John_Ottman.mp3).
Ottman was able to do the theme again for the next X-Men movie, so I guess there was less consternation about seeming old-fashioned that time around.

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/79/793676daa7e2af2073d27409d9867a738e37c370013fd99f01 5a46de3aaa41b8.jpg

Sos groso, sabelo.

It means 'You are great, know it' in Argentinian Spanish. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_cDrD3ReWI

Whats up with Final Fantasy XV suddenly getting all those collaborations? First Mitsuda, now Uematsu. I'm not complaining, Uematsu composing a Gospel and all, since I like his band work...
Also whats taking so long for Final Symphony 2 to get released?

In regards to game news, I hope to god the recent Valkyria Chronicles tease is not Mitsuda's big announcement for 2018, I want Sakimoto to get the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, goddammit.

Many thanks! The action music is absolutely nuts, even by Asakawa standards. This is said too often, and I'm sure quite a few will disagree, but I think he's the only living composer whose technical skills with an orchestra can rival that of John Williams. Blah blah why did he retire blah blah.
Based of what I've heard so far I'm going to have to disagree with that assessment. :D There are lots of orchestral flourishes, but I'm not hearing the motivic development I usually associate with Williams.

It's kinda like Strauss vs. Mahler. Both can write thick orchestration, but the colours are vastly different. Mahler is really in your face when it comes to motifs. He will beat you to death with the same rhythmic cell in ten different instruments. Williams does the same thing. Strauss is more subtle with his themes, but not so subtle with the colour. He paints with a very heavy brush, and it always sounds very thick and busy, but I can't latch on to any one idea so I often end up lost. For that reason I usually prefer Mahler's style.

Another good comparison is Prokofiev vs. Respighi. Prokofiev makes his themes obvious and his orchestration intricate, whereas Respighi is more concerned with the raw power and energy of the orchestra.

I think Asakawa and Williams have very different styles. I would say Williams is far superior in terms of the motivic interplay I enjoy in orchestral music, but that isn't to say Asakawa isn't a great composer in his own right.

^Great post. I did say before, I wasn't comparing Asakawa's style to Williams, but his skill in handling an orchestra. At the very least, I would put Asakawa above even Kanno as far as just pure ability. There are dozens of skilled Williams imitators out there, and thankfully Asakawa isn't one of them. I've said this far too often, but I think Asakawa's style has more in common with that of Korngold or Waxman than it does with Williams.

My knowledge of living contemporary classical composers outside the film/anime industry is almost zero (other than the big names like Glass ), but I don't know anyone else alive who is capable piling on as many notes and flourishes on a single sheet of paper as Williams. Asakawa comes very close, even with his relatively small body of work. But his compositional style is, as you say, very different. I was mostly impressed with Wataru because of how ridiculously dense the orchestrations were even by his standards, but melodically it's not as memorable as something like his Five Star Stories, which I consider to be his magnum opus with much more memorable themes and variations. I recommend you give it a listen if you haven't already:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbT2Dk6X1dA&list=PLByuPrkPzs2oc6Q-bUu8tEvpxCr-WDSe1&index=1

@Vinphonic: Please make some space in your inbox. I am unable to send you any more messages.

(sorry to interrupt the discussion)

@Streich: I see what you did there ;)

@nextdqay: Sorry, busy with all kinds of stuff these days :D
Done.

Please go on, nothing to see here... except an early christmas present :)







A nextday / Vinphonic Co-Production:


SYMPHONIC GAMERS [2016 & 2017]
JApanese Game Music Orchestra, conducted by Daisuke Nagamine
Arranged by Erika Fukasawa, Kunio Matsuzaki & Shuichiro Fukuhiro

(https://mega.nz/#!k7IHASIY!l_6B8E8U0nf35BzNJTzhLyAch-7yVR6mHR0kiuddmek)

Music and concert information provided by nextday
Album arranged, edited, mixed and mastered by Vinphonic

Video Sample (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGZtPht11pg&t=7m17s)


This is as close to a real album release as we will probably get. Give a rep to nextday for delivering the music in good quality, just a day after the broadcast and saving me much paperwork. It certainly trumps the youtube videos. Symphonic Gamers 2 is in many ways more of the same. So if you love the first concert, you will certainly love the second. My favorites, without question from both performances are Zelda, Donkey Kong Country 2 and especially "Mario goes Tom & Jerry" by Fukasawa. But hearing Spirited Battlefield in concert gives a good indication just how much Warsaw brings to the table in fully realizing Kanno's compositions. Regardless this is massive fun with a good degree of class, from both the performance side and the listener side. No cheering to be found here. The recording quality is also good for a change. I did amplify it but its nowhere near the impossible undertaking as the LQ Touhou recording. In any case, this makes me smile. If we are lucky, perhaps another Game Music Concert series might happen in the future (or does already happen but as usual the Japanese keep it to themselves). Until then, enjoy this quite spectacular music. It will certainly become an annual event so look forward to next year ;)


And a bit of trivia. Donkey Kong Country 2 was brought to David Wise's attention very quickly and he is quite shocked to say the least...

Pure orchestral (funk) bliss. Especially "Fight! Dragon Round" by Asakawa is a favorite. In the words of James Newton Howard, this is music from a forgotten era (though Oshima and Tanaka still remember).

What can I say but: Amazing and beautiful. Though I don't know if the information by vgmdb is to go by, it lists all of the tracks being composed by both Asakawa and Sahashi and only lists on who arranged each track. It doesn't specify on who specifically composed it. Though judging by their music styles, Asakawa has the sweeping, romantic orchestral parts, while Sahashi handled the tracks with orchestral funk, and sometimes relies on the electric guitar and synthesizer in some of the tracks.

I think this is interesting to me, but after I listened to the track "Prelude to Chaos" (Which is on track 12 on Chou Wataru's 3rd OST), the valid sources (the vgmdb info on the 3rd OST is wrong, they switched the arrangers around) say that it was arranged by Asakawa. But I think that it sounds more like Sahashi's style because of it's heavy use of percussions and a synth loop, and that the brass composition is extremely similar to Sahashi's previous works. Same with the 3rd OST's 6th track: "Pheonix Flame~Sword King Ryujinmaru". It says that it was composed and arranged by Asakawa, but again I believe that it sounds more like Sahashi arranged it because it sounds similar to his work on Future GPX Cyber Formula Saga.

I know I could be wrong, but that's just how I feel. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. :)

Pheonix Flame~Sword King Ryujinmaru is 100% Sahashi, Prelude to Chaos could be Sahashi arranged by Asakawa.


Japanese soundtracks sometimes have a few problems with giving proper credit (in the booklet) so perhaps it could be one of those cases.

Hattori's Godzilla is out and it actually has a fair amount of good tracks. There's still some with electronics and heavy percussion, but there's also some like this: http://picosong.com/wnKE7/

Godzilla :D I guess we (me, you and Tango) were both right in some way. It's another Codebreaker, another worthy Godzilla score in parts, more than making up for ID-0 for me, but still modern Hattori with his love for electronics and drum loops. Some of the last couple of pieces are nuts and probably among my favorite cases of "modern RC percussion that doesn't bother me that much" but as a whole I wish he would revert back to his old pre 2000 style. But I don't exactly dislike his modern style (to the point I find it unlistenable) and if you cut out the purely electronic tracks you still have a good old-fashioned SciFi score albeit with a few modern Hollywood elements here and there. Overall its well worth my money. It sounds really nice as well. Probably recorded at Toho, which gives me hope that more anime scores can have this level of sound.

I also need to see the film eventually. The piece you posted (actually the shorter variation, Track 08) is probably playing during the Klendathu Drop homage.

It was actually recorded at Sound Inn Studio A.

What? Did it always sound that decent (brass sounds like brass) or have they modernized their sound department?

If it's the same engineer as ID-0, then that would explain it: http://vgmdb.net/artist/25164

That guy is Sahashi's chief engineer. He definitely knows how to make brass sound good.

*so badly wants to post*

:D

I'm not sure why you're dead set on never posting here again. Just because you don't want to be an active poster doesn't mean that you can't be an inactive poster.

Meh, we'll see him in a week. I'll bet on that in Vegas.

Man, if I had made a bet on his return I'd probably have some mad cash right now.

I said two weeks exact and two weeks it has been, without counting his casual replies on one of his other threads.

One of the orchestra themes from Xenoblade Chronicles 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM8b4PpE354

One of the orchestra themes from Xenoblade Chronicles 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM8b4PpE354

Oh yeah. The music in that game reaaaaaally is promising!

Blimey! Could this be the fourth resurrection already... (Turns out you were the far better gambler, Ponyo)


@nextday: Just like with Mario Odyssey, the best orchestral pieces will probably be in cutscenes. (at least those will be loopfree on the OST) But its nice that the gameplay features an orchestra as well.

@nextday: Just like with Mario Odyssey, the best orchestral pieces will probably be in cutscenes. (at least those will be loopfree on the OST) But its nice that the gameplay features an orchestra as well.
Mitsuda says that his team created 120 pieces of music for the game, so there should be at least a few goodies. If I remember correctly, it was a Japanese orchestra (Kanagawa Philharmonic) but they recorded it in a concert hall.

Edit: Btw, MONACA had an orchestra recording today for Death March. I'm not sure of the size but Hoashi says it was a "big recording".

I've just finshed the recent interview with Mitsuda, turns out we should give him more credit if he truely did arrange all the work he specified. I still keep my fingers crossed that the new Valkyria project is not his big project for 2018 however (but the tease was about Chronicles, not the spin-off).

Regarding Symphonic Gamers: Monster Hunter and Chrono Trigger had a windows system sound in them I didn't notice the first time. I edited them out (should not be noticeable anymore) and also I reuploaded in MP3 considering the source is not lossless.

And the more I listen to Fukasawa's Super Mario Medley, the better it gets... but maybe that's my bias since I grew up with these melodies.
I've also put together this little film suite edit of DKC2 that would not feel out of place at a 90s film music concert: http://picosong.com/wnBUk



And if anybody missed it, here's GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters. But with a twist. I rearranged the album a little and included the orchestral pieces from ID-0... and its a perfect complement, almost to the point I'm convinced they used all the outtakes (too somber and uplifting mood for the film) for ID-0.





Takayuki Hattori
GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters
Tokyo Studio Orchestra & Choir

(https://mega.nz/#!g2pVlZBC!Xf-F9aDRvwf4O6Rlzb-FrGpO9zsB-_zF6dmMhawJeSE)

I will update it to FLAC when my cd arrives.

Here is the Original Soundtrack (unchanged) in FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!Vu5mQYRR!QH6hj_RieHxe63EMObyDDauWmGA04Bh16G4mPSjI1y0)

In any case, this is Hattori's return to form, a SciFi tour de force albeit in his modern style that favors electronics and drums but they very much feel like just another composer tool in this case and not dictated by anyone. Of course this score features every SciFi cliche in the book, down to the obligatory action piece by Holst (and a couple of other homages). The standout of course is the heroic march, heared in full glory in Leland's Kamikaze Attack. Other standouts for me are the last couple of action piece were the RC drums (or just toms...) are played in full force, but thats pretty much the only modern element in it, that said I wish he would have replaced it with snares but regardless, these pieces are nuts and very much a wall of noise, in a good way. I'm reminded of Mitsuda's recent interview were we got another confirmation that still nobody interferes with score composers; "don't sound like Sakimoto, just do your own thing" or Uematsu's "I thought a Gospel sound would work (eventhough it goes against the established sound for FFXV), so thats what they let me do" so its safe to assume all the electronics and drums here are purely his choice.

Hattori is now scoring the final episodes of Gundam: The Origin and after that, there's a good chance he will end up scoring the Gundam remake, so its pretty safe to say he's one of the high-profile composers these days and in no shortage of getting work.



I did also forget to mention the best part about all of this: This is just the first of three films and a possible series format in the future:





In other news Haikara-san takes longer to arrive than I anticipated but be assured this is also a marvelous film score, just on the other side of the spectrum.

Tadlow has started a Kickstarter to record a new King of Kings. Some good options here and making some good progress in the first few days. If I lived closer to Prague I would consider paying for the perks that allow you to be present at the sessions.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/681802762/king-of-kings-new-recording

Also many thanks for sharing your two recent shares Vinphonic! I always appreciate your attention to detail in your tagging.

Well, I've got some help in that regard ;) ... and thank you.

@Tadlow: I'm glad they got a kickstarter for a Golden Age project going, was long overdue. Will back the hell up!
In Kickstarter news I hope Huelsbeck finishes the new Turrican album before christmas, last time was pretty much a spotlight for the Xylophone so I wonder which instrument Wanamo and Valtonen will highlight this time...


Oh my :D



You want to know who scores this?! if you ask me its in good hands:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbIdU2YR44k

What?? I completely forgot that the Godzilla anime is going to be a trilogy. That's really good news.

Speaking of Godzilla, I hope Douglas Pipes gets to score the 2019 live-action film. He was the composer of the director's previous films, so I'd say there's a good chance.

One of the orchestra themes from Xenoblade Chronicles 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM8b4PpE354

Damn it I fucking hate Nintendo. Did anyone snag this music? I want to listen but it is blocked.

Also is it known yet whether there will be a soundtrack release for this game other than a sound selection?I want the full 120 piece soundtrack and I will buy it in a heartbeat

Damn it I fucking hate Nintendo. Did anyone snag this music? I want to listen but it is blocked.

Also is it known yet whether there will be a soundtrack release for this game other than a sound selection?I want the full 120 piece soundtrack and I will buy it in a heartbeat
http://picosong.com/wnzEL/

And another one that surfaced: http://picosong.com/wnzEH/

http://picosong.com/wnzEL/

And another one that surfaced: http://picosong.com/wnzEH/

Hey, thanks. That is really nice of you

OK, I've got it bad. I have become obsessed with the music of Yoko Kanno. Has there ever been a more beautiful orchestral piece than "First Love Final Love"? Seriously? GENESIS OF AQUARION is a masterpiece from start to finish. Anyway, that's my two cents. Carry on.

Kanno is Silver Age incarnate. It's no surprise she has so many fans.

OK found Xenoblade music that will likely go down fast https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-1NhHMy6NNtMLj1RDde3cXRzvwyPX-aP

Yoshie Arakawa & Yoshinori Kawamoto
Starfox Assault: The Symphonic Ride
Tokyo New City Orchestra

(https://mega.nz/#!lmpWSI6Y!fEOQhRWAOHuI4cRRvszHlVjguapsBRTVbx9veSogAY8)

Based on compositions by Koji Kondo and Hajime Wakai
Arranged by myself
Special version with End Title (https://mega.nz/#!d7wxhKyZ!DvrAsWQ_ZhISgpoXnma8kQhYBRnEZwfE7Xuu8MvqDOU)



The Orchestral Game Score (with SFX)

(https://mega.nz/#!Y7hRlCbQ!Sh744zsXuIPLMDqRcvBpWl-k6-zMH4vJjPe6Sc_Vtr4)

A couple of stingers missing but this is everything major from gameplay and cutscenes where voice and sfx didn't make it unlistenable, properly put together.


Namco is a goddamn marvel. They seem to have some of the greatest orchestral arrangers and composer on their team but they only get a chance to record with an orchestra every 10 years or so or in many cases just ONCE and yet they completely knock it out of the park (Tajima anyone?).

Starfox Assault in many ways is the one Nintendo game most deserving of an official release, next to Skyward Sword... and I know for a fact Nintendo posseses the master tapes in pristine quality because they release a couple of orchestral tracks on their anniversary cds but don't bother with the rest...

Anyway, after a certain podcast I took it upon myself to arrange (the looped version) into a symphonic concert arrangement. Overall (excluding the three to five minutes of unreleased material from the game) the musical compositions (not mere arrranging here) are marvelous, and everything great about Japanese classical style. Its a million different styles and influences forming a wonderful symphonic ride with great bravado and an onslaught of percussion (the excellent kind). For me its up there with AFRIKA, Nobunaga and Ni no Kuni as one of the best game scores ever written.

The unreleased tracks can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_hdAv8rbQ&t=1m17s (and this game is pretty much Thunderbirds in space).

In many ways I feel Starfox Zero was a massive step downwards after Assault, same with Breath of the Wild in terms of musical orchestral score. Here's hoping their next big franchise titels for Starfox and Zelda move closer to the previous approach, perhaps we should hope that Nintendo collaborates with Namco again.

Man.. what can I say about this specific game score? It's so dear to my heart, and I keep so many good memories about listening to it so much in my late teens. It is the score that actually brought me to the Star Fox franchise. Personally I always thought Star Fox Assault, while flawed in some aspects, is the best Star Fox game ever... in terms, that it picks up so much on what the original intention of Star Fox was suposed to be. A space-opera. Star Fox Assault features a pretty decent plot. It's not a masterpiece, it's not the best of brilliancy, but there's characters, there's attachment and a story going on with the gameplay action that seriously is.. just fantastic, and to top it off, and endorse you and get you deeper into the game, there's the FANTASTIC superb, space-opera worthy score. It's simply fantastic! Every orchestral piece of it. The arrangements of old themes are phenomenal, but the new compositions shine even further. I can STILL close my eyes listening to the first level theme and imagine myself in a massive space skirmish. Listening to it right now as I write gives me enormous goosebumps. I love the artistic design of the game, the characters, the environment, the levels.. it.. seriously was so much like a good space opera, inspired. In every aspect. Meanwhile other Star Fox games felt incredibly bland to me. Let's not even talk about the incredible Aparoids which REALLY seemed like a menace to me.

What a good Star Fox game needs, is simply, a good, well written space-opera script with engaging characters, impressive LIVE orchestrated music to go with it, and a very nice art design. And Star Fox Assault had all of this. Yet, due to his flaws, and for not being a copy of Star Fox 64, it's kinda sadly forgotten today.. so I don't count on Nintendo taking notes from it. But let's hope, Nintendo has renovated Zelda and Mario fantastically this year, I can only hope they do the same with Star Fox and finally bring us the game we deserve.

I agree wholeheartedly in your opinion of the score itself, even the comparisons. I've been dreaming for years for a complete official CD release that I'd pre-order day 1.. but sadly it isn't happening.. and I don't count on it, ever, with Nintendo being Nintendo, but god how I'd love to have the score in amazing master quality.. complete.. all of the orchestral goodness.

Well, I enjoyed the game a great deal and I wholeheartly agree, StarFox needs to be Space Opera. Infact even nowadays via emulation it still looks pretty damn good and you can't beat the symphonic orchestral score, making it a special experience. Assault also has probably one of my favorite game ending moments ever, thanks to a rousing orchestral finish: Certainly among my favorite "cutscene" endings ever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_hdAv8rbQ&t=47m44s) (spoilers I guess)

In fact, I made a version where I included it at the end, because even voice-over and sfx can't detract from its quality: Symphonic Ride with extra cheese ;) (https://mega.nz/#!d7wxhKyZ!DvrAsWQ_ZhISgpoXnma8kQhYBRnEZwfE7Xuu8MvqDOU)

GOD DAMN IT ALL MY LIFE SAVINGS OVER A GOD DAMN COMPLETE COMMERCIAL RELEASE.

So Sakimoto is returning for Valkyria Chronicles 4... now the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra please...

Hirano releasing another contemporary album in February. This time he has written music for saxophone quartet: https://twitter.com/shiozuka1030/status/930078172283990017

Even though he's inactive in the scoring scene, I'm glad that he is still releasing new CDs.

Well, I do intend to come back on a semi-regular basis, but I wanted to post now about something that is sufficiently important that I would've posted it anyway.

FFshrine is infected with a piece of malware that is mining for crypto-currency - using your CPU time - whenever you're on the site. Whether it's a hack, or whether FFshrine management is "testing" this thing as a way to make money off site visitors is unclear... but EXTREME cautiousness is advised.

The problem is being discussed in this thread: Thread 220616

Good evening, folks!

I haven't noticed anything but thanks for the warning. From reading that thread it sounds like it's something to do with ads? Probably a case of a rogue ad being used to hijack browsers. I guess FFShrine decided to take ad money from some shady sources and this is what they get in return.

In any case, this is a good reminder of why you should have an ad blocker of some sort.

It does seem to be ad-related (I get some utterly bananas redirects happening when I view the Shrine on Android) but the badware itself is a piece of Javascript. If you're on the site, and Javascript is on, the code is running.

As the Shrine constantly complains about needing money to pay for enormous servers for GH which hasn't worked for years, this makes me even more suspicious than I was before...

It does seem to be ad-related (I get some utterly bananas redirects happening when I view the Shrine on Android) but the badware itself is a piece of Javascript. If you're on the site, and Javascript is on, the code is running.

As the Shrine constantly complains about needing money to pay for enormous servers for GH which hasn't worked for years, this makes me even more suspicious than I was before...
I guess my hosts file is blocking it because I have javascript on and I am able to browse the site with my ad blocker turned off.



I hope Huelsbeck finishes the new Turrican album before christmas, last time was pretty much a spotlight for the Xylophone so I wonder which instrument Wanamo and Valtonen will highlight this time...
Souhei Kano updated his website today and look what I see: "Turrican Orchestral Selections Opening (2017, Chris Huelsbeck) - Orchestration"

So I guess it's not just Wanamo and Valtonen this time? ;)

WHAT... how the hell did that happen :D

I have no idea. Yuzo Koshiro also arranged one piece.

Here is the first released track, arranged by Andreas Hedlund: http://picosong.com/wni8U/

It does seem to be ad-related (I get some utterly bananas redirects happening when I view the Shrine on Android) but the badware itself is a piece of Javascript. If you're on the site, and Javascript is on, the code is running.

As the Shrine constantly complains about needing money to pay for enormous servers for GH which hasn't worked for years, this makes me even more suspicious than I was before...

I think it seems to vary, because my cpu usage is only at 12% when I am using the site.

AND WHAT DID I TELL YOU GUYS. TANGO WOULD BE BACK TO POSTING IN A WEEK. TOLD YA. I SHOULD GO TO VEGAS.

I think it seems to vary, because my cpu usage is only at 12% when I am using the site.

AND WHAT DID I TELL YOU GUYS. TANGO WOULD BE BACK TO POSTING IN A WEEK. TOLD YA. I SHOULD GO TO VEGAS.

Bet on the lottery next time. :P

What's your bet for next time?

To be fair, I was going to leave it until Christmas so you'd be wrong... ;)

But this coin mining shit is a step too far, even for the Shrine. It's got to stop.

Samples to Naotora are out: https://www.amazon.co.jp/NHK大河ドラマ「おんな城主-直虎」-音楽虎の巻-サントラ-菅野よう子/dp/B077D4SY8S/

The album is out too in Japan I think.

Bet on the lottery next time. :P

What's your bet for next time?

The Winds of Winter will blow by 2019.

(Please George pleaaaaaaaaaase. The Song of Ice and Fire fandom can't survive any time traveling fetus theory!)

To be fair, I was going to leave it until Christmas so you'd be wrong... ;)

But this coin mining shit is a step too far, even for the Shrine. It's got to stop.
I DM'd Sarah on Twitter. Will let you know if I hear anything back. She replied last time I messaged her, but that was over a year ago.

edit - it worked: Thread 220616

Samples to Naotora are out: https://www.amazon.co.jp/NHK大河ドラマ「おんな城主-直虎」-音楽虎の巻-サントラ-菅野よう子/dp/B077D4SY8S/

The album is out too in Japan I think.Holy crap, how many volumes of music does this show have?

Hello again, fellow members and friends of this thread. Been going through a couple of harsh bumps through life lately, which has led to drain much of my energy to make any sort of commentary or post on these last couple of months. Nevertheless, thought that the least I can do for now is to share what many of you were anticipating for today (it cheered me up a little at least), so without further ado:


Lady Lord Naotora Original Soundtrack Vol.3
Yoko Kanno, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Lang Lang, Midori, Ko Shibasaki, Miu Arai


(https://mega.nz/#!scwwBIhC!1ptT2B-iXOYsTHjlS7ISyW2AmTpQA2VGWSn8zR0ve8g)
(MP3)

By far, the second of the four bundles of soundtrack from this series that I really enjoyed as a whole, after the first one of course, which I doubt it will ever be topped. There's less classical inspiration here and more to the traditional Japanese "Nobunaga's Ambition" route (Heavy on brass sections and Japanese percussion):

We can hear a bit of Vangelis in "Our Way" with that intentional synth brass, lots of varations and reprises from the main tone poem of Naotora that are scattered through out the track list, there's hopeful noble trumpet lead as you can expect from a title such as "Chivarly" and "Tremendous Hope", a calm harp and string section from "Lady Rose", and finally you have large build-up pieces like "The New Act" and "For Whom for you" in which I can only predict Vinphonic will have a blast editing for a future suite, that only gets longer and longer with each volume release ;)

And yes, there's still a bunch of music that has yet to be released. That would be it for now, enjoy and take care everyone.

I'm glad your ok pensquawk. I can only imagine but I hope you can manage to overcome it. Coincidentally something arrived in the mail today I just have to post and I hope it will cheer someone up as well.
And as far as suites go... something big might drop before the new year if I manage to finish it in time, but don't count on it.

But first, a treat from me as well.



Michiru Oshima
Haikara-san ga Toru "Here comes Miss Modern" [Part 1]
Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Grigor Palikarov



DOWNLOAD (https://mega.nz/#!UmJUnZgY!2doMh7UcgX4BASRJDnll01uPmNdF-wyFtYxNUFG-wbU)

Here it is, in FLAC, ripped from my cd.
Well, what can I say, I welcome the rise of Japanese scores scored to picture. Just like Godzilla, Haikara-san is a film series, the second part being a war drama, as briefly hinted at in this score near the end. But the bulk of the first score is romantic and delightful. Oshima really shows her mature side for this 70s remake. This is marvelous stuff from start to finish, a full-fleshed romantic film score with a love theme to lift your heart and a few militaristic intermezzi. I anticipate the second part.



Sample 1 (http://picosong.com/wnMri/) / Sample 2 (http://picosong.com/wnM7F) / Sample 3 (http://picosong.com/wnMGE/) / Sample 4 (http://picosong.com/wnMpw/)

Oh my, at 75,000 signatures already too.

https://www.change.org/p/warner-bros-zack-snyder-s-director-s-and-tom-holkenborg-s-score-for-home-release-e90fef07-11c6-4a9a-9ae8-375c7717dafa?recruiter=91715253&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

The vitriol against Elfman in that description is entertainingly misguided.

Unsurprisingly, these are the same group of people who sent death threats to critics and demanded Rotten Tomatoes be shut down.

Elfman on JL: "The whole concept that every time a superhero franchise is rebooted with a new director, then you have to start the music from scratch, is a bullshit idea. It’s only for the ego of the director or the composer. They need to learn the incredible lesson that Star Wars and James Bond have known for ages, which is that keeping these musical connections alive is incredibly satisfying for the people who see those films. There’s like four different Spider-Man themes at this point, and as a result, he doesn’t have a recognizable sound. I told the guys at DC, 'You have a great musical heritage that you should be proud of, and you should keep it alive.' And they agreed with me, which is refreshing."


@Vinphonic: Thank you for the new Oshima. It's lovely. Very similar to her Snow White score. :)

Naotora 3: Listenting to it right now :D

Assuming there's just a couple of pieces missing, if Williams doesn't magically concour the best Star Wars score since Empire out of his pocket, this is my score of the year and easily one of the greatest media scores ever written.
Actually I need to listen to everything from back to back sometime soon. I will perhaps properly sing praises later this year, but first I await streich's take on it :D

I don't believe that after Naotora Kanno will suddenly vanish into obscurity again for the next 10 years. This music has a tremendous impact in Japan as far as I can tell. It's simply too great to not shower Kanno with praise and work. I could not accept that.




EDIT: First piece of music for VC4 by Sakimoto: http://picosong.com/wnWyj/

It's the composer I want, it's the music I want, the only thing missing is the sound I want. The game already comes out in march so there's not much time left for a recording (then again they could already have recorded a couple of pieces like for the first game but that would be pretty disappointing). As this game is basically "it will be just like the first game, only "up the ante" with finally getting to the full-scale war theater (only hinted at in the other games), I hope they don't insist on Sakimoto's synth sound (granted here it does sound much better than a decade ago but this is the 10th Anniversary of the franchise so I hope they will record with at least the same budget as they could affort for a freaking spin-off which got the TSO). Also how about a concert as a bonus, this franchise got some good music... and everybody does it these days ;)

On a sidenote this project has to be every composer's wet dream... fantasy WW2 with quasi-northern mythology mixed with romance and tragedy... I desperately want for Sakimoto to finally soar again and this is the best possibility in ages for that to happen. At least they make his return a big selling point.. "a sweeping orchestral soundtrack for the game" ... please let it be a symphony orchestra.


EDIT: And two standouts from Naoki Sato's Taiga Fantasy: Ethereal Love (http://picosong.com/wnWuW/) / Homecoming (http://picosong.com/wnWJD)

Elfman on JL: "The whole concept that every time a superhero franchise is rebooted with a new director, then you have to start the music from scratch, is a bullshit idea. It’s only for the ego of the director or the composer. They need to learn the incredible lesson that Star Wars and James Bond have known for ages, which is that keeping these musical connections alive is incredibly satisfying for the people who see those films. There’s like four different Spider-Man themes at this point, and as a result, he doesn’t have a recognizable sound. I told the guys at DC, 'You have a great musical heritage that you should be proud of, and you should keep it alive.' And they agreed with me, which is refreshing."A bit hypocritical considering he ignored the Adam West Batman theme in Burton's movie and on dozens of other franchises (Planet of the Apes and Spiderman come to mind). Doesn't help that the Batman theme he reuses for Justice League was his own, and regardless of how much better it is, him using it to replace Junkie's "theme" is still very much stroking his own ego.

I don't like Junkie's music, but I do respect his philosophy as a composer:


"It’s a massive undertaking. And I can’t say anything about Justice League specifically, but I’ll tell you this, and this was exactly the same experience that Hans and I had when we did work together on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: It’s like when you see a movie like that, these iconic superhero movies, some of them have a 60 to 80 year legacy, multiple composers had a go at their themes, multiple filmmakers did their version of these characters—it’s very scary. You watch a movie and it’s like, “Holy shit, now I have to come up with something.” You’ve got sweaty hands and you’re nervous, and you talk about it over and over again—and I have exactly that relationship with Zack Snyder—and then Zack said, ”There’s only one thing you can do, and that is embrace this character as if it’s your own, keep it close to your musical soul, and just do whatever you feel is the right thing to do for this character.” That’s the only thing we can do. That’s what all these great directors did back in the day, and that’s what all these great composers did back in the day. It makes no sense for me to do extensive quoting of Hans’ score of the really amazing Batmans. It makes no sense for me to quote Superman from John Williams. Because all fantastic composers, they all did the same thing, they did something that was close to their heart, and I have to do exactly the same thing on this movie. You know this is Movie Number 4 that I’m doing with Zack, so you build a friendship and it’s built on trust and loyalty. You know how to challenge each other, you know what to expect on the other side, and it’s this really open, amazing dialogue about where to take this franchise."

NAOTORA is score of the year for me. Thanks for sharing :)

The more I hear of the score of LOST ARK the more impressed I am. It sounds like a cross between HARRY POTTER and James Newton Howard's PETER PAN. Someone uploaded a bunch of cues here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ9R87XYzPg&t=1856s

Jump to 23:53 for several gorgeous orchestral cues. I read somewhere that the composer is Yong Kim but I have found precious little information online. It is too bad that there isn't an official release.

Hans Zimmer fans should check this out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_00MsYmtzKI

---------- Post added at 10:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 AM ----------

This year's Fans of Film Music event can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHtCvvEioZg. Panelists include Alex Heffes, Steve Jablonsky and Lolita Ritmanis.

@cornblitz1: As far as I know a soundtrack release could happen in the future. But Reign of Revolution never got an official release so all bets are off. A complete gamerip is probably the best chance we have right now. As always, the brass chorale is my favorite part...

Coincidentally, the whole Symphonic Gamers got me fired up to finish yet another major collection I was intending to share next year but its now almost finished and will be up soon.

Take to the skies (SEGA also has their fair share of talents) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWEiukINyLY)

One of my holy grails is the Tiara Concerto soundtrack, which was a very limited release. It is described here: https://vgmdb.net/album/44236

The two videos of the recording sessions are online:
https://vimeo.com/62984917
https://vimeo.com/61398832

Thank you for NAOTORA. All I can say is "Wow!" Yoko Kanno, will you marry me?

Arturo Rodriguez is back with one of the best scores of the year.its on spotify.dramatic yet not entirely serious thiller score with great action, suspense and wonderfull themes.100% classic, mostly williams with hermann and horner touches.cuando las cocas suceden.also check out richard harveys spotify page.over a dozen albums featuring his orchestral and choral production music have popped up.

That score is from 2007, but it's still a really good piece of music. :D

2018 can't come soon enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDT5UZvQmoY :D

Needless to say his Mazinger is looking absolutely bonkers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsJ05HLe7_8

Also Hirano will score another series and a movie for DriveHead in 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=2oXQSonvFEI
Some good stuff might come out of it.

Oh and before I forget... Yamashita is on fire this year. His recent Tokusatsu, little more than a tease for his next big orchestral spectacle in Kyuranger - Part Two, released in a few days: http://picosong.com/wFFgL/

I live in the U.S. and want to buy the Naotora soundtracks on cd. Can anyone recommend a good website? Thanks!

I live in the U.S. and want to buy the Naotora soundtracks on cd. Can anyone recommend a good website? Thanks!

Amazon.co.jp if you're willing to pay the expensive shipping, but worth it due to good shipping in less than a week

My go-to site (the go-to-site if you ask me) has been and still is cdJapan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SICX-30038?s_ssid=e31d225a19aa30a50b

You can chose plenty of delivery options and they usually put a lot of care in delivering it in good condition. If you have an account I find the points you get for buying stuff reasonable. Usually I chose air mail (perhaps because I'm a long term costumer but I recieve it all usually in a week, registered or not). Customs are totally random from my experience, in 95% of cases it arrives in the mail without problems.

i want Yoko kanno - naotora ost 2, 3, 4
so.. somebodt help me!! any have this music?(Flac)
http://vgmdb.net/album/72566
http://vgmdb.net/album/70848
http://vgmdb.net/album/66089

That score is from 2007, but it's still a really good piece of music. :D
i asumed it was new because it wasn�t there before.

thank you Lady Lord Naotora Original Soundtrack Vol.3

umm
do you have Lady Lord Naotora Original Soundtrack Vol.3 Flac?

i want this...

Symphonic Music in Japanese Video Games

Part I


The Video Game Legacy of Koichi Sugiyama
Dragon Quest
1986 � 2017




Dragon Quest is the grandfather of symphonic orchestral video game music and still around after over 30 years. The man, the legend, Koichi Sugiyama (strictly the composer persona here) pioneered the symphonic video game music in Japanese games and its primarily thanks to his legacy, contributions and effort that I can even share the following collection.

If you�ve ever seen one of their video game music concerts live, the Japanese treat Sugiyama�s Dragon Quest March as their second National Anthem.

And Sugiyama wrote hours upon hours of excellent symphonic music he arranged for a full symphony orchestra and it was (is) performed by the London Philharmonic, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

I should also point out he started the whole Japanese Silvestri tradition with Dragon Quest III.

To this day his music is celebrated in the concert hall, often visited and conducted by the Grandmaster himself.




LINK IN DESCRIPTION (https://mega.nz/#!844FGCrB!K31Q48UvqX1j6gQ7tPDV0lj45ckYlrbPxIEc8fqLBg4)

In this collection I included the London recordings for Dragon Quest I-VII and after that the Tokyo Metropolitan recordings. I�ve also included my own album for Ideon since as great as Dragon Quest is, the score to anime Be Invoked and the symphonic suite are his Magnum Opus in my opinion. I believe it simply has to be heard at least once in your life.



Poor old Koichi Sugiyama; 82 years of age, a career spreading over six decades, a skill for orchestration and melody that most composers can only dream of� and nobody ever talks about him except to wax lyrical about Dragon Quest and occasionally attack him for his politics. Dragon Quest is great � there�s no doubt about that� and I�m of course very grateful that this franchise is keeping a veteran composer busy� but it�s not all he�s done, and it�s certainly not the only work in his oeuvre worthy of discussion.

Space Runaway Ideon � a mecha story with a difference, made in 1980� years before Dragon Quest even existed. His score for the TV series was great fun but a rather typical 70s affair � a mix of saccharine light pop and a tiny, badly recorded orchestra grinding through dated disco numbers. We have already heard the full classical symphony he wrote based on his original melodies, as performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, but that�s not the whole story as far as Ideon goes�

Ideon yielded some truly atrocious ratings (as did the first Mobile Suit Gundam series, ironically) and like its more famous cousin, was cancelled near to the end of its run, leaving the producers with a massively complicated and involved story which had to be completely resolved in just a few minutes of airtime. They did what they could � and the series did have an ending of sorts � but fans complained, and Tomino wasn�t satisfied with the way it turned out� so it was decided to revisit the story in the form of two films, to be released back-to-back theatrically, which would resolve the story properly. The first film was essentially a clip show condensed version of the TV series. The second film picked up where the TV series finished and concludes with arguably the greatest ending in cinematic history.

Sugiyama provided brand new symphonic (and occasionally, choral � a rarity at the time) scores for the movies; and it�s these that I�m presenting here. Like every Japanese score, alongside the orchestral score we also have disco reminiscent of the TV series, re-used tracks, sloppy filler tracks, and fragmentary stingers. I will upload all of this stuff separately but this release is about the symphonic score, so accordingly these pieces are missing. I have taken the liberty of extracting the symphonic tracks from both films (originally released separately) and running them together in a continuous album format � taken together, we have fifty minutes of cohesive, motif-driven music which plays at times like an Ideon Symphony No 2.

In these scores you will find heroism, grandeur, romance, action, suspense, mysticism, and even religious fervour.

The second film ends with two cues � �Flying� and �Cantata Orbis� - which, together, might constitute the most inspired work of Sugiyama�s career � the final scenes of that film demand a score to end all scores, and the composer absolutely rose to the challenge. Almost ten minutes of music (most of which plays in the film with little or no dialogue) that will have you in floods of tears and laughing with joy all at the same time. Some may call this music melodramatic� Some may call it emotionally manipulative. Let them be damned; it�s living, breathing music that doesn�t hide in the background� music that isn�t scared of coming to the fore. It�s music that aims right for your heart and tells you it�s OK to cry.

Ladies and gentlemen, Koichi Sugiyama at his very best� Space Runaway Ideon

It's also beyond amazing that Sugiyama still works on Dragon Quest, his Symphonic Suite for XI releases early next year.



Now on to the main part, a world Sugiyama made possible and if nothing else, have a taste of his legacy :


Part II

The Legacy of Japan
Symphonic Games
1991 - 2017



Examples of �Japanese Classical� music in Games:
One of the greatest Game intros ever scored (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K7x7JVm-zE)
Likewise, also one of the most charming games ever made (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJPhasMsayI)
Grandfather of Symphonic Games (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB0RK9sE_nU)
Symphonic Dance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKpfmE4xWHI)
Symphonic Fantasy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOs00ahSO4c)
The next big symphonic game release (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkgWQOD0NNA)
If only she scored the whole game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rckGP4Ndzt0)
No symphonic game collection should miss it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51_3ZoBccVs)
The Olympic Spirit (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eul_woIm6t8)
One of the greatest marches in game history (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzKqzvPP_Us)
Nintendo/Namco/Sega/Koei all have their share of amazing symphonic music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIpZ1aFQuBo)
Orchestral music in Games, strong since the early 90s (six years before Medal of Honor) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGNajMie_UM)
Building on a melodic legacy decades old are Japanese game scores strongest appeal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSZBcPRQpO8)
More classic Hollywood than Hollywood itself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_H_OfJzYA&list=PL6F5F1F4F5DABB086)



Japan is truly the inheritor of the European and American classical/film sound. There exists an entire library worth of fantastic symphonic video game music (some of it I/we have yet to hear), composed over the last 30 years. If I didn�t already share a huge part of it in my Legacy composer collection, the size would be too massive to share, from Sahashi's Blue Stinger, to Hattori's IQ to Oshima's Aerial Legends. If I would also count the symphonic music not performed by a live-ensemble thanks to either technological limitations or budget concerns, from 8-bit chip sound to modern Sakimoto synth, the size of this collection would be astronomical.

Nonetheless, here you have a pretty huge chunk of excellent symphonic music written for Japanese games performed by a Symphony Orchestra or at least full orchestra. Believe me I'm still digging and finding stuff, even after all these years. Actually lets really think on this: I discovered Deadstorm Pirates by pure accident on Japanese iTunes and bam, masterfully composed symphonic music, completely obscure and perhaps ONLY heard by this small community here. Even Tajima's opus for Katamari is rather obscure, hidden on a soundtrack for an obscure game and the cutscenes they are used for are the weirdest thing I've ever seen from Japan. For how amazing the music in Katamari is, only a handful people on the planet (most in this thread) even KNOW about Tajima's classical opus. This needs to be played in the Royal Albert Hall and not the recent awful amateur works from Hollywood.

Another point is that I am of the opinion that Japanese orchestral video game music can not simply be put into one category like "classical" either, but if I had to chose, I would say it definitely is more classical inspired than film music, and Sugiyama played a huge part in shaping the Japanese orchestral game sound. Although Back to the Future pops up quite a lot I have to say, especially in Tajima's Katamari (Silvestri is studied at a Japanese conservatory the same way as Mahler afterall)




LINK IN DESCRIPTION (https://mega.nz/#!VghlTR6C!MDxKRXdctnAG1XmuTm4ZUnksvDMCyeRmOb_51rsesp0)

To go a little through this collection to highlight the marvels, the Final Fantasy collection is a potpourri from Dissidia 012, Distant Worlds and Hamaguchi�s arrangements. Afterall, after Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy has to be the biggest and greatest thing from their video game scene. Hours of classical bravado and beauty, composed by another legendary video game composer, Nobuo Uematsu who is still an active composer and equally celebrated as Sugiyama in the concert hall, but who also made it internationnaly, having tribute concerts performed all around Europe with excellent arrangers giving his music the spotlight it deserves.

Next we move to perhaps the greatest marvel of the Japanese video game scene, Katsuro Tajima�s Warsaw recording for various Namco games. I am of the opinion all the music you hear here was done in a single flight to Warsaw and the later chopped for the various games (Katamari, Deadstorm Pirates, Ace Combat 5). I also arranged the Deadstorm pieces to a cantata that again, flows together so naturally you can almost not believe it. In any case this is some of the best music ever written for any media. Its larger than life, imposing, a Dies-Irae and a heroic Hollywood epic. You can definitely hear some Silvestri, Williams and Herrmann influences among the classical brigade. One of Japan�s many wonders.

Granblue Fantasy Orchestra is continuing the tradition of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, by a newcomer under the guidance of Uematsu. This recording was used for various Granblue media such as the game and anime so it is safe to say this was done with the intent to use it as media music. The music itself does not reach the heights of either FF or DQ but is nonetheless a great listen, a 90 minute symphonic adventure.

AFRIKA marks yet another marvel, a Japanese composer goes to Hollywood to record a Hollywood symphonic film score suite that is ironically not possible anymore in the place they recorded it. The score is more a tribute to classic Hollywood than serving the game but no complains from my side.

The next three albums are some examples that symphonic video game music was nothing uncommon for Japanese games in the 90s, first we start with Yuzo Koshiro�s Symphonic Suite for Actraiser that is filled to the brim with film music references, even the 20th Century Fox fanfare appears. You can say it�s a tradition at this point.

Next up we have another game series next to Nobunga that sometimes has truly marvelous symphonic music, recently with contributions by Yoko Kanno. Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV is the best of them all, Jun Nagao provides a symphonic arrangement from the 16-bit game music to a fantastic, introspective and absolutely transcendent Journey into another realm of spirit.

Koshiro Nishida�s A5 is a score out of time and that this classical score was recorded for a Train Simulator beggars belief. A wonderful short and sweet symphonic delight.


Next moving to some examples of marvelous symphonic music from the 2000s (I already shared Nobunaga in Yamashita�s collection):

Flower Funeral Symphony is Akiko Shikata�s Magnum Opus and it is amazing how much it still sounds like her vocal work despite it being her first time working with a worldclass orchestra. The symphonic dance at the beginning is one of my favorite symphonic dances EVER. I feel many Japanese vocal artists would have no problem working with an orchestra (some of them do btw).

Falcom � Legend of heroes is a symphonic album I made from Gradius, the Warsaw tracks of The Apocalypse IV, Falcom Neo Classic, the Main Title of Argos no Senshi and Go Shiina's Overture. It�s a symphonic legend for sure with many arrangements by our favorites (Amano, Oshima, Hattori etc.)

StarFox Assault needs no introduction. An excellent symphonic SciFi ride by two insanely talented Namco composers, militaristic bravado with an onslaught of percussion, with influences from Cinema (Williams) and the concert hall (Prokofiev). This includeds the game score (with some sfx) an my symphonic ride arrangement.

Kessen I+II are two excellent symphonic war scores by the great Reijiro Koroku. Very much in the same vain as Yamashita�s Nobunaga scores.



LINK IN DESCRIPTION (https://mega.nz/#!1mJWCYob!CP5tJlc_zE25R4_qPHJqUqQOzMvHjas-yeJD2TUsyK8)

Skyward Sword is my favorite orchestral score Nintendo has ever done (Assault was Namco). To me this is what Zelda should sound like, a classic symphonic adventure into Dungeons, a flight through the sky and a battle with evil knights. It certainly is their most ambitious with great romantic moments, classical marches and a truly fantastic suite at the end showcasing some really stellar melodies from this game that serve as a strong foundation for the game�s musical score. This also includes the other orchestral tracks for Twilight Princess and one from Ocarina of Time remaster as complement.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympics series is yet another marvel. For every new entry they record a few minutes of true classical Hollywood bravado. Together these form an album full of uplifting bombast, certainly true to the Olympic spirit.

Wizardy and Arc The Lad are classic 80s Fantasy film score suites.

God Eater: RAGE BURST is Go Shiina� best work for me, arranged by Sachiko Miyano. The recording may be of low quality but the music certainly is not. Its equally Hollywood bombast as it is classically inspired with Aria of Light being the standout. Some weird sound effects here and there but nothing major. It also has much thematic material, giving it a films core character.

Mario Galaxy 1+2 are delightful orchestral scores, full of charm and quirkiness. And the Staff Roll is of course the highlight. Very filmic in certain parts.

The Last Guardian is pretty much a new Thomas Newman score, recorded with the LSO that somehow ended up for a Japanese game. Very rhythmic work, but not without purpose, its all deliberate and the score has some moments of wonder and awe, especially during the Finale.

Uncharted Waters Online shows that Koei Tecmo composers can deliver as well as Namco. Kazunori Miyake takes us around the world with much Imperial Splendour and various different musical cultures, before finishing with a finale of militaristic bravado. Again a blend of film and concert music.

LOST ODYSSEY includes all the orchestral pieces from the game and Uematsu wrote a pretty good score here, the highlight for me being the symphonic credits: �Light of Blessing ~ A Letter�. A beautiful piece for Organ, orchestra and choir.

Soul Calibur and Ace Combat have their shares of good music for sure. For SC Junichi Nakatsuru�s contributions are definitely the standout, especially his PATH OF DESTINY (of course Williams inspired, same as many orchestral pieces of SCIV thanks to the Star Wars tie-in). With Ace Combat Natsumi Kameoka and Wataru Hokoyama certainly elevated Go Shiina�s music. I especially like Westerly and from the old games Unsung War and ZERO, a Final Battle Flamenco, are favorites.

Tiara Concerto, MapleStory, ZERA and Blade & Soul [The Great Journey] show that collaborations with other Asian countries can produce equally marvelous music (Yamashita�s Reign of Revolution and Call of Chaos come to mind). From those three examples, Tiara Concerto is my favorite, its full of confidence and optimism, certainly more classical than film inspired and a joy to listen to. ZERA is equally great with much big Hollywood moments and Blade & Soul [The Great Journey] shows a very intruiging Korean classical style I�m interested in hearing more of. MapleStory is now throwaway either.

Finally before moving to the last part of this collection a delightful breather with Hamauzu�s Coi Vanni Gialli and Yoko Shimomura�s symphonic collection. It certainly is needed after the heavy orchestral onslaught by Hokoyama for Biohazard 5 and SoulSacrifice.



LINK IN DESCRIPTION (https://mega.nz/#!p7B3ja6R!7ZxOfXZhRe7GR6rPufRQFTD6_h8DbEOC4lk2e5hC214)

The last part are various examples of symphonic pieces appearing in various forms on Japanese soundtracks and gamerips. I�ve included various arrangements from my side, such as the orchestral parts of Smash Brothers DX (the opening is a favorite) and Smash Brothers X, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Crystal Bearers, Tales of Legendia and more. Lets just say the practice of recording a few/the most important pieces with a live-ensemble is still going strong. Especially the collaboration with overseas orchestras grows ever stronger with Prague, Warsaw and London appearing in Japanese game scores.

Keep in mind this is by far not everything out there and I'm excluding all the countless symphonic tribute and concept albums popping up in recent times. With Valkyria Revolution, Aerial Legends, DEEMO, Taishi, Ni no Kuni II and hopefully Xenoblade 2 and Valkyria 4, Japanese games will continue tp uphold the symphonic tradition pioneered by Sugiyama. Here's to a bright future.

Enjoy

Love these "Legacy" collections of yours, Vinphonic. They are always a blast to listen. Many thanks for sharing them!

Are the tracks in this latest collection drastically different than the previous Music of Japanese Video Games collections you did a while back? I still listen to those regularly and all the other volumes of that set.

Oh that seems so long ago now :D

Yes, this is mostly new, Mario Odyssey (by newcomer Naoto Kubo) and Octopath Traveler (also by a newcomer who worked with Tanaka on Endride and Gravity Daze 2) for example are recent. Personally I would get it for Skies of Arcadia alone but thats my bias ;)

Main theme from Hirano's latest TV drama soundtrack: http://picosong.com/wFCNc/

Wow, that sounds almost nothing like Hirano. A far cry from Ouran.

I know, right? It's not terrible or anything. It sounds like something maybe Yugo Kanno would write. But it's disappointing because we know Hirano is capable of so much more.

The only way I see this current gig working out is if he gets lucky and lands a high profile show that isn't a generic comedy-drama (pray that a NHK producer notices him).

Oh, my God, that's utterly bloody hopeless. If you're listening to this and thinking "Well, it's not too bad..." just take a few moments to remind yourself how Hirano used to write just a decade ago:

http://picosong.com/wFPd5/

I know, right? It's not terrible or anything. It sounds like something maybe Yugo Kanno would write.Yugo would give us a much catchier melody than this. This sounds like it was written by Kousaki on autopilot. And it's not like being a generic comedy-drama or slice of life means bad music, even Kato did a better job:

https://soundcloud.com/mel-blblblblbl/tatsuya-kato-01-main-theme-of

I don't really know what happened here. Hirano was given a decently sized ensemble and did absolutely nothing with it. What happened?

(And Tango, what happened to that dramatic "I'm leaving FOREVER" thing?)

You knew as well as I did that it would last a couple of weeks, tops. ;)


What happened?

I could suggest a possibility, but perhaps not. ;)

tango is the miyazaki of posting

tango is the miyazaki of posting

He also nails the dramatic, overopinionated part of him, too.

Yoshihiro Kanno

exploring... (Thread 57893)

Youtube link
PEGASUS for Mandolin Orchestra (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgAC0FBBfO0) (1985)
Memories of the Sun Goddess "Himiko" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWTCUaHbLn0) (2014)

TOIN (1992) for Twenty string-koto 濤韻
Shin Hanshichi Torimono-Cho Soundtrack / Detective Hanshichi (1997,TV) 新・半七捕物帳 音楽集
A Voice, The Pulsar-Ensphere / Kokuu Seikyou (1996) for Computer Music with Shomyo(Buddhist Chant) 虚空星響

Nanae Yoshimura - Voices Phantasma, Flame (https://mega.nz/#!9FJAWCSR!Vy3oxRJ1EO1QHZQZFZMo0GvryViXO4rK85wVyqGSlfo)
Shin Hanshichi Torimono-Cho OST (https://mega.nz/#!EcBQhSrK!EY_6II-XZoN8wWgMbquaEoef76cdrsad_GAzrAgk83Y)
Kokuu Seikyou (https://mega.nz/#!NMQyHCab!g4ewfakR2CVGlBU-nyHpMrXb2z4oK8VMSs4H2Ck3DOU)


Shigeaki Saegusa - Asadora (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asadora) themes
Hanekonma (1986), Kita no kazoku (1973), Honjitsu mo seiten nari (1981)
FLAC(mono) (https://mega.nz/#!xZ5zRaRS!qKtNTVS3P6jMaelUl92EIojA0GO1EoRrFhbHj5C5Zew)


Masamicz Amano - Deux anneaux de l'embl�me de GOAT -Hommage � Cagliostro- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46jVIB9deIg)

Masamicz Amano 60th Anniversary Album (2017) LINK (Thread 176366)

...I though High School Business was really good.

Oh, my God, that's utterly bloody hopeless. If you're listening to this and thinking "Well, it's not too bad..." just take a few moments to remind yourself how Hirano used to write just a decade ago

Hirano always writes like that for TV drama, in fact I would say this is better than usual, at least he employs the sax: http://picosong.com/wF9uV/ (same year as Tanken Driland)

If you want his atonal orchestral chaos, pray he gets his hands on a semi-serious anime project (and curse whoever cancelled his new Broken Blade project).


And I must admit I expected your return around christmas/early next year at the earliest but Ponyo and Doublehex have far better intuition it seems ;)

So... I haven't posted any music in ages, but I just acquired a disc that I thought might be worthwhile sharing here so I figured I'd come out of retirement at least this once.


MICHEL LEGRAND
Les parapluies de Cherbourg, Un �t� 42, Le messager, Yentl
Catherine Michel, harp
Brussels Philharmonic (credited as "Grand orchestre symphonique")
Michel Legrand, conductor and harpsichord

(https://mega.nz/#!1yQUXKwY!eKaQU6tczfWeQswgcxOCCtuZDI_THBpcro4lrW5F_iY)

This album is a collection of suites arranged by Legrand from four of his film scores, including a thirty-minute suite from the enchanting and bittersweet Jacques Demy musical, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. All the suites prominently feature harp and are simply gorgeous to listen to if you enjoy lush strings. I've uploaded a sample below to give you an idea of what to expect.

Also, if you haven't seen the Demy film, I highly recommend it. It's basically what La La Land tried to be last year, but on a more universal and poignant level. Also with a truly great love theme, which La La Land severely lacked.

Sample (http://picosong.com/wF4J5/)

He also nails the dramatic, overopinionated part of him, too.

I'll take dramatic, but over-opinionated? C'mon, I've been back for five minutes. Can't you at least let me take off my coat and sit down before you resume good-old Ponyo patented directness? ;)


tango is the miyazaki of posting

Miyazaki; the best in the business. He's worn out, he's given so much, and he wants to retire - but he realises that nobody else is ready to take his place; if he doesn't do it, nobody will. He's got an (unfair) reputation as a crotchety old man and pretty pessimistic too, but everybody grudgingly accepts that even though he's a gloomy and completely lacking in optimism, 99% of the time he's right on the money. We appreciate that his honesty and (some may say) impossibly high standards create an environment where constant improvement, not stagnation, is seen as desirable. Every time he retires we all passionately hope that he'll undo it, make a triumphant return, and show everyone how it's done.

Yes, I will definitely take that. ;)

I'll take dramatic, but over-opinionated? C'mon, I've been back for five minutes. Can't you at least let me take off my coat and sit down before you resume good-old Ponyo patented directness? ;)

You haven't been back for five minutes, you never left. You just posted less, but you were always there. So much drama over nothing. Mostly because you were tired of people (politely) confronting your extreme pessimist. I'm sorry, give me shit if you like, tell me how awful I am, perhaps ignore me like The Zipper, but one has to say it, really.

I'm doing my best.

ONE of the reasons I came back is because I received a stack of PMs virtually begging me not to leave.

How about instead of attacking me, you simply say "Welcome back, hope you're well, friend."

It's only a matter of time now... http://picosong.com/wF5sJ/

:D

I'm doing my best. ONE of the reasons I came back is because I received a stack of PMs virtually begging me not to leave. How about instead of attacking me, you simply say "Welcome back, hope you're well, friend."

Welcome back, hope you're well, friend. Until the next time you decide to leave again for the 5049rd time. Just don't bother with the whole process next time, dude. That's what you wanted, no? Attention, people begging you to stay. You got it. And rightfully I say, welcome back. Can't wait to hear your long-ass rants again, and decide to leave when confronted with different views. :laugh:

That's all, have a good one.

OK, that sounded semi-affectionate so I'll leave you alone.

In all honesty, no, actually all I wanted was to leave - not in the midst of fireworks or a blazing argument, just a plain, simple "Goodbye folks, it's been fun."

I have never courted attention unlike some other people on this forum (I'm not talking about you or anybody else in this thread - people who measure value by reputation points and think their uploads are like care packages to starving Africans) and have always been happy just to appear, post stuff, say stuff, and potter around. I was genuinely not expecting or desiring anything at all; I fully admit it's good for the ego but I didn't go looking for it.

That said, people apparently like listening to be moan. Who'd have thunk it? I like this thread, and I like you people. So, yeah, that's the end of that. :D

Finally, for the record, I'm a big, big fan of different views - what I'm not a fan of is being told to curtail my negative views to make more space for people's positive views.

If I've ever been repetitive in this thread, it's only because "the other side" is repetitive too. If Vinphonic (a fellow with whom I passionately disagree but greatly respect and consider a genuine friend) gets to say "Everything's great and wonderful!" a hundred times a year, I get to say "Everything fucking sucks!" a hundred times a year, too. You can either listen to both, or listen to neither.


Taishi

Cautious optimism. I could do without the slamming percussion, but everybody's doing it now, even Hirano, and it's an Otsuka trademark. The composition feels a lot more mature than her previous Nobunaga scores. I don't expect it to overtake Yamashita's Nobubaga scores, nor match Kanno's, but I think it's going to be the best Ostuka score to date.


Hirano's drama sound

Yeah, true... Lobotomy Hirano was born for drama and without a doubt, 99.999% of his worst music is in that genre. It's nice that he's got an orchestra here and he still uses it pretty well. I probably wouldn't have responded to it this way had it not been for Drive Head - Hirano's biggest disappointment of all time, and it's in a mecha anime. OK, it's a naff kids show, but Silk Road Boy Yuto was a naff kids show. Driland was a naff kids show. The conclusion I must draw is a) Hirano's given up and is just doing it for the paycheque, or b) Hirano is being asked to sound like this in order to make his scores more appealing. In either case, it sounds like bad news to me.


New Oshima

Quite lovely, not Oshima's best, and doesn't unseat Shirayuki, but Oshima remains the best romantic tunesmith there is. I hope a) she scores the sequels, b) with the same or a similar-sized ensemble, and c) they're released.


Godzilla

Not quite a return to form, but a very, very wide step in the right direction. Hattori sounds more like IQ than he has done since, well, IQ. The recording is gorgeous. If that's Sound Inn, we've had that place completely wrong all these years and all they needed was a competent engineer at the controls. Scary.


New Sahashi

Sounds like third rate Sentai knock-offs to me, but I only skimmed the first episode. Is there anything decent?


Naotora 3

OST 2 was scraping the bottom of the barrel, and so is this one, but then there is unbridled GLORY like "For Whom For You" that makes it all worthwhile. Kanno throws out these mini tone-poems like they're trifles, but they're WONDERFUL. It's VERY nice to think that this could re-awaken orchestral Kanno... I hope she's thinking "Wow, I'd love another Warsaw trip, Naotora was great fun!" at the exact same time that some director on a big space project is thinking "I'm fucking sick of Tatsuya Kato, I wonder if Yoko Kanno's doing anything right now?"

Aaah... think I'm up to date now.

I have something nice to post in the next few days, too. :)



Frankly, when you've been in a thread for ten years, posted 5,000 times in it, and spent probably thousands of pounds on music to be shared, you earn the right to get on your soapbox every now and again, say what you think and have people, at the very least, pay attention and think about what you said.

The Budapest Art Orchestra, conducted by P�ter Pejtsik
Lead Composer: Masako Otsuka
Additional Music by: Yuki Matsumura, Asami Mitake, Ippo Igarashi, Takashi Yoshida

DOWNLOAD: https://mega.nz/#!Ec9ClDzb!KhmwnNFHfpWvSVANLO6APiz3av1eas4-FPNdpwkYCxk

I found a "BGM Collection" video on Nicovideo with lots of music from the game. I'm not sure if it was ripped from the game or the soundtrack CDs but the quality appears to be lossless. Hopefully a proper rip turns up soon.

Jesus, you weren't kidding when you said "It's only a matter of time - thank you!

Found some game credits too.

Sound Director: Mari Yoshida
Music: Masako Otsuka, Yuki Matsumura, Asami Mitake, Ippo Igarashi, Takashi Yoshida
Conductor: P�ter Pejtsik
Orchestra: Budapest Art Orchestra


Edit: https://thekeyperson.biz/interview/%E5%B9%B3%E9%87%8E%E7%BE%A9%E4%B9%85/

In this new interview with Hirano he says something interesting at the end: "I am planning on doing concerts in Russia and Europe, but the details are still a secret. I will announce more on my official website."

Also (not from interview), in regards to his drama soundtrack he says: "You're absolutely right. I understand one who knows my music through DEATH NOTE or HUNTERxHUNTER must think this soundtrack doesn’t sound like me. I’ve used a lot of pops elements to unify the format with the script and the picture. Actually I did the same thing to HxH and DN soundtracks even if they sound much more dissonant. In fact, even if it's true that I composed them in classical style with atonal harmonies, I define them as a pops. Unfortunately there are much lesser chances of composing music like HxH or DN in these days. What a shame...!!
And yet, even HxH and DN is not 100% me. Please check the saxophone quartet CD which I mentioned before. That's real me. You'll hear how crazy I am! lol"

He's still one of us. The CD he mentions will be released in February.

So, Hirano admits that there is no call for his type of music in media any more and that he does what he's asked to do to keep working.

Joy.

I guess it explains why he decided to take a break in order to write contemporary music. He still wanted to write that kind of music but producers wouldn't let him, so he had to do it on his own.

I hope you guys will check out his concert if it comes to your country. Unfortunately USA gets left out again. :(

Thank you very much for Taishi, will give it a listen soon.


Promotional video of Mitsuda's recording for FFXV in Br�ssel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjX-UlNuzEE (I wonder if he also recorded his "big project" for 2018 over there)

Also Watanabe's Mazinger Z gets not only a full soundtrack release but also a soundtack box with a remaster of the original scores. Needless to say this will be a buy of blind faith again. So far its working out well for me ;) It makes me optimistic his Shinkalion will get a soundtrack too.

The theme song (just like old times, huh): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqeRiVhjRAM

I wanted to buy Yamashita's Kyuranger too but alas I'm saving money for christmas so no soundtracks anymore this year... (and I can be damn sure it will turn up here or elsewhere regardless)

Promotional video of Mitsuda's recording for FFXV in Br�ssel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjX-UlNuzEE (I wonder if he also recorded his "big project" for 2018 over there)
In one of the shots you can see "arr. & orch. Mariam Abounnasr" on the score, just barely.

is this site cryptomining? my cpu is being maxed out when i'm on here. the moment i close the tab it dies down

Inspired by Vin's fantastic creations, I took a stab at creating a suite from several of the Lost Ark cues that have appeared on Youtube. This is one of the truly great orchestral video game scores of recent years, and sadly it has not been released. Give it a listen and let me know what you think! http://picosong.com/wFLXY

is this site cryptomining? my cpu is being maxed out when i'm on here. the moment i close the tab it dies down
The site admin took care of the problem about a week ago but I guess it came back. I'll send her a message so she knows about it.


Inspired by Vin's fantastic creations, I took a stab at creating a suite from several of the Lost Ark cues that have appeared on Youtube. This is one of the truly great orchestral video game scores of recent years, and sadly it has not been released. Give it a listen and let me know what you think! http://picosong.com/wFLXY
The game hasn't even been released yet. It's currently in a closed beta with the public release scheduled for 2018. With any luck, a soundtrack will follow. If not, I'm sure someone will do a gamerip.

is this site cryptomining? my cpu is being maxed out when i'm on here. the moment i close the tab it dies down

having for last days. not from site official (sarah post bottom first page), so bad ad?
Thread 220616

First trailers for Yugo Kanno's Batman are out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVTKEc-mu8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF031DwMffQ

It's not going the Zimmer route, but the Avengers with a slightly catchier melody.

*sigh*

Recipe for Yugo Kanno's Batman:

Ingredients

1 Not-Very-Good Yugo Kanno Sunday Morning Drama Theme
100 Drums
1,000 electronic samples

Take the drama theme, and place it in a saucepan with 100 drums. Boil off the melody. With a blunt knife, clumsily cut the remaining chords into the minor key. Garnish with random electronic noises, and season with modern film music clich�s. Serve immediately with atrocious mastering.

@cornblitz1: I take it ;) Of course I would buy a soundtrack in a heartbeat.

@Batman Ninja: Not interested tbh. Tango is spot-on (See, we can still agree occasionally!). When even Tatsuya Kato really tries to better himself (the new pieces for San no Sara and Love Live are a step in the right direction) I have less sympathy for the overworked horse Yugo has become. At least he gave us Suehiro so its not all bad. However, I'm really starting to lose interest in any of his recent works because it becomes more and more apparent he needs a vacation badly. Even Mitsuda admits to himself he works far too much these days and he would like to quit media scoring for a while after 2018 and only do a few solo albums the next few years.

Speaking of Mitsuda, the soundtrack selection for Xenoblade 2 only really has one orchestral piece from the cutscenes yet the rest of the game features a huge chunk of orchestral material (don't really care for the other composers who "don't have any experience with an orchestra" according to Mitsuda). But so far there should be at least an hour of orchestral material by Mitsuda that I hope gets released either through a gamerip or sometime next year.

The game also has an easter-egg that opens the possibility for Mitsuda's big project to be a new Xenosaga title. With Episode Ignis he is already returning to his Xenosaga sound

Dear friends... PLEASE watch out viewing this site from an Android device!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The malware has just eaten my Galaxy S7 for lunch. I've no idea if I can even boot it up again. :(

Dear friends... PLEASE watch out viewing this site from an Android device!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The malware has just eaten my Galaxy S7 for lunch. I've no idea if I can even boot it up again. :(

Woah. I was going through the site with my lovely Honor 8 yesterday night. Luckily, it was just a quick through, and since I was noticing it was slowing my phone down, I quickly exited it. So luckily nothing's gotten through it. In computer, I've been saved, thanks to adblocker.

I didn't know malware could infect a phone. I've been noticed by weird pop ups from this site when I use my iPhone.

I now have a solid blue light and nothing else. Support forums say I'm fucked. Phone is six months out of warranty. :(

Something really fishy is going on with the shrine. Whole forum sections are disappearing and since a few days ago you can no longer edit your private settings (I guess that means no christmas hats this year as well...).
Just in case, I saved my whole Legacy project and my most important posts (again) and made some preparations to quickly locate to our back-up. I hope it doesn't become necessary but I don't want my phone grilled.