Disney

Doujin, Game Music

Project Destati Releases Kingdom Hearts Live Album DARKNESS

March 29, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Project Destati Releases Kingdom Hearts Live Album DARKNESS Share this

Back in 2014, Materia Collective and Project Destati created the first of an effort to release the music of Kingdom Hearts in a live album with full orchestration, which they called LIGHT. Now, almost 4 years later the same teams have followed up the LIGHT album with the even larger second part of the tribute; DARKNESS.

Project Destati: DARKNESS includes 30 fan-favorite themes drawn from every title across the Kingdom Hearts franchise with nearly two-and-a-half hours of imaginative arrangements spanning 30 tracks. Starting with the very first game in the series and touching upon themes from Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and more, the tracks bring new life to the compositions of Yoko Shimomura, Utada Hikaru, Takeharu Ishimoto, and Tsuyoshi Sekito.

DARKNESS, Project Destati’s second of three volumes, has been a concept since 2014 that we’ve been slowly piecing together with the utmost care and forethought for each of the 30 tracks in this collection. Each track was individually given several months of planning and consideration to be arranged in such a way so as to tell the most complete musical story, envisioned with proper connections to other melodies within the KINGDOM HEARTS universe. – Sebastian Wolff, Producer

<a href="http://projectdestati.bandcamp.com/album/project-destati-darkness">Project Destati: DARKNESS by Project Destati</a>

Project Destati: DARKNESS is available today in digital and limited edition physical CD formats via Bandcamp, iTunes and streaming on Spotify.
Events, Game Music, Japanese

Disney invites Concert Attendees to play along on 2018 Japan Tour

November 15, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Disney invites Concert Attendees to play along on 2018 Japan Tour Share this

Ever fancy taking to the stage at an orchestral game music concert to play your own instrument alongside the performers? That’s almost exactly the plan for the Brass Band Disney tour that will be performing across Japan between January and March of 2018.

At each of the ten scheduled shows the Siena Wind Orchestra, who you may know from their BRA★BRA Final Fantasy series, will play a selection of songs from Disney’s animated films, Star Wars, and Pirates of the Caribbean. For the finale, everyone in attendance is welcomed to join the stage or even play from the aisles for one of the most raucous performances these concert halls have ever held.

The communal composition isn’t a Disney standard like the “Mickey Mouse Club March” though, it’s the main theme from one of their most popular new properties, the mobile game Disney Tsum Tsum. Those planning to perform can grab the sheet music to practice and listen to a few baseball “cheer song” renditions of the theme from Disney’s site. Don’t worry if you can’t play an instrument, clapping and whistling are encouraged as well.

It’s a wild (and trusting) concept, having fans play alongside the orchestra, and I hope at least a glimpse of it gets out to YouTube once the tour starts. In the meantime, what game music do you think would benefit from a communal performance, umm, if any? Let us know in the comments.
Film, Television

The Soundtrack from Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp has finally been released!

February 8, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on The Soundtrack from Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp has finally been released! Share this

The soundtrack to Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp has at long last been released on CD. Growing up it was one of my favorite Disney animated films, and the music was what made the film special. It is a large scale adventure score that has some nods to the theme from the TV series.

A favorite project of composer David Newman, who considered it, “Like a dream experience for me.” Newman was afforded considerable freedom to write what he felt was most appropriate without interference. “It was lovely.” Newman scores for a large orchestra, writes wall-to-wall music, including several lengthy sequences. Strong degree of musical architecture results. Music often twists and turns on a dime, racing forward, stopping suddenly for quick pauses then continuing onwards. Excitement is name of the game! Vibrant recording by Tim Boyle made at Evergreen Studios in Burbank over 6 days in June 1990. Entire album is presented in crisp stereo sound from complete digital 2-track scoring session masters with 3 additional cues derived from the 30 its Dolby SR-format analog mixes, all courtesy Walt Disney Records. John Takis provides descriptive liner notes, Kay Marshall fashions gorgeous, colorful “flipper” cover. Choose your favorite! David Newman composes, orchestrates, conducts. Intrada Special Collection CD available while quantities and interest remain!

Intrada Records

The CD is available for purchase directly from Intrada Records’ website for $21.99. I’ve already ordered my copy. Here’s hoping we’ll see more music from Ducktales released in the future.

Is this a soundtrack you’ll be ordering?
Featured, Software

PAX East Preview: Fantasia Music Evolved

April 30, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on PAX East Preview: Fantasia Music Evolved Share this

For our last PAX East 2014 preview, we are taking a look at Harmonix’s upcoming game Fantasia Music Evolved. While technically this preview was offered off site from the main convention, it was something intended for PAX East attendees and press. This special event was held at the restaurant Trade just a short walk from the main convention and was hosted by Harmonix, Destructoid, and ASTRO Gaming. The event was a chance to showcase the game’s multi-player mode and to announce some of the new pieces being added to the game. Harmonix is a company known for developing the first few Guitar Hero games, Rock Band, and Dance Central. It makes sense that if you wanted to do a music game based off of Disney’s Fantasia, this is probably the group that you want.

Fantasia is a movie that most people are aware of, even if they haven’t seen it. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the film, Fantasia was a film released in 1940 by Walt Disney Productions. The movie is a collection eight animated segments that are artistic interpretations of eight different pieces of classical music. Each segment featured different types of animation and presentations. Some segments like Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” (in the video below) are more abstract, with animation slowly being introduced and eventually taking over the screen.

Others like Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral'” featured animation with some distinct characters whose actions matched the mood and structure of the music. Finally, other segments featured more fully realized plots that matched the music, such as the well known “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” segment. Fantasia, simply put, is an artistic masterpiece. A beautiful combination of animation and classical music that is considered by many, including myself, to be one of the greatest films that Disney ever created. A collection of eight pieces of animation, inspired by some of the greatest music ever written. So how did Harmonix approach making a game inspired by this movie? Read on to find out. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Hearts of Hearts: Kingdom Hearts 3D OST (Review)

November 13, 2012 | Haroon Piracha | Comments Off on Hearts of Hearts: Kingdom Hearts 3D OST (Review) Share this

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance has been a highly anticipated game by many Kingdom Hearts enthusiasts such as myself. Aside from being a game for the Nintendo 3DS, I thought that this game was a continuation of Kingdom Hearts 2 due to its name. The game is actually said to be a prequel to Kingdom Hearts 3 with its gameplay and plot previewing the next installment. Its soundtrack is the first in the Kingdom Hearts series to be a collaboration between composers. I was excited by the idea of a collaboration; it gives soundtrack multiple approaches to the same idea or the same theme for the game, much like Mass Effect, God of War, or Final Fantasy X have done. So how did Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance OST cope with three composers? Find out after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Soundtrack Review: Epic Mickey More “Mischief” Than “Epic”

February 14, 2011 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

A few months ago, I heard an interview on NPR with Jim Dooley regarding his work on the Wii action adventure title Epic Mickey. The interview was extremely interesting and informative; I suggest you read and/or listen.

However, hearkening back to the recurring question of game music’s contextualization, how does the intricacy of the music and the sound design impact the listener who isn’t playing the game? Is it still enjoyable? And can it truly be described as “epic?”

To answer these questions, I decided to pick up the digital-only Epic Mickey Original Game Score (available on iTunes or Amazon). You’ll find my impressions after the jump. (more…)
Anime, Film, Reviews

Joe Hisaishi Double Feature: Ponyo OST and Image Album (Review)

September 25, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 5 Comments Share this

Last month, Disney’s English-language version of the newest Hayao Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli film Ponyo was released in theaters nationwide. It’s been four years since his last film, Howl’s Moving Castle, reached the States. A small resurgence of Miyazaki fever has hit anime fans, but the kid-friendly nature of the film (alongside Disney’s marketing, and inclusion of young Jonas and Cyrus siblings in the cast) has helped bring a more diverse crowd of people to see the film than, say, your average reader of OSV.

And those people, in experiencing the film, also got to here the incredible work of Joe Hisaishi, who has scored nearly every Miyazaki ever made.

After the jump, check out my thoughts on not one, but two albums released for the film: the Ponyo original soundtrack, and the image album. (more…)