Composer Jonah Senzel talks about his music for Inscryption. He wrote in a handful of different styles, from music heavy with sound effects to the simplest, slow chip-tune chords. The game also is a bit of a mash-up of styles – a deckbuilder with escape room elements and a bit of horror. It was great…
Read moreComposer Ego Plum writes such fantastic music for The Cuphead Show (on Netflix). The show itself is an absolute delight and it’s almost inexcusable if you don’t watch it (the episodes are brief enough that you could binge all 3 seasons in a day). And with comedic animation like this, the music is intertwined with…
Read moreI met video essayist Jacob Geller during my occasional appearances on The MinnMax Show to discuss the best game music of a given year. Meeting him led me on a journey through his videos, and I absolutely adore his videos. We talk about why in this conversation! In addition to YouTube, you can find Jacob…
Read moreComposer Thomas Cipollone writes 8-bit scores for games that release on NES cartridges. He has to adhere to all the rules composers followed in the 80s, constricted heavily by the size of his audio files and the voicings he can compose. And he does so brilliantly, with creative textures, great grooves and fulfilling melodies. We…
Read moreComposer Curtis Schweitzer talks about his hypnotic, largely orchestral music for the indie 2D space explorer, Starbound. I loved how many of the tracks stretch out almost indefinitely, giving the listener time in that musical place. And there’s quite a bit of music too – more than 6 hours of it. It’s worth your time,…
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Read moreDylan Wiest is the director, drummer and sometimes-keyboardist in The OC Jazz Collective, a talented group of musicians from the legendary OverClocked Remix brigade. The ensemble released a new album in November, 2022 called Mode Seven: A Jazz Tribute to the SNES. If you’ve never dipped your toe into the OC Remix crowd, this is…
Read moreComposer Vincent Diamante‘s music for Sky: Children of the Light is gentle, gorgeous and uplifting. The palette is mostly orchestral, especially in the early volumes of the soundtrack (there are 4 volumes, currently). The game is from thatgamecompany, known for its brilliantly designed indie games such as Journey, Flower and Flow. Vincent composed for Flower,…
Read moreNuno Fonseca grew up with an equal love for music, audio and technology. He’s a former university professor in Portugal, and he’s published more than 20 papers on computer audio and 2 books on sound and computer design. His interests led him to create Sound Particles, which is immersive software capable of generating thousands or…
Read moreKristin Naigus plays dozens of instruments and has performed on dozens of soundtracks. Here’s a fraction of her credits: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Aragami 1 & 2, ABZU, Farpoint, various Minecraft mythology projects like the Egyptian, Norse and Chinese Mythology packs, Moss: Books 1 & 2, Darksiders Genesis, Hades, The Pathless, Ori…
Read moreComposer Ed Critchley talks about his music for South of the Circle, a narrative adventure about an academic named Peter and his relationship with another lecturer named Clara. The game is set in the Cold War in the 60’s in Antarctica. South of the Circle came out more than 2 years ago, which matters, because…
Read moreComposer Cris Velasco talks about his music for the game Dauntless, a co-op action RPG that debuted in 2019. This release is Cris’s third volume of music from the game. We talk about the evolution of the score over the last several years, and how he takes instruments from all around the world to create…
Read moreComposer scntfc (C. Andrew Rohrmann) talks about two of his scores for games: Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is from 2022 – an ecological adventure game about Gibbons. As a player, you swing, slide and somersault through the trees while learning about these special creatures. Andy’s music is heavy on struck percussion, rhythmic and full of…
Read moreComposer Austin Wintory talks about his music for Aliens: Fireteam Elite, a squad shooter from Cold Iron Studios. The game is a part of the Aliens universe, you know, the face-hugging, chest-exploding, H.R. Giger-designed Aliens. And the soundtrack is fabulous, with many subtle and less-subtle tributes to the famous film scores written by Jerry Goldsmith,…
Read moreComposer Maclaine Diemer‘s music for Salt and Sacrifice is grimy and unpolished. As producer Sam Keenan says, “You can make a cello sound a lot of ways, and he found a bunch of fun ones.” Of course, Maclaine is best-known for his gorgeous, lush, epic orchestral music for Guild Wars 2. And this is definitely…
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