"Into the Score" podcast blends VGM with academia

In my regular perusal of the various blog trackers, I came across one blog/podcast yesterday that was very unique, so I was surprised that I hadn't heard of it before. Kenley "siven7" Kristofferson's Into the Score is dubbed "the only podcast devoted to the academic study of video game music," which is a hell of a format and one worth checking out as soon as possible.

In the second part of Into the Score's tenth episode (entitled "...to the Orchestra!"), Kenley gives a great overview of arranger Jeremy Robson and Robson's Final Fantasy VII "Philharmonic Suite", the first and fifth parts of which are hosted at OverClocked ReMix. Included are a rundown of Robson's musical influences, a reading of djpretzel's writeup for the first movement at OCR, and complete playthroughs of all five movements in the suite.

Kenley's a little rough on the delivery but no more so than me during my time with college radio, plus he's got great energy, an earnest respect for video game music, and genuine knowledge about the technicalities and structure of music. He also claims to play a mean euphonium, having studied at the University of Manitoba. And he sounds like a nice guy. If you've heard Mazedude's voice before, this guy is just as good natured. (Ironically, he also looks like Makke.) He's got a good voice, and, with more poise on his delivery, could quickly be mistaken for someone on NPR or XM Classics.

For those that aren't into music theory discussions or referencing the roots of classical music, Into the Score's subject matter may feel difficult to access, at least for a bum such as myself. But whatever subject matter goes over my head pales in comparison to the enjoyment of what does remain accessible to me, that being a sincere appreciation of the medium of video game music. New episodes of the show come out infrequently enough that one can't set their watch to it, which impedes the building of a large audience. But don't sleep on Into the Score and this podcast's unique and enlightening format; you may just learn something. Give it that look.

NPR covers Video Games Live in Washington, DC

While attending Video Games Live in Washington, DC this past June, I saw some young reporters from NPR interviewing fans for an upcoming story. Checking around the web, I finally caught onto the story, having been released about a week ago by Benjamin Frisch in both written and broadcast form. They're two different presentations of the story, so check them both out.

Joystiq's Justin McElroy (employing the royal "we) had me laughing with his observation of one portion of the broadcast version:

We have to admit to being a little bit perturbed by the tone of the reporter, who appears to be mystified by the idea that anyone would be in the seats. "Why is video game music so compelling to these people?" he wonders aloud, the disdain deliciously audible.

Sure, one could interpret it that way, but I'll give Ben the benefit of the doubt, as the tone of his question is mean to evoke what a casual listener may be thinking, and may not necessarily be his own point of view. We may never know, but I also don't lose any sleep over it.

OverClocked ReMix's djpretzel was interviewed for the article, but in the final cut NPR went for a generalized angle on video game fandom and the increased attraction it's brought to the orchestra rather than the rise of the profile of video game music. More's the loss, I say, but I have my preferences. :-D


Tommy Tallarico reasoned that Beethoven would have been a video game composer, which has gained some criticism from various people who've encountered the article. While Tommy was wildly speculative in his assertion, when you think about it, it is really that far out there a scenario? Not to merely be biased toward video game music, but when one thinks about the decline of the traditional symphony in terms of attendance and cultural relevance, you realize that orchestration remains healthy in the mediums of film, television, and video games.

As mentioned, the story is still a good read and listen, even if the overall tone of the piece is very much in layman's terms. Give it a look and see what you think. And the next time Video Games Live or PLAY! or Eminience shows up in your town, make every effort you can to head on out there and partake in the experience.

Maximo's Bombos vs. Everything published by Tokyopop

I first met Maximo V. Lorenzo at MAGFest 5 this past January. I was hoping to sell OC ReMix t-shirts in the game room, and Mustin was nice enough to give me some room next to him as he sold CDs from OneUp Studios and others. The most cringe-worthy moment we had was when a fan of OneUp Studios came by to talk, and praised Mustin, but subsequently mentioned that he had obtained all of OneUp Studios' albums illegally. When the guy left, Mustin said under his breath something to the effect of "Yeah, thanks a lot buddy." Then we laughed at how the guy had the sheer nerve to actually tell him he stole the albums. Oy!

Sitting on my right though was this artist with a killer portfolio. Tons of original artwork as well as excellent stuff from the worlds of manga, anime, comics and video games. We got to talking, and he showed me some cool art of his, including his take on the characters of Mother 3. He also had a REALLY badass black & white Hellboy print that just caught my eye and I knew I had to part with my money. I promised him I'd hit the ATM and be sure to make the purchase. None of this "Yeah, I'll buy something maybe" BS. A couple of bucks later and I was the proud owner of a fine piece of art.

As you've figured, the guy's name was Maximo, and I knew he had the talent to make it in the art game. And it's not just hollow sentiment like "Yeah, I knew he'd make it." I didn't know he'd "make it" make it. I just said I knew he had the talent to make it. For a pessimist like me, I know that many talented aritists (visual and musical) will unfortunately never get their due, even for someone like Max who's an alumnus of The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art.

But in the time since I met Maximo at MAGFest, he's since helped Mustin by providing some cool art for OneUp Studios' free web releases, with one piece done for Mustin's tracks, as well as a pair done for the OUS EP's Club Game Music and the swanky Bad Dudes.


But now, he's got a much bigger milestone realized with the release of his first full professional work via Tokyopop entitled Bombos vs. Everything. It's been in the works for a long time, and you can pick it up at fine bookstores everywhere. (I'm partial to Borders, as I used to work there and their customer service policies are better.) If you're a fan of manga and anime (hey, who knows; enough support could eventually get the property picked up by an animation studio), definitely get a hold of Bombos vs. Everything, pimp it to friends and get the word out. Max'll be glad you did.

Cheaters in the 21st Century

The Slate usually has some good reads about just about anything in popular culture, including the occasional pieces on gaming. A recent article by Luke O'Brien on the evolution of cheating in video games entitled "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, B, A" was pretty interesting, though I wish more depth was permissible for how cheating functions in this day and age, especially the measures given to eliminate it. Still a good read that you should check out.

And as mentioned, be sure to "compare Contra with World of Warcraft." Hidden plugs? I'm cheap like that.

Tom Clancy Really Happy With How Latest Video Game With His Name On It Came Out

This man looks really happy. That's because, I'm really looking forward to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Black Ops, and he's gonna get my cash. Excellent coverage of this pending business transaction is provided by The Onion.

And here's a free track from OC ReMix arranging Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear; classic stuff with Jared Hudson, who (if all goes well) will eventually score a future Tom Clancy-named interactive cash cow.

IGN posts list of best ten 8-bit soundtracks; the universe laughs

IGN has started a new weekly column called "Top 10 Tuesday," in which they, predictably, post a new top ten list of some sort every Tuesday. Their very first list, published this week on the 8th, is entitled "Top Ten Tuesday: Best 8-Bit Soundtracks," covering, among other systems, the NES and Sega Master System:

We realize that, in addition to the Nintendo Entertainment System, the 8-bit console era also included the Sega Master System. And while we considered titles like Phantasy Star and Wonder Boy, the truth is the best Master System soundtrack isn't as good as the tenth best NES game.

Erm, scratch that. But anyway! The list!

1. Super Mario Bros.


2. Castlevania


3. The Legend of Zelda


4. Contra


5. Shadowgate


6. Punch-Out!!


7. Dr. Mario


8. Wizards & Warriors


9. Blades of Steel


10. Metroid

Their honorable mentions include such vastly inferior soundtracks as Mega Man II's.

But the very best part about the article is that IGN decided to include samples of each game's music to show why each game deserved to be on their list. I personally was unsure that Contra should rank as high as fourth, but after hearing their audio sample, the seven-note title theme, I was convinced. Likewise, the song that comes to my mind when I think of Dr. Mario? Why, the game over theme, of course!

NOTE: The list says that the #8 game, Wizards & Warriors, was developed by Acclaim. This is incorrect; the game was actually developed by Rare (the soundtrack was done by resident composer Dave Wise). But after coming up with such a well-reasoned and carefully researched piece, I think we can let that one little mistake slide.

Dwelling of Duels: July 2007 Results (Donkey Kong)

I haven't formally introduced Dwelling of Duels around here yet (of course, I have during my radio shows, but the blog is new territory). It's a usually monthly compo where artists are encouraged to predominantly perform the arrangement live, usually via live instruments rather than sequencing, gravitating toward rock. \m/

Every month at DoD features a different theme based around the world of gaming. Usually franchises, occasionally with broader concepts, always with cool customized game art (see below). Songs are released anonymously near the end of the month, accompanied by a listening party for community regulars. Voting takes place in the following days via a point spread of the voter's choice, and on the 1st of the new month the results are unveiled along with the new theme for next month.

So just a quick one with this past month's results, where anything from the Donkey Kong franchise of games was up for grabs.


There are so many new faces that first come to light into the video game music arrangement community via The Shizz's Minibosses message board and Dwelling of Duels, so it's no surprise that a relative newcomer like Scared Sim was able to walk away with the gold, with an arrangement of Donkey Kong Country's "Aquatic Ambience" called "Swimming Monkey".

I'd include direct links, but then you wouldn't visit the actual site. Results follow below, and keep an eye out for DoD's current PC Month competition for the month of August :

Scaredsim - Donkey Kong Country - Swimming Monkey
Paragon - Donkey Kong Country - Fibonacci Factory
thesamareaye, aklmfreak - Donkey Kong Land - Templo de la Fantasía
Fourth Place (tie): Bobby Winston, pingosimon - DK: King of Swing (GBA) - Jumping and Swingin'
Fourth Place (tie): Kodiak Attack - Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong 3 (NES) - Grizzlies Crush Rolling Barrels and Beehives
Sixth Place: Corax, Zachariasmith, Ryan Bennet - Donkey Kong Country 2 - Stickbrush Brambles
Seventh Place (tie): CB+ - Donkey Kong Country 3 - Unrefinery
Seventh Place (tie): tibone - Donkey Kong (NES) - Monkey can´t tune!! Monkey need bananas!!
Seventh Place (tie): Vegeroth, Battlerager - Donkey Kong Country 2 - Tides of Darkness
Tenth Place: AFM SwordBreaker - Donkey Kong Country 2 - Instigating Whispers

SGX interviewed re: ICO by Tales of Shadows

Alex Rowe (not to be confused for this OTHER Brit) of the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus blog Tales of Shadows interviewed Danny "SGX" Adler yesterday as part of the blog's ongoing series of "Player Interviews," where celebrity fans of the two Sony/Fumito Ueda hits discuss their own expressions of fandom.

SGX was questioned on his love of ICO, as brought to life by his arrangement of the soundtrack's "heal" and "continue" known as "Save Me". ("Save Me" is freely available in an edited form at OverClocked ReMix, while a wholly original track comprised of the non-VGM bits of the arrangement called "Saved" is available for purchase on SGX's fourth album Synesthetic.)

Danny shed light on how arranging video game music was responsible for building his fanbase, and even suggested that he may not be entirely done with video game arrangements. Always good news to me. Check the interview out for a good read.

Destiny releases double-album "Inside Myself / Once Upon a Time"

Although Helen Trevillion hasn't been around the OCR community for a while now, she has always been highly regarded for the Enya-quality vocal and instrumental work in her submissions to the site under the ReMixer name Destiny.

Helen's first album is a 2-CD endeavor via her personal label Faefly Records, with a total of 22 tracks. The first disc is called Inside Myself and contains the bulk of the songs on the album, while the second disc is entitled Once Upon a Time, having a fairy tale theme. You can buy the whole shebang at her CD shop. Google Checkout only works for orders within the UK at the moment, unfortunately.

The price is a bit hefty at 8.49 GBP (~$17 USD), especially with international shipping if you're in the US (another 2.00 GBP, for a total of about $21 USD), but most people who have heard her work will agree that it's worth it for 2 CDs of Destiny goodness. In addition, each copy will be personally signed by Helen, with an optional message of your choice. Here are a couple previews from her site in case you're still not convinced:


Inside Myself


Once Upon a Time

There are also additional full-length samples available on Helen's MySpace.

Better grab a copy while you can though: there are only 100 in print.

Doujin Spotlight #1: Saitama Saisyu Heiki (S.S.H.)

So CHz thought it would be clever to get up all in my grill/step on my turf by talking about S.S.H.'s original work, while still including enough info about him in his writeup that a second entry would be practically pointless.

But I'm not going to let him stop me. No sir, not today. I'll post about S.S. flippin' H. whenever I durn well please. And now with that out of the way, onto actual content...

Here we see the S.S.H. in his natural habitat of ROCK'N. The S.S.H.'s sound is very distinct, with complex sequenced electric guitar and synth "wank" a common identifier in the species. Anyone who's heard the S.S.H. could most likely spot it from an arbitrary number of miles away. Here we see one of the most famous specimens:


"The Decisive Battle"
Final Fantasy VI (Super Famicom)

Okay, so silly nature show parodies aside, suffice it to say S.S.H.'s style is fairly distinguishable. However, it's also...shall we say...consistent, perhaps to a fault. To give an analogy, you could call S.S.H. the DragonForce of doujin. That is to say, it's definitely awesome for rocking out to when you're in the mood, but after a while it starts to wear on you, and you begin to notice the structure and instrumentation of his songs becoming predictable and formulaic, despite the impressive variety in source material from classic favorites such as Castlevania and Final Fantasy to slightly more obscure titles like Shin Megami Tensei and Super Robot Wars.

Of course, there are exceptions, such as these poignant arrangements:


"Red Tint"
Atlach-Nacha (PC)


"Home Sweet Home"
Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom)


S.S.H. has (at least to my knowledge) released only one solo video game album, entitled "Underworld Shade Saitama," which is by now undoubtedly available only on Japanese auction sites. No need to despair however, as most of his work is still available on his site.

As to his current whereabouts, unfortunately I must admit I'm completely in the dark on that subject. But hopefully he'll resurface again someday and give all us doujin fans another big dose of ROCK'N.

8-Bit Artist, 16-Bit Genocide

Chris "8-Bit Artist" Olan is out of steam for now. As he announced this past June, he's gonna be going on an indeterminate hiatus once the upcoming video game music and art showcase 16-Bit Genocide goes down. That's Saturday, August 25th in Baltimore, MD. If I wasn't possibly headed to TooManyGames with Mad-Gear the following day in Reading, PA, I'd be there.

Garish looking promotional poster, but it gets the job done. :-D On top of the great bands there (The Protomen, Entertainment System, Powerglove, Anamanaguchi, This Place is Haunted and Temp Sound Solutions), there are gonna be some artists there also bringing the nostalgia, including Chris.

Now every time Chris posts something on his DeviantArt page, I check it out, but his recently posted piece from Super Mario All-Stars' Super Mario Bros. 3 blew me away:


Pretty swanky, eh? And many of those are configurable pieces. Read up on it.

Wait. 3 fireballs at once??? Blasphemy!

I kid, enjoy.

Live VGM #1: S.S.T. Band

You may have heard of The Black Mages. Formed in 2003 with, among other people, three Square Enix composers (including Nobuo Uematsu), TBM is the closest thing Square Enix has to an official band. Other game companies (especially during the 90's) have had bands featuring one or more in-house composer, like Konami's Kukeiha Club and Taito's Zuntata, but TBM is probably the most prominent modern example.

Live performances of VGM have been not necessarily commonplace in Japan, but certainly more frequent than in the United States and elsewhere. However, in the past few years, there have been an increasing number of video game concerts like PLAY! A Video Game Symphony and Video Games Live. So, I figured it might be kind of cool to look at other, earlier VGM performances, including those by in-house bands and those like VGL. I mentioned the S.S.T. Band in "Composer Spotlight #3: Koichi Namiki," so that's as good a place to start as any.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The S.S.T. Band was one of the first, possibly the first, official developer band, starting way back in 1988. "S.S.T." stood for "Sega Sound Team," befitting the fact that, of the six original members, three were Sega composers (Hiroshi Miyauchi, Jouji Iijima, and Koichi Namiki). A fourth member, Kimitaka Matsumae, would later become a Sega composer, as well as would two future band members who were not part of the original lineup, Hisanori Kumamaru and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi.

I was going to make an info file about the S.S.T. Band's members, discography, etc., but their Wikipedia article is very thorough, probably more thorough than anything I would have written, so I'll pimp that out instead. The only full arrangement albums are MEGA SELECTION I & II and BACK IN THE S.S.T. BAND!!; all of the others contain both arrangements by the S.S.T. Band and original soundtracks.


An interesting thing to note is that every single S.S.T. Band member had a stage name, most of which were taken from Sega arcade games:

Jouji Iijima: GALAXY (Galaxy Force)
Shingo Komori: BURNER (After Burner)
Hisanori Kumamaru: SPLASH Wave ("Splash Wave" is the name of a track from OutRun)
Kimitaka Matsumae: HARRIER (Space Harrier)
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi: R360 (refers to the R360 arcade cabinet)
Hiroshi Miyauchi: Hiro
Koichi Namiki: Mickey or Pretty K.N.
Masato Saito: TURBO-kun (Turbo OutRun)
Takehiko Tanabe: THUNDER (Thunder Blade)

But the best part of the S.S.T. Band, even moreso than their rockin' arrangements, is their appearance. Remember when sleeveless vests, ponytails, bandanas, and sunglasses used to be cool on musicians?


"After Burner" (arrangement of the track of the same name from the game of the same name)
video from the S.S.T. Band Live! DVD (1990 concert)
Jouji "GALAXY" Iijima: Guitar (red)
Kimitaka "HARRIER" Matsumae: Keyboards (right)
Hiroshi "Hiro" Miyauchi: Keyboards (left)
Koichi "Mickey" Namiki: Guitar (yellow)
Masato "TURBO-kun" Saito: Bass
Takehiko "THUNDER" Tanabe: Drums

The band's arrangements always strayed close to the original, usually being covers with the occasional solo thrown in to retain the feel of the originals, all of which were from Sega arcade, Master System, or Genesis games. Since the band's instruments were guitars, keyboard, and drums, they usually picked upbeat songs that could easily be converted to synthrock, like the title theme from After Burner seen above. However, as the material dictated, they were not above slower, jazzier pieces like their medley of Galaxy Force tracks and ballads like their cover of "Last Wave," the high scores theme from OutRun.

Other videos from their 1990 concert on YouTube are "Magical Sound Shower" from OutRun and an After Burner medley featuring other tracks from the game other than the title track. One last video, from no concert I can identify, is a cover of "Like the Wind" from Power Drift. Soak up the retro.

Cave Story creator releases simple shoot 'em up, Guxt

I'm ironically not much of a gamer, so anything having to do with actual game releases I'm bound to be slow on. DarkeSword recently made mention that Cave Story creator Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya released a new, even simpler free homebrew shmup called Guxt. (Have Japanese characters installed on your comp, please.) With Cave Story under his belt, Pixel's already got the buzz needed to give any new project of his a good deal of attention in the gaming community, and February's release of his most recent game has already got people talking.

I make mention of Guxt, because Pixel is not only a programmer, but a composer as well. With his one man Studio Pixel team, Amaya does it all, including the actual game music. For Guxt, that includes a standalone player program that features all 8 tracks from the soundtrack. It's classic-style VG muzak, just the way you like it: small size, tons of hooks, and very appropriate for the game setting. The Boss theme in particular is excellent.

Makes me wonder who in the community's gonna have the first well-made rearrangement from the game under their belt...

Netlabel pimps (Reunion & II)

I loves me some netlabels. As a big proponent of free music (not ideologically, don't worry), some of the most creative music you'll find doesn't cost you more than the time it takes to download.

Obviously, I spend a lot of time involved in the video game music rearrangement community, but netlabels feature great collectives of talent doing original music as well.

Like any hobbyist initiative, productivity can sometimes be intermittent. My favorite netlabel Hellven, run by Xavier "mv" Dang, has stopped and started on several occasions. This makes it difficult to find a really steady source of content to satisfy your fix.

On the chiptune side, Audun "AkumuHau" Sorlie, keeper of the most comprehensive NSF collection out there (and the only other guy I know who's listed his hobbies as "VG, Wrestling, Comics" in that order), has been pimping the latest chiptune netlabel, II (i.e. Pause). Norrin Radd and Shawn Phase are there. I'll be checking out their other material in the near future, but check out this cover art hotness for Radd's album, Melodia di Infinità.

That art's good enough to hang on your wall.

One of the other latest netlabels with strong ties toward the game music arrangement community that I've been made aware of has been Jonas "Platonist" Loman's effort, Reunion, which announced last month that its site had gone out of beta stage into a final release. They have a lot of good artists I'm aware of from OC ReMix including FFmusic Dj, GaMeBoX, Saiko, SGX, Siamey, The Joker, and even guest releases by Binster and OverCoat. They've hit a pretty good stride, just announcing their 45th single release (courtesy of GaMeBoX), so give 'em a look and bask in the free.

Powerglove no longer needs your help to name a track

As announced today by bassist Nick Avila, Powerglove's previously untitled Final Fantasy VII arrangement has been named thanks to Steven Gregory Passick of Muskego, Wisconsin and Cubby Nuxx of Lubbock, Texas.

"Omnishred" will take it's rightful place on the group's upcoming CD release Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man, alongside tributes to Mega Man II, Mortal Kombat, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy IV, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Tetris, Duck Hunt, Killer Instinct, Guilty Gear and Castlevania.

Not that you have to, but if you want to wait to pick up the album with the chance to get it signed by the band in person, you could always lay low until MAGFest 6...