music by a classical composer?

I had a thought in my head wondering if i could make a KS level featuring some classical music, like Bach, bethoven, liszt etc. etc. but being created in the... well long ago is it legal? i found a guy on youtube that made many performances, and i was thinking maybe i could get his permission to use his "versions" of classical music, but again are there any licensing restrictions on classical music?

I think this needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis to be certain, but if the original composition is really old, there is a good chance that it's copyright-free. Note though that performances of that music might still be copyrighted (eg. I wouldn't use classics played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, no matter how old they are).

So I think if you get can the performer's permission for those youtube performances, you're on the right track (pun intended ).

lol alrighty then thanks for the help SiamJai

If somebody plays a piece for the sole purpose of showing others what the piece sounds like (as in, they're not trying to demonstrate their musical talent), then I think the product could even be considered to be automatically Public Domain (unless otherwise specified) as it is a faithful reproduction of a public domain piece.

This especially could be the case if you found a MIDI version of said piece, and even moreso yet if you put sheet music in a scanner to be interpreted by notation software such as Sibellius (as long as the sheet music is a fairly old arrangement).

But since I'm not certain, I think it's still best to ask permission.

Here are some audio files from wikimedia commons, which you would be allowed to use without asking permission from whoever made said audio files.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Franz Liszt

Edit: Also; I downloaded a few pieces off of Ludwig's page, and some of them are pretty crappy; the performer screwed up a couple times, and the actual sound quality was messy too. I'm sure there are plenty that are usable, though.

One rather tricky thing you need to be aware of when using copyright-expired music: the music may no longer be copyrighted, but the recording might be.  Never assume.*



*It makes an ass of u and me, similar to the way assumption makes an ass of u and mption.

I deal with classical music in various ways on a regular basis, so I thought I'd chime in. Assuming we talk about stuff written before, say, 1900, the music itself is public domain. But any performance, unless specifically stated otherwise by the performer(s), is property of the performer(s) and you need permission to use it.

Even the files on Wikipedia Commons, linked above, are provided with a license. So when you use them, take care to read the license to figure out what you may and may not do with the recording. One thing you're almost certainly required to do is to credit the performers.

There is a software called "Frets on Fire" that is basically Guitar Hero for your PC, some "FoF" forums have a download page of uploaded songs by other users, all of which are in .ogg format -- you may have to register but it's a good place to find music from a popular artist or semi-popular... plus from what I hear .ogg format rips aren't patiented or something like that... regardless you should get premission or atleast credit it to the artist

There is a software called "Frets on Fire" that is basically Guitar Hero for your PC, some "FoF" forums have a download page of uploaded songs by other users, all of which are in .ogg format -- you may have to register but it's a good place to find music from a popular artist or semi-popular... plus from what I hear .ogg format rips aren't patiented or something like that... regardless you should get premission or atleast credit it to the artist

...what exactly do you mean. You can download the original recordings of popular artists' material, or you can download forum users' cover versions of the same material?

What the users do is rip a song from a CD and tab notes out of it for the game, people download the song with the code that scripts the notes for the game

So it's the original song from a released CD, yeah

My second released level included alot of classical music and idk but I think it was the first level to do that and perhaps still the only one with classic music.

I just play the piano pressing random notes.

It sounds exotic when I listen to my recordings later on.

Just get Propellerhead Record and a control surface and make your own already.

Just get Propellerhead Record and a control surface and make your own already.

Yeah, record is just $299. That's a reasonable sum to invest in KS level.
Screw practicing too. I'm sure you could write an orchestral masterpiece in like, a week.

You know, Razzorman, there are other things in life besides.... er.... nevermind.