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video game music (or music in general) then & now
 

offline pachi from yo momma (United States) on 2002-08-10 21:15 [#00344234]
Points: 8984 Status: Lurker



hey! anyone ever noticed somethin...?:

all the older video game music (NES in particular) had high
musical composition quality w/ minimal utilities (i.e. about
5 NES sound synth channels/oscillators). however, regarding
the music in the newer video games, the sound itself is
preset & has higher quality than the NES, but lower in
quality of musical composition.

in other words, the people who made the music apparently had
fewer utilities & had to make the most of them to make the
music, as with newer vid games, the sound utilities enabled
higher sound quality but w/ less emphasis on musical
composition.

heh. i guess my theorem can be applied to the distinction
between rich, so-called "musicians" who have lots of
equipment but no talent and those more "minimalistic"
artists of lower financial status who have considerable
talent.

i guess this is a bit of a generali[s/z]ation, but can
anyone relate to this?


 

offline 010101 from Vancouver (Canada) on 2002-08-10 21:19 [#00344239]
Points: 7669 Status: Regular



I know what you are saying, but the thing you fail to
realise is that it is the record companys who decide what is
in games nowadays. Thus removing the geeky music dude from
the picture.

I work in the video game industry and have watched the
demise of the geeky music guy.


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2002-08-10 21:20 [#00344243]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



They can just rely on glossy loud guitars and big beats now.
No need for catchy melodies and pretty harmonies with any
real character. Listen to the old Mario games, Sonic the
Hedgehog, Mega Man, Metroid, Castelvania (ESPECIALLY
Castlevania)... some great tracks there, that you'll NEVER
forget if you've heard them.

Now, louder=better... just turn those amps up and use some
cheesy metal riff... or just milk tired techno beats for all
they're worth. Boom, you've got a soundtrack tailor made for
the stupid people with no attention span.

RPGs have great music, still... but I find even THEY'RE
falling in quality... I can't really remember much from
FF10, but FF6 will always be floating through my head.


 

offline pachi from yo momma (United States) on 2002-08-10 21:21 [#00344246]
Points: 8984 Status: Lurker



yah but u reali[s/z]e it cos u work in the industry, right?


 

offline Mickey Mouse from The Moon on 2002-08-11 01:42 [#00344563]
Points: 4130 Status: Addict



bump....

I totally agree with you pachi... I have hummed sonic songs
and bubble bopple songs all my life.... there was some
EXTREME talent with those old skool musicians


 

offline neurone from orleans (France) on 2002-08-11 01:52 [#00344574]
Points: 310 Status: Lurker



you guys are right.


 

offline USACID from Death Valley (Zambia) on 2002-08-11 02:02 [#00344581]
Points: 788 Status: Lurker



i like old school vid/game music, i actually recorded some
of it and have brnd it on disc, i totally agree w/ ya on how
we have all this kick ass stuff now, but no games like we
did back then.

3d is cool, but i still like platforms/sidescrollers, i'd
love to see one now with lotsa detail etc. those games just
rule, i'm sick of shooters...


 

offline USACID from Death Valley (Zambia) on 2002-08-11 02:04 [#00344582]
Points: 788 Status: Lurker



i totally agree w/ ophecks...


 

offline weatheredstoner from same shit babes. (United States) on 2002-08-11 02:06 [#00344584]
Points: 12585 Status: Lurker



FF6 had the best music as well as Crono Trigger.


 

offline USACID from Death Valley (Zambia) on 2002-08-11 02:11 [#00344586]
Points: 788 Status: Lurker



zelda(s) on NES, contra had cool action music, metroid,mario
bros., not to mention tons of titles on sega genisis and
snes. maybe the limitations at the time weren't such bad
things


 

offline pachi from yo momma (United States) on 2002-08-11 02:59 [#00344606]
Points: 8984 Status: Lurker



it's never too late to incorporate great musical composition
into the music of tomorrow's video games =)


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2002-08-11 08:34 [#00344723]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker



FFX is up there for recent compositions in a game.

Ophecks see if these 3 songs give you a refresher course:

Wandering Flame
Forest of Macalaniya
Scorching Sands(might be labeled Desert instead of sands)

I believe all 3 songs are composed by Masashi Hamauzu(SaGa
Frontier 2 fame) and are probably the best songs in the game
IMO.

RPG's do have great music....ahhh Secret of Mana and SOM+


 

offline roygbivcore from Joyrex.com, of course! on 2002-08-11 10:00 [#00344737]
Points: 22557 Status: Lurker



SOM+? is that the playstation remake? or seiken densetsu 3?


 

offline w M w from London (United Kingdom) on 2002-08-11 10:04 [#00344740]
Points: 21427 Status: Regular



Yeah.

WWW.MP3.com/IMAGINARY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 

offline uzim on 2002-08-11 10:08 [#00344741]
Points: 17716 Status: Lurker



music in old video games was much better than music in most
of the new ones... look at donkey kong for example, on snes
the music was cool, on n64 it's heavy and annoying... -_-

(fortunately, there are some exceptions...!)


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2002-08-11 20:09 [#00344965]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker



SOM+ is a music CD. It's a various mix of songs from Seiken
Denetsu 2 and 3.

If you can find it, I'd say defintely check it out.

It's on www.gamemusic.com


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2002-08-11 21:44 [#00345014]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Followup to revpersona: #00344723 | Show recordbag



I'll check them out, thanks... but FF10 really let me
down... the characters were pretty boring... I miss badasses
like Cloud and Squall. The music was pretty good, but didn't
really stick in my head... but it wasn't bad at all.

Zelda, of course, fucking GREAT melodies, forgot to mention
that one.

Mega Man 2 for NES... now THAT'S some great music! Metal Man
just kicks ass, and the the Fire guy has IDM in his stage,
almost! Pounding beats.


 

offline mccabe from fuck knows .......I`m lost !!! on 2002-08-11 21:54 [#00345023]
Points: 908 Status: Lurker



does anyone remember alex the kidd for the sega master
system,as for some warped reason i still know the tune
perfectly,even though i havnt heard/played since when it
came out[probably over ten years].

alex,GET THE FUCK OUT MY HEAAAD!!!!!


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2002-08-11 21:56 [#00345024]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Followup to uzim: #00344741 | Show recordbag



Yeah, Donkey Kong Country for SNES has some GREAT chill out
music, really nice naturey sounding ambient stuff.
Underrated soundtrack!


 

offline 010101 from Vancouver (Canada) on 2002-08-11 21:58 [#00345025]
Points: 7669 Status: Regular



The days of original music in games is gone, I am sorry to
say.


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2002-08-12 08:29 [#00345341]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker



Well, Tidus in FFX wasn't a badass, but Auron sure as hell
was. Even more so than Cloud and Squall.

Yeah, they're are some many great tunes out there, but it's
so hard to remember them all, after playing games nonstop
over the years.

I'm telling ya, www.rocketbaby.net is the place for
information on videogame composers.


 

offline Ceri JC from Jefferson City (United States) on 2002-08-12 08:51 [#00345363]
Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to Mickey Mouse: #00344563 | Show recordbag



Yep, I've been humming the bubble bobble soundrtrack for
about 8 years now :)


 

offline Jedi Chris on 2002-08-12 08:54 [#00345368]
Points: 11496 Status: Lurker | Followup to Ceri JC: #00345363



Get a life!!! ;)


 

offline princo from Shitty City (Geelong) (Australia) on 2002-08-12 08:59 [#00345375]
Points: 13411 Status: Lurker | Followup to Jedi Chris: #00345368



Get a knife!! ;)


 

offline Jedi Chris on 2002-08-12 09:00 [#00345378]
Points: 11496 Status: Lurker | Followup to princo: #00345375



Even better! :)


 

offline princo from Shitty City (Geelong) (Australia) on 2002-08-12 09:01 [#00345381]
Points: 13411 Status: Lurker | Followup to Jedi Chris: #00345378



or maybe..
Get a Wife!! :)


 

offline Jedi Chris on 2002-08-12 09:02 [#00345383]
Points: 11496 Status: Lurker



This is getting silly, we'll be accused of topic
hijacking!!

;)

So, on that note - the Street Fighter music is the
coolest!!!


 

offline princo from Shitty City (Geelong) (Australia) on 2002-08-12 09:14 [#00345393]
Points: 13411 Status: Lurker



ok ok...

the sewer level (2nd) on Mario Bros. 1 are way cool...



 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2002-08-12 21:17 [#00346295]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker



Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike and Street Fighter Alpha had
some awesome tunes.


 

offline ChildrenTalking from United States on 2002-08-12 21:32 [#00346319]
Points: 2712 Status: Addict



i totally agree the quality of vg music as declined over the
years, and its only getting worse, now a days they use
rock/pop artists as background music, which is kind of sad
actually, the real talented artists are the ones that
specialize in vg music (i.e. capcom team, falcom team)

if you want to d/l tons of snes vg music try this place,
theres just sooo much... enjoy :)

http://166.70.15.86/snesamp/


 

offline w M w from London (United Kingdom) on 2002-08-12 21:40 [#00346332]
Points: 21427 Status: Regular



The use of melody in a good way is probably the single most
important characteristic to differentiate between good and
bad.


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2002-08-12 21:44 [#00346340]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



Harry Gregson Williams did an amazing job on Metal Gear
Solid 2...

But it's Hollywood and overblown. It's just impossible to
recapture the feel of older games, can't be done. Now music
in a game sounds like music in a movie. Before, games had
their own sound, the ''blips'' and ''bleeps'' and all. And
even after that, on SNES and Genesis, it had its own
character. Couldn't hear music like that anywhere else but
on THAT system...

Sega had an awful sound chip in the Genesis, so muffled, but
it sounded pretty cool in some ways, and distinctive as
fuck.


 


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