Go Behind The Scenes of the Obduction Soundtrack with Composer Robyn Miller

In case you missed it, Original Sound Version recently conducted an extensive interview with composer Robyn Miller Known where we discussed his score to Cyan Worlds latest game, Obduction. We also briefly touched on the composers work on the game Myst and Riven. You can read the full interview with the composer here. One of the topics we covered was music that did not make it into the game.

Following the interview Robyn Miller said he planned to share some of this music on his Soundcloud page. I for one have always loved behind the scenes videos ever since movie box sets came with bonus VHS Tapes. The composer shared three of these tracks about a month ago. It is not that often that we as listeners get to hear the behind the scenes of a video game soundtrack, but you can listen to those tracks with Robyn Miller’s comments here.

In total there are three pieces which I’ve collected below. After each piece I have also included the version that was actually used in the game so you can hear the difference.

This was one of the pieces I had written for the forest in the beginning of the game, but I felt its statement was overt, alongside the narration of the character, so the meaning of the moment became confused. Finally I replaced this piece with “Not Worth the Wistful Sentimentality of this Moment”, which builds a little more tension, while not getting in the way of the narration.

Robyn Miller

Listening to the difference in tracks, I agree that the replacement is appropriate based on how the music is used in the game. It’s neat to hear the differences between the original and final version. The next track is an earlier version of one of my favorite tracks from the Obduction soundtrack.

This never made it into the Obduction game. It was a variation on another piece and I felt it didn’t stand on its own – it’s meaning wasn’t distinct – so I wrote the second version of W.M.D. that you hear in the game.

Robyn Miller

It’s also great to be able to hear the original version of such a layered track, and how it reached its final form in “W.M.D”. The last of the three tracks, “The Past Has A Way Of Repeating Itself” is the most interesting to me as it was not used in the game in any form.

Another piece never used for Obduction. The mood wasn’t right. And I felt it was a little too reminiscent of my own Myst music.

Robyn Miller

The title of the unreleased track to me is a bit of a nod to how the composer felt that it sounded a bit too much like Myst music. For me I’m not sure if it reminds me of Myst music that much, but I could totally play some N64 Goldeneye to this tune.

I hope you enjoyed this closer look at the making of the Obduction soundtrack. You can listen to and purchase the full soundtrack here, and follow composer Robyn Miller on twitter as @tinselman.

What do you think of these unreleased tracks? Would you like to see more game composers release them?