Eno to generate Spore soundtrack

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jan 16th 2007 at 8:00AM }

That's Brian Eno, mind you, not Japanese musician and bonkers Enemy Zero designer, Kenji Eno. For those still scratching their noggins for reasons other than unexpected flea infestation, Brian Eno is recognized for his unusual, sometimes "unclassifiable" ambient music. The artist, professor and thinker (it says here on his website) has confirmed his invovement with upcoming everything sim, Spore.

In a very interesting WMMNA article detailing one of Eno's recent lectures, it is noted that Will Wright and co. "wanted sound that is just as procedural as the game itself," preferring to avoid any looping tunes that change with each level. Eno is already working on a program called "The Shuffer," which will use sampled bits and pieces to craft Spore's soundtrack, without ever creating "the same composition twice within a lifetime."

Meanwhile, in an alternate universe, Kenji Eno actually does get the job -- too bad the other Spore is a survival-horror game set in an underwater laboratory.

[Via Eurogamer]

Tags: Brian Eno, BrianEno, Kenji Eno, KenjiEno, Spore, Will Wright, WillWright

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

bandit @ Jan 16th 2007 8:51AM

FINALLY!!! is all I have to say. As im sure many have seen, I am an advocate of procedural synthesis and its many uses. Not just limited to geometery. To be honest I did not expect it to be used to produce musical scores this early in the PC/console gaming cycle. Essentially this will allow developers to mix sounds realtime for instance. Instead of producing the sound of a sword clanging and the sound of glass shattering simutaneously. It would mix realtime the sound to produce a unique sound which would be completely different from the sound of a sword hitting wood. To be honest I thought the scenario I just gave was still at least 2 years away but Will Wright has proven that he certainly has vision and and extensive one at that. My one regret is that many will not look and see how procedural synthesis can be applied across the board in EVERY single type of game from fighting to sports to racers, to GTA style games. Any getting back to the musical score. I see this a VERY difficult piece of programming to write and will ultimately result in over simplified music if completely procedural as described. Procedural synthesis should be used as an additive to arts and music, not a replacement. It should give it life and breath. And make art assets dynamic and interactive, not mechanized and souless. If done right Will Wrights Spore will change how games experiences have evolved and be the true birth of gaming as a medium and an art form.

FuzzyPickles @ Jan 16th 2007 9:22AM

I thought that motherfucker was dead by now.

Good for him then. Good for us too, if anyone should have the job, it's him. In before weaboos bitching.

Jonah Falcon @ Jan 16th 2007 9:58AM

Rats. I was hoping to have "Ziggy Stardust" be the score to Spore.

(Hey, that rhymes!)

Bucket @ Jan 16th 2007 9:58AM

Brian Eno is awesome. Ikekuburo is the greatest song ever created by mankind.

Charch @ Jan 16th 2007 10:01AM

GREAT!

It's about time that someone leveraged Eno's work for the video game industry. He's a brilliant mind, and his accomplishments are staggering. For example:

1) His early '70s tape-looping experiments launched an entire category of music, New Age.
2) Long-time producer for a little band called U2.
3) Authored the single most-heard piece of music in the history of mankind, the Windows startup song.

Anyone interested in a great read regarding music theory should check out his diary, "Year (With Swollen Appendices)". His wikipedia entry does an excellent job of outlining his career.

Rivendale @ Jan 16th 2007 11:37AM

And here I thought I could't be any more excited for Spore... Brian Eno is amazing (download and listen to "Music for Airports" if you don't believe me)... It's about time that videogame music was actually taken seriously instead of tacked on as an afterthought...

Chuck @ Jan 16th 2007 12:08PM

>> bandit: I doubt they're using procedural synthesis for the sound engine per se, just the musical score - making musical bits develop, change, and not repeat. That's one of Eno's things; something he really got into, then gave up on, and apparently got back into.

The music will probably be pretty cool and fitting but Eno isn't the greatest ever, and "New Age" music = death.

billychaos @ Jan 16th 2007 12:31PM

I think it's great to see professional musicians writing soundtracks. I have been a fan of Brian Eno for over 10 years.

Dylan @ Jan 16th 2007 1:58PM

http://millivanilliskip.ytmnd.com/

Well then, I'm sold on the idea.

billychaos @ Jan 16th 2007 2:39PM

Well I love New Age music. Obviously, everyones musical interests will be very different. Ever since CD's have been the media for video games, Techno, Neo-classical and New Age have been the top genres in ALL video games (top genres meaning appear in the most games).

Most people dont really know what New Age even is. They think it's just Enya and Yanni. Many Techno/Electronica musicians started out doing New age (Moby being the most famous case of that).

If you dont like New Age then you must be muting most of your video games.

Aldyn @ Jan 16th 2007 2:42PM

i have never heard of him until now, but i just listened to his stuff on itunes, and it sounds like it'll be perfect.

i imagined spore would have aquarium/planetarium like music, and it seems like his stuff is exactly what i was thinking of.

Denny Crane @ Jan 16th 2007 2:43PM

Denny Crane.

Sean Welch @ Jan 16th 2007 4:28PM

Brian Eno rules. He was once impressed with a mod I did on a Speak & Read.

Rock on.

Rubang B @ Jan 16th 2007 4:35PM

Wow. As if I wasn't looking forward to Spore enough, this had to happen. Eno has been making procedural music off and on for over 30 years now, although he used a different name back then (he coined the term generative music in the 70's). It seems like he's the only one who "gets it," and the only one who could do this score justice.

For those unfamiliar with Eno's generative stuff, I recommend czeching out Discreet Music, Ambient 1: Music for Airports, Thursday Afternoon, Neroli, or his Bell Studies album. Then buy Spore. Buy it hard.

Thanks for the heads up Ludwig. My lust for Spore has doubled.

Here's a quote from Eno about generative music:

“Ordinary music is like engineering, where everything’s built according to a plan, and it’s the same every time you play it. Generative music is more like gardening; you plant a seed, and it grows different every time you plant.”

Justin Roman @ Jan 16th 2007 5:01PM

It's funny that you should mention "Enemy Zero", because about the only way I could be more excited is if the composer for that game (Michael Nyman) were doing another game soundtrack. Brian Eno is really an inspired choice for this game though, given his interest in procedural methods in general. For example, his "Oblique Strategies" approach for problem solving.