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Justin Bell

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Everything posted by Justin Bell

  1. Justin Bell
    good stuff. am partial to ennio moricone for movie soundtracks/themes we can be a bit cynical at times, but is tough to be complete jaded when you hear something so beautiful. that being said, we thinks that jon brion is one o' the most under-appreciated composers doing movie themes today HA! Good Fun! WOW! That Paranorman piece is incredibly deep. Thank you for sharing this.
  2. Justin Bell
    Very similar to what i was thinking. I also felt that it lacked a leading melody or an instrument, but perhaps this was intended because it's a town song. But i don't think that has to be the case. When i first heard the IWD1 Kuldahar theme it gave a chill to how nicely the melody emphasize the town, that i waited outdoors just to hear the loop one more time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y96Y2JE5F8 The more and more i listen to Dyford theme, the more and more i like it, because i can now see that it does actually have leading instruments, but i feel they might be a bit too subtle. Like in 2:57 the bassoon could perhaps be a bit louder? Or at 3:39 i feel that the (what sounds like a) flute could be stronger? Basically things like that. To everyone who mentioned Kuldahar, I'm with you on that. It sounds so magical, if I can even begin to approach the level of subtle depth in there (the universe just imploded by that paradox, I know), I'd be a happy composer. I'll see what I can do, deal? Not every piece is going to sound "like" Kuldahar though!! And thanks to everyone for sending over links to music you think will be good for inspiration. I'm listening to what you send, and it is inspiring!
  3. Justin Bell
    Heh... That's pretty funny. Just a regular person here.
  4. Justin Bell
    Regarding the pauses, yes that is the intention. It's sort of hard to imagine the music in context with all of the other sounds, but it's important to me that the music has room to interact with the ambient stuff. Yes, you have a point. I've said a few times that we're trying to evoke the IE games, and when you hold up my music side by side with IE soundtracks, they are different. I do look to those soundtracks for inspiration, and they are my starting point from an inspirational standpoint, but it should be said that the needs of the game dictate where that leads me when I'm writing. At the end of the day I think that's inevitable. While I could strive to mimic the way those composers wrote their music, ultimately I have follow my own interpretation of what the game requires from a narrative perspective. It's unavoidable that the music sounds will sound like my personal expression of what that should be. Ultimately it's going to sound like something I wrote, and not something by Hoenig/Soule/Zur/Morgan, as amazing and incredible as they are. You mentioned how sensibilities in game music has changed since 16 years ago when Baldur's Gate came out, and that statement couldn't be more true. I think what you're seeing here is a reflection of that. Wall to wall music completely consuming the foreground is an older way of doing things, and through experience, the audio niche of the game industry has learned that there is a time and place for that, rather than the default behavior. If there's strong enough demand, I could always ask! Right. The life is implied elsewhere in the soundscape. It's always tough to evaluate music in a vacuum, but the exercises you guys have done juxtaposing the music with nature sounds will provide you with a better sense for how the music will feel in context of the game. I do play guitar! It's my main instrument. Thanks for posting this track, it sounds great. If there's an opportunity to use guitar in the game I'll definitely take it! Also to everyone, thanks for such a lively discussion. I appreciate everyone's opinion. Now it's back to work for me! If I'm unable to post, don't take it personally! It's because I'm writing more music Be safe, and have a good week!
  5. Justin Bell
    Truthfully, nothings final till the game ships! It's sort of like going to a job interview... You always think of the right thing you could've said during the car ride home I can say that I've moved on to writing other music for the time being. But if past experience is any indication, the more I live with this music, the more I'll want to tweak it.
  6. Justin Bell
    Moving gracefully from two contrasting game states is definitely a challenge. It's something we are working on. Yes! As it so happens, I'm writing with harp now. I wanted to for Dyrford town, but I ran into some last minute technical issues that prevented me from loading that instrument. Long story... But the good news is the technical issues are gone and harp is back in the template. Thanks! Always good to hear good music. My pleasure, and thanks for your comments! I'm not done writing the music yet, and still have a few months left to wrap things up. As far as length, it's hard to say. We have estimates now and I'm targeting those, but I'd hate to give you a number that's off. When it comes to choosing music for zones, I try to go by the narrative of the region. I try to get a sense for what the region is "about" and usually that involves talking with the writers and designers on the project to get their take. Each zone will have a distinct sound, and it will all be tied together with a broader thematic arc. Thank you for your feedback, I do appreciate it and I will take it into consideration.
  7. Justin Bell
    Ha! I hope you like argyle.
  8. Justin Bell
    Good observation. Yes I can see how that's unsettling, particularly when you hear the music out of context in this way. It is, as you point out, to allow the environment sounds to have an opportunity to be heard in between musical phrases. I wanted this music to breath in a calm and relaxed sort of way, and to interact with all the other sounds you're going to hear as well.
  9. Justin Bell
    Thanks for your comments. Basically, when I write, I just follow where my ears and my fingers take me, and sometimes it's a complete surprise. As for a unifying identity, I'm working to build that into the score in it's entirety. Hopefully when people finally get to play the game may pick up on that.
  10. Justin Bell
    Oh, is that what he was trying to do? Hm...
  11. Justin Bell
    You're awesome too. You've got to BELIEVE! I haven't played FTL yet, but now that you mentioned it in context of "listener fatigue" I think I will! Thanks for pointing that out, !!! You got me there... BTW Chopin Piano Etudes = best music ever.
  12. Justin Bell
    Thanks! I'm pretty sure you'll be able to change the balance of the mix so that the music is less prominent, if you so desire. Wow, thanks for those amazing compliments! You've got a great ear. Dark Souls is my favorite game of all time, and Firelink Shrine has such incredible music doesn't it? As for spoilers... I'm afraid you'll have to wait to play the game! But I will say that the musical choices were very... deliberate.
  13. Justin Bell
    First, thanks everyone for contributing to this discussion! Its great to hear your feedback. Regarding loops, as Zeckul rightly pointed out, the IE games had silence in between loops. I could have phrased what I said in the update better. To clarify, we will implement the music in a similar way as the IE games so that the loops don't happen in rapid succession. So I suppose the answer to your question is both yes and no. Yes there will be some areas where you'll hear only ambient sounds (like birds) for a span of time, followed by ambient sounds and music etc. And there will also be places where there will be wall to wall music. In most cases it will boil down to how much time the player spends in a given area. In areas like quest hubs, where you may spend a lot of time talking to quest givers, the music will have space in between each loop to de-emphasize any kind of temporal awareness imparted by looping music. For smaller areas that don't take a lot of time to clear, such as a small dungeon, looping is more of a viable option. But ultimately it come downs to feel. If the music starts to feel overpowering and too repetitious in one area, we'll either modify the music if there's time to do so, or we'll tune the looping pattern to address the issue somehow. Nothing is worse (to me at least) than overpowering game music that saturates the senses. Of course there's always a time an place for that, but in a game like this, it would be a deliberate choice rather than the default position if that makes any sense.
  14. Justin Bell
    Good conversation. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Some people love the music, others don't, it's to be expected. Similar discussions were had over the kickstarter campaign music as well. That all said, I'll take everything you all have said into consideration, whether good or critical.
  15. Justin Bell
    Oh yeah definitely. One of the most memorable final boss battles ever and it's because the music is like this. Not the typical Sepheroth choirs screaming with huge taikos stuff you typically hear. This is exactly what I was talking about in this post a million years ago: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/60342-project-eternity-composer-in-house-or-external/page-6?do=findComment&comment=1202767
  16. Justin Bell
    Hehehe. How about a tasteful blend of both?
  17. Justin Bell
    Well I hope I don't disappoint.
  18. Justin Bell
    Are you referring to the Hanz Zimmer percussion?
  19. Justin Bell
    It's a good idea, and thanks for your interest in hearing me ramble on about music. We'll probably do something, I just don't know when...
  20. Justin Bell
    Yes! In fact that's what was done for the PE Kickstarter campaign music. We're working on this right now... as I type this post. Its all I can say at the moment. That said, the Kickstarter campaign, the update I did last year, and all the posts I've done on this forum should be good hints. Not trying to be coy, I just don't want to let the cat out of the bag too soon. I hope you understand...
  21. Justin Bell
    It might be, unfortunately I can't really vouch for the keyboard and mouse controls... Only because I've never played it that way. Maybe do some googling to see what other people with no controller have done?
  22. Justin Bell
    Well... I can't promise anything, BUT, I agree with you and we'll see if we can make something like that work... Sound like a plan?
  23. Justin Bell
    Have I mentioned that Dark Souls is my favorite game of all time? It's my favorite game of all time... (everything about it is amazing...)
  24. Justin Bell
    Ah yeah, Chrono Trigger... Thumbs up! Chrono Cross was such a disappointment, to me at least.
  25. Justin Bell
    Hmmm... You put me on the spot there! Embarrassed to say I don't really know to be honest, I don't keep track! Here are some recent ones that caught my attention as well as some older ones: Dark/Demon Souls, Bastion, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Metal Gear Solid 3, Journey, Fallout 3, Portal 2, Skyrim, Knights of the Old Republic I, Limbo (yes it had a soundtrack), Final Fantasy III (SNES), Super Metroid.... Lots of game music nowadays is good, really well done by incredibly talented composers, but... not very memorable IMO. I don't mean to sound disrespectful by that and I don't claim to have heard the music for every game ever, but out of all the games I've played, few have really stood out TO ME as having exceptional music. It's all a matter of taste though isn't it?
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