LittleBIGPlanet 3

Events, Game Music

LittleBigPlanet composer to speak at Game Music Connect 2015

August 12, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on LittleBigPlanet composer to speak at Game Music Connect 2015 Share this

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.

Paul Thomson – Website | Facebook

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.
Featured, Game Music, Reviews

Wish Granted! LittleBIGPlanet 3 Soundtrack Exists! (Review)

April 29, 2015 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Wish Granted! LittleBIGPlanet 3 Soundtrack Exists! (Review) Share this

At the tail end of 2014, when we looked back on the year in our annual OSVOSTOTY celebrations, I lamented that the soundtrack to LittleBIGPlanet 3 might not see the light of day. The game was new to the market at the time, and while it was (and still is) suffering from some technical issues, its aesthetics were as brilliant as previous entries in the series. The music was more eclectic than ever, due in large part to the wide array of musicians taken on for the game’s single-player campaign levels.

Lucky for me, a soundtrack did finally arrive. It wasn’t an exhaustive collection of the game’s music, but it was a full 70 minutes of music, on iTunes, for nine bucks. I wasn’t going to pass that up.

After the jump, I’m going to pinpoint, as best as I can, what makes me love this music so much. Hint: much of it is thanks to a wonderful lady whose name starts with a W. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Matron Maestras – Winifred Phillips (Spotlight)

December 19, 2014 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Matron Maestras – Winifred Phillips (Spotlight) Share this

When Brenna first unveiled OSV’s Matron Maestras series, I was over the moon. Gender politics and volatile gaming culture aside, there’s no denying that the world of game music production is dominated by men. I don’t have a full database from which to do calculations (vgmdb doesn’t allow advanced artist search with filters on artist gender and artist type, such as composer arranger performer etc). Anecdotally, however, it seems to me that the West has an even harder time of it than Japan. I can easily name a dozen women composers from Japan; I would be hard-pressed to do the same among American and European VGM composers.

In wanting to support this new article series, I felt it best to highlight the contributions of the award-winning Winifred Phillips. This is a woman who is blazing a trail in the industry, and teaching others how to do it at the same time. No, really, she wrote the book on the matter (the first English-language book on the topic I’ve yet seen). This, in my mind, makes her both a scholar and a visionary, as she is able to adapt from formulaic composition to out-of-the-box creativity as needed.

After the jump, I’ll give you some examples to show you what I mean. And you’ll also see a list of recent accolades Ms. Phillips has received, demonstrating that I’m not the only one recognizing her talent.

(more…)