VIDEO GAMES LIVE: LEVEL 5 (album & movie!) – The 5th album of orchestral video game music from the award winning decade long world touring video game concert… Video Games Live!

Here is the special trailer I made for the LEVEL 5 Kickstarter!  PLEASE help me by spreading the word and SHARING this video with as many people as possible.  Thanks!  –  Tommy Tallarico

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Video Games Live™ is an award winning immersive world touring concert event featuring music from the most popular video games of all time. Created, produced and hosted by world renowned game industry veteran Tommy Tallarico, top orchestras and choirs around the world perform along with exclusive synchronized video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, well known internet solo performers, electronic percussion, live action and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. 

Picture the energy and excitement of a rock concert mixed with the power and emotion of a symphony orchestra combined together by the technology, interactivity, stunning visuals and fun that only video games can provide. Completely synchronized cutting-edge video screen visuals, state-of-the-art lighting and special fx, stage show production and special on-stage interactive segments with the audience dazzle crowds of all ages – gamers and non-gamers alike.

The Kickstarter campaign will help us raise the funds to create and produce our fifth album entitled “LEVEL 5”. It will also help to create a full length concert video, “Making of” Documentary and many other ancillary products and music such as a Majora’s Mask piano album and sheet music.  The LEVEL 5 album will be a studio recording (not a live recording). Over the past 14 years Video Games Live has helped to legitimize video game music and has shown the world the creative, cultural and artistic side of gaming. Although VGL has obtained a lot of accolades and success, the music industry and record companies are VERY different and no music or record company is willing to invest the budget needed to accomplish our goals and put out a top quality product that we and the entire game industry can be proud of. They don’t believe in the culturally artistic significance of video game music and they don’t believe that people are interested in listening after the game is turned off. And that’s where YOU come in!  We use TOP Hollywood professionals for our orchestrations, copying, proof reading, etc. We use a 72+ piece professional and experienced recording orchestra and 60+ person choir for recording. We have mixed our last 2 albums (both funded on Kickstarter) at the incredible Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, CA and we’ve used the BEST orchestral mastering engineer in Hollywood (Patricia Sullivan) who works with John Williams, Danny Elfman, U2 & Hans Zimmer to name a few.  

In 2013 we successfully funded LEVEL 3 on Kickstarter and the project came out a few months later ON TIME!  In 2014 we successfully funded LEVEL 4 on Kickstarter and the project came out a few months later ON TIME!  Unlike other Kickstarter projects we have ALWAYS delivered on time and we over deliver on Rewards, content and number of songs on the album. You can view our LEVEL 3 Kickstarter project HERE:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1916334303/video-games-live-level-3-game-composers-of-the-wor/description

…and our LEVEL 4 Kickstarter project HERE:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1916334303/video-games-live-level-4-lets-do-it-again/description

This project is open for funding for EVERYWHERE AND EVERYONE in the world! We will ship anywhere!

Video Games Live: LEVEL 5 will be the 5th album of symphonic video game music from the award winning 10 year+ world touring Video Games Live concert series. 

The album will be recorded, mixed and mastered in world famous recording studios with a 72+ piece orchestra of world class musicians as well as famous video game composers from around the world!

Most music segments in Video Games Live are personally arranged and orchestrated by the original composers and also uses input from the actual game designers & producers and game developers & publishers.

The album track list will consist of NEVER BEFORE RELEASED Video Games Live music arrangements from the following game franchises…

SUPER MARIO WORLD
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
CHRONO CROSS
GRIM FANDANGO
PHOENIX WRIGHT
METROID
ICO
WORLD OF WARCRAFT: WARLORDS OF DRAENOR
COMMAND & CONQUER: RED ALERT
TOP GEAR

And hopefully more depending on our Stretch Goals.  Stretch Goal music includes Mother/Earthbound, Okami, Xenogears/saga/blade, Katamari Damacy and hopefully EVEN MORE!

The goal (with stretch goals met) is to have between 12 – 15 tracks on the album.

Release date is July, 2016.

Just like the ancient cave drawings that inspired the album cover for LEVEL 5, every song has a story that goes along with it.  Not only will there be an album, but an accompanying “Making of” Documentary revealing the story of each song and how it came to be (most of the time by the original composer).  The video will also chronicle the preperation, recording, mixing & mastering of each piece!  Here are just a few examples of the arrangements that will be going on the album…

SUPER MARIO WORLD MEDLEY
We created the arrangement below for our LEVEL 3 project but at the time were unable to include it on the album.  BUT NOW WE ARE!  All of the instruments you hear were done on a computer.  I can’t wait to hear what it will sound like with a REAL orchestra!  A special thank-you to one of our fans who created the video below (with our mock-up arrangement) and posted it on YouTube!

ICO – “You Were There”
This INCREDIBLE Video Games Live arrangement was new to the show in 2015.  Arranged and sung by Video Games Live soloist and game music composer/arranger Laura “Flute Link” Intravia (www.lauraintravia.com).  Along with a full orchestra and choir, the recording will feature Laura & opera singer Omar Najmi along with pianist extraordinaire Brendon Shapiro.  Here’s a live performance of the piece done earlier this year… 

PHOENIX WRIGHT MEDLEY
Fans have been asking for this one FOR YEARS!  And we finally debuted it at the end of 2014.  Using some of the most beloved themes from the franchise, this arrangement is sure to be an instant fan favorite!  Here’s a computer generated MOCK-UP to give you an idea of the arrangement.  Imagine what it will sound like with a REAL orchestra?  I can’t wait!  PLEASE HELP!! 

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: WARLORDS OF DRAENOR – “Malach, Angel Messenger”
We are VERY excited to finally be bringing a version of this song to the world!  “Malach, Angel Messenger” was originally written by 10 year Blizzard conductor Eimear Noone for the World of Warcraft Expansion Warlords of Draenor.  But the song has taken on a life of it’s own!  In 2015 people from all over the world were asked to take part in making something that was already special… and bringing it to the next level.  The sheet music was given out around the world as musicians (both professional and non-professional) started sending in their instrument recordings to take part in building this song.  Even the incredible YouTube sensation Malukah (best known for her arrangement of “The Dragonborn Comes” from Skyrim which has over 50 million views!) wanted to be a part of it.

This song was a very special and personal song for Eimear and her composer husband Craig Garfinkle.  Because I myself could never do it justice… these are the words of Eimear herself to best explain…

“Thank you for your support in a project that means so much to Craig and I.  Through working on World of Warcraft under the nurturing stewardship of Russell Brower and my colleagues at Blizzard Entertainment, I was afforded an opportunity to honor our son Aaron Padraic through music. 

In 2012 we lost our beautiful boy, two weeks before he was due to enter this magical world.  This piece from WoW: Warlords of Draenor features Aaron’s theme and is influenced not just by the incredible artists at Blizzard, but also by Aaron’s timeless Jewish heritage and the story of Masada. It is the epic adventure he might have had, told through a mother’s lullaby.

My husband Craig produced an incredible worldwide YouTube orchestra of generous souls who gave their time and talent to be part of this project. At Video Games Live in Dublin during the first iDIG Music Fest, we performed the piece live with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and members of Maynooth Chamber Choir. There were over 130 musicians and singers onstage.

My beautiful friend Malukah de los Santos is the star of the piece and her voice haunts me every time I hear it. Russell Brower: you’re the reason this piece exists, that is unforgettable.  Tommy Tallarico: thank you for giving me the stage at Video Games Live to perform it and constant encouragement.” – Eimear Noone

Here is a video of the song with many of the musicians around the world who took part in the project.  For the first time ever… we want to record this properly with a huge orchestra & choir and all of the musical elements that people from around the world have given us.  We want the fans of video game music know that they were a part of something very special.

GRIM FANDANGO
The award winning music to the LucasArts game Grim Fandango was ahead of its time.  With the help of the original composer Peter McConnell, we were able to bring an arrangement to the stage that really shows how far video game music has come and just how fun (yet difficult) it is to play! Take a listen to this unique show-stopping segment which would be absolutely AMAZING to hear with a proper recording.  Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian (another original LucasArts composer) will also be joining the arrangement with their musicianship and soloist talents!  Here is a video of our performance this past summer at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony along with Peter & Clint performing on guitar (please excuse the quality of the fan made video). 

METROID
Metroid Prime was the first game I had the chance to work on with my longtime friend (and creator of Mario/Zelda!) Shigeru Miyamoto!  We have never before recorded our arrangement of the Metroid series.  Will you help us?  Here is a front row ticket to our performance from Brazil that you are NOT going to want to miss!  Make sure to stick around to the end of the song to see who are SPECIAL GUEST is!  The audience went CRAZY and I think you will too! 

CHRONO CROSS – “Radical Dreamers”
Many would agree that Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross have some of the most amazing video game music ever written!  Aside from Scars of Time (which appears on 2 of our previous albums in different forms) we now want to create a new orchestral arrangement of the song “Radical Dreamers” from Chrono Cross.  Laura Intravia did a piano & vocal version for our Chrono Piano album (“Through Time & Space”) which was funded by our LEVEL 4 Kickstarter.  Now we’d like to take it up a notch and give an entire (and much deserved) symphonic arrangement to this most beautiful piece of music.  Here is Laura and Brandon Shapiro performing the piano album version with us at Red Rocks last summer.  It was during performance (when I saw nearly a 100 piece orchestra just sitting there) that I said to myself… we MUST arrange this for our next album.  I could literally hear the orchestra playing along in my head.  It’s time to bring that dream to reality… but only with YOUR help! 

COMMAND & CONQUER: RED ALERT
A huge fan favorite around the world!  Original composer Frank Klepacki helped us to arrange a few of his favorite and most popular tracks (including “Hell’s March”) for this most epic Metal Meets Symphony arrangement!  Frank will be performing guitar with us on this recording and here is the World Premiere performance we did with Frank over 7 years ago in Las Vegas.  This comes right from Frank’s YouTube page so he tells a little bit about the story behind this. Please help us to MELT SOME SYMPHONIC FACES! 

ZELDA: LEGENDARY CELTIC TRIBUTE
Ireland native Eimear Noone was chosen to conduct Nintendo’s 25 Anniversary Zelda album and initial tour. Eimear has also conducted almost every Blizzard Entertainment game over the past 10 years! She is also a conductor for Video Games Live and will be putting together and extremely unique Zelda symphonic arrangement of her own which will also include the use of traditional Celtic instruments and soloists along with the orchestra! 

TOP GEAR/HORIZON CHASE
For over 10 years straight we’ve been performing Video Games Live in Brazil and there has always been ONE GAME that the fans have ALWAYS asked us to perform.  The game is called Top Gear for the old NES.  Virtually unknown outside of South America (our friends in Chile ask us for this as well!) this great soundtrack has never been arranged for a live orchestra… until now!  With the help of the original composer Barry Leitch and Brazilian game developer Aquirus (http://www.aquiris.com.br/) who did a modern “inspired by” remake called Horizon Chase currently on mobile but coming to major consoles soon!  It’s time for the rest of the world to know what our friends in Brazil & Chile have understood for decades!  Here is a very rough demo that Barry gave us to share.  This is merely a short scratch mock-up done using a computer, but we look forward to working together and making this a historical track for the album! 

WHERE’S THE MONEY GOING? The album will take 3 full studio days to record. An orchestral recording of this nature is based on 3 hour sessions. We will need a total of SIX 3 hour sessions (18 hours total). This cost could range anywhere from $75,000 – $110,000 depending on where the recording is done. Our aim is to keep the budget low and the quality HIGH! A top-of-the-line recording studio (including ALL costs) will be approximately $5,000 per day ($15,000 total). Mixing with a top Hollywood film (& game) audio engineer (one week including studio and assistants) = approximately $25,000. Mastering will take place at the most famous Mastering Studio in Hollywood (Bernie Grundman’s) by one of the most highly regarded mastering engineers in the business… Patricia Sullivan. Patricia has personally worked with and mastered films by John Williams (including Star Wars & Indiana Jones films), James Newton Howard, James Horner, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, John Powell and Mark Isham. Mastering budget for this type of project (both 24bit 96KHz & 16bit 48KHz versions) could go upwards to $7,500. Other parts of the budget will include things like, CD manufacturing based on 5,000 initial units (approximately $5,000), Music Licensing/Mechanical Licensing to the Game Publishers, composers, right holders, etc. based on 5,000 initial units ($5,000), Kickstarter & Stripe fees (10% = $15,000), hiring of a PR firm in both North America and Europe ($10,000), Shipping & Handling of goods, added physical products at certain tier levels, etc.

Musicians (symphony & choir) = $75,000 – $110,000 (Includes all conductor, score supervisor & travel fees)
Recording Studio = $15,000
Track Recording Editing = $5,000
Additional Musicians/Instruments/Studio Time = $5,000
Mixing = $25,000
Mastering = $7,500
CD Manufacturing = $5,000
Music Licensing/Publishing/Mechanicals = $5,000
Kickstarter/Stripe fees = $15,000
7% non-payment from backers = approximately $10,000
Project PR (Worldwide) = $10,000
Marketing (Facebook, YouTube, etc.) = $5,000
Domestic U.S. Shipping & Handling of Rewards = $5,000
International Shipping & Hadling of Rewards = $10,000
Physical Reward products (mouse pads, magnets, balloon, commemorative tickets & passes, Sheet music, etc.) = $5,000
Majora’s Mask piano album creation & recording = $5,000
Video recording & editing for the “Making of” documentary = $5,000
Music Orchestrating/Copying/Proof Reading/Printing for new arrangements = $15,000
5% Contingency = $7,500 

Taxes on Gross money raised (minus Kickstarter/Stripe fees and 7% backer non-payment) = $30,000

TOTAL = Approximately $275,000 – $300,000

Our goal is to raise at least half of the money for the project. Depending on how much money is raised or still needed, it will be put in by Video Games Live and Tommy Tallarico personally.

Video Games Live is not making any money from this project. Our goal is to continue doing what we love and bringing it to the people who care (as well as introducing game music to people who don’t!)

Video Games Live has produced 4 highly successful and Top 10 Billboard ranked albums in the past as well as a Top 10 worldwide released PBS Special and DVD/Blu-Ray. Tommy Tallarico was the very first video game composer EVER to release a worldwide video game soundtrack album (back in 1994 with Capitol Records) and has composed and produced 15 highly acclaimed albums since. This project will NOT go over budget and WILL be delivered on time!

The main idea behind our project is to give back as much as possible to donors by AT LEAST TRIPLING, QUADRUPLING & HIGHER the value of the amount pledged!

Here’s a question that some people may have…

Don’t you have enough money to do this without doing a third Kickstarter? You’re well-established, have a massive resume from your career, and doing two of these Kickstarter runs. You should have more than enough resources to do this without crowdfunding.

It’s a great and fair question!  And here are the simple answers…

1. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to record a 100 piece orchestra and choir, create new arrangements, orchestrations, sheet music, copying, proof-reading, etc. and to keep the highest quality possible by mixing at Skywalker, mastering with THE BEST, etc. For the last Kickstarter project I put in around $75,000 of my own money just to make it happen. And then there’s the creation and mailing of all the other things associated with the Kickstarter, etc. This isn’t just one album and that’s it… it’s TONS of Rewards and things that need to be created, licensed, etc.

2. Another GREAT reason to do a Kickstarter is because of all the amazing and unique things I’m able to offer and give to everyone! It’s much different than just selling someone an album for $9.99 on Amazon. It’s a fantastic way to give to people a lot of incredible value of things that wouldn’t even exist if not for the Kickstarter.

3. Please remember… not a single major artist funds their own albums. Not Aerosmith, not Katy Perry, etc… there is a reason for that. It’s because a lot of money needs to be spent and then there’s marketing, PR, manufacturing, distribution, etc., etc… it’s a huge infrastructure that I (and most every independent musician, composer, band) just don’t have… and no record company is willing to give me the money I need to create the quality I want and the fans expect. I’m just not willing to sacrifice quality.

Here’s a handy text based matrix for all the Reward Tiers! For best viewing, please download it from this link: www.videogameslive.com/LEVEL5RewardChart.xls 

THERE ARE EVEN MORE REWARDS but we can’t post them here because they’re too big! For premium corporate sponsorship rewards past $10,000, go tohttp://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=kickstarterpremium 

BONUS ROUND 3 ALBUM
As with every Video Games Live Kickstarter project in the past, we are putting together a special compilation album consisting of video game tracks from around the world!  This time our theme is VIDEO GAME COVER BANDS!  We are working with a number of the top video game cover bands in the world!  Here are just a few of the bands which we are working with on the BONUS ROUND 3 album as well as album/reward contributions throughout the tiers.

Laura Intravia
http://www.lauraintravia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Laura-Intravia-315417885266/

TriForce Quartet
http://www.triforcequartet.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TriforceQuartet/

Random Encounter
http://randomencounterband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/randomencounterband/

Sound of Games
www.sound-of-games.com
www.fb.com/soundofgames

Viking Jesus
https://www.facebook.com/ALLHAILVIKINGJESUS/?fref=ts
https://www.youtube.com/user/allhailvikingjesus

Psycho Crusher
http://www.facebook.com/PsychoCrusherVGM
http://www.twitter.com/Psycho__Crusher
https://psychocrusher.bandcamp.com

MegaDriver
http://www.megadriver.com.br
http://wwwfacebook.com/gamemetal

The Megas
http://www.themegas.com/
https://www.facebook.com/themegas

$250,000 – Add another track to the album. Earthbound/Mother, Okami, Xenogears/saga/blade or Katamari Damacy. Track would be decided by the backers in a poll.

$275,000 – Add another track to the album. Earthbound/Mother, Okami, Xenogears/saga/blade or Katamari Damacy. Track would be decided by the backers in a poll.

$300,000 – Add another track to the album. Earthbound/Mother, Okami, Xenogears/saga/blade or Katamari Damacy. Track would be decided by the backers in a poll.

$325,000 – Add another track to the album. Earthbound/Mother, Okami, Xenogears/saga/blade or Katamari Damacy. Track would be decided by the backers in a poll. 

$350,000 – Add another track to the album. Track would be decided by the backers in a poll.

$375,000 – Manufacture and distribute Blu-Ray’s of the new digital HD live show that we will be creating for this project!  Everyone in the $40 or higher tiers (except the ALL DIGITAL $100 tier) would receive a Blu-Ray!

My main goal has always been to prove to the world how culturally significant and artistic video games have become as well as helping to usher in a whole new generation of people to appreciate the arts. 

Please watch this very informative and important video that will give you incredible insight as to what goes on in creating such an event and the passion behind it (courtesy of Game Informer).

The cover of Symphony Magazine heralding Video Games Live as a new form of entertainment for orchestras and helping to save symphonies and bring in new audiences around the world! 

Check out this amazing party that my Japanese game composer friends had for me in Japan! 

Incorporated in 2002, Video Games Live™ is the first and most successful video game touring concert in the world having already performed over 350 shows in 42 countries on 5 continents. Over 2 million people have experienced the show live. Video Games Live™ has previously released 4 albums worldwide (all of which debuted in the Billboard Top 10) as well as an award winning full length feature DVD/Blu-Ray. In 2010 the show aired nationally on PBS and quickly became one of the top rated PBS Specials of all time. Video Games Live™ continues to break new ground and thrill audiences worldwide with brand new content each year.

PRESS QUOTES 

“Captivating! Bombastic!” – NY Times

“Beautiful performance!” – USA TODAY

“Simply breathtaking!” – IGN.com

“Ingenious and fantastic!” – Los Angeles Times

“Thrilling!” – The London Times

“Incredible! Dramatic!” – BBC News

“Video Games Live is a feast for the eyes and ears!” – Seattle Times

“A digital and musical sensory overload!” – The Village Voice

“Incredibly compelling, powerful and emotional.” – The Washington Post

“Brilliant! Infectious! An eclectic mix of the fun, the classical and the grand.” – London Daily Telegraph

“Uplifting and exciting!” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Trailer for our Award Winning PBS Television Special

The original Video Games Live Hollywood Bowl Launch Trailer 

Tommy Tallarico is a veritable video game industry icon. As one of the most successful video game composers in history, he has helped revolutionize the gaming world, creating unique audio landscapes that enhance the video gaming experience. He is considered the person most instrumental in changing the game industry from bleeps & bloops to real music now appreciated worldwide by tens of millions of fans. As a well-recognized on-air television personality, live performer and composer, Tommy brings his in-depth knowledge, years of experience, and love of cutting edge multimedia and video games to the masses. Tommy has worked in the gaming industry as a designer, product manager, producer, writer, games tester and heads of both music and video departments. 

An accomplished musician, Tallarico has been writing music for video games for more than 25 years. He has won over 50 industry awards and has worked on more than 300 game titles; to date, they total sales of more than 100 million units and over four billion dollars in revenue. No one in the history of the video game industry has ever worked on more titles and projects. In 2008, he was enshrined in the Guinness Book of World Records with a two page feature article and interview and currently holds 3 Guinness World Records including the person who has worked on the most commercially released video games. In 2012 during the Game Developers Conference he received a Lifetime Achievement Award and is also in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. for his contributions to the game industry. In 1994, he founded Tommy Tallarico Studios, the multimedia industry’s largest audio production house. Tommy is a cousin of rock star legend Steven Tyler (nee Tallarico) and in 2002 Tallarico’s music was used as the opening song for Aerosmiths’ “Girls of Summer” world tour. His top titles include Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Disney’s Aladdin, Spider-Man and Metroid Prime as well as top selling popular game franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, Madden Football, Mortal Kombat, Time Crisis, Unreal, Lineage, James Bond, Blitz Football, Knockout Kings, Test Drive, Scooby Doo, WWE & Twisted Metal. His score for Advent Rising has been noted as “one of the greatest musical scores of all time” by websites such as Yahoo, Gamespot and others.

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