Video Game Music/Orchestra Music

[luns101]

Recently, I was having a conversation with my wife about the movie, The Professional. It starred Natalie Portman and Jean Reno. She had never heard of it so I went on YouTube to show her a video of it. The video I chose had some music dubbed in the background which I thought was awesome. I emailed the person who posted the video and asked where the music was from. He responded that it was called "Liberi Fatali" from the video game, Final Fantasy VIII (it's a Japanese inspired game, right? ). I don't play video games that much since I'm from the Pac-Man generation. Anyways, I thought the music was great and started checking out other videos from other games. I even ran into a nice bit from Joe Hisaishi's Princess Mononoke soundtrack.

Now I'm on this Japanese orchestra music kick. I figured a lot of you younger folk own XBOXes, Wiis, or PlayStations. Does anybody have any recommendations of song soundtracks from a game? It doesn't necessarily have to be Japanese in origin.

I've also rediscovered a lot of older music that I enjoyed from Ennio Morricone as a result. Mainly, the theme from Once Upon A Time In The West. Funny how one little thing opens up more doors. I appreciate any feedback.

[pimpdave]

Fallout 3 has some great music.

Fallout 3 Battle Theme Music

and of course, this too:

Fallout 3 Main Theme Music

There are a bunch of other themes from the game, that you can find in the related bar on the side. I recommend the battle themes over the exploration themes though if you're looking for dramatic music, not ambient stuff.


Halo is generally regarded as having one of the best modern video game theme songs.

[MeDeFe]

Zelda
Halo
Metal Gear Solid
Super Mario
Chrono Cross
Kirby


There is an abundance of stuff out there. For starters I present you with: The Eminence Symphony Orchestra

CDs available for order from there homepage, kindly linked to by Wikipedia (no, I don't play in the orchestra and I don't get paid by them either).

[TeletubbyPrince]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZU6XyFxCA0 - deus ex orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7IWEyGY0CY - snowbound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYbF3zQH7uU - StarCraft Terran theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwEMgLnXMWw&feature=related - duke the nuke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWPxdic85Gk - mass effect

i can list more if you want

medefe also posted some good ones. don't listen to pimpdave, he is not a true gamer and fallout 3 is the worst game in the world with gay shit music

[john9blue]

ocremix.com has fan-made electronic music. There are also a lot of vids on You Tube (MDF had good ones).

Now the next step is to play Ocarina of Time and become completely hooked.

[Army of GOD]

Though it may not be "original", the sound tracks of each of the Civilization games is usually really good. I love the Ode to Joy from II.

[luns101]

These are great, thanks! I've got to admit that the song from Mass Effect made me think of some of the music from Risky Business with Tom Cruise. Video games sure have changed since I was a teenager.

By the way, I'm also open to suggestions for good theme music from any anime movie.

[CreepersWiener]

Here's a couple from the DEATH NOTE soundtrack album (Orchestra):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARbC8Ef08gc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaIoK3Bf6lk

If you like that, just search YouTube for Death Note Orchestra.


but DEATH NOTE also has some kick ass Death/Hard Metal in the beginning! Don't ask me what they are saying, but I would love to mosh to this stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcVGj-sdXw8

If you would like to watch the whole series, go to this website and start with Episode 1. Choose your version in subtitles or dubbed (I chose dubbed, because I like to be lazy and watch the movie...hehe.)

http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/death-no ... ee#English

It's not a video game, but it's Japanese!

BANZAI!

[Army of GOD]

Not from an anime movie or a video game but one of my favorite songs from a movie ever

L'arena

Morricone's a beast.

[john9blue]

Here's a couple from the DEATH NOTE soundtrack album (Orchestra):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARbC8Ef08gc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaIoK3Bf6lk

If you like that, just search YouTube for Death Note Orchestra.


but DEATH NOTE also has some kick ass Death/Hard Metal in the beginning! Don't ask me what they are saying, but I would love to mosh to this stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcVGj-sdXw8

If you would like to watch the whole series, go to this website and start with Episode 1. Choose your version in subtitles or dubbed (I chose dubbed, because I like to be lazy and watch the movie...hehe.)

http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/death-no ... ee#English

It's not a video game, but it's Japanese!

BANZAI!

Death Note is possibly my favorite anime (out of like, 4, lol). I recommend it to anyone, only 40 episodes or so with a great storyline and fantastic artwork. And you forgot the best song.

Speaking of which, One Piece (greatest anime of all time) has nice music. Here's a few tracks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVBH0x-0Tvg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbCzqg0V5EA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxAyfFvI690

They also used Dvorak's New World Symphony in one episode. Freaking amazing.

[Phatscotty]

I always enjoyed this certain minute of motzart. its on this clip, starting at about 7:04 (spoiler) if you havent seen the movie, its the very end of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjodEe_4X8A

[SuicidalSnowman]

I love video game soundtracks (Sometimes abbreviated VGBGM, VG for video-game and BGM is the label for "Background Music"). I will share my knowledge.

First of all, Nobuo Uematsu is the pre-eminent name is video game music. He is the main composer for the Final Fantasy series. As you have guessed, it is a "Japanese" game but has a HUGE American following as well.

Final Fantasy VII (7) soundtrack is probably the most famous simply because it is the most popular game (not arguing that it is the best, just most well known). The music is pretty good, but sort of hodge podge and lacking that full orchestra quality.

In Final Fantasy VIII (8), Uematsu went more classical. Try and find the Debussy Sonata (I think its a Sonata, could be wrong though). If nothing else, a YouTube search for "FFVIII Rinoa Squall Dance" should turn up the scene.

FFV's opening theme, as well as "Terra" from FFVI are very famous and popular. Terra is an awesome march type piece. Unfortunately, finding orchestrated versions of these is tough, most version are played with the old SNES soundcard. If you are looking for the authentic orchestra sound, you might not find it, although musically they are great pieces. They just sounds electronic a bit.

A little more obscure, but one of my personal favorites, is FFXI (11). Not really a game, more of an MMORPG. Also Nobuo Uematsu handed off much of the work to Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka. One of them has worked with him for years, and the other is his understudy. There is some nice stuff here, and it is all very high quality.

As for the aforementioned Metal Gear Solid series, Harry Gregson Williams did the soundtrack for MGS: Snake Eater. He also does a lot of Hollywood stuff. Also, the theme snake eater, by Cynthia Harrell sounds like an old James Bond theme.

This is just off the seat of my pants, but I will check this topic later and provide more info if you would like.

In closing, my favorite piece of music:
Valley of the Fallen Star, by Nobou Uematsu, FFVII OST.

[john9blue]

First of all, Nobuo Uematsu is the pre-eminent name is video game music. He is the main composer for the Final Fantasy series. As you have guessed, it is a "Japanese" game but has a HUGE American following as well.

Or the guy who composes the Mario and Zelda themes, but hey, I'm just a fanboy...

[CreepersWiener]

Claymore also ranks as one of my favorite Anime series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM8sosag ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtHa53D- ... re=related

But Claymore has more of a rock orchestra than traditional that you get with Death Note.

Still a damn good series though!

[Commander62890]

Age of Empires (1+2), Medal of Honor: Frontline, and Starcraft.

Three favs, in that order. Medal of Honor specifically has some epic orchestral music, if that's what you're looking for.

[MeDeFe]

FFV's opening theme, as well as "Terra" from FFVI are very famous and popular. Terra is an awesome march type piece. Unfortunately, finding orchestrated versions of these is tough, most version are played with the old SNES soundcard. If you are looking for the authentic orchestra sound, you might not find it, although musically they are great pieces. They just sounds electronic a bit.

Never fear, MeDeFe is here.

Terra's theme
FF5 opening theme (unless I'm completely mistaken)

[SuicidalSnowman]

FFV's opening theme, as well as "Terra" from FFVI are very famous and popular. Terra is an awesome march type piece. Unfortunately, finding orchestrated versions of these is tough, most version are played with the old SNES soundcard. If you are looking for the authentic orchestra sound, you might not find it, although musically they are great pieces. They just sounds electronic a bit.

Never fear, MeDeFe is here.

Terra's theme
FF5 opening theme (unless I'm completely mistaken)

Great find.

[faramier]

Pacman and tetris will, and have always been the best games out there!

[luns101]

Thanks for all the suggestions...really appreciate it guys

[pimpdave]

Having just recently played through Modern Warfare 2 (it was pretty short), I must say, Hans Zimmer did a great job on the soundtrack.

This track in particular keeps going through my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnmK06pap5A

[Army of GOD]

Having just recently played through Modern Warfare 2 (it was pretty short), I must say, Hans Zimmer did a great job on the soundtrack.

This track in particular keeps going through my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnmK06pap5A

The soundtrack as far as I know is ok, but I wouldn't really know considering I haven't even started the campaign yet. I just played multiplayer.

Another game with a really good soundtrack is Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiSTywA6fHY-one of my favorite intro songs of all time.

[MeDeFe]

Now, this may not be orchestra, but Megadeth playing the Duke Nukem theme is still fucking awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUCbflBkIgo

[john9blue]

Now, this may not be orchestra, but Megadeth playing the Duke Nukem theme is still fucking awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUCbflBkIgo

I deem this awesome.

[Army of GOD]

I deem this godly.

[MeDeFe]

This thread needs a revival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6FDnF4x7Bg