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Project Eternity Composer: In-house or External


Music for Project Eternity   

638 members have voted

  1. 1. Who should compose the music for Project Eternity?

    • Justin Bell (In-house kickstarter video composer)
    • Mark Morgan
    • Jeremy Soule
    • Other external Composer
    • Whomever Obsidian chooses is fine


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Karranthain, that's awesome! I still listen to the old Might & Magic soundtracks every now and again. :)

 

Paul Anthony Romero is a great composer, another example :

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anoc67QPMaQ&feature=relmfu

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkQyQzzhft0&feature=relmfu

 

Actually, the Might and Magic franchise has two composers, Paul Romero and Rob King. In fact, Rob King's music is used in a lot of different places.

Edited by Giantevilhead
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EDIT: sorry, I didnt' really add anyting the other folks hand't already added. to the topic.

Edited by Cantousent

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I still think the best music in an Obsidian produced (and shipped) game so far is Mark Griskeys scores for Kotor2. Seriously some of the best anywhere IMNSHO. Doesn't mean somebody else can't do better, but I will mentally compare their skills to that particular game.

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“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein
 

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Skyrim has epic music?

Yes, in that "generic" sort of epic way that you now have to endure every single movie trailer. You know, the generic blaring trumpets and that "heroic" violin. Loathsome.

To be honest they do have one good piece. And that is in the Vale in Dawnguard.

 

I still think the best music in an Obsidian produced (and shipped) game so far is Mark Griskeys scores for Kotor2. Seriously some of the best anywhere IMNSHO. Doesn't mean somebody else can't do better, but I will mentally compare their skills to that particular game.

I on the other hand, found both KotoR games' music to be boring. They seemed like downgraded copies from the NWN series. That's IMHO anyway.

Edited by kenup
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I was watching the film Mysterious Skin and thinking about how beautiful the soundrack was. Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie (of the Cocteau Twins) collaborated on the project. I realize that Obsidian could never afford these famous guys. What interests me is the spare, ambient style which might work for certain parts of a Torment style game. The second track is actually from the Mysterious Skin soundtrack. It's called Neil's Theme. The youtube uploader did a slide show from the film Let Me In which I figured was more interesting than the usual album cover.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyaq8OTltyQ

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss6HMV6NtWA

JoshSawyer: Listening to feedback from the fans has helped us realize that people can be pretty polarized on what they want, even among a group of people ostensibly united by a love of the same games. For us, that means prioritizing options is important. If people don’t like a certain aspect of how skill checks are presented or how combat works, we should give them the ability to turn that off, resources permitting.

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To be honest they do have one good piece. And that is in the Vale in Dawnguard.

 

I don't particularly like Soule (I find him utterly boring and uncreative most of the time - just to mention the infamous brass synths he overuses), but I agree that he got this piece right (I haven't played this game) :

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBGgZ1PUFWU

 

Might've just as well been used in Icewind Dale.

Edited by Karranthain
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Rasputina. String band that plays darkling splendors with humor and grace.

Dame Darcy. Banjo player extraordinaire with lovely folksy fairy songs about ghosts, curses, and murder.

John Zorn. Excellent experimental jazz, metal, and Israeli folk jazz.

Tara van Flower. Good for pretty songs even without music.

 

Also seeking work, these vocalists: Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance, Diamanda Galas (once she's off tour).

Edited by septembervirgin

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" If you've read Hart's Hope, Neveryona, Infinity Concerto, Tales of the Flat Earth, you've pretty much played Dragon Age."

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Vaughan Williams fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFpyuZUSUPI

Quite an experience to live in misery isn't it? That's what it is to be married with children.

I've seen things you people can't even imagine. Pearly Kings glittering on the Elephant and Castle, Morris Men dancing 'til the last light of midsummer. I watched Druid fires burning in the ruins of Stonehenge, and Yorkshiremen gurning for prizes. All these things will be lost in time, like alopecia on a skinhead. Time for tiffin.

 

Tea for the teapot!

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A Real Life example of late medieval music. The one that was dominating during 14th century (so around the same time when first muskets started to appear) - so around the time of the In Game setting as well ;)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72382CEwDoM

 

 

You might get some idea of the music themes dominating in music back then to get some of that imported to for example tavern music or court music.

Edited by Darkpriest
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Michael Hoenig is listed in IMDB as the composer for Baldurs Gate 2 / TOB. Is that true? Was he the mastermind of that exceptionally good music ? It was pure magic, simply legendary, those games would not have been the same without it.

 

If its true, I would ten-fold my pledge just for having him as a composer for PE!

 

In-game music should not be underestimated. It might be the one thing that ultimately decides whether a game is successful or not!

Edited by _dagger_
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If Mr @JustinBell is viewing this forum, a couple of questions if I may:-

 

1. Will there be (a) signature tune(s) for the game (e.g. Maybe, A Kiss To Build A Dream On for FO1 and 2, Baba Yetu for Civ4, Suteki Da Ne for FFX)? To have a particular strong piece deeply associated with and conjuring up images of the game is I think one of the most powerful things music can do.

2. Will there be usage of leitmotifs for characters and/or locations? PS:T did that very well, not to mention the obvious power it had in Star Wars.

 

Hope to hear from you on this if you have the time, many thanks!

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Snarkmaster of the Obsidian Order and Planescape junkie!

The Obsidian Order wants you!

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Justin do you have any other music or samples of your work we can listen to though? I cant find any on the interwebs.

 

Thanks for your curiosity everyone, I know you all have questions about the music for PE.

 

As for examples of my music, ask and you shall recieve! http://soundcloud.co...tin-bell-music/

 

This material spans about 6 years of writing. Some of the tracks there are from popular TV shows and award winning Films that I can't really discuss publically unfortunately :( For those you'll find cryptic names such as "a tv show" etc. Check it out if you're interested!

 

For those of you who are wondering about my background, I can definitely get into that in more depth. I've been studying and playing music for 22 years (I'm 35). I graduated from Los Angeles Valley Community College in 2003 with a AA degree in Music. There I studied music theory, classical guitar performance and recording arts. I was part of the LAVCC Classical Guitar Quartet for four semesters. In 2007 I graduated from UCLA with a BA Degree in Music Composition. There I studied music theory, music history, composition, orchestration and classical guitar performance. I was one of 6 students accepted in my class.

 

Since graduating I've written music for primetime television shows as well as films and documentaries as a ghost writer. I've also written music for several smaller video games available on Wiiware, Wii, and Playstation Network. I made some minor contributions to music for Fallout: New Vegas and Dead Money. For those games I composed all the intro and outro musical transitions that lead into and out of battle music. I also composed the Pimp-Boy theme song, Ede's theme, the Wild Wasteland stinger, the 'Gassed' stinger at the beginning of Dead Money, and wrote the music and set the text for the song Begin Again, also in Dead Money.

 

Most of the music I write now is as a hired gun. In other words, I usually have aggressive deadlines and very specific instructions, so there's not a whole lot of time to think too deeply, or tap into my "inner artist". PE's trailer music was the first time I've been able to do that in a while...

 

As a sound designer, I've worked on about seven game projects including The Sabotuer, Fallout: New Vegas, Dead Money, Dungeon Siege 3, Treasures of the Sun, Project North Carolina, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and a bunch of smaller things. Oh, and I like watching sunsets and taking long walks on the beach...

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[awesome questions]

 

Q. Will there be (a) signature tune(s) for the game (e.g. Maybe, A Kiss To Build A Dream On for FO1 and 2, Baba Yetu for Civ4, Suteki Da Ne for FFX)? To have a particular strong piece deeply associated with and conjuring up images of the game is I think one of the most powerful things music can do.

 

A. That's a great idea, but I would need to think about that a bit more. It would have to be done right, and wouldn't be worth doing at all if it didn't fit or wasn't great.

 

Q. Will there be usage of leitmotifs for characters and/or locations? PS:T did that very well, not to mention the obvious power it had in Star Wars.

 

A. Yes indeed! That's how you build memorability into music, and that's very important for us here.

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That Vtm: Bloodlines track is intensely beautiful and interesting enough to listen to on its own. Anyone know who did that?

JoshSawyer: Listening to feedback from the fans has helped us realize that people can be pretty polarized on what they want, even among a group of people ostensibly united by a love of the same games. For us, that means prioritizing options is important. If people don’t like a certain aspect of how skill checks are presented or how combat works, we should give them the ability to turn that off, resources permitting.

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Thanks Justin :)

 

My pleasure.

 

How would you rate the scale of this thread in 1 to 10? Do you find some music themes new to you and helpful/inspiring or are you familiar with everything due to your education?

 

I think this is a great thread! It just goes to show how passionate everyone who has posted is about the music for games. Its great to hear what everyone's tastes are, such a diverse range of music represented here, and there have definitely been some pieces of music that have inspired me.

 

As far as my education, we definitely didn't study video game music at UCLA or LAVCC. Those were focused strictly on traditional european art/concert music (i.e. classical music). I spent much more time studying Bach, Wagner, and Stravinsky (and everything in between) than I did anything related to popular media. Though I've always been a gamer, and so I just put two and two together on my own.

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