Movie soundtracks are epic, but…

In my opinion Hans Zimmer is the best in this field. Think of a movie with an outstanding and award winning soundtrack — and he’s probably the composer. My favorites: Interstellar (x2), Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Inception, even Lion King!

But there’s more…

Game soundtracks are no longer beeps & boops

Pong was released in 1972 with just two sounds. After eight boring years, Pack-Man features a memorable intro theme.

When Pong was released it had just two sounds. Nowadays, games feature soundtracks played by full orchestras with budgets over six figures!

Tetris in 1984 already had a soundtrack. Super Mario Bros and Zelda came next, with soundtracks crafted by the creativity of Koji Kondo. And then in 1989 the talented Nobuo Uematsu joins the team of Final Fantasy.

At the time, sound and hardware specs were limited. But the melodies are there and today they are globally and fondly recognized.

Saying that game soundtracks are low quality is like saying Mona Lisa is crap because DaVinci used a brush instead of Photoshop.

People appreciate Shakespeare even though they can barely understand the archaic English it was written with. Well the good thing about music is that you can take the same recipe (score), arrange it, and play it with better instruments!

Want an example? Just listen to the original composed by Uematsu in 1994 for Super Nintendo. Then listen to a full orchestra and chorus playing the same song in 2012. #eargasm

These melodies fill us with determination.

Orchestras play video games too

When the score is already superb the result is out of this world — like this orchestration of Bohemiam Rapsody.

Everything sounds magnificent when played by an orchestra.

Speaking of VGM (video game music), the concert 20020220, back in Japan 2002, was a pioneer in VGM concerts. Since then many new ongoing concerts were created and are touring around the world.

And I travel around Europe following them! Countries like Sweden even broadcasted a concert it in their national TV.

Some fans do their own reochestrations, like Blake Robinson or Braxton Burks and his outstanding Kanto Symphony.

Choose your own adventure melody

This is home.