Easy orchestral soundtracks

[esteban]

Spenoza, don't forget Gyruss!

and then here's your standard obnoxious, diddled up classical music, with electronic nonsense thrown in.

take out the electronic beats and you have a fairly standard orchestra performance.

It doesn't sound like anything distinct, mostly just generic orchestral chorus. No, I'm talking about actual classical themes, lifted from classical, baroque, romantic period compositions, etc... As for flowy stuff not working in sci fi, of course not. That's why you'd use Mars, by Holst (yeah, I know, stereotypical pick) or something like that. A lot of early modern music is also free of copyright restrictions and is thus freely available to remix, abuse, or simply re-use in stock form.

Thing is, if the orchestral tracks weren't remixed in style or instrumentation at all, as long as they used a really good sample library and were well-chosen to fit the mood and movement of the game, that's good enough. Lots of original video game music isn't very good music on its own and relies on the game to prop it up. Look at some of the stuff Inon Zur and Jeremy Soule. Some of their stuff is original and stands apart, and a lot of it is just orchestral filler. It's the video game version of elevator music. It's mood fluff and that's it. Now, the personality and power of good classical music can make it hard to use in games, and that's fine, but I still there there's opportunity left, especially for small and hobby developers.

I think you bring up several good points.

Plus, I'm willing to bet that it would be awesome to throw some Bach into any project. He's my fave .

[Arkhan]

I hear classical themes, or close-enough-to-it stuff in games all the time. 

I guess I'd just rather hear some original classical-style composition than hear the same classical stuff I heard during school. (I did violin, and then classical guitar, and then a lot of music related classes).

I guess some frescobaldi pipe organ destruction would sound kinda cool in cathedrals in games.

[spenoza]

I agree that a lot of classical just isn't well-suited, but some of the movements from Stravinsky, Mahler, Mussorgsky, and Holst would be great starting points.

[Black Tiger]

Gyruss wouldn't be the same with different music.

[esteban]

Gyruss wouldn't be the same with different music.

Agreed 100%.

[spenoza]

What's frustrating is if you bring up "classical" music, most people immediately think Mozart/Beethoven/Bach, and sometimes Strauss. In doing so, they overlook works which might not have been as important to the development of modern music but are much more awesome for listening and performing.

[esteban]

What's frustrating is if you bring up "classical" music, most people immediately think Mozart/Beethoven/Bach, and sometimes Strauss. In doing so, they overlook works which might not have been as important to the development of modern music but are much more awesome for listening and performing.

Personally, I always think of Shostakovich .