Chrono Compendium
News and Updates => Site Updates => Topic started by: ZeaLitY on January 03, 2006, 10:31:34 pm
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Chrono Symphonic has been released. It features 25 orchestral rearrangements of Chrono Trigger songs. Though almost completely digital, the album was intended to sound like a movie score. The convolution-based reverb settings used to simulate a live environment were that of the 700-seat Promenadikeskus Concert Hall in Pori, Finland. Over a year in the making, this is OCR's sixth site project.
This release is for the "Regular Version," which features 25 tracks over two discs. A few days from now, possibly towards the end of January, a special edition will be released containing extra tracks and bonus material; it will feature a third data disc and also lossless music. Updated interviews with the entire staff and all remixers involved are also available. To celebrate, jsondag2 has also released version 2.0 of the Chrono Trigger Coliseum. Happy listening!
Chrono Symphonic (http://chrono.ocremix.org)
Updated Chrono Symphonic Extravaganza (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Stories/21)
Chrono Trigger Coliseum 2.0 (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Chrono_Trigger_Coliseum)
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It's beautiful.
It's freaking beautiful.
~.C.S.~
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Wow, it is very theatrical in presentation. I'm burning these as I type this. ^_^
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Great stuff! :D
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Wow...
That's very nice...
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This is great!
I can really tell a lot of well-thought out time went into this project.
I'm sure everyone is going to appreciate it.
Just another reason why this site is so freaking unbelievable!!
-J.C-
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Oh wow. It's done, finally? It's too late tonight, but tomorrow, I'll listen to these all. When, for that short time, all those tracks were released months ago, I downloaded those all, and I must say: even those, earlier though they were, were incredible. Certainly movie-quality and well-worthy of a soundtrack. I'll make a better comment when I've heard these, though I'm certain they will be in no way disappointing.
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OMFG! This is surely one of the best CD:s i´ve heard in my entire life! But does anyone know if you can burn FLAC to regular Audio so i can play it in my Home Cinema Audio Player?
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Yeah really cool. 8)
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I'm downloading them now! (56K... :oops: )
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Finally. The songs are awesome. My only complain is that they are quite short (or seems so at least), but it's a minor complain. :)
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Ah, so at last we hear Chrono Symphonic! Hmm. Not bad. I wish I could say it's a masterpiece, and even though it's not...it's certainly not bad. So, without further ado, let's have Cheers & Jeers, by Lord J Esquire:
CHEERS to the first 56 seconds of Red Omen's "Hymn of Valor," especially the clarinet intro. The song goes downhill from there, but that first minute is a highlight of the whole soundtrack. Can we get an autograph?
CHEERS to mv's flowing piano in "Darkest Omen," especially at 0'16" - 0'26". That is a good interpretation. And the background orchestra is just right at that moment, before launching into an overblown and uninteresting symphonic statement of the "Black Omen" theme.
JEERS to Claado Shou's "The Third Guru." Shou deserves commendation for overseeing this whole project, but he definitely belongs outside of the orchestra pit. This song is easily the worst on the whole soundtrack, leading us on a fruitless two-minute goose chase.
CHEERS to Sleepy Emp. His two songs stand out for their remarkable quality both in terms of music samples and technique. "The New Beginning" cheered me up after a string of letdowns--I beg ye, Emp, turn that Frozen Flame segment at the end into its own full-length song! And you have also shown me the wisdom of "People Seized with Life" as a bold piece rather than a melancholy one. Very good form! However, a JEER within a CHEER for that horrid mangling of "Guardia Millennial Fair," my favorite Chrono Trigger song. The tempo was right on the money, but the composition is a travesty and trips all over itself.
JEERS to Frog Trigger. With 25 songs on the table, Chrono Symphonic focuses waaay too much on a few songs in particular, like "Frog's Theme," "Wind Scene," and "Battle with Magus." The end result is that less than a third of the original Chrono Trigger soundtrack gets any real attention, and many fine songs get no coverage at all, including the subtle "Robo's Theme" and the audacious "Silent Light," two outstanding tracks that deserved a few measures in somebody's book.
CHEERS to DarkSworde's "Blue Skies over Guardia." I first heard this one a long time ago, and I didn't care for it much then, but it grew on me over time after I realized it was written in the relatively uncommon 7/8 time signature.
JEERS to tiring out the orchestra. Chrono Symphonic on the whole pays little attention to the soft, passionately felt pieces that balance out the energetic songs. I also notice that even the softer songs feel compelled to end with ostentatiously powerful codas, which only serves to spoil the mood.
JEERS to disappointment personified. With claims of nearly all of Chrono Trigger's battle themes as source music, RoeTaKa's underwhelming "The Last Stand" promises to be one of the most forceful songs in the soundtrack--and, given the Lavos battle subject matter it deals with, it rightly ought to be. But Roe obviously bit off too much to chew, because while Crono & Co. may have succeeded against all odds in their fight against Lavos, "The Last Stand" is completely unsuited for the task--it even finds time around 3'00" to pause during the climactic showdown, destroy all the built-up tension, and then shift the mood entirely to the sweet major chords of the Chrono main theme. Lord J doesn't like to go overboard with the jeering, but golly! This one needs to be reworked.
CHEERS and JEERS to Blake Perdue. Blake takes some of the soundtrack's biggest risks with his "Door to the End of Time," but unfortunately he fails with every one of them. Lord J can see what the composer is trying to do, and Lord J approves, but Blake's execution is simply not up to the challenge. For instance, that fiddle is a great idea, but it just doesn't fit in the way Blake wants it to fit. However, speaking of fiddles, the high quality of some of the lead sound samples at least makes the song interesting to contemplate. Nice oboe!
CHEERS for chilling my spine. Zas knows how to put it together at the end of "Lucca's Arrival," with a heavy statement of "Lavos' Theme" that comes out of nowhere and knocked my socks straight back into the dark ages. Never mind what it did to my underwear.
JEERS to sticking to the script. With notable exceptions, Chrono Symphonic as a whole plays a pretty safe ballgame. There aren't enough risks. There isn't enough original material. The instrumentations and expressions are too predictable, even mundane in some cases. The music itself isn't much of a challenge in the technical sense. The orchestra doesn't play off its own synergy as well as it could; voices clash and melodies clatter. I know that critics get paid to say stuff like that, but Lord J should have liked to see some more heartfelt retellings of the original. Maybe next symphony, eh? =)
CHEERS to broadening the mind. If you'd asked me, I would not have said that the original "To Far Away Times" could be successfully converted into a traditional anime-style movie closing song. But I was wrong, and Reu's dazzling piano together with pixietricks' decent voice accomplished just that. And even though Claado Shou's lyrics for this remaking were clunky and awkward, not to mention ill-suited for pixie's voice, the lovestruck, hugging embrace that this song was reaching for is plainly clear. From close up the song needs work, but from a distance it sounds great.
And finally...
CHEERS to the whole Chrono Symphonic project, and its directors and composers. Hit or miss, you folks put a lot of work into this and, on behalf of Compendiumites everywhere, this is a stirring testament to the lasting appeal of the Chrono series and the dedication of its fans. Oh, and the music isn't bad either. =)
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Seems like those admins on Chronoshock deleted my post about this.
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Yes, I am officially banned from a Chrono forum. It's irony at its greatest! But let them go in the dark without news of this achievement.
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This is truely amazing, it was definatly worth the wait. I just wish their was a real Chrono Trigger movie for this to go with. lol
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That was an awful lot of criticism for people that just worked about 400 days on the largest CT music project ever to exist. You seem to have a lot of issues with the way the music is done, with the only saving grace being a few clips in a few songs. It's not that bad, is it?
Zeality, how did you manage to get banned? It seems that no one would dare ban the master of Chrono Compendium ;)
As for the project, I have to say my favorite song is Schala and the Queen. Despite the prominence of Pixietricks' singing -- it shocked me because I'm used to the old version -- it grew on me fast and now I'm hooked. I also am pleasantly surprised at how good Darkness Dueling is; I didn't imagine that the plain Battle theme could be so well-mixed. It's actually an exciting song now.
;) I know each person has their own opinion, and I respect that, but I have to have my two cents as well:
I had the opposite reaction from J -- I think that some songs may have an overabundance of originality. Not that it's not great, but Revelation of Fire claims to have Singing Mountain in it and I was really expecting Singing Mountain. Same with The Last Stand and Lavos' theme, but the end of Schala and the Queen fills my need for a grandiose Lavos theme. That was really my only complaint about the soundtrack, though. The way it's all done, I don't have issues with. And I quickly got over the missing characters, as I knew about them long before the release.
I think there's just enough song variety for the way the script was designed; all of the included characters' themes appear, even Queen Zeal with Undersea Palace and Black Omen. Shoot, even the battle theme pops in for a whole song. To me, some of the reason that it may seem like all the songs that are in there aren't, is because they're so originalized that I can't recognize some of them. See above comment.
As for slower songs, Door to the End of Time, Morning Sunlight, The Chrono Trigger, and To Far Away Times are definitely not loud and boisterous. I'd put Manifest Destiny, Crono's Dream, and most of Schala and the Queen there as well. In Schala, the orchestra doesn't flare up at all until Magus' theme, and then it drops off again until Lavos' theme.
And Pixietricks rocks my world. If Schala ever needs a singing voice actor, I'd sign her up. :)
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That was an awful lot of criticism for people that just worked about 400 days on the largest CT music project ever to exist. You seem to have a lot of issues with the way the music is done, with the only saving grace being a few clips in a few songs. It's not that bad, is it?
No, it's not that bad at all. I liked many of the tracks. I just didn't like 'em five-stars style. With cheers come jeers; that's life. If I'm the only one here who didn't feel Chrono Symphonic was perfect, that's just fine. The composers have every right to be thrilled with their accomplishment, and I'm sure they will enjoy the praise they have received in this thread. They did a good job, and I don't doubt the work they put into it.
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Oh, nothing is perfect -- I guess I thought you were coming down on it much harder than you really were. :) No hard feelings.
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from what i have download it so far i have to say its pretty good but it doesnt remind me of ct.maybe its jsut because i havent downloaded them all:P
also i want to ask something for coliseum 2.0.what changes are they being made?
and last is any of these songs have a tune like black omen?i love black omens music:P
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1. Switched bosses for easy and medium.
2. Rainbow Shell Quest should work now
3. Keys can't be collected infinite times...hower the third key won't dissapear for some reason (you still can't collect it infinite times)
4. No longer uses Silver points memory as BP
5. (this was the hard one) special guest appearance if you beat Hard.
6. 3rd Menu so I could add a back button
7. Can't run away anymore (haha whoops)
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Congrats to the Symphonic cast for their completion and release of this project! The work that went into this was clearly tremendous. I'm downloading a few of these tracks now and will get more later. I must say that I'm really looking forward to them!
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1. Switched bosses for easy and medium.
2. Rainbow Shell Quest should work now
3. Keys can't be collected infinite times...hower the third key won't dissapear for some reason (you still can't collect it infinite times)
4. No longer uses Silver points memory as BP
5. (this was the hard one) special guest appearance if you beat Hard.
6. 3rd Menu so I could add a back button
7. Can't run away anymore (haha whoops)
thnx for the reply zeality maybe this time i am going to download it:P
the only thing that holds me back is the fact i cant have the programmers ending but o well nothings perfect:(
btw i downloaded the album and its AMAZING.hope someone remixes it with hip hop.that would be an amazing thing as a hip hop fan:P
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Am I the only who thinks that the best song is Manifest Destiny by SirRus?
There are some songs I didn't like, but most of them are kickass.
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Seems like those admins on Chronoshock deleted my post about this.
On the bright side, Chronoshock is pretty much dead in the water anyway, it's forums have about as much activity as a ghost town (perhaps less than). Here's hoping that any Chrono fan stuck there, or looking for better finds this place. The mods there do a great job of turning away traffic and interest. :lol:
Now that I have my Symphonic, I patiently await :
Chrono Trigger - The Brink of Disco
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Ahh, I can't tell you how awesome it was to see (hear?) CT get some original Japanese love in tracks 'Schala and the Queen' and especially 'To Far Away Times.' Although I kinda agree that there isn't really enough variety, I can't complain either, not like I actually have enough skill to have helped with the project. =) Anyway, much respect to them for the relase and all the work put into it.
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Gotta get my computer fixed!! I have been waiting for this since it was originally announced, which is a LONG time ago. :wink:
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Chrono Trigger Symphonic is truly a gift to the ears...
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Finally got my laptop connected and got the chance to hear it.
And I have to agree with Josh, I'm a bit let down. It's...too on the boring/simple arrangement side. Plus it also sounded very synth. Still beautiful, but not what it had extreme potential to be.
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CHEERS to Sleepy Emp. His two songs stand out for their remarkable quality both in terms of music samples and technique. "The New Beginning" cheered me up after a string of letdowns--I beg ye, Emp, turn that Frozen Flame segment at the end into its own full-length song! And you have also shown me the wisdom of "People Seized with Life" as a bold piece rather than a melancholy one. Very good form! However, a JEER within a CHEER for that horrid mangling of "Guardia Millennial Fair," my favorite Chrono Trigger song. The tempo was right on the money, but the composition is a travesty and trips all over itself.
Thanks. I was cautious at first about using CC and RD tracks in that mix, but to my mind in the end they served their purpose well. The Chrono Trigger movie would not be complete without some reference to other games of the series. And sorry for the Millennial Fair :D
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Yeah, I was really pleasantly surprised with that Radical Dreamer cameo. A New Beginning really lifts the spirits; Emp and Darkesword's contributions are my favorite.
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I too, enjoyed those submissions.
Each of the tracks with changing tempos really bring out the emotional aspects of the game that would blend well with a movie.
I particularly like Blue Skies over Guardia, Door to the End of Time, and Morning Sunlight, from the first disc.
I haven't listened to all of the second! I'm trying to pace myself!! There's so much to enjoy!
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CHEERS to Sleepy Emp. His two songs stand out for their remarkable quality both in terms of music samples and technique. "The New Beginning" cheered me up after a string of letdowns--I beg ye, Emp, turn that Frozen Flame segment at the end into its own full-length song! And you have also shown me the wisdom of "People Seized with Life" as a bold piece rather than a melancholy one. Very good form! However, a JEER within a CHEER for that horrid mangling of "Guardia Millennial Fair," my favorite Chrono Trigger song. The tempo was right on the money, but the composition is a travesty and trips all over itself.
Thanks. I was cautious at first about using CC and RD tracks in that mix, but to my mind in the end they served their purpose well. The Chrono Trigger movie would not be complete without some reference to other games of the series. And sorry for the Millennial Fair :D
Let me just reiterate my fondest wishes that you might consider fleshing out that Frozen Flame piece at the end into a full-length remix of its own. It dazzled me, in the finest tradition of the Hungarian waltzes of old. I had never conceived of the Flame's song against such a stunning backdrop. Beautiful work, Emp.
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My two cents on Chrono Symphonic (http://my.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=6638826&publicUserId=5474193).