Topical Tuesday: Be a Composer!
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I think E.S. Posthumus could just about encapsulate any action game with their music...
But for the sake of being specific, I think C&C could have had 'Unstoppable' by the aforementioned group. It sounds combat-ish and intense. Good for any boss fight or intense chase really.
But for the sake of being specific, I think C&C could have had 'Unstoppable' by the aforementioned group. It sounds combat-ish and intense. Good for any boss fight or intense chase really.
I think I would simply orchestrate the entirety of Zelda: Twilight Princess' OST. Seriously, if something was wrong with that game, it was the MIDI music that clashed horribly with the beautiful graphics.
Let me see what all needs to be done with video game music.
1) I am so tired of music repeating itself over and over in games. The reason why we all remember the mario brothers theme is not because it is a great theme but because it played it self in a loop for ever and ever. If i sat anybody down with the Rite of Spring and put it on a loop for 30 hours you would remember all of that song too.
2) do not be afraid to use a less is more mentality. Imagine in a movie if we had music going constantly rather than tastefully injected into it.
3) Original compositions are always good. I know sometimes they cant work (like in GTA, or brutal legend) games like fallout 3 should of had an extensive background score.
4) lastly IT TAKES MORE THEN A THEME TO MAKE GOOD MUSIC.
that is all
1) I am so tired of music repeating itself over and over in games. The reason why we all remember the mario brothers theme is not because it is a great theme but because it played it self in a loop for ever and ever. If i sat anybody down with the Rite of Spring and put it on a loop for 30 hours you would remember all of that song too.
2) do not be afraid to use a less is more mentality. Imagine in a movie if we had music going constantly rather than tastefully injected into it.
3) Original compositions are always good. I know sometimes they cant work (like in GTA, or brutal legend) games like fallout 3 should of had an extensive background score.
4) lastly IT TAKES MORE THEN A THEME TO MAKE GOOD MUSIC.
that is all
I assume you've seen one of the trailers for Killzone 2 way back when?Fortuan said:
if not, here it is.
definitely one to watch in HD.
This comes from something I did with my best friend last year. We were playing Left 4 Dead 2 I believe, and we were doing the survival mode wherein thousands of zombies attack your building. We set out plenty of flammable substances, gathered our weapons, and prepared for the onslaught. In the background, however, the music wasn't the traditional fare. We had put on some Gaelic lullabies or ballads or something soft and mournful, and the mood was absolutely insane. We felt like something amazing was happening; the entire game seemed to move in slow motion. When the horde was closing in, we were yelling and screaming at the zombies, shouting orders to each other, and fighting for our lives. The music wasn't traditional and doesn't seem like it would be any good for the scenario, but it was an amazing experience. I'm just not sure why.
I honestly can't think of any games where the soundtrack was bad enough for me to warrant changing it, as usually the in-game music will be the stuff that fits the feel of the game the best.
Also, go check out the Wild Arms series, Wild West setting with a soundtrack to boot. Here's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIKyb6lTMrM] a really good example of it.Novs said:
In my favourite game, Vikings: Battle of Asgard I'd change the lack of music and when there is uninspiring music and put in every song from ManOwaR, Amon Amarth and Ensiferum.
I'd change every videogame's music to something from 009 sound system, just to piss people off.
No, but seriously, my first choice would be to take the original yoshi's island music and put it in yoshi's island 2, and to put assassin's creed brotherhood's music in assassin's creed 2.
No, but seriously, my first choice would be to take the original yoshi's island music and put it in yoshi's island 2, and to put assassin's creed brotherhood's music in assassin's creed 2.
Just moments ago I was playing Borderlands. A great game with not a neccesarily bad soundtrack, but a certain lack of one (Excluding of course the opening and ending). As I was roaming the Arid Badlands in search of more bad-ass loot I started to experiment with some music on my Hard Drive. The one that really hit me was the Twin Peaks soundtrack, more specifically Freshly Squeezed and The Pink Room. Thusly I believe that Borderlands deserves a Angelo Badalamenti/David lynch, Jazz soundtrack. The somewhat mellow, relaxed feeling of the exploration fits very well with many of the slower tracks. While some of the faster tracks accentuate the combat shockingly well. Even the orange, cel-shaded esque enviroments fit the horns and piano extremely well. I know the mix sounds strange but give it a shot.
Every game in the world needs a soundtrack by Anamanaguchi. Ok maybe not every one but at least the retro ones. Also Rock Band 3 needed more metal, preferably Dream Theater.
For moments in shooters that are meant to be sad use something slow and depressing (like in COD World at War where you awake surrounded by russian corpses). Then when the action hits and you're running gradually increase the energy of the music and when the action in the game stops the energy of the music drops.
Basically I want the speed of the music to match the onscreen action. If I'm standing around doing nothing give me some slow music. When I'm running from an enemy tank speed it up. When I die give me a sudden drop in the music.
Basically I want the speed of the music to match the onscreen action. If I'm standing around doing nothing give me some slow music. When I'm running from an enemy tank speed it up. When I die give me a sudden drop in the music.
Team fortess 2 should have ring of fire in it, bonus points if sung by the engineer. And all racing games should have at least one daft punk track. Also, I think that the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny should be a game. Anyone agree?
Marvel vs. Capcom 3, why is Captain Americas music some electronica garbage? Honestly most of the characters themes blow harder than a back alley hooker, or maybe BlazBlue just spoiled me with good music and actual solid gameplay.
It's hard to say how to improve game scores in general because the requirements of the soundtrack varies so much from game to game. I agree with what Extra Credits said in an episode a while back, that modern game music gets lost in its own bigness and complexity of orchestration, that there needs to be stronger, more memorable usage of melodic phrasing. While strong melodies aren't always necessary - a game soundtrack serves to create atmosphere first and foremost - it leads to many modern OSTs sounding very same-y. Everyone is using more or less the same arrangements, key, and time signature, so without a strong central theme, there's nothing to give a soundtrack definition.
I also kind of wish video game composers would use signatures other than 4/4 more often. You don't need to tap your foot to a battle theme or character motif, so there's really no excuse why there aren't more pieces in 3/4 or 7/8, etc. Most people would agree that the fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony is rousing and energetic, but a good half of it is in 3/4 time. Still, not nearly as important as the first point.
Games are similar to films in this respect at least: proper use of a soundtrack can add a heck of a lot to the emotional impact of a moment, even if the requirements of a game soundtrack are very different of that of a film.
I also kind of wish video game composers would use signatures other than 4/4 more often. You don't need to tap your foot to a battle theme or character motif, so there's really no excuse why there aren't more pieces in 3/4 or 7/8, etc. Most people would agree that the fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony is rousing and energetic, but a good half of it is in 3/4 time. Still, not nearly as important as the first point.
Games are similar to films in this respect at least: proper use of a soundtrack can add a heck of a lot to the emotional impact of a moment, even if the requirements of a game soundtrack are very different of that of a film.
I can't think of a specific game I would change the soundtrack to, but in general there is a mechanic I would rather have relevant to the soundtrack. Maybe unlockable or maybe from the start, but the ability in general to choose another song loaded onto a console or computer to replace a song would sometimes be amazing. With games like Little Big Planet and ModNation Racers we see that customization is a growing thing in videogames, well- what if Jack wants his character's theme song to be some badass rap music and Sally wants to battle to a remix of the original Tetris theme? Not to say having default, carefully thought out music isn't brilliant, but this could take some people's enjoyment of games to another level.
I don't really know why this isn't done.
I don't really know why this isn't done.
