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Shutterstock's composition photo search is powered by AI
Fresh off its AI-powered tool for countering watermark removal from photos, Shutterstock is using machine learning for something else. In this case, it's launching a composition-aware search tool.
The Elder Scrolls Online explores the creation of its music
Music plays a major role in setting the mood of any game. Sure, it might not be what makes or breaks The Elder Scrolls Online, but it would be difficult to get into the feel of epic adventure if the game's soundtrack were played entirely on harmonicas and vuvuzuelas. The latest development blog on the official site explains how the game's music was developed, how it was recorded, and what you can expect from the experience. Brad Derrick and Rik Schaffer handled the composition of the in-game score, experimenting with a variety of different methods for delivering the songs. At one point the game featured a system that changed the soundtrack measure by measure based on context cues, but that proved unworkable in the long run; instead, the music shifts to a variety of pieces depending on gameplay, weather, and the like, with unifying themes in each environment. Click on past the break for a sample of the orchestral recording, as well as one of the bardic songs performed by the singer Malukah.
Jukebox Heroes: Chance Thomas talks about scoring Turbine's expansions
For many Lord of the Rings Online players, the name Chance Thomas is synonymous with the feel of virtual Middle-earth. From the earliest days in the game, explorers have traversed the Shire, Moria, and beyond listening to Thomas' melodies. So we were excited to hear that Turbine is bringing Thomas back to score not only Riders of Rohan (his first soundtrack for the game since Mines of Moria) but also Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark as well. Thomas is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning composer who's been working primarily in the field of video game music since 1998. Being a huge fan of MMO soundtracks, I made it a personal quest to talk with him about these two new scores and how he feels about working in this genre. In the weeks ahead, I'll be reviewing both Rohan and Underdark's soundtracks, but today I wanted to focus on the man behind the music. Join me, then, as we embark on a voyage to worlds far away, sailing on the wings of a song. Geez, that's cheesy, ain't it?
Daily iPad App: Soundbrush lets you create music with a brush
SoundBrush is a US $1.99 iPad app that lets you create original compositions by swiping your finger across the iPad screen. The description sounded a bit odd, but I had fun playing with SoundBrush and discovering what it could do. You can have a total of 4 instrumental lines -- piano, strings, flute and synth, and it appears the app selects proper harmonies when you lay your tracks down. I was surprised how good my little compositions sounded, although I wasn't quite ready for a concert. The app lets you hear the notes as you draw them, and you can super-impose a grid to show you the notes you are drawing. You can delete anything you have written with a double tap, so you can actually edit the music you create. The canvas scrolls, so you can have lengthy compositions. You can also control the playback speed, which also comes in handy when you are editing. This might be a great way to get a young person involved in music, and the combination of the dynamic colors and music that flows from the drawings you make are bound to be a stimulus to any young mind. I'm no kid, and I really enjoyed experimenting. I would have loved to have the app creators include some sample compositions, because starting cold, you don't know what to expect. I also think having some percussion options would be nice. Using the app doesn't require any musical knowledge, but I expect the more you know, the better your compositions will be. Soundbrush requires iOS 5 and an iPad, and it supports the retina display on the new iPad. %Gallery-153096%
The Daily Grind: What do you look for when taking screenshots?
There's an art to taking a cool screenshot, an art that I'm sadly not very good at. I never seem to be able to take good shots in combat, and my attempts at picking out perfect environments are pretty much nonexistent. The one thing I can do is ensure that whether I'm in Final Fantasy XIV or Star Wars: The Old Republic, I have good screenshots of my characters looking cool. I've paused what I'm doing in-game on occasion just to make sure that I can line up a nice character shot perfectly. Of course, some people can find perfect angles for landscapes. Some people look for a funny glitch or a strange character type. And some people just find the right art to capture an intense battle in one moment. What do you look for when you're taking a screenshot? Do you go to great lengths to set up the right shot, or do you just have a knack for getting a certain picture type just right? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Compose with a full orchestra on your iPad or iPhone
Many years ago I built a music synthesizer kit. It was a mass of circuit boards and wires. When I got done, any note I played warbled and quickly went off key. Times have changed, and now, rather amazingly, an iPhone or iPad can be home to a massive orchestra that will do your bidding as you compose or transcribe music wherever you are. That brings us to WI Orchestra, a new app from Wallander Instruments that allows you to create and record orchestral music, layer by layer. The app is free, but it only gives you a handful of instruments. In-app purchases let you select an entire family of instruments for US$2.99. To get them all will cost you $15. Wallander technology has been in use for years, and you'll hear its electronically created instruments in TV shows and movies. Lots of composers use the desktop versions of the software every day. The app allows you to work on up to 98 compositions at a time, and you can export the songs as WAV files. It works on any iDevice running iOS 4.0 or greater, and iPad and iPhones with more than 256 MB of RAM can have projects that run up to 5 minutes. I tried the app on my iPad and thought it was pretty intuitive. A brief help menu is supplied. The keyboard picked up how hard I was playing, and roughly adjusted volume accordingly. I realized how nice a Bluetooth or USB music keyboard would be with this app. The on-screen version worked OK, but it's certainly not tactile the way a physical keyboard would be. %Gallery-123819%
Flaming Lips create tune for 12 smartphones
This is a little trippy. The band Flaming Lips once released a studio album containing four CDs designed to be played all at the same time. Flaming Lips has upped the ante and uploaded 12 different clips to YouTube, which are all supposed to be played on 12 different smartphones at the same time (or browser windows, if you don't have 12 iPhones). Here's their YouTube account with all of the videos on it, and here's an "instructional" video (beware: the title of the song is not safe for work) detailing how to get the tracks running and synced up on an iPhone. Like I said, trippy. If you're not a Flaming Lips fan, the whole thing is probably too weird to put in the effort, not to mention that you probably don't have 12 smartphones sitting around to play music with unless you're in a particularly high-tech and relaxed office space. But it's a cool angle on music composition, and it's a neat experiment made possible with YouTube and our favorite smartphone. If you do have the time and energy to make it work, let us know what you think.
Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle
This is fascinating to me -- musician Matthew Irvine Brown has compiled a set of 18 musical tracks, about an hour of music total, designed to be played in random order on the iPod shuffle. There was a lot of care and thought put into this as he designed the music to be atmospheric pieces. Even when shuffled, they'll work together no matter which order they're played. He also designed the sound of the music to fit with the iPod shuffle, hiding the glitch heard as the iPod switches tracks. As a final bonus, Matthew designed separate cover art for each track, so as a tune plays in iTunes, the cover art shows a very rough "animation." You can see a two-minute sample of the work after the break, and download all of the music for free in a zip file if you want to give it a shot. Brown also says that the work is an example of "skip button as instrument," too. You can hit the skip button whenever you want to jump to the next track and change tempo or tone as you see fit. It's a cool composition meant specifically for Apple's smallest iPod.
DIY Composition notebook cover for MacBook Air
Have an 11-inch MacBook Air and want to jazz it up with a skinmod that propels you back to your school days? If you responded with an enthusiastic "yes," then you need to check out this composition notebook skin from Beyondthetech. The skin will transform the outer lid of your MacBook Air into a traditional mottled black and white composition notebook. When you lift the lid, you are greeted with an interior skin that transforms your wrist rest into a piece of lined paper complete with two red margin lines. The look is not for everyone, but it is perfect for those that enjoy turning some heads. The creator of this skinmod posted up the skin files on the Beyondthetech website, and you can use them to create a custom ZAGGSkin perfectly suited for the latest generation MacBook Air. The MacBook Air skin is a free download while the custom ZAGGSkin will set you back US$60 plus shipping and taxes. The designer of this skin also created the popular Leica camera skinmod for the iPhone 4, a clever printable skin that can be used with a Griffin Reveal case to make your iPhone look just like a Leica camera. Grab them both and really confuse your friends! [Via The Daily What]
New Making of Eorzea video sits down with Final Fantasy XIV's composer Uematsu
For many people, Nobuo Uematsu's name is inextricably linked to the Final Fantasy series. And with good cause -- he's one of the people most closely associated with the feel of the series, with several of his compositions having become ubiquitous even within games he didn't score. Having been the sole composer for Final Fantasy XIV, the newest Making of Eorzea video sits down with Uematsu and discusses the experience of composing the full score for the game. While Uematsu estimates it's been about ten years since he was in charge of a full score for a game, there's little argument to be had about his suitability for the job. He discusses both the scope of the project and his experiences in composing such memorable tracks as the theme song -- which, in his own words, was sung by Susan Calloway at his own insistence. See more about the music of Final Fantasy XIV in the video, embedded after the cut.
Boston Globe features Berklee's growing video game music composition program
Boston's Berklee College of Music continues to expand its curriculum for video game music. The Boston Globe has a feature on the program, which this semester includes five classes in game audio and scoring (in a musical sense). The piece covers the basics of the program, from the first class started four years ago to the compositions being put together for local indie games. Berklee isn't the only school with video game audio classes, as Yale, New York University and local rival New England Conservatory also feature programs. The thing that really makes Berklee stand out, however, is its Video Game Music Club, which reportedly has 300 members. Check out the Globe piece for a nice introduction to Berklee's growing recognition of the medium.
Jack Wall scoring Mass Effect 2, score the soundtrack yourself on Jan. 19
The prolific composer Jack Wall will be droppin' mad orchestral beats on the soon-to-be-released Mass Effect 2, according to a recent EA press release. Though you may not be familiar with the name, you're probably familiar with his work -- Wall produced the scores for Jade Empire, Splinter Cell, Myst III and co-composed the accompaniment for the original Mass Effect. So, you know he's already got experience with theremins and other sci-fi synthesizers, which is important for this kind of work. If you need something ambient to listen to during your daily chamomile bath, the soundtrack will also be available to download from the usual online retailers on January 19. Or you could just, you know, leave the game running in the other room with the volume turned way up. Your choice!
Blood Sport: Beginner's guide to arena, part II
Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all-things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column. Listening Music: The cutest kid you've ever seen covering Jason Mraz. Blood Sport normally features the musical works of professionals. For this little guy, we have to make an exception. My favorite part is right before the first verse. I love the intense scrunched face and little head nod. I dare you to find anything even half as cute. That video of a tickled kitten has nothing on this. Last Week: part one of our beginner's arena guide. First, we fielded a possible complaint about catering to casuals. After that, we talked a little bit about some of the best ways to gear up: finding an arena team, doing battlegrounds, and running Vault of Archavon. Check it out if you have the time. This week, we'll talk about some frequently asked questions players have when considering jumping into the arena. Read on for part two of our arena guide for beginners after the break!
Listen to new tracks from the Earthrise soundtrack
Masthead Studios, the creators of post-apocalyptic MMO Earthrise, just reached out to Massively and gave us access to two tracks from the upcoming game's soundtrack. The tracks are titled Flooid and Shiv Out, composed by Pavel Benov who we've mentioned in the past for creating a blend of ambient and industrial music for the game. Both tracks are electronica, which seems fitting for this sci-fi MMO. When you're creating the music that sets the tone for a futuristic game where the old world is dead and gone, lost to nuclear and biological warfare, something orchestral as heard in a fantasy MMO might not really work. Earthrise is a game about a cloned society of technocratic elite reborn in the far future -- a time where advanced technology dominates and defines the lives of all of the world's remaining inhabitants -- so going electronic with the game's music was probably the right choice. Give the Flooid and Shiv Out tracks linked above a listen and let us know what you think. If you like these tracks, you might also want to check out Benov's Dystopia Sunrise and Lay Waste as well.
Bear McCreary explains inspiration for Dark Void score
The pangs of despair we felt upon seeing the recent delay of Dark Void came in two distinct, yet equally heartbreaking flavors. For one, we became that much further removed from the title's jetpack-infused gameplay we've come to know and love. However, almost as upsetting was the fact that we'd have to wait even longer to hear the game's seemingly breathtaking musical score, created by former Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary.Machinima.com recently helped ease the pain by releasing a video interview (posted after the break) with McCreary conducted at San Diego Comic Con '09. It doesn't really feature any of the game's musical accompaniment, but provides us with an interesting look into Bear's creative process -- a process that thankfully extends further than "learn title of game, write entire score in one sitting, give music to developer, earn check, cash check, buy Jet Ski."[Via Capcom Unity]
Forum post of the day: Be disciplined about healing meters
Mellere of Wildhammer posted a brief lament about her guild leaders treatment of a Discipline Priest. The discipline priest was below a Retadin on HPS. Without understanding the role of mitigation as a healer, the Raid Leader told him to go holy to bring up his HPS. The OP expressed disappointment in the RL at this action.Several responders posted that this is partly the fault of Blizzard as they don't take into account shielding and mitigation to healing scores in the combat log. Daerilla of Spirestone intimated that she did not want to see mitigation included in healing figures, because then people would take notice of how overpowered Disc Priests are in raids. There were some less-than-kind comments about the Raid Leader's competence.
BBC talks to composer about the challenges of writing game music
James Hannigan, music composer for the Harry Potter games and Red Alert 3, spoke with the BBC about the challenges of writing game music. He explains that games often require him to write music for scenes he hasn't seen -- the complete opposite of what happens in film and television. An interesting observation involves the differences between composing for third- and first-person games. Hannigan points out that more prominent music could "conflict" with the player's sense of immersion in a first-person game, often prompting more understated approaches compared to third-person adventures. He also appreciates gaming's influence on getting younger fans hooked on classical music, which becomes "acceptable and reasonably fashionable to people because it comes from their favorite games." With shows like Video Games Live getting more attention, it's always interesting to gain some insight into an aspect of games that too often goes uncelebrated.
Age of Conan wins Best Original Score at IFMCA awards
The fantasy MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is a game that's notable for its score, and this aspect of the title has drawn accolades from gamers and music critics alike. Composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen was even nominated for Best Original Score in a Video Game in the Hollywood Music Awards. While ultimately that honor went to Wataru Hokoyama for Afrika, Haugen now has cause to celebrate his big win at the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) awards. The IFMCA is an association of online, print, and radio journalists who write about film and television music. Clearly they were impressed with Haugen's work. Age of Conan won Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media, this time beating Afrika, as well as Gears of War 2, Mercenaries 2, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. [Via MMORPG.com] Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
Forum post of the day: A Rogue without a cause
Maximogu of Firetree posed the question "Why bring a Rogue to an 80 heroic?" in the general forums. He claimed that at this point there CC is unnecessary for most tanks that rely on AOE. Most of the trash pulls are handled by AOE classes now, making the Rogue's single target focus obsolete. He argued that Rogues are best suited with Druid tanks that do not handle multiple mobs as well as other tanking classes do.Here are some of the reasons given for bringing a rogue along:Anushka of Kel'Thuzad: There's a lot of nasty things that can be interrupted in most heroics. Though I wouldn't take more than one rogue.Khadros of Frostwolf: To listen to the sound of theirs daggers going schlick schlick schlick.Morgrimm of Korgath: Because one of my friends is a rogue.Owari of Frostwolf: To DPS, of course.Mypetgoat of Bladefist: It's one expendible DPS that won't roll on my gear.Madia of Maelstrom: They need loot and stuff too.
Ready Check: Raid composition for 3.0.2 and beyond
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, ZA or Sunwell Plateau, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. While enjoying sparkly new raid buffs... Once the upcoming content patch hits, our raids are going to look pretty different. Or are they? Currently, balancing your raid is a delicate game that involves weighing up various gains and tradeoffs, while simultaenously placating people who are all competing for the same spots. While this micromanagement doesn't appeal to everyone, looking at a raid and acknowledging it as a feat of min-max perfection does bring a certain warm glow to one's heart. Of course, knowing the exact DPS increase from putting a feral druid in the melee group or running perl scripts to calculate a retribution paladin's RDPS contribution is considered overkill by many. Perhaps it's with a sigh of relief that we look forward to 3.0.2's new buff system, where such things will be unnecessary – though I think the logicians among us will always look back slightly wistfully at the way things are now. So, how do you optimise your raid when the patch hits?
