Red Dead Redemption Plays Serious Target Practice with 9th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards

This week at the Game Developers’ Conference, the 9th Annual Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Awards was held and the new guys blasted the scene. Rockstar’s Western triumph, Red Dead Redemption snagged multiple awards including Audio of the Year as well as Music of the Year. Although I was pleased to see such a competent soundtrack win so many accolades, with a list that included both Dante’s Inferno and Bioshock 2 I can’t help but wonder if Garry Schyman became a victim of his own prolific success getting split votes. In any event, I suppose there could be worse things in life than pumping out two nominees in a single year.

Congratulations to Bill Elm and Woody Jackson on their win and on a fine soundtrack – particularly the care taken to create a seamless in-game experience.

For a full list of nominees and winners click the jump!

G.A.N.G. NOMINEES

AUDIO OF THE YEAR
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Dante’s Inferno
God of War III
Heavy Rain
Red Dead Redemption

MUSIC OF THE YEAR
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Bioshock 2
Dante’s Inferno
Heavy Rain
James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Red Dead Redemption

SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Bioshock 2
Dante’s Inferno
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
God of War III
Red Dead Redemption

BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
Bioshock 2
Dante’s Inferno
Halo: Reach
Mass Effect 2
Red Dead Redemption
Video Games Live – Level 2

BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE
Dante’s Inferno
God of War III
Halo: Reach
Heavy Rain
James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Red Dead Redemption

BEST HANDHELD AUDIO
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge
Monster Hunter Portable 3
Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madoshi
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

BEST CINEMATIC/CUT-SCENE AUDIO
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
God of War III
Medal of Honor
Red Dead Redemption
StarCraft II
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

BEST DIALOGUE
Bioshock 2
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
God of War III
Mafia II
Medal of Honor
Red Dead Redemption

BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL
“Athens Harbour Chase” – James Bond 007: Blood Stone
“Ethan Mars Theme” – Heavy Rain
“Main Theme” – Red Dead Redemption
“Northern Grasslands” – Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
“The Palace Gates” – Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii)

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – CHORAL
“Alice’s Theme” – Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland
“Dante’s Theme” – Dante’s Inferno
“Hymn” – Halo: Reach
“Invincible” – World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
“Overture” – God of War III
“Redemption” – Dante’s Inferno

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – POP
“Dagomba” – Just Dance 2
“Dead Man’s Gun” – Red Dead Redemption
“Far Away” – Red Dead Redemption
“I’ll Take It All” – James Bond 007: Blood Stone
“No Death In Love” – Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
“The Peri” (Zahara’s Theme) – Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands

BEST USE OF MULTI-CHANNEL SURROUND
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Call of Duty: Black-Ops
Crackdown 2
Fable III
Halo: Reach
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Transformers: War for Cybertron

BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC
BioShock 2
Civilization V
DJ Hero 2
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Mafia II
Rock Band 3

BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
APM Film & Television Music Podcast
“Composing the Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic”
“From the Shadows of Film Sound: Cinematic Production & Creative Process in Video Game Audio”
“Recording Firearms Explosions”
“The Weight of Silence – How Silence Can Indicate a Character’s Importance”

G.A.N.G. WINNERS

AUDIO OF THE YEAR
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games
Composers Bill Elm & Woody Jackson
Lead Audio Designer Jeffrey R. Whitcher
Audio Designers Steven von Kampen, Christian Kjeldsen, Corey Ross
Audio Programmers Corey Shay, Robert Katz

MUSIC OF THE YEAR
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games
Bill Elm, Woody Jackson

BEST AUDIO OTHER
Halo: Waypoint “The Return”
343 Industries/Microsoft Game Studios
Kristofor Mellroth, Senior Audio Director, Microsoft Game Studios
Paul Lipson, Audio Director, Pyramind Studios
Peter Steinbach, Steve Heithecker, David Earl, Michael Roache

SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Electronic Arts/DICE
Stefan Strandberg, Ben Minto, David Mollerstedt, Thomas Danke, Mari Saastamoinen, Olof Stromqvist

BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
Video Games Live – Level 2
Tommy Tallarico, Jack Wall

BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games
Bill Elm, Woody Jackson

BEST HANDHELD AUDIO
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge
LucasArts
Tom Bible, Jesse Harlin, Wilbert Roget II, Jeff Ball, Dan Reynolds, Andrew Aversa

BEST CINEMATIC/CUTSCENE AUDIO
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Blizzard Entertainment
Russell Brower, Paul Menichini, David Farmer

BEST DIALOGUE
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games
Lead Audio Matthew Smith
Additional Dialogue Editing Will Morton, Allan Walker, Jon McCavish
Audio Designer George Williamson
Dialogue Assistant Lindsay Robertson

BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL
“Athens Harbour Chase” – James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Activision
Richard Jacques

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – CHORAL
“Invincible” – World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Blizzard Entertainment
Music by Russell Brower, Jason Hayes; Lyrics by Derek Duke, Neal Acree

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – POP
“I’ll Take it All” – James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Activision
Dave Stewart

BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC
Bioshock 2
2K Games/2K Marin
Michael Kamper, Audio Lead and the 2K Marin Audio Team

BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
“The Weight of Silence – How Silence Can Indicate a Character’s Importance” – Game Developer Magazine
Jesse Harlin

BEST USE OF MULTI-CHANNEL SURROUND IN A GAME
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Electronic Arts/DICE
Stefan Strandberg, Ben Minto, David Mollerstedt, Thomas Danke, Mari Saastamoinen, Olof Stromqvist

G.A.N.G. RECOGNITION AWARD
Sumthing Else Musicworks

G.A.N.G. DISTINGUISED SERVICE AWARD
Dren McDonald, Jacquie Shriver

ROOKIE OF THE YEARD AWARD
Woody Jackson, Bill Elm

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Chris Huelsbeck

DIAMOND SPONSOR/PARTNER AWARDS
Sumthing Else Musicworks
Game Developers Conference
Pyramind Studios