I’ve uploaded the soundtracks to the games TapDefense and Tap Out onto Soundcloud, which then makes them available for you to download!

HERE THEY ARE

Enjoy & Merry Xmas!

Robbo.

So. I was digging through my old backups of files and I stumbled upon my old TV recordings playing an old bass I had.As well as Kelly Clarkson, I had the pleasure of playing with people like Westlife, Craig David and Jewel.

Rob Hudson Showreel from Rob Hudson on Vimeo.

The bass I used back then was my 5-string Ibanez soundgear. If I remember, that bass died in a tragic accident that involved Mr Bass meeting Mr Floor at a very high velocity. Shame.

Oh, and by the way…My “power stance” is copy-written.

So there I was ploughing through Killzone 2, ducking behind another box, slaying another faceless uniformed Helghast goon when, after I switched it off, I tried to recall some of the score back to myself in my head. I got one or two motifs but it was really hard. I simply couldn’t remember.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Killzone 2 music is fantastic. The Joris de Man score is epic, immersive and well orchestrated……but in a Hollywood way.

So do I play films? Or do I play games?

Now I was one of those wierd 10 year olds where I plugged my Mega-Drive into a tape recorder to record the Sonic soundtrack. (ScrapBrain was my favourite if you must know). So what made me do that back then? Do kids still do that sort of thing but with soundtrack MP3s from the latest triple A release?

Memorable game music came form the days where we had restrictions on ROM size and the actual possible length of an in game loop. Repetition was inevitable and so the melody of a piece became instantly recognisable after 2-3 listens. Instead of a “score” they were more like little songs you heard while you concentrated on getting the next 1UP.

Try and sing that Mario level where you went underground. I bet you got pretty close. Or do you vaguely remember the theme from green hill zone? Now try Resistance fall of man…..Harder isn’t it?

From the days of having restrictions in the palette of instrumentation available to a composer and more importantly file size, we are now at a time where we have multi-million budgets, 50gb symphonic libraries and close miked drum kits. In other words the same production value as a summer blockbuster release.

These days pieces are given more time and have longer to develop. The music is there in a movie sense, it’s there for “us” the audience to further attach emotionally to what drama is unfolding on screen.

Then there’s the issue of licensed music in games. Licensing music has now become more the norm, helping releases market to specific demographics and cutting time and money that’s spent composing from scratch every time. This is fine in “period” games such as Fallout 3, but it does seem a shame when it feels like IKEA music slapped on a game at the 11th hour. It might not hold any parallels on what’s happening in game or its not responding to a users actions.

So should we as composers restrict ourselves to a few select plugins, a few sample libraries and time constraints? Its something I’m definitely going to be mindful of when I’m sketching ideas.

Now granted, I understand fully its not as black and white as this. Games such as Metal Gear and Mario Galaxy prove this can be done with amazing skill and flare. Also, you will never find smooth jazz or swing in a FPS, but trying to carve out a melody amongst the metal and orchestral soundtracks that seem to be standard fare, should at least be a small target we all can aim for.

A puzzle game or platformer is our chance to create catchy “songs” that fit with the rhythm and style of a game, but also it might be nice if the user can hum a melody or two when he/she just quits out of the game.

I’m not worried. Catchy game music is still abundant and out there are composers that do amazing things with DS, iPhone, and console DLC games. These are platforms where there are still some of those old restraints , this might not be a coincidence.

So let’s all make an effort to drop more melody into our writing and maybe we’ll all be walking down the street whistling to your new game soundtrack.

Right, rant over. I’m off to play streets of rage.