Submission Off-Topic Chat

[Meta-Ridley]

ok then

[Shadoninja]

I think so long as the midis sound the same as the mus excluding the differences in instrument quality, there won't be many complaints. the midis serve as previews, really, nothing more.

Required dynamics aren't that hard to add and would reduce any confusion. otherwise someone might play forte when it should be played piano. Articulations should be added when necessary. in my opinion, we should not forget that, in addition to sheets being accurate and playable, they should also be as musical as possible even when the performer will take liberties with it.

[Meta-Ridley]

I miss the Italian performance markings

[Olimar12345]

Ragtime and marches can sound fine at one volume level.

mediocre Ragtimes and Marches sound fine at one volume level.
Examples of dynamic use: March(Hella-fucikin-powerful Final Strain) Ragtime (Without the dynamics, it makes this tune sound ameturish)

[pumpy_heart]

I still don't believe dynamics should be required on most pieces. Anything from 16-bit or earlier rarely employed differing dynamics. The dynamics was the volume level on your TV.
Some newer games have pieces with various dynamics relative to the other pieces. This probably should be notated, however it is still relative and basically up to the performer (and arranger).
I think if dynamics are clearly outlined in a piece, for example crescendos and decrescendos, we should use those. However, dynamics in video game music is 95% of the time whatever the user chooses to make them. Adding them where they do not exist crosses a line that puts us in the listener's head, deciding what he/she wanted.
I'd rather not do that.

[Dudeman]

Yay, Pumpy! Thanks for saying what we all wanted to say.

[spitllama]

Yay, Pumpy! Thanks for saying what we all wanted to say.

[Olimar12345]

I still don't believe dynamics should be required on most pieces. Anything from 16-bit or earlier rarely employed differing dynamics. The dynamics was the volume level on your TV.
Some newer games have pieces with various dynamics relative to the other pieces. This probably should be notated, however it is still relative and basically up to the performer (and arranger).
I think if dynamics are clearly outlined in a piece, for example crescendos and decrescendos, we should use those. However, dynamics in video game music is 95% of the time whatever the user chooses to make them. Adding them where they do not exist crosses a line that puts us in the listener's head, deciding what he/she wanted.
I'd rather not do that.

Its just part of "Arranging for piano". Piano litterature has dynamics. If the piece is static just put a single dynamic (mf) at the begining and stop fussing so much about it. If they have a problem with it, they have a volume nob on there computer. Seriously, guys, this shouldn't be a big deal.

[pumpy_heart]

It's not about the sound a computer makes. It's about the sound the performer takes.
I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone. I just think this is something the composer thinks about while composing pieces, about how the listener can control dynamics, and it influences his/her decision on compositional techniques. The pieces are supposed to be up to the listener to determine the dynamics. That's how they were composed.
Like I've said before, if a piece is quieter or louder than the rest of the soundtrack, this should notated. Crescendos and diminuendos should be notated as well.
But the true fact of the matter is that these are not piano compositions. These were never truly designed for piano.

Nobuo Uematsu composed the music for Final Fantasy VII. He allowed the release of a collection of every song from that game released as a piano arrangement. There are no dynamic markings at the beginning of the pieces. There's no reason to. However, when he revisited several pieces for his Final Fantasy VII Piano Collections, all the pieces contained dynamics, crescendos, and diminuendos. These pieces were recomposed for the piano, designed with pianistic considerations in mind, and composed to be played by the piano. These are different pieces. The melodies are the same, sure. But the design of the piece is completely rethought and revisited with a different idea in mind. He wanted these pieces to be performed as their own pieces, while the arrangements of the original were to be performed as the player wanted.

Again, I really hope no one is getting upset. This is kinda a big deal. I'm not condoning being lazy and ignoring dynamics. But the composers design most of their pieces to be without a starting dynamic. We should respect that.

[MoldyPond]

Though you are 100% right there, what if it turns out that all the original midis and whatnot for video games actually have just a regular mf at the start?

[SlowPokemon]

Then there is no problem.

And obviously you need dynamics, especially if there is a notable change in volume.

[Dudeman]

It's not about the sound a computer makes. It's about the sound the performer takes.
I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone. I just think this is something the composer thinks about while composing pieces, about how the listener can control dynamics, and it influences his/her decision on compositional techniques. The pieces are supposed to be up to the listener to determine the dynamics. That's how they were composed.
Like I've said before, if a piece is quieter or louder than the rest of the soundtrack, this should notated. Crescendos and diminuendos should be notated as well.
But the true fact of the matter is that these are not piano compositions. These were never truly designed for piano.

Nobuo Uematsu composed the music for Final Fantasy VII. He allowed the release of a collection of every song from that game released as a piano arrangement. There are no dynamic markings at the beginning of the pieces. There's no reason to. However, when he revisited several pieces for his Final Fantasy VII Piano Collections, all the pieces contained dynamics, crescendos, and diminuendos. These pieces were recomposed for the piano, designed with pianistic considerations in mind, and composed to be played by the piano. These are different pieces. The melodies are the same, sure. But the design of the piece is completely rethought and revisited with a different idea in mind. He wanted these pieces to be performed as their own pieces, while the arrangements of the original were to be performed as the player wanted.

Again, I really hope no one is getting upset. This is kinda a big deal. I'm not condoning being lazy and ignoring dynamics. But the composers design most of their pieces to be without a starting dynamic. We should respect that.

Let's just end this argument on that note.

[Winter]

I moved all the off topic posts from the submission thread here, so our updaters don't have to search through 6 pages of posts to find the submissions.

I would have deleted the, bot each of you took time typing these posts, and deserve to have your conversation held somewhere. Please continue to use this thread for Off-Topic chat so that it won't clutter the submission thread.