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Jukebox Heroes: Talking to HEX Composer Michael Shapiro
Massively: On today's column we have the composer of the upcoming TCG MMO, HEX. Now that's a lot of capital letters all in a row, so take a deep breath, get over it, and please welcome composer Michael Gordon Shapiro. Mike, can you give us a bit of your background in music? Michael Gordon Shapiro: When I started my career I was only interested in film music. Game audio was just starting to emerge from the low-tech era, and there was a kind of stigma associated with it, much as there used to be with television music. As fate would have it, I was offered an in-house composer position at a game studio and was pleasantly surprised to find myself recording the same kind of live orchestral music that I loved doing for film. I also came to appreciate the high artistic effort going into both console and PC game scores. So from that point, the stigma dissolved in my mind and my artistic palette widened. Today I love doing both film and game music, for both overlapping and complementary reasons.
Jukebox Heroes: Talking with The Repopulation's Steven Coltart
Massively: Even in the far distant future on alien worlds, we'll still need music. This is why it's great that Composer Steven Coltart is providing The Repopulation with an original soundtrack, because otherwise the silence would be too much to bear. So Steven, can you tell us a little about yourself? Steven Coltart: I'm a full-time professional composer based in the UK and was commissioned to be lead composer on The Repopulation in 2013. Previous projects include Outer Empires, the first MMO of its kind created for iOS, which went on to sell over 200,000 copies and boasted the largest ever network of players online at that time. 2014 has seen me complete the soundtrack for a soon to be announced iOS game, and I'm currently putting the finishing touches to US-based sci-fi film Downward. I've worked incredibly hard to get to this point, but I'm lucky to have what I consider the best job in the world. Writing music for a living and getting to work with talented developers and producers, it doesn't get much better for me!
Jukebox Heroes: Hearthstone's soundtrack
A new Blizzard game is a reason for soundtrack lovers everywhere to celebrate because if there's one thing this studio does well (other than take goofy races very seriously), it's creating incredible scores for its games. Even though Hearthstone is a smaller title with a smaller score, I welcomed it nevertheless. Composers Peter McConnell, Jason Hayes, and Eric Dodds clearly had a lot of fun creating the whimsical, relaxing score for this game, and I must say that the music is perfectly ideal for the material. It hearkens back to the many tavern themes from World of Warcraft without being a complete copycat. You can actually download the entire soundtrack for free on the Hearthstone official site, but before you do that, why not listen to my favorite picks from the score?
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #10-1
We're finally here: my top 10 MMO theme tracks. I anticipate that out of all of the weeks, this will be the most controversial, since not only am I proclaiming the 10 best, but you'll realize which of your favorite games I've left out of the top 40 entirely. A final reminder as to my self-imposed rules for this list: I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So there were no points added or subtracted based on my love of the game. I'm counting down the best music, period. If you missed earlier parts of this series, check out themes #40-31, #30-21, and #20-11. Otherwise, hit that continue button and get listening already!
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #20-11
We're growing ever closer to my top picks for MMO theme songs, but we're not quite at the end yet. This week we are on to the third part of our Top 40 MMO main themes countdown. To repeat my self-imposed rules for this list: I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So there were no points added or subtracted based on my love of the game. I'm counting down the best music, period. If you missed earlier parts of this series, check out themes #40-31 and #30-21. Otherwise, hit that continue button and get listening already!
The Daily Grind: Which MMO has the best soundtrack?
As the resident MMO music nut here at Massively (but not the only one, oh no), I spend probably more time than is healthy listening through soundtracks and hunting down pieces of music that ears have not heard in years. I've got my favorites: The Guild Wars and World of Warcraft albums are a no-brainer, but I'm equally partial to Runes of Magic and Lineage II as well. If I have to pick a "best" out of the lot, my brain shuts down, I panic, and I grab the first Hello Kitty Online folder I see. So I'll leave it up to you all: Which MMO has the best soundtrack? 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!
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #30-21
We're back with our second part of our Top 40 MMO main themes countdown, this time digging into the middle of the pack. To repeat my self-imposed rules for this list: I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So there were no points added or subtracted based on my love of the game; I'm counting down the best music, period. If you missed the first part, check out themes #40-31. Otherwise, hit that continue button and get listening already!
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #40-31
MMO main themes hold the potential to be some of the most powerful and magical pieces of music, partly because we associate them with particular games more than anything else. A great theme will dredge up intense memories or euphoria by the third note, and I see composers putting in their all with many of these themes. A long time ago I did an MMO theme countdown of 20 tracks, but since then I've heard a lot more and have wanted to do the list all over again. So this week in Jukebox Heroes, we're kicking off a countdown of the top 40 MMO themes -- in my opinion, of course. I listened to over 150 themes and spent hours ranking them to create this list. Because these choices are bound to be a little controversial and stir up debate (which is encouraged!), I set down a few rules that I wanted to share here. I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So no points added or subtracted based on the love of the game; I'm counting down the best music, period. Let's see what numbers 40 through 31 have in store for us!
Jukebox Heroes: Allods Online's soundtrack
I'm particularly excited about this week's journey through MMO music because we're going to touch on one of those scores that doesn't get nearly enough of the respect it should. Like Runes of Magic's excellent OST, Allods Online's music is largely overlooked because the game itself isn't treated as a "serious" or "original" title. But one shouldn't be so quick to throw out the soundtrack with the bathwater (that is both messy and noisy!); Allods Online has several top-notch tracks that should be recognized no matter what you may think of the game. Composers Mark Morgan (Fallout, Planescape: Torment) and Vladislav Isaev (Prime World) collaborated on the large project. "The music in Allods Online combines lots of different elements and styles," they said in a 2009 interview. "These range from dark ambient and ethnic music, symphonies and rock music, as well as various industrial noises. Some tracks in the game retain a Russian melody spirit combined with high a quality production and its own unique sound." I think it's the Russian flair that sets this apart from being yet another fantasy soundtrack. Anything different and yet still catchy is welcome at my dinner table. Let's partake, shall we?
Jukebox Heroes: Elf music
As probably many of you know, I am no fan of the Elven menace. I won't rehash the reasons n this space, but I mention that because I do try to be a fair man. When I'm not trying to eradicate any pointy-eared immortal know-it-all tree-hugger in sight, I have been known to appreciate the Elves' musical culture. That doesn't make me a hypocrite. It just gives me slight pause before ganking the next Drizzt or Legolas. For whatever reason, Elves bring out the magic and talent in MMO composition. Elven themes are quite often among the best that a particular OST has to offer, particularly if you like airy, magical, ethereal tracks that are big on imagination and almost devoid of percussion. I've been noting the trend of excellent Elf music for years and figured I might as well devote a week to it here before going back to my Elf-bashing ways.
Jukebox Heroes: Free Realms' soundtrack
There's something about the announcement of a game's closure that draws tons of interest to that MMO, the type of interest that it frankly needed long before now, not a few minutes too late. Even so, I had Free Realms on my to do list for a while now and figured that spending an hour with its score was something that needed to be done. Free Realms had had a lot of fingers in its musical pie, including those belonging to Tracy W. Bush, Atli Örvarsson, David Raiklen, and Aaron Kaplan. As a score, it's very reminiscent of The Sims franchise's soundtracks: whimsical, childlike, and quite light on pounding percussion. The many minigames and themed zones probably demanded a good variety of motifs to be developed. It's a very good score overall although not as wide on variety as I would typically like. Let's give this game the musical send-off it deserves!
Jukebox Heroes: It's time to turn the music back on
We're going to take a week off from our tour of various MMO soundtracks to talk about one of the most common statements I hear when the discussion of in-game music comes up. Here it is: "Oh, I turned the music off a long time ago." It's downright hard to get into any good discussion about music when, y'know, people don't listen to it at all, but I can understand why folks have done this. Heck, I've done this at various points. For me, sometimes the music is far too repetitive when I'm in a zone for a really long time, so I have to turn it off to avoid going mad. Other times I disable the sound because I'm working on other sound-related projects (such as podcasts and listening through other OSTs) while I play. But even though it seems that a lot of us shut off the music, I want to make a case for why it's important that we turn the music back on -- if not all of the time, at least once in a while.
Jukebox Heroes: Firefall's soundtrack
There's something about militaristic science-fiction shooters that brings out the piano in the composer, isn't there? That's what I was thinking when I first heard one of the Firefall themes. Not that the track was bad, just that it made me wonder why these simple piano themes have been linked to such games. Oh, it's probably because of Halo, but I'd like to think that there are greater reasons than that. So this week we're going to be taking a crash course on the Firefall soundtrack. As far as I know, composers Michael Bross and Boon Sim's score isn't available to buy or download anywhere, so the avid video game score collector is going to have to do a little digital yoga to coax those files out of the library. I think it's worth hunting around for it, as Firefall's music is an obvious labor of love and a desire to create a quality product. "Initially, we experimented with something that was mostly synth-driven and atmospheric," Bross said in an interview, "but then there was a desire from the team to have something that leaned toward the orchestral. Over time, though, we settled into something that combined both orchestral and modern elements that lend very well to an epic but atmospheric feel."
Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars Nightfall's soundtrack
We're slowly but steadily working our way through the Guild Wars library, having already covered Prophecies and Factions in this space. It's time to move on to the third and final full campaign of the original game: Nightfall. Nightfall has a special significance for me in that it was my starting point for actually going through the entirety of the game prior to Guild Wars 2's release. While I've never been a fan of desert and Middle Eastern settings, I must admit that Jeremy Soule's return to the score isn't something to be ignored. Perhaps there aren't as many stand-out tracks as in the previous campaigns, but on the whole the score is well above-average compared to many MMO soundtracks.
Jukebox Heroes: Meridian 59's soundtrack
There's a lot of general distaste and dislike out there for video game music that comes in MIDI or chipset form. Many gamers have simply never really experienced eras when the sound for computers and consoles were limited in such ways, so to go back to listen to them seems downright painful. For MMO players, there are only a handful of games that came out during the MIDI era, and pretty much all of them have since updated to MP3 versions. Yet I have a fondness for older-style game music. I agree with what Ryan Shwayder once wrote when he said, "I think MIDI composers had to become masters of capturing the real core or heart of what made a song feel right. They had to take a minimalist approach to the song because they had a limited number of channels and potential sounds to work with. And it is my belief that some of the best creative works come out when an artist has to work within constraints." That said, most of Meridian 59's soundtrack out there is of the remastered variety, so that's what we'll be listening to today. By the way, the original soundtrack by Composer Gene M. Rozenberg is available on the official website for free!
Jukebox Heroes: Reader request 3
Since it's our very last Jukebox Heroes column of the year on the very last day of the year, I thought it would be most appropriate to open up the reader request lines once again and feature MMO tunes that are your favorites. If you'd like to put in your own request for the next time I run one of these columns, please list your favorite MMO music track in the comments along with an explanation as to what you love about it! So check out what your fellow soundtrackophiles appreciate and stay tuned for a totally rockin' 2014!
Jukebox Heroes: Forsaken World's soundtrack
I must admit that Forsaken World is one of those MMOs I know very, very little about. When I was in an experimental mood, I downloaded it for an evening but found the cluttered interface and cash-shop-heavy approach a turn-off. That doesn't mean I couldn't go back to listen to the music, of course! Forsaken World was composed by Austrian Roland Mair-Gruber. I am not that familiar with Mair-Gruber (his portfolio is a little skimpy thus far), but if this score is anything to judge him by, he's a lover of serene soundscapes. This is the kind of soundtrack that you could just put on the background in a spa, for the most part, although that doesn't mean it's forgettable. I liked it enough not to consider my time listening to it a waste, even though there weren't as many standout tracks as I've heard elsewhere. So what should you listen to from Forsaken World? I've got you covered this week in Jukebox Heroes!
Jukebox Heroes: More of Guild Wars 2's soundtrack
It's been well over a year since I last touched on Guild Wars 2's OST, Super Adventure Box aside. Wow, has it really been that long? Sometimes it seems as if it just came out! At this point in the game's lifespan, there are two categories of music that you'll find: the Jeremy Soule original soundtrack and the in-house pieces done by Maclaine Diemer and Leif Chappelle. I'm going to wrap up my favorite Soule selections in this column and leave the latter category for a later column. Let's get down to making out with our ears, shall we? Here are six more great Guild Wars 2 tracks that are among my personal favorites.
Jukebox Heroes: Star Wars Galaxies' soundtrack
Ah, Star Wars Galaxies. Even almost two years after your demise, it doesn't seem possible to shake you loose from our thoughts. Maybe the NGE was a blessing in disguise, a never-depleting power source of rage that will forever give life to your memories. In any case, it's time to talk about the one aspect of the game that was there before SWG was created and will go on indefinitely afterward: the soundtrack. Talking about Star Wars Galaxies' soundtrack puts me in an odd position because a great deal of the OST is lifted directly from John Williams' movie scores. And what hasn't been said about those classics, really? But there are a few tracks here and there that I could pick out as being unique to the game, although the actual composer who did the job escapes my Google Fu. So let's take one last trip to a Galaxies far, far away, shall we?
Jukebox Heroes: Dragon's Prophet's soundtrack
Considering the lack of chatter I've heard about Dragon's Prophet post-launch, I'm willing to say that this title's been having a difficult time gaining traction in the main MMO community. Gameplay aside, I was looking forward to this MMO's release because I hold Runewaker's Runes of Magic in high regard when it comes to its soundtrack. I was hoping for the same level of quality in Dragon's Prophet, and I really wasn't disappointed. The OST was composed by Alex Pfeffer, Alexander Röder, Mindy Lo, and Rmoney Chen. It's a series of grand, stirring orchestral tunes that would be at home transplanted to just about any fantasy MMO that you're playing. Listening through it all, I found that it had a high ratio of quality tracks, so much so that narrowing it down to six picks proved problematic. I think I found a good balance, however.
