Halo – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com The best place on earth for nerds. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 14:45:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-nerds_head_thumb2-100x100.png Halo – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com 32 32 All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, under one umbrella. We create short run podcasts for nerds, covering D&D, Marvel, Starfinder, and more! You vote for your favorite shows and they just might get a second season. Halo – Nerds on Earth false episodic Halo – Nerds on Earth jason.sansbury@nerdsonearth.com podcast All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, the best place on Earth for nerds. Halo – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/noe-podcast-logo.png https://nerdsonearth.com/blog/ Weekly Nerd Chat: Most Iconic Video Game Song https://nerdsonearth.com/2016/02/favorite-video-game-songs/ Wed, 17 Feb 2016 14:00:16 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=5387

Nash, Morgan, and Adkins chat about their favorite video game songs of all time.

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Us nerds like nothing more than to banter back and forth on nerdy topics in Slack. Here is one of those chats, very lightly edited.

[divider] What are your favorite video game songs? [/divider]

Adkins (Co-founder of Nerds on Earth and button masher) Today on the Weekly Nerd Chat, we’re going to offer up our choices for favorite or most iconic video game songs. Morgan has already graced Nerds on Earth with a post highlighting her seven favorite video game soundtracks of all time, but which stand-alone song is your favorite, guys?

Nash (Not willing to pay $.99 for a nerdy text tone) Well, I certainly do not have the wide range of gaming as you two, but either way I think it always goes back to nostalgic stuff for me. So that undoubtedly has to be the original Zelda theme song!

Adkins Like, NES Zelda?

Nash Yessir.

Adkins Definitely a major tune. They basically took that and revamped it for several of the other Zelda titles, didn’t they? Ocarina of Time used it for sure.

Nash The Legend of Zelda is absolutely my fav. I like all the games and soundtracks, but something about the original one…takes me back to a simpler time!

I think the music is Zelda is such a major part of the franchise.

Ocarina of Time emphasized it well!

Morgan (Barely tolerates Adkins and Nash’s lack of music theory) The music from Zelda is so well done. Ocarina of Time pays homage to a lot of old themes and just does such a great job with it. The music is what makes me wish I got into Zelda.

Adkins What I really dug about music in Ocarina of Time: It becomes interactive! You play six short notes on Link’s ocarina and a whole song unfurls. You play it! Very cool mechanic.

Nash I consider it the inspiration for Guitar Hero and the like lol

Adkins My reigning favorite from that game: “Saria’s Song.” Down right left, down right left.

Such a happy little ditty.

Ha! Never thought of that, Nash. Old school precursor to Guitar Hero!

Only you didn’t have to keep time or rhythm; you just had to get the sequence right.

Nash I’d argue that you don’t have to keep that much time or rhythm for GH either lol

Adkins What about you, Morgan? I know this task is a bit more daunting for you since music is definitely a huge passion of yours, but do your best!

Morgan It really is! Because I was sitting here thinking I was for sure set on a song, but then I was like “OH but this one! NO WAIT! This one!” There are so many factors to me that make an iconic song especially for video games. Does it tell the story, does it make you emotional, instrumentation, etc.

But for this I think my decision is based on if I can listen to this song and always get goosebumps and it never feels old. It comes down to Kingdom Hearts “Hikari Orchestra” theme that was used a lot in the trailer. It used the iconic melody of the popular song used “Simple and Clean” but it also just tells such a story with great dynamic.

Adkins I’m unfamiliar with the tune. Does it have lyrics, or is it purely instrumental?

(I’m looking it up even as you prepare your answer)

Morgan It doesn’t. “Simple and Clean” does. But this is purely instrumental.

Adkins So tell us, then, about the elements you mentioned earlier when it comes to this song: story, emotion, instrumentation…

Morgan All of it! With this song, it uses the important melody that is featured multiple times throughout the game, mostly when something big story line wise is happening. Your main character Sora is dealing with being separated from his world by the darkness and everyone he cares about is stripped from him. But as he fights the darkness and gains new friendships.

It’s a long story, if you haven’t played the game before I recommend it! It has Disney elements but Final Fantasy feel. The instrumentation is on the epic side with full orchestra which plucks my heart strings.

Adkins Just listened to the whole thing. Definitely a dynamic tune! And while I’ve not played any of the Kingdom Hearts games, I have seen gameplay footage a few times. It wasn’t difficult to paste this song overtop that footage and have it click. Very cool!

The song that immediately came to mind for me was “Truth and Reconciliation Suite” from the Halo series.

It played during title screens, during matchmaking, and even during gameplay. It was everywhere, and because I played the heck out of that franchise in high school and college it rings mightily in my head.

It is orchestral like your song, Morgan. And it has a very epic feel to it.

Morgan Halo has gorgeous music! It’s really well done. I’ve never played Halo so I was never sure on what influences were supposed to be center focus. It has a lot of worldly influences, in melodies and instrumentation. It’s just overall interesting to listen to.

Adkins So let me ask you two a question:

All three of our submissions contain no lyrics. Can you guys think of any major video game songs out there that do?

Nash I cannot think of one that contains lyrics.

Adkins I’m having a hard time coming up with one myself. If any of us knows one, its Morgan for sure!

Nash #YouKnowThatsRight

Adkins (And I’m not counting the Mario Theme Song – which has been revealed to actually have lyrics that almost no one knows about)

Morgan Yep! Dragon Age Origins. Most of the lyrics are not in English though.

Adkins What are we talking then? Elvish?

Morgan Also Dragon Age Inquisition had bard songs written in English, and made for the game so whenever you walk into the tavern, that’s what you would hear.

Nash HA!

Adkins That is a pretty interesting thought on behalf of the creators.

Morgan Also Fallout 4 did that when you walk into the Third Rail. Lynda Carter’s band (yes, Wonder Woman has a band) plays songs they write for Fallout 4. It’s pretty great.

Adkins Okay, so to close this down…Be honest…Have any of you ever used a video game sound byte (even just sound effect, not necessarily a song) as a ringtone or text tone on your phone and if so, what was it?

I once had a number of NES Super Mario Bros sounds as my text tones at one point.  Coins and jumps and mushrooms, oh my!

Nash No. But only because I’m a miser and you usually have to pay for those right? lol

Adkins Ha!

Morgan I use to have a Super Mario sound effect when someone texted me. I have a Dragon Age song as my ringtone.

Adkins Well, that settles it, guys. We’re nerds.

Nash DUH! lol

Morgan What?! How?!

 

Please share in the comments what your favorite video game songs are!

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A Music Nerd Picks the Top 7 Video Game Soundtracks https://nerdsonearth.com/2015/11/top-video-game-soundtracks/ Sun, 08 Nov 2015 19:13:31 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=4015

Video games can really hit us with epic battles, heart breaking romances, and extreme plot twists. But those beautiful written scenes wouldn’t have had the same powerful effect without the musical magic behind them. As a musician who has the passion to compose music for visual art, I probably fangirl more over the score than […]

The post A Music Nerd Picks the Top 7 Video Game Soundtracks appeared first on Nerds on Earth.

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Video games can really hit us with epic battles, heart breaking romances, and extreme plot twists. But those beautiful written scenes wouldn’t have had the same powerful effect without the musical magic behind them.

As a musician who has the passion to compose music for visual art, I probably fangirl more over the score than the actual scenario. That’s a big amount of fangirling you guys! That being said, I thought I would shine some light on the top video game soundtracks that will forever resonate with me and many other gamers.

[divider] The 7 Top Video Game Soundtracks [/divider]

 

1. Dragon Age: Inquisition(Original Game Soundtrack) – Trevor Morris (2014)

DAIYou could say I’m biased because I’m a huge Dragon Age fan. However, the music Trevor Morris has provided is the most emotionally stimulating score for a game I have heard in a long time.

His instrumentation for the multiple themes is breath taking. The use of the triumphant horns with dramatic percussion gives an epic use of musical story telling.

Trevor Morris also executes the idea of taking a main melodic theme and writing brilliant variations of it through out the whole soundtrack. Something psychologically happens when a theme is repeated beautifully. It’s like when actors in a movie say the title of the movie casually, and everyone watching just has that “OH! I see what you did there” moment.

The last DLC for Inquisition that was released this past September showed Trevor Morris truly giving everything the fans needed in the music. Trespasser has music that is closely tied to the Dragon Age: Inquisition soundtrack, but because it’s DLC and the soundtrack is not out for purchasing yet, I went with Inquisition. I highly recommend everyone to look up the Dragon Age: Inquisition soundtrack and feel inspired.

 

2. Fallout 4 (Original Game Soundtrack) – Inon Zur (2015)

fallout 4With Fallout 4’s soon release, I listened to the album to hype myself up. Inon Zur has done amazing writing for the previous Fallout soundtracks.

The Main Title song for Fallout 4 is probably the best of all the main titles in the Fallout series. It brings the recognizable melodic theme, but shows a progression in production as well as dynamics.

Inon Zur has a habit of bringing dramatic and loud ideas from beginning to end. With Fallout 4’s soundtrack he shows how to have power behind a soft opening, like an intense whisper. The songs build, and create such dramatic tones that give the imagery of a post apocalyptic future with having electronic elements.

The album actually uses a lot of electronic production with a sense of live instruments, which gives an unsettling and yet extremely intriguing sound. This is probably one of my favorite uses of electronic production in a game score. Epic without sounding like 8-bit classic games, or cheesy techno.

 

3. The Last of Us (Original Game Soundtrack) – Gustavo Santaolalla (2013)

the last of usThis album is simply genius. What I mean by that is, it gives you the representation of a zombie apocalyptic setting with instrumentation and minimalism, yet it makes up with emotional responses.

The main theme has just classical guitar, percussion, bass, with some electrically manipulated live instruments. The theme melody is repeated constantly through out the soundtrack. Gustavo pretty much used the same melodic theme and wrote variations not really to give a different musical idea, but to give a different visual and emotional idea.

Some songs will start out full, but the song will change to match the situation. I actually did a psychological break down of the song “All Gone (No Escape)” for a Psych of Music class, but it inspired me to do a break down of the whole album. If anyone is ever interested in why songs wreck your emotions, hit me up.

This is another game that had a DLC or Prequel with amazing music as well. The Last of Us: Left Behind soundtrack is heavenly, just like the game. It shows a lot of eerie childlike innocence which makes a lot of sense because of the context of the game. Overall Gustavo has written music that will forever resonate to fans all around.

 

4. Halo 5: Guardians – Kazuma Jinnouchi (2015)

halo5Halo’s music is known for being extremely gorgeous and cinematic. Kazuma knocks it out of the park with Halo 5. If you put Kazuma, Trevor Morris, and Hans Zimmer all in a room together, I don’t think humankind could keep the face from melting from the excellence that would come out of that project.

Kazuma uses combination electronic synths with electronic beats that give the futuristic vibe, but then hits us with cinematic chorus voices and strings to give this epic amount of courage and strength.

It’s like hearing a really inspiration pre-battle speech that makes you feel like you can pick up 18-wheelers out of no where. Now put that emotion to instrumental music. To have that feeling to music that has no words, is an indicator that the composer has done some music magic.

The best compliment I have ever gotten was when someone told me one of my written songs sounded like it belonged in Halo. Kazuma, take me under your brilliant wings and teach me your ways!

 

 

5. Mass Effect 3 (Original Game Soundtrack) – Various Artists (2012)

mass effect 3The music in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 gives that cheesy techno effect in some of the songs where the composers are already producing the songs electronically, but because the context of the game is also sci-fi, futuristic space fantasy there is the balance of how much synth is too much synth.

However, as the game evolved into Mass Effect 3, the music evolved into a force to reckon with. The music is extremely dramatic, and the synth and electronic production is wonderful. Fighting off Reapers has never felt so intense.

I expect great things for the music in Mass Effect Andromeda. 

 

6.  Kingdom Hearts – Yoko Shimomura (2002)

Kingdom_Hearts_Original_Soundtrack_CoverThis game was not only an introduction to what was the most incredibly creative story line and game play, it had creative and gorgeous music. If you’re a big fan of piano and orchestra music, you’ll absolutely love the music from Kingdom Hearts.

The main theme gives beautiful build up in dynamic where it starts as sweet as the game starts, lovely soft and major key music. Then it builds up with more instrumentation and even more complexity in harmony to represent the crazy adventure and journey the main characters have to go through.

The best part about this soundtrack is the mix of classic Disney music. The game travels to many different Disney movie worlds and it has the music to match the style. It has the most memorable song Simple and Clean, which was stuck in my head for months after the trailer for the game was released. It still gets stuck in my head. In fact, it’s stuck in my head right now.

 

7. World of Warcraft (Original Game Soundtrack)- Tracy Bush (2004) 

WoW_OST_Cover_ArtThis soundtrack was a starting block for me so it has sentimental value. Other than that, the soundtrack is beautifully written for a big gaming world such as WoW.

Tracy Bush did an incredible job giving each area your character travels through, a good sense of the environment and an accurate first impression. The dynamic and contrast in styles is consistent and shows great style and technique. The instrumentation and score in general is a good building block for what fantasy games soundtracks have developed into.

World of Warcraft was before it’s time in video game composition, with wonderful cinematic value. Another 10 years can pass, and this soundtrack will still sound current and innovative. Thank you Tracy Bush for starting out many gamers’ love for fantasy video game scores.

 

I could list so many more amazing top video game soundtracks, but these are the soundtracks I can listen whenever and they’ll never get old or lackluster. If you have some great video game soundtracks that you think are necessities, make my nerdy musician heart happy, and list some in the comments below and share!

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