BREAKING NEWS: George Oldziey Launches Wing Commander Music Kickstarter! (February 20, 2014)

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
Amazing news! The composer of Wing Commander 3, 4 & Prophecy, George Oldziey, has launched an exciting Kickstarter project to record a Wing Commander album with a live orchestra! Depending on their pledge level, backers have the opportunity to receive a digital copy of the album, an autographed CD or even be present at the recording. The highest contributors can even choose selections of music from the WC series that they would like added! Additional surprises will be revealed as the campaign unfolds, so stay tuned! Production depends on your support - you can find out more and pledge here.



George Oldziey is looking for game music fans from around the world to help fund an orchestral recording of music from Wing Commander.

Many of you know me, George Oldziey, as the composer for many historic video games, but probably most notably 3 games from the iconic Wing Commander series. I've been blessed to have very dedicated fans of my music for many years, and I would like to offer them the opportunity to participate in this historic endeavor.

The initial goal of $35,000 is to record a 9 1/2 minute suite of music from Wing Commander 3 and 4 featuring a full 80 piece orchestra and 40 voice choir. The recording will most likely be done in either Prague or Bratislava, both homes to amazing game and film scoring orchestras, some time during the summer of this year. We will also institute a series of stretch goals beyond the initial amount to hopefully record more of my Wing Commander music while we have the musicians at the ready. The video will give you more info about me and this project.

I will update everyone very frequently on the progress of this exciting adventure!

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Original update published on February 20, 2014
 
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Pledged to support WC in general (I don't relly like the WC3 and WC4 music that much...not when compared to WC2)...but I have to say, his incentives to pledge really seem lacking when compared to other Kickstartes I participated in. I mean, 50 $ for a CD with 9 1/2 minutes of music? You'll only get pretty convinced fans with that kind of pledge levels.
 
True; it's not the most generous campaign in the rewards section I've seen. Still happy to pledge for a CD, but hopefully this will improve a bit as the campaign progresses.

By the way, did you notice WC2's George 'The Fat Man' Sanger is also a backer?
 
I totally love the WC2 music too... But how could I pass something like this up? Never! I just put in my pledge. I have confidence though that the WC3/4 music will sound awesome with an orchestra, and give the recording that bit of resonance that is missing in the midi recordings.
 
First of all, awesome! I'm planning to back but want to think about it a bit before I decide how much. I really adore the Wing Commander music, but I'd love to see orchestral music from 1 and 2 as well, and I'd really love more than 10 minutes. That said, still awesome, and I plan on pledging something.

I would LOVE to see him work with The Fat Man and some of the people responsible for WC1/WC2 music to do a longer suite from all four games. That would be EPIC!
 
Hmm. My finances are still reeling after a bad couple of years, but I do think I want to back this one. I do agree with some of the others here, though - the campaign is somewhat underwhelming. I don't care about the rewards (well, I do - it bothers me that you need to give quite a bit for a physical CD), but the amount of music... I actually suspect he'd be able to raise more money if he started with a higher goal and higher ambitions. I can certainly imagine him collecting $200,000 for a CD-length soundtrack to one of these games. On the other hand, $35,000 for 9.5 minutes... well, I guess he'll manage to collect it, but he could simply do better.
 
Wait a minute, I just realized "mentioned on the CD" does not mean you actually get a CD - so with my 60$ pledge I get a digital download and that's it (and mentioning, yes great)? It's even worse than I thought but that's what I get for pledging in the middle of the night. Oh well, after all, it's to support WC...
 
Yep; $100 and up gets you the CD. I would be happy to share a picture of your name when mine arrives ;) (but of course you would want one of your own)
 
I sent money today.

I will send money next week. And the week following.
 
Everyone's feedback has been very helpful! George is reading it all and the campaign is evolving based on what's been said. For starters, digital copies of the album are now available at tiers $20 and up. There will also be additional stretch goals whereby at approximately $47,000 the amount of music possible would be about 30 minutes, and for approximately $59,000, we could get a 45-minute ("full length") album. If you have questions or concerns, keep them coming, and if you can spread the word to all your musically and Wing Commander-inclined friends, it is very much appreciated!
 
It's been a huge first day for Wing Commander composer George Oldziey's Kickstarter campaign! Nearly 100 generous backers have already donated more than $6,000 to help make a live orchestra recording possible! Many fans have provided a lot of feedback, and George has posted a number of updates in response.

For starters, keep an eye on the official update page and Oldziey.com for frequent news on the status of the pledge drive, amusing anecdotes from the old Origin days and more. There have already been some major updates:
  • Digital downloads of the albums have been added to tiers $20 and up! The music will also be high quality - "AT LEAST the same 44.1 kHz 16 bit stereo master that makes it on the CD." No highly compressed MP3s!
  • The length has been explained: the "base" set of orchestrated music is 9.5 minutes based on the length of time George would have gotten in the canceled live Austin Symphony concert. He's also planning for some of the biggest pledgers to pick their favorite selections from Wing Commander 3, 4 or Prophecy for a total of about 15 minutes if the main goal is reached.
  • Tentative stretch goals have been proposed. Based on the costs of booking the musicians and preparing additional music. At approximately $47,000, an additional 15 minutes would become possible, and at about $59,000 a total of 45 minutes should become doable!
  • Some exciting new reward levels have been added. At $400 and up, pledgers will receive an autographed copy of the musical score. The new $600 pledge level also offers copies of Wing Commander 3 autographed by Chris Roberts!
Last, but not least, George has posted his original demo track he created as part of his application to work at Origin in 1994. This has only recently been digitized and never posted anywhere before now. For a sample transcribed from a degrading source, it sounds great! And it definitely has what we now consider a very Wing Commandery feel! You can listen here. Pledge to support this project here!

My most heartfelt thanks to all on this wonderful kickoff day to this campaign. I am humbled by the response so far!

I'm planning on giving regular updates, as well as posting some interesting stories about my wonderful days at Origin during the Wing Commander production periods. Fond memories for sure!

All the best,

George

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Original update published on February 21, 2014
 
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I think it's great that Mr. Oldziey follows the (potential) backer reactions and I think he has made some very good decisions. And yet, this shows once again why you shouldn't be backing such projects from the start and always should wait a bit: almost always there will be options added that are more attractive than what you started with. Now I'm stuck at my 60 $ pledge, event though I could have the download now for 20 $.

Nevertheless, it's my fault that I misread the description on the reward level and it's still for a good cause.

Yep; $100 and up gets you the CD. I would be happy to share a picture of your name when mine arrives ;) (but of course you would want one of your own)

Thanks for the offer! :) Yeah, I'd like my own but after pledging 100s of dollars for SC and over 100 $ for my first kickstarter I just can't justify anymore another 100 $ (or to be precise 40 $ more or to be even more precise 50 $ more for interantional shipping) for a CD with 15 minutes of music even when it's WC music. SO, yeah I'll take you up on your offer porbably.


EDIT: And just to confirm my first paragraph, from the update #5:

"(...)BUT, you can definitely count on the fact that, if you pledge at one level and you notice there is something I've added at a lower level of giving you are also entitled to that reward. (...) Similarly, anyone pledging at any of the levels above $20 are also entitled to digital downloads of the music."

So that means that the 50$ dollar pledge level now gets the exact same reward as the 60$ pledge level.
 
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Huh? You can modify or cancel your pledges with kickstarter, can't you?
 
Huh? You can modify or cancel your pledges with kickstarter, can't you?

Absolutely; it's the 'manage your pledge'-button that replaces the 'back this project'-button in the top right. In this case, if all the $60 backers would move down to $50 it wouldn't hit the total too hard, but always consider that if the goal isn't reached at the end no-one gets a reward or the final product (Kickstarter is about supporting a dream, not pre-ordering a product blah blah etc. ;)).
 
Absolutely; it's the 'manage your pledge'-button that replaces the 'back this project'-button in the top right. In this case, if all the $60 backers would move down to $50 it wouldn't hit the total too hard, but always consider that if the goal isn't reached at the end no-one gets a reward or the final product (Kickstarter is about supporting a dream, not pre-ordering a product blah blah etc. ;)).

Huh? You can modify or cancel your pledges with kickstarter, can't you?

Ah see, I thought you could manage your pledge in that you can change the selected reward (selcting a lower reward) and up your pledge but that you could not take really money back. I guess I'll try it out...

EDit: Yup, works fine, thanks.
 
this shows once again why you shouldn't be backing such projects from the start and always should wait a bit: almost always there will be options added that are more attractive than what you started with. Now I'm stuck at my 60 $ pledge, event though I could have the download now for 20 $.

Yeah, as everyone pointed out, changing pledges is a very common thing at the major funding sites. Since nothing transacts until the end of the campaign, it's really easy to have a system that allows people to raise and lower their pledge - and typically it's people raising their pledge as they get more excited about a project.

I just can't justify anymore another 100 $ (or to be precise 40 $ more or to be even more precise 50 $ more for interantional shipping) for a CD with 15 minutes of music even when it's WC music.

Yeah, but if everyone who pledges over the course of the campaign pledged $100, there's a good chance we'd all get 45 minutes of music!

So that means that the 50$ dollar pledge level now gets the exact same reward as the 60$ pledge level.

That's just the nature of how these things work. As the reward tiers get tweaked, some may have a higher or lower value compared with other options. Once there's bidders at a particular tier, he can't edit or delete them. If everyone opted out of either the $50 or $60 tiers, the unpopular one could just be removed.
 
Yeah, as everyone pointed out, changing pledges is a very common thing at the major funding sites. Since nothing transacts until the end of the campaign, it's really easy to have a system that allows people to raise and lower their pledge - and typically it's people raising their pledge as they get more excited about a project.
(...)
That's just the nature of how these things work. As the reward tiers get tweaked, some may have a higher or lower value compared with other options. Once there's bidders at a particular tier, he can't edit or delete them. If everyone opted out of either the $50 or $60 tiers, the unpopular one could just be removed.

Absolutely, the two projects I backed before only knew one direction in pleding for me: up! And as I wrote in the previous post, I think it was a very good idea for the project to add this new 20 $ entry level, I think such pledge levels really help get people on board. And now that even I learned that you can lower your pledge to profit from new levels, everything is fine. Still, I might be waiting a week or two before I pledge if there's any new project for me.

Yeah, but if everyone who pledges over the course of the campaign pledged $100, there's a good chance we'd all get 45 minutes of music!

You can count on me if there are 50 $ missing for the next stretchgoal.
 
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