When we started the Matron Maestras articles back a few years ago, I had made it a bit of a challenge of mine to track down a particular composer who I knew very little about outside a particular game series. Satoe Terashima’s legacy in game composing is somewhat of a mystery, and while I could not track down any leads as to what she might have done beyond her days with Konami (or even any photos of her), I nonetheless felt that her body of work was enough to still warrant her a spotlight on the series.
You could call her a “Lost Matron Maestra”. Hopefully this will help her work be a little less lost to the vast annals of game music history.
About a month ago I reached out to the administrators at the Video Game Music Database (VGMdb) to ask if they could make some modifications to their advanced search. I wanted to be able to search for something specific: Women artists involved in game music. With the help of VGMdb admin Bigblah the advanced search was updated and here’s what you can search for now:
You can now refine the database search results by Male, Female or Unspecified genders, and isolate the results by Composer. Performing a search to include composers who were female for an original game soundtrack revealed 1,040 results! You can also make further refinements to your search to reveal more women that have worked in the video game audio industry.
Part of my motivations behind refining the advanced search was because a while back Original Sound Version began a series called Matron Maestras which highlighted some of the women working as composers in the video game industry. The composers included Winifred Phillips, Tomoka Sasaki, Eveline Fischer, and Michiru Oshima. We wanted to let you know that this series will be making a comeback in the coming months. In the meantime, please feel free to re-visit our previous Matron Maestras articles or perform some searches of your own with these new options in the VGMdb.
If there are woman composer or artist that you would like to see covered in OSV’s Matron Maestra series? Please let us know!
Motoi Sakuraba has been writing video game music for many years, and he is among the most prolific composers in the video game world. His body of work spans games released over a period of more than 20 years, and includes a wide variety of genres, from Japanese RPGs to sports and action games. A lot of his work is his own compositions for various games, but he has also done some work as an arranger and as a producer.
Since his work spans so many games, Motoi Sakuraba is adept at adapting to different styles suited for different genres. But there are many elements of his style that you can see across his different compositions as well. I will be going through some of these elements briefly, and attempt to shed some light on what makes Motoi Sakuraba’s music sound like Motoi Sakuraba.
A new announcement out of Game Music Connect 2015 is the addition of LittleBigPlanet composer Paul Thomson to the growing list of special guests and speakers attending the event.
In games Paul has worked extensively with Media Molecule and Sony Computer Entertainment as lead composer on the hit PS4 game Little Big Planet 3, also lead on Little Big Planet 2, Little Big Planet Vita, Little Big Planet Karting, and as sole composer on several DLCs for the platform including Pirates of the Caribbean and Marvel. He has also composed and produced a number of albums worth of material for Hans Zimmer’s Directors Cuts collaboration with Extreme Music and Sony ATV and has also written albums for Boosey and Hawkes Production Music, as well as several other movie and media composition credits.
“Hero Theme” – LittleBigPlanet 3
Paul joins a list of other composers and media music producers, including keynote by Chuck Doud, Sony Entertainment’s Director of Music. you can find a list of currently-announced speakers and guests here. You can also read through Pat’s review of LittleBigPlanet 3 featuring Paul’s music here.
Game Music Connect will be held in the Purcell Room in London, England on September 15th. Tickets are still available and there’s a healthy amount of content to check out for those interested in game music and composition. You can check it out at Game Music Connect 2015.
If you’re a fan of fantasy RPGs such as Dragon Age: Origins, then you’ll be happy to know that the upcoming D&D game from n-Space and Digital Extremes, Sword Coast Legends, will have the same composer as many of the staples of the genre.
Two-time winning BAFTA nominated composer Inon Zur (Icewind Dale II, Baldur’s Gate: Throne of Bhaal) will be in charge of the music for the new game, set within the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe by Wizards of the Coast. This would seem to be a great fit for the composer, as his history with providing power orchestrations within similar games such as EverQuest makes him a great fit. The game’s music has been recorded by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra with Zur at the helm.
“Throughout his career, Inon’s music has been integral to many of the game industry’s most memorable experiences and has raised the bar on what we expect from a video game score today. His ability to capture the player’s experience through his music is second to none,” said Dan Tudge, President of n-Space and Director of Sword Coast Legends. “It’s wonderful to see Inon return to Dungeons & Dragons and the Forgotten Realms setting, where I’m confident our deep story, compelling characters, and rich environments will inspire one of Inon’s most memorable works to date.”
Source: Top Dollar PR
To get a taste of what to expect from Zur, you can check out any of his previous works, such as Dragon Age: Origins. A master of creating powerful melodic orchestrations that simply ooze fantasy-adventure feel to them, fans of the Dungeons & Dragon games can bet on good things coming for Sword Coast Legends.
Sword Coast Legends will be on sale for PC later this year, and is currently on pre-order for Steam for $34.99, along with digital deluxe and collectors editions. For more on Inon Zur’s musical repertoire, you can check out his website or follow him through social media.
It’s just a few more days until the Game Developers Conference kicks off in San Francisco. Like the professionals they are, the website’s nifty shortcuts can direct you to the Audio Track Sessions listed for the event. The Audio Track is comprised of the panels dealing with game music and game audio production.
The Audio Track brings the industry’s top professionals to share their knowledge and experience from the real-world, addressing these unique problems: aesthetic, technical, business, logistical and then some.
The highlighted sessions for 2015 feature panels such as “Soundtracking Hell – The Music of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls” and “Women in Game Audio” (Something that should interest any fans of our “Matron Maestras” articles), amongst others. An entire session schedule can be found of GDC’s website with dates, times and other pertinent details. It’s a pretty expansive list, showcasing just how technical the world of video game music has become.
I’m quite jealous of our own Michael Hoffman, who will be attending the event for OSV. For anyone else making it to the conference who’s a fan of the audio side of gaming, this is something you’ll want to browse through.
Creators of a new game documentary have launched a Kickstarter. The project titled Beep is intending to take a look at the history of game music and sound. Everything from the old school sounds of arcade games all the way to the games of today. The focus isn’t just on the music of these games. The documentary will also be an exploration of audio design, voice work, and the use of chiptune and other game sound technology outside of the gaming medium. A book will also accompany the documentary to supply more detailed information about the various subjects covered in the film.
There are already plans for interviews with major members of the game audio community. Raising money through Kickstarter will aid the creators in being able to travel and interview composers and sound designers. Several composers have already been named for interviews including Tommy Tallarico, Winifred Phillips, Shota Nakama, Peter McConnell, and many more.
Rewards for backers include copies of the documentary, book, soundtrack, t-shirts, and many other physical rewards. The Kickstarter has already raised over $15,000 of the needed $40,000 pledge goal. If this sounds like a project you’d like to see made, definitely check this Kickstarter out.
Covering and promoting discussion of composers and music with a focus on video games and other contemporary media entertainment
