Hi everyone, I just wanted to share a project that I've been working on for the past few weeks. The EverQuest Classic Theme Remastered The main EverQuest theme, specifically the 1999 MIDI version, is one of my earliest (vivid) musical memories. I was about 9 years old when I first heard the music for this game, long before I knew much of anything about how music worked. I specifically remember the piano interlude in the middle, and how it blew my 9-year-old mind at how many notes there were! So about 20 years later I decided to open up the MIDI file and see how it was played. One thing led to another and eventually I was transcribing all the instrument parts to see how they fit together. I believe that the EverQuest music played a major role in my growing as a musician and eventually going on to get my Masters in music. I guess I felt obligated to revisit the sounds of Norrath after all these years and to give credit to a little kid who recognized incredible music when he heard it. So here is a "remastering" of the original EverQuest theme, transcribed from the MIDI file, re-orchestrated into MuseScore 3 and played with modern sound fonts. It's not perfect, there are still some limitations to how expressive a synthesized orchestra can sound. The original MIDI file was likely performed by the composer, Jay Barbeau, but I lack the keyboard skills to do that, so all the tempo changes and dynamics I had to add in manually. I tried to stay true to the original MIDI file, but added a few of my own touches in regards to orchestration and tempo. Shout-out to Paul Hertenstein and his piano covers of EverQuest music. Also check out this awesome pipe organ rendition of the whole soundtrack.
