Music of Furcadia
Team Fat & the FatMan
The original Furcadia .MID's were composed by an
amazing crew known as Team Fat. They're cosmic
cowboys, shining like comets, with music in every
inch of their digital trail-blazing forms. In
short, they rock, they roll, they rule. :)
Team Fat has three CDs available. Some of the tracks are written and
arranged entirely on-computer, but much of it is performed/recorded live,
using traditional (and UNtraditional!) methods. You can order the
Team Fat CD's HERE.
The first, Surf.com, is "Texas Surf Music for a Communist Gameshow."
Ever heard a disco troika...?
The second is 7/11. Team Fat did the soundtrack to
Seventh Guest
and Eleventh Hour!
The third album, Flabby Road, has some gentle rockin'
(and a few spooky) tracks. My favorites are Joe McDermott's
Come To Hawaii and Don't Drop A Brick On Your Foot. (As well
being one of the fine cowboys of Team Fat, Joe, a Montessori educator,
loves to perform live. Click here and get some of Joe's stuff!
Gene Rosenberg
Trained in classical piano from an early age at the
Academy of Moldavia, Gene is a very very versatile
composer; he's also written amazing techno pieces.
He wrote trntlla.mid ("Tarantella Alfredo") and
streets.mid ("The Streets of Furcadia") especially
for the game. Ask for it at Mycroft's and you'll
get the most amazing fettucine dish, mysteriously
served with a chilly cup of borscht. (Just don't
ask what kind of meat that is.)
To Talzhemir, "Streets" is about a wistful dreamer
who comes to a beautiful new city for the very first
time.
The Web-page MIDI's
Zoltán Kodály
That "Wake up! Wake up!" sort of bit, with the bells, on the
Furcadia top page (/fur) is KODHJ2.MID.
It was written by Zoltán Kodály (pronounced: ZOL-tahn KO-dye), the musical national hero
of Hungary (1882-1967). This piece is from his folk-hero comedy opera
Háry János. Kodály made a system of learning music based first
on singing, before instrumental skill, which is taught today all over
Hungary. His work had international significance.
(The .MID for this page is:
Turňt Eszik a Cigŕny. Kodály preserved the music of the Transylvanian
Gypsies.)
Talzhemir's Specs
"...The instruments should be `folk' rather than
modern, like electric guitars. Such that it *could*
be something being played by Furres. ...Native
Furre music has lots of syncopated drums, and
exotic instruments (like the kalimba, or "thumb"
piano"). ...It's often in a minor key, yet it
can be very cheerful; the Gypsy scale is used alot."
"But It's Driving Me Crazy!"
Okay, so maybe those .MID's aren't
so great the five millionth time
around... You can erase all the .MID
files in your Furcadia folder, and
it will do no harm. Better yet,
drop in your own favorite .MID files
by giving them the names of the old
Furcadia music files.
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