The Music of Godfall: Fire & Darkness - Interview With Composer Ben MacDougall

The music of _ Godfall , the looter-slasher by Counterplay Games, is one that aids inform the story of Aperion. The world filled with ruins, history, war and also dishonesty are shared adeptly by composer Ben MacDougall in the soundscape of _ Godfall . From sweeping orchestral activities to a more mechanical, heavenly vibe, _ Godfall's _ soundtrack covers a broad range of noises and feelings.

Proceeding the globe of _ Godfall _ is the release of this week's DLC, _ Fire & Darkness . Ahead of MacDougall was the job of continuing the tale of _ Godfall _ with its soundtrack with the familiar, while additionally guaranteeing that the music being crafted for the new DLC told the proceeding story. One that checks out Fire, Darkness as well as even more. We had the possibility to chat briefly with Ben regarding the difficulty of developing music not simply for a game, yet a new IP completely, along with just how he came close to _ Fire & Darkness .

Fire: Returning initially to the original video game soundtrack, just how difficult was it to bring the designer's vision to life through music? Just how do you take famous scenes or moments to create an expressive feeling in the player through music? .

Ben MacDougall: Aiding to bring a world to life through music is constantly a difficult task - and also definitely not one to be ignored. Godfall is no exemption, especially when the programmer's vision is so substantial!

Everything worldwide of Aperion gets on an entire various other range. All the information combine into an experience that is fantastical as well as immersive - as well as music is a key component of that, psychologically speaking. While a big job similar to this can seem difficult, it also implies there is a great deal of product to deal with and motivation to attract from. Enthusiasm as well as collaboration are an excellent pairing in any setting, and also the enthusiasm and drive of everyone at Counterplay Gamings is second-to-none.

I've been collaborating with Keith Lee at Counterplay for several years now, and over that time we've developed a terrific method of speaking about music - actually excavating in and cutting to the heart of who several of these personalities are, along with the areas they inhabit. It has to do with a lot greater than simply driving drums and also reduced brass and so on. Sure, they have their area, but checking out the psychological intent behind musical options is the key to making a score that is both believable and real to the tale it assists to inform.

There is a lots of contrast within the initial soundtrack, from sweeping, quick paced fight styles to reduced, deliberate, sluggish styles like what you hear in the Water World: just how do you come close to these distinctions, especially in regards to choosing what voice (or instrumentation) you intend to place with each mood? .

Bearing in mind the idea of emotional intent being vital, a great deal of it comes down to gut reaction. I would certainly play things up versus cutscenes or along with various other aesthetic product to see just how well it fit. It's pretty obvious in this way when something functions or not. On the sound-creation side of points, there would certainly be times when I wasn't purposely working with Godfall and also explore points in the workshop, and throughout those sessions I would certainly create something as well as immediately recognize where it fit in ball game. For all those eureka moments, there were additionally many hrs of slow version and parameter-tweaking to make one more sound appear simply the means I would certainly imagined.

Despite the process of getting to the end result, there was usually a significance or vibe from those early writing-to-picture sessions that clung on right though - even as the music advanced during the composing procedure. Count on your gut!

Among the important things I've discovered in both the original soundtrack, as well as the sneak peek track we have actually been able to sample for Fire & Darkness it really feels incredibly instrumental, yet likewise has a sense of a mechanical feel to the sound combination. Just how did you approach developing this distinctive audio as well as did you do anything intriguing or original to help produce what has come to be the soundscape of Godfall? .

It practically seems like you've taken recognizable tools (like a cello or groove for instance) and also really amped them up to develop a distinctive sound that just fits the tone and also timbre of Godfall (such as the hostile cello open up to Ascending the Tower, or the ethereal, watery nature drawing the bow provides on the cello in Waters of Aperion-- if that makes good sense!) .

I like discovering brand-new noises and also producing new sounds from points. Several of the inmost, rumbling drums you hear in the score actually started life as points I videotaped making use of a groove, which as everyone recognizes is not a big instrument with the ability of deep noises! Taking 'pure' sonic components, and also reinventing them in brand-new, fascinating ways is something I've always done - and also is among one of the most enjoyable components of the task! The user interface in between 'natural' as well as 'artificial' is a specific point of attraction for me - and it absolutely stumbles upon in ball game for Godfall, where there is a blurring of high-technology, old magic, as well as fantastical tradition.

Carrying on to the upcoming growth, Fire & Darkness, did your method alter any kind of when starting this new soundtrack versus when you started Godfall completely? .

As a growth, it was essential for the music to effortlessly advance in addition to the gameplay. At the end of the day we're all telling the same tale, as well as music plays an important duty in that. The Fire & Darkness expansion introduces an amazing, brand-new realm as well as an entire brand-new setting of play, called Lightbringer, therefore both of those used me the opportunity to check out the world of Aperion and GODFALL a lot more. The music in the Fire Realm sounds extremely different to the various other realms, and certainly has its own sonic identification, unique tone as well as sense of location, while at the same time seeming like it belongs in the globe in its entirety. Lightbringer is a whole different beast, however we'll enter that a little later I make sure.

The sneak peek track we were provided, Embers of Battle, the percussion in the background truly emits a sense of something driving towards an objective, building towards something. Virtually a mechanical demand to drive the audience in the direction of, well ... battle. How did you go around producing this feeling, particularly when compared with the lengthy tones of the cello and other strings in the foreground? .

Ashes of War is the initial track on the cd, so the feeling of anticipation is absolutely deliberate! It's as much regarding aesthetic scene-setting as it is psychological scene-setting. The Fire Realm has plenty of mystery as well as dramatization - from lakes of lava to towering, sharp hills, bottomless gorges, and the haunting groans of distant adversaries. This track was regarding enveloping that dark majesty and driving it all onward with foreboding necessity as well as the sense of certainty you would (or should!) feel when initial watching out over the ashy, smoldering landscape.

Fire & Darkness takes players to brand-new locations, among which being the new Fire Realm. With your experience creating distinct soundscapes for Air, Planet as well as Water in the original video game, just how did you approach the sound you wanted to create for fire? Existed anything details that you were attempting to share with the music particularly? .

The musical web content of Fire & Darkness is two-fold, as you'll hear on the soundtrack. To start with, there's the Fire Realm, which looked really different to what I would certainly first envisioned! I had actually been naively thinking that the realm would certainly be shades of red, orange, and also yellow - as if you were embeded the earth's core or something. Imagine my surprise when I found myself standing in a jagged globe tied with tones of deep blue and luminous purple! The musical strategy I would certainly been intending transformed right there, since to me, heated audios really various to blue-hot. Fire is something of a duality, because it is lovely yet fatal. It drifts, twinkles and also dancings, yet as all of us recognize, it melts, and can kill as well. I wished to attract a musical parallel to that, so the signature noise of the Fire Realm became this burning groove sound, which is equal parts skyrocketing, scorching and wild.

Second of all, there's the music you'll experience in the Lightbringer mode, which occurs throughout Aperion, as well as presents a brand-new, apparent feeling of horror and thriller to the world - rather unlike anything that has come before. Music has actual power to ground a scene (in both emotion as well as place), and as a result, the themes of earlier worlds have actually developed into brand-new, darker shadows of themselves ... reflecting what has come to be of Aperion. By means of instance, what once might have been a skyrocketing, bright motif is currently turned, fragmented and also knurled - through a mixture of extensive crucial methods and creative sound handling. This new mode was an actually trendy part of the task to compose for and also was an opportunity to work out a completed different set of music muscle mass, all while building on the well established and vibrant tapestry that is Godfall, and the globe of Aperion.

How has working on Godfall, specifically as a new IP, assisted or perhaps altered your approach to various other soundtrack work across the different mediums you specialize in? Exists anything you've found out that you'll harness in future work as an outcome of developing the music for Godfall? .

Every project is a journey and also naturally a learning experience, so if you do not learn something (no issue just how small), then you've possibly done it wrong! I found so much along the means - concerning numerous points: Tuned tongue drums, harmonic distortion, HEPA filter history sound, some extremely particular (and monotonous) writing/ modifying strategies that we do not have to obtain into ... as well as so far more!

With all that claimed, the vital takeaway for me isn't so much a brand-new knowing, but a suggestion that the most effective thing we can all do is test ourselves. It's the difficulties we climb to that create the very best stories.