Before saying anything else, I have to give credit for what you see below to Riku Nuottajärvi. This is his music and all I'm doing is worshiping it by giving it a new paint job and a coat of wax. I am so happy to know this franchise is being brought back to life, and in light of the announcement of Stardock resurrecting this universe, I decided to start with the Hyperspace theme.
The soundtrack was cherished for its innovative sound format technology which is taken for granted in music today. It allowed a range and flexibility of musical themes that were largely unheard of before SC2 brought them into the spotlight. Prior to that, music and sound in games were generally very primitive beeps and boops. Even with all the innovation that the music brought to the game, the technical limitations of its digital module sound format are not up to par with contemporary game music, and preserving that feeling of wonder in a rebirth of the series will of course place new demands and expectations on the music for upcoming chapters in this franchise.
I've had the idea of remastering some of the music in my own way for years, not so much in the way the community did for the UQM project or even the 3DO versions of the game's music, but specifically enhancing the sound of the original PC versions. I wanted to freshen the sound and bring it into the 21st century, while still giving it a bit of that classic pulp sci-fi feel. Without turning it into a mix, remix or reinterpretation with any creative liberties taken to completely change the sound of it, I performed a lot of editing and processing on the original music in Renoise.
The original sound module suffered from the limitations of having to cram so many instruments into only four channels with no polyphony, meaning that sounds could not overlap. Consequently only four notes and/or instruments could technically play simultaneously during a beat. This made playback of chords and percussion lines extremely challenging for the composer.
That is not a limitation anymore these days, so I widened the sound space, eliminated clipping, reduced distortion and sample overlap, introduced stereo panning effects, balanced the sound levels, incorporated a completely new rock and roll drum line and remastered all channels to give it a fresh new feel. It is my hope that perhaps this may inspire the developers and fans, and serve to remind them not to forget to carry forward the musical elements that made this game so great! Enjoy.
Cool! Are you affiliated with the Precursors? Sounds similar.
http://www.medievalfuture.com/precursors/main.php
Nope, just a longtime fan who also likes to use Renoise to write my own electronic music. SC2's amazing soundtrack was what first kindled my interest in digital music, mods and trackers way back in the 90's. Riku Nuottajarvi still deserves full credit for this; I'm just piggybacking his talent! I wanted to enhance his original version to make it sound as though the same tune were written with today's tracker technology.
You know, I have a bunch of the Star Control assets courtesy of Atari. I'll try to post them. I'm *trying* to get the Star Control 3 source too. It's just a matter of finding out who has it.
I assume you mean to say all the music is in those assets ... I have kept those original mods from SC2 for years and years, knowing that eventually they would become hard to find one day, and they sure are. The software that I used to make this Hyperspace theme update isn't always able to import the old data accurately either, so some of the old mods don't play back properly and require a lot of "restoration", so to speak, in order to play back on modern trackers.
I've often thought about why SC3's music was so lackluster by comparison, but I've reasoned a few things: aside from it being composed singly by only one individual (Andy Frazier) instead of a group of different composers, it was just generally more sedate in style so that it would not overwhelm the spoken dialog that was such a focus of the game. Not sure how true that assumption is and whether more dynamic music would intrude on spoken dialog, but I don't think many people look back on SC3's music with particular fondness. Was it bad music? Not really, but it certainly wasn't memorable. Most fans can remember whole themes note-for-note from SC2. I can't see the same thing ever happening with SC3.
I know it's still probably way too early in the process to be asking questions about music since it is usually one of the last things to be added to games and movies, but do you have any feelings about Stardock's musical direction for the franchise? I assume that SC2's music will serve as a major influence, but how exactly does the studio go about making decisions on music production? Do you plan on doing it internally or outsourcing it?
Little known fact: The MOD files are available from our Precursors remix site. Each MOD can be downloaded from its respective remix page, but we've also got a "secret" folder listing available here.
Haha, that is a pretty good secret. You actually have the melee victory ditties too. I think I lost those somewhere in the sands of time. I love what you Precursor guys did to reinterpret all the old themes for UQM years ago but I always wanted to do what I did above for the entire soundtrack for UQM, just modernizing the originals and making them sound more current. I really wish I had the time and energy to remaster the whole soundtrack like I did above. The Yehat and Mycon themes would be next on my list. My personal favorites, and what a surprise, also from Riku Nuottajärvi! He's my favorite composer from SC2.
Man oh man, I really wish Stardock could get Riku on board for the new titles. Are you listening, Brad Wardell?
I'm pretty sure he is.
Moreover, what is even more important, his comments are opened, unlike someone else's. And he, apparetly, really LOVES what he is doing.
Wanted to post an update for the those on the forum interested in original music inspired by Star Control.
I've added a section devoted to this on my personal webpage to share with others. Not all are complete, but I have about half a dozen music concepts on there, including the Hyperspace theme originally posted above, an orchestral version of the Quasispace theme, an orchestral "introduction" concept, a new take on the famous Melee theme, and two alien race concepts. I know the old assets won't be used, but the two alien concepts use them as inspiration. Also quite a bit of background (perhaps too much?) on my influences and inspirations. Hopefully more to come in the future.
Martin Lettvin's Star Control Music Tribute Page
P.S. Hey Brad, if you like what you hear, this is my subtle hint that I'd welcome any opportunity to be involved if you'll have me.
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