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K.B.

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Posts posted by K.B.

  1. Surprised by how many people prioritize by game/publisher.

    I listen to mixes by artist first. Yeah, they're taking elements from vgm, which is neat, but the nostalgia boost (liking a specific source) is trivial compared to what the artist does with the source. I'd rather listen to a great artist that's made a bunch of stuff from sources I don't recognize than a good artist who's covered familiar tunes. Plus, that former category motivates me to seek out and listen to the source to see just how disgusting the arrangement is in comparison to the original, so I end up learning the source one way or another (and occasionally discover a fantastic soundtrack or original music to boot).

    I think that's because I got into ocr (edit: and vgmix, rip) about the same time that I started really digging into classical and jazz; it was more that I was sick of vocals than anything else, and most vgm mixes were instrumentals. I think I look at vocalists similarly to how Ted Williams looked at pitchers. Not a perfect parallel, but it'll do. Singer-songwriters that excel in both aspects are the exception, of course.

    Anyway, for me it's about the music, not the game.

    Organizational specifics follow for anyone curious. I used this an excuse to rethink / flesh out some minor organizational points, so that's why I went into this level of detail.

    I organize by hard-drive filing system. I don't do anything else like use media player libraries or tag.

    vgm has its own folder under music; vgm and official arrangement albums go there. Two folders are under that for unofficial arrangements/remixes; one for everything else, one for Touhou.

    Individual tracks... Artist(s) - Title (Source) (Game). Artists, sources ordered by significance of contribution. More than three sources and it becomes "megamix" or "medley", as appropriate.

    Albums (everything else)... Group(s) - Title (Game). Group becomes "OCR" for OCR albums, Artist for individual-mixer albums. Game is omitted for albums that cover several games.

    Albums (Touhou)... Circle(s). Subfolders for albums... yyyymmdd (Convention) Title.

    Tracks within albums are left as-is if there's a file that has has all the info I want. Otherwise it's... ## Title (Source) (Game) (Artist). Game(s) is omitted for single-game albums. ## becomes ### for multi-disk albums. Same rules as before with sources and artists.

    That's only for music that I've listened to, and that's also only how things are supposed to be done. I have subfolders for new music, which collectively amounts to an obnoxious mess, and a nontrivial portion of what I've listened to doesn't get moved (or, with Touhou albums, doesn't get correctly relabled) because I'll get motivated enough to listen but not enough to research and relabel.

  2. My initial reaction to one of the tracks: "Aw man, it's over? That was good - I wish it would have kept going. I wonder who did it. Wait... Arcana? HOLY CRAP that's awesome!"

    Kinda steals my thunder what with you posting right before me, but I still wanted to give props. Nice work!

    Kickass album. I'll have to listen a few more times to really appreciate everything, but off the cuff I can say that I was rocking to it nearly the entire time.

  3. I love you forever

    tilde~

    opinions are currently the best ems for NES, Super NES, TurboGrafX and Sega systems? (If this is a touchy/forbidden question, feel free to ignore me and please limit flames and trolling to a minimum.)

    No it is not taboo but your question was not sufficiently off-topic. Please do better next time.

    Nestopia

    haven't tried others as ZSNES has always met my needs

    a dead parrot

    Kega

    There's also this.

  4. Anyone seen the Persona 3 anime? There's a P4 one as well that's currently airing. These appear to be sleepers - I just found out about them a couple days ago, so I can't vouch for or against. I'd be interested in opinions of either.

    Or if no-one's seen them yet, then consider it an fyi-these-exist to Atlus fans, as I know we have at least a couple here.

    Usagi Drop

    Heard great things about this as well, and it seems right up my alley. Now that I have hd space (post-reformat) I'm going to check it out. I've been itching for a new show, too. I know that wasn't intended as a reminder for me but that was perfectly timed for my purposes, so thanks.

    edit: i found this image anyone have any comments on it?

    http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/7528/1258600944919.jpg

    I'll have to look up a few of those. Seems a good enough list to invest the time to investigate the unknown ones.

    I see Daioh and Monster on the "popular" list. That might be true but I certainly wouldn't call them 'good'. I watched the first two episodes of Daioh and each one was pure torture. They were bland, unfunny, slow, and disjointed. Couldn't stand most of the personalities and the music made me want to claw out my ears. I know that two episodes isn't usually a fair shake, but I feel no compulsion to give additional chances to something so wholly unenjoyable. Monster is cheesily over-dramatized, plodding, has horrible filler, and stays in the shallow end of the pool in exploring the human psyche, the lattermost of which is intolerable because this is the area the show should have explored since, well, that's largely what it's built upon. The show has a decent enough underlying plotline, but it is lackluster at best in execution. Then again, everyone else I've talked to about it has liked it, so take that as your minority view.

    Biggest omission that I can see, with my very limited knowledge of the medium, is Grave of the Fireflies. That's one of the most emotively powerful visual works I've ever seen. But Miyazaki was covered well aside from that, so it's not a big deal. I'd throw Elfen Lied on there somewhere as well (under "hidden gems", I guess), but I'm also a big softie.

    Obligatory recommendation is suffering.

  5. Persona 2: Innocent Sin.

    You guys bringing up Kojima reminds me that I should get around to playing Policenauts.

    Edit:

    While we're still on non-rpgs with great story, I should probably say that in my opinion, best storyline in gaming belongs to Legacy Of Kain series. In fact, it might just be my favorite storyline ever.

    I've been meaning to look into these. Since this rec from the man who earlier suggested Vagrant Story, I'm going to get off my ass today and do this. Edit2: Blood Omen's gameplay is too meh but Soul Reaver is very cool. I'll check out the later games once I get through SR.

  6. This is the one that started it for me. Almost four years ago, browsing the highly rated tracks on VGMix, and being unimpressed by most, I eventually stumbled onto this. By the time the section at 2:00 came around, I was frozen in my seat, ears glued to my speakers; and by the end I knew that there was magic to be found in vg arrangements and that I wanted to find more. A few thousand tracks later, this remains a favorite.

    The backmasking around 3:30 was a brilliant touch. It still sends chills down my spine.

    I feel like I should say more, but I whatever I type seems to just bog this down with flowery nonsense. So, put concisely: this is one of the most beautiful and moving arrangements I have ever heard.

    Thank you, Mr Schwan.

  7. Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition

    Doc Clock: The Toasted Sandwich of Time

    Eufloria

    IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946

    Iron Grip: Warlord

    Portal

    Star Wars - Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith

    Star Wars - Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

    Star Wars: Dark Forces

    Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

    Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

    Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

    Tomb Raider: Anniversary

    VVVVVV

    World of Goo

    Two packs; Deus Ex, IL-2, KoTOR, and Tomb Raider for cheap; Portal for free.

    List will explode once I build the new compy. Not looking forward to the inevitable.

    Last time I looked I saved approximately 90% on shit I would never buy on its own!

  8. .

    (RD-Sounds - あの日自分が出て行ってやっつけた時のことをまだ覚えている人の為に) (Touhou)

    Album is meh but holy shit to this track. Nonstop. And it's more like "count the source tunes that AREN'T used".

    I want the sheet music for the keys.

  9. He deserves a thread on ocr. I hope that people knowledgeable of his work, or of his person, will post to offset my relative ignorance. All condolences and tasteful comments are welcome.

    Ryu Umemoto was a composer of video game music and arranged tracks, and he was also a contributor to various other musical projects and, from the sound of it, a genuinely good and caring individual. Unfortunately, and regrettably, he passed away three days and a few hours ago at the young age of 37.

    This might not be of concern to many even within a vgm-oriented place such as ocr. I, myself, would not have paid it much mind had I not lurked about a couple irc channels and been subsequently inspired to look into his work. I suppose it's a selfish and one-dimensional assessment, but all the same this man left far before his inspiration, and I encourage you all seek out his music. And if you've played Cave games and have enjoyed their music, you absolutely need hear what this man has done. Of course, his mark has been left in other areas, and those personal connections unknown to history will always be the most important. His musical legacy is simply one measure of his greatness; his body of work is represented at VGMdb.

    At the risk of overshadowing the rest of his work, here is one sample. Kojiri from the Akai Katan Shin Arrange Album. Thank you Sapz, for linking that amazing track and setting me on the path to hear more.

    I apologize upfront to AnSo, and to anyone else to which this might apply, if seeing this thread causes pain. I simply think an ackowledgement, and the minute tribute it represents, is in order.

  10. Comiket 80 is over. Time for Touhou album recs.

    Floating Cloud - Carnival (track1, track4), and N-tone/Dust_Box_49 - Ghost ride acceleration (track3). Listened to the former nearly a dozen times and have had two tracks on the latter on repeat for hours. Celtic and electronic, respectively. Two short EPs; the only two offerings from Comiket 80 that I've heard that I'd universally recommend.

    By the way, even if you've never heard of Touhou - or have some guttural impulse that makes you want to retch simply at the mention of the game/fandom/etc - you should pick up* both this ep (Carnival) and the previous ep (Flower Village) from Floating Cloud. I mean, they're no Lunasa, but who the fuck else is? And it blows your average Celtic commercial trash out of the water (looking squarely at you, Gaelic Storm, with the terrible side-joke being intentional).

    *"site:mediafire.com artist_name album_title" is your friend in googling.

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