Company News Tim Cain joins MCA over at Obsidian Entertainment

[Elwro]

Yeah, when I was composing I wasn't quite aware how rare it was for a voice to have that low D. I sung in a men's chorus for 9 semesters (...)

Yup, exactly as you say - in a men's choir (I also sang in one), sure, you can even go down to C and be confident it will be heard. But in the usual mixed choir baritones are the norm in the basso voice, and if other instruments are playing, than in general it will be difficult to have this D as a firm foundation without doubling the voice by something else.

Also, I was wondering about that low "D" note with the text "Angel"... was it a conscious decision with some specific effect to be achieved?

It's basically a text painting, except that it's the opposite text painting that you would expect (...)
Anyway, a bit of a rambling answer but I think that answers it.

Yup, answers it perfectly, thanks! Unrelated: there are funny moments in Mozart's Masses (e.g. the Spatzenmesse iirc) when for example "ascendit" is set to descending scales, because the given mass was written for a cardinal Mozart detested and he deliberately fucked up the rhetoric :D

I would have assumed your primary degree would be in music.

I prefer to keep this as a hobby, I think I'd risk losing interest in it if it became my profession.

So are the current "musicological" projects you're working on which you mentioned earlier basically a hobby, then? Or are you getting some sort of compensation?

No compensation at all - which means no one will hurry me, and it will take a long time, but it's not a burden, so again, I'll keep it this way.

When my scores are prepared, then I'll try to kick off a project: raise funds for a professional recording with a period instrument ensemble, good soloists and one conductor I'd really want to hire, I'd also like to publish a crtical edition of the scores some day. There are grants for such things...

 

[Excommunicator]

Looks like I missed a great discussion. Fortunately due to the magic of the internet I can read things that were said in the past. (?!?)

Very interesting. Not the Obsidian crap, the music discussion.

I am in full agreement with those who were underwhelmed by the Arcanum music. I think the music they achieved fit perfectly with the setting, but you just can't have such a lack of variation to the soundtrack when you know each and every piece will play dozens of times. It would even have been stronger had there been much less of it; take the majority of it out and replace it with the relevant ambient sounds, then when the strings chime in at the right moments, it would really set the mood. As it was though, it became incredibly oppressive (in a stressful way, not a nice moody way) and grating, and I had to turn it off, as much as I love strings.

I have always been curious about Dicksmoker's attempts in music too (and anybody else out there, if there is anyone else on here), so I shall take a look at these pieces of his.

Keep up with the high brow discussions

 

[made]

I find it hard to swallow that I may have misjudged Dicksmoker. The possibility that he might actually know what he's talking about in this particular case boggles the mind.

No matter. Dragging Wagner et al into the discussion was pointless. The fact that it doesn't hold up to the works of the greatest composers of all time has no bearing on the effectiveness of the music in the context of a game soundtrack.

 

[Wunderpurps]

I find it hard to swallow that I may have misjudged Dicksmoker. The possibility that he might actually know what he's talking about in this particular case boggles the mind.

No matter. Dragging Wagner et al into the discussion was pointless. The fact that it doesn't hold up to the works of the greatest composers of all time has no bearing on the effectiveness of the music in the context of a game soundtrack.

Lots of cretins love classical music, and not one thing dicksmoker said was relevant to anything at all.

 

[Multidirectional]

Lots of cretins among those who call others cretins too. Just sayin'.

 

[DwarvenFood]

I sung in a men's chorus for 9 semesters at my undergrad school.

Am I doing it right?

 

[Wunderpurps]

Nine. Nine semesters. Anything more than 8 really takes the oomph out of the appeal to expertise, and for all we know it's 9 out of 13 semesters he spent getting a 4 year degree.

 

[DraQ]

Just wait until David Gaider hears about that, he'll pack his shit and join Obsidian too

I bet he already has his shit packed regularly.

Wasn't it Feargus who said that character creators as deep as IWD's aren't really relevant these days or something?

It was more along the lines that players today wouldn't have the patience to go through the creation of the entire party.

I'm from the 'old days' and I still go with the pre-rolled parties in old games except usually for 'my' character and to fill a specific need. I always end up spending forever trying to get the perfect warrior or paladin when it makes little difference otherwise.

Wizardry 8 was perfect in this regard - it had a bank of characters you could compose your party of. You could pick one premade party, or make your own out of premade characters, characters you built yourself, or mixture of both types.

 

[Excommunicator]

You've got to love the way cognitive dissonance can completely own a weaker mind

 

[Atomic]

I think this can be considered as good news.

“@ChrisAvellone: My heart grew three sizes today when Tim Cain said yep, it was official - he was going to stay and work with us full-time.”

 

[DwarvenFood]

Jeez, way to Necro, oldfag ! We have an up-to-date thread on him permanently moving to OBS already now I have troubled Zed for nothing.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Wasn't it Feargus who said that character creators as deep as IWD's aren't really relevant these days or something?

It was more along the lines that players today wouldn't have the patience to go through the creation of the entire party.

I'm from the 'old days' and I still go with the pre-rolled parties in old games except usually for 'my' character and to fill a specific need. I always end up spending forever trying to get the perfect warrior or paladin when it makes little difference otherwise.

HERETIC.

Creating your own party and spending an hour or two making it is big part of the fun for me. AND IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING FUN EXACTLY LIKE I AM, THEN YOU'RE NOT HAVING FUN. PERIOD.

 

[commie]

Wasn't it Feargus who said that character creators as deep as IWD's aren't really relevant these days or something?

It was more along the lines that players today wouldn't have the patience to go through the creation of the entire party.

I'm from the 'old days' and I still go with the pre-rolled parties in old games except usually for 'my' character and to fill a specific need. I always end up spending forever trying to get the perfect warrior or paladin when it makes little difference otherwise.

HERETIC.

Creating your own party and spending an hour or two making it is big part of the fun for me. AND IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING FUN EXACTLY LIKE I AM, THEN YOU'RE NOT HAVING FUN. PERIOD.

Heh...I just got tired of always falling into the trap of 'just one more roll and maybe I'll get four 18's' for each character. No matter how I would try to just go with what I have I just couldn't resist. That's why I settled for the party the game would give me except for a character or two of my own.