OCR01838 - Portal 'Live from [SUBJECT HOMETOWN HERE]'

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[Liontamer]

Portal! GSO! Bueno!

[Yuiopdude]

Hehehe... I just got done listening to it, VERY nice... love the original and this does it a fair amount of justice.

But, near the end, I couldn't help but think... "Portals: the Musical." This almost makes a good opening theme for it (though, it's really the closing theme... but Things could be worked around and stuff.)

Ehehehe... "Portals: the Musical"

[justinj212]

Excellent, but I think asking for a review from me is a conflict of interest >_>

Thanks to everyone who checked out the arrangement and interview. Again I'd invite you to check out some more of our recordings on our website (http://umd.gamersymphony.org/). And if anyone can make it, please come to our FREE show, this Saturday May 9th at 3PM in the Dekelboum Theater of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on the UMD Campus. We're also on twitter @GamerSymphony, and have a facebook group "Gamer Symphony Orchestra." Check them out for regular updates!

[BardicKnowledge]

Having won the GSO shirt from MAGFest (it's awesome -- thanks!), I figured I owe you guys at least a listen and review. :p

First of all, congratulations to whoever is involved in managing the group. I can't begin to think of all of the logistical problems involved with getting this many people to show up, organize and coordinate performance sites, promote yourselves, etc. without (presumably) receiving the support that is given to official university ensembles.:nicework:

As to the actual piece and performance, I love the arrangement. The mix of slow and fast styles is excellent -- my only complaint is that I wish the final slow section would have been just a few clicks faster. There are some strings out of tune, especially noticeable at the beginning, but that's hard to be picky about because of the live performance. Kudos especially to the vocalist -- an excellent performance from her that's studio quality.

One note: the performance recording I'm listening to sounds like it fails to capture the entire orchestra somehow. Are there sections that aren't recorded as well? Occasionally I lose track of a string section when the entire ensemble is playing.

Thanks for getting this on OCR -- if I'm ever in Maryland (I have inlaws in DC, so it's certainly possible) when you have a show, I'll be in your audience.

[TheHands]

I'm not sure how I feel about this piece, it loses most of the feel of the original.

I think it's an interesting adaptation, and during the second verse it starts to take on more of the slightly off-beat, happy-go-lucky feel of the original.

I like the inclusion of the instrumental/horn/latin version from the game, it adds a lot of flavour.

It's a quirky piece that I'd have trouble not enjoying, and admittedly it does grow on me as a listener as it goes on. I think it's just the HUGE drop in tempo from the original that throws me, as someone that's listened to the original hundreds of times (sang it instead of Happy Birthday at my birthday).

It's a good arrangement, just unexpectedly so.

[DrumUltimA]

I absolutely LOVE the arrangement! Who's responsible for the sheet music? Maybe I can get it performed here at peabody...

[Lucentas]

This is amazing--mad props to everyone who participated in this.

It's no secret (well, maybe it is since I've never really said it), but I really dig these live orchestra arrangements--the Wild Arms one simply thrilled me, and once again you fine, fine people deliver.

It's kinda funny, but just the other week a friend of mine had me listen to the original song (highly addictive), so it sort of added a new dimension of appreciation to listening to this mix--not that I don't enjoy good music regardless of whether I've even heard of the game it's from, but knowing the source tune does add that extra level of familiarity that made me crack a smile more than once while listening to this.

[jididly]

Funny thing when you're browsing the new songs at OCR and the top one comes from the university you go to.
If I don't go home friday i'll definitely check out the concert this saturday.

[marcyt]

This is interesting but I know the original too well to get excited over this. I don't mean to be negative, it's just that I have a hard time with anyone but GLADOS singing the song!! The music is really good, maybe the song will grow on me after a few more listens.

[KyleJCrb]

Great stuff here. Nice work, GSO!

[Dhsu]

I thought it was amusing that this showed up in my RSS feed as a "ReMix of Portal (WIN)".

WIN indeed.

[Dunther]

I think you guys are great, not so much for the Portal Song, but for the others that I found on your website.
I hope you will send more here on OCR :) .

[metalsnakejuice]

Epic stuff form them and l enjoyed a few of your other songs on your website.

[OA]

Great work, classy and witty arrangement, as well as some pretty good performances. The choir was a highlight for me, and the inclusion of the radio version of the theme was great as well.

I can't wait to hear your crew get even better, and i look forward to hearing more on OCR. :-)

[Dafydd]

Since this is a live performance, you have to be a little more forgiving towards the things I'm bringing up, but they still make the song a lot less enjoyable to listen to.

The strings (or, these are the most obvious ones, at least) are sometimes horribly off tune and the vocals are too, although it doesn't hurt as much to hear a voice off key as it does a violin. There also seems to be plenty of microphone popping that bothers me a bit.

Aside from these things, and it's not like they can be helped now, the arrangement is nice and the idea is fun. I just have a hard time listening to anything that's off key. Keep practicing :)

[Harmony]

shoop, shoop-a doop, I can't wait to see this live!...while I'm still alive :P

Go Terps!

[kitty]

Since this is a live performance, you have to be a little more forgiving towards the things I'm bringing up, but they still make the song a lot less enjoyable to listen to.

The strings (or, these are the most obvious ones, at least) are sometimes horribly off tune and the vocals are too, although it doesn't hurt as much to hear a voice off key as it does a violin. There also seems to be plenty of microphone popping that bothers me a bit.

Aside from these things, and it's not like they can be helped now, the arrangement is nice and the idea is fun. I just have a hard time listening to anything that's off key. Keep practicing :)

My musical skills are still in the dump but I thought it was just me when I thought that something was off in the recording. I have to agree with Dafydd on all the issues he brought up. What got me the most though was the balance between the orchestra and the singer. To me, the singer's voice dominates the instruments too much throughout most of the song. It really made it difficult for me to appreciate the orchestra, strings especially. If this was not a live recording and the volumes tweaked a bit then I'd be happy.

[Liontamer]

shoop, shoop-a doop, I can't wait to see this live!...while I'm still alive :P

Go Terps!

Hey hey! You're going to the performance this weekend?

[Dafydd]

My musical skills are still in the dump but I thought it was just me when I thought that something was off in the recording. I have to agree with Dafydd on all the issues he brought up. What got me the most though was the balance between the orchestra and the singer. To me, the singer's voice dominates the instruments too much throughout most of the song. It really made it difficult for me to appreciate the orchestra, strings especially. If this was not a live recording and the volumes tweaked a bit then I'd be happy.

You're right about this too.

[cobaltstarfire]

I have to say either this is a really bad recording, or the orchestra needs quite a bit of work (or maybe a little of both). I want to like this because it's live, but I can't, because I've heard better performances recorded from my days in highschool band/orchestra. :S

Now I feel like a jerk for saying harsh things but I dunno what else to say besides that I'm really disappointed by this one.

[SwordBreaker]

Epic indeed. The fact that this is all recorded live is more than enough to give this a listen. My ear isn't exactly trained to notice offkey immediately, but some moments of the track felt a bit awkward. Perhaps your previous take on Wild Arms was better performed. However, that doesn't beat the number of times a smiled as I listened. Your take on Still Alive is really interesting and quirky. I mean, the fact that this is an orchestration of an already weird track makes it hard to choose between taking it seriously or laughing at those quirky lyrics that are trying to be sung seriously.

Keep it up, guys!

EDIT: been checking out some of the other recordings you guys posted on the official website. I'm happy that you're covering underrated stuff such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Kirby Super Star. Don't see a lot of remixes of those games. Nice work.

[Nekofrog]

The hard P's are really killing an overall good tune for me.

[Arian]

LOVED IT!!!
One of the best ReMixes out there.
Congrats to all involved.

[yosefu]

i really love this song for its originality and the lyrics are just too funny.
great job.:-P

[DramaNoMore]

I fell in love for this song!!!

And, the arrangement's inventiveness makes up for the quite-less-than-perfect performance, in my opinion.

[Lucentas]

SwordBreaker - The Wild Arms mix was actually arranged by a different individual and performed by a different orchestra.

[UchihaVilu]

Love this, it would be nice to receive more live mixes as intuitive as this.
Great vocals, harmonization and very moist indeed.

YES

[Catharsis]

That was great! Although, if it weren't live, I would think it would be considered too low quality to pass. I love it, though.

BTW, they have this song for Rock Band 2. My roommate had people over playing it, and I heard him sing this. It was hilarious.

[SwordBreaker]

SwordBreaker - The Wild Arms mix was actually arranged by a different individual and performed by a different orchestra.

Whoops. Sorry about that. I recall Wild Arms being done by a University group as well but don't remember where exactly.

[DragonAvenger]

The first note really kills the mood. That really needs to be fixed in a future recording if you want to get a good impression out right away.

The arrangement is really cool. Very different from the original, and has it's own flavor. Love the latin radio thrown in there as well.

Overall intonation needs work, and there are moments where certain parts in the orchestra aren't heard as well as they should be. Such is the vice of a live recording, of course.

I'm still torn about the change of the mood. I like that it's original, but I feel like it loses something in translation. I want to say that the whimsicle feel is what I'm wishing for and not getting in this almost 'more serious yet not' version. Hard to explain really.

Definately enjoyable, and a great tribute to the original.

[Darth Lime]

OMG. I creamed my pants while listening to this masterpiece.

5/5, 10/10, 100/100.


:nicework:

[Lucentas]

Whoops. Sorry about that. I recall Wild Arms being done by a University group as well but don't remember where exactly.

University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra.

[Neblix]

Something is... off about this version.

It's done well but still there is something very off about it.

[Vitor Machado]

I have to agree it sounds "wrong" several times, the instrumentation and the voice.
But it's cool nonetheless, and this song is just awesome. :wink:

[X-W@rrior]

It's a great song with a good tune and a very well done arrangement. Sadly the performance of the orchestra could be improved a lot. I have played in a big band several years so I know that it is very hard and needs really a lot of work to get and keep sounding good - especially if you only meet occasionaly.

I'm looking forward to hear clean submissions from the gamer symphony orchestra - as i said: Song and arrangement are great :)

[LuigiFan]

Ooof...I like this, but I don't. Trust me, I can understand the issues with recording a large group and such as I'm in several of them, but there were just waaay too many to make this recording submission worthy. My recommendation would have been to re-record it after cleaning it up - sure it's less significant because then djp and Liontamer wouldn't have been there, but overall it would've been the better thing to do. The tuning errors and such are just too distracting for me to enjoy this fully.

[Black Mage]

I don't know...I'm just not feeling this one nearly as much as I enjoyed the original. My primary critique is the pacing. When I listen to this it's like I want to keep walking forward, but all of a sudden something forces me to stop moving mid-step, with my foot hanging in the air, before I'm allowed to finish taking my step. If that makes any sense.

:?

[MechaFone]

I haven't heard the original, but this is making me want to. This is some really great stuff! Awesome effort.

Just listened to the original song. Great contrast in song style, I thoroughly enjoy this, especially the singer's voice. Great job!

[Nekofrog]

I haven't heard the original,

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU go listen to the original now

[Ryo242]

I liked this. It had a nice tone and felt like a performance of the song that wasn't too bad.

[Martin Penwald]

At first, the not-quite-great performance and/or recording turned me off, but I gave the remix another chance, and it quickly grew on me. It's a live performance, so some things can and should be forgiven, and it actually adds some nice touches to the remix, like the quiet laughter at e.g. 0:58 and the applause in the end.

Also, I like the singer's voice, and the choir is a nice addition.

[KyleJCrb]

For those interested, a new version of this track just went up on GSO's site, recorded from the live show they had a few weeks ago. It has some improvements those who didn't really enjoy the original version will probably be more happy with.

http://www.gamersymphony.org/media/audio/concert/spr09/10%20Still%20Alive.mp3

[Mtlbro]

Holy CRAP going to check this out RIGHT NOW as should everyone who is reading this forum :))))

Thanks for doing what you do guys !!

Love those lyrics lol

[42]

Holy CRAP going to check this out RIGHT NOW as should everyone who is reading this forum :))))

^ What this person said.

It's been said before but I'll say it again: This Was A Triumph! :razz:

It's hard to overstate my satisfaction with this track. One thing I highly appreciate about this track is they manage to incorporate the Latin radio version heard only in game, which I can't find anywhere else. Still this is an amazing piece of work that belongs in everyone's music collection.

[ella guro]

I wish the mp3 Kyle linked to was still up!

I agree about the intonation issues with the performance. That doesn't kill me though...this is very well conceived, and could be excellent with better execution.

My issue is that I don't think it's humanly possible to improve on the original. I think it's one of the most effective (and strangely emotionally affecting) pieces of video game music I've ever heard. But it's at heart a pop song. Having it be arranged for orchestra takes away some of what made the original work so well for me.

I think what the GSO does is really cool, and I can understand why they'd do an arrangement of this (cause it's so damn popular), but I'd still rather listen to the original.

[KyleJCrb]

I wish the mp3 Kyle linked to was still up!

Here ya be. They changed the URL: http://umd.gamersymphony.org/audio/GSO%2009%201%2010%20Still%20Alive.mp3

[Emunator]

All production/technical problems aside, this is a great homage to a theme that really needs more coverage :-P It's nice to get some more full-ensemble remixes going through the front page, even if they're flawed I think the majority of us regular people can still appreciate them for what they're worth! :-)