Project Majestic Mix

Mustin writes: "'Project Majestic Mix: A Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu' is the combined effort a group of musicians from around the world, connected only through the Internet. Together, they have created the first legal, fan-made, fan-financed game music album to be released in America. Perhaps the most famous game composer, Nobuo Uematsu is hailed for his work in the 'Final Fantasy' series of RPGs. Nevertheless, the tunes are not kiddy stuff, with a full 74 minutes of arrangements in styles varying from orchestral to rock and techno to jazz. The Silver Edition is currently available for preorder exclusively through AnimeNation.com with a release date of March 31st, and the Unlimited Edition will be obtainable via most online music retailers. To preview mp3 clips of the music and access more detailed information, visit the project's site at www.MajesticMix.com"

Comments

OverClocked ReMix

[LastCa_]

Looks like OverClocked ReMix.
As I can see, some of the composers are the same in the album and the web site. heh.

mushrooms and flowers

[doooras]

much cooler than when the "coolest music ever" was the orignal mario brothers theme played on steel drums if you chill out on the star level of super mario world for 10 minutes.

Re:mushrooms and flowers

[gartogg]

Wait, are you saying that Group X's rendition of "Mario twins" Isn't the best music ever written?

I spit at your suggestion!

Uhhh...

[Anonymous Coward]

Back in Time, although made in the UK, is definitely available in the US, and is a compilation of remixed Commodore 64.
http://www.c64audio.com/

They even have live club venues with the music!!

So how can you guys have the first fan based legal CD??????? Is it a case of Commodore blindness?

Also, the SID sound chip is available in an external MIDI box, and has been used at least once to make a commercial album:
http://stage.vitaminic.com/danko

Enjoy!!!!

Downloads...

[sean23007]

So how is everyone going to feel when this is available for download on Gnutella within a couple of days?

So it's not RIAA then?

[NanoGator]

Then I just might buy it! :)

Re:So it's not RIAA then?

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope you mean that, because this is what people need to start doing. Producing music outside the confines of RIAA durisdiction, and then in return, financing said creation. If all of a sudden the RIAA's revenue's start pouring in, then they'll start thinking twice about pulling some of the totalitarian garbage they've been getting away with. The ONLY thing a corporation hears is the sound of money being pushed into their hands..or into their competitor's.

.MOD files, anyone?

[EschewObfuscation]

Is it just me, or does this music sound like virtually every .MOD file downloaded in the early 90's?

Now, I admit to being enough of a square that I played my mods on a PC, and I admit that they probably didn't sound nearly as good as I remember them (although axelf.mod was *very* popular at the time...), but these tunes are eerily familiar...

Re:.MOD files, anyone?

[JabberWokky]

Now, I admit to being enough of a square that I played my mods on a PC

Yeah - the cool people played them on the Amiga like they were supposed to be played. :) Still, there were some decent players for the PC - what was that EGA one that had dual oscilliscopes? Red on blue, IIRC.

--
Evan

Re:.MOD files, anyone?

[JabberWokky]

Adam?

--
Evan "Would be the third 'friend-I-haven't-talked-to-in-a-decade' person I'd found on Slashdot"

WOW!

[2nd Post!]

This is pretty good, though it's unquestionably their good fortune to have such good starting material too.

I'm going to have to get the Gold edition, if I can PayPal it!

Maybe I'm just missing it...

[bricriu]

... but is there anywhere where I can hear some preview tracks? Partial, complete, crappy-bitrate, makes no never mind. I mean, I remember all that great (tinny ;) music coming out of my friends NES. I'm interested. But I'm not going to buy it unheard. It's probably pretty cool... orchestral arrangements, jazz sets. It doesn't seem to be up at Amazon (who generally includes clips).

Uematsu is the John Williams of videogames

[AndyChrist]

Good, but generally pretty dull.

Re:Uematsu is the John Williams of videogames

[PurpleBob]

You know, you're really right there.

This makes me wonder why Square hangs on to Uematsu for their Final Fantasy games, while in their other games (Chrono Trigger/Cross, Xenogears, and now Xenosaga) Yasunori Mitsuda puts out much better music - music which generally you can listen to on its own, without needing to think "this is from a video game."

Although, having listened to Xenosaga, many of the tracks sound disappointingly like Uematsu: loud, dramatic, and tuneless, with little appeal unless they're in the background of something. I suspect this is the result of having him do another game with 24 tracks of music in a span of time when he could come up with 4 or 5 inspired tunes. Perhaps they use Uematsu for Final Fantasy because he can churn out music and keep up with the pace at which they release the games.

Re:Uematsu is the John Williams of videogames

[Wolfier]

Game music has only one purpose of existence - to enhance gameplay.

Do you prefer good video game music which generally still sounds good when you listen on its own, or an outstanding video game music which is only so-so when listened on its own?

If the composer has to care about "lisenability on its own", then some degree of gameplay enahancement would suffer. Of course there are exceptions, but this is what I feel about Uematsu vs Mitsuda.

Re:Uematsu is the John Williams of videogames

[Tofuhead]

Agreed. But, I personally think that nothing in the RPG music world has come close to being as _fun_ as his jazzy compositions in Final Fantasy V, particularly the battle tracks and Gilgamesh's theme. His later works are mostly derivative, tired, and too grandiose for its own good, but his old stuff is great: catchy and in line with the campy nature of the earlier FF games.

A little poppy maybe, but that's how I like it. That's why, well, ZELDA FOREVER. ^_^

< tofuhead >

Re:Uematsu is the John Williams of videogames

[ShadowDrgn]

This makes me wonder why Square hangs on to Uematsu for their Final Fantasy games...

Remember that FFX had 2 additional composers on board - Nakano and Hamauzu. Maybe Square agrees that Uematsu just isn't cutting it all by himself on their flagship series anymore. I'd also like to point out that Xenosaga isn't even a Squaresoft game - Namco published it.

Re:Uematsu is the John Williams of videogames

[AndyChrist]

There are many, many exceptions. Mainly because almost no game music is actually done like a movie score...almost all of it, including most from Square, is just loops, and anything used to punctuate on screen events tends to be little short pieces. (this has been true since at LEAST the NES days)

There are some instances of companies trying to make the music dynamic, with varying degrees of success. (Some of lucasarts star wars games, for example) But that's not very common.

Apart from that, the only games which can fit the music to the action well enough that they can do more than just set an overall mood are ones which are so rigidly linear, with timing fixed no matter what the player does, that they can score it like a movie. Most of Panzer Dragoon 2, for example. Here, your listenability/mood dichotomy actually DOES exist and is vividly illustrated. The most listenable tracks from that game were mainly just the loops.

Anyhow, to my knowledge, Uematsu falls squarely in the "loops" category, without even having many of those musical exclaimation points.

Earlier Coverage

[maikeru]

For those who are interested, there's an earlier story, samples, and an interview with Stephen Kennedy, the project's manager at the GIA:

http://www.thegia.com/features/f991030.html

More Information

[Wire Tap]

What the poster (and /. editors left out) was the following information:

There are three versions of PMM (Project Majestic Mix): Gold, Silver, Unlimited. Gold is available for purchase only directly from the gang who put the whole thing together, and is also only available for those who contributed $20 or more to the fundraising. The Silver version is available for preorder until the last day of March, from Animenation.com, as the poster mentioned. The Unlimited, as also mentioned, will be for general sale, probably everywhere under the sun.

The Gold edition is packed with more tracks than the others, IE: those who donated get great rewards. The Silver has less than gold, and the Unlimited has less than Silver, but 2 (if I remember correctly from an email from Mustin) tracks that are not on the Gold. Confusing? Sure it is. ;-)

I donated $20 for the project, mostly because I have been a huge fan of the Final Fantasy musical scores since I first experienced FF6. Nobo is my musical hero. Also, I should note, I liked the idea that my name (yes, my name!) will be included in the booklet, along with all the others who donated a $20 sum or more. Gold edition and name in the book, what more could a guy ask for?

I'm anxious as can be to get my Gold edition, which, might I add, cost me $15 to purchase (yes, my donatation did NOT go towards the price of the CD, but that's fine with me). The samples I have heard are fantastic.

In short, if you enjoy Final Fantasy, and are longing for some nostalgia, buy the CD(s). You won't regret it, but, hey, if you do regret it, there's always eBay. ;-)

Re:sweet

[PurpleBob]

Even the other poster isn't correcting you enough - the absolutely brilliant music for Chrono Trigger and Xenogears was done by Yasunori Mitsuda. Uematsu only does Final Fantasy.

Not the first

[kris]

>Project Majestic Mix: A Tribute to Nobuo
>Uematsu' is the combined effort a group of
>musicians from around the world, connected
>only through the Internet. Together, they
>have created the first legal, fan-made,
>fan-financed game music album to be released
>in America.

Actually, this is not a first. I have here in my CD-rack two yellow MUSENET audio CD from 1992. These are the first two audio CD which have been recorded by people on the internet (USENET, actually), using the Internet as a transport medium for the final sounds. The only mention I have found about this is at the bottom of http://www.outsideshore.com/recordings/marc.htm.

Re:This Gold Edition crap is weak

[Wire Tap]

And? How is that weak? Dedication (I _always_ look around for new FF stuff) has its rewards.

Incidentally, you know some people will be ripping the Gold Edition set right away. Not me, though. This is one CD set that won't be going in my shared folder.