Sound in Games: Spyro the Dragon

After constant pestering from my girlfriend claiming that I am not a true gamer until I have experienced Spyro the Dragon, I finally decided to give this game a go via PSN. After being pleasantly surprised by the solid gameplay, the charming environments, and Spyro himself, I decided to look up the game on Wikipedia to see if there were any interesting tidbits of information.

And lo and behold; it turns out Stewart Copeland, the drummer for the band called The Police, was the composer.

…Huh.

When I first heard the music for Spyro, it was essentially quite a letdown – game music involving dragons should involve more mysticism and grandeur; something that involves the orchestra, maybe a grand and triumphant melody to help symbolize the power of the dragons. Instead, I got this:

Totally not what I was expecting. Yes, you play as a young, spunky dragon named Spyro as he saves his elders and reclaims treasure to defeat the main villain, Gnasty Gnorc. The music does lend to his quirky nature and the charmingness of the world around him, but I still expected some more epic dragon brouhaha. I guess I was expecting too much after listening to the Skyrim soundtrack…

But anyway, after finding out that Stewart Copeland was the composer for the music of this game, my opinion and listening style changed. I started listening for the things that Stewart Copeland was most famous for – the offbeat fills, the syncopated rhythms, his love of reggae and masterful control of the rims and hi-hat. By doing this, I was able to better appreciate the music for the game.

You have to love the gentle bells that accentuate a 12/8 rhythm over the 4/4 of the entire song. The drum work is beautiful and balanced, while still being interesting and intricate. Although virtually all the music share the same basic I to IV to I chord progression, I am still impressed by the amount of variety he could pull off with the instruments he has limited himself into, and the textural work he puts into each track.

You gotta love how working in a band has inspired his music here, though. Consistent bass lines, a hard rock guitar kicking in, keyboards for the extra flourish, and a typical rock band chord progression for all the music. I gotta hand it to him; he does an excellent job creating different tracks with the same formula.

By no means is this a good soundtrack fitting the game, though. All the chord progressions are the same, the music really doesn’t fit the game, and I don’t think the music itself is particularly memorable or catchy. I will say this though; for what it is, it is actually quite neat and interesting to listen to. If anything else, you should play the game and listen to the music to learn how to create more from having little to begin with.

…Besides, Stewart Copeland is one of my favourite drummers..

-FoA

Yaaaay!

 

I’m back HOME!! France was quite possibly the greatest thing that has happened to me since. Well, ever.

It was a truly memorable trip, and I made a lot of new friends and new connections.

 

Being back home, though, means going back to work. So I might as well talk about a few projects in the pipeline!

• My main project is finishing this Euphonium and Piano piece for my close friend and expert Euphoniumist, Jason Dallas. It’s coming along rather well, and I’ll update you as it goes along.
• A few new game projects are rolling along as well! The latest one is the fan remake of M.A.X., an old turn-based strategy game. It’s got some really gorgeous, dark, and hard sci-fi music to go with the game, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Check out a few samples from the old game:

• Since my trip to Taize, I’ve been inspired to work on a few new choral works. One of them is inspired by a prayer by Brother Roger, the founder of Taize. The other is an Ave Maria; I don’t know how it came about, I just knew that it had to be written down. They’re looking to be rather straightforward pieces, but for good reason (which will work out well, I hope).

Anyways, I can’t wait to get back to writing about game music again! I’ll start it up again next Friday.

Thanks,

-FoA

Sad face. D:

I’m going to make an epic pilgrimage trip to Paris starting today, and I won’t be back online ’till late 19th. Which means you won’t have me talk about game soundtracks for a bit!

I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and share my experience with all of you as soon as I get back though.

In the mean time, I might as well update you on the latest goings-on in my life right now:

• I just had a choral work performed by the incredibly talented Mohawk College Community Choir! They did an amazing job with their repertoire, which included Faure’s Requiem. My piece was the last one performed, and it was called Epilogue, with text by Cheryl Ann Cornette. I am not sure if I’ll be getting a recording, though, but I’ll let you know as soon as I can.
• I GOT MY FIRST PAYING GIG! A few game developers asked if I’d like to compose a few tunes for them, and they’ll pay me for my services! THIS IS SO AMAZINGGGGGGG

  Mind you, they didn’t pay much, but for 10-12 seconds of music in total, it’s a pretty amazing deal. I can finally put something in my resume ; w ;

• I’m currently working on a new piece for the Euphonium and Piano for my good friend Jason Dallas. It is called May March in April, and is a rather energetic and lively piece for the unique instrument.

  Ah, I’m currently debating whether I should make blog posts about my works-in-progress….Any thoughts? Comments? Let me know.

• Speaking of the Euphonium, I’m also learning the recorder so that I can busk downtown with Jason. Which means I’ll have to write new repertoire for the most ridiculous ensemble ever. Hopefully it’ll turn out good!
• After the choir concert, a lady asked me for my autograph.
  …
  I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD EVER BE ASKED A QUESTION LIKE THAT OMG
  It was so surreal and bizarre.
  But it happened.
  I will remember her name forever.

That is my currently life in a nutshell. Hopefully you will all behave and do good while I’m gone, and I promise you I’ll come back with some epic stories and great pictures. See you in a few!

-FoA

Sound in Games: El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

This game was largely ignored by the mainstream media, but I immediately fell in love with it when I first saw the trailer. Its bold and gorgeous graphical art style instantly sold me, and hearing the game’s rather angelic and ethereal music instantly put me in love with the game.

I’ve beaten the game some time ago, but never really got around to talking about the music until now. No time like the present!

This game must have been hard to promote to publishers. With the game taking inspiration from the Old Testament (yes, the Old Testament), you play as Enoch; the only man that has ever been allowed access to heaven. There, he serves as a scribe to God. However, with the angels beginning to fall in love with humans, and the humans in turn viewing the angels as gods, God decides to wipe out all life by a great flood. Enoch thinks this is a terrible idea, and instead enlists himself to return to Earth and reign in the rogue angels and bring them to justice. And so begins Enoch’s quest to save the world.

Being a story based on religious text, the developers were treading on some ridiculously thin ice – if they don’t stay true to the text, they will inevitably hurt a huge group of people, especially to the group that still follows the text. If they do stay true to the text, they’ll end up with a rather dull game. So what to do?

In my opinion, I think they solved it pretty easily; what would a person doing some rather serious drugs see if they started reading the story?

As a result you get a game that is undeniably Japanese – a game that takes inspiration from the strangest of places; a crazy smorgasbord of a soundtrack; and some bizarre yet undeniably lovable characters. The soundtrack is especially noteworthy (haha see what I did there?), since it uses the unique visual hook to create some truly unique music.

This is the song that pretty much ties the entire game together. Its unique use of a wide variety of percussion, crunchy yet ethereal choral lines, and its lovely use of seventh chords and parallel motion. I have a feeling that the composer working for the music of this game found a lot of inspiration from the French Impressionist composers such as Debussy or Satie, which is fitting; a lot of the game’s graphical look is very Impressionistic.

The Impressionist feel is especially prevalent in the beginning of this track. Listen to the chords gently slide from F to DM7, then to BbM7, and finally to GM7. Incidentally, the first note of each of those chords also outline a major seventh chord. This pattern continues downwards until the strings finally give a stable accompaniment as the horns carry the melody forward.

Remember how I said this game, despite taking inspiration from the Old Testament, is distinctly Japanese? This track is a great example why. It sounds like something out of the more modern Final Fantasy games, with its lively violin melody and frantic drum beat. Thankfully, it also features the lovely chordal progression that I have pointed out in the previous song, giving it a unique character and something easily recognizable.

…Yeah. A heavy metal song. Just give it a good listen. It might not rewrite the book, but having this song in this game and making it work is an achievement in and of itself.

This is one of my personal favorite tracks though. This plays whenever you die in combat, and I won’t spoil to you what happens when you do, but it was freaking creepy. And amazing.

This track is also a great example of the amazing range of influences that run through this game. You go from Impressionism to heavy metal to some crazy opera thing, and with this you venture into a world that’s similar to minimalism. The use of the heavily reverbed sitar and the gentle yet menacing ambient drums help give a sense of uneasiness.

I finally leave you with this. This track is really quite astonishing – it comes at a rather significant point in the game where Enoch travels to the place where the humans worship the fallen angels. Here, you see utter darkness and the blood-red tower that is in front of you, but below you, you see fireworks and you hear this joyous African-like hymn being sung by the people. It just helps outline the core philosophy of the game – this great battle between good vs. evil, and how it can be interpreted in so many different ways.

I love this game. I have five other tracks that I really want to show you, but I feel that I’ll just ruin the game if I do. Seriously, find this game and give it a go – it might not be your cup of tea, but it will leave you with a memorable and lasting impression.

-FoA

Sound in Games: Metal Gear Solid

There are few games out there that can proudly say that it has changed the gaming landscape as we know it. Legend of Zelda brought with it the element of exploration and adventure to the world of games; Metroid Prime brought immersion and attention to detail in the game world; Gears of War brought with it (for better or for worse) a new subgenre of shooters; Halo brought to games the cover system and carry-two-weapons-at-a-time.

None of these games, however, pushed storytelling, narrative, and music the same way Metal Gear Solid did.

When this game came out in 1998, it was truly a revolution that would shake the foundation of gaming. No other game in its time had pushed itself to the limit as much as MGS did. Games such as Final Fantasy did have epic storylines with music, but no game has ever pushed for voiced dialogue for all its characters, or 10-minute long cutscenes, or gaming’s first get-on-a-vehicle-and-shoot-things sequence often copied in most FPS games nowadays.

You play as Solid Snake;  a retired espionage soldier who is asked to do one final mission – stop a newly formed terrorist group named Foxhound from launching weapons of mass destruction at the United States of America. As you try and save the world, though, you go through a dark and deep web of corruption and conspiracy, making you question your initial motives and wonder about who really is the true enemy and friend.

Yes, the storyline is convoluted and bizarre; filled to the brim with plot holes and some of the most melodramatic and over-the-top delivery the gaming world has ever seen, but all that didn’t matter at the time. In 1998, Metal Gear Solid proved that deep, thoughtful, and cinematic experiences can be delivered on a game, and ever since games have always been striving for that same sense of immersion and intensity.

One of the ways that I believe Metal Gear Solid has achieved this unique mood and feel to the game is through its soundtrack. Most games of the time would be happy with MIDI versions of purely orchestral music, with maybe some drums and electric guitar to spice things up. Unfortunately, MIDI recordings never sound as good as the real thing. Sure, the music might be well orchestrated and very full despite MIDI’s limitations, but sometimes you can’t shake off the feeling that the music is not as good as it can be.

Metal Gear Solid’s soundtrack solved that problem by simply embracing its artificiality, creating a dark and synthetic soundscape that fits with the realistic yet sci-fi feel with the game.

This is probably one of the most memorable tracks in the game. Whenever you are sighted by an enemy soldier, you have to either escape or take them out, and this is the track that plays when you do. It is hectic, fast-paced, and adds to the immense tension of being sighted by the enemy, and being outgunned.

If I’m not mistaken, this is played during boss battles. Again, it is amazingly tense, and takes full advantage of the synthetic sound of MIDI and creates a unique atmosphere. I’m especially a big fan of the synth male choir that moves in and out of the foreground of the song. The pizzicato strings and hard piano hits add to the immediacy of the song. It is the distorted hi-hat, however, that helps drive this urgency home.

Being an espionage game, the music needs to help illustrate the danger of the mission, and nothing does that better than ambient music. Again, the synths simply create the magic of this game – the quiet pulses of one note, the drum shots heard in the far distance, and that constant distorted hi-hat help create a sense of pressure and unease.

How can I talk about Metal Gear Solid without mentioning this track. The opening vocal line welcomed gamers to a whole new experience; a more cinematic and passionate side of gaming, and it also concluded a masterful and awe-inspiring game for those same gamers. I love how the lyrics are in Irish – not only do they create a sense of otherworldiness, they also create a surprisingly human touch to a game mainly about war, machines, and man’s ever-constant potential for destruction. There’s something rather special when you listen to a song in a different language – you don’t know what it means in your own language, but you don’t really need to know – if they sing the truth, then the truth will reach you, no matter what they are saying.

Anyway, I have no doubts that most of you have already experienced this game, but if you haven’t, you are missing out on something truly special. A great and awe-inspiring classic.

-FoA