Famous Game Composers Come Together on Novum Initium

[Andy Chalk]

Famous Game Composers Come Together on Novum Initium

Some of the game industry's best-known composers have contributed original works to Novum Initium, a benefit album for working musicians struggling with illness and injury.

There are a lot of good causes to throw money at these days but to be perfectly honest I'm not entirely convinced that musicians who are having a hard time making ends meet qualifies as such. On the other hand, Novum Initium [New Beginning] is so packed full of awesome that I might just have to make it rain.

"There are many musicians who struggle with medical bills and making ends meet during tough times after dealing with unexpected health issues," said Novum Initium co-producer Sam Hulick, who's probably better known to gamers for his work on the Mass Effect soundtracks. "We wanted to put together a special project to help our peers who are on that stressful road after recovery."

"We reached out to our friends in the videogame industry and were overwhelmed with the response," added co-producer Jason Graves, the composer of the Dead Space soundtrack. "As full-time composers, we are self-employed contractors and there's no such thing as 'time off' or 'paid vacation.' If we don't work, we don't get paid. Medical bills can add up quickly. That's the whole impetus behind the album."

Okay, I guess that is a pretty good cause, but what pushes it dangerously close to "must-have" territory for game music fans is this fully-loaded track list:


"Lionheart" - Sam Hulick (Mass Effect)
"Adagio Coda" - Brian Tyler (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3)
"Adrenaline" - Jason Graves (Dead Space)
"Awakened" - Otto Cate (MAG) & Aubrey Ashburn (Dragon Age)
"Underwood" - Inon Zur (The Lord of the Rings: War In The North)
"The Maelstrom" - Singlefrequency & Chad Seiter (Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony)
"Shadows And Light" - Trevor Morris (Army of Two)
"Chrysalis" - Neal Acree (World of Warcraft)
"Trouble In Chinatown" - Tom Salta (Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands)
"Dancing Outtakes" - Garry Schyman (BioShock)
"Versailles" - Ed Lima (Doom 3)
"Consequence" - Neil Goldberg (Shift 2: Unleashed)
"Lacus Turbatus" - Gerard Marino (God of War)
"Espionage" - Mark Griskey (Star Wars: The Old Republic)
"House Of The Vine" - Mick Gordon (Shift 2: Unleashed)
"The Left-Hand Path" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan (Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine)
"Bullseye" - Christopher Lennertz (Medal of Honor: European Assault) & Timothy Wynn (Red Faction: Guerrilla)
"I'm With You" - Jack Wall (Mass Effect) & Cindy Shapiro (Myst III: Exile)


Digital editions of Novum Initium will be available starting tomorrow, December 6, on sweetrelief.com [http://novuminitium.bandcamp.com/].


Permalink

 

[gigastar]

Didnt bother to include any Japanese artists i see...

I support the cause but when i only heard the works of a grand total of 2 of the artists and 80% of the remaining (game) titles i would not touch with telekinesis, itll remain a no buy for me.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I thought I knew game composers. It is the field I'm trying (with moderate success) to break into. But the only artists I recognize here are Marino, Velasco, and Schyman. I haven't even heard of Jason Graves. ...you know, I don't think it even crossed my mind that Dead Space HAD a soundtrack...

 

[Phlakes]

I came so hard. So. Hard. Especially with the Jack Wall/Cindy Shapiro pairing.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

No Shoji Meguro?

I am now dissapoint.

If you need me, I'll be crying in a surprisingly well-lit corner.

 

[Korten12]

No Martian O'Donnell? No Jeremy Soule? Me dissapoint.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

No Rob Hubbard?(Any C64) No Matt Uelman?(Diablo) No Frank Klepacki? (C&C)

Son, I am disappoint.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

I thought I knew game composers. It is the field I'm trying (with moderate success) to break into. But the only artists I recognize here are Marino, Velasco, and Schyman. I haven't even heard of Jason Graves. ...you know, I don't think it even crossed my mind that Dead Space HAD a soundtrack...

No love for Jack Wall?

 

[Razor Z7]

There are 2 other composers that should be added to that list. Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori (The Halo Series) .

 

[ResonanceSD]

Jeremy Soule couldn't be there, apparently he has this thing called a job.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

No love for Jack Wall?

What has he done?

 

[ronald1840]

Where's Yoko Shimomoura? (KingdomHearts)
Koji Kondo? (Mario and Zelda)
Nobou Uematsu? (Final Fantasy)
Shoji Meguro? (Atlus)

Come on. They're leaving out some pretty popular people.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

No love for Jack Wall?

What has he done?

Mass Effect (both of them), Jade Empire, Splinter Cell II, Myst III and IV, several smaller titles.

[His Wiki [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Wall_(composer)#Discography]]

 

[gunner1905]

Where's Jesper Kyd?

Edit: In any case I just bought it, kinda hard to find music like this (which I like)

 

[The Cake Is Annoying]

So is this the thread for discussing the news or is everyone here just bitching that their favourite artists didn't get involved and why oh why didn't they read my mind, is that too much to ask?

I mean no Japanese artists? How hard can it be to discuss a record contract on a perhaps volunteer basis across continents with very different distinct cultures and languages, eh? Not to mention the profit split. So what if it made the project exponentially more difficult to make happen, right?

Maybe some of the commentors will indulge me and stop running their fandom up the flagpole and appreciate this for what it is; rather than the imaginary magical perfect snowflake soundtrack that exists in their heads, eh? PLEASE?

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

So is this the thread for discussing the news or is everyone here just bitching that their favourite artists didn't get involved and why oh why didn't they read my mind, is that too much to ask?

I mean no Japanese artists? How hard can it be to discuss a record contract on a perhaps volunteer basis across continents with very different distinct cultures and languages, eh? Not to mention the profit split. So what if it made the project exponentially more difficult to make happen, right?

Maybe some of the commentors will indulge me and stop running their fandom up the flagpole and appreciate this for what it is; rather than the imaginary magical perfect snowflake soundtrack that exists in their heads, eh? PLEASE?

Thank you. At least someone else here has some sense.

Guys, this is not a "Greatest Video Game Composers" list. This is a list of composers (who work on video game) who were willing to volunteer their time to make music for a good cause. Maybe some of the composers you're asking for were asked to do this and said no, or maybe they just weren't asked. It doesn't matter, and whining and bitching about how your favorite composer isn't on here is completely missing the point of the entire thing.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Maybe some of the commentors will indulge me and stop running their fandom up the flagpole and appreciate this for what it is; rather than the imaginary magical perfect snowflake soundtrack that exists in their heads, eh?

Dammit, I wanted to say that.

Anyway, yeah guys, it's sad that we can't get every composer who's worked on a videogame ever in here - I'm disappointed that Thomas Petersen isn't in the mix - but it's still a hell of a collection of talent. And if you're not down with springing for the whole thing, you can listen to and purchase individual tracks from the digital sellers as well. Hard to be too critical of that.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

I just bought this album and I can confirm that it is amazing and well worth your time and money.

Don't focus on the composers here, although you have played their games you have probably never heard their music quite like this. I certainly wasn't prepared for Jack Wall's contribution after thinking of Mass Effect's soundtrack nor Inon Zur after playing Fallout 3.

Set aside your prejudice and buy it!

 

[Mstrswrd]

Well, this is pretty cool. I may be getting this... (I say as a listen to my... let me count... 1...2...17... 39th Touhou arrange of the day).

What? There are a lot of Touhou arranges.

 

[Thaius]

I notice a conspicuous lack of Nobou Uematsu, Martin O'Donnel, and Jeremy Soule... Sad day.

Regardless, this is awesome, and I will most likely get it. I'm just slightly less interested since Uematsu and O'Donnel are my two favorite game composers. But the cause is good, the concept solid, and the music is likely fantastic, so this is on my must-have list.