RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (Full Version)

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composer99 -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/4/2005 7:43:38 AM)

Always glad to be of service (plus, anything that makes me look like I'm intelligent can't be all bad, can it? [;)]).




terje439 -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/4/2005 8:18:28 AM)

hmm peoplemention alot of classical music etc, which is good, but is it really a WWII game withouth "Lili Marlene", "Waltzing Matilda" and Edith Piaf?




Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/4/2005 7:27:30 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: terje439
hmm peoplemention alot of classical music etc, which is good, but is it really a WWII game withouth "Lili Marlene", "Waltzing Matilda" and Edith Piaf?


Your point of course is a good. But isn't Lili Marlene from WWI? And wasn't Edith Piaf that short girl in 5th grade who walked with a slight limp?




terje439 -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/4/2005 7:39:14 PM)

" Lili Marlene was based on a poem written German soldier Hans Leip during World War I (in 1915), and published in 1937. Norbert Schultze set the poem to music in 1938 and it was recorded just before the war. It became a favorite of both German troops when it was broadcast to the AfrikaKorps in 1941. The immense popularity of the German version led to a hurried English version done by Tommie Connor and broadcast by the BBC for the Allied troops. Eventually, both sides began broadcasting the song in both versions, interspersed with propaganda nuggets. The German singer was Lale Andersen , an anti-Nazi. But the most celebrated singer was another anti-Nazi German - Marlene Dietrich, began to sing it in 1943. The English version of the song embellishs an already sentimental German original. After the war, the song's fame was perpetuated by Vera Lynn who sang it in every NAAFI concert she gave for British BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) soldiers stationed in pre-NATO Germany, to thunderous applause and stomping feet" Modern History Sourcebook

And I guess you are thinking about another Edith ;)




Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/4/2005 9:08:55 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: terje439

" Lili Marlene was based on a poem written German soldier Hans Leip during World War I (in 1915), and published in 1937. Norbert Schultze set the poem to music in 1938 and it was recorded just before the war. It became a favorite of both German troops when it was broadcast to the AfrikaKorps in 1941. The immense popularity of the German version led to a hurried English version done by Tommie Connor and broadcast by the BBC for the Allied troops. Eventually, both sides began broadcasting the song in both versions, interspersed with propaganda nuggets. The German singer was Lale Andersen , an anti-Nazi. But the most celebrated singer was another anti-Nazi German - Marlene Dietrich, began to sing it in 1943. The English version of the song embellishs an already sentimental German original. After the war, the song's fame was perpetuated by Vera Lynn who sang it in every NAAFI concert she gave for British BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) soldiers stationed in pre-NATO Germany, to thunderous applause and stomping feet" Modern History Sourcebook


Ah, I see the source of my confusion. My barbershop chorus sings the last couple bars of Lili Marlene (it is called a tag - we get to drag it out and embellish each chord, one at a time). The set up for getting everyone in the proper mood for the tag ("Lady of the lamplight ... Lili Marlene") is for the director to recount the moment of a soldier on leave from the front in WWI seeing a 'lady' under a lamp post in a darkened evening setting. The song is sung to her, a representation of what he is risking his life to preserve. It is intentional that what she represents is ambiguous (even somewhat contradictory), so the listener can put his own thoughts into the image.




terje439 -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/5/2005 12:46:54 AM)

oh and off course "wir fahren gegen Engeland" would be suitable if Germany is building alot of TRS [:D]




composer99 -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/5/2005 6:54:55 AM)

quote:

hmm people mention a lot of classical music etc, which is good, but is it really a WWII game withouth "Lili Marlene", "Waltzing Matilda" and Edith Piaf?


Just about any genre that was common to the era is perfectly fine, so long as the representative music is a good the 50th time you hear it in a month (depending on how much playing time you can get in) as the first.

One of the only difficulties with songs as compared to solely-instrumental music is that there is not much that attracts humans' attention more than the human voice does, and generally you want music not to draw attention away from the game, especially when concentration is so desperately required. [:)]

It's a real challenge, coming up with music that is both enjoyable to listen to after uncounted repetitions but that can also be tuned out to some extent when the situation calls for it.

I don't know about "Waltzing Matilda", but I would, despite the above qualifications agree that "Lili Marlene" and some Edith Piaf numbers (the Edith Piaf in question being a famous French singer & Resistance member rather than the 5th-grader with the slight limp [;)] - Edith Piaf at Wikipedia) could be excellent additions to any Second World War game's soundtrack.




macgregor -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/5/2005 6:30:10 PM)

My personal opinion, as much as I love music, is that I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even the best of music can get worn out. As long as the game is either not in fullscreen or has some feature that will allow it to reduce without closing is all I need to login to Live365 where I can pick from thousands of internet radio channels. Everything from adventure and war movie movie themes to stations that play wartime news broadcasts (complete with swing music) for those that prefer. And these stations don't repeat every ten minutes. While I have no affiliation with them I have to acknowledge what a tremendous asset this is to the wargaming experience. And yes it is free.

-on the other hand. Either national anthems or nation specific trumpet calls might be nice to announce one's turn.




Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (12/5/2005 7:39:25 PM)

MWIF is not full screen. It was one of the first things I changed from CWIF so I could use two monitors while debugging. One monitor shows the program in execution while the second shows the source code and debugging aids.




jeffthewookiee -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (4/27/2006 7:00:07 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: macgregor

My personal opinion, as much as I love music, is that I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even the best of music can get worn out. As long as the game is either not in fullscreen or has some feature that will allow it to reduce without closing is all I need to login to Live365 where I can pick from thousands of internet radio channels. Everything from adventure and war movie movie themes to stations that play wartime news broadcasts (complete with swing music) for those that prefer. And these stations don't repeat every ten minutes. While I have no affiliation with them I have to acknowledge what a tremendous asset this is to the wargaming experience. And yes it is free.

-on the other hand. Either national anthems or nation specific trumpet calls might be nice to announce one's turn.


As a composer, I've faced that kind of challenge often: writing great, interesting music that doesn't get boring after too many repetitions. I've come to the conclusion that context is very important. A classical piece is usually written to stand alone and be appreciated all by itself. If it hogs the center of attention, that's because it's designed to. That sometimes makes it difficult to use historical pieces in a computer game; they weren't meant to be repeated for the length of a 2 hour gaming session, and they were meant to be grab attention.

A lot of modern computer game music is composed much differently than traditional pieces like these. The heart of the music is an ambience and an atmosphere more than a journey from start to finish. Good in-game music should probably take this into account and assume a support role rather than a center-stage one.

One technique I've seen used is essentially a music bed without much discernable movement. It's usually loop-based and establishes a mood without pushing to hard towards a musical goal. As the game's 'intensity' increases, a second track is cross-faded in that's essentially the first track with elements... several versions of the original track are created this way and represent different 'intensities'. Events in the game cause the level to be raised or lowered, which determines which version of the track to be played. Since the track is ambient in nature as a background rather than a progressive piece of music, it's relatively easy to smoothly fade from one level to the other.

So you might be playing Track A, but suddenly a guard notices your spy and the game fades in Track D to show the immediate danger.





Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (4/27/2006 8:09:02 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: jeffthewookiee

quote:

ORIGINAL: macgregor

My personal opinion, as much as I love music, is that I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even the best of music can get worn out. As long as the game is either not in fullscreen or has some feature that will allow it to reduce without closing is all I need to login to Live365 where I can pick from thousands of internet radio channels. Everything from adventure and war movie movie themes to stations that play wartime news broadcasts (complete with swing music) for those that prefer. And these stations don't repeat every ten minutes. While I have no affiliation with them I have to acknowledge what a tremendous asset this is to the wargaming experience. And yes it is free.

-on the other hand. Either national anthems or nation specific trumpet calls might be nice to announce one's turn.


As a composer, I've faced that kind of challenge often: writing great, interesting music that doesn't get boring after too many repetitions. I've come to the conclusion that context is very important. A classical piece is usually written to stand alone and be appreciated all by itself. If it hogs the center of attention, that's because it's designed to. That sometimes makes it difficult to use historical pieces in a computer game; they weren't meant to be repeated for the length of a 2 hour gaming session, and they were meant to be grab attention.

A lot of modern computer game music is composed much differently than traditional pieces like these. The heart of the music is an ambience and an atmosphere more than a journey from start to finish. Good in-game music should probably take this into account and assume a support role rather than a center-stage one.

One technique I've seen used is essentially a music bed without much discernable movement. It's usually loop-based and establishes a mood without pushing to hard towards a musical goal. As the game's 'intensity' increases, a second track is cross-faded in that's essentially the first track with elements... several versions of the original track are created this way and represent different 'intensities'. Events in the game cause the level to be raised or lowered, which determines which version of the track to be played. Since the track is ambient in nature as a background rather than a progressive piece of music, it's relatively easy to smoothly fade from one level to the other.

So you might be playing Track A, but suddenly a guard notices your spy and the game fades in Track D to show the immediate danger.


I am not a complete novice when it comes to music. I sing two evenings a week - barbershop accapella in a quartet and in a chorus. So I can read music - sight read it actually.

But I am nowhere near your level of expertise. Another forum member, Composer99, offered really excellent advice too.

Earlier this week, I was talking to David Heath (president of Matrix Games) about the sound and music for MWIF. We have decided to go with OGG format for both (I have no idea what that is and have to read up on it).

What David suggested (and I agreed to) is that I identify sounds and music that I want to add, assign them a filename, and specify a duration. Matrix will then come up with the sounds & music files and I will simply plug them in.

Would you be interested in reviewing them? Or otherwise participating in the development process for the music? We are months away from needing to get into this seriously. I will try to see if Composer99 is interested too. Or anyone else out there.




jeffthewookiee -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (4/27/2006 8:19:20 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets


quote:

ORIGINAL: jeffthewookiee

quote:

ORIGINAL: macgregor

My personal opinion, as much as I love music, is that I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even the best of music can get worn out. As long as the game is either not in fullscreen or has some feature that will allow it to reduce without closing is all I need to login to Live365 where I can pick from thousands of internet radio channels. Everything from adventure and war movie movie themes to stations that play wartime news broadcasts (complete with swing music) for those that prefer. And these stations don't repeat every ten minutes. While I have no affiliation with them I have to acknowledge what a tremendous asset this is to the wargaming experience. And yes it is free.

-on the other hand. Either national anthems or nation specific trumpet calls might be nice to announce one's turn.


As a composer, I've faced that kind of challenge often: writing great, interesting music that doesn't get boring after too many repetitions. I've come to the conclusion that context is very important. A classical piece is usually written to stand alone and be appreciated all by itself. If it hogs the center of attention, that's because it's designed to. That sometimes makes it difficult to use historical pieces in a computer game; they weren't meant to be repeated for the length of a 2 hour gaming session, and they were meant to be grab attention.

A lot of modern computer game music is composed much differently than traditional pieces like these. The heart of the music is an ambience and an atmosphere more than a journey from start to finish. Good in-game music should probably take this into account and assume a support role rather than a center-stage one.

One technique I've seen used is essentially a music bed without much discernable movement. It's usually loop-based and establishes a mood without pushing to hard towards a musical goal. As the game's 'intensity' increases, a second track is cross-faded in that's essentially the first track with elements... several versions of the original track are created this way and represent different 'intensities'. Events in the game cause the level to be raised or lowered, which determines which version of the track to be played. Since the track is ambient in nature as a background rather than a progressive piece of music, it's relatively easy to smoothly fade from one level to the other.

So you might be playing Track A, but suddenly a guard notices your spy and the game fades in Track D to show the immediate danger.


I am not a complete novice when it comes to music. I sing two evenings a week - barbershop accapella in a quartet and in a chorus. So I can read music - sight read it actually.

But I am nowhere near your level of expertise. Another forum member, Composer99, offered really excellent advice too.

Earlier this week, I was talking to David Heath (president of Matrix Games) about the sound and music for MWIF. We have decided to go with OGG format for both (I have no idea what that is and have to read up on it).

What David suggested (and I agreed to) is that I identify sounds and music that I want to add, assign them a filename, and specify a duration. Matrix will then come up with the sounds & music files and I will simply plug them in.

Would you be interested in reviewing them? Or otherwise participating in the development process for the music? We are months away from needing to get into this seriously. I will try to see if Composer99 is interested too. Or anyone else out there.


Sure, I'd be interested. I'm going to send you an email...




JagdFlanker -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (4/27/2006 11:30:41 PM)

OGG is a free, open sourced and unpatented way to compress music, similer to mp3. a quick internet search will give you more indepth details...




hlw30024 -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (5/1/2006 3:58:41 AM)

I usually turn off all music and put on the Rolling Stones. Do not care about animations. But want total comlete historical accuracy. For sure I will buying this game no matter what.




composer99 -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/13/2006 7:24:15 AM)

quote:

Would you be interested in reviewing them? Or otherwise participating in the development process for the music? We are months away from needing to get into this seriously. I will try to see if Composer99 is interested too. Or anyone else out there.


I would, of course, be delighted to be of assistance in any way that I can in this matter.




Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/7/2007 12:34:05 AM)

Bump




cerosenberg -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/7/2007 8:33:12 PM)

For Russian (Soviet) music of WW2 see http://www.sovmusic.ru   It is an amazing site.  Beware of one thing;  Many of these praise Stalin.  This was official policy during the GPW but some, esp those affected by Stalin's Terror might be upset.




Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/7/2007 9:24:26 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: cerosenberg

For Russian (Soviet) music of WW2 see http://www.sovmusic.ru   It is an amazing site.  Beware of one thing;  Many of these praise Stalin.  This was official policy during the GPW but some, esp those affected by Stalin's Terror might be upset.

Thanks.

My cyrillic is non-existent, but after fumbling around I got to the music.

And it was very nice.

Howver, these are copyrighted which might be a problem.




cerosenberg -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/7/2007 9:42:48 PM)

Dear Steve,

There is an English section: .../english/list.  I wonder about the copyrights.  Many are of original recordings, 1930's and 1940's.  I would be surprised id the copyrights are still in force.  Furthermore, the holder of the copyright was the old soviet government.  Does the copyright still exist if the owner does not?  Lastly, i am glad you enjoyed the site.




Froonp -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/7/2007 11:11:09 PM)

Hey, I was not joking when I proposed you to record your song about countries, and have it as one of the themes in the game [:D].




Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/7/2007 11:20:41 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: cerosenberg

Dear Steve,

There is an English section: .../english/list.  I wonder about the copyrights.  Many are of original recordings, 1930's and 1940's.  I would be surprised id the copyrights are still in force.  Furthermore, the holder of the copyright was the old soviet government.  Does the copyright still exist if the owner does not?  Lastly, i am glad you enjoyed the site.

As I understand it, copyrights are valid for 75 years - but that may only apply to sheet music.




Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/7/2007 11:24:12 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Froonp

Hey, I was not joking when I proposed you to record your song about countries, and have it as one of the themes in the game [:D].

Thanks, but...

Granted that my ego and self-confidence are absurdly high, yet I still have enough self-awareness to not branch out into recorded music.

One profession at a time seems like a real good idea.




Jimm -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/8/2007 12:17:38 AM)

How about having "Springtime for Hitler" in the background during Fall Gelb...

do you reckon Matrix could be persuaded to part with the license fee to Mel Brooks for that one?

-Dont be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi party...





Jimm -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/8/2007 12:32:41 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets


quote:

ORIGINAL: cerosenberg

Dear Steve,

There is an English section: .../english/list. I wonder about the copyrights. Many are of original recordings, 1930's and 1940's. I would be surprised id the copyrights are still in force. Furthermore, the holder of the copyright was the old soviet government. Does the copyright still exist if the owner does not? Lastly, i am glad you enjoyed the site.

As I understand it, copyrights are valid for 75 years - but that may only apply to sheet music.


There are also a bunch of sources for German songs- although where you would get an "official" version I am not sure, but I doubt the Nazi Party is going to chase up anyone for copywright. The Nazis were big believers in rousing songs to keep morale up and had marches for pretty much every major unit and certainly every major branch of service- such joys as the "National Socialist Motor Corps March" and "We Are the Warriors of the West Wall Construction March" (Reich Work Service).

The Panzerlied (the Panzer corps anthem) is quite catchy and found its way into the theme to the film "Battle of the Bulge". Another quite stirring one is the Horst Wessel song which was the Nazi Party anthem.

There is some allusion to this above in the thread, but a clever effect would be to have an ongoing instrumental soundtrack which could pick out certain themes at relevant times. Its in no way essential to the game as far as I am concerned but if someone has the skill and willingness to make a really atmospheric soundtrack then all the better.




cerosenberg -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/8/2007 4:18:34 AM)

Please be careful with the music.  Songs can be symbols.  Hence, the warning about GPW songs that praise Stalin.  The "Horst Wessel" song was more than an anthem.  It is also the symbol of Krystalnacht.  The "Panzer Leid" was never associated with atrocity and was acceptable as a theme.




Mziln -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/8/2007 6:15:21 AM)

I prefer the theme to “Invader Zim” then no one is offended.

You all do know that the state of Israel banned the playing of Wagners music? This was because his music was a favorite of Hitlers.

The U.S. Army version of Wagners - Flight of the Valkyrie.

Out of the dark skies,
Flashing our fat thighs,
Picking up dead guys,
Yah Ta Ho.




cerosenberg -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/8/2007 6:30:36 PM)

Mzlin,

You are in error.  Israel did not ban Wagner's music.  That would be unconstitutional in Israel.  Wagner has been played in concert in Israel.  Furthermore, Wagner is shunned because he was a virulent anti-semite and not becuse Hilter listened to it.  I hope this is the end of this discussion.  My goal was to enhance understanding not discord.




Gendarme -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/8/2007 7:16:09 PM)


Musical themes:

Italy has the Royal March and the Giovinezza, but there are others. Maybe the overture to Barber of Seville, or a few opera arias?

The Marseillaise would be stirring to hear every time you move a French unit. What happens when Vichy appears, I don't know...

Japan's anthem would be a good, evocative tune when it's their turn.

Lots of Soviet era songs/marches for the USSR.

No problem finding themes for the USA, too many to list.

But what would be used for the Chinese?????

Lots of songs/marches for Germany and CW too. Unless I'm mistaken, Horst Wessel or a digitized variation of it was used in a game already, one of the Panzer General games.

Music would be a fun addition to the game. Like the unit histories, the music would make Matrix Wif somewhat of an educational tool in addition to being the greatest WWII computer game around.

Anthony DeChristopher




wosung -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/8/2007 11:16:02 PM)

For the Chinese you could use national anthem of the Republic of China as well as the party songs of Nationalist and Communist parties.

Apart from music I would like old radio news (as far as nowadays politically acceptable), untranslated and with some athmospheric disturbance and noises. AFIR, Pacific General had this.

There must be complete radio programs somewhere, like in Germny the popular "Wunschkonzerte". Naturally they were a brain child of Propaganda ministery to bring together the fighting soldiers and the home front on air. The moderator read letters, there was live music, etc.

Regards




Mziln -> RE: Historical Details, Animation, and Sound (6/9/2007 5:58:06 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cerosenberg

Mzlin,

You are in error.  Israel did not ban Wagner's music.  That would be unconstitutional in Israel.  Wagner has been played in concert in Israel.  Furthermore, Wagner is shunned because he was a virulent anti-semite and not becuse Hilter listened to it.  I hope this is the end of this discussion.  My goal was to enhance understanding not discord.


They did ban Wagner but it was overturned by the supreme court. But from the articles it would be a good idea not to include music by Wagner.

For articles search the Jerusalem Post for: Wagner music ban





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