I want a Jet Force Gemini OST's orchestral performance to happen

[Ikari_Gendou]

Hi,

I, as many of you probably, am a huge fan of the old-days' Rare. You know, the ones responsible for making absolute masterpieces for Nintendo platforms, like Donkey Kong Country, Banjo Kazooie, or Conker's Bad Fur Day.

You probably know as well (and for sure you will know better than this miserable leecher) that these guys, specially people like David Wise and Robin Beanland, were the composers of some of the greatest scores in the history of video games.

One of my favorite soundtracks ever is Jet Force Gemini's. I hope most of you are aware of it. The game is a cult-classic, but I guess it never made it to the top in terms of popularity (I think it was ahead of its time perhaps). And with its excellent playability came a grandiose soundtrack by Mr. Beanland, which to me sounds like it took some inspiration from John Williams, giving place to an epic score with jewels like these:

I got this game when I was 13 so it has a special place in my heart and I listen to its music until this day. However, I've never stopped thinking how much more awesome it would sound these days if the score was orchestrated and performed with a real symphony instead of using those artificial sounds from the N64 era. Who knows, perhaps some little rearrangements could be made.

Because of this dream I took advantage of modern social networks to get in touch with Mr. Beanland, so I asked him about this. He replied me saying than hearing this score being performed by a real orchestra would be really lovely, but that was all. Which was a little bit disappointing, to be honest.

Then I just remembered this great community and the fact that you guys were even able to get the collaboration of Mr. Beanland, Mr. Wise and Grant Kirkhope for the recording of Serious Monkey Business (how awesome was that!). 

So this is the point where I ask:

1. Am I the only one who loves this relatively obscure soundtrack?

2. If not, would you be interested in supporting a campaign to bring it to a real orchestra?

3. If yes, how the fork could we convince Mr. Beanland or other people in Rare?

I mean, there could even be a crowdfunding campaign if necessary to bring this to the London Symphony Orchestra or whatever, but obviously there would be some copyright issues.

Ideas?

(Btw, obligatory non-native speaker disclaimer.)

[Meteo Xavier]

It sounds like Mr. Bean gave you his answer already. Short of a fan orchestral album, it's probably not going to be feasible to happen. Good orchestra music costs money and Jet Force Gemini likely isn't a property that could justify it the way orchestras performing Mario and Final Fantasy music (the "honey money", as it were) could. Ocremix people probably could pull it off, but same problem: lots of time and effort for not enough non-monetary payoff; and that's before we get into the potential legal redtape that game companies might get into once they find out (and having composers themselves give support isn't enough to cover that).

On the other hand, who knows? Maybe there will be a full HD remake of Jet Force Gemini sometime in the future where the soundtrack will get the appropriate update as well. That's a not-too-bad chance of happening in current era.

[BloomingLate]

I also have fun childhood (er...teenhood?) memories playing this game and yes, the soundtrack was one of the things that made the game exceptionally memorable to me.
SS Anubis and another track I can't remember the title of are ones I'm particularly fond of. Getting a real orchestra to play something like that sounds great, but I'm afraid Meteo Xavier is right to point out the obstacles to making that a reality.

I know of at least one guy who did a cover of SS Anubis, using great samples, but I guess that's not quite what you were hoping for.

 

[Ikari_Gendou]

 

On 10/27/2018 at 8:37 PM, Meteo Xavier said:

It sounds like Mr. Bean gave you his answer already. Short of a fan orchestral album, it's probably not going to be feasible to happen. Good orchestra music costs money and Jet Force Gemini likely isn't a property that could justify it the way orchestras performing Mario and Final Fantasy music (the "honey money", as it were) could. Ocremix people probably could pull it off, but same problem: lots of time and effort for not enough non-monetary payoff; and that's before we get into the potential legal redtape that game companies might get into once they find out (and having composers themselves give support isn't enough to cover that).

On the other hand, who knows? Maybe there will be a full HD remake of Jet Force Gemini sometime in the future where the soundtrack will get the appropriate update as well. That's a not-too-bad chance of happening in current era.

 

Hi, thanks for your thoughtful reply.

You are right that JFG music is not Mario or Final Fantasy in terms of popularity, so it's hardly going to happen on Rare's own wish. Considering that and that having a good orchestra costs a lot of money, I was thinking that if the cause doesn't look too crazy, crowdfunding or some kind of pressure on Rare could get us somewhere. 

If I have to be honest, I know JFG (let alone JFG music) doesn't get enough recognition even in the gaming community, even if it's a top-notch soundtrack, however I was hoping that OCRemix community could be different given their nature. Now, if the idea doesn't go anywhere for a lack of enthusiasm, well, I understand and at least I tried.

Regarding the possibility of the community tackling a project like this by themselves, it'd be cool but far from being something like what I was thinking. JFG epic score was definitely made to be orchestrated. (Unless a OCRemix orchestra or something is formed in the future, who knows...)

 

On 10/28/2018 at 3:50 PM, BloomingLate said:

I also have fun childhood (er...teenhood?) memories playing this game and yes, the soundtrack was one of the things that made the game exceptionally memorable to me.
SS Anubis and another track I can't remember the title of are ones I'm particularly fond of. Getting a real orchestra to play something like that sounds great, but I'm afraid Meteo Xavier is right to point out the obstacles to making that a reality.

I know of at least one guy who did a cover of SS Anubis, using great samples, but I guess that's not quite what you were hoping for.

 

Thanks, and yes, I heard that one long time ago, when I started researching if there was something like an orchestrated version of JFG soundtrack. Cool track! Still I think the original is better, lol.

[Light_of_Aether]

On 10/29/2018 at 5:14 PM, Ikari_Gendou said:

 

Thanks, and yes, I heard that one long time ago, when I started researching if there was something like an orchestrated version of JFG soundtrack. Cool track! Still I think the original is better, lol.

I don't think I've ever seen my music referenced in threads that I didn't start. It's a pretty cool feeling! Of the two, I agree that the original is a bit better. Mine feels like it's plodding along; it's not crisp like the original.

I've thought about doing a whole JFG album using sample libraries, but that's not what you're looking for. What might be more realistic is having a university orchestra or a smaller ensemble record a few pieces. I wouldn't worry about licensing the music. From my understanding, it's not too hard obtaining licenses for most things. 

If you want to get a team together to take a crack at an orchestral JFG album (using sample libraries or real instruments), I'd be happy to help out. 

[Ikari_Gendou]

On 11/7/2018 at 2:49 AM, Light_of_Aether said:

I don't think I've ever seen my music referenced in threads that I didn't start. It's a pretty cool feeling! Of the two, I agree that the original is a bit better. Mine feels like it's plodding along; it's not crisp like the original.

I've thought about doing a whole JFG album using sample libraries, but that's not what you're looking for. What might be more realistic is having a university orchestra or a smaller ensemble record a few pieces. I wouldn't worry about licensing the music. From my understanding, it's not too hard obtaining licenses for most things. 

If you want to get a team together to take a crack at an orchestral JFG album (using sample libraries or real instruments), I'd be happy to help out. 

Yikes, sorry for the incredibly late response. I received the notification on my iPad, then left the message there sitting, waiting to get on my MacBook and write a decent response and just forgot about it...

First of all I really appreciate the author of such good work coming to my thread.

I'm afraid that it's not too much what I can do regarding a JFG project, though. I mean, 1) I'm not American, and 2) I'm not a musician.

Anyway, here is another remix from a few years ago that I found on YT, which also is pretty cool: 

It makes me wonder though why people stop there. I mean, with talent like your or this guy's, why not going ahead and cracking the entire OST?  Yes, I know it's not the same as pulling off an orchestral interpretation, but it definitely looks like working with samples is the best we can get for now. I think JFG really deserves it.

[Light_of_Aether]

On 11/28/2018 at 7:01 PM, Ikari_Gendou said:

Yikes, sorry for the incredibly late response. I received the notification on my iPad, then left the message there sitting, waiting to get on my MacBook and write a decent response and just forgot about it...

First of all I really appreciate the author of such good work coming to my thread.

It makes me wonder though why people stop there. I mean, with talent like your or this guy's, why not going ahead and cracking the entire OST?  Yes, I know it's not the same as pulling off an orchestral interpretation, but it definitely looks like working with samples is the best we can get for now. I think JFG really deserves it.

No worries! Thanks!

JFG definitely deserves an orchestral makeover, I agree. My plan for 2019 is to release an album of Golden Sun music, but maybe I can fit in some JFG music, too. I do have a few more JFG songs as works-in-progress, but they're nowhere near done. Here they are: Character Select, Floyd Race, and Title Theme. 

[drayson]

I remember this orchestral soundtracks and I just appreciate them more now than before.

[Ikari_Gendou]

On 12/3/2018 at 8:08 PM, Light_of_Aether said:

No worries! Thanks!

JFG definitely deserves an orchestral makeover, I agree. My plan for 2019 is to release an album of Golden Sun music, but maybe I can fit in some JFG music, too. I do have a few more JFG songs as works-in-progress, but they're nowhere near done. Here they are: Character Select, Floyd Race, and Title Theme. 

Cool work! I'll be honest though — those tracks are far from being my favorites . I'm more inclined to those with an epic vibe, such as Ichor Military Base, Sekhmet...

I don't know a lot about music composition so I gotta ask, why would you say your tracks are not finished?

[Light_of_Aether]

On 12/10/2018 at 1:53 PM, Ikari_Gendou said:

Cool work! I'll be honest though — those tracks are far from being my favorites . I'm more inclined to those with an epic vibe, such as Ichor Military Base, Sekhmet...

I don't know a lot about music composition so I gotta ask, why would you say your tracks are not finished?

Those are definitely good ones! Maybe I should take a crack at Ichor or Sekhmet next.  Actually I have a new brass library that would make Sekhmet sound amazing. Edit 11:50 PM: Here's a rough draft of Sekhmet I came up with tonight: https://soundcloud.com/willpisani/sekhmet-jet-force-gemini. The soundscape needs some work and I need to work on 0:45 and onwards, but it's a good start.

I don't think they're finished because of a variety of things. Depending on the specific track, the instrumentation may not be fully implemented the way I want. Or the sound levels of each instruments need to be adjusted. Or certain instruments need to be panned left or right. Or the articulations of the instruments need to be improved. Sometimes I add in new parts and adjust the octaves of certain sequences up or down to fit new instruments. Unfortunately, as you can see, there's a lot of different things that might make me say a track is finished or not. 

Edited December 12, 2018 by Light_of_Aether
Added a link to Sekhmet

[Meteo Xavier]

It's not bad - what brass library did you get to make this with?

[Light_of_Aether]

4 hours ago, Meteo Xavier said:

It's not bad - what brass library did you get to make this with?

I used EastWest Hollywood Brass Gold.

[Meteo Xavier]

Cool beans, yo. I think you're one of the first people I've heard to use that library in particular in recent times. The Kontakt libraries out and about are so ubiquitous that I almost forgot about the Hollywood libraries.

[Light_of_Aether]

20 minutes ago, Meteo Xavier said:

Cool beans, yo. I think you're one of the first people I've heard to use that library in particular in recent times. The Kontakt libraries out and about are so ubiquitous that I almost forgot about the Hollywood libraries.

I got a cheap Composer Cloud subscription during Black Friday and so I've been trying out libraries here and there. The Hollywood libraries are much better than the old Symphonic Orchestra library I have. 

[Meteo Xavier]

I still need to make more of a crack into serious orchestration with the EWQLSO library before I can consider upgrading up to the Hollywood ones...

Kinda veering off-topic there, but orchestral libraries are hot on my interest these days - especially as a means to distract away from social drama going on my end. :O

[JohnStacy]

So a live performance is unlikely to happen. Maybe if you contacted the Game Music Ensemble at UCLA or the Gamer Symphonies in New England it could, but otherwise unlikely.

BUT

If a fan orchestral album does happen, I would gladly provide brass recording for that. I have worked with quite a few people in the VGM community doing orchestral brass sections. I think a project like this would be fun to record. I am an experienced orchestral brass musician, and this kind of thing is right up my alley.

[Ikari_Gendou]

2 hours ago, JohnStacy said:

So a live performance is unlikely to happen. Maybe if you contacted the Game Music Ensemble at UCLA or the Gamer Symphonies in New England it could, but otherwise unlikely.

BUT

If a fan orchestral album does happen, I would gladly provide brass recording for that. I have worked with quite a few people in the VGM community doing orchestral brass sections. I think a project like this would be fun to record. I am an experienced orchestral brass musician, and this kind of thing is right up my alley.

 

This weekend I’ll be sending some emails I guess. 

 

@Light_of_Aether fuck I’m in love! Really good start for Sekhmet.

[Darkflamewolf]

Super necro posting, but feels relevant to the topic at hand. Outside of maybe Sam Dillard's remix for Water Ruins, my OCR remix album is probably not going to scratch that orchestral itch. However, it does have quite a lot of other variety of hip hop, techno, and other beat-tastic genre renditions of the soundtrack going for it. So it may not 'exactly' be what you're hoping for, but JFG will be getting a substantial recognition boost from OCR soon here. Hopefully a 2020 release sometime depending! 
So @Light_of_Aether, @Ikari_Gendou, @Meteo Xavier, and @BloomingLate, hopefully this news will bring you some joy?
Here's a link to the the current project thread:

 

[BloomingLate]

11 hours ago, Darkflamewolf said:

So ... and @BloomingLate, hopefully this news will bring you some joy?

I have been following the progress on your project with anticipation for some time now and am definitely looking forward to the end result! I would have loved to join in by providing a track of my own, but I didn't feel my skill level is there yet. Plus, deadlines will kill me So I'll patiently wait to see/hear what other people will make of the soundtrack.

Edited February 17, 2020 by BloomingLate

[Darkflamewolf]

Yes, this soundtrack and Skies of Arcadia were two of my favorites growing up, so being able to finally get them realized in OCR form is one of my personal dreams. Happy to have been at the helm of both projects! This album is not orchestral by a long shot, although it does have some elements of it in a few tracks, but it should please just about every JFG fan out there and hopefully get some much needed representation on OCR when it is released.

[Ikari_Gendou]

20 hours ago, Darkflamewolf said:

Super necro posting, but feels relevant to the topic at hand. Outside of maybe Sam Dillard's remix for Water Ruins, my OCR remix album is probably not going to scratch that orchestral itch. However, it does have quite a lot of other variety of hip hop, techno, and other beat-tastic genre renditions of the soundtrack going for it. So it may not 'exactly' be what you're hoping for, but JFG will be getting a substantial recognition boost from OCR soon here. Hopefully a 2020 release sometime depending! 
So @Light_of_Aether, @Ikari_Gendou, @Meteo Xavier, and @BloomingLate, hopefully this news will bring you some joy?
Here's a link to the the current project thread:

 

Great to learn about this! I hope my post created some enthusiasm about this soundtrack back two years ago, lol.

Why not trying to involve (or at least inform) Mr. Beanland himself? He participated in the OCR album for DKC2, and said he would love to see something new related to JFG’s music. 

[Light_of_Aether]

20 hours ago, Darkflamewolf said:

Super necro posting, but feels relevant to the topic at hand. Outside of maybe Sam Dillard's remix for Water Ruins, my OCR remix album is probably not going to scratch that orchestral itch. However, it does have quite a lot of other variety of hip hop, techno, and other beat-tastic genre renditions of the soundtrack going for it. So it may not 'exactly' be what you're hoping for, but JFG will be getting a substantial recognition boost from OCR soon here. Hopefully a 2020 release sometime depending! 
So @Light_of_Aether, @Ikari_Gendou, @Meteo Xavier, and @BloomingLate, hopefully this news will bring you some joy?
Here's a link to the the current project thread:

 

I'm definitely looking forward to it! I've heard Sam's remix, it's great! I would have liked to take a track, too, but unfortunately I'm not at OCR standards. Maybe someday.

I'm releasing a new album soon (Aural Nostalgia Vol 2) that has a JFG song on it. Here's a link to the track: https://soundcloud.com/willpisani/title-theme-jet-force-gemini-v1.

 

[Darkflamewolf]

@Ikari_Gendou I honestly didn't know that was an option to just go right up to the man and say hi about his music. I guess it couldn't hurt. Granted, most of the tracks are already taken by now, but if someone falls out, maybe?

@Light_of_Aether I wasn't aware he had already released the track outside the album. (guess Sam got impatient! lol) But I found it now and it's definitely got some positive reviews. Guess it's like a sneak peek of the album! Granted, it isn't really a good representation of the overall album tone and feel, since a lot of it is pretty energetic.

[MusicHunter]

tbh i would rather want a jet force gemini remix ablum actually would great or some more remixes too

[Darkflamewolf]

There's one already happening?