As some of you may or may not know, video game music is
extremely important to The Inner Dorkdom. Even as a kid, I not only thought
that the music present in Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda enhanced
the games’ gameplay, but I actually enjoyed the music. Since then, I have gone
on to purchase soundtracks to games and listen to them on a regular basis.
The last soundtrack for a game I bought was for the
Playstation Vita game, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. It was a soundtrack
“eat up” with excellent melodies and themes which stick with you for an eternity,
a trait that all soundtracks should have. In my personal opinion, the composer,
Winifred Phillips (composer of games such as LittleBigPlanet and God of War),
crafted a soundtrack that impressed me like no other had in recent years.
So much game music is released these days that, to me, sound like afterthoughts which ride the wave of a large scale production. Winifred’s work, however, shows a love for keeping the player engaged in gameplay, as well as for keeping those aforementioned melodies stuck in your head.
So much game music is released these days that, to me, sound like afterthoughts which ride the wave of a large scale production. Winifred’s work, however, shows a love for keeping the player engaged in gameplay, as well as for keeping those aforementioned melodies stuck in your head.
We were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to
interview Winifred, as she has just authored an excellent book entitled A Composer’s Guide to Game Music. In her book, Phillips gives amazing insight
into composing music for games, being in the industry as a composer, and tips
on what one needs to get the job done. Check out the interview after the jump!
