Jormungand Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Welcome to "Project VGM"--official title TBD until we think of a better one! At the beginning of the summer, I came up with an interesting idea. I love RPGs, and I love RPG soundtracks--and lots of aspiring composers do too. I wondered: could we all come together with our various styles and visions and create an original RPG soundtrack? Of course we would need an RPG first, right? Gathering up concepts from forumers at RPGamer.com, we solved that problem. I compiled our various ideas and arranged them into the narrative framework of a typical Japanese-style RPG, represented by a soundtrack layout--that is, a simple tracklist you'd see at places like vgmdb.net. Have a look for yourself: http://project-vgm.blogspot.com/ We've made good progress so far, but have only just begun! We are still in need of composers to fill in the rest of the tracklist. The tracks that are already claimed are marked--everything else is free for the taking. So, how does this process work? I am interested. What do I do? 1. Select an available track from the tracklist. You may choose as many tracks as you like. 2. Send an email to projectvgm @ gmail . com with the track(s) you want. You MUST request a track first, and then I will confirm your selection via email. 3. Tracks will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis. The sooner you send an email, the better chance you have to get the track you want! I want to participate, but I have no idea what track to pick/don't care which track I do. Send an email to projectvgm @ gmail indicating your interest. I will assign you a track. If you choose this option, please link me to some of your recent compositions so that I can make a good match. What style should the music be? The style is generally up to you, but please keep the following in mind: 1. This is a JRPG. In particular, a relatively serious RPG. Please familiarize yourself with the entire scenario to get an idea of the setting and mood. 2. The following are banned: heavy/dark/death metal; chip tune; electronic dance music (trance, eurobeat, etc.); and vocal pop music (you can implement vocals, but I won't accept a pop song). If there's any confusion about this, please ask. 3. Please see the list of JRPGs at the bottom of this post for acceptable game soundtracks to get inspiration from (the list is NOT comprehensive). 4. There is no "main theme", so don't worry about that. I thought to do this originally, then decided against it. How long should my track be? 1. At least a minute. The only exception here might be the [EVENT] tracks, which accompany scenes that may very well last less than a minute. It's up to the composer. 2. There is no maximum length. The track may be as long as you want. 3. You may decide to LOOP your tracks and fadeout (like most VGM soundtrack albums), or not loop and write a "proper" ending. It's up to you. What is the deadline? Deadline #2: November 6, 2011. We will operate in six-week cycles until the project is complete. To clarify, you only need to complete 1 track per deadline. What if I miss the deadline? Your track(s) will be "de-claimed" and opened up for anyone to claim. Should I send you WIPs? Please do! I enjoy discussing composers' music. If you have concerns about whether you are going in the right direction, feel free to contact me. I do reserve the right to request changes, although I wouldn't ask for anything major provided you kept the aforementioned guidelines in mind. What about synth quality? I've decided to be very lenient about synth quality. This will result in a wide range of quality which some may find detrimental. However, I don't want to exclude composers because they don't use top-of-the-line synths. Please do your best with arrangement, and please use the best synth that is available to you. What do I do when I'm done? 1. Email me the .wav file or a link to the .wav file of your track. 2. You may give the track an original title; keep it clean. 3. Please tell me how you want to be credited. Many composers are using their real names; you don't have to. Who owns the completed music? You do! You will retain the complete rights to your completed music, and you may promote it however you wish. However, understand that the music will be available for FREE download. This is a NONPROFIT project. Commercial usage of the music by users will be not be permitted. Story/character/location/etc. concepts are the intellectual property of their authors. What's the point of all this? 1. To promote you, the composer. 2. To give you, the composer, the opportunity to gain experience. 3. To spread the love of JRPG music. What happens when the project is complete? We will promote it on YouTube, BandCamp, SoundCloud, and whatever else people think is a good idea. We will also have a torrent of the complete soundtrack. If I can swing it with the administrators, we'll also have a listing at vgmdb.net. Has this ever been done before? Yes, although I'd wager this is one of the more ambitious at 100 tracks. However, large teams of professional composers have successfully done this in the past. Recent JRPG examples include Suikoden Tierkreis (11 composers, over 120 tracks) and Half-Minute Hero (20+ composers, 61 tracks). Have you done this before? I have indeed, although on a much smaller scale. It was years ago--a fictional racing soundtrack, all MIDI. It had 24 tracks and 6 composers including myself. It was awesome. I just can't think of any ideas. Help! Send an email to projectvgm @ gmail . com. I will consult with you. I am happy to help anyone with getting ideas, and will provide you with images and music for inspiration. Alternatively, you can listen to the soundtracks of the following games for inspiration: Final Fantasy series, Suikoden series, Breath of Fire series, Dragon Quest series, Seiken Densetsu series, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Arc Rise Fantasia, Xenoblade, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Arc the Lad series, Atelier series, Vandal Hearts series, Drakengard series, NIER, Threads of Fate/Dewprism, Resonance of Fate/End of Eternity, Sakura Taisen series, Skies of Arcadia, Front Mission series, SoulBlader, Terranigma, Illusion of Gaia, Granstream Saga, Langrisser series, Growlanser series, Hoshigami Remix, Inazuma Eleven series, Super Mario RPG, Parasite Eve series, Live-A-Live, Legaia series, Zelda series, Lost Odyssey, Luminous Arc series, Lunar series, Ogre series, Ragnarok Online series, SaGa series, Shining Force series, Soma Bringer, Soukaigi, Uncharted Waters series, Vagrant Story, Valkyria Chronicles series, Shadow of the Colossus, Wild ARMs series, Xenosaga series, Fire Emblem series, Arcana, Alundra series, Paladin's Quest series, Lufia series, Nobunaga's Ambition series, Far East of Eden series I have a question that hasn't been answered! Please post your question here, or send an email to projectvgm @ gmail . com I don't compose, but this project is very cool. Anything I can do to help? 1. You know all those fancy websites that OCR's remix projects have been getting? I would LOVE something like that for Project VGM. Please contact me at projectvgm @ gmail . com if you have some ideas. 2. If you don't compose but play an instrument or do arranging/mixing, you might offer your services to the composers. 3. When the project is complete, I want to do some vicious advertising. Everyone can be apart of that step. 4. Help me think of a better title for this soundtrack. IMPORTANT INFO: CONTACT: projectvgm @ gmail . com TRACKLIST: http://project-vgm.blogspot.com/ DEADLINE #2: November 6, 2011 TRACK INFO: -.wav file -at least a minute long -can be looped with fade-out, or not -can have a "proper" ending -can have original title Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak Eightman Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 So you want only Orchestra and exotic instruments? Am I correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jormungand Posted August 14, 2011 Author Share Posted August 14, 2011 So you want only Orchestra and exotic instruments?Am I correct? Orchestral, folk, ethnic, prog rock, electronica, jazz, etc. is all fine. Or your own unique blend or style. Please listen to the music of the games/series I listed to get an idea. I'm only explicitly banning really heavy, hyper, grungy rock; electronic dance music (not all electronic music); chip tunes (best saved for a project dedicated specifically that genre); and vocal pop. Allow me to select a variety of tunes that would exhibit acceptable styles for this project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47qlL8fvMcE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZHUH2LE_zA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOXdBp7dB3M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1vVjbyc-_g&playnext=1&list=PL895F1AD0C4CF24F3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zyd8HBbj-4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5I6xdDglzk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNUaWwIY9oc So long as it fits the setting (which combines fantasy and sci-fi elements like many JRPGs), it is acceptable. If you have an idea but aren't sure, email me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonah-B Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Glad to see this project is underway. I hope there is enough interest in it to see it through to completion. So are you gonna start adding completed tracks to the site soon, or are you going to wait until the project is closer to completion? I'm interested in hearing what other people have to contribute to it. For anyone else that's interested, here is the Town of Maniba track that I contributed. http://jonahsmusicpage.yolasite.com/resources/music/mix/townofmaniba.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bakuri Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Well, if anyone needs a female vocalist's help with their pieces, I'm willing to help x: For examples of what I can do, just check around my YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/PrincessBakuri (Please note that I'm quite capable of doing other types of music; not just what's there ) As for having a fancy schmancy site, if webs.com suits you alright, I can probably whip something up for you Here's a link to something I made with webs: http://www.kuriscollections.webs.com Unfortunately I'm no composer, advertiser or instrumentalist, so there's not much more I could do to help :/ But, if what I can do doesn't help anyone much, then I can at least wish you guys luck with your project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Morgan Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Well, I'll offer guitar performance. Just ask me! Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCAsFM9Ji4c I can do electric (all types) and nylon (picked and fingered). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin.demsky Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 http://martindemsky.bandcamp.com/track/tokyo-piano-live i have something like theme, which can be categorized as japanese RPG style, what do you think it is a dramatic piece, not very happy tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuFurby06Edition Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I just jumped right in to this project and put in my two cents, and in the seven years of me appearing and disappearing around these forums, I finally was successful in not only developing a game, but contributing music! Believe it or not, I've actually composed for games created using Stencyl, and I actually am composing music for an RPG by Kingjing (it is a partial co-composition with Aponda: Aponda, who did MIDI files, has since vanished before doing all of his tracks.). Most of the games that I've done music for (one of them has about 80 tracks, and I did almost all of the music... it's a little more than two thirds done) are either not finished by the developer or they vanished. So I have some game music creation experience on my side. If you're looking for even more JRPG soundtracks, SNESMusic.org has plenty of them. I myself am the second-to-largest contributor to that site, with around 400 SPC sets that I've contributed to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jormungand Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Thanks for the responses so far and offering your services! As of this posting, only 21 tracks are still available! So, if you read about this project and haven't decided yet, now might be a good time to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jormungand Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 EDIT: Next batch of available tracks will be listed upon reaching of the first deadline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jormungand Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Wow! Progress has been moving along so fast I forgot to update this thread. Currently, all 100 tracks have been claimed. Of those, an impressive 56 tracks are complete. We have a lovely website at http://sjmmusic.de/projectvgm/tracks.php (which will switch hosts eventually--stay tuned). Here you can listen to completed music. Alternatively, our sound cloud group is also up-to-date and is open for comments & criticism: http://soundcloud.com/groups/project-vgm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Hi, I realise all tracks are claimed but seeing as 56 are complete, I imagine you'd be lucky to have every claimed member submit something in time. If anyone ever pulls out, how could I do a little claiming? Perhaps I can preliminarily attempt that now? Let me know what the deal is with this... Calum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrackAttack Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Same, kinda bummed I didn't even see this until now for some reason. If someone pulls out and you need another person let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangedragan Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I'm interested in contributing, but I can only sing. Can you put me on a list or such for the composers to see, so that they can contact me if they need a vocalist for a track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jormungand Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Finally, an update! In my last post, way back in October, I stated we had over half of the project done. Today, my "completed" folder contains 93 finished tracks. How's that for progress? I don't have an ETA for the project at this point, but hopefully it's apparent that we're making good time. Aside from those last seven tracks, I'll be setting up an official website along with a nice album entry at vgmdb.net. In the coming weeks, keep an eye out for a "demo" of the project to contain hand-picked samples from the soundtrack. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in joining the project. I'm surprised by how far we've come considering when the project began (almost 100 tracks in 7 months!), and I apologize to those of you who wanted to get in but were unable to because all tracks had been claimed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Finally, an update! In my last post, way back in October, I stated we had over half of the project done. Today, my "completed" folder contains 93 finished tracks. How's that for progress?I don't have an ETA for the project at this point, but hopefully it's apparent that we're making good time. Aside from those last seven tracks, I'll be setting up an official website along with a nice album entry at vgmdb.net. In the coming weeks, keep an eye out for a "demo" of the project to contain hand-picked samples from the soundtrack. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in joining the project. I'm surprised by how far we've come considering when the project began (almost 100 tracks in 7 months!), and I apologize to those of you who wanted to get in but were unable to because all tracks had been claimed. Congrats dude! Looking forward to hearing 'em. If any of those 7 somehow don't materialise.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuberz McGee Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Sweet! Can't wait to see how everything has turned out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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