TOMB RAIDER LEGEND
SCORING A NEXT-GENERATION SOUNDTRACK
- BY TROELS B. FOLMANN – CRYSTAL DYNAMICS
AGENDA
INTRODUCTION TO LECTURE
SPEAKER BIO
PERSPECTIVE ON SCORING
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
CHAOS, CONVOLUTION, SEQUENCING, BALANCE
MICRO SCORING
HOW TO SCORE, WHY MICROSCORE, EXAMPLES
QUESTIONS
SPEAKER BIO
NAME: TROELS B. FOLMANN
TITLE: ASSOCIATE PRODUCER / COMPOSER
COMPANY: EIDOS / CRYSTAL DYNAMICS
TOMB RAIDER LEGEND
+180 MIN OF MICRO-SCORED SOUNDTRACK
DIGITAL ORCHESTATION (NATURAL/EPIC)
ELECTRONIC / CONTEMPORARY
SEVEN CULTURAL INFLUENCES
BOLIVIA, PERU, GHANA, TOKYO
RUSSIA, HIMALAYA, UK
MAIN THEMES FOR:
GAME / CINEMATICS
MAIN CHARACTERS AND DESTINATIONS
MUSIC STATS
MAIN THEME
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
GOOD CHAOS
CONVOLUTION REVERBS
SEQUENCING TECHNIQUES
BALANCING THE MIX
SAMPLE LIBRARIES
TOO CLEAN PHILOSOPHY
CUSTOM RECORDINGS
OVERVIEW
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
Chaotic elements
Conductors baton
Page turns
Chair creaks
Hall noise
Human breaths / Coughs
Instrument noises (none-tune based)
Bow noises (strings)
Breath noises (brass/woods)
Skin- and metal noises (percussion)
GOOD CHAOS
CHAOSEX
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
Reverbs
Convolution Techonology
Multiple convolutions
Simulate natural hall acoustics
Real hall rooms radiate multiplereflections
Chaos is life
Proper placement of virtual mics
All main instrument groups got own reverbs
CONVOLUTION REVERBS
CONVOEX
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
Sequencing
Think- and play like the instrument
Think- and play like an orchestra
Compose like a conductor
Mistakes are evident and important
Asynchronous behaviour
Playing without quantization
Applying quantization with randomness
Quantization kills
Extensive use of volume and faders
SEQUENCING TECHNIQUES
FEELFORCE
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
Balance
Balance the orchestral sections
Retain original ensemble sizes for naturalorchestra
Expand original ensemble sizes for epicorchestra (MV sound)
Place orchestral sections in respectivespots
Place virtual mics and proper use of reverb
50% samples / 50% balance
Fix-in-the-mix
BALANCING THE MIX
NATURAL
EPIC
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
Orchestral (commercial) sample libraries
EWQLSO/XP (All orchestral groups)
EWQLSC (Choirs)
VSL (All orchestral groups)
Storm Drums (Percussion)
Project Sam (Percussion, Brass)
SAMPLE LIBRARIES
QLSC
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
Problems in commercial orchestral libraries
Pitch/Tune corrected
Noise reduced
Avoid of “chaos” in samples
Avoid natural “noises” (breaths, instrumentnoise etc)
Lack of advanced legato features
Lack of orchestral FX (Ex. Stargate MP soundtrack)
TOO CLEAN
QLSOXP
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
Custom instrument recordings
Authenticity / Original sound
Legato / Phrases
FX
Personality / Unique sound
Dirty is cool
CUSTOM RECORDINGS
CUSTOM
MICRO SCORING
PERSPECTIVE ON SCORING
HISTORY OF GAME MUSIC COMPLEXITY
INCREASING DEMANDS
WHAT IS MICRO SCORING?
SOUNDSCAPE BIBLES
MICRO SCORES
DIGITAL ORCHESTRATION
OVERVIEW
COMPONENTS INFLUENCING THE SCORE
PERSPECTIVE ON SCORING
Pr. Game (70-80´s)
Pr. Level (80-90´s)
Pr. Unit (80-00´s)
Pr. Sub-unit (90-00´s)
Pr. Event (00´s-XX)
Pr. Action (00´s-XX)
Pr. Player reference (00´s-XX)
Pr. Player emotion (00´s-XX)
HISTORY OF GAME MUSIC COMPLEXITY
MICRO SCORING
PASTVSNOW
Pr. Game (70-80´s)
Pr. Level (80-90´s)
Pr. Unit (80-00´s)
Pr. Sub-unit (90-00´s)
Pr. Event (00´s-XX)
Pr. Action (00´s-XX)
Pr. Player reference (00´s-XX)
Pr. Player emotion (00´s-XX)
MICRO-SCORING
FUTURE
MICRO-SCORING
MICRO SCORING
HISTORY OF GAME MUSIC COMPLEXITY
MSEX
MICRO SCORING
5 LAYER SCORE
MSLAYEREX
Increasing demand for true adaptive music
Increasing demand for music customization
Increasing demand for better quality in game music
Increasing complexity in large game productions
Increasing complexity in music interactivity
Technological potential for providing adaptive music
INCREASING DEMANDS
MICRO SCORING
A compositional methodology
Breaking music into smallest components
Pr. Unit based composition
Pr. Sub-unit based composition
Pr. Event-triggered composition
Acknowledgement of complexity
Empowerment of player emotion
Emotional approach- and feedback
Trigger by player experience, action and interaction
WHAT IS MICRO-SCORING?
MICRO SCORING
MICRO-SCORING CROFT MANSION
MICRO-SCORING GRAVE
MICRO-SCORING HIMALAYA
MICRO-SCORING VEHICLES
FURTHER EXAMPLES FROM TOMB RAIDER
MICRO SCORING
EXAMPLES
THANK YOU
NAME: TROELS B. FOLMANN
TITLE: ASSOCIATE PRODUCER / COMPOSER
COMPANY: EIDOS / CRYSTAL DYNAMICS
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: