Ambrosia Software Web Board: Cythera's Music - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Yes! Nice information that you have shared with us.


Thank you very much!

Welcome to the Cythera board! ^_^ (Right? o.O)

srydan, on Jun 5 2008, 11:29 AM, said:

It smells fishy. . . but it looks like spam.

I never have really had much need for spam, but in this particular case, I am thankful for the much-needed bump that it gave this topic.

(Although, I admire your ever-ready attitude and open, welcoming arms, BW )

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 17 June 2008 - 08:56 PM

Oi, wouldn't it be easyer if we just uploaded it and then took it down if they complained?

I hadn't thought of that, but I suppose it's an option. I just don't want to be skinned alive if gandreas or somebody does not want me to upload it.

Even if they don't want the music uploaded, uploading it might be the only way to get their attention ^_~

I would suggest trying to get in touch with Magnus again (incidentally, he did respond to my PM, Wizard). I think uploading the music without permission of some kind would be risky.

Good news!

I emailed Magnus again. He told me that he hasn't heard anything else on the matter, so he's going to go ahead and let us upload the music and we'll be asked to take it down if there's any trouble. I think that will work fine.

At the moment, I'm thinking of using AAC @ 128 kbps. Anybody prefer a different format/data rate? My main concern will be keeping the size reasonable.

Incidentally, I tried to email Randy Pringle about Cythera just to see if he remembers it, but I was unable to reach him at any of the addresses I found on the internet.

More updates soon!

Update!

-Link no longer available-

That's not a download link. I am not adding these to the download section yet; I'm still in the process of gathering/encoding all of the tracks properly. As I finish a track, I'm wanting to put up a small flash file containing the music so that you guys can listen to it and tell me if you think its okay. The reason I'm doing it this way is so that everyone is comfortable with the quality of the recordings (Of course, this video is lower quality that a later AAC file would be, but it still allows you to quickly listen to it.) I'm not planning on leaving these files up for long, just for a short while after I complete the track.

This is the Main Theme that plays as the game opens. Generally, unless an album is gapless, songs have a 5 second period of silence at the end. However, to closer emulate the way the music plays in the game, which is near instantaneous looping, I have trimmed the silence at the end to around 2 seconds. Opinions on quality/play length?

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 24 August 2008 - 11:07 PM

Here's another one:

-Link no longer available-

The Land King Hall/Stairway theme.

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 24 August 2008 - 11:07 PM

Argh, photobucket. Photobucker hasn't been working for me since they launched the Java update.

Is there a different way?

Well, I used photobucket since it was so convenient. . . What version of Flashplayer do you have?

The latest.

Damn it, it's the tree of life plug all over again.

The music sounds great to me (exactly like I'm playing the game) ^_^ Thank you for the efforts so far, Wizzy :D

The Cythera Overworld theme:

-Link no longer available-

TwoJacks, send me a PM with your email if you'd like, and we'll see what we can do.

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 24 August 2008 - 11:08 PM

The Wizard, on Jul 23 2008, 01:51 PM, said:

Been waiting for that one for eight years.

Any musicians interested in trying to recreate a more modern (ie, less-MIDI) version of some of these tracks? Might be a neat side-project to try.

I remembered from the last music topic that your favorite track was the overworld theme.

I'm not sure if I have a particular favorite, but one of my favorites is the just-completed Odemia theme:

-Link no longer available-

I also have finished perhaps my least favorite:

-Link no longer available-

The first part of Catamarca's music sounds. . . well, terrible. After that, it gets more catchy.

Quote

I had thought about this, too, at one point. If I were a good musician, I'd try it, but I'm not. The MIDIs actually can sound realistic enough for certain instruments. (The guitars in Land King Hall and the ending of the Main Theme are examples) The vocals and woodwinds sound much more unrealistic. Of course, I would be glad to see anyone else with enough interest in Cythera's music to attempt to modernize the songs.

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 24 August 2008 - 11:09 PM

That sounds like an awesome project! I don't know anything about music though, so I'm not sure what I could do...

Tyry is crazy. I was pondering this fact just yesterday as I remembered how ugly Sailor Mercury is. This fact is reaffirmed by another fact - that the overworld music, though perfectly fine, is the dullest music in all of Cythera. Nothing against Tyry though, he's just crazy, is all.

But speaking of crazy, so is Wizzy! Catamarca's music rocks, and that obnoxious start is delightful! :D

... What I mean is, I disagree with both of you on varying matters, which does not necessarily make you crazy. *Hides*

......

BreadWorldMercy453, on Jul 25 2008, 06:45 AM, said:

Where's a bolster when you need one?

More updates!

-Link no longer available-

Cademia's music. Cademia is one of the most neutral tracks in the game; it's not particularly the most memorable, but on the other hand, it's not really at all bad. In fact, as I listen to it, I find myself kind of liking it.

Now for Kosha's music:

-Link no longer available-

Kosha is one that I find myself humming a lot. From my observations, it seems to share a lot of attributes with Land King Hall's theme. Both start out with a sole guitar strumming the respective song's theme before the other instruments join in. Their mood is considerably different, though; Land King Hall being more relaxing and thought-provoking while Kosha is newer and more active.

Kosha was a difficult one to record. Again it shares with Land King Hall a "false ending" about 3/5s of the way through the song. It was easier with LKH because I was recording directly from a MIDI and could see how near the end of the song I was. However, in-game, listening to Kosha, I had to carefully try to determine just where the song ends and begins to loop the exact music again. At about 1:30, it seems to end and start again, but the instrumentation is actually a little different this time around.

As I realized that Kosha had this oddity, it occurred to me that other songs may have parts that I've missed as well. Do not worry, though! I have gone back and carefully listened to each track again to make sure I've captured all the original music. Most songs are just a little over a minute or so and then loop the exact song over again. Kosha and LKH are just exceptions.

More to come soon!

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 24 August 2008 - 11:10 PM

Now, now, Wizard, threatening to hit another member with a bolster is not polite, especially since she only stated a fact (i.e. you are crazy) .


Now, to prevent this topic from going off-topic, I suppose that I need to say something about the music.

Cythera is a game...with music.

I can't really say much beyond that, since I can't honestly recall paying that much attention to it (not lately at least) .


Regarding Avatara's idea, I agree that it sounds interesting, but, like 453 and Wizard, I unfortunately do not know much about music.

The Wizard, on Jul 26 2008, 04:26 PM, said:

You should use these a references for song length. In my experience with old game music, the lengths of all the songs a roughly the same.

Underground music.
Now that I listen to this track I'm hearing some differences from the original track in Cythera.. Maybe you could compare them an see?

City of Mystery
Wasn't in the game, but still a timing reference. I still wish we could kow if there were some mor eunreleased tracks.

I'm glad you brought those two tracks up again. I haven't said anything about them yet in regards to this project, but I was going to mention soon that I have decided to include both of those tracks as bonus tracks along with the other Cythera songs.

The Underground music you linked to is indeed a little different from the one that plays in the game. Hopefully, that one will be ready soon, as well.

For now, I have Pnyx ready:

-Link no longer available-

This completes all of the music for the Cythera cities. There are still a few different themes to record, and then there are the two bonus tracks. Aside from that, we are very near completion. I was wondering though: does anyone remember whether Demodocus or Bryaxis play a song for you? I have spoken with both of them, but the closest thing I can get is the few notes that Demodocus plays when you mention Canacious. Since this is more sound effects than music, I will not be including it with the other songs.

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 24 August 2008 - 11:10 PM

If you ask Demo to play a song for you, he will, but you don't actually get to hear it; so it doesn't count.

Where's that underground music from, if not the game?

My Cythera experience has been largely music free, so I don't feel a great need for the music

I started playing it on a computer that didn't have enough memory to handle the animation & music (I think I could still use sound effects though) the computer I use now has a broken sound system & I don't have the drivers to use my USB sound device with it in OS9.

"Get off my yard!"