Why Game soundtracks are sometimes late

Hey guys

Since Metal Eden is now out, I wanted to do a blog post and talk a bit about why game soundtracks are sometimes coming out after a game has already released.

I had a chat with my Agent about this and yes, I think it would be much better if a game OST actually would come out 1-2 weeks before the games release. The movie industry has been doing this for decades really and it would only help the hype for the game.

But here’s why that’s sometimes not possible.

Unlike movies, games are interactive. The tracks written for in game use are a lot of times very different than what you hear on the final OST. Example Deus Ex: Each track is made out of layers. There are ambient layers, combat layers etc - all these are made specifically for the games interactive situations. Low enemy count - low combat cue plays. And most of all - these all have to loop. When it comes to soundtracks, a lot of times, these cues have to be re-arranged and treated completely differently. Because it would make no sense to just slap looping cues without proper endings or such on a release. Also theres the final crunch. During the final development, a lot of small details have to come together to make it one seamless experience. There is just no time to worry about proper OST arrangements. This applied to most of my past scores. Deus Ex had a major crunch. Division re-arrangement took me 2 months. Metal Eden is no different. As composers, we want the listener to get the best listing experience possible. Also dynamically, these soundtracks have to get a proper mix/master before they get released. All of this takes time.

From a marketing point its of course not good. After a few weeks, the hype dies and most forgot about the release already. Hopefully in the future we can change this to a more coordinated release so the soundtracks enjoy the attention they deserve.

That said, im very excited about my own ME OST release and im working 24/7 to get it into your hands ASAP.

Thanks
Sascha

List of Equipment used during the Quake 3 era 1999-2001

Hey guys

So i always been getting a lot of requests of what gear we used during the Quake 2, Quake 3 Arena days. Luckily I found some old website of mine via The internet Archive and i recalled always having a studio/gear section. Sure enough, i found a working entry that had a super detailed list (Even the Guitar related gear we used) and I thought it be fun to post it here.

Computers and audio I/O:

Apple G3 w/256 megs, sonorus studio I/O card, 2 9gig HD for audio, Apple Quadra 800 w/128 megs,Digidesign 888 I/O Audio interface , 12 slot DSP farm. PC PIII-733 w/256 megs with a SBlive audio card.

Additional Computers (used only for Gigasampler): PIII-600 w/256 megs RAM, Dakota 24-bit 16ch Digital I/O card, with theGigasampler software.

Software we use:

Cubase VST ver.4.1, Recycle 1.7, Rebirth 2.0, Bias PEAK 2.0, Soundforge2.0, Cool edit pro, Wavelab, ProTools 4.1 and TC SPARK, Turbosynth software (on a older mac).

Samplers: 

Roland s-760, Akai S3000 XL and the GigaSampler.

Mixers:

Panasonic RAMSA DA-7 digital mixer, Yamaha 0V1 Digital Mixer.

Effects:

TC Electronics FIREWORKX, DP4 effect unit, lots of guitar pedals and several VST plug-ins.

Guitars:

Fender Stratocaster 1972 Reissue, Ibanez RG-525. Amps: Peavey Bandit 50 watts, Peavey Bandit 65 watts (customized with 200w ElectroVoice speaker.)

Strings and Picks: Ernie Ball, Fender, D`Addario andBowen Bros., Jim Dunlop,

Misc: PS Systems Power Tools, FZ-3

Distortion Pedal: Hyper Fuzz and the Boss Metal Death pedal.

Site updates

It’s been a while and so im doing some house cleaning on the site.

1. There’s a new tab now: Game Soundtracks. I’ve added some of my favorite work and also a few older ones that never got an official release. Currently the Long Dark is offline as im waiting for permission to post them. There has not been an official soundtrack either so Im keen to at least get this out on my website. These cues are from various episodes of “TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY” survival mode. It’s some of my best work (im biased tho) and not a lot of people know me for that kind of sound.

With Soundcloud on the decline (IMO), it’s more important to have music again on the composers site so people don’t have to leave to somewhere else. I will uploaded more music in the future.

2. All Artist releases will be in the “Artist Releases” Tab (Obviously).

3. My entire Catalog of music on Streaming services is a mess. Some release will not come up if you search by my name simply the other person i worked on it is mention first. But like I said, I will post all important work on here in the future. And i mean all of it.

4. Im interest to hear what you want to see when you come to a composers website. And what you dont care about. Do you like more behind the scenes? Studio videos like the ones Junkie XL has been doing? Let me know.

The Future Synth Project is pretty much dead. No one really listened due to the fact that no one knew who is behind it. It was a novel idea but heh, sometimes you fail. Thats ok. With that said, I will keep and re-launch the concept of “Soundtrack for a movie that doesn’t exist” under the Sonic Mayhem brand but with a new sub title. Already working on a new release and it should be interesting. ETA Summer 2024. Im pretty sure i will also make CD’s of this and future releases. Personally, i think the novelty of streaming has come to an end. Musicians dont make money, the movie services are raising prices and it feels like the 90s again with Cable tv (heh I pay a subs and still get ads. Say WHAT?). Since producing CDs is not expensive at all, I think a limited run of some physical media should be possible. Do you still care about physical media? LMK in the comments.

On the game front, Im working on some new Division stuff. Can’t really get into it but like Deus Ex, I really dig the Division brand and of course I have a long history with Ubisoft so its always a pleasure to work with them again.

Lastly, I have ca 28 Quake 3 Arena OST CD’s left. That’s it. After those sell, they will be gone forever. Sniff. So head to the Digital Store and grab one of the last copies.

mr. mayhem

A word on the difference between in game music and a finished soundtrack.

Hey guys

As of Friday, November 25th, Ubisofts Division 2 Countdown soundtrack is finally out.

Since some of you pointed that that there had been already versions out on Youtube, I wanted to address this and explain why YouTube rips of game music are wrong and why/how they are different from an official Soundtrack.

1. First off, when writing for the actual game, there is a whole different approach. While this game does not use the Wwise system (I will explain in another post), for the in-game experience, there are so called loops that have different intensities. So you have Ambient, Tension, Low combat and high combat, depending on whats happening during gameplay. They dont have real beginnings or real endings. They will use so called “Stingers” to start or end one loop.
   
   

2. You can’t use too much melody during combat. You dont want to distract the player too much with huge major themes ( I mean depends on the game too). Division has a lot of combat and i know as a gamer myself how too much super melodic music can be annoying.
   
   

3. From a dynamic perspective; the loops have to mesh in with all the voice overs, gun sound and the rest of the SFX. There is a lot going on so these loops are more ‘mellow’ if you will. Not mastered up to streaming standards.

So in the end, when it comes to releasing an official soundtrack, i will take one set of loops (remember, Ambient, tension, low and high combat) and figure out a new arrangement first. In this case, the actual game has more music than the soundtrack but thats in part because you consolidate a lot of the loops into a single track.

The listing experience of a score is a lot different than the having it together with visual feedback. So to me, a soundtrack release needs to tell a story without the need for visuals. Hence doing new arrangements, new themes, or exploring ideas that didnt work for in game - all go into making a proper soundtrack. Its a lot of work. For countdown, i worked 2 months on the arrangements alone. Then we have Sonny DiPerri, who mentored with the NIN engineer and also mixed Doomsday and Deus Ex, doing brand new mixes. The last step requires proper mastering. So as you can see, a lot of work goes into making a soundtrack alone.

Why YouTube rips are bad: the rips do not represent the Artist vision of the score, the uploaders will come up with fake title tracks and most of the time, don’t give credit to the original composer. I understand that this is what happens and its impossible to prevent but if you like the composer - you don’t want to listen to them. I can guarantee you most of us wouldn’t want you to.

With that said, I hope everyone is enjoying the new soundtrack!
Sascha

PS: dont be shy to comment.

Whats new - July 2022 update!

Hey guys,

Ok it was time for another blog post even tho im guessing very few people are reading these but since there is no news section i’d figure its the best way to disclose some music news.

• First off, I had the chance to write some music for Ubisofts “The Division”. Really a dream come true because Im a huge fan of the series. It was mainly music for a DLC but don’t let that fool you: I always approach writing music like my life depends on it. There is a nice mixture of some old school Quake vibes. Guitars. But we also came up with a cool synthesized “guitar” sound because we got bored with the usual guitar sound. I will go in detail on how we created that sound when the soundtrack hits. Which hopefully it will by August. Im currently still working on the OST arrangements, as the in game assets are usually just loops.
  
  

• Next up, I wrote a new theme for PUGB:Battlegrounds franchise. In case you dont know, this is a huge MP title with new content dropping all the time. Its especially huge in Asia. I already wrote a theme for them in 2020 so I was happy when they ask me again. You can hear it here:
  
  Deston Theme

• I had the chance to chat with SSL Audio to talk about gear, in particular how i use theirs. Dont wanna sound like a snake oil salesman but SSL gear is really good. I advise you to invest into gear that will help you sound good before you get lost in buying the X amount of keyboard. You really dont need that much. But a good Audio chain is more important. You can read it here:
  
  SSL Interview

• Next up: I will be writing more new music for The Long Dark. I have been writing music for it since 2014. One of the longest gigs I have. A big thank you to Raphael for being so loyal. Very rare in our industry. TLD really is a passion project as they let me write more “Avon Gard” style music, a bit more freedom to experiment. Its mostly Ambient cues but i really love writing them. So expect like 10-15 of new survival music soon.