Star Control II: Hyperspace Theme (2014 Update)

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• published: 05 Jan 2014
• views: 21611

UPDATE (4/14/2015) - I'm happy to see this approaching 10,000 views and surpassing most other versions of the song online to become the top search result on Google and Youtube for Star Control Hyperspace videos. I'd like to encourage fans to join in on the discussion about the future of the franchise on Stardock's official forum (forums.starcontrol.com) and have your say about this wonderful series and where it should be headed as development on the series continues in the very near future! With specific credit to original composer Riku Nuottajärvi, this update of the epic spacefaring theme from Star Control II is not a "mix" per se, but a thorough update of the original in honor of the franchise seeing new life. Stardock Software has acquired the rights to the franchise and is currently in development of a reboot of the series in the very near future. Star Control II was a hallmark title in PC gaming during the early 90's, and its eclectic and innovative soundtrack was also far ahead of its time. By using digital sound modules rather than MIDI hardware or FM synthesis software emulation, it brought a quality of sound to gamers even without the use of advanced sound cards. This music could even be played through a chintzy internal PC speaker using basic pulse modulation, which blew my mind even as a 12-year old. Combining this with the fact that the soundtrack was just flat out epic, it changed the way I saw music in games and ignited my interest and fascination in electronic music. Jump forward two decades and here I am, remastering this classic track originally used in the game while journeying amongst the stars. This arrangement is the same as the original, but with homages to the classic "pulp sci-fi" feel which inspires the game's story. The original 1993 version suffered from the technical limitations its day by having only four distinct sound channels that could be played simultaneously, so there was not much polyphony (sounds could not overlap and there were only so many instruments that could play during each beat). That is no longer a limitation today, so the sound space has been significantly widened, stereo panning effects added, sample clipping corrected, a lot of sound processing applied, and an updated rock drum line added to give this memorable classic a fresh new sound for the 21st century. Or should I say 23rd century?