Messages

61

General Discussion / Re: Career changes and what not

« on: August 03, 2010, 08:36:10 pm »

Apparently, there is this feminist that believes sonata form is misogynist. In sonata form, you start off in the tonic, or 'home key'. you present and develop several themes, the first in the tonic and the 2nd in the dominant key. By the end of the movement, the last section of sonata form being the exposition, any theme not yet presented in tonic form will be transcribed to it in the exposition. this one lady thinks that represents a very old world male dominant society way of looking at things; that the tonic key is fighting the dominant, exuding dominance over it etc. Some people look to far into this stuff. I don't go around saying light entertainment musics' verse-chorus format is misogynistic just because the chorus is more 'lyrical' and 'expressive' than the verse....

That could possibly be the dumbest thing about music I've ever read. Who is this person so I know to avoid anything authored by her?

I once had aspirations to compose for a living too, and while I have written music from some games professionally, I know it won't be a career by which I can sustain myself. Nevertheless, it'll be a lifelong hobby, and I wouldn't mind trying my hand at a few symphonies or operas myself. chi, I don't want to discourage you, but you might think of pursuing something on the side that'll lead to a  stable source of income--and heck, for all I know you already have something lined up. But yeah, keep on composing.

Lot of people here interested in teaching or something in the education field--I think that's great. In a strange turn of fate, and even though I had never even considered the field, I am now on my way to becoming a teacher. Not even a music teacher, but just plain ol' regular elementary education. What's strange about it is that I've never felt more sure about anything in my life--becoming a teacher just feels 'right'. And believe me, I don't give the idea of 'fate' much credence. I'm just happy I was able to have had the opportunity to snag a job as an education assistant which is what led me to the crazy idea of being a teacher.

I'm not thrilled about going back to college after I already have a degree, but fortunately it's an accelerated program. And the student teaching practicum will be a breeze--I've been working closely with K-12 students in a variety of capacities (both as an assistant and a lead teacher) in both classroom and recreational environments literally almost every single day for the past year. I could walk into a K-5 classroom right now and take over. (Er, OK, not kindergarten, they're annoying. Fortunately the certification I'm going for is grades 1-8 which means I can't be coerced into doing a combined K-1 classroom. Victory!)

I'm also interested in adding an ESL (English as a second language) license as I continue my education past initial certification. Pretty much every group I've worked with so far had a high percentage of ESL/ELL students, and I enjoy that part of the job a lot. I'd also like to pursue a Masters, 'cause everyone likes more money. And who knows, as a music major, and with a teaching license, I should be able to earn music education certification with very few credits. It would be hard for me not to find a job with elementary + Master's, ESL, and music ed. certifications.

But honestly, the only real benefit I earned from the experience that I walk away with now will be a sense of achievement and a solid sense of confidence in my ability to learn, teach, or do anything I want to.

I'd say that's a pretty huge benefit. And someone with your experience would be a huge asset to the world of education--that's a lot of young lives you could potentially influence for the better. Either way, having the confidence to do what you want is the most valuable resource you have as an independent adult.

Then I'll get a position teaching English in middle or western Slovakia.

Out of curiosity, why Slovakia? That sounds quite exciting.

I'm very cynical when it comes to psychologists.  I'm sure they do wonders for other people, but they don't know how to handle me--and I've seen a lot of shrinks.

But have any of them been any good? Well, I'm a bit surprised about this trafficking thing too. Must not be my part of the Midwest (WI), pretty sure I'd of heard about something like that.

62

Dream Splash III - Chrono Break [2010] / Re: Chrono Break - Logo (& More to Come!)

« on: May 28, 2010, 06:58:50 pm »

Beautiful.

63

Dream Splash III - Chrono Break [2010] / Re: Chrono Break - The Conceptual Soundtrack

« on: May 16, 2010, 07:18:28 pm »

*Armodyne (was that a PSP or DS mech game?)

Armodyne was a tactical RPG for the PS2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tBwaVMUrMo

*Seventh Seal (darn, never even heard of this! What is it, even? The music sounds great though!)

It's a PC title released only in Asian territories (Taiwan in particular, I believe), and that's about all I know. Mitsuda did about 12 tracks for the game (the rest was by another composer). Sadly, not all the music from the game made it onto the OST, entitled "Sailing to the World". Mitsuda's contributions are seriously amazing, and even led to a piano album arranged by Masashi Hamauzu.
http://vgmdb.net/album/537
http://vgmdb.net/album/540

*Inuyaza Eleven (a soccer anime!?)

Actually, Inazuma Eleven started as a NDS RPG and has sparked somewhat of a phenomenon in Japan. The first game and its sequel have sold ridiculously well (considering this is an RPG based on soccer...), and a third game is already in the works. Here's a trailer for Inazuma Eleven 2, which features some great music. I expect a soundtrack to be released soon, and considering the series' popularity, I think we can probably expect a soundtrack for every game they release from now on. I just hope Mitsuda is forever retained as the series composer!

Furthermore, the game led to an anime adaptation, which also marks Mitsuda's first foray into anime scoring. The score itself reuses many themes from the original Inazuma Eleven, arranged by Procyon Studio employees Mitsuhiro Ohta (for the more rock-based tracks) and Natsumi Kameoka (for the orchestral tracks).

Am I missing any of the soundtracks you used?

Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (2006), PSP
World Destruction (2008), NDS--aka Sands of Destruction in N.A.
Arc Rise Fantasia (2009), Wii

Man, I've got to check all these out. This was actually a really effective pitch for Mitsuda's recent work Jormungand.

I'm glad you think so! That was totally the goal.

64

Dream Splash III - Chrono Break [2010] / Chrono Break - The Conceptual Soundtrack

« on: May 16, 2010, 01:03:57 pm »

Project Site - currently offline
Chrono Break Conceptual Soundtrack

Archived .zip file - LINKS AVAILABLE AS OF: 01.16.2011
Host #1
Host #2




This project for Dream Splash III serves not only to produce a rough concept for what my vision of Chrono Break might be like, but also to promote one of the finest composers currently working in the field of video game music: Yasunori Mitsuda.

I find it alarming how many people--even fans of Mitsuda's work--are unaware of his post-Xenosaga output. The fact is, he has been an active composer for the last decade, yet few seem to have noticed. This project is a conceptual soundtrack for Chrono Break where I, serving as the "music director" for the fictional game, have selected compositions of Mitsuda's and matched them to a rough scenario draft. The scenario itself is presented entirely through a tracklist of an imaginary game music album.

None of the music sampled here is from Mitsuda's well-known work--i.e., Chrono, Xenogears, Xenosaga, or anything else from Square. I expect that most listeners will be unfamiliar with the source material. The origin of all tracks can be found in the files' audio tags.

There are 50 mp3 tracks around 30-50 seconds each, encoded at a low VBR. They are spread across four "discs"--none of which are complete. I leave it to the listeners to fill in the gaps. Originally I had intended to add character themes, but decided not to--again opting to leave it to the listener.

Furthermore, all Dream Splash III participants may use the scenario laid out here as a point of origin for their own projects. I think that most will find themselves particularly inspired by the music itself, even if the scenario concepts don't prove to be interesting.

Most importantly, since this project is mostly to promote Mitsuda's work, the majority of the music featured here can be purchased through the Procyon Store at Mitsuda's official web site. There are a number of other vendors from which to purchase the various soundtracks sampled here, so let me know if there's something in particular you are having trouble finding.

Enjoy the music!

------------------------------------
(tracklist reproduced below for archival purposes)

d i s c . o n e
01   Prelude
02   Main Theme ~Time's Healing~   
05   Choras
06   Fairground
07   World Map -1026 A.D.-
08   Thief Hidden in the Black Forest
09   Everyday Encounter -Battle Theme-
10   Gift of the Seasons -Victory Fanfare-
15   Seaside Village -Laikk-
16   Fiserhman's Paradise
17   Traversing the Eternal Sea
23   Defense of Zenan Bridge
24   Porre's Counterattack
25   Grand Cathedral Manoria
26   Back Into the Gate

d i s c . t w o
01   Valley of the Shadow Beasts
02   Risky Encounter -Boss Battle-
03   World Map -440 A.D.-
05   Beneath the Summer Canopy
06   Village in the Mountains -Randel-
08   Faris Passage
09   Grave of Heroes
11   Guardia Castle -714 A.D.-
18   Mining Village -Hiraat-
19   World Map -1300 A.D.-
20   Living in Paradise -Montegray-
21   Medina Stronghold
22   Theme of the Holy Land

d i s c . t h r e e
01   Beyond the Reach of Time
02   Ruins of Zeal -10,000 B.C.-
03   Serious Encounter -Battle Theme II-
04   The Black-Cloaked Man Approaches
05   Ancient Forest -140,000,000 B.C.-
07   Decisive Encounter -Boss Battle II-
09   Cave of Wonders
10   Village of Memories -Palodium-
11   Girl on the Beach
12   El Nido Archipelago
13   Trials of the Dragon Tower
14   Battle With the Ancient Dragon
15   Wings of Time -Corridor of Dragons-
16   Remnants of the Future
17   World Map -3045 A.D.-

d i s c . f o u r
01   Proto Dome -1999 A.D.-
02   Apocalypse
03   Will of the Entity
10   World Map -99,999 A.D.-
11   Desert of the Demon God
14   Sunken Labyrinth
16   World Incarnation

65

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: Mitsuda might compose White Knight Chronicles 2

« on: April 15, 2010, 08:26:17 pm »

Yay.  His work just might resurface after all.

Resurface? I wasn't aware he ever left...

Also, how on earth did you come up with Mitsuda working on WKC2? That article suggests nothing of the sort, and Mitsuda has worked with Eminence a number of times.

66

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: An old CT interview?

« on: April 11, 2010, 11:50:31 am »

Were any of the CT team involved in Tobal No. 1 besides Toriyama?

Not that it would have had much influence as far as pulling names goes, Yasunori Mitsuda was music producer and one of the many composers for the Tobal No.1 soundtrack. Noriko Matsueda also did a track for the score.

67

General Discussion / Re: Does anyone else think OCRemix sucks?

« on: March 19, 2010, 10:38:32 pm »

(fyi to OCRemix artists: the fact that nobody understands your work doesn't make you an artist)

fyi, all artists who have submitted to OCR do not necessarily share the same philosophy about music and remixing.

I've said it before, and I guess I might as well say it again: OCR is a community of people, just like this one. Anyone can join and submit. There is no all-encompassing creed that must be agreed upon and accepted in order to post there. I know this because all the crap I hear about the site, such as that alluded to in this thread, is nothing I have ever personally encountered. That means we can't all be bad.

...which is unsurprising since they're 1) nerds and 2) "musicians", a lethal combination of narcissistic inferiority complexes.

As both a nerd and musician (or is it "musician"?), I suppose I'm obligated to take offense to this. :p

The perception that academic and critical interest in art somehow necessitates pretentiousness is unfortunately common. People in general get so incredibly defensive when facing criticism of their perceptions of music, it's almost funny. The problem is that those not educated in music philosophically put all their eggs into one basket.

One of the common perceptions I challenge is the matter of "composer x sounds like composer y". Usually, there's an easy way to prove them wrong. Just like authors, composers imbue their work (both consciously and unconsciously) with stylistic tendencies unique to their personal musical "persona" if I can be afforded to call it that. But even when challenged with this, the defendant immediately cries "subjective!" and falls back on the merits of their personal freedom of choice. Suddenly whether one composer sounds like another composer becomes an entirely subjective matter.

As long as person A believes "well, I think it sounds like this, therefore it's true", person B is pretentious and has a complex if he posits a challenge. The natural sciences possess the luxury of immunity to this sort of nonsense, but those of us who practice art seriously must accept the uninformed ramblings of even the most artistically handicapped individual or be chastised for our arrogance.

I don't begrudge anyone their views on music. In fact, I wish healthy and critical discussion of music was a more common element of the public consciousness. I think it would be invaluable as a tool of teaching in our schools. But more often than not, such discussion is limited to whether or not something is liked or not.

What bothers me most is that many people treat their enjoyment of particular music as a personal possession. That is, they seem to appreciate it more for how it augments their own personal image rather than on the merits of the music itself or the composer who constructed it.

So, let me ask a question to those of you who try to hunt down remixes of specific pieces of music: why do you want remixes?

I would guess that the reason you do it is because you want to hear a different interpretation of the original, because you feel that the original is quality source material for a new interpretation.

If, however, you're not looking for a new interpretation, then why isn't the original good enough? You just want a transcription with better or different synth? If that's the case, I've got great news for you: that's easy to do. It's easy to take existing material and republish it.

I'll end with another question, a very open-ended question: what do you want from remixes? What do you want to hear? What specific styles, specific pieces of music, specific instruments, etc.? If you have criticism of the music you've heard thus far, then you must therefore be capable of explaining your criticism.

68

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: Chrono Trigger's soundtrack, Mistuda the Great, etc

« on: February 03, 2010, 09:36:00 pm »

I didn't read your second "long" post yet as it seems to describe in detail your initial assertion; and all that music theory is redundant for me to read. Regardless, I agree. CC is leagues beyond Trigger. Actually, most of Mitsuda's post-Trigger work is beyond Trigger, as that's just how it works with composers (unless your name is Nobuo Uematsu and you suffer from a rare condition where your style actually regresses over time...). Mitsuda stated in an interview somewhere that his approach to Cross' soundtrack (focusing on folk-based music) was his own idea, and Kato enthusiastically agreed. Like you said, there really is no other proper word for the Cross score aside from "masterpiece".

But, people have their favorites. Most people who enjoy the CT soundtrack don't even realize Mitsuda is still an active composer. Hell, most people don't even know he wasn't the only one who composed for CT.

Since we're on the subject, and since you brought it up, Mitsuda should really be quite proud of his debut work. It's pretty damn good for a debut, not necessarily because it's good (which, sure, it is), but because it was so fresh for it's time. The future world map theme, Zeal kingdom, the forest theme, the ending theme "To Far Away Places"... all remarkably progressive works for their time.

However, if Mitsuda has to be embarrassed about anything, it's that battle theme. :p Good thing they had Noriko Matsueda do the initial version of the boss theme. As it turns out, battle music is often cited as Mitsuda's weakness by supposed fans. Well, most of those same "fans" obviously haven't heard anything past Trigger. His battle music wasn't terribly strong in Trigger, but he had a good command of it by Cross; and his battle music in Tsugunai and Seventh Seal were exceptional.

I think I'm done with my tangents for now. Till next time...

69

General Discussion / Re: Arc Rise Fantasia

« on: January 18, 2010, 07:02:50 pm »

Then I heard Yasunori Mitsuda did the sound and soundtrack for it and got really hooked.

I'm listening to the soundtrack. While not the best work of his, it's still very good. Has a very dramatic feel to it from a lot of the tracks. Of course, I can't find any sources with the FULL thing yet. But from what I've heard, I love it.

Yasunori Mitsuda did only a portion of the soundtrack. Most was done by Procyon Studio in-house composer Shunsuke Tsuchiya. Additional music was done by Yuki Harada. There's even an arranged Yoko Shimomura track, brought over from Luminous Arc 2.

The full soundtrack will be released on March 3:
http://vgmdb.net/album/17313

The game apparantly comes out June 2010 and is from the same group as Sands Of Destruction as well!

Both games are developed by image epoch but have different key staff. Here's a rundown of both:


-Arc Rise Fantasia-

Director & Scenario:
Hiroyuki Kanemaru (Tales of Symphonia)

Character Design:
Ken'ichi Yoshida (Eureka Seven, Overman King Gainer, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack)

Music:
Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, Soma Bringer, Arc Rise Fantasia, Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven 2, Tsugunai: Atonement)
Shunsuke Tsuchiya (Luminous Arc 2, Luminous Arc 3, Arc Rise Fantasia)
Yuki Harada


-Sands of Destruction-

Director:
Kyoki Mikage (Luminous Arc)

Scenario:
Masato Kato (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Baten Kaitos, Ninja Gaiden II, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XI: RotZ)

Character Design:
Kunihiko Tanaka (Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I)

Music:
Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, Soma Bringer, Arc Rise Fantasia, Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven 2, Tsugunai: Atonement)
Shunsuke Tsuchiya (Luminous Arc 2, Luminous Arc 3, Arc Rise Fantasia)
Kazumi Mitome (Luminous Arc, Arc Rise Fantasia)

Producer:
Yoichi Shimosato (Shining Force EXA, Shining Force Feather)

-------------------------------

Annnnnnyway, I'm quite excited for it. But having to wait for year-long localizations is getting really old.

70

General Discussion / Re: Nomura hints major game announcement in 2010

« on: January 07, 2010, 06:29:52 pm »

It better not be Chrono. Nomura belongs nowhere near the series.

71

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: RD Lynx's Theme and CC Fate's Theme

« on: January 06, 2010, 11:02:44 pm »

I see.

Ask a simple question...

72

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: RD Lynx's Theme and CC Fate's Theme

« on: January 04, 2010, 11:55:41 pm »

Nope.

73

General Discussion / Re: Help Identifying a Chrono (maybe) Song?

« on: January 01, 2010, 01:13:37 pm »

It's "Traces of Soul", the end credits theme from Onimusha 3. The part at 5:05 in particular is from "Samonsuke's Theme", which was composed by Akari Kaida (Breath of Fire III, Dino Crisis, Mega Man Battle Network 1 & 5, Rockman and Forte, Luminous Arc 1 & 2, and much more). I'm not yet familiar enough with the rest of the score to cite the other pieces used in this track, but rest assured it's all from Onimusha 3.

http://vgmdb.net/album/871

Don't take this the wrong way, but you have to be very imaginative to come up with the stuff you did. Don't worry though, the more you listen to music the less you will hear similarities where none exist--and the more you will hear them when they DO exist.


EDIT: That AMNH video is very cool.

74

Chrono / Gameplay Casual Discussion / Re: Capcom=Fan love and Squenix=Killer of Fan's hopes

« on: November 03, 2009, 06:42:07 pm »

First of, Breath of Fire. Capcom hates it. And therefore, they fail.

Second, Capcom hates its own composers, past and present. But especially past. Even when re-releasing old music, they don't individually credit their composers. And half the time when they do, they use an lias. And sometimes they don't credit them at all. That's strike 2 for Capcom.

Third, Capcom makes a million Mega Man and RE games and SF games because they sell well, not because they are paying debt to their fans. And Mega Man stopped being good after X3.

In my eyes, firing Keiji Inafune would solve at least 2 of the above problems...

75

General Discussion / Re: Xenogears OCR remix album just released!

« on: October 20, 2009, 10:51:02 am »

I understand your distaste and consequent disparagement over the album and remixing in general, Lord J.

However, you almost made it seem like this album was created for the sole purpose of destroying original's integrity and defiling Mitsuda's good name. :p I guess I can only really speak for myself, but that certainly wasn't my particular goal... and I'm pretty sure it wasn't anyone else's, either.

Anyway, I, like you, am an adamant fan of Mitsuda's music. He's a major influence on my own compositional style, and it was rewarding to be able to join this album and make an arrangement of a track that probably would have been left untouched otherwise. I don't think I planned Forest of the Black Moon in any particular way before starting; I merely listened, reflected, and tried to recreate the piece in way that felt meaningful to myself as well as the context it fulfills in the game.  I drew out all the material I could from the original, and as I began I knew right away that this would be a portrait of austerity; contemplative, inward, and reflective. I guess if that's unbridled self-indulgence, then I'm guilty as charged. Furthermore, if I failed to offer anything new in terms of interpretation, then that's my failure as an arranger. But, I approach Mitsuda's music--all my favorite composers' music--with utmost reverence. After all, they together are the reason I got into music in the first place.

Also, I urge you to reconsider your grouping of the arrangers as part of a singular, defined OCR machine. Like the Compendium, it's a community of different minds with different tastes. Not everyone there is an arranger, or even a musician. Not everyone who IS an arranger gets posted to OCR. And not all arrangers have a goal of getting posted to OCR in the first place. Most of us do it because we love game music. Me, I do it not only because I love game music--and I could go on for ages about why I love game music--but also because it's an opportunity to thank my favorite composers in a sincere and meaningful way. (And I could go on doing arrangements for the rest of my life and it still wouldn't be thanks enough in my view)

Again, I can't speak for everyone, but I'm reasonably sure all the other arrangers featured were just as passionate about the music as I. I understand none of the music is to your liking--but make no mistake, we are fans too.