The Music of Katawa Shoujo

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Nicol Armarfi
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Nicol Armarfi »

Tang wrote:Afternoon was my favourite at first, before I realized it was all synth.
I agree that some of the tracks just sound hollow or unhuman; if we had the resources to get everything recorded live we would've totally done it, but unfortunately we just don't. So because of this the entire soundtrack ended up being synthesized, there is literally not a single live recording of any instrument anywhere in the soundtrack.
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SpecimenSix
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by SpecimenSix »

Nicol Armarfi wrote:
Tang wrote:Afternoon was my favourite at first, before I realized it was all synth
I agree that some of the tracks just sound hollow or unhuman; if we had the resources to get everything recorded live we would've totally done it, but unfortunately we just don't. So because of this the entire soundtrack ended up being synthesized, there is literally not a single live recording of any instrument anywhere in the soundtrack.
I still personally loved every track, some more than others of course. I'm working on teaching myself some of the softer piano ones but Painful History is taking longer than I'd like. :lol: The soundtrack you created for KS is one of my all time favorite soundtracks for a video game, it was simply brilliant.
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Xanatos
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Xanatos »

Tang wrote:I just felt like it was too artificial
All music is artificial though...Xan is confused. ._.

Ah well. Still a great soundtrack. :mrgreen:
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SpecimenSix
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by SpecimenSix »

Xanatos wrote:
Tang wrote:I just felt like it was too artificial
All music is artificial though...Xan is confused. ._.

Ah well. Still a great soundtrack. :mrgreen:
Indeed. I think he meant artificial in the sense that it wasn't live recordings. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding the point too. :lol:
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Solistor »

I think the soundtrack was very well made, and the songs have a tendency to stick with you and evoke responses out of context. Take Shadow of the Truth, for example. For me, it evokes a feeling of dread, pain, and sadness because of the most influential scene I read that featured it (one of the Hanako scenes if I recall correctly).

I always felt that To Become One was a silly piece for lovemaking, and that the other "sex scene" song, Letting My Heart Speak, was more suited for it.

My favorite song to just listen to (and one that I find whistling or humming now and again when i think of KS) is Raindrops and Puddles. For some reason, even though Wiosna is the actual title theme, I feel as if the main melody of Raindrops and Puddles is Katawa Shoujo's "theme song". Though, I'm probably crazy because I also like Air Guitar and the relaxing feelings it evoked. There's really no song on the soundtrack I dislike, and I honestly can't imagine reading KS without the music playing.
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by neio »

I'm definitely going to learn Ah Eh I Oh You on the sax soon :)
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Umber
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Umber »

neio wrote:I'm definitely going to learn Ah Eh I Oh You on the sax soon :)
Very nice. Ah Eh I Oh You, in my mind, is an awesome piece. I'd assume it'd sound even better without the artificial sax :D .
Myself, I'm learning the scrapped version of Parity on the flute. On the piano, it's a little too hard for me.
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Tang
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Tang »

Nicol Armarfi wrote:
Tang wrote:Afternoon was my favourite at first, before I realized it was all synth.
I agree that some of the tracks just sound hollow or unhuman; if we had the resources to get everything recorded live we would've totally done it, but unfortunately we just don't. So because of this the entire soundtrack ended up being synthesized, there is literally not a single live recording of any instrument anywhere in the soundtrack.
:O The Nicol Armarfi... he has spoken to me almost-directly.

About Afternoon, it definitely goes very well with the background art for afternoon scenes. The piano transposition just doesn't do it justice, though. :(

Still, the entire OST is amazing, regardless of whether it was done in a professional recording studio or not. You'd better be the music guy for the upcoming project that we're all expecting this year.
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by epicfacej »

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Jobriq
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Jobriq »

I noticed "Painful History" is only in Hanako's story, first heard in the "Equivalent Exchange" scene (can't help but think of FMA), although the title of the song is relevant to Emi's story as well. I don't think any of the other girls have a song unique to their story either (actually Shizune might? not sure)
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KeiichiO
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by KeiichiO »

Jobriq wrote:I noticed "Painful History" is only in Hanako's story, first heard in the "Equivalent Exchange" scene (can't help but think of FMA), although the title of the song is relevant to Emi's story as well. I don't think any of the other girls have a song unique to their story either (actually Shizune might? not sure)
It's only in Hanako's story because it's Hanako's theme song. The song was also meant to be played in intense moments, so it's not going to play when you first meet her in act I.

Every main girl has a theme song.

Shizune: Student Council.
Emi: Standing Tall.
Lilly: Concord
Rin: Parity
Hanako: Painful History.

If you already knew that, (which I'm sure you did) I'm sorry for pointing out the obvious, but I felt obliged to list them for no apparent reason.
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Steinherz
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Steinherz »

KeiichiO wrote:It's only in Hanako's story because it's Hanako's theme song. The song was also meant to be played in intense moments, so it's not going to play when you first meet her in act I.

Every main girl has a theme song.

Shizune: Student Council.
Emi: Standing Tall.
Lilly: Concord
Rin: Parity
Hanako: Painful History.

If you already knew that, (which I'm sure you did) I'm sorry for pointing out the obvious, but I felt obliged to list them for no apparent reason.
Many/Most of the characters have a theme.
Kenji: Out of the Loop
Yuuko: Everyday Fantasy
Mutou: Fripperies
Nurse: Ah Eh I Oh You
Misha: She may not have a specific one, but "Generic Happy Music" seems to play whenever she shows up.
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Tang
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Tang »

About the Misha theme song... is that "Deaf and Drills" thing just a hoax or what?

And I think one day I would like to map out the similarities between different songs. Like Student Council, containing a part of the Three Stars Melody, Rain and Puddles being in Jitter (Hanako's opening).
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Jobriq
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Jobriq »

KeiichiO wrote:
Jobriq wrote:I noticed "Painful History" is only in Hanako's story, first heard in the "Equivalent Exchange" scene (can't help but think of FMA), although the title of the song is relevant to Emi's story as well. I don't think any of the other girls have a song unique to their story either (actually Shizune might? not sure)
It's only in Hanako's story because it's Hanako's theme song. The song was also meant to be played in intense moments, so it's not going to play when you first meet her in act I.

Every main girl has a theme song.

Shizune: Student Council.
Emi: Standing Tall.
Lilly: Concord
Rin: Parity
Hanako: Painful History.

If you already knew that, (which I'm sure you did) I'm sorry for pointing out the obvious, but I felt obliged to list them for no apparent reason.
Actually I didn't know that :oops: I guess that explains things, but Hanako's theme song is so sad :( Although it's hard to see her differently until her 3rd act.
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Nicol Armarfi
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Re: The Music of Katawa Shoujo

Post by Nicol Armarfi »

Tang wrote:About the Misha theme song... is that "Deaf and Drills" thing just a hoax or what?
It's just a hoax. There actually were a small number of dropped tracks but those were never put into the game to begin with. If anyone claims to be finding hidden unused tracks in the game code, they're BS'ing.
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