Help me identifying those videogame (?) musics

[trilliyah]

Hello,

It's been 10 years since i have those files, and still nobody managed to identify them.

The first song : http://fmcomposer.org/connected-1.mp3

The second song : http://fmcomposer.org/connected_2-1.mp3

I originally found them on a forum, someone posted those musics and wanted to know their origin. He only said that he extracted them from a Flash animation.

Maybe they're custom songs for a project but they really sounds like a JRPG of the PS1/PS2 era. Can you help me identifying them ?

[SquareWave]

Sorry to say I don't know what they're from, but they're nice. It sounds like both are composed by the same person. Judging by the mix and the samples they used, I would guess it's an amateur composer who was influenced by Yoko Shimomura (1st track and part of the 2nd track) and Yasunori Mitsuda (2nd half of the 2nd track). Some of these ideas are really beautiful- I hope you figure out who made them.

[Meteo Xavier]

That's no amateur. Yoko Shimomura is probably a really good clue there, like SquareWave said, as those sound like higher quality samples she used in Super Mario RPG (I think those were JV2080; fairly common in those days but her actual sample selections less so). Of course, the recordings are so muddied that even trying to identity it as a famous song could be obscured.

[DarkeSword]

Could be something from Falcom. Maybe an Ys soundtrack?

[Meteo Xavier]

After searching around some more, I start to get why this particular music mystery seems to be a bit more infectious than usual - both recordings really do sound like you can ALMOST identify them or find them easily... until you try to search for them and still come up with nothing. Interestingly enough, from the OP's Youtube videos on the same, it's kind of like a weird music rorschach test where it seems to inspire a variety of suggestions as to what they could be, from Falcom to some non-existent Japanese composer called Ryuji Kawamura (sigh...).

Unfortunately, since all we have to go on are some 12kbs MP3s and nothing else, it will probably forever remain a mystery since we'd definitely need more clues before solving it. I think the trail here is long frozen cold.

[trilliyah]

Heh, yes those songs are stupidly familiar and still impossible to find. Even my ex GF who watched a lot of animes was sure she already heared it "somewhere".

The first recording completely sucks but the 2nd should be good enough. An interesting thing is that both songs are not looped, so they would mostly fit as an intro/cutscene/credits. And it's quite long for a videogame FMV... so maybe it doesn't even come from a game. Animes usually don't use such plain sounds from expanders (they sound like the typical Roland/Korg expanders that were overused in 1995-2005 games).

As a musician, I'm pretty sure only a professionnal or a very good amateur with solid knowledge could make these.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

On 8/29/2018 at 6:34 PM, trilliyah said:

He only said that he extracted them from a Flash animation.

Best guess is that they were original compositions by an amateur composer whose name we're unlikely to recognize.

Unless you can find what flash animation they are from, and contact who ever made the animation, it's highly unlikely you'll ever find out, to be honest.

Yeah, they sound frustratingly familiar as they obviously use something like a Roland SC and are composed in much the same style as music that was used on game soundtracks with said gear. So it's a lot like Yoko Shimomura, Uematsu, Michiru Yamane, Koji Kondo, Yuka Tsujioko, etc. but I don't recognize it as actually being one of their tunes. 

I think she's a dead end.

 

[Meteo Xavier]

There's no Roland Sound Canvas on any of them. The second one uses is most likely a JV-2080. The first one is a much, much higher quality song (or rather two songs, they definitely don't like a single composition) with a much higher quality piano and orchestral instruments - maybe even the real deal. I personally think the orchestral set from the second part of the first track is Kenji ito, no idea who the first part is. Yoko Shimomura is again the best guess for the second one, or possibly Alph Lyla/Capcom Sound Team from some of their mid-90s arrange output, but that song never came up.

I don't even think they're from the same soundtrack. I think they're all random songs from random soundtracks.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

1 hour ago, Meteo Xavier said:

There's no Roland Sound Canvas on any of them. The second one uses is most likely a JV-2080. The first one is a much, much higher quality song (or rather two songs, they definitely don't like a single composition) with a much higher quality piano and orchestral instruments - maybe even the real deal. I personally think the orchestral set from the second part of the first track is Kenji ito, no idea who the first part is. Yoko Shimomura is again the best guess for the second one, or possibly Alph Lyla/Capcom Sound Team from some of their mid-90s arrange output, but that song never came up.

I don't even think they're from the same soundtrack. I think they're all random songs from random soundtracks.

"something like a Roland Sound Canvas"

 

[Meteo Xavier]

A Roland JV2080 is not "something like" a Roland Sound Canvas. It's a higher grade instrument tool that was marketed to professionals at the time. The Sound Canvas, useful though it turned out to be in a professional setting, was geared more for hobbyists and PC gamers. "Something like" a Roland Sound Canvas would've been a Yamaha XG unit or an MU box, or Korg's 05R/W or X5D.

Sorry for the pedantry, I'm still pretty high on my ancient ROMpler kick.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

1 hour ago, Meteo Xavier said:

A Roland JV2080 is not "something like" a Roland Sound Canvas. It's a higher grade instrument tool that was marketed to professionals at the time. The Sound Canvas, useful though it turned out to be in a professional setting, was geared more for hobbyists and PC gamers. "Something like" a Roland Sound Canvas would've been a Yamaha XG unit or an MU box, or Korg's 05R/W or X5D.

Sorry for the pedantry, I'm still pretty high on my ancient ROMpler kick.

I have no disagreement only that anything that sounds like a JRPG from 1993 - 2002 sounds "Roland Sound Canvas" to my ears.

[Meteo Xavier]

We're getting off topic here, but I think Nintendo and some people STILL use the Roland Sound Canvas for their Nintendo games. Like retail or higher than indie level virtual releases.

[trilliyah]

That's why I thought it was more likely to be created by a professional composer. Hardware synths, good orchestration, complex chord progression while still sounding very natural (this is somewhat hard to achieve without a lot of experience).

I'm pretty sure I recognize some Roland sounds in both songs.

In the first :

- The French Horns (has a very recognizeable tone, you can hear it easily in its plain form in some Pokemon battle songs on GBA)
- The orchestral percussions (easily found by listening at the snare when it plays solo in the middle of the orchestral part at 1:18)
- The typical Roland Oboe from the JV1080/JV2080 orchestral expansion

=> Easy comparison with this video, but there are also a lot of games using sounds from Roland units

 

 

In the second:

- The harp
- The timpani
- The very thin sounding brass (this one : https://youtu.be/N9mjzptVj44?t=16m35s )

 

I still hear sounds from those units nowadays but they're usually mixed with other samples from more modern gear. 

[Gario]

This is both fascinating and hilarious that no one can ID these songs (me included).

I'm not as convinced as others that these are taken from other JRPG sources - the handling of the instruments are pretty rough for a professional game release, imo, particularly how cluttered and messy things get when lots of instruments come together (particularly in the first track). Even taking the recording quality into account, I don't think these have the polish necessary for a released VG soundtrack.

The arrangements are top notch, though - from a compositional standpoint they're really well done.

I can hear where everyone is putting these into PS1/PS2 era games, though; the samples are from that era, and the style is just... so JRPG. I still think these are likely custom for the flash animation at the time, though.

[trilliyah]

You're right ! Composition is outstanding, but the sounds are really rough, like Roland/Korg expanders controlled through MIDI without much more. The voice samples in #2 are a bit more interesting, but I have no idea if they mean something in some language.

Searching for songs with this score quality often lead to higher quality sound production, and seaching for songs with those plain Roland-ish sounds leads to generic/bad compositions... (that's what I noticed by listening to hundred of various OSTs...)

[AngelCityOutlaw]

1 hour ago, Gario said:

and the style is just... so JRPG.

1 hour ago, trilliyah said:

Searching for songs with this score quality often lead to higher quality sound production, and seaching for songs with those plain Roland-ish sounds leads to generic/bad compositions... (that's what I noticed by listening to hundred of various OSTs...)

To be brutally honest, that's generally because most of these kinds of composers (this kind of music is much closer to old Hollywood) have a pretty thorough, academic understanding of the craft and compose for the instruments as the ensemble would actually play; lots of melody, great phrasing, flourishes, varied orchestration, etc. To realize that, you either have to have capable samples (and know how to use them) that often come with a hefty price tag for offering that "depth" of sampling, or live players for realz. 

A lot of modern "orchestral" stuff, since the tech got cheaper (because the samples don't have as many articulations, but hey it's a whole orchestra!) and anyone can buy a copy of symphobia, consists of "chords with left hand; melody with right like a basic piano piece" which would be about as engaging for an orchestra to play as a bible study at Hooters. So there's not as much at stake.