Heh, Caliburn, don't waste your precious free time responding to matters to such limited importance.
Really, Tom has never been a member of my forums. Given our past relationship, that's pretty understandable, and it's a positive reminder of how that relationship has improved greatly that he would want to register at my forums.
Anyway, nostalgia aside, Tom was never a member, as far as I remember. He may have been back in 2003 or something, before I even used this forum (as in, he was a member of a previous SMC forum).
I think it's most likely the problem is on Tom's end. But since I run the show alone, it's hard to find time to test theories like that maybe the forum isn't sending confirmation emails, or whatever.
But I consider that unlikely given the people that occasionally drop in and ask for music without anyone emailing me and asking why accounts aren't working. I'm 99.9% certain Tom's email is the link.
I'll get my brother to test it tomorrow though, and get the final 0.1% certainty.
Back to your original post:
I'm always around (logging in once or twice a day usually), I just post less frequently than I once did. (I imagine that lack of posting is probably what you meant in the first place.) But it is nice to be missed, which is certainly more pleasant than the alternative!
To be honest, I'm the same. Although I certainly post more regularly than a lot of the 'regulars', I guess that's to do with my level of passion. Not that rarely-posting Tom doesn't have passion, or you for that matter, but you guys have a lot less free time than a lazy college boy such as myself.
But yeah, I have a lot less free time these days and find myself hardly posting at my forum, or this one, or the Space Quest.net one I run.
Yes, being missed is nice too.
As for being too busy, no, it isn't really that. I mean, obviously I have work and other obligations, but I don't feel those really get in the way that much. If anything, it's more the conflict between different ways I can spend what free time I have. That's an over-simplified explanation, but I decided the more long-winded version I originally wrote would diverge too much from this thread. I'll just add the clarification that I don't mean my interest in Sierra games and music has at all diminished (on the contrary, I have recently been replaying all the Space Quests, and having a blast) and certainly not in the QS community either, but rather that there are times when I am sorely tempted to post and nevertheless resist, simply because I know I'll take too long writing my replies. . . . So I guess that's a sort of busyness after all, but not the typical kind.
I totally understand, so don't feel bad about not giving your explanation.
I definitely don't have time to reply 'intimately' to every single thread I would wish to. It'd be a fulltime job, visiting every forum you like and posting an in-detail response!
I guess, Sierra and its' music has to come after work, study, family, whatever. And I'm finding it hard to get the balance right and to spend any time on Sierra, which is sad for me. I hate studying and not hearing music or talking to people about the oldies.
I guess another thing about posting on Sierra forums is how most Sierra forums (that I'm aware of, anyway) have lost a heap of quality and good membership, and in a sense made it a bit easier for me to get the balance right. And I guess when you feel apathetic about posting, the apathy spreads to all related (Sierra) forums, so I skim and say "maybe tomorrow", and end up posting a lot less than maybe I'd like. Anyway, as you say, offtopic.
Anyway, thanks for the recommendations. Sure, I'm open to good remixes even from games I haven't played (Sierra or non-Sierra), but obviously it will help me appreciate the remix as a remix if I have heard the game's original music. Though if anything occurs to you where the original music is unavailable to me, I'm still not that adverse to hearing only the remix.
Definitely. I'm not a fan of listening to game music of games I haven't played, for the simple reasons that not only is there enough game music from the games I have played/will play to last a lifetime of enjoyment, but also if you took every recommendation of what's good game music, you'd literally fill your hard disk 10 times over and never have any time to enjoy it.
Nostalgia is also powerful stuff, and to give it another name, the "glue" that binds your positive emotions about the game to its' soundtrack, so that when you hear the soundtrack you're not just listening to a piano solo, or drum, bass and guitar rock track, but *memories*, of a place, a scenario in some world you cared about. It can be escape, or reinforce your happiness in whichever place you're in at the time of listening.
Anyway, I digress.
Listening to original audio shouldn't be an issue if you've heard the music in the game, I would think. Unless you're unfamiliar with the piece because it's been years since you played it, or the game cuts it off very quickly, or whatever.
Mmm, yeah, the "Keeping up with Jones" remix is quite good. (That's actually a perfect example of a game I don't own, but from which I've heard some of the music thanks to QS, including the main theme on which the remix is based.) This does more of what I like to hear from a rearrangement or remix, making a song sound like it fits a different style so well, you'd think it might have been originally composed that way.
Heh! Those were the days, when I could say that. Though, it's just come true with Silpheed, a game I've never played but heard from QS recently.
But it's been years since I've done it previously (before the recent Silpheed example). I remember the days when I heard Tom's Laura Bow 2 "Yvette" track, waaaayyy before I played Dagger. Just makes you want to play the games, because the music draws you in.. ahh, memories.
Well, I don't think anyone would think Ken Allen composed the Jones theme like that, given all the various odd things Ariel (the remixer) did with it. But to me, a remix should be different, a bit anyway- just not fundamentally different, like those banal rock remixes of KQ/Kyrandia tracks, and such (though, the Kyrandia rock Medley is awesome of course
).
Wow, the Sega CD version of Willy Beamish really is very different. Actually I have slightly mixed feelings about it, despite its quality. I'll have to listen to it more to decide for sure my opinion of it.
It's good. I really like Willy's MT-32 soundtrack, and Rise of the Dragon's too- but I wish they'd digitalised the whole lot, just to see what they would have done differently. I guess the problem was (as well as time/money) a lot of the MT-32 instruments were weird, and it would be logistically impossible to hire 128 instruments and musicians (or 32, or however many the MT-32 uses in those games).
I like the Willy rock version, and don't think it's that different. I like the Grospixels one even more.
A better example of 'mixed feelings' about an opening theme (for me anyway) is the Rise of the Dragon SEGA CD intro. There's a reworked version that's pretty good, yet manages to lose some of the original feel and gusto, while adding new bits in that are really good. I'd like a happy medium between the MT-32 version and the SEGA digital one (I did it a while ago, actually).
Whereas with the WB track I wouldn't- I just like both in different ways and would include both on a soundtrack CD (with ROTD I'd enhance the MIDI in the same vein as the SEGA CD).
I heard and enjoyed some of the others ("Mordavian Shuffle", Roucairol & Tamagna's Willy Beamish Main Theme remix, etc.) in my last sampling of some of these files based on the earlier comments from you and Ari. But I will check out more of the ones you've just now mentioned some time tomorrow.
Cool
I recommended the good stuff.
Fun stuff! Looking at this list of remixes makes me think that we could really use more jazz re-arrangements of Sierra tunes that weren't originally designed as jazz but could work that way. But then, I'm fond of jazz, so I am biased.
Definitely. One thing anyone'll notice about the list is that remixing Sierra game music seems to basically be about 'rocking out' a track, no matter whether it's mildly rocky already, or something that doesn't lend itself well to rock (i.e. orchestral tracks).
Regardless of whether some tracks could be arranged well as a rock track, the majority aren't, or are done badly. Which begs the question- why don't people experiment with more styles/genres?
I personally think the answer is that remixers are generally not very talented, regular ones (like OCRemix or VGMix ones) anyway. Those remixes that are likely to be the 'choice finds' are those who've only remixed one or two tracks, because they care about the piece and are trying to do it justice. Interestingly enough, those remixers who aren't really regular remixers, but just wanted to do a specific track or a couple of tracks, generally don't do the 'rock out' style, but do things differently, like the Pool of Peace QFG3 track or the SQ3 Disturbed track.
Anyway. Enough from me.
Next Luke reply:
Did some more listening this afternoon. I could probably ramble about my impressions of each individual piece, but instead I'll just note that among several good rearrangements, a standout for me this time was "Candleborn" by The Wingless (located in the QfG1 section). Very different orchestration from the original Faerie Ring, but full to the brim with whimsy and enchantment.
Yes! I was really surprised. I had this notion in my head that all QFG1 remixes sucked (to my credit, there are a couple of really bad trance ones).
Making this list killed off a couple of misinformed prejudices, including the QFG1 remixes one.
I was impressed by the Luke Lenhart one (Erana's Hero), and even more so by the Candleborne one. Specifically, I seemed to remember thinking it was really bad, and wasn't even going to open it- yet when I played it, I thoroughly enjoyed it, which I can't say about plenty of Sierra remixes.
That's a breath of fresh air- someone with musical talent, who's using an original theme in a productive, clever way, not too different from the original while being different, not using a gene that would be cacaphonic with this kind of track, like rock, etc.
I wish more remixes were done that way.
- Alistair
