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Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

I haven't listened to that podcast but it seems like it's intended for more of a classical crossover audience than a gamer/VGM audience, so guys like virt or Danny B who are heavy on kitsch and low on "prestige" aren't gonna be in their wheelhouse.
Kitschy? That's incredibly downplaying and insulting to their skills. Super Meat Boy's soundtrack, in particular, is all-around fantastic, with intense, eclectic tracks throughout, Binding of Isaac's soundtrack is powerful in many ways, and that's only two things he's done. His work on Crypt of the Necrodancer, a rhythm-based roguelike in early access, has so far been nigh-flawless. His ability to make a soundtrack that as a whole has a level of quality that almost every other game lacks shows an amount of skill that is nearly unmatched, and his skill with synth melody blows me away.

Jake's discography is pretty lengthy. His work on Double Dragon Neon's soundtrack made that game, same for Mighty Switch Force, and Shovel Knight just wouldn't have been the same without his mastery of the NES Castlevania 3 soundchip.

C418's soundtrack on Minecraft is one of the most appropriate soundtracks a video game has ever had in my opinion. I've never known a soundtrack to just fit so well with the game it's attached to. It simultaneously gives the game a relaxed, yet haunting feeling.

They are all worthy examples of extremely talented musicians with a genuinely high level of composing skill. Discounting them because maybe you don't like their work or consider chiptunes/synth to not qualify is pretty harsh.

Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Mar 16, 2015

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PaletteSwappedNinja
Jun 3, 2008

One Nation, Under God.
I never said I didn't like them or that they didn't deserve to be celebrated.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Your post sounded fairly dismissive so you'll excuse me for reading it that way.

PaletteSwappedNinja
Jun 3, 2008

One Nation, Under God.
Fair enough. Like I said, I haven't listened to the podcast so I'm just going off what's written on their site, but it's hosted by a classical music host for a classical music program and the majority of their guests seem to be composers from AAA games with a classical or Hollywood background, so it's only natural that they've managed to avoid interviewing composers that seem like obvious picks.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Yeah, I only skimmed the titles a bit. If that's all that cast is about, I'll skip it. I like Mass Effect's soundtrack and such but if they're not branching out at all then I'll pass. I have a feeling they only interviewed the Bastion guy because it was his first attempt at a video game soundtrack.

ja2ke
Feb 19, 2004

It's a podcast on a classical music public radio station. So there is going to be a certain theme they fit. That said, I bet branching out could/would occur if listeners asked for it.

Now that you mention it, having listened to a few episodes, I think an ep about the Minecraft soundtrack would be a great fit and work really well.

I have enjoyed listening to it because it actually has reminded me consciously of the amount of work that goes into the less flashy AAA stuff. There's a good and short episode on the sea shantys in assassins creed black flag for instance.

ja2ke fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Mar 16, 2015

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty

ja2ke posted:

It's a podcast on a classical music public radio station. So there is going to be a certain theme they fit. That said, I bet branching out could/would occur if listeners asked for it.

Now that you mention it, having listened to a few episodes, I think an ep about the Minecraft soundtrack would be a great fit and work really well.

I have enjoyed listening to it because it actually has reminded me consciously of the amount of work that goes into the less flashy AAA stuff. There's a good and short episode on the sea shantys in assassins creed black flag for instance.

Oh, it's on a specifically classical music radio station? That'd explain not branching out, then. I thought it was just a random public broadcast channel.

ja2ke
Feb 19, 2004

I find it really cool and refreshing to hear a host ask game composers about, like, the specifics of their woodwind arrangements or a key or chord choice, because you NEVER get that, but I suspect that does also mean you're maaaybe not going to get a lot of neo-chiptune and electronic-heavy people on there. The host seems enthusiastic, well-versed, and a strong enough interviewer that I bet it'd work though.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
They could still discuss arrangements and specific sections of a track though, like, I'd love to hear Jake Kaufman spit game about how he assembled The Fateful Return in Shovel Knight, what is the equivalent to Dr Wily's Castle Theme from Megaman 2, really:

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

If you listen closely, you can pick out at least six different things happening at any given time, and they blend together perfectly. It's my favorite track from the game because of that.

Chiptune stuff is totally able to be analyzed like you mentioned, while maybe not specific instruments per se, they could discuss intent of particular moments, emulation of actual instruments, conveyed emotion, etc.

I would kill for them to get a classic game composer on, in particular Yasunori Mitsuda, although I bet it'd be nigh-impossible to get that to happen. One of my favorite works of his is World Revolution from Chrono Trigger, which is one of the best examples I've seen of a tense, final battle, and you can easily enough pick out what instruments he intended the chiptunes to represent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z74e6bFr5EY

Kills me that there has not been, to this day, a playing of this with a full professional orchestra. I have no idea how that has not happened yet with the likes of Video Games Live around.

Sorry, I like video game music a lot. It's great for work. :shobon:

Sam Sanskrit
Mar 18, 2007

That's such a cool idea for a podcast that it makes me want to shake the dude who posted the link until he confesses to the other podcasts he's been holding out on us.

sub supau
Aug 28, 2007

Your way works too posted:

That's such a cool idea for a podcast that it makes me want to shake the dude who posted the link until he confesses to the other podcasts he's been holding out on us.
If only I had that kind of luck. I actually only stumbled on Top Score because it's part of the Infinite Guest network and I subscribed to the network's "give me everything" feed because I wanted something new to listen to. Looking at Top Score's Twitter feed I also found Bleeps 'n' Bloops, which I'm just listening to my first episode of right now, and Game Audio Podcast, which I haven't listened to at all yet.

PaletteSwappedNinja
Jun 3, 2008

One Nation, Under God.
Again, I haven't listened to it, but I remember virt praising these guys for the episode they did on the Shovel Knight OST, maybe they're worth looking into: http://supermarcatobros.com/podcast/

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claw game handjob
Mar 27, 2007

pinch pinch scrape pinch
ow ow fuck it's caught
i'm bleeding
JESUS TURN IT OFF
WHY ARE YOU STILL SMILING

Dr. Spitesworth posted:

Thanks for adding From US to You! and Axe of the Blood God to the main list. Much appreciated.

Thanks for continuing to make good podcasts. Speaking of podcasts, that new thread went up per request.

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