Emperor of the Fading Suns. Amazing soundtrack.
So I’m increasingly finding that chiptunes are good music to work to.
Like baroque keyboard music, they tend to have pretty consistent rhythm and dynamics, allowing them to go into your back-brain while still being somewhat driving. But they also tend to be louder and more absorbing. No matter how much you turn up Bach’s English Suites, they don’t really take over your aural surroundings.
I also like how chiptunes are heavily focused in higher frequencies, which means they effectively drown out the human voice. If there are chatty coworkers around, this is invaluable.
In a solitary environment my ‘music to zone to’ would be mellower (think: Vangelis, or aforementioned baroque piano, or Global Communication). But when there are people nearby talking, I rely a lot on chiptunes and on more insistent techno like Underworld.
Now if only I could find a pair of headphones and/or earbuds that can be worn for upwards of 4 hours without causing ear pain.
Also, just 'cause, here’s one of the catchiest chiptunes ever – Mike Alsop’s music for Fairlight.
I’m with you on the first part, but I’ve never considered using something based in a higher frequency to counteract noise. I’ll have to try that.
To contribute to the thread, this is the music from the Wooded Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey. The video is fifteen minutes long, but that’s just because it’s looping the same ninety-ish-second clip. So catchy.
I was going to tell you that you were doing it wrong and post a 10 hour version, but 15 minutes will do! I was meaning to swing round here and post that exact tune up. It’s so good! In fact, I was kind of disappointed that the soundtrack peaked so early with it and Cascade Kingdom.
New Donk’s ‘full band’ sound is terrific too. I’m still not sure how I feel about Mayor Pauline’s singsong but here’s the New Donk City tune:
Cascade Kingdom sounds like Kondo trying to pip Gusty Garden for Most Triumphant Mario song, and it might just manage it too. It’s glorious:
Honestly, I was looking forward to the Odyssey soundtrack as much as the game itself, probably more so, and it delivered.
@Gordon_Cameron: yeah, as nice as more ambient stuff is, it’s not dense enough to blot out office/colleague noise sometimes!
This tune is too good for a Lethal Weapon game by Ocean:
“Mit Ganczem Willen” is a song from the 1400s featured prominently in Darklands and Machiavelli: The Prince, two of my favorite games. Every time I hear this I feel like I’ve gone back in time.
This final-boss-fight track from Digital Devil Saga is perhaps merely okay in itself, but I always thought it was ideal music in combination with the gameplay:
The malicious hermaphrodite institute director who turns out to be the final boss has just been defeated in her first monstrous form, and has transformed into some kind of transcendental deity as the track opens…
Very nice! I can’t unsee this though (I’m sorry):
I clicked LIKE on this one. Awesome.
Been listening to this one a lot of late:
I’ve got a lot, but this has been on my playlists for years…
Jade Empire too
And the longest, by far that I never tire of
Speaking of Secret of Mana, this came out a few days ago and I’ve been really enjoying it.
Come to think of it, would anyone be interested in doing a game music thunderdome (everyone nominates a track or two, and they’re all pitted against one another in a voting bracket until a winner is crowned)?
They’re an institution on another board I post on, and I was thinking it might be fun to try here.
Edit: On second thought, decided to just go ahead and make it and see what happens.
Thanks to @Thraeg’s tunestotube link, I can spam some 3-ways+white noise PSG goodness spouted out by the Amstrad’s AY-3-8912!
To begin, here is the only track running through the whole game of Les Passagers du Vent, a pretty boring text adventure game released by Infogrammes, based upon the homonymous historical comics series by François Bourgeon. It was composed by Charles Callet.
I find it is a pretty evocative track, even if it pretty much breaks apart in the last third because of the lack of tracks.
(Edit: edited to have the proper pitch, as the ST-Sound player would use the ST frequency and not the CPC one. Sadly, I can’t figure through the new plugin I use how to force a single loop, so you get 2 loops and over 6 minutes of it!)
On topic with a recent cinematographic necromancy attempt, here is the surprisingly catchy Death Wish 3 CPC tune that plays throughout this bad game. Not that surprising actually, since it was commited by Ben “Deflektor” Daglish.
The game itself was some proto-GTA whose main feature was the possibility to use a bazooka close and personal to turn people into litteral pulp. I guess that was a famous scene from the quality movie?
Can’t believe I forgot about the Shadow Watch soundtrack earlier in this thread. Bill Brown’s orchestral action movie soundtrack is incredibly dynamic and full of memorable melodies.
I was looking for some playlists for my Gloomhaven JotL playthrough, some of the lists on YT are just basic fantasy orchestra stuff, bleh.
I think this suits the atmosphere of the game very well
Replaying Suikoden 1 on Vita (last played it at release in '96 or '97) so I can finally play the sequel for the first time. I remembered the soundtrack being incredible, but it’s astounding how good it sounds.
Not sure how they recorded this, but it just sounds so full, dynamic and uncompressed. It really is impressive for a PSONE game.
My new favorite song in a game. From Psychonauts 2. Jack Black is awesome!
