Special Levels Music for String Quartet!

[Hypotenuse]

I am currently working on arranging music from the original Lemmings "special" levels (Beast, Menacing, Awesome, Beast II) for string quartet. Beast I is about wrapped up, and Menacing is currently in progress. There are, of course, multiple versions of these songs out there, and I am arranging by ear. So I was wondering what the consensus is on the most full-sounding, most interesting, coolest version of the Awesome and Beast II soundtracks. I am mainly using the Amiga track for Beast I, and I am using the Amiga track for Menacing now (although I will include a bit from the -I believe- SNES track, whichever one is in A-flat major, just to spice it up a bit). Open to opinions!
Thanks!
-Hyp

[namida]

I personally like the DOS version for Awesome and the Amiga version for BeastII, but I'm not sure if any general consensus has been established in that regard.

[ccexplore]

To be honest with very few exceptions, I think all 4 special levels' music are pretty much the same from port to port, except for basically instrumentation and sometimes the key.  And none of them of course will sound like a string quartet anyway, so you should just do what makes the most sense and works best musically.  (Indeed, I'm quite curious how it'll turn out to translate the metal sounds of Menace and Awesome to a string quartet setting.)  Make your version the most interesting and coolest!

For your reference, you can find youtube playlists of the different versions below:

Beast
Menace
Awesome
Beast II

Incidentally, are you only looking at the special levels' music, or might you also be looking into doing an arrangement of something in the game's regular music rotation?

[Hypotenuse]

Thank you both for the feedback! Fair point about the difference in the tracks being minimal given the new instrumentation, for sure. Also, to answer your question about it only being special levels: yes, for now, I may look into other music afterwards, but given that most of it is public domain material (Turkish Rondo, Can-Can, Doggy in the Window, etc.) I am sure plenty of arrangements of those are already out there. Although, ONML music....now there's a thought. (Sidenote: other little gags, such as SNES intro music are coming to mind, perhaps a potential future project)
Lem on!
-Hyp

[607]

Sounds cool, I'll be looking forward to it!

[Hypotenuse]

Aha! Correction: supposedly the version of Menacing music in A-flat major is from the PC-DOS version (at least according to the soundtrack I found). Strangely I don't remember that as someone who played on the PC-DOS version originally. I suppose I've spent too much time hearing good-ol' C-Major Menacing music on Lemmini recently. Also, Menacing is still in progress, personal life stalling me a bit as well as the struggle of where to splice in a bit of A-flat stuff. Not to worry, I will make myself finish Menacing tomorrow to move on to Awesome! I am also still open to suggestions for a conclusion (perhaps a bit of "Doggy in the Window" or the SNES "level complete" music? or something else entirely?). Haven't quite decided how to put a bow on it yet (pun most definitely intended).
-Hyp:P

[Hypotenuse]

Today, I wrapped up "Awesome!" Tomorrow, I will spend some quality time with "Beast II," perhaps even get through the whole thing, depending on how patient I am feeling. Ideally I will have parts and a score printed by next week, at which point all that will be left to do will be to pull together three friends to play it with me (which  shouldn't be terribly difficult). I expect to be able to record it and post it to YouTube for your viewing and listening pleasure by the end of next week.
Lem on!
-Hyp

[Hypotenuse]

It has been quite some time since my last post here, and I must admit to being a bit behind schedule. The score and parts for the Special Levels Quartet are finished (those have been done for about a month now). However, (you had to know there was a "however" coming) we (me and my weird musician friends) have not had a whole lot of spare time on our hands to rehearse this. Since I can't give you an actual live video/audio recording of it yet, I don't want to spoil anything by giving away the score now. BUT, I do have some bonus material for you! Below is a link to my personal string-quartet take on one of Tim Wright's themes. This one is strictly digital for the moment, but you can hear the audio playback of it by hitting the little 'play' button (which should be lower-left). For now, enjoy this one and consider it a sort of little preview. More coming soon! Lem on!
-Hyp
"Tim Wright Theme 3 for String Quartet:" https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/b8ef93fb09fcd49fec8cb2d78a96398cee9fcdf6

[namida]

Oooh, very nice!

[Minim]

I agree that's very nice. Looks like we have another user that can read and compose digital music!

[ccexplore]

Cool, looking forward to hear it (and your other arrangements) played with real instruments, which undoubtedly will sound even better! I do wonder though about the added ending (ie. final 2 measures) for your Tim 3 arrangement, feels a little too basic for me.

[Hypotenuse]

Today has been a long and rainy Saturday, and I haven't had a whole lot to do, so..........I decided more bonus material would be a good idea! In the continued absence of the perpetually-delayed special levels quartet live performance, I give you (digitally)...drumroll please...the Ascending Pillar Disco! (Once again, audio playback using the little play button.)

"Ascending Pillar Disco for String Quartet:" https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/d8a71b81067f7fe50b2549fa64b4340135fff341

Lem on!
-Hyp

[namida]

Not so sure about this one. It felt a bit too... hm, I don't really know how to describe it, being not too musically-inclined myself. But like... the prominent melody is very good, but it needs more "background"y stuff, I guess?

[Hypotenuse]

Very fair assessment, and yes I completely understand what you mean there. I guess having the initial melody (that octave-flickering stuff) serve as the only background was a bit odd. Also, perhaps the SNES version was not the best to base it off of, I think the DOS edition of that one has something more behind it. I kind of start to wonder if adding drums wouldn't be a bad idea in a couple of places. Thanks for the feedback as always!

[namida]

Given that occasional notes already sound somewhat drum-like (which perhaps adds to the silent background feeling in other parts), a drum line on that track could work very well.