music in arma

[purepassion 22]

Music in Arma is also a question of representing the game and its philosophy.

Sure, fancy rock music and "epic" music is excellent to support certain situations, but doesnt Arma have more to offer? Deeper Feelings?

It makes you think. There are extremely thrilling but also a lot of quiet moments.

I think this should be reflected in the musical choice. There should be tracks that do not dominate but rather underline an specific experience and are tailored for it.

When you hear the music, close your eyes and then see things in your mind that actually fit to the scenes the music was thought for, the artist has done everything right.

This should be targeted for music in Arma 3 :)

Choosing an orchestra to support your music is not a matter of style nor does it implement any specific kind of music. (Overbearing etc)

It is in fact a matter of quality and soul of the sound which is uncomparable.

You can play everything with an orchestra or symphony. It will only give it an completely new "feel".

An orchestral support would be extremely nice and raise the quality immensely. I am convinced Ondrej is fully aware of that and I am looking forward to what he will accomplish! :)

A very important part of the soundtracks is the menu music.

While being in the menu, the user is not distracted by visuals and therefore this is propably the only track he is consciously experiencing. This makes it extremely sensitive.

Especially the intro is important. When you resume to the menu, start the game etc. you hear this very intro.

Therefore I think it should contain a "soft" intro without any dominating sounds.

For the Arma 3 menu music, I imagine a very clean sound with a slightly futuristic inspiration. Not meaning some techno influence but a rather futuristic style, much like futuristic architecture with an minimalist touch which is in harmony with the concept design maybe supported by a female choral voice

The

was doing it quite good :)

A small selection of clear and bright sounds, underlayed with a futuristic motive and finished with a minimalist touch would fit perfectly into Arma 3 :)

Edited April 6, 2012 by PurePassion
Moar santa hats @_@

[Tonci87 163]

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Nuff said :cool:

[Maio 293]

Anything that's dark and makes one think of conspiracies would fit ArmA 3. I haven't played Deus Ex HR yet, but I've watched videos of it on youtube and the music really sets the mood. Of course Deus Ex HR is a much more fluent and confined experience so it's score would not fit with ArmA's open gameplay.

I enjoyed the "defcon" and "wasteland" tracks from EW, as they were very atmospheric and did not intrude with the gameplay. Maybe a near future adaptation is in order :)

I also agree with Pure that the main menu music is important. When I was playng mass effect 2, I sometimes stoped before loading my game to listen to the main theme playing in the background.

[purepassion 22]

Yup, true!

some tracks with greek/eastern influence and one's that transmit this "all is going down" feeling would fit in perfectly :)

[NoRailgunner 0]

So any game that use (classic) orchestral music or some sort of is automatically of higher quality than those who use other music/tracks/compositions? Thats sounds like few people can't accept+respect new styles of music and sounds - even in games. Whats wrong with creating something new instead of copy & paste only?

[Maio 293]

So any game that use (classic) orchestral music or some sort of is automatically of higher quality than those who use other music/tracks/compositions? Thats sounds like few people can't accept+respect new styles of music and sounds - even in games. Whats wrong with creating something new instead of copy & paste only?

Nothing :) We are trying to find something that would go with ArmA's sandbox gameplay and setting. It doesn't matter if it's orchestral or electronic as long as it fits.

I've been into dubstep for some time now, but I wouldn't want to hear it in ArmA :)

[igneous01 19]

So any game that use (classic) orchestral music or some sort of is automatically of higher quality than those who use other music/tracks/compositions? Thats sounds like few people can't accept+respect new styles of music and sounds - even in games. Whats wrong with creating something new instead of copy & paste only?

it doesnt have anything to do with that, its just other styles of music are much more restricted and condensed (no meter changes, no rhythm changes, no key changes, no modulations, no counterpoint, etc)

I dont by any means mean that this must all be present in video game soundtrack to make it better. But this is what prevents copy and paste because anyone experienced in musical theory can stretch any melodic fragment/motif into a completely new direction for the music while still being related to the original melodic fragment, or they can do counterpoint, or write atonal music, or polytonal music (stravinsky) or even avant garde. There are no boundaries to writing at all with these tools. Other genres of music simply dont follow them nor do they adopt them.

you did say classical music, if your referring to film score music or simply orchestral music that is not classical, then I agree and say that it is mostly completely stale and uninspired.

[upredictable 10]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IkE-J9uNgNc#t=67s

[2nd ranger 282]

This thread is in danger of becoming the 'soundtracks I like' link dump.

From Arma 2, the standout track for me is

(mainly the intro and outro, without the 'Harvest Red' track in the middle), but I find most of the other tracks don't really fit. Most Arrowhead tracks sound like they'd be better suited to something like Take On or some racing game, and one or two of them I actively hate.

I think the way they were going with the Eagle Wing and PMC soundtracks was perfect. In fact, I think a couple of the EW tracks would be right at home in Arma 3. Unique and moody, without being intrusive. Prime example:

. That kind of mood would be great for WW3.

[Craig_VG 20]

A very important part of the soundtracks is the menu music.

While being in the menu, the user is not distracted by visuals and therefore this is propably the only track he is consciously experiencing. This makes it extremely sensitive.

Especially the intro is important. When you resume to the menu, start the game etc. you hear this very intro.

Therefore I think it should contain a "soft" intro without any dominating sounds.

For the Arma 3 menu music, I imagine a very clean sound with a slightly futuristic inspiration. Not meaning some techno influence but a rather futuristic style, much like futuristic architecture with an minimalist touch which is in harmony with the concept design maybe supported by a female choral voice

The

was doing it quite good :)

IMHO America's Army 2 did an excellent job with their menu music. It started quiet, but if you didn't do anything in the menu for about 30 seconds it got better, and better.

And I wasn't a huge fan of FPDR's menu music. :D

[antoineflemming 14]

So any game that use (classic) orchestral music or some sort of is automatically of higher quality than those who use other music/tracks/compositions? Thats sounds like few people can't accept+respect new styles of music and sounds - even in games. Whats wrong with creating something new instead of copy & paste only?

Orchestral music is not a style. It's not a way to arrange or compose music. It's what you use to make music. It's like using a keyboard, or a guitar, or some other instrument. It's actually using a bunch of real instruments as opposed to a synthesizer to simulate instruments and their sounds. It's not comparing Ondrej Matejka's music to orchestra music. It's comparing a synthesizer to an orchestra. You obviously know nothing about music. Do you even know what an orchestra is? It's REAL, LIVE people playing the music ON INSTRUMENTS. That's ALL an orchestra is. So, yes, it's of higher quality than synthesizer music. Using synthesizers is a cheaper, more cost-efficient way of producing music. Orchestras are more expensive, but the quality IS better. Real instruments played by real people produce better, higher quality, more natural sounding music that synthesizers. There's probably maybe one synthesizer that might be able to pull off a natural sound. The synthesizer used in ArmA music is not one of those.

[Corvinus 35]

I always associated OFP and ARMA series with the athmosphere of, I don't know how to express it accurately, "peaceful loneliness", so to say. Most of the time in those games I don't participate in a massive battles but find myself on a deserted field, or on a coast of an ocean, and there is no one around except me. Noone between me and horizon. I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but for me it is an essence of ARMA, its core feeling.

So for me an ideal ambient music in ARMA would be something like Mirror's Edge theme:

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or any ambient piece from the Neotokyo OST, just not so "aggressive". Basically an electronic or orchestral (or a combination of both styles) ambient, maybe with some Greek motifs, like the Spanish guitar in the Ace Combat Zero OST. And, as I said before, I'd like this ambient to have calm, peaceful and "optimistic" shades in it. And the theme on http://dimitrelos.gr/ is exactly like that! I hope that the rest of the ambient part of the ARMA 3 soundtrack will be similar in terms of tone and mood.

As for an action music, the DE:HR, already mentioned several times in this thread, offers us a great example of a dynamical electronic music, which are futuristic, vigorous, worthy of separate listening and inconspicuous in the game at the same time. Hard rock would be too revulsive, I believe.

Just my five cents.

[metalcraze 290]

I don't see how an uninspired happy pop-ambient from ME can fit a game about war.

[Pyronick 21]

I don't see how an uninspired happy pop-ambient from ME can fit a game about war.

Well, a war game does not always need sad or aggressive music. And I always prefer a more electronic music style in futuristic games like in Mass Effect (the original) for instance.

[NoRailgunner 0]

Imho BIS should make their own style of A3 music influenced by the music of participating countries (or factions). Something like a creative crossover that does fit into A3 setting + missions and doesn't get boring too fast... There's no accounting for taste. :)

Btw what about a sound option to hear only cutscene/intro-outro music and not some artificial background music while playing missions?

[Corvinus 35]

I don't see how an uninspired happy pop-ambient from ME can fit a game about war.

I meant not the sound of these tracks, but their mood, emotions they bring. And I'm OK with some "happy", chilling music in a game about war.

[mattxr 9]

I think a sad slow theme would be good, and also a lot of intense action themes. The world is on the verge of ending its WW3.. and we are fighting to save to the future.. kinda epic so some epic music would be good too :P but during combat a quiet background theme to make the action feel a little more intensive but without drowning out all the fun of bullets and explosions and environment.

[onlyrazor 11]

As far as intense action themes go, this could definitely work:

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Otherwise, a slow soundtrack for the theme would be the best option, I agree.

[WarriorM4 10]

As long as the stick to the hard rock/metal style music from past games,I'd be ok with it.

[rye1 21]

Haha I just turn off the music. Turn on itunes and pump out Lamb of God.

[carlostex 38]

Bah.... Just listen to Dream Theater's "Raw Dog" and that's how it's done boys and girls....

[onlyrazor 11]

Haha I just turn off the music. Turn on itunes and pump out Lamb of God.

Funny, because that's what I assume is most actual soldiers would do. "Screw the sounds of war, I've got Slayer!"

[DetCord 96]

Music is everything when it concerns setting a tone for a scene, whether or not it's a film or game. It creates tension, dread, melancholy, hope, and a myriad of other emotions. Scene and track, to a certain degree, have a composition of their own but when combined they form a new entity. Thus the track becomes not only a harmonious complement but an integral inseperable part of the scene as well. They're are so closely fused together that each one functions through the other. There is no separation of image and track. Instead, there is the feel, the experience, through the grand total of the scene and track combined.

From OFP to ArmA II, the music didn't really create any semblance of much of anything I sorry to say. Personally speaking, I think ArmA III needs a orchestral injection of adrenaline right to the heart with a cardiac needle...

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Ensure you watch the credits as well.

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Edited December 21, 2011 by DetCord

[JojoTheSlayer 35]

...

Its not gonna be like that... Welcome to 2012 where remixing old scores equal dubstep.

Example:

FROM:

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TO:

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So expect future looking hardware and dubstep in A3! :eek:

I have no basis for claiming this, so it might be true. Just saying.

[Madus_Maximus 0]

Its not gonna be like that... Welcome to 2012 where remixing old scores equal dubstep.

So expect future looking hardware and dubstep in A3! :eek:

I have no basis for claiming this, so it might be true. Just saying.

To be fair, it kind of fits with Syndicate. I can't see it fitting with ArmA though. I'd love for BIS to make use of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, seeing as they're local and all lol.