New composer?

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Tillerman
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Re: New composer?

Post by Tillerman »

Wow, so it's actually within the realm of possibility for Akira to come back. I'm already excited about the new game, but that would seal it for me!
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Re: New composer?

Post by RedPyramidThingy »

I saw the interview too but thought it had something to do with that song he's doing for Murasaki Baby, yet since Akira's sort of dodging the question I'm pretty sure he's coming back. At least I'm hoping he is. It's also worth noting that Akira and Kojima do know each other and they posted photos of them together at a concert a while ago on Twitter.
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Leo Ho Tep
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Re: New composer?

Post by Leo Ho Tep »

I like Akira's work on the series. some of his song and cues are amazing. Others, not so much to me. That said, I think Lincht did a really interesting job on Downpour. The music that play when you free roam in the city was great, and perp walk was really powerful. I'm really interested in who will be the new composer. and I hope it's someone new. Akira did a wonderful job. But this is a new team, and we nedd something fresh. And so far, they delivered in that regard.
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Wigeke
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Re: New composer?

Post by Wigeke »

I wouldn't be happy if Akira was back, it's not like his SH work was very original, it was mostly generic sounding rock tracks or ambient tracks that are samples layered on top of samples. It's rather easy to emulate his style as long as you use the same sample libraries. I'd rather have something fresh.
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Re: New composer?

Post by Alexius Corvinus »

The music in PT sounded much more like Akira Yamaoka's than Licht's.
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golden filter
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Re: New composer?

Post by golden filter »

Wigeke wrote:I wouldn't be happy if Akira was back, it's not like his SH work was very original, it was mostly generic sounding rock tracks or ambient tracks that are samples layered on top of samples. It's rather easy to emulate his style as long as you use the same sample libraries. I'd rather have something fresh.
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Skele
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Re: New composer?

Post by Skele »

golden filter wrote:
Wigeke wrote:I wouldn't be happy if Akira was back, it's not like his SH work was very original, it was mostly generic sounding rock tracks or ambient tracks that are samples layered on top of samples. It's rather easy to emulate his style as long as you use the same sample libraries. I'd rather have something fresh.
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Not really. I mean there's a thread somewhere here about Akira's heavy sampling from some industrial sample album. I think up to that point, the majority of us assumed Akira came up with all these brilliant, creepy sounds on his own, only to later find out he sampled a lot of the stuff. Doesn't take away from how great the first few games OST's are, but you can't blame some fans for thinking he's not all that great.
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Re: New composer?

Post by Rev »

Skele wrote:
golden filter wrote:
Wigeke wrote:I wouldn't be happy if Akira was back, it's not like his SH work was very original, it was mostly generic sounding rock tracks or ambient tracks that are samples layered on top of samples. It's rather easy to emulate his style as long as you use the same sample libraries. I'd rather have something fresh.
they see me trollin'
Not really. I mean there's a thread somewhere here about Akira's heavy sampling from some industrial sample album. I think up to that point, the majority of us assumed Akira came up with all these brilliant, creepy sounds on his own, only to later find out he sampled a lot of the stuff. Doesn't take away from how great the first few games OST's are, but you can't blame some fans for thinking he's not all that great.
^ Basically how I feel. I don't really care for Akira's work after SH2 and I'm not even trolling. I hate how his tracks drown out a lot of the scenes in SH3 to the point where it's distracting, which seemed to be a common theme in later games.

Say what you want about Licht's tracks, but at least he didn't just throw down some tunes set to a loud percussion and call it good.

Not all fans think Akira is like the god of all that is Silent Hill/its music. Shocking, I know.
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Re: New composer?

Post by VIVIsect »

I'd like to see Yamaoka return, if only for his sound design work. While the quality of his actual music tracks (the stuff that appears on the OSTs) declined sharply after SH3 (in my opinion), his sound design always remained pretty consistent (with the exception of SH:SM).

A lot of people don't make any distinction between "composer" and "sound designer", but Yamaoka is actually somewhat rare in that he handled both duties. Licht, for example, wasn't involved in the sound design for Downpour at all. Those duties were handed off to some random person, and the game suffered for it.
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Re: New composer?

Post by KingCrimson »

As far as sound design goes, I hope they find somebody better than whoever they got for P.T.

The ambience and music were nice, but the sound effects were too recognizable, too easily linked to something familiar (a baby crying, a woman screaming). When Akira used the classic mid-90's "jungle cat" roar for one of the SH4 monsters, everything started to fall apart... and don't get me started on the burping and monkey noises from that game.

I'd be okay with anybody really, as long as they understand that suggesting something frightening is preferred over stock flesh-ripping foley effects.

The music is something almost impossible to get right anymore. The term "industrial" has become a joke these days, but in its literal sense, my favorite background ambience has always been the stuff that suggests a very old machine repetitively humming away and clanking arrhythmically. It's so hard to get away with that kind of thing without sounding forced; again, it's gotta be more like hinting at it, less like "that's the sound of a carburetor."
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Re: New composer?

Post by Adrasteia »

I'd love a Retro Yamaoka musical experience. Just returning to his SH1-3 roots (4 can go hang) and giving us all something at once haunting, beautiful, terrifying and mysterious. A lot to ask of anyone, I know.
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Below
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Re: New composer?

Post by Below »

Adrasteia wrote:(4 can go hang)
Whaaaaat? The game with the best ambient tracks and the best vocal track?
...nothing really unusual down there.
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Re: New composer?

Post by Vestu »

Well, people seem to forget Silent Hill: Homecoming. Akira made some awesome pieces on there. The game has a lot of crappy writing, game- and art-design choices but one boss and the song that plays during it, stand out: Scarlet. That is one creepy boss and the music in my opinion among the best of the series.

Almost too scary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ktKG-w35kk

Put on headphones, close your eyes (or stare at the pic lol) and pick 720p.
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Re: New composer?

Post by Postcode »

Below wrote:
Adrasteia wrote:(4 can go hang)
Whaaaaat? The game with the best ambient tracks and the best vocal track?
That's my favourite soundtrack of the series, certainly to listen to out-of-game anyway.
For anyone that might be interested in such things, some links to my music, of the alternative rock kind -
http://postcode.bandcamp.com/
http://soundcloud.com/zebracore
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Postcode/99794277098

And my Post-Rock band Nanaki -
https://nanaki.bandcamp.com
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Re: New composer?

Post by Redklok »

leftshoe18 wrote:I was kind of hoping that Licht would return. I really liked his work on Downpour.

Did I play a different game? Maybe mine was broke cause the only thing I can remember was just ONE awful track that was stuck on loop. I listened to the soundtrack on youtube and I can't remember hearing these tracks during the game at all.

Edit: only this song, but seemingly only snippets of it.
Last edited by Redklok on 23 Dec 2014, edited 2 times in total.
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Redklok
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Re: New composer?

Post by Redklok »

aj4x94 wrote:
JKristine35 wrote:Assuming the devs listed at the end of the demo are working on Silent Hills, and not just the one demo, then the new composer would be Ludvig Forssell. This choice shouldn't be surprising, since he's worked with Kojima before on MGS. Here's a look at his IMDb page:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5603882/
I personally wanted Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. I can't say anything about Ludvig Forssell since what we heard in Ground Zeroes simply isn't enough to judge his work by. (Shrugs) we shall see.

Funny you should say that because in some interview Yamaoka said he was a big fan of Trent Reznor and hoped to meet him someday, he also said his music is inspired by Reznor but yeah I would love it too if he would do it.
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Re: New composer?

Post by peronmls »

Wigeke wrote:I wouldn't be happy if Akira was back, it's not like his SH work was very original, it was mostly generic sounding rock tracks or ambient tracks that are samples layered on top of samples. It's rather easy to emulate his style as long as you use the same sample libraries. I'd rather have something fresh.
Licht did the same thing to downpour. He used some of the same libraries as Akira. All composers use samples. They don't just straight up use them, they cut it and warp the sound to their own liking. It's no different than playing an instrument. Koji Kondo did it too. Every composer in the world does it. Nothing new.

http://www.hcs64.com/mboard/forum.php?s ... showpage=0
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Wigeke
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Re: New composer?

Post by Wigeke »

peronmls wrote:
Wigeke wrote:I wouldn't be happy if Akira was back, it's not like his SH work was very original, it was mostly generic sounding rock tracks or ambient tracks that are samples layered on top of samples. It's rather easy to emulate his style as long as you use the same sample libraries. I'd rather have something fresh.
Licht did the same thing to downpour. He used some of the same libraries as Akira. All composers use samples. They don't just straight up use them, they cut it and warp the sound to their own liking. It's no different than playing an instrument. Koji Kondo did it too. Every composer in the world does it. Nothing new.

http://www.hcs64.com/mboard/forum.php?s ... showpage=0
I'm quite aware of it being a composer myself, but in my opinion Akira's use of them was rather shameless, some tracks are nothing more than 2 or 3 loops layered with a very simple melody on top.
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Tillerman
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Re: New composer?

Post by Tillerman »

Wigeke wrote:I'm quite aware of it being a composer myself, but in my opinion Akira's use of them was rather shameless, some tracks are nothing more than 2 or 3 loops layered with a very simple melody on top.
I so disagree. I think Akira created some of the best soundtracks I've ever heard, especially in 1-3. Even in the realm of horror movies, there's few that come close.
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Re: New composer?

Post by Trauma_ »

peronmls wrote:
Wigeke wrote:I wouldn't be happy if Akira was back, it's not like his SH work was very original, it was mostly generic sounding rock tracks or ambient tracks that are samples layered on top of samples. It's rather easy to emulate his style as long as you use the same sample libraries. I'd rather have something fresh.
Licht did the same thing to downpour. He used some of the same libraries as Akira. All composers use samples. They don't just straight up use them, they cut it and warp the sound to their own liking. It's no different than playing an instrument. Koji Kondo did it too. Every composer in the world does it. Nothing new.

http://www.hcs64.com/mboard/forum.php?s ... showpage=0
If nothing else, Akira could at least have the presence of mind to learn how to work a drum sequencer. It is different from playing an instrument, because... you know- he wasn't actually playing an instrument half the time. He CTRL-V'd the shit out of a lot of material then claimed to have made it all himself.

I think it's just a case of people being easily fooled because they hadn't been exposed to much dark ambient/electronic music to begin with.
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