Remaking the Ultima 7 soundtrack

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 10:15 pm

Here's a new one.

- 33bg: "Magic Tricks"

http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/track/33bg-magic-tricks

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:52 pm

One more quick one for today.

30bg: "Camping"

http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/track/30bg-camping

This shows up in several parts of the game, but mostly around campfire areas.

Pots Talos · Post by **Pots Talos** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:09 am

Amazing work! I can't wait for you to finish so I can do another complete U7 play-through with the whole remade soundtrack.

Feirce Diety LInk · Post by **Feirce Diety LInk** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 2:38 am

my only complaint is that half the tracks are indistinguishable from the originals,esp. the combatish ones.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 12:22 am

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. Been busy remastering all of my other music (100+ songs in total) and finally decided to remaster some of these Ultima tracks.

"Stones"
Soundcloud - http://soundcloud.com/jdhardingmusic/u7-stones
Bandcamp - http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-series (it's somewhere on the list)

For anyone interested in Ultima Online, I remastered these two tracks:

"Moonglow"
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/jdhardingmusic/uo-moonglow
Bandcamp: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-series (on the bottom of the list)

"Vesper"
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/jdhardingmusic/uo-vesper
Bandcamp: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-series (on the bottom of the list)

Note: I decided I won't be doing the Serpent Isle music since I've never actually played through the game, so the music has no sentimental value for me.

Mimu · Post by **Mimu** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:51 pm

That's a pretty high-quality Stones, I like it.

Good balance overall.

Post by **Dominus** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 12:50 pm

too bad you won't do the SI score

But still thanks for your work!

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:33 pm

I did what I could with this song. So many of these songs rely so heavily on how the MT-32 sounds that replacing those synthetic sounds with real instruments doesn't create a good result in the end. Oh well.

40bg: "The Isle of Fire"

Listen: http://soundcloud.com/jdhardingmusic/u7 ... le-of-fire

Download: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-series

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:20 pm

Oh, by the way..

There's a couple songs I'm having trouble with.

One of them is 16bg.ogg. I can't find this MIDI anywhere. It's one of the "run away!" or "fleeing" songs. I need that MIDI file in order to create a remake of it.

Another song is the Kilrathi theme. I have the MIDI, but the digital copy for Exult is missing, so I don't know which bg.ogg number it is. It's not in the digital music pack I downloaded. This only plays when you find the Kilrathi ship in Mack's field.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 11:54 pm

Found the 16bg.ogg MIDI, so ignore my previous post about that.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sun Aug 10, 2014 3:16 pm

Updated some songs and added a new one to the list.

New:

16bg: "Fleeing"

Updated:

10bg: "Danger"
11bg: "Combat"
12bg: "Flight"
18bg: "Hidden Danger"
22bg: "Stones"

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-series

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:48 pm

One more new one.

25bg: "Dragon's Flight"

I think it only plays when you ride the magic carpet.

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-series

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:58 pm

Just to let you all know, there's 8 songs remaining. Here's the list:

02bg: "Guardian Intro"
17bg: "Wilderness"
31bg: "Fortune Teller"
32bg: "Ghosts"
end01bg: "Guardian Arrival"
end02bg: "Arrival of the Guardian"
endcr02: "Quotes"
??bg: "Kilrathi Theme"

Still not sure what the bg number is for the Kilrathi Theme. I can't find it in the MT-32 ogg pack I downloaded off this site. Maybe it's missing? I found the Kilrathi ship in Mack's field, but no music plays, so.. something's wrong.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sun Aug 10, 2014 6:07 pm

Found the Kilrathi Theme. It's 39bg. I had to download the pack again to find it. I somehow copied over it with 40bg.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Aug 11, 2014 5:11 am

Another new one to add to the finished list.

32bg: "Ghosts"

I forget the name of the town, but it's the one where everyone's a ghost.

I also updated all the previous songs I updated earlier with lower sound levels (-10db) since they were louder than the other songs.

And the album is free again. I disabled individual song downloading so there's more free downloads available. The whole album now counts as 1 free download if downloaded free.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Aug 12, 2014 4:59 pm

Here's another one for the finished list.

31bg: "Fortune Teller"

I'm not sure if this plays when you visit the gypsies, or if this plays when you start talking to the fortune teller herself. I think they're located in Minoc.

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Aug 12, 2014 9:29 pm

Another finished one.

02bg: "Guardian Intro"

This plays during the intro of the game. It had a lot of stuff in it that was meant solely for the MT-32 at the time and didn't sound right on my libraries (including my MT-32 synthesizer) so I removed a lot of it. My version sounds a lot more like it belongs in a space simulator. Oh well.

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Aug 12, 2014 9:35 pm

Before I forget, free downloads are again enabled for each individual song on the Ultima 7 album. You don't have to download the entire album. Just click on one of the song titles and it'll give you a page just for that song.

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Elwind · Post by **Elwind** » Thu Aug 14, 2014 1:48 am

Thank you so much for doing this! These sound amazing, I'm really enjoying the whole album you've posted.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Thu Aug 14, 2014 4:23 am

You're welcome.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 2:19 am

One more.

17bg: "Wilderness"

This seems to play in random spots anywhere on the map.

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Mimu · Post by **Mimu** » Sun Aug 17, 2014 10:08 pm

I like them! The Guardian intro is particularly tasty. :p

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:41 pm

Updated the fanfare themes today. You might not notice a difference.

09bg: "Victory"
13bg: "Orchestral I"
14bg: "Orchestral II"
15bg: "Fight's End"
24bg: "Fanfare of Lord British"
34bg: "Fanfare of Progress"
38bg: "Fanfare of Courage"

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 12:09 am

Four more updated songs. Again, you might not notice a difference.

26bg: "Theme of Love"
36bg: "The Beauty"
37bg: "Love, a Virtue"
55bg: "The Wisps"

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

John Wilkison · Post by **John Wilkison** » Sun Aug 24, 2014 8:00 pm

Not sure if you guys are into praise- but thank you so much for doing this. I've been playing U7/Serpent for something like two decades. One thing that has been awesome was the soundtrack. So kudos.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 2:32 am

So I've gotten several new instrument libraries since starting this soundtrack remake project, and I decided to go back and redo the songs I've remade thus far using those new instruments.

The first is the "Dead Bodies" theme, which I've renamed "Mysterious Murders".

Song: 27bg: Mysterious Murders

Comments: Woodwinds and choir have been converted over to Lumina instruments. Everything else has been cleaned up a lot.

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/track/27b ... us-murders

Grimlock Dragon · Post by **Grimlock Dragon** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 4:27 am

Cool! I'll be checking these out!

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 6:36 am

Here's another updated one.

Song: "Stones"
Filename (for using in Exult): "27bg.ogg"

Comments: "Flute was changed over to Lumina's alto flute. Guitar was changed over to Chris Hein's nylon guitar."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/track/22bg-stones

Make sure to download the OGG file if you want to use this in Exult, not the FLAC or MP3 files.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:57 pm

Song:
- "Danger"
- "Combat"
- "Flight"
- "Fleeing"
- "Hidden Danger"

Filename (for using in Exult):
- "10bg.ogg"
- "11bg.ogg"
- "12bg.ogg"
- "16bg.ogg"
- "18bg.ogg"

Filenames are in the same order as the song titles.

Comments: "I thought I'd quickly update these 5 themes since they're all in the same file. You might not notice a difference, but I need to update all of the songs so they'll have equal sounding effects and volumes, otherwise they won't meld together in-game."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 6:50 pm

Song:
- "Victory"
- "Orchestral I"
- "Orchestral II"
- "Fight's End"
- "Fanfare of Lord British"
- "Fanfare of Progress"
- "Fanfare of Courage"

Filename (for using in Exult):
- "09bg.ogg"
- "13bg.ogg"
- "14bg.ogg"
- "15bg.ogg"
- "24bg.ogg"
- "34bg.ogg"
- "38bg.ogg"

Filenames are in the same order as the song titles above.

Comments: "Quick updates to all of these songs since they're all in the same song file. You probably won't notice a difference, but they needed to be done anyway."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

On side a note: I've decided I will be remaking the music for Serpent Isle. I finally finished updating all of my game music remixes and remakes, so I now have more free time to do Serpent Isle. I still have to update the rest of The Black Gate, plus finish the rest of the songs I haven't remade yet.

Post by **Dominus** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 7:35 pm

Great news! Thanks a lot

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 9:19 pm

Song: "Theme 01"
Filename (for using in Exult): "01si.ogg"

Comments: "Here's the first theme for Serpent Isle. It sounds weird to me, but maybe it sounds right to anyone that's played Serpent Isle."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 9:21 pm

I goofed.

It's supposed to be "si01.ogg", not "01si.ogg".

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:30 pm

More updates.

Song:
- "Bootup"
- "Musicbox"
- "Beecave"
- "Xylophone"
- "Harpsichord"
- "Harp"
- "Lute"

Filename (for using in Exult):
- "00bg.ogg"
- "41bg.ogg"
- "54bg.ogg"
- "56bg.ogg"
- "57bg.ogg"
- "58bg.ogg"
- "59bg.ogg"

Comments: "Just some quick updates here. I did change the musicbox to something with less mids and made most of the "instruments" quieter."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:56 am

Updated theme.

Song: "Fellowship Theme"
Filename: "35bg.ogg"

Comments: "Recorded all of the brass with Cinebrass, the Bell Tower with Lumina, and the organ with Organ Mystique."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 3:28 am

More updates.

Song:
- "Theme of Love"
- "The Beauty"
- "Love, a Virtue"
- "The Wisps"

Filename:
- "26bg.ogg"
- "36bg.ogg"
- "37bg.ogg"
- "55bg.ogg"

Comments: "I did these four together because they're in the same songfile. You probably won't notice a difference in sound."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 4:52 am

More updates.

Song:
- "Shrine of Honesty"
- "Shrine of Compassion"
- "Shrine of Valor"
- "Shrine of Justice"
- "Shrine of Sacrifice"
- "Shrine of Honor"
- "Shrine of Spirituality"

Filename:
- "42bg.ogg"
- "43bg.ogg"
- "44bg.ogg"
- "45bg.ogg"
- "46bg.ogg"
- "47bg.ogg"
- "48bg.ogg"

Comments: "Quick update here. Did all of these together due to them being in the same songfile."

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 7:13 pm

Updates.

Song:
- "Wilderness"
- "Camping"

Filename:
- "17bg.ogg"
- "30bg.ogg"

Available at: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Thu Nov 06, 2014 5:57 pm

More updates.

Song:
- "Title Screen:
- "Seashore SFX-1"
- "The Emps"

Filename:
- "03bg.ogg"
- "04bg.ogg"
- "53bg.ogg"

Available: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Follow on Tumblr:
http://jdhardingmusic.tumblr.com

Subscribe on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jdharding2

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 8:37 pm

3 more updates.

Song:
- "Britannia Rule"
- "Dragon's Flight"
- "Chamber Music"

Filename:
- "23bg.ogg"
- "25bg.ogg"
- "29bg.ogg"

Available: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Follow on Tumblr:
http://jdhardingmusic.tumblr.com

Subscribe on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jdharding2

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:09 pm

3 more updates.

Song:
- "Guardian Intro"
- "Fortune Teller"
- "Ghosts"

Filename:
- "02bg.ogg"
- "31bg.ogg"
- "32bg.ogg"

Available: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Follow on Tumblr:
http://jdhardingmusic.tumblr.com

Subscribe on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jdharding2

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 9:09 pm

3 more updates. There's only 4 songs left to update.

Song:
- "Introduction"
- "Market Place"
- "Magic Tricks"

Filename:
- "01bg.ogg"
- "19bg.ogg"
- "33bg.ogg"

Available: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Follow on Tumblr:
http://jdhardingmusic.tumblr.com

Subscribe on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jdharding2

monotremata · Post by **monotremata** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:13 pm

This is a pretty cool idea.. Youre using MIDI files of the original songs I take it and just triggering Kontakt and whatnot as the instruments??

I should try this with Absynth and my modular and see just how screwed up of an 'alternate ambient techno version' I can come up with hahaha..

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:35 pm

>> Youre using MIDI files of the original songs I take it and just triggering Kontakt and whatnot as the instruments??

It's quite a bit more in-depth than that. Just playing a MIDI file through Kontakt is not enough. I have to use a DAW for most of the work.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 6:37 pm

2 more updates. Only 2 songs remain to update.

Song:
- "Sea Shanty"
- "Passion Play"

Filename:
- "21bg.ogg"
- "28bg.ogg"

Available: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Follow on Tumblr:
http://jdhardingmusic.tumblr.com

Subscribe on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jdharding2

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 4:41 am

The final 2 updates. I'll start work on the rest of the Black Gate themes and the Serpent Isle stuff eventually.

Song:
- "Seedy Bar"
- "The Isle of Fire"

Filename:
- "20bg.ogg"
- "40bg.ogg"

Available: http://jdharding.bandcamp.com/album/ultima-7

Follow on Tumblr:
http://jdhardingmusic.tumblr.com

Subscribe on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jdharding2

Grimlock Dragon · Post by **Grimlock Dragon** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:20 pm

Excellent! These really do put an updated mood into the game. Great work!

alagner (not logged in) · Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:49 pm

Wow. Stones is just playing in the background. Great work really.
Makes me want to record it with live instruments someday.

But there's one song you've omitted - the Kilrathi theme. Or is it supposed to stay true to Wing Commander?

But anyway - great work!

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:47 pm

I'm not actually finished with the album yet. So several songs are still unfinished. I'm also thinking about getting that theme from the Wing Commander game and doing a remake of that version for both the Wing Commander and Ultima 7 albums, thus killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

jdharding · Post by **jdharding** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 11:02 pm

Just wanted to mention that I'll be re-releasing this album as 24-bit 48kHz quality audio. Only the FLAC and ALAC lossless audio download options support this. MP3, OGG, and any other compressed formats do not support this.

I'm also updating the pass filters on each of the songs since the audio clarity will be higher due to the higher quality format. It may or may not be noticeable. I'm guessing only the audiophiles will appreciate it.

This will take some time as there's 50+ songs I have to update in total, and I will not mention updated songs here.

Sorry to anyone that's already downloaded the album multiple times due to constant updates.