Video Games Live

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?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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.

Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

We'll be releasing a DVD & CD at the beginning of 2007. It's going to be really different and were doing a lot of cool things that a lot of people aren't going to expect.

Tommy

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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

Most amazing jew boots

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.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

Because of the style of the original music, it is difficult to translate to a live orchestral performance to do it proper justice. I myself worked on Metroid Prime & Metroid Prime Echoes (sound design) and have a very close understanding of the music and am personally a big fan. It was an honor for me to work with such talented people as Miyamoto-san. It's a tough challenge and one that I am not yet willing to give up on... but currently we do not have it as part of our playlist. This is an event which will go on indefinitely all around the world. Our goal is to come back each and every year with new material and a different playlist. For example... we've played the Hollywood Bowl twice now and each time we had different playlists and added things. Last week we added things like the Halo 3 trailer music (with Steve Vai on guitar), more Final Fantasy stuff, Civilization IV, LucasArts music, etc.

Our goal will be to eventually bring the Metroid music to our show in a way that properly justifies its greatness.

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.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Here are some musical highlights from the Super Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country Series, and my personal favorites. I personally believe them to be among to be among the best VG soundtracks ever composed.

Donkey Kong Country - David Wise (75%), Eveline Novakovic (20%), Robin Beanland (5%)

Donkey Kong Country Title Theme - OST Track 01

DK Island Swing - OST Track 03

Aquatic Ambiance - OST Track 08

Life in the Mines - OST Track 12

Game Over Fanfare - OST Track 22

Donkey Kong Country 2 - All composed by David Wise

Welcome To Crocodile Isle - OST Track 02

Forest Interlude - OST Track 10

Hot Head Hop - OST Track 14

Stickerbush Symphony - OST Track 17

Krook's March - OST Track 22

In a Snow-Bound Land - OST Track 25


For reference's sake, "DK Island Swing & Aquatic Ambiance" were arranged in Orchestrated Game Concert Vol. 5 track 03, but I've never been a personal fan of that arrangement. It doesn't really capture the feel of the music. Aquatic Ambiance seems to plod along too slowly, and Jungle Swing is missing the whole buildup sequence.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Hey Tommy.

This is Lucas DeWoody from over at Kombo.com. Thought I would try to contact you from here as well. I wanted to point out to you that the new BOK Center opened this last fall in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's as big of an auditorium as in any other major city. It seats about 19,000+ people and is pulling in acts such as Celine Dion, Elton John, Billy Joel, and Walking with Dinosaurs. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra just played a show here a couple of days ago, and they had to open up the rafter sets because the show had sold out and there was still demand. The rafters sold out as well.

There's a whole mass of Midwestern gamers who starve for this sort of event but are isolated in this region because nothing ever comes to our area. Up to this point, we didn't really have a venue that could house something on the scale of video games live, but now the BOK Center has changed that.

So....how about paying a visit to us isolated gamers out here in the Ozark mountains?

-Lucas

How ya doing, buddy?