A Video Game Music Blog

rhythmroo: Title: TownTrack: 13Composer: Koichi...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 23:01:38 -0400

Title: Town
Track: 13
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

Odd, I though I posted this the other night? Well, guess here’s my write up again:

When it comes to Town themes for the Dragon Quest series, I’m immediately reminded of this particular one—even though I never played this entry in the series. You’d think It would have been Great Tree’s theme from Dragon Warrior Monsters? Eh, go figure.

Just to give you tumblronies a heads up, I’m planning something special in the future in regards to video game music. When I post about it—not telling you what it is right now ;)—I hope you’ll take the time to check it out…

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this piece! Ooo, I love that march at around 1:20 with the snare and piccolo(s?). I was almost too amused when I heard the pizz. section right after that—though, not too surprised knowing it’s Mr. Sugiyama behind the wheel.

For bassoon players out there, there’s a little solo for you at 2:39 for you to enjoy (you have no excuse not to listen to this now ;))! That’s what I love about Mr. Sugiyama’s orchestration…there’s usually something for someone in the orchestra.

Enjoy!

rhythmroo: Title: Pastoral ~ Catastrophe Track: 11Composer:...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:51:59 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Pastoral ~ Catastrophe
Track: 11
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

I’m too familiar with Dragon Quest II, so I’m not sure where this plays (I’m sure someone will point me into the right direction). I do believe that the second part of this track is the battle theme of the game (if not, correct me).

The Pastoral section is quite the beauty, especially with the Horn entering in the most dolce manner possible. Ah, and the lilting triplet descent of the flute, then oboe, with the strings supporting ever so softly (@0:49-0:59). A nice touch with the introduction of the harp and woodwinds together soon after. The flute and harp carrying the melody while the rest support and produce a lush sound.

And of course, this paradise of green fields and blue skies is interrupted by the next section…

You know what, why don’t you tumblronies describe the rest of the piece, or even possibly give your thoughts on the first section. ;)

See you next time!

rhythmroo: Title: ChateauTrack: 12Composer: Koichi...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 23:34:02 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Chateau
Track: 12
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

Woops, almost forgot to post this!

Honestly though, I love Mr. Sugiyama’s orchestrations so much. His ability to contrast is very pleasing and always enjoyable to listen to over, and over, and over, and over again. I’m very eager to get to Sugiyama’s other pieces…

I noticed I forgot to take off the sticker on my apple and saw part of the sticker missing. DX Ack!

adzinmusic: ‘Final Symphony’ @ Barbican Centre, London ~...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:50:34 -0400

Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu at the autograph session

Fans queuing to meet Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu!

Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu ending the autograph session

Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu at the autograph session

Inside the Barbican Centre concert hall

Fans eagerly awaiting the performers

Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and the Square Enix team sitting two rows in front of me!!! :O

The piano

The London Symphony Orchestra standing for applause

Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu on stage with the LSO

adzinmusic:

‘Final Symphony’ @ Barbican Centre, London ~ 30-05-13

So, on the 30th of May I travelled to London to attend the Final Symphony concert; a classical performance of the music from Final Fantasy VI, VII, and X. There was also an autograph session with Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu.

Shaking hands with Nobuo Uematsu and thanking him for inspiring me was probably one of the greatest experiences of my life! It has always been a dream for me to meet this man, the biggest influence and inspiration in my life, and this dream was finally fulfilled. He is my hero! And I’m now a very very happy person :D

Holding the hand - even for the briefest of moments - of the man who composed the music I grew up with, the music that taught me about music itself, the music that accompanied me through important years of my life, was a surreal but beautiful experience. I never thought I’d get to touch the hands that composed the music I used to whistle at school as a boy. Actually, his hands fascinated me…ok I’m probably sounding a bit creepy now haha!

Anyway, the whole pre-concert experience was just wonderful. I queued for about 90 minutes, and being surrounded by so many like-minded people, who all seemed so excited to be there, just felt astonishing. Such an electrifying atmosphere! I kinda regret not sparking up a conversation with people around me in the queue, but nonetheless I enjoyed being amongst some really great people. Thanks to everyone there, you really made the experience for me :)

And I’ve never seen so many people playing on the 3DS in one room! I collected lots of Miis, Theathrythm cards, and Nintendogs gifts; it was an awesome first Streetpass/Spotpass experience for me.

I chose to get my Final Fantasy VIII soundtrack signed by Mr Uematsu, because I feel it’s the most important soundtrack in my life. I also decided to get my FFIX soundtrack signed because I read that this was one of his personal favourites of the FF scores. Mr Hamauzu signed my ticket, and my Theathrythm sleeve! These are now my most precious and treasured items haha..

The concert itself was mesmerising. Arranged by Jonne Valtonen and Roger Wanamo, the movements took moments from FFVI, VII, and X’s music and weaved them into a beautiful display of music that really hit you hard. Underneath the obvious melodies there were so many subtle references to the original pieces, which had me smiling throughout. I don’t believe you had to be a Final Fantasy fan to enjoy the concert - anyone who is a fan of the symphony orchestra could enjoy this performance, as it was so rich with original music as well as the FF stuff - but the little moments of hidden FF melodies are what made the arrangements so special and spectacular to listen to.

I haven’t attended many classical concerts in my life, so for me even watching the musicians play their instruments was a great experience for me. I could see most of the performers concentrating, smiling, and really lending so much to the whole experience with their passion and energy. I was blown away by Benyamin Nuss’ piano performance on the FFX part. Such a talented individual, and I was sitting close enough to see the pleasure in his facial expression as he performed. Really magical.

As an added bonus, Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and the Square Enix representatives were sitting just two rows in front of me - I could almost reach out and pat Uematsu on the shoulder! Of course I didn’t, but it was an amazing feeling to be sitting within two metres of my hero, watching *his* music be performed in a concert hall! A once-in-a-lifetime moment for me.

I saw a few cosplayers: to my left were a Squall and Rinoa, who looked brilliant; there was a Cid and a Yuffie in the queue who looked so great, and at the tube station I saw a little girl dressed in a fully home-made chocobo costume, which was very cute. I love seeing the younger generation getting involved with the music, and it makes me happy that video game composers are changing the lives of young people :) I actually wrote about the relationship between the young generation and videogame music/classical music for my dissertation last year, and seeing the amount of young people attending this evening was just wonderful.

I actually much preferred this gig to Distant Worlds, which I attended in 2011. The Barbican Centre is so much more intimate than the Royal Albert Hall, and I felt I could connect more with the orchestra without any game footage being displayed on large screens. I absolutely adored DW, but Final Symphony just felt like a real close and personal experience between the performers, the composers, and the audience.

Overall it was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I will never forget it. Even the conductor, Eckehard Stier, left a great impression on me as his energy was so exciting to see. It was so inspiring for me as a composer of music, and now one of my goals in life is to have my music performed by an orchestra, whilst I sit amongst the audience and listen.

I have a little video of the event here: http://youtu.be/959IDHawIYM

Thanks for reading :)

~ Adam

rhythmroo: Title: RequiemTrack: 15Composer: Koichi...

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 21:22:55 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Requiem
Track: 15
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

Took a day off to recuperate the ol’ right arm (still stressed, but not as bad now). Of course, I still listened to a great deal of new game music, so don’t think I was completely resting all day. ;)

We’re going a little out of order today, as this theme is played within moments of a tragic event that occurs at a castle before you even get a chance to control you’re character.

Well, this is a very sobering orchestration. A great deal of heaviness exists throughout the piece, as it should since it is parraleling a tragic event during this tracks first appearance. The emotional burden of the strings do not find peace until the very end of the track…

rhythmroo: Title: Only Lonely BoyTrack: 10Composer: Koichi...

Fri, 31 May 2013 23:21:26 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Only Lonely Boy
Track: 10
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

Oh, geesh, completely pizzicato strings. I love the pizz. strings, but I wonder how much trouble it is for string players to play pizz. without stressing their fingers…

Also, Mr. Sugiyama sure does love his chromatic lines.

Great orchestration, here’s looking forward to the rest of this!

rhythmroo: Title: Dragon Quest MarchTrack: 9Composer: Koichi...

Thu, 30 May 2013 23:56:59 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Dragon Quest March
Track: 9
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

With the end of our first _Dragon Quest _soundtrack, we are now ushered into the the second game with a familiar march that will return very, very frequently.

Welcome, my dear listeners, to Dragon Quest 2.

rhythmroo: Title: FinaleTrack: 8Composer: Koichi...

Wed, 29 May 2013 22:34:37 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Finale
Track: 8
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

Well, this certainly is finale material! I personally wou—holy smokes there’s some wild lighting happening outside! I noticed some small flashes of light out of my periphery vision, went to take a look and saw chaotic lightening flashes outside. My youngest Shih Tzu (~2 years I believe) is frightened to death of loud noises and extremely flashy lights…she must be hiding under the bed.

Well, enjoy the piece!

rhythmroo: Title: King DragonTrack: 7Composer: Koichi...

Tue, 28 May 2013 23:52:38 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: King Dragon
Track: 7
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

My apologies for the late post! My right arm is giving me a bit of trouble recently with the keyboard, so I’m trying to keep off it until it recovers from this odd stress (let’s hope not anything bad!).

Just a short bit that was on my mind while I was listening: this arrangement reminds me of the first movement to Bartok’s “Music for strings, percussion and celesta” which he slowly builds up the piece until a climax, then slowly allows it to fade away. Very cool…

Listen to this and be very attentive on what’s happening musically. Having gone through it twice now, I’ve really grown to love this orchestration of this piece.

What do you think of this piece and arrangement?

rhythmroo: Title: DungeonTrack: 6Composer: Koichi...

Mon, 27 May 2013 14:13:17 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Dungeon
Track: 6
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

Color me impressed with this orchestration! Not only does it sound mysterious and sinister, but It even sounds a bit like mysterious/romantic/grotesque music from a film noir, such as Preminger’s 1944 film noir Laura (Classic!). Actually…it really sounds like that mysterious flavor that would be right at home to Laura or older mysterious music (maybe?).

I mean, holy smokes, this romantic sound is very prominent in Koichi Sugiyama’s Dragon Quest series compositions/ orchestral arrangements. I was already aware of this, as well his Classical era/Baroque/etc. influences, but it didn’t occurred to me how much it sounded alike in flavor to Raskin’s Laura.

I’m not insinuating that he borrowed the romantic flavor of Raskin’s score to Laura to his own composition—though possible—as there are plenty of composers who have composed in this manner before either of their times (Take Ravel’s “Introduction et allegro“…just beautiful!).

I should do a study of the music of film noirs to see if this same romantic flavor translates throughout each of them in some way. It would be cool if there were some correlation! (Just a note: I’ve only seen 1 or 2 film noirs in my life, so I do not speak out of experience or authority on what the a film noir would sound like.)

rhythmroo: Title: FightTrack: 5Composer: Koichi...

Sun, 26 May 2013 16:36:34 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Fight
Track: 5
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

I’m a fan of this orchestration and the dynamics used. I can’t say that I’m wildly impressed with the original “Fight” theme, but I understand the limitations on the composer and the use of the track. I don’t have much to say beyond the orchestration on this piece.

I’m always a fan of the sweeping harps when it comes to introductions or dynamic moments in music—such as you hear in the intro of this track. The brassy performance and triplet woodwinds (especially the flutes) kind of remind me of Halloween music, especially the high register violin section a little after the halfway mark. It’s really a mixed bag with me, I just get this goofy Halloween music vibe. I should be on my toes, i might die at the next hit, but really—look at what you’re fighting

rhythmroo: Title: Unknown WorldTrack: 4Composer: Koichi...

Sat, 25 May 2013 21:25:02 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Unknown World
Track: 4
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

It wasn’t until Dragon Warrior Monsters (or, Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland in Japan) that I was first introduced to the Dragon Quest series. Yep, through a spinoff is how I entered the series! I probably wouldn’t have started playing it had it not been for my friend in elementary school playing it. I believe what I found charming about the game that hooked me in was that it played like Pokemon, but with the option to breed monsters to produce even powerful ones.

It was through Dragon Warrior Monsters that i was able to hear various pieces from the other Dragon Quest games, such as the track in this post, “Unknown World,” and others like “Endless World” and “Through the Field.”

Oh, and look at this, seems someone (Andrei Burdeti) has arranged “Endless World” for their Guitar Quartet (McGill Quartet): Dragon Quest - Endless World - Guitar Quartet. It’s always a pleasure to find arrangements like this flying around Youtube for everyone to hear!

rhythmroo: Title: PeopleTrack: 3Composer: Koichi...

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:57:49 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: People
Track: 3
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

A lot of whacky and disastrous weather has been happening all around ( some fierce thundering and indecisive weather around here in Rhode Island). My thoughts go out to those who have it much worse than us and others…

Today’s piece is the piece “People,” which would be your expectant town’s theme. Very lyrical, playful, and jovial. Where would I place this under? Probably a themes in variation piece. I was greatly found of the movie-intermission-concession-stand-esque variation a little past half way the track (glockenspiel and pizz. strings; timing is 2:03). It reminds me of the intermission bit you’ll hear later in the series (Intermezzo)—WAIT, WAIT, where the heck is that timpani portamento that’s supposed to be in that version?! I guess I’ll settle for this…

rhythmroo: Title: Château LadutormTrack: 2Composer: Koichi...

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:06:16 -0400

rhythmroo:

Title: Château Ladutorm
Track: 2
Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I & II

Upon pressing start at the title screen, you are brought to the king’s throne room where you are greeted with this piece—in its 5-channel Nes/Famicom glory—and the start of your…Dragon…quest (I’ll be here all week, folks).

For some reason I get a Vivaldi vibe (again, here all week). Maybe throw in a harpsichord continuo in place of/together with the Bass…but then again, I’d then would like it sped up like a Vivaldian violin concerto, completely changing the piece, so I say keep it as it is and marvel at its orchestral majesty.

Now that I think about it…I wonder why we don’t have any Dragon Quest concerts here in the States, or at least included them in videogame concert programs. I’m sure there are a couple…perhaps just not broadcasted as highlights in the program.

Do you know of any videogame concerts in the USA that have included a piece from the Dragon Quest series in their program?

rhythmroo: Howdy everyone Now that I am officially done with...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:50:00 -0400

rhythmroo:

Howdy everyone

Now that I am officially done with college, I have a little bit more time to spare with posting videogame music. Well, and I’ll tell ya, I’ve picked up a great deal of game music since my last post.

I occasionally like to theme my posts around certain games, so this time I plan on posting the music of the Dragon Quest series. I recently did a batch purchase of 7-8 soundtracks of the series, so I think I have enough to last me the rest of this summer if I continually post every day.

I’ll try to keep things interesting with some of the posts and see what the track resembles to me in regards to classical music, or just information on the game series/composer. Without further ado, the “Overture March” of our beloved series and summer.

[SFW] A “future-trap” remix of the past, present,...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:38:00 -0400

[SFW] A “future-trap” remix of the past, present, and future of The Legend of Zelda.

Free Download: https://soundcloud.com/joeyverbeke/ganons-lament

Could I post up some of my own original game music?

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:27:35 -0400

Yep! Just submit it through the submission form if you have links/videos of your music and I’ll have it up usually the next day (or same day if I catch it while online).

Zelda: Ocarina of TIme - “Zora’s Domain”...

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:53:58 -0400

Zelda: Ocarina of TIme - “Zora’s Domain” (KiLa-V Remix)

Lots of Weird Orchestral Music!

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:52:03 -0400

Hey There! I’m Kairi Blodeuyn, and I make lots of weird Orchestral music for games!

http://snd.sc/127QpoN

Check it out!

Howdy folks

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:14:00 -0400

Just want to let you folks know that I do plan on uploading music again soon…just finishing up some classwork and projects. Hope your finals are going well everyone!