music in arma

[Pvt_Ryan]

inb4someonesuggestsdubstep

OT, I agree regarding the trend of increasingly generic, over-produced orchestral music being used in the media, and I think this is also evident in the video game world- I think many people would cite Skyrim's soundtrack as an example.

[metalcraze]

Skyrim OST is not memorable but it has certain redeeming things about it (apart from the combat and main themes): It uses simplistic but melancholic ambient to add to the atmosphere in a non-intrusive way when exploring and this is what will be good for ArmA3 I believe.

When music is non-intrusive and adds to the atmosphere I think it's the best way. Like in Thief games for example where music is also in a large part responsible for making games scarier and adding to the suspense.

Then you have Stalker which also uses desolated areas as a setting (which is the case in ArmA3 too). Music isn't listenable separate from the game, but you have to agree - it works in the game.

That's for exploration. If combat themes are needed I think hard rock is a good choice. Or industrial rock Klepacki-style but I still would prefer ambient as it doesn't stop you from hearing shots (unlike with hard rock and - mind you - orchestra too)

[dikkeduif]

The skyrim soundtrack is good, especially when you are exploring, it gives you a sense of freedom and hints at how big the world is. It's all about feeling. I wouldn't say it's over produced or generic. It's nothing ground breaking sure, but at least it works in the game.

Splinter cell conviction also has some very good ambient music for example, although some of you will probably classify this under "hollywood bombastic"
But it creates tension and drama where it's needed.

The total war series also have pretty good music for example. The music fits the style of the games, a lot of it is with percussion which fit the marching of the troops.

For combat themes I would not even consider hard rock because it's just too much. Let the music just get a bit more tense, doesn't need a screaming guitar in the middle.

[])rStrangelove]

I don't hear music IRL when I'm in a war, therefore it breaks immersion for me when I do in ArmA. Plus, I think it might be a cheat exploit.

I say its the wrong kind of music then. Soundtracks are done best, when you dont even realize they're there in the background. Just as an atmosphere booster.

Also, its not really a cheat when the music sets in after the situation started, like sad / dramatic music when you just got wounded. It could even simulate some sort of 6th sense [tm by sickboy] when you're out in the open and suddenly the soundtrack changes to dramatic lol.

[DMarkwick]

obviously you've never been in a war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkH5A...eature=related

I tried to imagine which link you might have chosen before clicking on it, the only other one I could think would be as suitable is this one

[NoRailgunner]

Imho music should be only played in cutscenes and perhaps only if the player likes to hear it eg in vehicles via music/soundplayer. No need for extra music if its unrealistic and made only "to boost" the immersion of a mission. After all its a game not a movie or concert.
Imagine you have to listen to mission sounds/noises or voices but some strange "immersive" music is overriding it...

[antoineflemming]

So the issue with "hollywood bombastic" music is not really the composers or the fact that their music orchestra done, but that these "hollywood" scores are overbearing and over-the-top. Am I correct? That is the only thing I see here. ArmA3 can have music done by an orchestra and still not be over-the-top. No one is asking for COD music. Orchestra =/= COD. Orchestra doesn't immediately mean COD just because the COD music was done by an orchestra. Just like the presence of Multicam, or a SCAR-L, or an M16 doesn't immediately mean a game is hollywood or trying to be like COD just because COD also features those things. The orchestra suggestion (my suggestion, not the OP's, but a solution to that also) is a quality-related suggestion. It would make the music sound much better. I do wish that something could be worked out where Ondrej could work with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in producing the ArmA3 score. And that BIS had the money to do so.

By the way, the music pieces are composed that way to reflect the product the score is accompanying. Zimmer for example has done more than just COD, and has done music way before MW2, and most of his pieces are not bombastic at all (only reason I'm bringing this up is because a prevailing idea in this community is that anything even remotely related to a competing game, like Dragon Rising or COD or BF3 is as unfavorable as the game itself, which is illogical). Zimmer has done:

The Lion King, Crimson Tide, Thin Red Line, Prince of Egypt (a cartoon), Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Modern Warfare 2, Crysis 2, Inception.

Not all of the music for those scores are bombastic. If the ArmA3 score was nothing more than orchestra versions of all the music pieces from the entire series, that would be better, imo, than another synthesized score. Not only that, but IF ArmA3 is to feature ambient music, an orchestra could pull it off better than a synthesizer.

[Katipo66]

I tried to imagine which link you might have chosen before clicking on it, the only other one I could think would be as suitable is this one

That Kellys Heroes video strangely reminded me of Arma from 1:11

[SFG]

I'd take the melancholic OFP ost or hard ArmA2 riffs over the same-sounding bombastic hollywood orchestra shit any day.

I can't agree with you more though I'd like to hear more of an orchestra approach for ARMA3.

[antoineflemming]

I can't agree with you more though I'd like to hear more of an orchestra approach for ARMA3.

I agree. BTW, COD overbearing? You haven't heard anything until you watch Quantum of Solace. THAT is overbearing music.