[djpretzel]

Email sub file Child of the Murder God MIX2.mp3


Christian Pacaud
cpacaud@saintstudios.com
http://agora.ulaval.ca/~chpac2/

Baldur's Gate
Main Theme (orig. composed by Michael Hoenig)

Something NOT from a Square game, for a change. This was my submission for RPGamer's Splendid Performance contest's 1st round.

[Liontamer]

Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga - 01 "Main Theme"

Covered this as part of May's material for VG Frequency, so I'm glad to see it here:

Originally Posted by [url=http://oc.ormgas.com/forum_viewtopic.php?18.11101

Liontamer[/url]]Christian Pacaud - Baldur's Gate "Child of the Murder God" [Splendid Performance: On the Keys / VGMix2 #4108]
Christian's great in that he can hit you with the rock or woo you with the 88 keys. Here he opts for the latter with a lush, emotive solo piano arrangement from Baldur's Gate, a soundtrack which it looks like I'll need to check out for myself. Looking at the title, I'm more inclined to think of something like Akuma from Street Fighter rather than this. Especially in the latter half though, the performance conveys the drama and energy to suggest that the title isn't a misnomer. Enchanting work from Christian, who I can't wait to see bring his piano skills to OCR as well.

Like Christian mentioned, this was also part of Splendid Performance: On the Keys, and was pretty cool stuff. The original had the whole epic/cinematic thing going for it, but the style was a bit generic to me, so I'm interested in making the comparison now and seeing what CPac managed to do with it.

He immediately opens the arrangement, going for the riffs from :10 of the source. Piece sounds rather quiet from the outset, so I was hoping for some more volume to at least indicate this was more purposeful. I don't think the realism in the sampling is up there with Chrono Trigger "Memories from the Wind Scene", so I'd be interested in some suggestions on that. Sounded somewhat mechanical but was ultimately alright as the performance dynamics were otherwise pretty good.

Melody hit another iteration at 1:46, and the volume picked up nicely at 2:15 for some good contrast. Some slight distortion at 2:20 and a little bit after that during the louder spots. Nice idea with 2:43-3:08, starting off quietly once again and building the volume up while also increasing the tension, though it could have been a little better there, as it sounded like the volume was simply fading up, rather than the "player" pressing down more strongly on the keys.

Having heard this now, a few month down the line from the summer, I think this one is on the lower end of CP's own works in terms of sound quality. Again, it's not bad, just not QUITE as polished. On the arrangement front, this obviously had the goods to spare, and was a good listen. While providing good contrast from section to section, it generally gave off a more gentle, contemplative atmosphere than the original. Perfect for murdering people, yes?

YES

[The Orichalcon]

The sustain pedal's certainly been well used here. It has a clear concert sound to it, never really leaping into any fast and amazingly complex piano structures. Instead it keeps this atmospheric and deep, dark sound to it most of the way through. The buildup to the loudest section at 2:15 was very nice, if not a little overbearing. But the chord progression choices there are very pleasing to the ear.

The arrangement is fine. The original had a Medievil sound to it, and I'm pretty sure it's the same composer for the two games. The switch in styles is done remarkably well. I wouldn't expect the source to lend itself to such a gentle sounding remix, however it's turned out quite well.

I have my nitpicks with the way the piano sounds at times, however I can't really see it being improved upon, and it's good enough the way it is.

YES

[GrayLightning]

Hmm, this one is tough. I think the overall result is a bit underwhelming on some level. The production is definitely not as strong as what we're accustomed to from CP. It's a bit lazy. I wish you'd have done more EQing to sculpt a more full sound. The piano is really bright and rough sometimes, especially during the stronger sections.

But, the arrangement is clearly thought out and interesting in comparison to the original. I like all the new ideas you put into the mix. I still don't think the overall result is as interesting as the original though. The problem with solo piano is the primary role of interest is relegated to one instrument and it better be a damn good one. Yes, it's on the low end of what we expect of you, but, I hear too much work put into this mix. If there's one thing I prize above anything else in this community, it's when an arranger incorporates a lot of one's own ideas into a mix, for good or ill. It's easy to make something sound good when you have good source material and you stick close to it - of course it's gonna sound good. But when you venture into new uncharted territory, that's where many arrangers in this community fail. That's why I prize liberalism of arrangement above anything else, and in this case you've done an admirable job. Everything else, I find passable in the sum of its parts. YES

[analoq]

hrmm.. yeah this isn't one of the stronger piano performances we've gotten.
it wanders between interesting and trite.

but there's some interesting stuff and nothing particularly bothersome about it,
so a decent addition to ocr it shall be.

yes