Creating Downpours Music: An interview with Daniel Licht

[ebolasupermonky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8cvIzOn ... e=youtu.be

[Typographenia]

That was a much better feature than I thought it was going to be. I'm glad he covered his work process and his own history and development of his approach/influences rather than just "HOW DO YOU MAKE MUSIC SCARY FOR SILENT HILL?"
He seems like a pretty interesting individual, in general.

Thanks for the link, ebola.

[VIVIsect]

I really liked the interview and Licht genuinely seems like a good guy who is passionate about what he does. It's also neat to take a peek into his creative process. That said, I'm still not particularly crazy about the Downpour soundtrack (with the exception of "Intro Perp Walk", maybe). It's a bit too... "traditional" for my tastes. But, all things considered, I suppose they could have done a whole hell of a lot worse.

[ww_andi]

That was a pretty good interview i liked his insight

[Aerith Gainsborough]

I really liked the interview, as well. Daniel seems like a very down-to-earth guy, and I really enjoy that he actually understands what the series is about emotionally. I think that's very important. I don't know of many fresh people who come onto a project that really take the time to learn about what they're working on, and I find that admirable. I'm really glad he's been working with Konami lately, and I really look forward to his new stuff.

(Also, the interview made me forgive him for the silly laughing that he used in "Clowning Around with Monsters", as well as the titles of many of the tracks )

[B5160-R]

Nice to get to know the new guy. Thanks for posting this.

I still haven't really listened to the soundtrack, but from the interview it seems like he's given it some thought and at least he made his own original recordings (hint*hint*nudge*nudge* ).

[LastScion]

Personally, I loved the soundtrack. I know this is practically blasphemy - but one of the things I disliked about Yamaoka's work was that 75% of it was impossible to listen to outside of the game - it was just industrial clamor meant to get your blood rushing.

Licht didn't just take the good - he didn't just take the mandolin and guitar and industrial backdrop. He took the chaos and conformed even that to traditional composition. I can listen to 90% of this soundtrack on an iPod and think something other than, "Okay, enough noise." Maybe it'll even put me in the right mood when I'm writing something anxious or suspenseful, myself. It's a different direction that I don't think is BETTER or WORSE than Akira's but I'm more partial to it for now.

There was only one moment of the game when I said to myself, "Wait, why is there actual music playing right now?" -- and it was in a silent house during a side quest. It didn't fit the "You should be concerned it's so quiet" tone as much as make me want to sit back and mellow out. But then a screamer teleported into the room out of nowhere and started wailing on me, so, there went that.

Honestly, I hope he's willing to stick around if more Silent Hills come his way. A little more practice, and a little more absorption of Yamaoka's style, and I think he could create the penultimate SH soundtrack.

Too bad they'll probably never collaborate; Yamaoka-san, Licht, and McGlynn could probably get Nobuo Uematsu levels of attention with some live stuff.

[ebolasupermonky]

The soundtrack was great, I love Yamaoka's work but it's good to finally hear another composers take on the games. I can see him sticking around through at least a few more games, he's already scored BoM which has some pretty good stuff from what it sounds like.

http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Hill-Memor ... 6&sr=301-1

The only thing I wasn't happy with was there being no vocal tracks in this game (unless you count Intro Perp Walk) which I don't. Mary had said she recorded two songs for the game and I thought they just scrapped them but it looks like they're being included in the BoM soundtrack instead.

[Dark Sky]

He seems like a really nice guy. And - in full honesty - I haven't played the game yet. However, the soundtrack CD turned up today in the post, so I've just given it a listen.

Can't say I'm too impressed. It seems to be so disappointingly horror film-esque, full of urgency and tension and a far cry from the melancholic tunefulness I loved from Akira's scores.

I'm not saying it doesn't work within the game, because perhaps it does! But from the music alone, it doesn't sound like Silent Hill at all.

[sh#1fan]

I'm not saying it doesn't work within the game, because perhaps it does! But from the music alone, it doesn't sound like Silent Hill at all.

No~
It really doesn't work with the game at all lol. Half the time the music does not fit with what your doing. Its very poorly done (my opinion)

[Falconv1.0]

I think my problem with the music in the game is less how it sounds and more how it seems to be playing almost all the friggin time. I liked the tracks themselves, just give me some silence at parts where it fits PLEASE.

[Silent Fantasy]

^Yeah, its not very Silent is it? didnt catch that for some reason. lol

[LastScion]

I think my problem with the music in the game is less how it sounds and more how it seems to be playing almost all the friggin time.

That's a point I'm really willing to concede. In a world where you're meant to feel alone, smothered, and unsure - there does need to be a great deal of silence. It would even make the great tracks stand out a lot more.

Then again, one of my problems with Yamaoka-san was that the ambient noise tracks he used to create semi-silence can get really annoying.

Perhaps the solution is to spread out Licht's music more, but create a second layer of audible tracking that creates an aural atmosphere as opposed to the interjection sound effects we have now? Continual winds, leaves, house cracks, weather... bring the sirens back... have mobs making their noises in the distance to symbolize the distant negativity in your mind coming to the surface, etc.?

[Tillerman]

Most of the earlier Silent Hills had music constantly playing... it's just that a lot of it was either low-key, or well constructed ambient noise. Sometimes it would get in your face, but those tracks were usually memorable and interesting. Licht's soundtrack doesn't seem to have a lot of variety to it, maybe that's part of the problem.

[NanayaShiki]

Mary had said she recorded two songs for the game and I thought they just scrapped them but it looks like they're being included in the BoM soundtrack instead.

Oh? Where did you find out they were going to be in Book of Memories? I was pretty sure the vocals in two songs (no lyrics, but vocals) were her. "Intro Perk Walk" and "Bus to Nowhere."

[Yuki]

^ Mary does have two vocal songs for Book of Memories, and while I haven't listened to the full tracks she's in for Downpour, from the sound of "Intro Perp Walk", she mostly just croons in the background rather than being at the forefront.

I think my problem with the music in the game is less how it sounds and more how it seems to be playing almost all the friggin time.

That's a point I'm really willing to concede. In a world where you're meant to feel alone, smothered, and unsure - there does need to be a great deal of silence. It would even make the great tracks stand out a lot more.

Then again, one of my problems with Yamaoka-san was that the ambient noise tracks he used to create semi-silence can get really annoying.

Perhaps the solution is to spread out Licht's music more, but create a second layer of audible tracking that creates an aural atmosphere as opposed to the interjection sound effects we have now? Continual winds, leaves, house cracks, weather... bring the sirens back... have mobs making their noises in the distance to symbolize the distant negativity in your mind coming to the surface, etc.?

Too much music? I read a review or two complaining that during battles there wasn't enough. I don't get that complaint, but it's strange that they're conflicting.

[Falconv1.0]

I swear to God if I had a capture card and other stuff needed for good recording I could just get like probably an hour's worth of material of examples where they just plain did stuff wrong visually and sound wise. Anyone complaining that the music is too spread out does not have ears. It doesn't have any of the low key music of the previous games, it's all way too loud and apparent when it's there and often times doesn't need to be there.