Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Jukebox Heroes: RIFT's soundtrack]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/04/jukebox-heroes-rifts-soundtrack/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/04/jukebox-heroes-rifts-soundtrack/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/04/jukebox-heroes-rifts-soundtrack/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Jukebox Heroes RIFT's soundtrack
From where I'm sitting, there seems to be a popular conception (at least within the MMO community) that RIFT's score was a letdown. As a player of the game, I actually shared that view for quite some time, as none of the music really popped out at me while I was playing.

That all changed, however, when I sat down to listen to the full soundtrack. While it's not uniformly excellent (there are a lot of forgettable songs), several tunes arrested my attention and made me look at the score in a new light. So as we examine the soundtrack this week, I just ask that any of you out there who shared my previous outlook on the score give it another try. Keep an open mind, is all I'm asking.

RIFT was composed by industry veteran Inon Zur (check out our interview with him from a couple of months ago). The score was originally released with the collector's edition, although it's recently become available in iTunes and Amazon.

Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: RIFT's soundtrack

MassivelyJukebox Heroes: RIFT's soundtrack originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jukebox Heroes EverQuest II's soundtrack, part 2
Last week, the laid-back folks at Sony Online Entertainment released the 118th expansion for EverQuest II, Chains of Eternity. Fortunately, it's available as a digital download so you won't have to suffer the embarrassment of a store clerk yelling, "PRICE CHECK ON 'CHAINS OF ETERNITY' FOR THIS PERVERT HERE -- THE ONE IN THE 50-SHADES-OF-GREY COAT" over the loudspeaker.

Even more fortunate, for us, is that the expansion continues to grow EverQuest II's already immense symphonic library. SOE's been adding to the score with not only the game's expansions but also several of the larger content updates, and it's absolutely impressive to behold. As in most scores, there's a lot of forgettable noise that could probably be replaced by humming bees, but there still remains quite a few great tracks to appreciate, cherish, and adopt into one's own music library.

Instead of focusing on the game's initial soundtrack, we're going to be skipping around to look at many of the terrific pieces of music that have come out of Norrath post-2004.

Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: EverQuest II's soundtrack, part 2

MassivelyJukebox Heroes: EverQuest II's soundtrack, part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jukebox Heroes Extra An interview with Inon Zur
Did you grow up watching Power Rangers? I didn't, but then again, I was slightly over the age demographic there. But it tickles me pink (ranger) that the guy who got his start doing background music for one of the cheesiest shows of all time ended up scoring many of the greatest video games of all time.

Israeli-born Inon Zur was hard at work in the film, TV, and video game industry in the '90s, but it wasn't until 2002's Icewind Dale II that his music and fame started to climb to a whole different level. Zur started winning awards left and right for his work on Dragon Age, Fallout 3, Prince of Persia, and Men of Valor, among other titles.

MMO players might not know it, Zur's deft hand is all over the place. He's composed several EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions, the now-defunct Exteel, last year's RIFT and most recently, TERA. As a driving force behind MMO music, Inon Zur has a unique perspective on what makes for a great audio experience.

Want to hear more? Us too. We have a great interview with Zur as well as a few select pieces of his works after the jump.

Continue reading Jukebox Heroes Extra: An interview with Inon Zur

MassivelyJukebox Heroes Extra: An interview with Inon Zur originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As game budgets grow, production values usually do as well, and this is pretty apparent in the spate of high-quality musical scores surrounding many modern MMORPGs. Titles as diverse as Guild Wars, Age of Conan, and Lord of the Rings Online boast cinema-style ear candy and instantly recognizable theme music, and TERA is gearing up to become the latest MMORPG to follow suit.

Renowned composers Inon Zur (Dragon Age, Fallout 3) and Rod Abernethy (RAGE, Dead Space) have been working on TERA's score since 2009, and the duo has made use of the Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra and world-class production and mixing facilities to bring the music of Arborea to life.

Zur and Abernethy are interviewed in a new piece over at ZAM, and clicking on the link will bring you discussion on regional and racial musical content as well as personal insights from both men regarding their work on Bluehole Studio's action MMO.

MassivelyTERA composers discuss musical themes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blueholebluehole-studioen-masseen-masse-entertainmentfantasyinon-zurinterviewmusicrod-abernethyscoresoundtrackteraMon, 20 Jun 2011 15:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Music to kill by: The making of Rift's score]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/music-to-kill-by-the-making-of-rifts-score/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/music-to-kill-by-the-making-of-rifts-score/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/music-to-kill-by-the-making-of-rifts-score/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

The musical score is often one of the little-appreciated aspects of MMOs, providing mood, tone and emotion for the player while hopefully refraining from being annoying or too repetitive.

In a new dev diary, Trion Worlds showcases the audio talent behind Rift: Planes of Telara's score. Audio Director Yannis Brown and Composer Inon Zur (Dragon Age: Origins, Fallout: New Vegas) talk about how the music lends itself to character identity and the environment's atmosphere, while giving us an aural sneak peek of Rift's tunes. One of the cool concepts the audio team is the creation of multi-layered music tracks that provide the same theme in different degrees of intensity based on how big the rifts have grown.

Hit the jump to watch the diary and hear for yourself whether this will be a game in which the default score stays on -- or gets quickly turned off in favor of personal playlists.

Continue reading Music to kill by: The making of Rift's score

MassivelyMusic to kill by: The making of Rift's score originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bluehole Studio and En Masse Entertainment continue to impress with their ability to put together a top notch roster of talent for TERA. The forthcoming fantasy MMORPG will feature a musical score by Inon Zur and Rod Abernethy as well as the Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra. The soundtrack makes use of traditional acoustic guitar, various ethnic instrumentation and vocal performances.

Zur is a prolific composer responsible for the Dragon Age, Fallout 3, and Prince of Persia scores, while Abernethy's extensive body of work includes music for The Hobbit, Alpha Protocol, and Dead Space.

"The general direction for the music for TERA was to have an original score that sounded grand and to match the large-scale in-game world, mixed with some warm sounding music," said Mr. An Yong Jin, Bluehole's Audio Director. "Inon has created world-class quality, epic orchestral music, which is his best attribute; his sweeping symphonic music is outstanding. Rod's beautiful compositions for TERA span a wide scope of musical styles. His expertly crafted blend of acoustic guitar and orchestral compositions is incredible for enhancing the musical atmosphere and their popular music appeal."

[Thanks Greg!]

MassivelyZur and Abernethy making TERA music originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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