Secret of Mana music project...

Post by **impurfekt** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:38 am

Hello Mana fans! Let me first introduce myself. My name is Aaron. I am an electronic musician and serious old school RPG fan.

I just downloaded Secret of Mana on my Wii last week. I hadn’t played the game in a good 5 years (the ol’ SNES has finally disappeared on me). I can honestly say it hasn’t aged a bit. Best of all, the music is as beautiful as I remember.

And now for the project; I am planning to do a 6 track EP based on music from the game. Basically, recreate my favorite pieces using a combination of orchestral and electronic instruments. I will be getting a couple other artists involved. The EP will be distributed freely of course (to avoid any unnecessary legal issues). I have every confidence that the new compositions will be absolutely beautiful.

Having played through the game at least six times I have a fairly good idea of which tracks I’d like to do. I also managed to find all the original songs online and go through them (http://www.thealmightyguru.com/VGMPF/Ga ... -SNES.html). As yet, my firm choices include:

Fear of the Heavens (the opening title)
Spirit of the Night (plays when you are forced to leave the village)
Still of the Night (plays in that amazing forest level)

I have a number of other tracks in mind too. I would however like the opinions of other hardcore Mana fans. So please, feel free to chime in on your favorite tracks and the project idea in general! Your opinions would be much appreciated!

Post by **Kassidy** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:03 am

In Darkness' Depths (Story Intro, I'd porbably do this as an extension to Angel's Fear)
Danger (boss battle)
Repeating Eternity (defeated boss in Pureland, don't think this has been remixed yet)
Ceremony - Curse - Sorcerer (Dark Lich theme and battle, could work as one)
The Wings No Longer Beat (ending theme 1)

Reason partly for some of these is that there are a few tracks that have been well covered (to death in some cases, ie "What the Forest Taught Me"), so would be nice to see something totally fresh (though there are tracks, such as Angel's Fear, that just can't be left out).

I had always hoped to one day do the whole soundtrack on guitar, but time being that wonderful thing that it is, I doubt I will ever get round to it.

Keep us posted on how the project progresses, this sounds very promising.

Post by **Anise** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:54 pm

Flight into the unknown, dark star and prophecy.

Love the flammie flight songs :3

Post by **impurfekt** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 3:36 pm

Thank you very much for the input. I will be tallying the suggestions I receive here to help make my final decision. Currently I am not planning to begin work until this summer, after my new album releases. So I have plenty of time for ideas and consideration.

I did listen to the material in the "remix" section last night. There is a lot out there and some is very high quality. Most material was quite expressive/original, branching very far from the original Mana tree.

My intention however is to imagine what Hiroki Kikuta would have done had he not been limited by the SNES hardware. To basically take the compositions to the next level while staying as true to them as possible. But of course, I will add my own feel (my music is generally dark in nature). So I think the focus will be on the more emotional aspects. For instance, "Spirit of the Night" would be as sad as I could possibly make it. The opening title will be as dramatic and beautiful as I can make it.

And I think that will guide my choice as well. The pieces that represent powerful moments in the story line are the ones I'd most like to work with. I realize some pieces have been done MANY times, however I don't want to choose a song simply because it's never been done before. I want each to have meaning for me, otherwise the composition will simply lack passion.

By the way, this track here can at least give you some idea of what you might expect (minus the vocals of course): http://www.last.fm/music/impurfekt/_/purgatory I don't really have any recent orchestral compositions out there right now.

Post by **manaman** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:51 pm

Hi there,

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the track right now, but the forest theme that plays once you are out of Potos and when you are in the witch's forest and all.

Dang mind has just completely went blank. . . . Good luck,

manaman

Post by **impurfekt** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:17 pm

manaman wrote:Hi there,

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the track right now, but the forest theme that plays once you are out of Potos and when you are in the witch's forest and all.

Dang mind has just completely went blank. . . . Good luck,

manaman

That would be a vote for "The Boy Aims for Wild Fields" or "Into the Thick of it". The beautiful guitar and flute piece. Though in the witches castle it is accompanied by a nice beat.

One of my favorites as well.

Post by **manaman** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:51 am

Oh yeah! Thanks!

Post by **Dr. Sheexy** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:37 pm

Kassidy wrote:In Darkness' Depths (Story Intro, I'd porbably do this as an extension to Angel's Fear)
Danger (boss battle)
Repeating Eternity (defeated boss in Pureland, don't think this has been remixed yet)
Ceremony - Curse - Sorcerer (Dark Lich theme and battle, could work as one)
The Wings No Longer Beat (ending theme 1)

I'm going to second everything Kassidy said and add in:

9 - Far Thunder (West of Pandora)
13 - The Holy Intruder (Mana Seed Palaces)
26 - Strange Event (Scorpion Army!)
30 - Steel and Traps

Bust mostly I gotta say please do Danger and the Dark Lich stuff!

Post by **impurfekt** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:52 am

Excellent. Thank you. Your votes are being added to the list!

Post by **impurfekt** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:41 am

Bump! (for those who may have missed it)

Post by **Kassidy** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:08 am

*bumped to post on our front page*

Post by **Leme Inthrigil** » Wed May 06, 2009 2:37 am

Well, I'm still trying to locate a copy of SoM (I think I may improt the japanese one, since it's much cheaper), but I would be glad to help as I need some good music experience. I can play trumpet a little, I can sing fairly well (more choral then solo), I can play a tiny bit of piano, and I am good with composing/songwriting, so if you could use those talents, contact me. I don't have anything big going on for the rest of the school year or summer.

Post by **manaman** » Wed May 06, 2009 4:28 am

If you're looking for the game, a Japanese copy won't be playable in your US or EU SNES. Just so you know.

Post by **Dr. Sheexy** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:06 pm

manaman wrote:If you're looking for the game, a Japanese copy won't be playable in your US or EU SNES. Just so you know.

This is true, but if you're desperate to play a Japanese game on a US SNES (not sure about EU) you can just break some little plastic bumps inside the console that block out certain sized/shaped cartridges from being loaded into it.
It's kinda sketchy sounding but it really shouldn't cause any problems.

Or you can buy a thing called a "translator" which will let you plug in any type of cartridge into it. I've got one and it works fine.

Post by **manaman** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:30 pm

Whoa!

Sheexy, can you hook me up with the details of this translator? Oh, and after thinking about it, I believe I read once that European systems can play Japanese games because of the shape of the cartridge slot.

Peace,

manaman