http://blogs.ign.com/NB_SoulCalibur/2008/06/18/93294/

It's a short and interesting article, discussing the music and sound effects of Soul Calibur IV.

Interesting, indeed.  Though, I could have sworn the Soul Calibur III music was, at least, partially orchestrated, if I correctly remember what I saw on the DVD.  I'll check on that later.

Hm, I was almost certain that SCIII's opening "Hour of Destiny" used some orchestral elements.  Gonna have to check the DVD myself, lest you beat me to it. ;)

Has a soundtrack release been announced yet?  I'll preorder in a heartbeat.

Was there a Soul Calibur Legends soundtrack release?  Did anyone here even play that game?

The original Soul Blade used live instruments, I'm pretty sure.
At least Khan Super Sessions does.

I just checked the SCIII OST bonus DVD, and there's no evidence of a full orchestra there.  Of course, that doesn't mean there was no orchestration on the soundtrack.  But I thought I saw something that proved it in the video.  The subtitles are in Japanese, and that doesn't help me, either. 

According to the liner notes, though, at least some of the tracks are orchestrated.  "Path of Destiny" and "Hour of Destiny" are the big two on that list.  Some other tracks, like "Ephemeral Dream" and "Peaceful Days", use a few live instruments.

So, now I'm confused.  He says they don't use a full orchestra for the music, but they evidently do, at least sometimes.  I'm gonna say there was a mistranslation in the blog article or something along those lines.  And if they really don't, well, they've done a good job fooling me. 

But "Path of Destiny", for one... it sounds way too 'big' and elaborate to be a synth job.

Yes!  Play-Asia finally put the Soul Calibur IV soundtrack up for pre-order (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-a5a … 43-9v.html).  It comes out September 3rd, and I can't wait to hear it.  Previous Soul Calibur games have had some great music, and with 15-20 minutes of live orchestra in the new one, I'm expecting very good things.  Plus, I really want to hear how Nakatsuru handles Darth Vader and Yoda.

Go check out the liner notes to Soul Calibur III (Legend of Sounds) and tell me it wasn't orchestrated.

I'll believe it when I hear it.  This sounds suspiciously like "We're not going to invest in an orchestra but for game music this will pretty much do."  I have no problem with synth work augmenting an orchestra (see Metal Gear Solid 4 OST) and budgetary constraints are understandable but those aside, with enough talented musicians I don't see any "Hybrid Orchestra Sound System" from Namco outdoing the real thing.

And I'm as puzzled as the rest of you over this "none of the Soul Calibur music was ever performed by a real orchestra" comment.  SC3 "Hour of Destiny" indeed sounds pretty orchestral to me.  Too lazy to dig out the liner notes, but as for the rest of the score it sounds like a mix of synth strings and brass with live instruments, which is probably the same thing they're referring to with this "new" system.

I chalk this comment up purely to Japanese designers' penchant for creating funky system names for pretty basic concepts.

A bonus CD for this game was included on the BradyGames Soul Calibur IV Limited Edition Guide. Info here. Overall, I really liked this CD. Junichi Nakatsuru and Keiki Kobayashi did the same magic as the previous instalments but were enhanced by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra performances and high-quality synths elsewhere. The true star for me was Masaharu Iwata who takes a surprise role and offers some new styles for the series. Can't wait for the full CD next month!

I confess. When Arcubalis asked Yura about the likelihood of Sakimoto's involvement in SCIV, I simply thought "Huh? What're you talking about!?".

...after all though, he were not too far off. I apologize.

I now wonder where Ryuichi Takada has gone. I honestly prefer he sticks with SC or other series rather than taking over AC, based on his cinematic fluff for AC6.

Yep, I picked up the guide today, and am listening to it at this very moment.  It's sounding like another solid showcasing from the Soul music team, and my fondness for the music can only grow once I begin playing the game next week.  My favorite piece so far is "Twilight Dwellers", a delicious new take on Tira's Wings of Despair from SCIII.  Hiroyuki Fujita's sole contribution "Glacial Colosseum" is great too, and I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison with the now four Path of Destinies, but it's sounding like SCIV's could be the richest version of them all. 

Is it just me, or am I hearing a bit of Duel of The Fates from Star Wars Episode I on the track "Seize Your Destiny"?  I'm assuming this is the opening movie cutscene, and it's not a stretch to believe the Star Wars characters are featured in it.

Yeah, about halfway into the track it's unmistakably "Duel of the Fates." It seems that they used it for the Japanese commercial, which prominently features Darth Vader. I also just saw a commercial for the US version on TV and was surprised that they pimped Vader and Yoda so much. Why don't they just make a full-fledged Soul Calibur vs. Star Wars game already? It can't possibly be any worse than Masters of Teras Kasi.

I'm just hoping for a Star Wars-themed stage in the game. Naturally there's going to be one, but I wonder if they'll use an accompanying SW musical piece to go along with it?  Imperial March?  A more fleshed out variation of Duel of The Fates?

Ooh, I just realized that "Innocent Vision" is a new arrangement of Setsuka's Ephemeral Dream from SCIII.  It's nice, but not quite as nice as the original.

Yes, likewise. It's definitely a very surprising assignment for Basiscape. I wonder if Eminence had anything to do with it?

Does anyone know who Hiroyuki Fujita is? His piece is great, though I don't think I've heard of him before.

Mmm, I am loving SCIV's new arrangement of "Radiant Souls."  It's funny, I'm finding that the main strength of SCIV's score lies in its SCIII reprisals.   

In any case, I'm hoping Radiant Souls makes it on the upcoming OST release, but in the meantime:

Soul Calibur IV - Radiant Souls:
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/angie_liu … ic&.view=l