Music: Ace Combat
So, for something lighter and a bit more amusing to inject into your life, here's some music.
Now, it's hardly a secret that I like video games. Sometimes I even cop to liking video game music. Video game music is a weird field. First, it's very much like movie soundtracks, in that the music is supposed to evoke a set of emotions, and hence a game will contain a number of pieces with a completely different feel. Even action games with very similar settings will often create several different-sounding pieces with similar roots in order to emphasize differences between different levels. Second, they have to fit a much wider variety of circumstances than even movies, as the number and type of different scenarios in video games makes for more that you have to fit your music to.
RPGs tend to have the most widely varied music (IMHO) simply because they have the most varied locations, and exploring their exotic nature is often part of the game. In contrast, many action games stick to variations on one or two themes. But you can do a lot on variations. For an example, here's the theme to the Ace Combat series spread over three games.
The choral mix from Ace Combat 5 is built for the dramatic scene where it is used.
The Ace Combat 6 returned the theme to a very traditional instrumental version.
And probably my favorite, is this version from Ace Combat Zero, which combines the traditional theme with a much more experimental variety of instruments.
Now, it's hardly a secret that I like video games. Sometimes I even cop to liking video game music. Video game music is a weird field. First, it's very much like movie soundtracks, in that the music is supposed to evoke a set of emotions, and hence a game will contain a number of pieces with a completely different feel. Even action games with very similar settings will often create several different-sounding pieces with similar roots in order to emphasize differences between different levels. Second, they have to fit a much wider variety of circumstances than even movies, as the number and type of different scenarios in video games makes for more that you have to fit your music to.
RPGs tend to have the most widely varied music (IMHO) simply because they have the most varied locations, and exploring their exotic nature is often part of the game. In contrast, many action games stick to variations on one or two themes. But you can do a lot on variations. For an example, here's the theme to the Ace Combat series spread over three games.
The choral mix from Ace Combat 5 is built for the dramatic scene where it is used.
Click to viewThe Ace Combat 6 returned the theme to a very traditional instrumental version.
And probably my favorite, is this version from Ace Combat Zero, which combines the traditional theme with a much more experimental variety of instruments.