Thanks for the succinct and excellent description of the Ultima music engine, David. And to you, too, Minstrel Dragon. I'm Kenneth Arnold, author of the original Ultima music. How fun to hear an authentic playback of the music all these years later! David wrote: "Would be interesting to see if Arnold created this early Mockingboard music engine out of whole cloth, or if it was based on existing engines. " The answer is: Whole Cloth. I've written a summary of how I went about creating the engine and the music, but it's too long for this format. I'd be happy to send you the pdf file, David.
Whoa, it's you! Thank you so much for reaching out, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Minstrel Dragon (aka Markus Brenner) and I love your code/music. Yes, I'm eager to read your pdf summary of how you created it all. Please send to [removed] and I'll share with Markus. Thanks!!
Thank you for sharing with us your Ultima memories document! That was some amazing technical achievements and it made my first computer gaming experience an unforgettable experience. Each song brings a new and haunting facet of the magical world of Sossaria to life. It really brings out a true senses of wonder (Wander), fear (Battle), hope (Castle), dread (Dungeon), safety (Town), and mystery (Exodus) throughout. Can you explain how the Dungeon theme came about? That one is just so wildly different. I love it.
That's exactly how I played it all the way through on my Apple ][ back then. I think I upgraded to a Phasor before Ultima IV came out. This is still my favorite soundtrack of all the Ultima games, and I have always loved the creepy dungeon theme!
Thank you, David. This is so cool. As I understand it, this is the first full soundtrack for a Western videogame. Wander and the music from Exodus' castle were my favorites. Dungeon is stylistically interesting but I'm glad I didn't have to listen to it for hours on end. Some probably regretted that Mockingboard purchase, lol
I discovered that although the Atari 800 version has all the music, it's a little bit different and sounds generally lower in pitch. I have to wonder if that was done to avoid potential Pokey tuning issues or if the Atari music player is also broken in some way.
And I on my Yamaha PSR SX900 !!! Actually thinking of using some of this as part of a soundtrack for the upcoming anime series I am a part of making SPACE TACOS! Battle Against the evil SPACE OCTOPUS!!! lol !!!! yes it's really going to be a thing...the dungeon music will be the battle music background!\
IMO the music I didn't like the most was the dungeon music, probably because there isn't any melody but I can't tell you how many hours I sat listening to it as I mapped out all of the dungeons. This was one of my favorite games from the Atari 8-bit.
Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the dungeon music either, but I've had two people tell me since I uploaded this video that that is their favorite of the bunch.
That was the entire point...No melody...just an ...effect. And I absolutely loved the genius of it .... I still remember the package arriving by UPS with my Apple ][ version of Ultima III...and the dungeon scene and the opening music...those two just so ingrained in me and would listen to those over and over and over and over and over..... I was on homebound during high school due to health and this game and the music were great for me emotionally...
@@lasered97 Probably but for me, it was just way too chaotic to be listening to for extended periods of time, and since I spent a lot of time in the dungeons mapping them out on graff paper, it got annoying really quickly. Although I toss the box long ago 😭I kept the map and plan to put it in a shadow box and hang it in my retro room with an Ultima IV cloth map that I got my hands on. Such awesome swag back then.
Maybe someday I'll do something with the entire U5 soundtrack. Until then, here's a tune from U5 I did on recorders: th-cam.com/video/olpSiDnrpCw/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the succinct and excellent description of the Ultima music engine, David. And to you, too, Minstrel Dragon.
I'm Kenneth Arnold, author of the original Ultima music. How fun to hear an authentic playback of the music all these years later!
David wrote: "Would be interesting to see if Arnold created this early Mockingboard music engine out of whole cloth, or if it was based on existing engines. "
The answer is: Whole Cloth.
I've written a summary of how I went about creating the engine and the music, but it's too long for this format.
I'd be happy to send you the pdf file, David.
Whoa, it's you! Thank you so much for reaching out, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Minstrel Dragon (aka Markus Brenner) and I love your code/music. Yes, I'm eager to read your pdf summary of how you created it all. Please send to [removed] and I'll share with Markus. Thanks!!
A link to Ken's PDF is in the video description above, check it out!
Thank you for sharing with us your Ultima memories document! That was some amazing technical achievements and it made my first computer gaming experience an unforgettable experience. Each song brings a new and haunting facet of the magical world of Sossaria to life. It really brings out a true senses of wonder (Wander), fear (Battle), hope (Castle), dread (Dungeon), safety (Town), and mystery (Exodus) throughout. Can you explain how the Dungeon theme came about? That one is just so wildly different. I love it.
WHEN I THINK OF RPG'S THIS SONG COMES TO MIND
I played this game so many times, all the music is burned forever into my mind. ;D
That's exactly how I played it all the way through on my Apple ][ back then. I think I upgraded to a Phasor before Ultima IV came out. This is still my favorite soundtrack of all the Ultima games, and I have always loved the creepy dungeon theme!
The 1st part of the Wander was my friends old nokia phone song.
Thank you! The opening music has stuck in my head for close to four decades now. What a delight!
I know right? It gets to song 7:Exodus and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!
Your not the only one. Sometimes I sit down at the piano and just start playing it.
Great. Thanx. This tune really burned in in hours and hours of gameplay.
Thank you, David. This is so cool. As I understand it, this is the first full soundtrack for a Western videogame. Wander and the music from Exodus' castle were my favorites. Dungeon is stylistically interesting but I'm glad I didn't have to listen to it for hours on end. Some probably regretted that Mockingboard purchase, lol
I discovered that although the Atari 800 version has all the music, it's a little bit different and sounds generally lower in pitch. I have to wonder if that was done to avoid potential Pokey tuning issues or if the Atari music player is also broken in some way.
The only way this video could be better is if the little guys in the top-left and the dragon in the top-right were animated.
6:33 Rule Britannia
legendary
This is absolutely Amazing! Now I can't wait to play along and try to learn this on my Yamaha PSR-e463!!! Thank you!!!
Hey good to see you! Glad you enjoy it, happy Yamahaing. :)
And I on my Yamaha PSR SX900 !!! Actually thinking of using some of this as part of a soundtrack for the upcoming anime series I am a part of making SPACE TACOS! Battle Against the evil SPACE OCTOPUS!!! lol !!!! yes it's really going to be a thing...the dungeon music will be the battle music background!\
IMO the music I didn't like the most was the dungeon music, probably because there isn't any melody but I can't tell you how many hours I sat listening to it as I mapped out all of the dungeons. This was one of my favorite games from the Atari 8-bit.
Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the dungeon music either, but I've had two people tell me since I uploaded this video that that is their favorite of the bunch.
That was the entire point...No melody...just an ...effect. And I absolutely loved the genius of it .... I still remember the package arriving by UPS with my Apple ][ version of Ultima III...and the dungeon scene and the opening music...those two just so ingrained in me and would listen to those over and over and over and over and over..... I was on homebound during high school due to health and this game and the music were great for me emotionally...
@@lasered97 Probably but for me, it was just way too chaotic to be listening to for extended periods of time, and since I spent a lot of time in the dungeons mapping them out on graff paper, it got annoying really quickly.
Although I toss the box long ago 😭I kept the map and plan to put it in a shadow box and hang it in my retro room with an Ultima IV cloth map that I got my hands on. Such awesome swag back then.
@@SimmeringPotpourri check out this promo...using the battle music from Ultima III for a new cartoon series th-cam.com/video/XnGL_93WztM/w-d-xo.html
Do you have the sheet music somewhere to download in a pdf or SIBELIUS format?
This means something to someone. Thank you. Any chance that can be done for Ultima IV?
I gave Ultima IV a more conventional treatment: th-cam.com/video/6ibvs5z2H9U/w-d-xo.html
I love these so much. Any chance of an Ultima V commodore 128 soundtrack?
Maybe someday I'll do something with the entire U5 soundtrack. Until then, here's a tune from U5 I did on recorders: th-cam.com/video/olpSiDnrpCw/w-d-xo.html
@@DavidYoud Thank you!
Had a C64 - my ears want SID