THE EPIC SOUND BLOG

Our collection of bite-size, audio related stories from around the web.

The music and sound design of Starcraft 2


August 17, 2010

Over at the Gamespot Sound Byte blog, Sophia Tong has posted a great interview with Starcraft 2 audio director Russell Brower:


GS: In terms of sound design, how did you approach Starcraft II to get the right sound for the game?


RB: Well, we built upon the soundscape that was established in Starcraft, so we do consider the sound for Starcraft II evolutionary rather than revolutionary. So that meant continued use of mechanical sounds. We recorded an endless number of small contraptions. There were large machines; there are sounds made from electronics and synthesizers; and of course with the zerg, there were a lot of fairly gross sounds that came from our various concoctions of flour, water, salt, and goop…and a lot of unmentionable stuff that made our studio a challenge to clean up afterward.


Read the full interview with Starcraft 2 audio director Russell Brower here.


And check out the game trailer below:





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio,music,sound design Tags , , , , , , , , , —

Interview with Alan Wake composer Petri Alanko


August 16, 2010

Gaming site G4 features an interesting interview with Alan Wake composer Petri Alanko. I recently had the chance to play Alan Wake and it’s easily one of the most impressive productions I’ve tried this year, both aurally, visually and story-wise.


If you haven’t tried it yet, be sure to take it for a spin! And for a lowdown on the score for this brilliant game, have a peek below:


The Feed: Tell us about what went into composing the score for Alan Wake. Were there inspirations or preconceived ideas you started from or did you let the muse of the game speak to you?


Alanko: Heh, sort of allowing the muse to recite, I’d say. It’s been natural for me to “dive into a picture”, to feel and to dissect things from it, analyzing the minor details in order to build a big picture. I always link a picture to a sound or a theme, melody, atmospheric background etc. I do believe everyone has some of that in them, in different amounts and flavors, there’s nothing extraordinary and it’s just a matter of practicing.


In the beginning we did have a discussion of possible styles, but the end result was a bit different. A lot of the score depended on the raw material, as I felt the long trees needed some scale of distance, length, air, space, and everything around the Bright Falls was more or less surrounded by mountains, bathing in sunlight. That’s an easy view to compose to.


Read the full interview over at G4.


Marius Masalar over at Tracksounds has posted a review of the Alan Wake soundtrack -- and if you want to see the trailer for the game, have a look below:



Via Original Sound Version




  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio Tags , , , , , , , —

Interview with the Super Mario Galaxy 2 Sound Team


August 11, 2010

Original Sound Version has an interview up with the sound team on Super Mario Galaxy 2:


We’ve been very fortunate to sneak some of Mahito Yokota, Koji Kondo, and Ryo Nagamatsu’s time away from their new projects to talk about their work on Super Mario Galaxy 2, which is surely one of the best soundtracks of the year.


We discuss the influence of Yoshi on the game’s score, each composer’s respective contributions, the retooling of music from the original Super Mario Galaxy, and the return of “Gusty Garden” as an anthem for the series. We also talk about some of our favorite tracks from the game, including “Yoster” and “Square Timber.”


Here’s the trailer for the game:



Read the full interview with the sound team here.




  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio Tags , , , , , , , , —

Audio interview with Brian Tyler, composer on “The Expendables”


August 6, 2010

Daniel Schweiger over at Film Music Mag has yet another great, in-depth audio interview up – this time around with Brian Tyler, composer on “The Expendables”.


Given Brian Tyler’s talent for also registering myth-making emotion through the mayhem, it seems a given that his powerful work would catch the ear of the legendary Sylvester Stallone, who enlisted Tyler in the formidable task of following in Jerry Goldsmith’s boots to accompany a new adventure of “Rambo.” Tyler’s mix of ethnic rhythms and a gung-ho orchestra made sure that Stallone would stand vibrantly tall as he wiped out another army.


Now Tyler’s re-upped with the actor-writer-director for his biggest, most knowing salute to all that is macho with “The Expendables,” whose army of Mercs make exhilarating mincemeat out of the villains holding thrall over a Latin American island. And leave it to Tyler to once again do them proud with patriotic bombast, batteries of percussive action runs and a virtual marathon of explosive builds- not to mention some real melodic heart to the high-fiving destruction of lives and property.


Hear the interview right here, or hop on over to the original post:


Audio interview with Brian Tyler on “The Expendables”



Check out the trailer for “The Expendables” below:





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , , , , , —

The score for ‘Inception’ performed live


July 30, 2010

‘Inception’ opened in Danish theaters yesterday, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it. Check out this recording from the ‘Inception’ US premiere, featuring live performances of some of tracks from the movie:



(via @gameost @tracksounds)




  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound,music Tags , , , , , , , , —

Behind the scenes on the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack


July 28, 2010

Game Videos goes behind the scenes on the making of the score for Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption:



(via @nobuooo)




  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio,music Tags , , , , , —

In-depth audio interview with Hans Zimmer on ‘Inception’


July 22, 2010

Daniel Schweiger over at Film Music Magazine has a great, in-depth audio interview up with composer Hans Zimmer, on his score for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’.


It’s a composer’s job to unlock the imagination of their directors, translating their flights of fantasy into melody. Few musical dreamweavers have shown as much imaginative dexterity in that regard as Hans Zimmer. Yet even fewer directors have given Zimmer a true match for his talent like Christopher Nolan, whose enigmatic oeuvre consists of such head scratchers as “Memento,” “Insomnia” and “The Prestige,” not to mention two movies featuring The Dark Knight, whose imposing bleakness was abetted by the anti-hero rhythms of Zimmer and James Newton Howard.


If hearing Nolan’s imagination was a tough nut for Zimmer to crack before, then his new film “Inception” takes the filmmaker’s intellectual bent to spectacularly inscrutable heights. It’s a brain-bending, sci-fi tinted mix of “Mission Impossible,” impeccably dressed James Bond action and enough meditations on the nature of humanity and dreams to make Carlos Castaneda scratch his head. Providing a thematic through line to “Inception”‘s multiple, and insanely complicated plains of dream action is an equally surreal, and beautifully thrilling score by Hans Zimmer.


Hear the interview below, or hop on over to the original post here.


Interview with Hans Zimmer on the music for ‘Inception’




  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound,music Tags , , , , , , , , —

Audio interview with composer John Debney on ‘Predators’


June 26, 2010

Film Music Magazine has a great, in-depth audio interview up with acclaimed composer John Debney on his score for Predators. Well worth a listen!


Debney drives the chase with a role that’s equal parts acolyte and new interpreter, turning the vibe of one great hunter into his own fresh meat.


But then, for all of the sunny comedy he’s popularly played with the likes of “Liar Liar,” “Jimmy Neutron” and “Valentine’s Day,” Debney has shown a dark side that’s gone for the throat with “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “The Relic” and “End of Days,” not to mention a mammoth sense of symphonic adventure in his rollicking work for “Cutthroat Island.”


All of those styles come into play for “Predators” with a vengeance, making for a score that’s an homage in all the best, creative possibilities- and one, that along with “Iron Man 2,” will likely propel Debney further up the list of summer blockbuster action composers.


Hear the full interview with John Debney right here!


Update: Came across this footage from a ‘Predators’ scoring session -- have a peek below:





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , , , , , , —

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