KQ3 Redux OST released (not SE)

[MusicallyInspired]

I've decided to release the regular game soundtrack seeing as the Special Edition OST is taking longer than I had hoped (but I still plan on finishing).

This is the original music pack that was used for the game itself. It's got all the music files in there. I don't have all the masters anymore so these aren't the highest quality, but they are listenable and should do for people who have been waiting a while. The special edition soundtrack is not finished yet and will be a while still. Hopefully this can hold people over until it gets done finally. Please note that this is quickly slapped together and not organized at all. But everything should be there. I also included an instrumental version of Coming Home as a bonus.

I know the SE soundtrack has been taking a while and I apologize. Full plate and all. I still intend to finish it, though.

KQ3 Redux Soundtrack (game music files) - ZIP 57.4 MB

[Numbers]

No need to downplay this.  This soundtrack is one of the prettiest collection of tunes I've ever heard in a game; in fact, I think I like this music more than the soundtracks from the official KQ games.

[Jafar]

Awesome! I've been looking foward to this one since the game came out!

[GrahamRocks!]

Tell me, was music 127 a nod to KQ6? You know, the scene with the druids and them trying to make the rain spell? Sure sounded like it!

[Numbers]

That piece is just one of several homages to other music tracks in the series.  One memorable piece is the exact tune that plays in the KQ2 remake during the Door of Destiny sequence, and another is a more somber-sounding version of the "When I Saw You" song during the KQ2 remake's end credits.  And I'm sure just about everybody recognizes the "YMCA" and "Drunken Sailor" tracks...

[GrahamRocks!]

And the Bard Theme is a lovely version of KQ4's theme!

[Deloria]

and another is a more somber-sounding version of the "When I Saw You" song during the KQ2 remake's end credits.  

I hated that song. The girl singing it sounded so shrill and off-key and the song itself had lyrics that seemed to exist only to sound "poetic" (ie 80s and stupid and meaningless and completely nonsensical) and an intro that was way too long and somewhat reminiscent of Flashdance.

[MusicallyInspired]

It wasn't that bad. The same guy who wrote When I Saw You wrote Coming Home, though (that being the story-writer Daniel Stacey).

I was indeed thinking of the Druid section for 127 . There's another homage as well. The eagle's theme is a combination of the Condor theme from KQ1 and the eagle's theme from KQ5.

[darthkiwi]

Some of the rhymes do seem a little... superfluous, though?

Our fates unknown, so rarely shown
Together you and I will see it ever sewn

I'm not... really sure... what the last line actually means. I mean, clearly there's something going on about the fates (and the "thread" of each person's life making up a "tapestry" as in, I think, Greek myth, hence "sewn") - but the rhymes really do seem to dominate more than I'd like...

When you saw me, the truth you would see

I'm not against using archaic word order for effect, but most of the song is just written in more or less modern English, and the fact that there are synth drums means it can't really be going for an archaic effect.

Also, how come Graham "saw" her (past tense) but in doing so "would" see the truth (conditional, but implying the future)? Shouldn't it be "When you saw me, the truth you did see"?

By far the line that sticks out the most is:

Soon we shall pair, our lives true and fair

I have never seen "pair" used as a verb meaning "be married" before, except possibly in medieval literature, and the rhyme with "fair" is just so... obvious. It reminds me of this poem by Alexander Pope, who was frustrated by this sort of rhyming:

While they [the poets] ring round the same unvary'd Chimes,
With sure Returns of still expected Rhymes.
Where-e'er you find the cooling Western Breeze,
In the next Line, it whispers thro' the Trees;
If Chrystal Streams with pleasing Murmurs creep,
The Reader's threaten'd (not in vain) with Sleep.
Then, at the last, and only Couplet fraught
With some unmeaning Thing they call a Thought,
A needless Alexandrine ends the Song,
That like a wounded Snake, drags its slow length along.*
Leave such to tune their own dull Rhimes, and know
What's roundly smooth, or languishingly slow;
And praise the Easie Vigor of a Line,
Where Denham's Strength, and Waller's Sweetness join.
True Ease in Writing comes from Art, not Chance,
As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance,
'Tis not enough no Harshness gives Offence,
The Sound must seem an Eccho to the Sense.

*An Alexandrine is a line with 12 syllables (like that line!) See what he did there?

Basically, I think the rhyme dominates the song to the extent that it really ends up saying nothing. A couplet like

Paths are laid down, lines in the sand;
It's happening now; you must understand

annoys me because the first line is fine. Lines are laid down. Things are happening. Great! But why the second line? We know it's happening now (because you just told us) and we know we must understand (otherwise why would you be telling us?) So why would you put in that extra li- Oh, the rhyme.

I actually went through quite a lot of that song thinking "Hmmm, okay, these lyrics rhyme but they don't seem to actually mean anything..."

Also, not a fan of the singing. She doesn't seem quite able to hit the higher notes without sounding very... harsh.

[Delling]

I'm not against using archaic word order for effect, but most of the song is just written in more or less modern English, and the fact that there are synth drums means it can't really be going for an archaic effect.

I think inversion and topicalization are both constructions that deserve more usage in English (alongside the passive voice... which is actually a subtype of topicalization).

So, in saying that, I have mixed feelings about classing inversion as an archaism... we still use it today... just sparingly... because we're a grammatically challenged and boring folk.

Also, how come Graham "saw" her (past tense) but in doing so "would" see the truth (conditional, but implying the future)? Shouldn't it be "When you saw me, the truth you did see"?

Another archaism: the conditional is a past tense of the future.

Okay, so here's the complicated thing: Germanic languages don't have a synthetic future and haven't generally historically. So, "should" and "would" are actually the past tense forms of "shall" and "will". This analytic construct is actually even born out in the (synthetic) Romance languages: in Vulgar Latin, the future was constructed as infinitive + present of "to have". The conditional was the infinitive + imperfect of "to have". So having should/would/could (the past tense of "can") with the past tense is a justifiable construction (we call it "the future less vivid"... it has various shadings to it such as a less certain future or a more immediate future).

In this case, it's a "future" event contingent on a "past" event, or rather that's how that would have to be read at face value... so, the problem arises in that the verb is "see" in both clauses and seems to be referring to the same event... *facepalm* (Actually, this could work ... if it were in medias res... but I doubt that very much...). The other alternative reading is that it's an event that happened after the "past" event but before the "present" which does work for linearity (he sees her, he sees the truth... pretty much at the same time, but maybe he realizes the truth a little later...); within that reading, there's nothing wrong with respect to tense... just we prefer the proper usage of perfects to what seems like ungainly and esoteric usages of our beloved conditional modal markers in most moments these days. (okay... that was shameless alliteration...)

err... TL;DR "saw" + "would..." is a viable grammatical construction but maybe not here.

Anyway, if I'm following this, this is a case of grammatical construct not matching what it's meant to represent: Graham has seen her--has he seen the truth or hasn't he? The implication that he's seen the truth is better matched by darthkiwi's reading which also makes the two events simultaneous.

By far the line that sticks out the most is:

Soon we shall pair, our lives true and fair

I have never seen "pair" used as a verb meaning "be married" before, except possibly in medieval literature, and the rhyme with "fair" is just so... obvious.

Yeah... pairing has ... other ... implications as well. ...not sure why one would want to use such an... evocative... verb in the first place. (I know no one even bothers teaching grammar anymore much less wording and style... but really.)

Paths are laid down, lines in the sand;
It's happening now; you must understand

annoys me because the first line is fine. Lines are laid down. Things are happening. Great! But why the second line? We know it's happening now (because you just told us) and we know we must understand (otherwise why would you be telling us?) So why would you put in that extra li- Oh, the rhyme.

I agree that this is problematic stylistically, but I think this is an example of trying to use repetition to build a sense of immediacy. For poetic effect, the CAESURA is better at this IMO (the caesura is a foot of a single stressed syllable... string a bunch of those together within otherwise metered verse and read it with proper meter ).


... maybe I should actually listen to this song ... it sounds like if it were sung as a medieval ballad... it might work.

[darthkiwi]

Okay, I was going to post here but realised this is getting off topic, so I'm going to post in Delling's thread instead!

http://www.postudios.com/blog/forum/index.php?topic=9522.80

About "pair"... yeah, I thought that, but it's a KQ game. So... mentioning that is off the table, right? It's family-friendly, right?

[Deloria]

But hijacking is good and I was fascinated.

[Delling]

...but now you can be fascinated over there: http://www.postudios.com/blog/forum/index.php?topic=9522.msg339936#msg339936

...besides... my thread doesn't get used enough.

About "pair"... yeah, I thought that, but it's a KQ game. So... mentioning that is off the table, right? It's family-friendly, right?

Presumably... still... this is the more commonly heard (I suspect) implication of "pairing".

[Numbers]

I still prefer "When I Saw You" to "Girl in the Tower."  Or "Land Beyond Dreams."  Gah.  My ears.

Actually, I think the best song from KQ3 Redux was the one the bard sang after getting the lute, because it was supposed to be absurd, rather than unintentionally absurd (talent-potion enhanced Gwydion, I'm looking at you).

And for what it's worth, I don't care much for the lyrics to "Coming Home," but I LOVE the composition.  "Coming Home" is probably the closest to a legitimate song that's ever appeared in a fan-made KQ game.  Sorry, "The Day You Were Gone"...you're okay, but you just don't do it for me.

[Blackthorne]

The pedantry here is staggering.


Bt

[Lambonius]

The pedantry here is staggering.


Bt

Yes.  And none of those songs has anything on Space Janitor! 

[GrahamRocks!]

^ How did we go from, discussing the music of KQ3 to analyzing "When I Saw You", to Roger Wilco?

[Numbers]

Nobody ever stays on topic for more than five minutes around here.

[crayauchtin]

Can I make a suggestion that ties into a thread I'm going to make in a minute?

Radio Rivendell.

I love listening to them, basically all the time these days, and the guy who runs it ("Lord Elrond" he calls himself) is always looking for new music. It'd be awesome exposure for the game too, aside from another place where people can appreciate the fantastic soundtrack here. (Which I am downlooading too, btw, so I'll listen to it whether or not you go with this suggestion. )

I suggested that they look into the Quest Studios site but I don't know if they've done that yet.

[DawsonJ]

Sorry, "The Day You Were Gone"...you're okay, but you just don't do it for me.

This.  At the end of an episode of TSL, it works great.  As a song... no.  The lyrics are too "filler" for my tastes.  I played it for a friend to show the kind of effort and support that's gone into TSL, and all he could say was, "You and I clearly have different tastes in music." ... uh... yeah.