Video game music
Several years ago I developed a certain fascination with video game music, particularly the community of musicians who reinterpret and rearrange classic game melodies—not only excellent bands like Neskvartetten and The OneUps, but also the independent amateur arrangers who contribute to websites like OverClocked ReMix, VGMix, and the Dwelling of Duels competition.
Naturally, I took to recording some arrangements of my own on my trusty Clavinova CVP-206, some of which I’m happy to post below in a completely arbitrary order, albeit with the disclaimer that my old work is not of the best quality, and is now rather quaint to my discriminating ears.
Recordings
Tales of Symphonia—Continental Divide (3:24)
This is an orchestral take on the rather incidental “Dry Trail,” the track that plays as you descend the Fooji Mountains into Tethe’alla. It was originally recorded back in July 2005 for Summoning of Spirits, a massive Tales of Phantasia and Symphonia project that never saw the light of day; I believe it is still in development purgatory, waiting for a few final tracks. I can say without reservation that this is my best work to date, though the clarinet (which I recorded live, whereas the rest of the instruments are synthesized) is a smidgen sharp.
Tales of Symphonia—Fair Lass of Ozette (3:54)
This is another 2005 creation based on Motoi Sakuraba’s extensive soundtrack: Presea’s theme set against the Ozette melody, with a contrapuntal dash of Colette’s motif near the end. The instrumentation was in part inspired by the textures of the folksy Canadian music I grew up with in those early adolescent summer camp years before I discovered jazz. I like to think it fits.
Final Fantasy VIII—Blue Eyes On Me (3:02)
After a night of too much Artie Shaw, I thought it would be neat to take Faye Wong’s cheesy ’90s pop tune and turn it into a cheesy ’40s pop tune. I was a bit rusty on the clarinet at the time, having not played it in about two years, and I think it shows; nevertheless, there was no way I could go with a synthesized one to get the effect I wanted. I panned the instruments out a bit so not to crowd the centre channel, at the cost of the authentic effect of monophonic sound.
Earthbound—Fourside Hilton (5:27)
This is a very light quasi-Latin interpretation of the Hotel and Fourside themes, two of the more conventional tunes from Keiichi Suzuki’s oddball score. I recorded it for RPGamer’s Splendid Performance competition, where it placed third in its category (music from RPGs not published by Square). I was working on a deadline, so I actually looped the bass and drums, which is why they might come off as a bit inert; as for the piano, I deliberately refrained from any technical fireworks, and I think it was the right decision.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker—Sleeping Dragon (4:28)
“Dragon Roost Island,” but sparse and somnambulant. Mostly, this was the result of my fiddling around with the guitar sounds on my Clavinova one very late night, and deciding to hit the Record button. Reactions to the guitar have ranged from someone who thought it was supposed to be a harp (which would have been a good idea, because of the instrument’s association with Dragon Roost in the game) to someone who sent me a message asking if I could provide him with the tablature.
Super Mario Bros. live jazz trio (5:24)
This is a swing arrangement of mine that was recorded live in April 2006. I played it to open the second half of a concert featuring the university jazz choir I accompanied at the time. I wasn’t quite warmed up, so it’s a bit stiff and sloppy in places, but most people didn’t seem to mind. I’ll likely revisit this arrangement sometime, and perhaps produce a higher-quality take.
