[Metal Gear Solid] What is this sounds library ?

[HaganeSteel]

Yeah I can hear it, it's definitely there. Although I initially thought that he made it on purpose.
It might become annoying after a while, but this won't stop me from buying one

It honestly shouldn't. They're great synths.

Ohh Ikaruga! I've been listening to this OST a lot, I know what you're talking about. That is such a peculiar sound indeed, very "Japanese" if that makes any sense. I heard it a lot in many soundtracks, but I can't think of any right now. DBGT Final Bout, maybe? I should do some research.

Yep. Final Bout sounds like it used a Roland, although those strings aren't Bright Strings.

I remember when a buddy of mine imported Final Bout back in '99/00 -- we were all pretty disappointed by how bad it was.

I still have his Playstation converter somewhere.

[niu]

I remember when a buddy of mine imported Final Bout back in '99/00 -- we were all pretty disappointed by how bad it was.

I still have his Playstation converter somewhere.

Yeah it was bad, but I remember that I couldn't stop playing. When I was a kid I used to play any kind of crap ...

Yep. Final Bout sounds like it used a Roland, although those strings aren't Bright Strings.

I haven't checked yet, I only had this brief memory of strings with fast attack and bright tone. Now I need to sleep, I'll take a listen tomorrow. Can you point me any other games or composers who used bright strings a lot?

On a different note, have you listened to the FFX HD "remastered" OST? What do you think?

[HaganeSteel]

Can you point me any other games or composers who used bright strings a lot?

Miki Higashino/Keiko Fukami (Not sure which one composed this):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdehDuAyXNo

Junya Nakano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6aDGA-ynfQ

Hiroki Kikuta:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Eu_zij3Rz8

Hayato Matsuo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkb0Q2nLp8&index=28

On a different note, have you listened to the FFX HD "remastered" OST? What do you think?

Pissing on a Picasso.

I'm not sure when everybody decided it was a good idea to spam stereo instruments and reverb until the melody is indistinguishable from the harmony, but people need to stop.

Junya Nakano's work suffered the most because the arrangers had zero understanding of his technique.

Mr. Nakano would put an ostinato in the background and make it nearly inaudible so that the listener processed it on an unconscious level instead of a conscious one. The effect is that a static song becomes more difficult to understand for the listener and therefore feels more dynamic than it actually is.

Edit: You wanted to hear my work, too. Here. I work in General MIDI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LwzelFTMCg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBZB49Zuz5I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb3jfgexLLM

[niu]

Thanks for the bright strings tracks, I'm assimilating that sound.

Pissing on a Picasso.

I'm not sure when everybody decided it was a good idea to spam stereo instruments and reverb until the melody is indistinguishable from the harmony, but people need to stop.

Junya Nakano's work suffered the most because the arrangers had zero understanding of his technique.

Mr. Nakano would put an ostinato in the background and make it nearly inaudible so that the listener processed it on an unconscious level instead of a conscious one. The effect is that a static song becomes more difficult to understand for the listener and therefore feels more dynamic than it actually is.

My thoughts exactly! Most of the arrangements don't make sense, they sound cluttered and definitely not "HD", whatever that means. They ruined all my favorite tracks.
I wanted to replay the game, but I only have a PS3 and there's no options to switch back to the original soundtrack as on the PS4. What a huge disappointment ... I only hope it's not gonna happen the same to the FFVII remake soundtrack, but I'm afraid it will.

By the way have you seen the last gameplay video? I'm ready for the worse.

Edit: You wanted to hear my work, too. Here. I work in General MIDI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LwzelFTMCg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBZB49Zuz5I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb3jfgexLLM

Very nice stuff! Did you compose these for games or just for yourself?
Do you only use GM or other sounds as well? (I remember you saying that you have a XP-30)

[HaganeSteel]

Thanks for the bright strings tracks, I'm assimilating that sound.

Pissing on a Picasso.

I'm not sure when everybody decided it was a good idea to spam stereo instruments and reverb until the melody is indistinguishable from the harmony, but people need to stop.

Junya Nakano's work suffered the most because the arrangers had zero understanding of his technique.

Mr. Nakano would put an ostinato in the background and make it nearly inaudible so that the listener processed it on an unconscious level instead of a conscious one. The effect is that a static song becomes more difficult to understand for the listener and therefore feels more dynamic than it actually is.

My thoughts exactly! Most of the arrangements don't make sense, they sound cluttered and definitely not "HD", whatever that means. They ruined all my favorite tracks.
I wanted to replay the game, but I only have a PS3 and there's no options to switch back to the original soundtrack as on the PS4. What a huge disappointment ... I only hope it's not gonna happen the same to the FFVII remake soundtrack, but I'm afraid it will.

By the way have you seen the last gameplay video? I'm ready for the worse.

The real crime is that the ones who arranged it were well-known Square musicians and producers. Noriko Matsueda, Takahito Eguchi, and Shiro Hamaguchi are powerhouses in the industry.

There's no excuse for such shoddy workmanship -- unless Square Enix has suddenly taken lessons in employee care from Konami.

Very nice stuff! Did you compose these for games or just for yourself?
Do you only use GM or other sounds as well? (I remember you saying that you have a XP-30)

Just for myself.

Computer music has never worked for me. I've done a lot of work with various instruments, mostly as tests, but nothing has ever felt as good as an SC-55, which I've never owned, myself.

Until I own one, I have no musical voice. I'm okay with that because my written voice is so strong.

Edited to remove the self-indulgent bits.

[niu]

The real crime is that the ones who arranged it were well-known Square musicians and producers. Noriko Matsueda, Takahito Eguchi, and Shiro Hamaguchi are powerhouses in the industry.

I really hope that doesn't happen again with FFVII remake

There's no excuse for such shoddy workmanship -- unless Square Enix has suddenly taken lessons in employee care from Konami.

[HaganeSteel]

The real crime is that the ones who arranged it were well-known Square musicians and producers. Noriko Matsueda, Takahito Eguchi, and Shiro Hamaguchi are powerhouses in the industry.

I really hope that doesn't happen again with FFVII remake

Did you see the trailer?

The FFVII remake looks fantastic, and I say that as someone who wasn't much of a fan of the original.

[niu]

Did you see the trailer?

The FFVII remake looks fantastic, and I say that as someone who wasn't much of a fan of the original.

I did. I think it looks ok, not extraordinary, but it could have been much worse. Of course I say that as a huge fan of the original.

It lacks personality. If you forget that those are Cloud and Barret in Midgar and forget about the music, the game looks pretty much like any other of today's japanese titles.

The thing is that this kind of products, like Dragonball and many others, are not meant to look realistic. The cartoonesque super-deformed design, the ultra colored world, the weird characters and situations ... all those elements contributed to create those unique worlds. Renewing the character models and environments in a movie-ish way is cool and all, but it just cannot compare with what they did back than. I know it's still soon, but you can see the art direction. And besides that, I'm not mad for Cloud's and Barret's new style, but now I'm being picky.

I know, I know, I guess I should be grateful that at least we're getting a remake, but nothing will convince me that Square won't screw this up too, in a way or another. The multi-part announcement was just the beginning.

[HaganeSteel]

I know, I know, I guess I should be grateful that at least we're getting a remake, but nothing will convince me that Square won't screw this up too, in a way or another. The multi-part announcement was just the beginning.

If Sony pulled this stunt with Legend of Dragoon, I'd be just as cynical, so I understand.

Some things are better left as they are.

FFVII's main problem was its butchered storyline. The game initially had a much more mature plot, but it was cut down during development, and what we got was something that barely made any sense.

That said, everyone having their own interpretation of FFVII's storyline is part of what makes it special.

Square has proven time and again that they can't write, so I'm not expecting much, but there's still a glimmer of hope.

I want to like FFVII and share in everyone's love for this game. It deserves a REmake-level remake.

We're all in this: "Don't @#$% this up like you do everything else, Square," state of mind right now.

[niu]

If Sony pulled this stunt with Legend of Dragoon, I'd be just as cynical, so I understand.

Unfortunately I've never had the chance to play it, but I know it's very well considered.

Some things are better left as they are.

But they needed the money sooo bad

FFVII's main problem was its butchered storyline. The game initially had a much more mature plot, but it was cut down during development, and what we got was something that barely made any sense.

Mmm that's the first time that I hear that, how do you know it was deliberately cut down?
And what do you mean by butchered? The story was pretty good to me. More than a few deja-vu here and there, true, but quite solid and imaginative if you ask me.

Square has proven time and again that they can't write, so I'm not expecting much, but there's still a glimmer of hope.

Yeah the level dropped drastically over the last 10 years, to say the least. I'm even reconsidering FFX which for a long time has been my least favorite (besides the music).

I want to like FFVII and share in everyone's love for this game. It deserves a REmake-level remake.

We're all in this: "Don't @#$% this up like you do everything else, Square," state of mind right now.

I know and I really hope that they prove me wrong

[HaganeSteel]

FFVII's main problem was its butchered storyline. The game initially had a much more mature plot, but it was cut down during development, and what we got was something that barely made any sense.

Mmm that's the first time that I hear that, how do you know it was deliberately cut down?
And what do you mean by butchered? The story was pretty good to me. More than a few deja-vu here and there, true, but quite solid and imaginative if you ask me.

Yeah, I'm surprised more people don't know about that. You can find this stuff on the wiki these days.

The original scope of FFVII's plot was even more ambitious than the final product.

This is a snippet from the wiki regarding Wutai:

According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega[1], during early plans for Final Fantasy VII, Wutai was much different from how it appeared in the final product: Wutai was to be a town built around the Temple for the "Wutaia faith", a religion dominated by female hierarchy that worshiped a female deity. The current hierarch was to be the young Sasame-no-Himemiko, the 89th in line. Due to Sasame being only 15 years old, the real leader would be the high priestess, Izayoi. Godo would not have been the leader, but rather the head of the Kisaragi family, the servants to the Wutaia leader.

Source: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Wutai

Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi originally planned for the story to take place in New York in the year 1999, and as such, the original script of Final Fantasy VII, which was written by Sakaguchi, was completely different from the finished product.

Other ideas, such as the New York setting and the sorceress character Edea, were kept unused until the later projects Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy VIII respectively.

Bold is me.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fan ... evelopment

The original script of Final Fantasy VII, written by Sakaguchi, was rather different from the finished product. Tetsuya Nomura has recalled how Sakaguchi "wanted to do something like a detective story." The first part of the story involved a "hot blooded" character named "Detective Joe" in pursuit of the main characters who blew up the city of Midgar, which had already been developed for the story.[22] Despite having written the original plot, Sakaguchi focused with developing the battle system rather than the final version of the story.

Source: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII

There's a lot more out there.

[niu]

Wow ... to be honest I'm glad we didn't get to see the adventures of Detective Joe Or a FF set in New York, that would have been weird. It was perfect for Parasite Eve instead.

I need to read more about the development process, I think it's interesting to see how different things went in the final product. You can tell they put a lot of work into it.

[HaganeSteel]

Wow ... to be honest I'm glad we didn't get to see the adventures of Detective Joe Or a FF set in New York, that would have been weird. It was perfect for Parasite Eve instead.

I need to read more about the development process, I think it's interesting to see how different things went in the final product. You can tell they put a lot of work into it.

Yeah, I agree about Detective Joe. The name is childish and tonally inconsistent with the seriousness of the rest of the story.

Parasite Eve is my second favorite Square game of the era, the first being SaGa Frontier.

Parasite Eve + FFVII sounds like the greatest JRPG ever to me. That's kind of why I'm sad over what could have been.

And wow has this thread fallen off track.

3rd Birthday had a great soundtrack written by Tsuyoshi Sekito, Yoko Shimomura, and Mitsuto Suzuki, all of whom are amazing. It sounds like they used SampleTank and Miroslav Philharmonik.

Yoko Shimomura used a Korg Trinity for Parasite Eve I.

Naoshi Mizuta used a Korg M1 or equivalent along with what was probably a Roland Sound Canvas for Parasite Eve II.

Final Fantasy VII used a combination of Roland SC-88, Korg M1, and Emu Proteus sounds.

There, now it's back on track.

[niu]

And wow has this thread fallen off track.

Ahaha yeah I was thinking about that. But who cares, it looks like we monopolized this thread anyway.
And sorry for my late replies, I went back to Italy for christmas and I'm not spending much time on internet these days.

Yeah, I agree about Detective Joe. The name is childish and tonally inconsistent with the seriousness of the rest of the story.

Parasite Eve is my second favorite Square game of the era, the first being SaGa Frontier.

Parasite Eve + FFVII sounds like the greatest JRPG ever to me. That's kind of why I'm sad over what could have been.

I can see a good mix between the two games, but only if made by Squaresoft in the 90's, not anymore.

3rd Birthday had a great soundtrack written by Tsuyoshi Sekito, Yoko Shimomura, and Mitsuto Suzuki, all of whom are amazing. It sounds like they used SampleTank and Miroslav Philharmonik.

I found the soundtrack online but I haven't listened to it yet. Is the game any good?
Miroslav Philharmonik seems to be very popular among japanese composers, isn't it?

Yoko Shimomura used a Korg Trinity for Parasite Eve I.

Yeah I remember you saying that earlier in this thread. I used to have a Korg Triton, but I had to sell it years ago. Now I'm regretting it cos I'm developing a taste for those sounds.

Naoshi Mizuta used a Korg M1 or equivalent along with what was probably a Roland Sound Canvas for Parasite Eve II.

Never played the game, nor listened to the soundtrack. No Yoko Shimomura on this one?

Final Fantasy VII used a combination of Roland SC-88, Korg M1, and Emu Proteus sounds.

Korg M1?? I knew about SC-88 (pro?) and Proteus (strings/horns if I recall correctly), but Korg M1 sounds totally new to me. What kind of sounds have been used?

There, now it's back on track.

[HaganeSteel]

Is the game any good?

It was awful, sexist, and ruined the storyline.

Parasite Eve II was sexist, too, but it at least expanded on Aya's personality in interesting ways and therefore had some merit.

For example, even though it was never outright stated, we learn that Aya dyes her hair. In Parasite Eve II, she says she's half-Japanese, and her roots are a more natural-looking brown.

Parasite Eve II, if you can ignore the shower scene, expands a lot on how messed up Aya is, how conflicted she is, and how she has all these defenses up that the men around her (notably Rupert and Kyle) seem to be able to penetrate. I liked that.

I write under a female pen name. I identify with Aya's need to change herself.

3rd Birthday was offensive.

Miroslav Philharmonik seems to be very popular among japanese composers, isn't it?

Very. Most of them used Roland back in the day. Since Miroslav is the library Roland licenses a lot of its samples from, it was an easy transition.

In my opinion, it was a downgrade.

Never played the game, nor listened to the soundtrack. No Yoko Shimomura on this one?

Nope. Little known fact is that Naoshi Mizuta worked on the Resident Evil 2 soundtrack. He was a shoo-in for Square's next attempt at survival horror.

Korg M1?? I knew about SC-88 (pro?) and Proteus (strings/horns if I recall correctly), but Korg M1 sounds totally new to me. What kind of sounds have been used?

A lot of drums.