Category: Blog

Hello again, folks! DJ Blazkowicz of Jackpot OST is back with another quick look at one of the talented composers working behind the scenes in the video game industry. For our entry today, we will look at Mick Gordon, the composer for Wolfenstien: The New Order, Seasons 1 and 2 of Killer Instinct (2013), Prey (2017), and of course, Doom (2016). If anyone is wondering why many of these titles are followed by their year of release, welcome to the Age of Reboots!

Before we go any further, let’s have a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JapDyUwAu8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqMQsxbpS4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpqct1zMqTE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TRdx2tbUFI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyHIAtfTkKU

Though he currently works with high profile video game studios such as Arkane and id Software, Gordon got his start playing in metal bands and pubs at 13, in Brisbane, Australia. With no interest in other genres, such as rock music or pop, Gordon began composing small tracks and sending them to local video game companies. As many of the companies preferred to source their talent locally, Gordon was soon able to break into the video game industry at Pandemic Studios.

Mick Gordon’s musical style is known for some amount of screaming, thrashing guitars, but a close look at the tracks he’s worked on reveals a surprising depth of tone and instrumentation. Killer Instinct (2013)’s Warlord features a driving metal guitar, yes, but there are also percussion elements meant to mimic struck bones and a heckin authentic 13 man Swedish choir. Back to Rise, from the same game, is a techno-rap brag track featuring throwback beats, the rap talents of Omega Sparx, and direct references to the Killer Instinct series’ 1994 and 1996 incarnations. Arguably his most famous entry, Doom (2016) features much more recognizable metal influences, with the added twist of old equipment scrounged from specialty stores around the world. To create just the right sort of unsettling distortion to give a sense of adrenaline soaked madness to the game’s track, Gordon included a Soviet era synthesizer, among other vintage units, to deliberately distort computer generated synth tracks. As a result, clean, computerized beats become the jagged, violent pulses that can be heard in the Doom track above.

Like many modern video game composers, Mick Gordon enjoys working with Responsive Video Game Music, a system in which verses, chords, and bridges are swapped in and out of a moment based on the actions of a character. Though not a Mick Gordon title, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a solid example of this sort of user directed sound experience; as players battle bosses, the background song eventually switches from an instrumental to a vocal track to heighten tension and excitement. Gordon takes this technique one step further by connecting everything from reloads, to breaks in firing, to the appearance to stronger enemies, to pause screens into the timing of his tracks. Though not visible on the released soundtracks available for purchase, many of his “songs” are actually 40 minute long monster tracks that are carefully assigned to different in game events. As a result, though players will not always notice during gameplay, it is their actions that are controlling how the music is being presented.

In the studio, Gordon collaborates alongside developers in ways that can be expected of modern composers. As always, striking the right tone and effect for a given scene requires an enormous amount of cooperation between all branches of the development team, and that includes sound designers. However, Gordon has mentioned that the process can be very different from one company to another. At id Software, developers of Doom(2016) (as well as the original 1993 version for MS-DOS), Gordon was directed to devote almost all his efforts to the dynamic music present during combat. However, at Arkane Studios (developers of Prey 2017), Gordon was given broader instructions that focused more on the emotional tone of a scene. For example: “You are floating in space” or “You miss home.”

That’s it for this session of Quick Looks! Plenty of composers out there these days, and we’ll keep doing our level best to bring their stories and songs your way.

Hey folks, DJ Blazkowicz from Jackpot OST here. Every year, wonderful albums and tracks release from the music industry, but have you ever considered taking a look at video game soundtracks?

Okay, hear me out for a second; it’s not just bleeps and bloops anymore I swear. Often, video game soundtracks can have an incredible amount of texture and quality to them, as they are required to provide an audio foundation for an entire interactive experience without distracting from gameplay. In this series of posts, I intend to focus in on individual composers by discussing a small part of their discography, their work, and share some notes from interviews.

Today, let’s get a few examples from composer Keiichi Okabe, known most recently for the soundtrack of the surprise hit of 2018, Nier: Automata.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPXuopwIdBo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axT_RojfaRs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCKEXPXtrEU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ady–PNMsfI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5Figo-QTW0

 Keiichi Okabe began his career as a sound designer in the gaming industry in 1995 as an arranger, a specialist who works early in the development process of a song to ensure its elements mesh well. As an arranger, he worked for Namco on the Tekken series before forming his own company, MONACA. Through collaboration with Square Enix, he has worked on all games of the Nier series, Drakengard 3, and the downloadable content of Final Fantasy XV.

Since Nier Gestalt/Replicant, Keiichi’s pieces often share a dreamlike melancholy, with fantastical melodies that incorporate unobtrusive vocals. However, in times of drama or action, Okabe isn’t afraid to deliver driving percussive beats backed with rhythmic chanting and frantic strings. If you are struggling to understand said chanting, don’t worry! Okabe often utilizes fantasy languages in his works, such as the Nier series’ “Celestial,” a combination of Gaelic and Japanese tweaked to sound like a realistic evolution of current languages. This lends many soundtracks a quality of emotion and depth, but without the risk of audible lyrics distracting from gameplay. The fictional Celestial language was the product of continuous collaboration with Nier Automata’s lead vocalist, Emi Evans, who also collaborated on Automata’s previous work, Nier Gestalt/Replicant.

Though Okabe is the founder of MONACA, he does not consider himself as an “artist.” Okabe continuously claims that he provides a supplemental role to the game designers he works in conjunction with to create his tracks. Each song the composer creates is solely for the purpose of furthering the narrative and setting, enabling on screen events and writing to have a greater emotional impact on a player. To accomplish this, Okabe works closely with the producers and directors of the project he is attached to. This collaboration entails a lengthy process of writing, composing, iteration, and endless revision until the music is deemed fit for installation into a scene or area.

With the success of Nier: Automata, Keiichi Okabe has found himself suddenly thrust into the spotlight in a way he is rather unused to. In game design, sound production generally concludes three months prior to a game being shipped, and sound designers can expect a few interviews during this period to boost sales. However, in the case of Nier: Automata, Okabe immediately began work on mastering the game’s separately released soundtrack, an additional unreleased soundtrack where he collaborated with other artists, the live event “Memories of Puppets,” and finally the sound work for a live stage play.

Hope everyone enjoyed this little peek behind the curtain! DJ Blazkowicz will be bringing you fine people more tracks and trivia from the aural hinterlands of video gaming’s original soundtracks. Until then, enjoy the tunes!