Video Games Live - VGL - Hollywood Bowl - Civilization IV

[LingNaiMueng]

was it just me or the choir was falling behind the music?

[techdawg667]

i think some people were singing along in the audience, making it sound lagged.

[FryChicken]

Does anybody know if there's a professional recording of this?

[jairus]

yea, i have one

[kriskorp]

Yes, its on their CD. Its song #5.

[malia4eva]

itunes has one.

[tagryn]

The composer isn't Swahili, either. So what? Its a beautiful song performed by an extremely talented choir and singers. Enjoy it for what it is.

And thanks to AB1 for sharing the video.

[nbdarrick]

What are they laughing at at the end of the video clip?

[Getsmartwiz]

somehow Hollywood is funny

[nbloom]

Because this was filmed in Hollywood itself.

[galileo021728]

fabulous!

[zodiacdragoon]

our orchestra played this song for a cultural awareness event.

it was pretty awesome

[hardr0ck]

i'd love to hear this song performed by a full african choir.

[jairus]

That's basically what you are listening to...

[hardr0ck]

no the group Talisman a Capella are Stanford students lol. Only a handful of them are black - not sure if even African.

I'm talking about a full choir straight out of Africa. If you listen in the chorus (not so much this performance but the recorded version) you can hear white girls singing.

[jairus]

Interesting. I figured you were talking about style, not actual race. Having heard the group, I can assure you that the best singers in the group are often not black, so its usually a worthy trade. Also, I think what you are hearing is poor audio quality. Listen to the sample from the recording of this song on iTunes (search "Baba Yetu Talisman) and let me know if you can still hear the difference.

[hardr0ck]

perhaps better overall vocalists, but how could you say non-native Swahili speaking singers perform this song better than a real native who has been singing in Swahili and in the same style all his/her life?

They're exceptional singers, I grant you. But they're not authentic singers of this style.

[xAngel0Jackx]

I didn't know there was a difference? I actually found your comments racist and im deeply appalled at your behavior. Next time think twice about your racist comments like these.

[hardr0ck]

don't be so sensitive. I wasn't being racist at all.

It's a song in Swahili, meant to sound like a real African song. Of course real Africans who are native speakers of Swahili and have been singing songs like this their whole lives would sing it MUCH BETTER than white girls. oh, excuse me, caucasian girls.

[jairus]

I'm pretty sure everyone singing in this video would do a better job than a really shitty native Swahili singer. Generalizations don't get you anywhere.

[hardr0ck]

well excuse me for actually wanting to hear this song sung authentically in the aesthetic it was arranged.

a bunch of white girls trying to sing in an african language they don't even speak. A foreigner who doesn't speak english can't sing an english song properly. it just doesn't work like that. It's the same thing. So quit trying to defend something you clearly know nothing about.

[neotsukihime]

Says someone who clearly knows nothing about the way choirs work.

Those "white girls" as you called them worked their butts off to be able to sing that song the way it sounds there. Countless hours spent perfecting not just pitch and meter but rhythm, enunciation, and more.

Quite trying to attack things you clearly know nothing about. :)

[hardr0ck]

ahem. first of all, this was 4 months ago. congratulations for bringing up an already beaten horse.

if you had ACTUALLY read my comment, you would have realized that i wasn't saying they weren't good singers, I was just saying they're not AUTHENTIC African choristers.

You can "work your butt off" all you want, but you're not from Africa and you don't fluently speak the language you're trying to sing in, you're absolutely NOT authentic.

I'm sure those singers would agree with me.

[apocaRUFF]

I'm sure you're just being a dipshit. Now, go get a life, or at least an education as to how the world works, please, before you come back and comment to this. And yes, you are a dead horse, and I intend to beat the shit out of you some more.

[hardr0ck]

::sigh::... dammit, seriously. would you people stop jumping into things that was from a whole year ago? you probably don't even know how the conversation started, because if you did, you'd probably realize that i'm absolutely right and was just being harassed by idiots like you who jump into things without using their brain, however tiny it may be.

I could attempt to explain my point again, but that would just be a waste of time b/c you're an idiot who wants to stay that way. I can't help you

[apocaRUFF]

I have read, and I can see you are an idiot and troll. You have made several racist remarks, changed your argument, and been a general ass hole. The point of your comments has been to cause turmoil and argument. For this, I present to you an incoming virtual ass whooping. Please continue. :)

[hardr0ck]

no u

[apocaRUFF]

No you? Quite the amazing reply. Wouldn't have expected anything less from someone as esteemed and brilliant as you.

Here's to hoping you continue to reply. :)

[hardr0ck]

no u

[hardr0ck]

oh, i forgot the idiotic smiley face.

:)

[xixgyangxix]

i get to meet the composer of this score TOMORROW! YAY

[FryChicken]

How did your meeting go?

[xixgyangxix]

he's actually really really nice :D I going to stop his home studio sometime this summer :)

[wowykazowy124]

we're playing this song in orchestra... i play trombone and man we're pretty awful. but the trombones do really capture the soloist here. not like actual voices... but still

[koukoupuffs]

I loved this song at the Toronto performance (Feb 9, 2008) but this one seemed to have a bigger choir or at least the voices seem more powerful which makes it even better!! *envious* At the Toronto show, the choir was drowned out by the orchestra and the guy doing the solo was standing AWAY from the mic through most of his part. -_-;;;

Anyway, this CivIV tune sounds AMAZING live. I just wish the actual track in the game had as much oomph. :/

[rspunk]

is there a way to get the acual recording of the soundtrack?

[JPZ16974]

the soundtrack is included in the 'music' folder when the game is installed

[EpyonNxt]

If you have the game installed its right there in the files.

Wish more games were like that.

[Kristanni20X6]

or did they?

[jairus]

Its the original performers, btw...

[miraclemx]

BEST VIDEO GAME SOUNDTRACK!!

[tyso7540]

Best video game music ever. Christopher Tin was a real genius when he wrote this.

[markyochoa]

Oh wow? The Hollywood Bowl? I had no idea. I've always wanted to go to see John Williams in concert. Now this!

[zeester]

Was the soloist in this performance the original singer that recorded the game soundtrack? They sounded good here... Must have been even better live.

[jairus]

Yes, the original soloist and a cappella group came down from Stanford (actually, the soloist probably had graduated by this point) for this show, which explains the increased quality versus other Video Games Live performances, although no youtube video can capture it perfectly. Especially the verses sung by the soloist; for some reason, they just didn't make it through all the music very well on this video. Oh well.

[jpmevalemadres]

One of the most amazing video games theme I've ever heard!!! It's just sooo beautiful... I take off my hat to this song as well as the theme of Kingdom hearts.

[AltCtrl84]

Its Our Father in Swahili.

[smokinglirare]

love this tune.. even though i have no clue about what theyre singin'. just now its some biblic phrases translated to swahili. would be very cool to see them live!