Vandaag hebben wij een exlusief interview voor jullie met Eric Bucholz. Eric heeft onder andere gewerkt aan projecten bij ZREO (Zelda Reochestrated waarvan de bekendste project Twilight Symphony is. Op dit moment is hij druk bezig met het gefundeerde Kickstarter project, Double Team! Double Team! is een project waarbij Pokémon muziek in een orkest vorm wordt opgenomen. Het interview is hieronder te lezen in het originele Engels.
1. You have worked on ZREO: Twilight Symphony. Is there any change you would also work on their new project? If you are working on their new project, could you tell us anything about this project?
No answer — ZREO was closed earlier this year and has no other projects being created!
2. What kind of have work have you done, while you where involved in the process of creating Twilight Symphony?
I arranged a handful of tracks on the album, but I also spent a lot of time preparing a majority of the sheet music needed for the choir and solo instrumentalists. Putting together all of those materials took a surprising amount of time, in addition to coordinating with them and making sure everything was done the way we needed it to be. On the administrative side I was also assigned to manage the website and Kickstarter backers. Good times!
3. What was it like to be part of such a huge project as Twilight Symphony
I can definitely say there was rarely a dull moment. It seemed like each week brought with it a new challenge or obstacle and it was a constant uphill battle with pitfalls at every turn. The amount of strife we dealt with for those five years was crazy. I’m surprised we even finished the project considering everything that happened! I’d rather not get into details, but in the end it strengthened all of us. We learned a lot.
4. What can we expect of Double Team?
Double Team! is going to be a 30-minute album of Pokémon music recorded live by a 15-musician string ensemble (14 strings + piano). We’re planning to have 12-13 tracks on the album and each one will be somewhat short, in the 2-3 minute range. The tracks are some of our favorites from the franchise, but there are also a few that we really wanted to hear with a live string ensemble. You can expect an interesting mix of arrangements!
5. Are you planning to go on tour with Pokémon Reorchestrated?
No plans for PREO to go on tour, but I know Braxton (Skotein) is planning on creating an album called Johto Legends in the near future. It should be cool! I’d love to see a live Pokémon concert tour though.
6. When the project is funded, will the album be released physically into shops, or will there only be a digital version available. Where could fans buy an album, and how much will these albums cost?
We’re planning to hold a physical album presale after we record everything in December. Depending on how much demand there is, we might also continue selling copies after the presale has ended. Digital versions will be made available via Loudr and iTunes. The digital album will be priced at $9.99, physical album prices are to be determined based on production costs. We’ll know soon!
7. How many persons work on Double Team and how is this divided? (Number of persons playing violin or guitar etc.)
Braxton and I are working on all of the arrangements, but we do have a handful of other people who are helping with transcriptions, video crew, artwork, studio staff, plus a few other people who have been helping us from a consultation standpoint. We’re really happy to have so many people behind us for support! The instrumentation breaks down as 8 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, 1 bass, and a pianist.
8. What game series deserve to get something similar as Twilight Symphony and Double Team?
There are so many games out there with great soundtracks.. it’s mind-blowing! Of course it’s important to choose wisely when deciding a project to invest in. Will the game’s fans appreciate a project like this? Would they be willing to support it? The best project will not succeed if there is nobody to support it. So while there are many game soundtracks that would make for great arrangement albums, the sad reality is that a lot of really great soundtracks are not popular enough to invest months of time and money into arranging with this kind of budget.
9. Do you have any plans to do something similar for other game series like you did with Twilight Symphony?
I’d really like to create an arrangement album of music from Capcom’s Ōkami franchise! I think it’d be incredible to hear its music performed live by a full orchestra and taiko ensemble, though it would probably cost three or four times as much as Double Team! Do you think there would be enough fan support to make something like that happen?
10. Why did you precisely choose to record the album in Studio X?
It’s the best studio in town! They’ve done all sorts of other projects like this for big companies like Microsoft, Bungie, and Valve, all of which are also located here in Seattle. There aren’t many studios here that are designed with recording orchestral projects in mind, as they mostly record projects using guitars, drums, etc. We’ve also had great experiences with the studio staff at Studio X, and they’re really excited to be involved with our project.
11. You get permission to make albums like Twilight Symphony and Double Team but do you also get access to the original scores from Nintendo.
No, there’s no direct interaction between us and the companies. All of the legal handiwork gets taken care of by our wonderful record label, Joypad Records. I remember seeing a tweet from Junichi Masuda about Braxton’s Kanto Symphony album, which was pretty exciting. He seemed pleased by it!
Double Team! Halloween Special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYyzEfxM68
Twilight Symphony End Credits Part I
