›

Music Appreciation Thread

Unknown
edited January 2007 in Bone
So, er, how good's the music? I particularly like The Barrelhaven Tavern; it really sets the atmosphere I and think it goes a long way to making that part of the game as enjoyable as it is. Smiley's Theme is great too; it really encapsulates his character as well as just being a fun and unique piece. I really like the dusky sort of feel, and tension, of Rescuing Phoney as well. Mobygames leads me to believe Jared Emerson-Johnson's work for Telltale is his first as a full-fledged game composer; his name is one I'll keep an eye out for in future.

Anyway, the main purpose of this thread is to ask about the planned composer's notes I recall being mentioned at some point. I found the ones for Out From Boneville really interesting and hope The Great Cow Race ones haven't been forgotten.

Comments

  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2006
    I love the Barrel Haven Tavern theme. I still go around humming it. :D
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2006
    Mobygames leads me to believe Jared Emerson-Johnson's work for Telltale is his first as a full-fledged game composer; his name is one I'll keep an eye out for in future.

    While I can't tell you exactly what Jared's done in other games, he has composed music for quite a few other titles. If you're interested, check out the website for the Bay Area Sound Department, most notably their credits page and music samples page.

    I love the Barrel Haven Tavern theme. I still go around humming it. :D

    Yeah it's finally dying down now but for a long time not a day went by without someone walking past my desk whistling the Phoney theme to themselves.
  • Unknown
    edited June 2006
    While I can't tell you exactly what Jared's done in other games, he has composed music for quite a few other titles. If you're interested, check out the website for the Bay Area Sound Department, most notably their credits page and music samples page.
    Thanks for the links. I like the Persian Empire and Urban Theme samples, and really like the two horror samples (they remind me of Bernard Herrmann a little, while still having their own style.) Anyone know if these are from a game or created specifically as examples? I assume the most bombastic, militaristic sounding stuff is from that (apparently abysmal) America's Army game.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2006
    I think many of them are from games but some of them were likely done either simply as concepts or as pitches for various projects.
  • Unknown
    edited July 2006
    I'm curious what type of MIDI synthesizers they use to create the music? I studied music for a short time in college, before my switch to technology. I have a Korg X5DR MIDI module hooked up to my Kawai keyboard. But no where near as realistic sounding as what is in use today.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2006
    I'm curious what type of MIDI synthesizers they use to create the music? I studied music for a short time in college, before my switch to technology. I have a Korg X5DR MIDI module hooked up to my Kawai keyboard. But no where near as realistic sounding as what is in use today.

    As far as I know, they use software samplers with a collection of off the shelf and custom made sample libraries for the midi stuff, as well as mixed in live instruments (eg most of the banjo, mandolin, violin, and guitar in the Bone soundtracks is performed live... as well as the slide whistles, kazoos, and zings in the case of Smiley's theme :)).
  • SagaciousPenguinSagaciousPenguin
    edited January 2007
    And the chickens? live?
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    Probably at one point, yes.
  • LGHLGH
    edited January 2007
    Well, I just wanted to point out that many of the games listed on the credits page form Bay Area Sound as "original music" have not been scored by Jared, but by Clint Bajakian (former LucasArts composer) who also founded Bay Area sound (but isn't working there any longer).

    Besides, the games that are listed at towards the bottom of the page (like Outlaws) even refer to Clint Bajakian's composing career when he was still an employee at LucasArts.

    So, all in all, this credits page is a little, hmm, questionable, since they mention games that didn't have anything to do with Bay Area (since the company didn't exist yet) nor with anyone working there (since Clint Bajakian, although their founder, is no longer working there). Of course, these games DID make sense in the list when Clint was still the lead composer of Bay Area, and that's probably when this credits page was created. They simply forgot to clean it up ;)

    And don't get me wrong: I'm a huge fan of both Clint's work (both at LucasArts and at Bay Area) and Jared's music (Bone and Sam and Max have excellent music)! I just wanted to prevent some misunderstandings...
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    Those older titles are listed still because Julian Kwasneski did sound design and voice work on them. I imagine some of them still say "music" because Clint Bajakian used to work for BA Sound as well, and they just haven't updated that part of the page in a while.

    Also the music samples page are all either totally Jared, or piececs Jared collaborated on with Clint.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.