Film
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Events, Film, Game Music
Beep Documentary Preview to Debut at Game Music Connect 2015
August 24, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Beep Documentary Preview to Debut at Game Music Connect 2015 Share this
News announced for the upcoming Game Music Connect 2015 conference in London on September 15th is that Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound will be premiering an exclusive preview screening of it’s expansive look at gaming sound and music through the years. The preview, Beep: Big in Japan, will look at several different Japanese composers, such as:
- Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy)
- Yoko Shimomura (Mario & Luigi RPGs, Kingdom Hearts)
- Hisayoshi Ogura (Taito sound director behind Legend of Kage, Ninja Warriors, Darius series)
- Shinji Hosoe (Namco sound director turned SuperSweep music producer: Ridge Racer, Street Fighter EX2,3)
- Tenpei Sato (Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, Valis, the Disgaea series)
- Yoshino Aoki (Mega Man series, Breath of Fire series)
- Michiko Naruke (Wild Arms series)
- Koichi Namiki (Daytona Racing, Virtua Fighter, Sega Sound Team band)
Documentary director Karen Collins, associate professor for the Games Institute at the University of Waterloo, will be presenting her exclusive interviews with “Japan’s game music royalty”, all as a preview to the full documentary’s release in Spring of 2016. More about the project cane be read about on their website, as well as the Game Music Connect website, which still has tickets available for the show at The Purcell Room at London’s Southbank Centre.
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Film, Miscellaneous
A Look Back at the Beat-Down Beats of Mortal Kombat: The Movie
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the release of film adaption of Mortal Kombat, which blew away screens on August 18th, 1995 and proved that game-based movies weren’t destined to be steaming piles of crap. (Its sequel, unfortunately, undid a lot of that progress but thankfully we’ve also seen other media depict MK favorably) It’s been two decades, and I still have a hard time thinking of any actor that could possibly portray the creepy badassedness of Shang Tsung more than Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, or a better fight scene in a game-based-movie than Johnny Cage vs. Scorpion.
In terms of the game itself, Mortal Kombat never had more than a handful of themes within the three titles it’d had by the point of the movie’s release that really stuck with me too much, other than tracks such as Mortal Kombat 2‘s “The Dead Pool” or Mortal Kombat 3‘s “The Pit”. The movie, on the other hand, sported an original soundtrack that really changed both how I felt about music in fighting games, and introduced me to some new genres of music I hadn’t explored before. It’s that music that I want to give props to after 20 years.
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Film, Game Music, Reviews
PIXELS Original Soundtrack (Review)
Pixels is a new Hollywood blockbuster that features several classic video games including Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Q-bert to name a few. The movie is getting two soundtrack releases in and I had the opportunity to listen to a copy of the score. The score was composed by Henry Jackman, who wrote the music for super hero films X-men: First Class, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Big Hero 6. He also wrote the score for the animated video game film Wreck it Ralph, and he has also written the score to the upcoming game Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End which I can’t wait to hear.
Prior to listening to the score I was curious to find out if it offered symphonic representations of some classic video games, or something entirely different. Read on to find out what I thought of the score.
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Featured, Film, Game Music
Viking Guitar’s New Album Danse Macabre III Releases Today
October 24, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Viking Guitar’s New Album Danse Macabre III Releases Today Share this
In the mood for some Halloween themed remixes? The newest Danse Macabre album from Viking Guitar may have exactly what you are looking for. If you follow the videogame cover music of Viking Guitar, you may be familiar with their tradition of releasing a horror music album every October around Halloween. Each of the previous Danse Macabre volumes has covered music from horror games, horror movies, and even music of other bands. This latest entry aims to follow in that tradition.
This year’s new album, Danse Macabre III, includes covers of music from The Ring, Dead Space, Silent Hill, and Goosebumps. As with the previous entries, a wide collection of music artists and groups are contributing tracks to the album. A decent mix of music styles and genres are present as well, including classical, rock, and chiptune. This year’s contributors include the Videri String Quartet, Chernabogue, and Phonetic Hero among others. If you’re a fan of music from horror games and movies, this is an album you’ll want to check out. Danse Macabre III and the previous Danse Macabre volumes can all be found on the Viking Guitar Bandcamp page.
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Chip Music, Film, Game Music, Indie Music
Check Out ‘The Players’ Score: A Videogame Music Documentary’
September 6, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Check Out ‘The Players’ Score: A Videogame Music Documentary’ Share this
This seems to be the time of year for game music Kickstarter campaigns. In addition to the previously covered Beep game audio documentary, another full length film titled The Players’ Score: A Videogame Music Documentary is looking for support through a Kickstarter campaign. Unlike the Beep documentary, The Players’ Score will be focused specifically on the music by game composers, chiptune artists, and videogame music cover artists. The documentary will also be taking a look at the culture and community surrounding game music.
The primary goal of the Kickstarter is to help fund the film team’s expenses as they travel to locations like MAGFest (Music and Game Festival) and to international locations in order to interview composers and artists and to cover game music events. Hitting the first stretch goal will allow the team to fly out to Japan for even more interviews.
Cast members in the film include Austin Wintory, Jesse Buddington, Nate Horsfall, and bands like Urizen and The Megas. The documentary is being narrated by Arin “Egorapter” Hanson and will have an original soundtrack composed by Jake “Virt” Kaufman. Backer rewards for the project include physical copies of the soundtrack, Blu-ray copies of the film, and special Skype calls with the cast and crew. If a documentary on the community and culture of videogame music sounds interesting to you, definitely take a look at this Kickstarter project.
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Chip Music, Featured, Film, Game Music, Indie Music, Music Production
Game Audio Documentary ‘Beep’ is Looking For Backing on Kickstarter
Creators of a new game documentary have launched a Kickstarter. The project titled Beep is intending to take a look at the history of game music and sound. Everything from the old school sounds of arcade games all the way to the games of today. The focus isn’t just on the music of these games. The documentary will also be an exploration of audio design, voice work, and the use of chiptune and other game sound technology outside of the gaming medium. A book will also accompany the documentary to supply more detailed information about the various subjects covered in the film.
There are already plans for interviews with major members of the game audio community. Raising money through Kickstarter will aid the creators in being able to travel and interview composers and sound designers. Several composers have already been named for interviews including Tommy Tallarico, Winifred Phillips, Shota Nakama, Peter McConnell, and many more.
Rewards for backers include copies of the documentary, book, soundtrack, t-shirts, and many other physical rewards. The Kickstarter has already raised over $15,000 of the needed $40,000 pledge goal. If this sounds like a project you’d like to see made, definitely check this Kickstarter out.
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Film, Game Music, Music Production
VGO Expands Operations With Announcement of SoundtRec
April 23, 2014 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on VGO Expands Operations With Announcement of SoundtRec Share this
The Video Game Orchestra (or VGO, for short) has been putting on stellar shows in either rock band or full symphonic orchestra formats for many years now. They’ve played many venues within Boston and have also traveled across the US to bring their unique musical stylings to other conventions, concerts, and events.
The group, led by Shota Nakama, has expanded its scope in the last year. Alongside the task of mixing down their first album (Live at Symphony Hall … review coming soon!), the VGO has also participated in the performance, recording, and mixing of some great game soundtracks. Most recently, and perhaps most notably, was their work on Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. They’ve also worked on God Eater 2, Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble, and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. They’ve also done strings work for IMERUAT’s second album, Propelled Life.
To let the world know that Boston’s premier orchestra now has studio capabilities, they’ve launched SoundtRec. What is SoundtRec? To quote directly from the site:
SoundtRec Boston Offer:
– ANY INSTRUMENTATION & ANY GENRE
We will coordinate from vocalists, string quartet to full orchestra, choir, rhythm section to big band in various styles of music – Any instrumentation and any genre that meets your projects’ demand.– REMOTE RECORDING
No time to fly over to Boston? It is not a problem because we offer remote recording! You can be at any place with internet, even at your comfortable home studio to monitor the sessions and give us feedback.– COMPLETE BUYOUT & AFFORDABLE RATE
We offer an affordable rate and complete buyout. Please contact us for the details!– PROVIDING EXTRA SUPPORT
Not only musicians, but we do also have world-class arrangers, orchestrators, copyists, lyricist and engineers available for you to support your musical creativity!This is certainly great news for both independent game studios that want high quality audio, as well as traditional studios that are looking for a new venue to record their work.
The site offers examples of SoundtRec’s recordings, including their work on LR:FFXIII and the Live at Symphony Hall album that was published just last week. Be sure to check it out!
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