Fundraiser for Might and Magic music archival project

The role-playing games (I-X) that started it all and the various spin-offs (including Dark Messiah).
Rage168
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Fundraiser for Might and Magic music archival project

Unread postby Rage168 » 30 Oct 2022, 11:16

Dear Might and Magic community, I'm here to spread the word about a fundraiser from Andrew Harrington, owner of Xeen Music, an archival project for computer game music.

Initially the scope of the project was to create and release original machine recordings of the Might and Magic 1 - 5 game music for every platform they were released on. The project evolved and more games were added over the years.

Up to this point the project was financed by selling the game music recordings via patreon and bandcamp and by Andrew himself, but now he needs help with purchasing the rights for the rest of the Might and Magic V Sci-Fi Themes, Starfire, and Japanese King's Bounty music, as those are quite expensive. In exchange for help, he offers to publicly release his copy of the World of Xeen source code and a World of Xeen Macintosh beta, and both scans and physical copies of my Starfire design documents.

All fundraiser details can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

The fundraiser is only known to former supporters on patreon/bandcamp and he asked me to spread the word to the Might and Magic community, but expressly asked that it is not posted on public social media channels like facebook, twitter and such.

If you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, etc. feel free to contact Andrew. Contact information is provided with the fundraiser details.

Please forward this information if you know anyone else who may be interested in this music or the source code and may be willing to help.

Note in anticipation for future questions: Yes, he has permission of both the copyright holders and owners of the source code and design documents to distribute it.

On behalf of Andrew Harrington (Xeen Music), thank you for your support.

Rage168
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Re: Fundraiser for Might and Magic music archival project

Unread postby Rage168 » 28 Nov 2022, 10:43

Dear M&M fans, I'm forwarding an update to you from today's e-mail I received as a patron for the Xeen Music project.

FUNDRAISER UPDATES

Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to the Might and Magic V Sci-Fi Themes (Starfire) and King’s Bounty soundtrack fundraiser:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... share_link

So far we have managed to raise $981.39 of a $6000.00 goal for buying the legal rights and rare original source files and for publishing the soundtracks of the Japanese King’s Bounty ports.

That’s $5,018.61 left for King’s Bounty.

If we can reach that goal, not only will this machine-authentic recorded music be published for free online, but I will also release an ISO of a one-of-a-kind beta of the Macintosh port of World of Xeen from my collection.

I know the goal is high. I’ve already contributed about $9,000.00 of my own money to the purchasing and publication of previous soundtracks, including the entirely unreleased never-before-heard SFC version of Might and Magic III (all for you to listen to entirely free on Youtube!).


CYBER MONDAY (AND WEEK) DEALS!

Even so, to help reach the current goal, for the entire week (From 11/28/2022 through 12/1/2022), I will match any donation. If you donate $10.00, I’ll match it. So $20.00 will go toward the fundraiser goal. That means, we really only need to raise another $2,500.00. That also means that the current price to purchase the physical CD-ROM of the beta Macintosh World of Xeen will continue to decrease more rapidly. So keep watching, if you are interested in having the physical CD-ROM for your personal collection.

Not only this, for CYBER MONDAY ONLY, you can purchase my entire discography for $300.00 (normally priced $400.00 – see fundraiser details ), or the small Bandcamp collection for $170.40 (normally priced $227.20).

100% (minus platform fees) of all donations or purchases on Cyber Monday will go toward the fundraiser. Any other donations or purchases throughout the week will not automatically go to the fundraiser unless you notify me that this is where you want your money to go. If so, I will match your contribution!

It stinks that the rights to this music isn’t free. But if we all work together, we can get it done! And we are supporting the original composers in the process.

If you cannot contribute anything at this time directly, one passive way to continue to contribute toward these archival projects is to perpetually stream the music on some of the websites I have uploaded some of the music to: Spotify, Youtube Music, etc. (Note: For your information, if you decide to do this, regular Youtube is the lowest rate of income and based on ‘ad views’ rather than the ‘per stream’ rate of the others.)


GENERAL UPDATES:

Al Nu will be joining the college of composers represented by Xeen Music. He worked for “The Learning Company”, so expect some of his soundtracks to be released within the next couple years, all obsessively complete, properly edited, and recorded with the authentic sound equipment. Such as “Operation Neptune”, “Treasure Mountain,” and more/ As usual, they will be available for free listening on streaming services, with high-quality downloads available for purchase or donation perks. 50% of any proceeds will go directly to Al.

Gregory Alper has also located some full-orchestral recordings he produced in the 90s. He took from some of these pieces for composing Might and Magic. An album is in the process of being compiled from old DAT tapes and other sources. So, for the first time, we will be able to hear a full orchestral recording of portions of “Might and Magic IV: End Game” (although with a slightly different melody) and of “Might and Magic V: Town Night A”. This will also give an idea of what full orchestral versions of the rest of the soundtrack will sound like when (if) we get to that point. If you don’t believe me, here’s a tantalizing sample:



Thank you for your help in lifting this heavy burden,

Andrew Harrington of Xeen Music

Rage168
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Re: Fundraiser for Might and Magic music archival project

Unread postby Rage168 » 28 Nov 2022, 18:28

Here's the YouTube link to a preview of the previosly unknown and newly released MM3 SFC soundtrack mentioned in the e-mail:


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