Danny Baranowsky

Game Music

Danny B’s latest is the Soundtrack to an iOS Rocky game

December 12, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Danny B’s latest is the Soundtrack to an iOS Rocky game Share this

It isn’t a mega-composition like Super Meat Boy or the pensive trance score of Crypt of the Necrodancer but Danny B is back with a new soundtrack and it’s for an iOS game based on, wait, Rocky? Sylvester Stallone’s downtrodden hero and his famous foes came to Apple devices on December 7th in the free-to-play game from Tapinator Inc. simply titled Rocky.

<a href="http://dbsoundworks.bandcamp.com/album/rocky">ROCKY by Danny Baranowsky</a>

After filling their roster with famous characters like Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago, players pit their teams against one another with battle music from Mr. Baranowsky. The album is only three songs long but fans will immediately recognize his signature thumping beats, gnawing guitars and twinkling synths. This is not simply a techno rendition of Bill Conti’s famous “Gonna Fly Now” and it really makes me wish there were more tracks on offer.

Still, any Danny B is good to have so take a listen above and grab the album for $1.99 from his Bandcamp page.
Game Music

New Super Meat Boy Soundtrack Released Across 3 Albums

October 15, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on New Super Meat Boy Soundtrack Released Across 3 Albums Share this

For those interested in last week’s Super Meat Boy soundtrack shake up, here’s a little recap and follow up. After Danny Baranowsky refused to license his original Super Meat Boy soundtrack for use in the new Fifth Anniversary release on PlayStation platforms, Team Meat had some work to do. Collaborating with Ridiculon, Scattle and Laura Shigihara, they created a new soundtrack to the game which Tommy Refenes from Team Meat elaborated on in a blog post.

“Thank you all so much for filling some pretty big shoes when it came to replacing the old sound track. Your work is amazing and I love you all. Your soundtrack helped breathe new life into the game and I’m proud of the work you’ve done. […] Like always, we pay for these tracks to be made but we also make sure that the artists retain the rights to sell their work.”

As part of the game’s debut on PlayStation 4 and Vita it’s “free” for PlayStation Plus subscribers for the month of October so you can play AND listen to the new music. If you’re not a subscriber or don’t own either PlayStation product you can still check out the music on Bandcamp. Laura Shigihara, Ridiculon and Scattle have each released their own contributions to the game as individual albums. You can even queue up Danny B’s original soundtrack on Bandcamp to compare.

Now that the new soundtrack has been out for over a week (or if you just started listening to it), what do you think of the change?
Game Music

Danny Baranowsky Denies Licensing of Super Meat Boy OST for PS4/Vita

October 5, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | 3 Comments Share this

Super Meat Boy may be releasing on Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita this Tuesday, October 6th; but it will be sounding markedly different than the versions people have come to know and love. Danny Baranowsky, original composer of Super Meat Boy, has denied the use of his original soundtrack to be used with the PS4 and Vita versions of the game. Baranowsky parted ways with Team Meat a few years back, and ended up not being the composer for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth despite being the composer of the original game. He cites the reason for the split as having nothing to do with creative differences, though declines to go into detail.

“I own all the rights to my music, and Team Meat approached me to license the music for the PS4 and Vita versions. I didn’t feel like the license fee and exposure through PSN they offered was enough to make me seriously consider accepting the deal. I decided to decline their offer. I wish them and the new artists the best of luck with the game.” – Danny B

Composition of the PS4 and Vita port will now be done by Ridiculon (The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth), David “Scattle” Scatliffe (Hotline Miami), and Laura Shigihara (Plants vs. Zombies). The game will be available on PSN for free for Playstation Plus members.

This lends a bit of timely weight to my recent article about game composer’s rights with regards to control over their music, and the need to be savvy with said control for the good of the composer and their livelihood. In this case, it sounds like Danny’s not out to screw Team Meat or fans, but is making the choice to keep a firm grip on his property for his own sake, which seems like a good call for indie composers these days.

Source: dannyBstyle
Chip Music, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Diagnosis? Rhythmortis: Crypt of the Necrodancer Original Soundtrack (Review)

May 25, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | 2 Comments Share this

The Original Soundtrack to Crypt of the NecroDancer is my first experience with music composed by Danny Baranowsky who has composed the music for Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac and who has also worked on some excellent arrangements including Super Metroid: Relics of the Chozo.

The soundtrack contains 42 tracks and is a blend of chiptune rock and electronic melodies with a runtime of just under two hours. I listened to the soundtrack through at least three times and was blown away with the blood pumping beats and pleasant repetition and alternate versions of tracks. My first play through of the album was during a drive from Ottawa to New York State to camp over the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada. If you’re in the USA you can look forward to Memorial Day weekend next week. Read on to find out if you should pick up this soundtrack to kick off your weekend.

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Featured, Game Music, Indie Music, Software

PAX East Preview: Crypt of the NecroDancer

April 16, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on PAX East Preview: Crypt of the NecroDancer Share this

While there were many games presented on the PAX East 2014 show floor, there were only a handful that featured music as their central gameplay mechanic. Since OSV is a site which focuses on game music, we thought it would be nice to give some previews of games that featured music as their core element. The first of these is a game titled Crypt of the NecroDancer.

For those of you have not heard of it, Crypt of the NecroDancer is a roguelike dungeon crawler, created by Brace Yourself Games, that requires you to time your movements and attacks to the game’s soundtrack. Your movement, attacks, and other abilities are all triggered with the four direction buttons. In order to successfully move, attack, or use an ability, you need to enter the command on the beat. A beat meter on the bottom of the screen helps indicate when you can take action. When I spoke with the developers at the show, they emphasized that they wanted to make a rogelike that relied a little more heavily on player skill, rather than luck of what the dungeon will throw at you on a particular run. Theoretically, if you have good rhythm and timing, you can make it through most situations in one piece. (more…)
Chip Music, Featured, Indie Music, Reviews

The Glory Days (Review)

February 24, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on The Glory Days (Review) Share this The Glory Days (Review)

With the help of Kickstarter, another chiptune album has been brought into existence. Most people probably know Jimmy Hinson (a.k.a Big Giant Circles) and his music from games like Mass Effect 2 and Call of Duty Black Ops 2. It might surprise some people that in addition to the game music he writes, he also composes chiptunes. This latest album, The Glory Days, is a new collection of original pieces written by Hinson. The Glory Days was funded through a very successful Kickstarter campaign that far exceeded its original goal. Not only did the Kickstarter hit the goal of $5,000, but every single stretch goal was met as well. The Kickstarter receiving over $60,000 in pledges, allowing Big Giant Circles to hire several remixers and fellow game composers to help construct an extra remix album for release at a later date.

The Glory Days is a sequel to Hinson’s first album of original music, Impostor Nostalgia. This original album was a collection of music written by Hinson and featured several music remixers and composers. The concept behind Impostor Nostalgia was that while the music mimicked the sound and energy of chiptunes from older videogames, the music itself was original work that was never featured in any game, past or present. It was a cool experiment and generated some excellent new tunes. This time around, Hinson is flying solo with this sequel album, The Glory Days. Like the first album, this one aims to celebrate the sound of older game tunes while enhancing it with modern synth and electronic sounds that weren’t available years ago. Does Big Giant Circles pull this off on this second solo album? Read more to find out. (more…)
Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Indie Game Rhapsodies (Review)

February 21, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Indie Game Rhapsodies (Review) Share this Indie Game Rhapsodies (Review)

With the popularity of indie games and their soundtracks growing, there has also been a surge in arrangements and remixes of these works. In fact there have been a few new arrangers who focus on indie soundtracks specifically. One of these emerging artists is Brent Kennedy. His previous albums include arrangements for Danny Baranowsky’s music for Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy. Kennedy’s specialty is solo piano arrangements. His writing style can be best described as impressionist (think Debussy or Ravel) with a small dose of minimalist writing thrown in the mix. The covered tracks can vary from energetic and climactic to calm and relaxing. In this latest album, he once again demonstrates a similar musical range.

Unlike his previous work, this newest arrange album, titled Indie Game Rhapsodies, takes a sampling of different indie game soundtracks. The composers covered include Big Giant Circles, Alec Holowka, Jeff Ball, and Austin Wintory. The soundtracks being drawn from are an eclectic selection. Some are chiptune soundtracks, while others are originally orchestral. Kennedy takes each of these selections and transforms them into relaxing and mesmerizing solo piano pieces. The result is a collection of tracks that showcases some excellent game music, while presenting a more classical take on the material. (more…)