Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 2

[Bridge]

This song is excellent in its own right regardless does it fit the AAMFP theme or not, and I fail to see the reasons why anyone would think differently.

To name a few: It's completely stagnant (it has no sense of beginning or end or progression), the orchestration is imbalanced (you can't even hear what most of the instruments are doing), there is a complete lack of any strong thematic material, the harmonic textures are extremely boring, there is no subtlety in any regard whatsoever, the list goes on. And this has nothing to do with how it "fits" with AAMFP, these are technical issues that have to do with the music itself.

I've been studying Latin for almost six years, I might try translating this Mors Praematura sometime.

It sounds great with the vocal part, in my opinion. I have no idea why people tend to reject music that sounds operatic. There are some pretty creepy/cool operas out there...

Oh for sure. People generally tend to dislike opera music for the same reason they dislike classical music in general: it's usually forced upon them. Apart from that, there is an unfortunately very long tradition of low quality Italian operas that have sort of become synonymous with opera in general. There definitely are some fantastic operas (I really like Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, which is unusual as far as operas go), but the style is generally not known for its high quality compositions.

[Ossie]

This song is excellent in its own right regardless does it fit the AAMFP theme or not, and I fail to see the reasons why anyone would think differently.

Because we're all unique with different tastes.

[Paddy™]

It's part of a soundtrack so I would imagine it needs to be heard in context. I also think Jessica is very aware of the decisions she makes in how she puts a piece together; I'll go out on a limb and say that the arrangements, melodies and production are as they are for good reason.

None of us has played the game yet so to say that the piece doesn't work is a little praematura (LOLL!!!1!1!1).

[Zgroktar]

This song is excellent in its own right regardless does it fit the AAMFP theme or not, and I fail to see the reasons why anyone would think differently.

To name a few: It's completely stagnant (it has no sense of beginning or end or progression), the orchestration is imbalanced (you can't even hear what most of the instruments are doing), there is a complete lack of any strong thematic material, the harmonic textures are extremely boring, there is no subtlety in any regard whatsoever, the list goes on. And this has nothing to do with how it "fits" with AAMFP, these are technical issues that have to do with the music itself.

Wrong. It does have clearly defined beginning, progression and even and the ending, and there is anything wrong with the orchestration in itself I can easily hear ''what the the instruments are doing''. I might say your way of dissecting the song and analyzing its bits is quite boring and pointless and does not change the fact that this track is very effective on its own right and serves its purpose. It is very dark, unnerving, very morbid and only objections I can state are those that it didn't deliver everything it could have in that manner. I could agree that it doesn't have any subtlety, especially when we compare it with TDD OST, but in that aspect we will indeed need to wait and see how it blends with the game.

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I've been studying Latin for almost six years, I might try translating this Mors Praematura sometime.

It sounds great with the vocal part, in my opinion. I have no idea why people tend to reject music that sounds operatic. There are some pretty creepy/cool operas out there...

Oh for sure. People generally tend to dislike opera music for the same reason they dislike classical music in general: it's usually forced upon them. Apart from that, there is an unfortunately very long tradition of low quality Italian operas that have sort of become synonymous with opera in general. There definitely are some fantastic operas (I really like Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, which is unusual as far as operas go), but the style is generally not known for its high quality compositions.

I don't agree that people don't listen to classical music because it is forced upon them, that is simply the kind of music not so many people could appreciate. Considering operas, there are probably very silly ones, but that style does have indeed high quality compositions. Have you ever listened to Mozart's, Wagner's or Handel's operas? Or that one from Beethoven, which I personally didn't listen wholly, but did heard some excerpts.

[Bridge]

This song is excellent in its own right regardless does it fit the AAMFP theme or not, and I fail to see the reasons why anyone would think differently.

To name a few: It's completely stagnant (it has no sense of beginning or end or progression), the orchestration is imbalanced (you can't even hear what most of the instruments are doing), there is a complete lack of any strong thematic material, the harmonic textures are extremely boring, there is no subtlety in any regard whatsoever, the list goes on. And this has nothing to do with how it "fits" with AAMFP, these are technical issues that have to do with the music itself.

Wrong. It does have clearly defined beginning, progression and even and the ending

Uh huh. So what is this "clearly defined beginning, progression and even and the ending"? Starts out with a boring ostinato that remains constant throughout. Nothing in the way of development, just more instruments get added into the mess.

and there is anything wrong with the orchestration in itself I can easily hear ''what the the instruments are doing''.

Can you physically hear all of the instruments? Yes, of course. But does each individual voice sound in such a way that it is a meaningful contribution to the overall soundscape? In my opinion, no. The instruments are all tripping over each other, and instead of complementing each other in such a way that all of their timbres combine to form one coherent sound, they just all contribute to this cacophonic mess. You have to strain your ears to be able to make out the individual voices, which is not good orchestration.

I might say your way of dissecting the song and analyzing its bits is quite boring and pointless and does not change the fact that this track is very effective on its own right and serves its purpose. It is very dark, unnerving, very morbid and only objections I can state are those that it didn't deliver everything it could have in that manner.

Assuming of course that I did any "dissecting". These were problems I noticed by listening passively. There is no analysis going on here at all.

You are free to disagree, but there is literally no such thing as a good score which completely relies on what it accompanies to work. At best it will become unnoticeable while playing the game. Do you guys seriously not care about the music? Because you keep saying things like "it will serve its purpose" and "it may blend well with the game" like it's a sauce that just goes with the main course.

[felixmole]

You can't judge a book by its cover (Have I not already said this?).

The song is strange but without context... cannot really tell if it does fit (fit what exactly?).

The samples you could hear in the trailers were quite encouraging, so I'm pretty confident I won't be disappointed. Although hearing them and this "Mors Praematura" you can already gauge her style.

[Bridge]

You can't judge a book by its cover (Have I not already said this?).

The song is strange but without context... cannot really tell if it does fit (fit what exactly?).

The samples you could hear in the trailers were quite encouraging, so I'm pretty confident I won't be disappointed. Although hearing them and this "Mors Praematura" you can already gauge her style.

Have you ever seen any old Hollywood epics like Ben-Hur, Ten Commandments, Spartacus, King Kong, etc.? The intro to those films was literally a still image with the score overture playing, to set the mood for the entire film. It presented the key themes that would be used throughout the entire movie and audiences had nothing to do but listen for upwards of 15 minutes (not even with rolling credits). That's how important the scores were in those movies and all of the movies I named have absolutely fantastic scores that can be listened to independently of the movie, and yet they also perfectly compliment the visuals going on (Ben-Hur especially has a great score).





So you see this "wait and see if it maybe fits" thing is total BS. I am well aware of the stylistic differences between film music and normal concert music but the emphasis on the actual music is equal in both cases.

[Parmida]

Wow, those pictures of game are really really really really really dark! I can't see shit! I had to brighten them a lot in Photo Shop to see something.
I hope that the gamma and contrast are editable, else I can't see anything. I can't even see the chair that is UNDER a turned on LAMP!
This game is gonna rock! yay!

[Zgroktar]

To avoid the quoting mess, I will do a whole reply. Considering my statement about "clearly defined beginning, progression and even and the ending" I am merely pointing out that this track has its head and its tail. True, it does start primitively, it doesn't progress much, but that is not a point, this track isn't obliged to follow some sonata-like order of composition with exposition, development and recapitulation.

Considering the instruments, I don't agree with your opinion, all instruments blend perfectly, and the intentional cacophony of atonal cords, combined with that vocals have a really addictive influence on me, it just sounded natural for me and I really didn't have to strain my ears at any moment. Next, I didn't literally mean of course that you analyzed the track in detail, but I do think you are focusing too much on the skeleton of the song and too little on its flesh.

Really don't know what to say to you at this point, we are not on the same wavelength I think, but I will state that I don't need to be telling myself that it will ''serve its purpose'' to like it. I've loved this song from the moment I've heard it, and must have replayed it a countless times. There is just some eerie quality about it.

[LordGubGub]

Considering the instruments, I don't agree with your opinion, all instruments blend perfectly, and the intentional cacophony of atonal cords, combined with that vocals have a really addictive influence on me, it just sounded natural for me and I really didn't have to strain my ears at any moment. Next, I didn't literally mean of course that you analyzed the track in detail, but I do think you are focusing too much on the skeleton of the song and too little on its flesh.

Really don't know what to say to you at this point, we are not on the same wavelength I think, but I will state that I don't need to be telling myself that it will ''serve its purpose'' to like it. I've loved this song from the moment I've heard it, and must have replayed it a countless times. There is just some eerie quality about it.

I agree with you. We're in the 21st century, music doesn't have to follow any rules or patterns anymore. Sure, some of those rules or patterns help music sound nice, but it doesn't always matter, especially when the music is supposed to sound scary/creepy. Jessica Curry probably knows more about music than any of us, and I'm sure she knew exactly what she was doing while composing the game's soundtrack, and I cannot wait to hear the rest of it.