Video Game Music going way down hill...

Being a musician and aspiring songwriter, I have been wholly dissapointed by the direction in which video game sound tracks have headed. I can only hope some people agree.

Why is it that every developer thinks that having a 60 piece orchestra makes their sound track good? I feel like people are making "epic" music just for epic's sake. Its so contrived, and I cant stand it. Games like Mass Effect, Halo and Gears are winning huge honors for their scores, when they (in my opinion) should not... Games like Legend of Zelda had songs that we all could hum along to. The melodies were unbelievable. The best video game music ever written was written on a synth, and I feel like all these 'real' instruments are just being used as fluff.I feel like the sense of melody and genuine emotional connection are being thrown away for the sake of bombast and grandeur, and its not okay.

Games like Deadly Premonition and Silent Hill: homecoming get zero attention, when the music in those games is very touching, and heartfelt. Even Divinity 2: ego draconis had a great soundtrack, but only the big, ugly orchestras get attention.

I dont care for the halo theme at all, the best song in any Halo was a very somber theme from ODST, a simple piano track. I want more of that.

Listen to "after the rain" from Deadly Premonition, or the first 30 seconds from Divinity 2's "Beach" theme. They break my heart. I feel like big name developers need to take notes from "small time" composers.

I have a feeling everyone will disagree.

I dislike Halo, Gears, and Mass Effect's sound tracks.

The best video game music has always been melody-driven, and sadly that's something that many composers have gotten away from as time has gone on. Everything's too "background" now...MAILER_DAEMON

Did you make this same kind of thread a little while back? Anyway I guess it's all what you like, people have different tastes and all that. Personally I think music in games these days is fantastic. I love the music from games like Halo, Mass Effect, Call of Duty, etc. I also love the rockin' out tunes in games like Blazblue.Archangel3371

I can both agree and disagree with you. I can understand that "background" feel to it and having a score that doesn't have too much emtion but a "large epic" sound to it, but I don't dislike those types of scores at all.

One part I do agree with is having something that brings out emotion. Best example so far off the top of my head is the ending to Mass Effect. It did sound epic, but to me, it made me feel as if I accomplished something.

Depends on the genre. Some genre's have excelled while other have gone down hill.

[QUOTE="Archangel3371"]Did you make this same kind of thread a little while back? Anyway I guess it's all what you like, people have different tastes and all that. Personally I think music in games these days is fantastic. I love the music from games like Halo, Mass Effect, Call of Duty, etc. I also love the rockin' out tunes in games like Blazblue.Shmiity

Knew I remembered the content of this thread from a while back. I don't know if I replied.

I agree that scores don't need 60 piece orchestra sets, yet there's no way in hell I would be okay with relying on a synthesizer or any single instrument to carry a score. I'm listening to Deadly Premonition "After the Rain" right now, and is it that piano track? It's all right, but give me an O'Donnell or McCreary any day.

I might be the opposite of you. I cannot stand the beautiful sounding, light and airy pieces. I'm all for simple themes, but if they can be interwoven successfully into something much more complex, I prefer something with substance and meat. I want something it takes me a day and a half to figure out, something I can finally get into after working through it and appreciating the little things. Variety in instruments, bring out different ethnic sounds (Marty with his tribal drums and percussion instruments, McCreary with his erhus and dudeks) because texture and layering is key for me.

And what didn't you see in Mass Effect? At least, in the first one (don't care for the second one's score) the synth tunes are fantastic and extremely catchy.

Knew I remembered the content of this thread from a while back. I don't know if I replied.

I agree that scores don't need 60 piece orchestra sets, yet there's no way in hell I would be okay with relying on a synthesizer or any single instrument to carry a score. I'm listening to Deadly Premonition "After the Rain" right now, and is it that piano track? It's all right, but give me an O'Donnell or McCreary any day.

I might be the opposite of you. I cannot stand the beautiful sounding, light and airy pieces. I'm all for simple themes, but if they can be interwoven successfully into something much more complex, I prefer something with substance and meat. I want something it takes me a day and a half to figure out, something I can finally get into after working through it and appreciating the little things. Variety in instruments, bring out different ethnic sounds (Marty with his tribal drums and percussion instruments, McCreary with his erhus and dudeks) because texture and layering is key for me.

And what didn't you see in Mass Effect? At least, in the first one (don't care for the second one's score) the synth tunes are fantastic and extremely catchy.

Sharpie125

Knew I remembered the content of this thread from a while back. I don't know if I replied.

I agree that scores don't need 60 piece orchestra sets, yet there's no way in hell I would be okay with relying on a synthesizer or any single instrument to carry a score. I'm listening to Deadly Premonition "After the Rain" right now, and is it that piano track? It's all right, but give me an O'Donnell or McCreary any day.

I might be the opposite of you. I cannot stand the beautiful sounding, light and airy pieces. I'm all for simple themes, but if they can be interwoven successfully into something much more complex, I prefer something with substance and meat. I want something it takes me a day and a half to figure out, something I can finally get into after working through it and appreciating the little things. Variety in instruments, bring out different ethnic sounds (Marty with his tribal drums and percussion instruments, McCreary with his erhus and dudeks) because texture and layering is key for me.

And what didn't you see in Mass Effect? At least, in the first one (don't care for the second one's score) the synth tunes are fantastic and extremely catchy.

Meh, I don't know if I should agree or not. But yeah...

Command and Conquer used to have some awesome tunes prior to EA acquiring the series. Before then, there was 4-5 minute driven soundtracks with the most atmospheric tones imaginable. Now it's just a series of bleeps and bloops that makes you wish it didn't exist to begin with.

Knew I remembered the content of this thread from a while back. I don't know if I replied.

I agree that scores don't need 60 piece orchestra sets, yet there's no way in hell I would be okay with relying on a synthesizer or any single instrument to carry a score. I'm listening to Deadly Premonition "After the Rain" right now, and is it that piano track? It's all right, but give me an O'Donnell or McCreary any day.

I might be the opposite of you. I cannot stand the beautiful sounding, light and airy pieces. I'm all for simple themes, but if they can be interwoven successfully into something much more complex, I prefer something with substance and meat. I want something it takes me a day and a half to figure out, something I can finally get into after working through it and appreciating the little things. Variety in instruments, bring out different ethnic sounds (Marty with his tribal drums and percussion instruments, McCreary with his erhus and dudeks) because texture and layering is key for me.

And what didn't you see in Mass Effect? At least, in the first one (don't care for the second one's score) the synth tunes are fantastic and extremely catchy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bE3hUwylQ Mass Effect series - Vigiltexasgoldrush

It's not overly soaring, I'll give you that. Entering the Citadel with the Normandy the first time was breath taking, exploring the wards and whatnot will always be in the back of my head (along with the 70s synth). But yes, the themes aren't nearly as strong towards the end of the game.

But then again, as a huge fan of McCreary (I've said this too much), I don't like themes that are too overbearing, in your face. A lot of his work is very subdued. In the example of Battlestar Galactica, there's the US theme that ran for a single season, and the official theme (the prayer). I'll always prefer the US theme, just because the mournful dudek with the quiet rapping of the military snare drums in the background pretty much summed up the first two seasons of that show for me.

In the case of Martin O'Donnell, he could go the conventional route and have heroic sounding instruments belting out the main theme, but more often than not the duty to carry the theme relies on the heavy war drums and a pounding out piano melody (instead of using it as a "sorrow" or "beauty" instrument). It's kind of having unconventional instruments in different settings that does the trick for me.

Knew I remembered the content of this thread from a while back. I don't know if I replied.

I agree that scores don't need 60 piece orchestra sets, yet there's no way in hell I would be okay with relying on a synthesizer or any single instrument to carry a score. I'm listening to Deadly Premonition "After the Rain" right now, and is it that piano track? It's all right, but give me an O'Donnell or McCreary any day.

I might be the opposite of you. I cannot stand the beautiful sounding, light and airy pieces. I'm all for simple themes, but if they can be interwoven successfully into something much more complex, I prefer something with substance and meat. I want something it takes me a day and a half to figure out, something I can finally get into after working through it and appreciating the little things. Variety in instruments, bring out different ethnic sounds (Marty with his tribal drums and percussion instruments, McCreary with his erhus and dudeks) because texture and layering is key for me.

And what didn't you see in Mass Effect? At least, in the first one (don't care for the second one's score) the synth tunes are fantastic and extremely catchy.

Being a music major..... I'm not even going there. We all have different opinions man. I happen to love the "epic feel" of the Halo soundtrack. The music to the background of the new Elder Scrolls trailer is amazing. To each their own.

By the way... I could hum the MANY melodies found in the halo soundtrack as well. Its much easier to hum music from "back in the day" when it was midi sound with a 4 part harmony and some crazy percussion sounds and thats about it.

Since we are on the topic of music... you guys help me figure out the chant to the new Elder Scrolls trailer.

For the King

For the King

For the sake of Skyrim

I lose it there..

I think musical scores have gotten better over-all this generation...

What I find interesting is when developers include big lipped alligator moments in the form of solo sung pieces that simply seem out of place (and are fairly awful in thier own right) I'm looking your way Dragon Age and Red Dead Redemption.

Being a music major..... I'm not even going there. We all have different opinions man. I happen to love the "epic feel" of the Halo soundtrack. The music to the background of the new Elder Scrolls trailer is amazing. To each their own.

By the way... I could hum the MANY melodies found in the halo soundtrack as well. Its much easier to hum music from "back in the day" when it was midi sound with a 4 part harmony and some crazy percussion sounds and thats about it.

I like many of Nintendo's music. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has hundreds of songs, although most areclassic remixes. I also like theMetal Gear Solid theme and Castlevania's Bloody Tears. Although I would have to agree the music in most newer games are not very memorable.

I see video game music as a piece of sonething larger. Game play music should be background not stand out too much. I am happy with the fact the game music does not pop out while I play. Listening to the music the first few times is fine but after that it slowly become more painful to listen.

The best video game music has always been melody-driven, and sadly that's something that many composers have gotten away from as time has gone on. Everything's too "background" now...MAILER_DAEMON

youve never played: Demons Souls, Metal Gear Solid, or bioshock. Oh and the end run from the ME2 OST is one of my favorite game themes of all time.

Zelda (Ocarina of Time specifically) and Metroid (Super metroid specifically), have some of the best game music ever. I agree many games seem to toss it aside which is a shame. Music doenst make the game, but it takes a great game and makes it a phenomenal one. It is that extra touch that make the game memorable and somethign special.

Ocarina of time is definitely up there with the best.

Games like BlazBlue still have great soundtracks, but I understand what you mean. The end boss music for one game sounds like the entire transformers movie soundtrack, which is just the timpani drums, trombones, and the rest of the band playing their complex crap.

Moar zelda musik pliz

same thing with making games more "realistic" "girtty" and "cinematic"

Being a musician and aspiring songwriter, I have been wholly dissapointed by the direction in which video game sound tracks have headed. I can only hope some people agree.

Why is it that every developer thinks that having a 60 piece orchestra makes their sound track good? I feel like people are making "epic" music just for epic's sake. Its so contrived, and I cant stand it. Games like Mass Effect, Halo and Gears are winning huge honors for their scores, when they (in my opinion) should not... Games like Legend of Zelda had songs that we all could hum along to. The melodies were unbelievable. The best video game music ever written was written on a synth, and I feel like all these 'real' instruments are just being used as fluff.I feel like the sense of melody and genuine emotional connection are being thrown away for the sake of bombast and grandeur, and its not okay.

Games like Deadly Premonition and Silent Hill: homecoming get zero attention, when the music in those games is very touching, and heartfelt. Even Divinity 2: ego draconis had a great soundtrack, but only the big, ugly orchestras get attention.

I dont care for the halo theme at all, the best song in any Halo was a very somber theme from ODST, a simple piano track. I want more of that.

Listen to "after the rain" from Deadly Premonition, or the first 30 seconds from Divinity 2's "Beach" theme. They break my heart. I feel like big name developers need to take notes from "small time" composers.

I have a feeling everyone will disagree.

I dislike Halo, Gears, and Mass Effect's sound tracks.

Shmiity

I'm a mere gamer (not a musician/aspiring songwriter) but in my experience game soundtracks do a great job of conveying whatever emotions the director wants to convey in a given scene.

One should keep in mind that people only get excited about soundtracks of games they play, but people can admire graphics without having played a game (a single screenshot or perhaps a trailer). One could listen to a song in a video as easily as one could watch a trailer, but IMHO most people pay more attention to gameplay and graphics than they do to the audio.

One soundtrack I really love is that of Loco Roco, a platformer where one starts off as a little blob who grows into a very big blob (or a bunch of little blobs since once can break up or unify the character with the press of a button) if one does things right. The single loco sings a very simple song, but each additional loco (up to 20) adds a different voice and thus more complexity to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFKpyScxv0k

I completely agree with you OP. To me, part of the reason is just the mindsets of Western video game composers vs Eastern composers. I have noticed that Japanese video game music tend to focus on melody more, and most Western games have music focus on the less memorable (imo) "epic" orchestral pieces. Much of the music I have heard in JRPGs sticks with me and I often download and listen to the music outside of the game. To me, there is a more sentimental and emotional feeling from more melodic songs, but thats just me. I actually recently got monster hunter freedom unite on psp, and the village theme is the perfect example of what I love in music in general, beautiful melody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxCCf5p6H-8&feature=related

I have played a good share of Old School games and Current Generation games. And of the games I have played, I do not think there is even a hill to go down, good/great music seems to have completely dropped off. But this is no biggie at all because I prefer old school games, well for now that is.

I must disagree. I think video game music is still fine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKrGj_XHIrM&feature=BF&list=PLA55DAC7581B3B24F&index=2&shuffle=30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4kdHUY29Gs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Uqy9L_xtk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELfru0vq_C4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzYBrUl926c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGYqUrrHQak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmQm_PySHCk

Just some examples of VG music I have enjoyed.

I do not agree. Akira Yamaoka is, for my money, possibly the greatest composer to grace gaming. His work in the Silent Hill series is exceptional, and I look forward to hearing where he goes from here.
Jesper Kyd is great as well, showing real diversity between his dark and haunting music in the Hitman series, and now Assassin's Creed 2, which also had a beautiful score.
The Darkness has one of my favorite scores ever. Its music is sorely under-appreciated.
Shoji Meguro has created so many memorable tunes, and I find myself listening to OST's from the Shin Megami Tensei games frequently.
If anything, I would say that music in games has only improved.

I do not agree. Akira Yamaoka is, for my money, possibly the greatest composer to grace gaming. His work in the Silent Hill series is exceptional, and I look forward to hearing where he goes from here.
Jesper Kyd is great as well, showing real diversity between his dark and haunting music in the Hitman series, and now Assassin's Creed 2, which also had a beautiful score.
The Darkness has one of my favorite scores ever. Its music is sorely under-appreciated.
Shoji Meguro has created so many memorable tunes, and I find myself listening to OST's from the Shin Megami Tensei games frequently.
If anything, I would say that music in games has only improved.

_Doomsayer_

Right on. Silent Hill music is of the best. I totally agree. Jesper Kyd's arrangement of "Ave Maria" is my favorite arrangement of Schubert's Ave Maria, by anbody. You have good taste,

Bioshock 2, IMO, had the best soundtrack this year. As chilling and disturbing as the game itself, which was pretty chilling and disturbing, rather than the somewhat cheesy epic music from games like Halo, Mass Effect, etc. Portal had the best song in any game of all time, however...TheOtherTheoG

Deadly Premonition has the best soundtrack of all time just for the fact that it prominently features a gazoo. Seriously.SteveTabernacle

I still enjoy listening to classic NES music.

Journey to Silius stage 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwn-9IiO3MM

Stage 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vTs2P-qMDI&feature=related

Stage 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNAv1AiX6Go&feature=related

Stage 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgmH6J5GGxE&feature=related

I dont care for the halo theme at all, the best song in any Halo was a very somber theme from ODST, a simple piano track. I want more of that.

Shmiity

Thats the only one i like also :P

You sir should listen the Banjo Kazoozie: Nuts & Bolts soundtrack. It's pretty fantastic.

On your point of music going downhill I must disagree slightly.

Gears is suspenseful and heart pounding so is Uncharted.

Castle Crashers and Super Meat boy give an amazing homage to retro music (with some damn good melodies).

Bioshock 2 (Sounds from a lighthouse)music is dark and emotional.

i wouldn't say that its going downhill I'd say its on a flat plane not going anywhere :P