Dragon Project

I figured it was about time I did something climactic in this sort of activity. So here is a challenge worthy of such purpose: "Dragon Quest".
Without a doubt, the official DQ series music had a profound impact on my musical perspective, not to mention my view on the potentials of game music as a genre.

"Synthesizer Suite Dragon Project"
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The Tracks

Click track title to download mp3s.
(22.05kHz/32kbps/mono)

  1. Overture march (pdq_01_overture.mp3)
    Traditionally the melody remains the same throughout the series, but it has to be original this time for obvious reasons.
  2. Intermezzo (pdq_02_intermezzo.mp3)
    The good-old save file dialogue BGM.
  3. Opening (pdq_03_opening.mp3)
    A prologue scene where the main character departs from his village.
  4. Palace (pdq_04_palace.mp3)
    Traditional Baroque style tune. It was crucial to bring in some familiar elements to make it sound DQ'ish.
  5. Village - Town (pdq_05_village_town.mp3)
    The town theme tends to come first traditionally, but I designed it in this order to facilitate musical sense of build-up.
  6. Field (pdq_06_field.mp3)
    At first I was considering separate melodies for lone and accompanied ventures, but I figured it would be thematically meaningful and interesting to musically dramatize around a common basic melody.
  7. Cave - Tower (pdq_07_cave_tower.mp3)
    Perhaps this has incorporated elements from most variety of pieces in the official series.
  8. Ocean (pdq_08_ocean.mp3)
    I was determined from the beginning to make the ocean BGM to be a waltz. This pretty much automatically means seasoning of those famous waltz' from the official series.
  9. Flight (pdq_09_flight.mp3)
    I imagined of a flight on the back of a great dragon.
  10. Battle - Tough Enemy (pdq_10_battle.mp3)
    This goes without saying.
  11. Requiem-Temple (pdq_11_requiem_temple.mp3)
    There is a thematic transition from mourning to a place of relief.
  12. Evil Castle - Final Battle (pdq_12_finalbattle.mp3)
    Both themes are based on a common melody to represent the omnipresence of the final enemy since the entering of its castle.
  13. A Calm Place - Theme Of Peace (pdq_13_calm_peace.mp3)
    A medley of themes representing restfulness.
  14. Quest To the Morrow (pdq_14_ending.mp3)
    I personally liked the straight-forward styles of the official "III" and "IV", so I followed, with motives from the Overture March at the end.

Performed on Roland SC-8850 (with some additions)
Copyright 2006 Atsushi Fukai / mushi.net

I prohibit unauthorized use of music in this project outside of my own purposes, with the exception of Mr. Kouichi Sugiyama, respectfully.

Notes

One thing this project differs in approach from the others is that the music for the official series is written entirely by a single composer, Sir Kouichi Sugiyama, whereas the other selected series have been influenced by various composers with a variety of styles and characteristics, leaving me with a certain degree of freedom to blend my own.
Hence this time, my primary aim was to concentrate on musically impersonating Mr. Sugiyama, virtually incarnating what I have musically learned and absorbed from his works into reality.
Obviously I have ways to go before I can come close to his musical talent and knowledge, so I have resorted to using elements of his known melodies and chords that may be considered typical of his style to ornate this "wanna-be" symphonic suite.
Personally I enjoyed the result of this attempt for what it's worth. If there are others who think this sounds convincingly like a Dragon Quest, I suppose I can consider this project a success in all accounts.

And finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks and admiration to sensei Kouichi Sugiyama for introducing us all to his fantastic world of music.