Ahh, Advanced Media. My place of work :)

Hey Tommy, is there any chance of VGLive coming anywhere near the greater Oklahoma area in the future?

Yo!

Love the sig!!!

:biggrin:


So far we haven't had Oklahoma on the radar but that doesn't mean it's out of the question. We'll play anywhere that is interested.

Is there a big college or university there? What is the symphony like?

AMN rocks!!!!! Everyone I've met from there has been super nice.


Tommy

I know we've got a couple of symphony orchestras around here. I'll look into getting some info.

Oh, and Earthworm Jim for life. :D

Do you know if the (awesome) arrangement of music from Sonic the Hedgehog will be included on the DVD? That was one of the most jaw dropping musical arrangements from the show for me.

Are you refering to Tulsa or Oklahoma City? I've lived in Tulsa all my life. The two most likely places to hold it is the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and the Brady Theater. They both hold about the same amount of people but the Brady is far cheaper to hold an event like that.
Tommy you should really consider looking into booking VGL in Tulsa. Tulsa is the only place is the mid-west (aside from Texas) to hold an anime convention, star trek convention, and has more video game stores than cities 5x it's size. IE Kansas City and Oklahoma City. Tulsa is slowly becoming the entertainment hub of the mid-west. If you get any word on coming through Oklahoma I'd be more than happy to assemble a street team to make it happen.

Ah-ha, I had completely forgotten about the Brady Theater. It can hold about 2,800 people if I remember correctly, and it plays host to a lot of major events. Civiscool is also correct that Tulsa would play host better than other cities in the region because we've got a pretty solid gaming community around here, and even have the only classic gaming convention in about a 500 mile radius.

Tulsa's also got some orchestral talent around as well.

Tulsa Symphony Orchestra

Tulsa Signature Symphony

Please have the music from Castlevania in the DVD, PLEASE. Along with the usual good stuff like MGS, Mario, Zelda etc.

Can't wait to get it already though, hope there will be alot of special features in it, as well as an angles feature where we can choose to watch the concert recorded footage or the game videos you put up on the screen.

This DVD is important from a preservation standpoint. Few video game concerts are recorded on video, even in Japan, and this show kills everything else that's been done thus far. Seriously, VGLive is a threshold breaker. Performing at the Hollywood Bowl is a historical marker for gaming, as so many of the world's greatest artists have performed there, and it's a wakeup call to the public of video game music's legitimacy as art. It's here, it's not going anywhere, and it's timeless.

That's what this DVD represents. Legitimacy of art in motion.

What ?

There are quite a good deal of Japan's game music concerts released in video, they are mostly undiscovered at this point. But at least 25 are known and are available if you know where to look.

Ever heard of the Game Music Festivals during the early to mid 90's by any chance ?

Since songs are replaced as time goes on, I would like to make a small request. Is there any way that all of the arrangements could be audibly recorded at some point or another for the sake of preservation before they are cycled out? There's always a chance that some songs in particular may not be performed again. I know it seems like an odd thing to wonder about, but it would be wonderful to know that those orchestral performances were recorded in high quality for posterity. It's not even really as much about them being eventually commercially released, but rather just having them recorded for the sake of preservation. Anyways, just a thought. :)

Another game I would recommend for Orchestration would be David Wise's soundtrack to Donkey Kong Country 1 or 2. They always seems to get smeared by the media because all people remember them for was their (now dated) graphics, but it had some of (in my opinion) greatest VGM of the 16-bit era. Still, I don't think that the "main theme" translates to an orchestral arrangement, or at least, hasn't yet. It's been attempted before on Orchestrated Game Concert Volume 5 (track 3). I wasn't too fond of that particular arrangement, but there are so many other songs in that collection that would be perfect for a performance.

Anyways, just some suggestions. Either way, this show kicks three kinds of ass. :)

Hey Tallarico!

I'm here to congrats you for the GREAT, SUPPERB, EXCELLENT, PERFECT performance of VGL here in Brazil, Sao Paulo at Via Funchal!

OMG! I got freak out during the whole concert! You guys surely deserves a medal!

Have you thought perform any songs from Shadow of the Colossus or from the Chrono Trigger?

I left the live concert extremendly satisfied, I would say I was purified, especially after the final song!!! Oh man, I love that song....

Congratulations Tallarico! Keep up the good work!

YES! Colossus and Chrono are on my top requsts as well. PLEASE at least consider it.

That is the plan!

T.T.






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Cool! Will do! Thanks for the info! Do you know if they have a symphony? If so... maybe you can contact them and let them know about our event to see if they are interested?

Tommy






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Whoops! Should have read the rest of the thread before answering. Does anyone know anyone at the two symphonies listed? Maybe someone can contact them to see if they would be interested? Always cool when fans call first to inquire instead of the person trying to sell them the show!

:)

T.T.






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Hahahahahaa!! We think alike!!

:biggrin:

I'm hoping the DVD will be able to hold different angles. We're starting to put it together after our London show this weekend. I don't want to sacrifice compression quality for multiple camera angles and extras though... will know over the next month or so. Plan to release it at the beginning of 2007.


T.T.






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I feel the same exact way about every show we do. I'm currently writing this from Brazil... the fans down here have been absolutely incredible!!! We're already planning another multiple city tour in South America for 2007. Playing the Hammersmith Apollo in London this Saturday will also be a significant landmark for video game music in Europe. The Hammersmith is a very famous venue which we are honored and thrilled to be playing at. Not many tix are left so it looks like it will be a sell out. This is great news for the entire video game industry. We're already planning a big spring European Tour!!



Tommy






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We try to record as many concerts as we can in the highest quality possible. Sometimes the symphony or venue doesn't allow it (union rules) but most of the time we've been asking and they've been cool with it. Our last two shows in Brazil were recorded in 5.1 24-Bit 128KHZ!!! We are going to be putting out a 5.1 CD version of the concert!! The music will be able to be played in any DVD player with a 5.1 hook-up!

Our London show this Saturday will actually be played in real time surround!! So things like percussion and choir may be heard behind the audience even though they'll be in front of them on stage! The orchestra will sound like it's all around you (depending on where your seat is). Pretty cool!! Not sure this has ever been done before with an orchestra? Definitely hasn't been done for a game music concert.


Tommy






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Thank you so much for the kind words!! The Brazilian audience has been absolutely incredible during our trip down here!! I'm currently in Florianopolis, Brazil speaking with government officials about doing other cities for 2007. The Brazilian governement has really rolled out the red carpet for us and it's so cool to see such a high level of people really wanting to get involved with promoting the video game industry and the music created from within! They believe (like we all do) that video games are an art-form and have cultural significance which speaks to a creative generation.


Please send me an .mp3 of your favorite Shadow of the Colussus tune. We're already on Chrono Cross/Trigger!


T.T.

I nearly choked on my drink when I saw this thread, but I'll keep the fanboy speak to a minimum since you've probably heard it all before countless times. I'm not sure if it's the style of music you're looking for, but I'd also like to add my recommendation of including something from one of Yuzo Koshiro's more famous soundtracks such as Shenmue or Streets of Rage.

Keep up the great work Tommy

The London concert is getting close. I will be there, although I live in Sweden, so it will be quite a bit of traveling :)

KHU is gonna be there as well, good thing, cause they need to see this, not just Play!.... Though it would be awesome Tommy, if you guys can get the KH2 credits suite Fantasia Alla to be in future concerts, since that suite shows Yoko Shimomura's true qualities and themes in the Kingdom hearts series.

LucasArts?? Would that mean that you've included one of Michael Land's wonderful tunes from The Dig? His "orchestrated" CD of the soundtrack was so wonderfully serene, and I've so been hoping to hear it performed by a real, life & blood symphony.

This looks like a brilliantly designed setup Tommy... almost like a dream come true. I especially like the idea with the screen.

Do you have any idea in regards to some of the possible locations within Orlando that are being considered?

Think there's any possibility of adding some Xenogears/Xenosaga music to your show? Having that and Chrono in the same show would just be pure awesome.

Yo!,

Thanks for the kind words!

Yeah... we're definitely looking to add Yuzo's work to our program. Probably either something from Shenmue or Actraiser (or both).


Tommy






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Yo!,

Thanks for traveling so far to see the concert! Hope you enjoyed it.


T.T.






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Thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely take a listen!


Tommy






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We have Michael Land, Peter McConnell, Clint Bajakian & Larry the O (all of the original LucasArts composers) do an acoustic medley from Grim Fandango, Monkey Island & Outlaws. Me & Michael have been kicking around the idea of a live orchestration from the Dig.

T.T.






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We've been speaking to the city and the Orlando Science Center about possible locations. The Orlando Philharmonic is excited as well. Not sure on dates for Orlando just yet. We tried to sneak it in with Otronicon in Jan. (www.otronicon.com) but it came up too quick. Definitely next time! I am helping them with their convention this year. Did you go to the first one last year? I'll be there this year.

Could you please send me links to your favorite Xenogears & Xenosaga music?

I have the original 2 disc Xenogears soundtrack... would one of the tracks be on there? What numbers would they be? Everything is in Japanese so I don't know the names of the tracks.


Tommy

Hey Tommy,

Just want to say a huge thank you for coming all the way to the UK - the London show was absolutely amazing, one of the best nights of my life!

I have written a review for our site, please check it out if you get a chance!

I have pm'd you the link

Thanks too for doing the interview, unfortunetly my dictaphone died on me so i've had to do the write up from memory - not easy when you're dyslexic!


Can't wait for the show to return to the UK, let me know when you are coming back and i'll shout about it from the rooftops! Please consider adding some DKC stuff (especially brambles in the breeze) and maybe some Motoi Sakuraba tunes (loved his star ocean 3 and baten kaitos scores). Dragon Quest would also be good now it has more of a presence in the west!



Any way keep up the great work and hopefully see you soon.

From original Xenogears soundtrack:

Disc 1, Track 1 - Light From The Netherworld
Disc 1,Track 15 - Leftover From The Dreams of the Strong
Disc 2, Track 3 - Knight of Fire

My favorite track is "Tears of the Stars, Hearts of the People" but I don't think it would sound too interesting in a concert setting and that it wouldn't utilize the resources of a full orchestra.

From the Xenosaga series, I'm really partial mainly towards Yuki Kajiura's tracks from Xenosaga Episode III.

From Xenosaga 3:

Disc 1, Track 1 - A Prelude To The Tragedy
Disc 1, Track 7 - The Battle of Your Soul
Disc 2, Track 4 - Testament
Disc 2, Track 9 - Godsibb


I imagine the Orlando Philharmonic could use something like VGL desperately. It unfortunately doesn't get too many visitors and VGL would certainly draw in quite a crowd that it's not too used to having.

I missed out on Otronicon last time unfortunately but I'm really looking forward to attending in 2007.


Thanks again for taking the time to hear people out. I'm really looking forward to hearing VGL's performance.

Wow! Thank-you for the fantastic article & review!!

Everyone told us that the Brits are super hyper-critical but we've been hearing only nice things so far. :)


I'd like to share the article with everyone here because I gives people a really good insight about the show atmosphere and importance which other writers always seem to miss out on.

http://www.eurofusion.net/fullfeatur...cat=14&archive

I'll be putting up this article on the front page of our website later today.

Thanks again and I'm so glad you had a great time!!! We have some BIG announcements about Europe coming soon!


Tommy








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Awesome! Thanks for the info!! I don't have the Xenosaga 3 soundtrack so if anyone has links it would be great!

Does anyone else have suggestions about Xenogears/saga series?


Tommy

Xenosaga 3 Soundtrack is here: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/5509


Xenogears and Xenosaga Episode I were done by Yasunori Mitsuda (who also did Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross). You can also find a small discussion about Mitsuda here: http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/ge...da-pieces.html

Xenosaga Episode 2 & 3 were done by Yuki Kajiura so they are vastly different from the other Xeno games. She's mostly known for doing .hack and has been doing other anime recently. She has quite a heavy use of vocal elements in her music which would be something that VGL's choir could deal with very nicely.

Hey Tommy, I'm hopping in this thread again.

As an alumni and soon to be returning student at University of Michigan (oh graduate school woes), I've had the privilege and distinct honor to sing and perform at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, MI.

http://www.umich.edu/~urel/hill/

Hill is one of the largest auditoriums in the region, seating 3,710. Ann Arbor itself is a great city for the performing arts with multiple orchestras and choirs available (I was in the Men's Glee Club, which is about a hundred strong male chorus). For concerts in upcoming years there is still plenty of available time for possibly adding it as a venue, though there may be limitations with the visual aspect. I know the building has strict codes, though if many of the set pieces are independent entities that don't require extensive connections to walls and such, it may be a possibility. I've contacted George Winston's agent 2 years ago and, no lie, he performed there the following year after contacting the box office.

If that doesn't work out, DTE in Detroit would be excellent!

It'd be awesome to see you come to Michigan: it's a strong venue with a great turnout potential! :) Lookin forward to the 2007 season!

if you do consider doing Xenosaga 3 for VGL Tommy, may I suggest some less epic and softer pieces from it? I particulalry wanna hear Hepatica~Kos Mos being performed by two sopranos voices, a soft holy piece, at least integrated in a suite.

In fact you should consider interweaving more soft tracks into the Suites. I mean say you take the music from the end of credits of Kingdom Hearts 2. It already has a whole bunch of different themes in it. (Though it will be awesome as well if you intergrate Dearly Beloved from KH2's Opening Menu screen in the very beginning of the KH2 suite. Its a soft piano piece with the orchestra strings and soft horns backing it up alittle.)

http://bluelaguna.net/music/kh2ostsoundtrack/mp3s.php

First track is Dearly Beloved. If you listen to the KH1 version, and compare it with Kh2's version, you can hear a great difference, and shows how the game evolved.

Fantasia Alla Marcia For Piano, Chorus And Orchestra, which is track 34 on disk 2, is the end credits suite.

Anyway, my point is in terms of music from RPGS, I think it should be in medly form like KH2 did for the end credits, since most people might only hear it once live, getting various themes in 6-8 mins of music is better than just 4 mins of one single theme. The ones from FF or KH should be done that way in my opinion, since we already have god knows how many live versions of Aeris theme or One Winged Angel or Hikari from various concert CDs or arrange albums, a original medly arrangement would make it even more fresh.

The worst part is that there should be more of Yoko's music from KH1 and KH2 being played, not just Utada, and I'm speaking as a fan of Utada, but Yoko's music should be more exposed.

Also one last thing, after seing Lucas Arts playing more comtepeory rock stuff at VLG, here's an idea, what about music from Silent Hill? I know its a horror genre, but its possible to make the video more PG. (Show more characters and less on monsters.) Silent Hill 2 is perfect since its more character focused.

Reference for others: Hepatica~ (KOS-MOS) is Disc 2, Track 1 of Xenosaga 3 soundtrack.

I'd also like to add that it is probably the best song on the soundtrack. The only problem with it from a live performance standpoint is that there's not a whole lot going on in the song as most of the focus is directed on the vocals. If it could be done in the way that Kairi Li mentioned though, it would truly be awesome to hear. Some sort of integration with the other Hepatica tracks like disc 1 track 21 and/or disc 2 track 16 could lead to quite an interesting piece.