A little Soule music: composer talks games
by Alan Rose 
{ Dec 14th 2005 at 6:00PM }
Gamecloud has been hosting a series of Q&A sessions with notable game developers and this week's guest is award winning composer Jeremy Soule. It might be easier to list the games Soule hasn't worked on, but you've probably heard his immersive soundtracks in RPGs such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Dungeon Siege, Morrowind, and Knights of the Old Republic. He's also scored action-adventure titles Unreal II, SOCOM, and a series of Harry Potter games.
With such an impressive track record, Soule claims he is most proud of his recent work on Guild Wars and the Direct Song web portal that offers downloadable musical expansion packs — a first in the industry.
The busy musician is also an avid gamer and says he is really looking forward to playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and RTS titles Supreme Commander and Company of Heroes, although he feels the online sword and sorcery genre may quickly become oversaturated in the next year. As long as Soule's music is featured, that might not be such a bad thing.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jay @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Chris Huelsbeck is the best game musician ever. I have to say.
darko82 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
I'm a huge fan of Soule.
What games has Huelsbeck done, Jay?
Evilsmevil @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
You failed to mention Soule's best creation, the total annihilation soundtrack. Probably the best soundtrack ever crafted for a video game. (It was dynamic too!)
Jay @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Total Annihilation best soundtrack ever?
From what I hear from true gamers (read; old farts who've played games since the 70's) Huelsbeck is regarded as one of the best game musicians ever. He composed the Turrican series which... shit i'm repeating myself... is considered the greatest game soundtrack to exist. Loads of game concerts open with his work.
Anyone who has heard Turrican 2's 'The Great Bath' can attest his genius. especially for a game that was made in the late 80's. Great Giana Sisters anyone? extremely popular.
then again you modern whores are all into your crappy diluted, lacking any melody or sign-of-real-music orchestral stuff no?
Douglas Shetland @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Oh, there's certainly been better orchestral scores done for a game since the 1980's. It's just that Huelsbeck's stuff is the earliest that stands out in your mind the most.
Total Annihilation has the best score of recent times. Soule's work in another Cavedog game dog called Amen: The Awakening (ultimately cancelled due to to GT Interactive being bought by Infogrames) would have probably been ranked just as high, had the game been completed.
Jay @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Not even my mind. he is very highly regarded. infact I remixed a track from Turrican for a college project, presented infront of non-gamers. they just went mental over it.
fact is with all this new orchestra stuff there has been a loss of melody, a loss of the catchy theme that you whistle or hum over. Gone are those days in the mainstream gaming world. Sonics catchy riffs have been replaced by the utmost annoying J-pop music ever conceived. shooters just HAVE (barring HL2) to have an uber serious orchestral track.
its all impressive but nothing at all sticks in my mind. except Windwakers sorta silly-ish cheap sounding music. which was stuck in my head because it sounded so bad, but had some memorable melodies.
games are not films. but most people want that nowadays anyway.
Jenga @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
He also did the Secret of Evermore OST.
Good stuff.
Matt Rix @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Hey Jay, you may be talking about SOME game music, but not Jeremy Soule's. Check out: http://www.jeremysoule.com
Listen to all the tracks on it, but especially track 3(my personal favourite, from morrowind).
His music is amazing. Easily on-par with the best film composers, and I'm certain that your Huelsbeck can't be any better.
-Matt