The music! Good or no?

[Ganrich]

The last thing Jermey Soule did that I truly enjoyed was Wings of Kynareth from the Oblivion Soundtrack.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuFXhcUz06s  However, this is one of those ambiance tracks, and I can see why others might not like it.  I just think it is one of the standout tracks on Oblivion's soundtrack.

 

I think he is a good composer, and all, but kind of shackled by the TES franchise in a way.  I think that it gets old after a while, and less memorable with every TES game. 

 

Anyway, I like the music in PoE.  I think it being more subdued at times is good, but I LOVE the track from the teaser trailer.  If there are more tracks like that throughout the game then I don't see why people would complain.

[RedSocialKnight]

Off topic, but I just googled him and ... Michael Hoenig hasn't written any music since 2004? Is this possible?

 

Come back to the Friendly Arms, Mikey Hoen Mikey Hoen!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsEOt0lNN6Q

Edited August 24, 2014 by RedSocialKnight

[Gromnir]

am not a fan o' the bg music. monotonous. if we were at a random coffee shop in anywhere USA and had to choose between a copy o' kristen stewart poetry or the bg soundtrack to prop up a wobbly table leg, we would be hard pressed to decide which were the most expendable media. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Bryy]

The music is decent. Not great, not horrible.

 

It's very stock.

 

EDIT: As for the Jeremy Soule debate, he is the John Williams of video game soundtracks. He puts himself into every track, and everything he writes is inspiring, soothing, and epic.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Bryy

[theacefes]

As I mentioned in another thread, the music melodies are fantastic and actually quite memorable. I can see myself in 10 years hearing the PoE theme and getting that nostalgic feeling.

 

That being said, my only constructive feedback was that I felt the quality sounded very, very synthesized and the main theme (on the start screen) had some awkward pauses that make me wonder how much of the song was a product of the composer's own skill and how much of it was just copy paste VST note rolls.

 

Walk-away questions I have are: was this a resource/budget limitation? Could a good stretch goal have been to get the in-house composer better equipment? 

[sb5]

Dark Reign OST: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB15E2B044AEE827B

Mechwarrior 2 OST Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3E409CD81FFF6F55

I'd love to hear more in the flavor of this

[Falkon Swiftblade]

From the little bit I've heard I like the main theme, the ambient sounds (birds) and music are not mixed very well & loop too much as well as being too loud however. I think maybe fading in and out of the tracks would help. I don't know the limitations of the program and triggers, but the music seems kind of awkward when it play's. As in the context seems missing. The inn music was pretty good too though. Not sure how to link it from here on my mobile, but Grant Kirkhope has several tracks from kingdoms of amalur on his soundcloud page that were pretty good too. I enjoyed "heightened stress" as battle music. I think the soundtrack is coming along though. One suggestion though, maybe have your voice over people give you about 3-5 more lines. Not a fan of repeating dialog with the exact enunciation and infliction every time. Hearing "going" about 57 times is no fun. Mix it up please. )

[Mayama]

Because this turned into a "post your fav rpg music" thread here we go:

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znlHNvh-oNs

[IndiraLightfoot]

Here's one composer that I can recommend: Cris Velasco. He's composed the music for COH2, God of War, and for this game, which has some really beautiful music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YCRxdJmkBE

[Longknife]

Honestly guys, I don't see much purpose in discussing this.

 

The music is fine, it's just not spectacular. It's music that you only react with "yeah it fits" and not with "Oh man I want this song on my ipod." But as I recall the music was done by some new guy for Obsidian who wants to compose music for games and really wanted to try his hand at doing it for Project Eternity. Besides, we've only heard a limited bit of music he's done; as I recall I  liked the backround music he did for the kickstarter explanation vids. Let him make the soundtrack; it's by no means bad and he can learn from the experience and improve for next time. Main advice I can offer is next time provide more instrumental variance, cause at the moment from what we've seen, every song feels similar in style.

 

Again it's fine though. Reminds me a lot of some of the ambient music for Morrowind.

[Sensuki]

Originally the discussion was

 

Do you like the music?

 

Umm, yeah sorta

Not my cup of tea

I really like it

 

Now it's back to we're back to pasting youtube links again.

 

I fully realize that Justin's vision for the soundtrack is not my vision of what I would want it to be, and I'm glad that he gets a chance to "make it big" as a composer as it were, so if there are some songs I enjoy then that's okay - and I can always turn the music off and just play other stuff that I think that fits the atmosphere of the game art I guess.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Sensuki

[war:head]

 

Hmmm... I don't know guys, I think the music is pretty good!

 

Truthfully, it's almost impossible to please everyone when it comes to music.  We all have such different musical tastes, it's quite natural that not everyone will like what they hear.  I figure 30% don't like it, 30% do, and 30% don't care or don't focus on music enough to notice one way or another.

 

Which means you only did 30% of your job. Everyone liked and noticed BG's music.

 

 

 

Tend to agree, though. If 66% of the people don't like or don't care about your music, you're doing something wrong.

[sb5]

Originally the discussion was

 

Do you like the music?

 

Umm, yeah sorta

Not my cup of tea

I really like it

 

Now it's back to we're back to pasting youtube links again.

 

I fully realize that Justin's vision for the soundtrack is not my vision of what I would want it to be, and I'm glad that he gets a chance to "make it big" as a composer as it were, so if there are some songs I enjoy then that's okay - and I can always turn the music off and just play other stuff that I think that fits the atmosphere of the game art I guess.

If there is a chance it may influence the music I dunno how much he's composed yet. The last statement is true and what I do often.

[hernedpea]

I'm not very pleased with what I heard in beta. Well, maybe it's just me. I'm not a big fan of ambient-ish music. I like when music has more catchy melody, something that will remain in memory. When I think about Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment or many other great games I also recall good tracks that accompanied me in my adventures and which built atmosphere of these games.

[Cluas]

Hello, Justin. I noticed one thing that annoyed me a lot. 

First I want to tell you the music is absolutely cool. I got no problems with the compositions at all.

 

But, the music track in the Inn.... (i actually posted this as a bug report) There is too much volume on this track, compared to the theme playing outside. 

 

That is all. Great work, friend 

[Starwars]

Was it just me or is it possible to hear that guitar track playing softly in the background where you're on the upper floor of the inn? That was a neat touch if I didn't dream it.

[IndiraLightfoot]

What Cluas said, the guitar music is too loud. But! Had the inn been crowded and bustling, then it would've been fitting.

[Ganrich]

Ironically the bar has a solid population they just got quiet when the sheriff showed up. 0_o

[Sensuki]

If there is a chance it may influence the music I dunno how much he's composed yet. The last statement is true and what I do often.

Not a snowball's chance in hell, I'm afraid.

[AdaMusic]

There seems to be a general trend in games towards making ever more "subtle" and boring music for games. I suspect the real reason is that some people really just don't like music. 

 

I'd almost say the complete opposite. The reason why games are making more "subtle" music is because game designers/audio designers/people have realized using "pompous" music all the time is even more boring than using the music dynamically; as in using subtle music in calm parts and more pompous music in pompous parts.

 

Crusader Kings 2 is a REALLY bad example of music design in a video game. Even though it has some good music, it is just throwing all kinds of battle marches at you all the time, even if you are not even taking part in any combat at all. Pillars of Eternity is "audio design wise" superior to all Paradox games I've played. However, Paradox is really good at something that Obsidian seem to be lacking: immersion by game design. 

 

Edited August 25, 2014 by AdaMusic

[Grotesque]

music is...

 

 

 

Its like playing it safe. But I say they should not be afraid to experiment, to be more bold.

 

MORE BOLDNESS!!!

[Marceror]

The classical guitar piece in the Dracogen in is great. And totally different than anything I've heard in the IE games. Simple, but very well played.

 

Playing high quality classical guitar is not easy. Whoever played that is creating a beautiful tone from their instrument, and is a total pro.

[Grotesque]

 

 

 

  For example, Baldur's Gate - Down to the Sewers, it certainly sets the tone in-game but  do I want to sit here listen to that song now?  Absolutely not.

 

 

 

Down to the sewers is one of the best environmental tracks in the gaming history. And what other purpose a song in a game has other than to set up the tone and stir real, thick emotions?

There are concerts where thousands of people participate listening to music to the likes of "Down to the sewers".

 

And yes. This beta lacks trumpets

[Justin Bell]

Just catching up... Thanks for the lively discussion, its great to see so many of you involved.

 

 One suggestion though, maybe have your voice over people give you about 3-5 more lines. Not a fan of repeating dialog with the exact enunciation and infliction every time. Hearing "going" about 57 times is no fun. Mix it up please. )

 

Yes definitely.  We plan to have much more variety, the voices you hear are temporary and not really representative of the final game.

 

Honestly guys, I don't see much purpose in discussing this.

 

The music is fine, it's just not spectacular. It's music that you only react with "yeah it fits" and not with "Oh man I want this song on my ipod." But as I recall the music was done by some new guy for Obsidian who wants to compose music for games and really wanted to try his hand at doing it for Project Eternity. Besides, we've only heard a limited bit of music he's done; as I recall I  liked the backround music he did for the kickstarter explanation vids. Let him make the soundtrack; it's by no means bad and he can learn from the experience and improve for next time. Main advice I can offer is next time provide more instrumental variance, cause at the moment from what we've seen, every song feels similar in style.

 

Again it's fine though. Reminds me a lot of some of the ambient music for Morrowind.

 

 

Well said.  This is really just a small slice of the game and music.  Personally I find that game music sticks (or not) with me when I play a game a ton.  When I played Skyrim for the first 10 hours, I would have been hard pressed to recall a single melody or phrase.  But after 80 hours, I hear the music and it brings back good memories of the game.   Ears have muscle memory, and it takes bit of time for that to sink in.

 

For what its worth, I've been composing music as a ghost writer for many years.  A couple american TV shows you may or may not heard of, Nikita, Eleventh Hour, Tomorrow People.  And many many other smaller things as well.  This is just the first "bigger" game that I put my name on.

 

 

Tend to agree, though. If 66% of the people don't like or don't care about your music, you're doing something wrong.

 

Hi war:head.  I've been doing this a very long time, and the truth is that many many gamers play games with the game audio muted, and play their own music over things.  Either that, or they are so focused on the actual game that they don't ever notice the audio.  It doesn't matter if the audio is good or bad, they just do it because that's their preference or audio isn't on their radar.  So when I say 33 percent don't care, what I really mean is, that the audio just isn't a priority for a good chunk of gamers out there.  

 

But I shouldn't have quoted percentages in the first place, because honestly how should I know what the breakdown is.  I've seen just as many "love the music" posts as I've seen "I wish it sounded like 'favorite game x'" posts, so who really knows?  

 

 

 and I can always turn the music off and just play other stuff that I think that fits the atmosphere of the game art I guess.

If there is a chance it may influence the music I dunno how much he's composed yet. The last statement is true and what I do often.

 

This illustrates my point exactly.

 

 

Hello, Justin. I noticed one thing that annoyed me a lot. 

First I want to tell you the music is absolutely cool. I got no problems with the compositions at all.

 

But, the music track in the Inn.... (i actually posted this as a bug report) There is too much volume on this track, compared to the theme playing outside. 

 

That is all. Great work, friend 

 

Thanks for pointing this out Cluas.  We haven't quite gotten to mixing the game, but we will keep this in mind.

 

Was it just me or is it possible to hear that guitar track playing softly in the background where you're on the upper floor of the inn? That was a neat touch if I didn't dream it.

 

You didn't dream it!  Thank Mikey Dowling for that, I like the way it sounds too.

 

The classical guitar piece in the Dracogen in is great. And totally different than anything I've heard in the IE games. Simple, but very well played.

 

Playing high quality classical guitar is not easy. Whoever played that is creating a beautiful tone from their instrument, and is a total pro.

 

Thanks Marceror,I'm glad you like it!   That was me playing.  I played classical guitar for many years, and own a concert guitar which I used for the inn music.

[Justin Bell]

As I mentioned in another thread, the music melodies are fantastic and actually quite memorable. I can see myself in 10 years hearing the PoE theme and getting that nostalgic feeling.

 

That being said, my only constructive feedback was that I felt the quality sounded very, very synthesized and the main theme (on the start screen) had some awkward pauses that make me wonder how much of the song was a product of the composer's own skill and how much of it was just copy paste VST note rolls.

 

Walk-away questions I have are: was this a resource/budget limitation? Could a good stretch goal have been to get the in-house composer better equipment? 

 

Hi theacefes, thanks for your question.  None of the music you hear used pre-recorded VSTi phrases, it's all through composed.  The pauses you hear are for dramatic effect, and function as a breath between phrases.

 

Regarding the equipment, it's not really the equipment in question.  It's very time consuming to get sampled instruments to sound real, so it really came down to prioritizing my time.  That said, I think there may be some surprises yet that may make you a happy person.