I don't know where you got your informations here, midi music file are purely digitaly done, there is no compression there
Yeah I probably could have done a better job of explaining that, because it does seem a little missleading the way I wrote it. I probably should have said something like "Have you ever heard the original virtual instruments that were used to compose the music when played with a high bit rate?" I think my mind at the time was trying to put in laymans terms the distinction between high bit rate and low bit rate, but given that some people arent familiar with the fact that midi is not inherently the source of the quality they often associate with it and the fact that it is a triggering subject for some, I think you can understand what I was dealing with.
wow? hmm that sounds familair for some reason. maybe wrath of the lk? nah thqt cant be right this alias is from wod and legion. what server did i play on???? rp pvp???
i played a female night elf monk with the hideous yellow murloc xmog pants with a cuff at the calves that ya couldnt get anymore with a plain whirt shirt with like a brown harness?? the colour scheme for the character is exactly the same. really plain looking xmog. windwalker monk.
i perma deletd my account though since the hong kong protest. cant support a company whos values have been sold out for money. im think smallz was a feral druid that did arena with a lock and hpal? maybe not arena? ranked bgs?
i did alot of shot calling and ran some really weird wombo combo comps. usually let people run whatever and did my best to fit it in. very unorthodox stuff and did some wild strats. sorry wow is such a hazy memory now. just a dissappointment: :o now i know how my mother feels about me! id disown me too$
sound like the person u seek?
I think I understand the OP's point, nothing too brassy but somehting light in the background to set the tone. However I also appreciate the grand sound of orchestral pieces in appropriate areas, Vivaldi's spring, comes to mind, as well as the "storm" sequence in Rossini's William Tell Overture.- everyone calls it a storm I dont think he did, but I could be mistaken - I imagine a ship getting tossed in a stormy ocean.
It makes me stray into the brilliance of the Carl Stalling project for the old bugs bunny cartoons but that was more in line with the old technique of having a musician at a piano interpreting the scenes on silent films for the viewing audience when movies were invented.
I have yet to hear a comiccon or shop of some sort play EQ merchant music as I interact with the register, I think my eyes would glaze over.
Nekentros said:I hope Joppa doesn't take this the wrong way, but I feel that VR should consider going back and taking another look at the ambient music for Pantheon, because right now I feel that they are going to miss the mark on such a critical element.
While the music that has been created thus far is well composed in its own right, it just feels disconnected. I think this is because the instruments used in its creation fail to reflect the types of instruments that would likely be used by the inhabitants of Terminus.
When creating music for Pantheon, I think it would be beneficial to ask the question: Does jumping on the, "orchestral-like music bandwagon" actually contribute to the music feeling like it is the product of the inhabitants of the world or does it detract? I've seen so many games go down the "orchestral" path and sure it might make for some good YouTube listening, but none have had the same calming, almost hypnotic effect on me than say, EQ's much simpler bard-like melodies have had while actually in game. I think this is because there is this fundamental disconnect. Now don't get me wrong, I’m certainly not suggesting midi music, as that is not what I’m getting at here, but what I am getting at is that I think serious consideration should be given to creating calming atmospheric pockets throughout Terminus with instruments that are actually analogous to the types that would likely be used by characters in such a world, otherwise the music just feels, as I said, disconnected.
A lot of what I will say has been said in the thread but I'll condense it.
When Joppa came on board the team, he was handling music and sound effects because he had experience and the setup to do that. It was his way to contribute and get a foot in the door.
However, a year or so back he said he no longer was planning on handling music and that they will go with a composer for the music. They have not yet said who that will be or if a decision has even been made. I know a lot of people, myself included, are crossing our fingers for Jay Barbeau who composed EQ's music.
I suspect that adding music to the game is going to have to wait until they have more of the world art done because the composer will want to draw inspiration from that art. The composer may also be responsible for some of the audio programming, which is cool because Jay Barbeau does know how to program Unity which PROTF is using.
Whomever they go with, I totally agree with your idea on the style. I think the in-game music should reflect the type of instruments that the world inhabitants would have available to them.
Just wanted to thank Ezrael for the Soundcloud link. Was hoping someone would get to it before me. That stuff was composed years ago before CP took the reigns, as a few people have mentioned, but so far it offers the best glimpse of what the team's direction might involve.
In one of the recest dev streams within the last month or two, Chris was asked about the music again, and he said something along the lines of: he wished he could find the time to work on the music more, he may dip into it a bit later, but that they'd be looking for a composer to take that over at a later date TBD (as bigdogchris mentions above). So they've repeated that they'd have a dedicated team member on it a few times. As to what direction it may take - anyone's guess really.
For my 2cp, I'd say I enjoy more varied instrumentation that lends different sounds to different compositions and settings, and different environments could accomodate a pretty wide variety of instrumentation or subgenres of music. Something like a reserved march in a sterile but martial zone like EQ's Sanctus Seru would match well, as might something more sprightly and rollicking with some light flutes around the Ember elves. Matching the music to the inhabitants and their surroundings does help immerse one in the setting, but I know some people find music to be intrusive rather than constructive as well. I'm sure there'll be a toggle if you need to externally stream some acid rock for PvP or something. I'm excited to see whatever happens, so here's hoping the team can find another great champion for the cause!
I like ambient music...the first couple of times hear it. After that, it's just an ever repeating annoyance so I turn it off. Same for combat music. Good the first few times, terrible after that. Auditorily the game just gets overfilled with ambient zone noises, combat noise, spell noise, music. Add to that voice comms and I just yearn to shut it all off. All that effort is wasted on me, unfortunately.
bigdogchris said:
I know a lot of people, myself included, are crossing our fingers for Jay Barbeau who composed EQ's music.
It is interesting that Jay has composed a demo for Pantheon, I wonder if the reason it's posted online is because he was shot down by VR.
I like the song he made, though to be honest it feels like there is something going on with the fidelity. It sounds like a song that is being played through a blown out speaker.
You can listen to it at the link below if you are interested.
https://audiu.net/projects/pantheon-theme-idea/assets/211038
Morraak said:Thanks for that link Nekentros
He's got a few other interesting tracks on there if you click on the "View Full Project" button, though they all seem to suffer from that same distortion issue I mentioned.
Nekentros said:
bigdogchris said:I know a lot of people, myself included, are crossing our fingers for Jay Barbeau who composed EQ's music.
It is interesting that Jay has composed a demo for Pantheon, I wonder if the reason it's posted online is because he was shot down by VR.
I like the song he made, though to be honest it feels like there is something going on with the fidelity. It sounds like a song that is being played through a blown out speaker.
You can listen to it at the link below if you are interested.
https://audiu.net/projects/pantheon-theme-idea/assets/211038
At one time he had several more brand new pieces posted that he later took down. A few of them were very good and sounded exactly the same style as EQ. I emailed him and asked him to repost them, he said he would, but never did. I don't know if that means he just forgot or if they are being saved for a project he's working on. Who knows.
Zuljan said: EQs attack music was so dam good too which is the other half of the equation. I remember playing again a few years ago and thinking the attack music really got me psyched up and wanting to battle. That is rare from an mmo in my experience (played about 25 at this point) and it’s all of the tiny elements like this that add up to deep, addictive immersion.
Completely agree, I loved the brass with the faster paced notes that seemed to amp you up. I'm one of those people that usually leaves the music on with games anyways but with EQ1 it was easy to want to.
Zuljan said:EQs attack music was so dam good too
That's interesting, because the attack music was the one thing I actually did turn off from the outset.
It just felt like noise to me.
@ Morrakk - If a game has a music track that plays non-stop all throughout a zone, then yeah I usually turn it off as some others have expressed, but if its music that only plays when in proximity to something, then I usually leave it on, but not always. It really depends on if I like the music and how long I’m in that specific proximity trigger area.
@Zuljan - Yeah I only remember about 2 or 3 different versions of combat music prior to quiting live sometime in 2005, though I'm not surprised there were more introduced after that as you've indicated.