Grant Kirkhope

Game Music

iam8bit is taking pre-orders for three classic rare game soundtracks on vinyl

August 5, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | 1 Comment Share this

On August 4, 2015 iam8bit announced that they were taking pre-orders for three classic Rare video game soundtracks on vinyl: Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark.

Originally, the Battletoads album was an exclusive release limited to 300 copies this year at San Diego Comic-con. This new pressing of Battletoads will be a single LP release while both completely new releases Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark will span two LPs. All three of these releases will be limited to 3000 copies each.

Read on to find out the details on track listing, album cover details, and pricing. These look sweet.

(more…)
Game Music, Music Production

Take a Look Behind Banjo-Kazooie’s Dynamic Soundtrack

July 16, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | 1 Comment Share this

The YouTube channel ClassicGameJunkie just recently started a new video series called How Did They Do That!? which aims to dissect a specific mechanic or effect from a game. Their latest episode focuses on the dynamic music of Rare’s Nintendo 64 classic, Banjo-Kazooie. It’s not a technical deep-dive but the video does a good job of explaining how Grant Kirkhope pulled it off in just under four minutes.

It’s totally worth watching just for the final few moments where they layer six of the game’s tracks over one another. It must be that trademarked Kirkhope genius because it sounds just as good as each track does on its own. Check it out up above.
Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

The Enchanted Cave 2 OST (Review)

June 9, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on The Enchanted Cave 2 OST (Review) Share this The Enchanted Cave 2 OST (Review)

For the past few years, the indie game scene has been seeing preferences to specific game genres. The fantasy rouge-like, or rouge-light if you prefer, has become a popular format to create games. In particular, the procedurally generated dungeon crawler has been a favorite of indie game developers. One of the more recent entrees to this genre is a the game The Enchanted Cave 2. Like the first game in the series, The Enchanted Cave 2 is a rouge-like dungeon crawler with randomly generated floors, items, and enemy placement. The game, created by Dustin Auxier, was made thanks to a successful Kickstarter, just making it to the initial goal. The game was recently released on Steam, Android, and iOS platforms.

The composer for this indie title is none other than BAFTA nominated composer Grant Kirkhope. Many game music enthusiasts are no doubt familiar with his work at Rare on games like Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and Donkey Kong 64. His memorable melody writing and unique composition style make him a valuable collaborator for any project that he takes on. Kirkhope is also no stranger to the freelance composition world, even doing some collaborative music work on Desktop Dungeons with composer Danny Baranowsky back in 2013. So today we will be looking at his work on The Enchanted Cave 2 OST and examining how his music sets the mood for this fantasy dungeon crawler. (more…)
Game Music

Grant Kirkhope Releases the Ultimate Banjo-Kazooie Album

October 7, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Grant Kirkhope Releases the Ultimate Banjo-Kazooie Album Share this

Back in April of 2013, the official Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack received a digital release on Grant Kirkhope’s Bandcamp page. If you are familiar with either the game or soundtrack, you’ll know that the music in the game changes dynamically. Depending on where you were in the game world, the instruments and music arrangement would change in real time. Unfortunately, many of these variations were not available on the official soundtrack. It seems that Grant Kirkhope has taken it upon himself to give fans access to those alternate versions and missing tracks with Banjo-Kazooie: Everything and the Kitchen Sink!

Every piece of music that was ever in the game is on this soundtrack. There are also a handful of unused bonus tracks included. Even quick jingles/cues like “Collect Jiggy” and “Collect All Jingos” are present on this album. This includes variations of the music for when you’re underwater, the variations of “Gruntilda’s Lair,” and the arrangements for the various seasons in the Click-Clock Wood level. This is an absolute must-have for the Banjo-Kazooie music purist. As if the collection of all of this previously unreleased content wasn’t enough, the album is available for a pay-what-you-want price. So if you are a big fan of the the original Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack, definitely check out Banjo-Kazooie: Everything and the Kitchen Sink!
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…)
Game Music, Reviews

Desktop Dungeons OST (Review)

January 24, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 7 Comments Share this Desktop Dungeons OST (Review)

As we continue into the new year, we at OSV have decided to take a look back at some of the albums that we missed from 2013. Starting today, we will be covering some of the albums we missed in addition to newer content. The first of these is the soundtrack to the indie title Desktop Dungeons. The game is a tactical dungeon crawler that focuses on exploring randomly generated maps, in rounds that take around 10 minutes to complete. The dungeon gameplay has complex tactical elements, but also works like a puzzle. Primarily, you have to figure out ways to maximize the efficiency of your abilities and limited resources in order to make it through the dungeon alive. It started out as a freeware game but received further development and was eventually released on Steam last year. Our two composers for this soundtrack are Danny Baranowsky and Grant Kirkhope. Now for anyone who is an avid videogame music lover, that may be all you need to hear in order to be sold on this album. Grant Kirkhope is the well known composer of games including Banjo-Kazoie, Goldeneye 64, and more recently Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Danny Baranowsky, another equally talented composer, has written for games include Super Meat Boy, Canabalt, and The Binding of Isaac.

It’s always interesting to see what happens when multiple composers come together on a single project. Both Kirkhope and Baranowsky have their own unique styles of music writing, so I was curious to see how their music would contrast against one another. Would they try to blend their styles of writing into a consistent whole or would they intentionally use their contrasting styles to create more variety in the game score? The soundtrack features pieces that are individually written by the composers and a fair number of pieces that they collaborate on. If you’re familiar with either composer, you’ll be able to pick out elements of their music writing in this album. You can hear Kirkhope’s catchy melody writing, much in the vein of his Banjo-Kazoie music, and Baranowsky’s driving rhythms and unique melody writing style can also be heard throughout the album. (more…)
Game Music

Kingdoms of Amalur: A New Franchise and Score to Be Reckoned With

February 20, 2012 | Gideon Dabi | Comments Off on Kingdoms of Amalur: A New Franchise and Score to Be Reckoned With Share this

Growing up a Yankee fan, Curt Schilling was never a name I wanted to hear. He was outspoken, lethal on the mound, and a fierce competitor. My opinion of him changed when I learned that he was also outspoken about his love of gaming and fantasy. He was unapologetic about the wealth of time he and his children had put into World of Warcraft and even mentioned wanting to develop a game himself. A few years later, we are graced with the first major release from Schilling’s 38 Studios, Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning. Assembling a team of all-stars in their own right, Schilling called upon comic book legend (and baseball fanatic), Todd McFarlane, Oblivion‘s lead game designer, Ken Rolston, and New York Times bestselling, fantasy author, R.A. Salvatore, to help create this ambitious first outing.

I have written several times about the difficulties in writing a score for an RPG in that, as Gothic‘s Kai Rosenkranz said, a composer can get into trouble making music too melodic as it can grow monotonous. Grant Kirkhope was Schilling’s hired gun to score this monstrous game. Did he strike out or hit one out of the park? (more…)