![]() ![]() To give a bunch of examples of some of the music I looked at: Dead Can Dance, Eliot Goldenthal, Vangelis, Kronos Quartet, Tangerine Dream, Cliff Martinez, Brian Eno, Ben Lukas Boysen (HECQ), Peter Gabriel, Philip Glass, Autechre, and many more. From this initial direction I needed to find a counter balance to what was predominately an electronic influence and expand into more diverse territory. From the beginning, audio director Steve Szczepkowski gave me a few artists to keep in mind: Vangelis, John Carpenter, Trent Reznor and the score from the first Deus Ex. Vangelis, Trent Reznor and John CarpenterĪlthough there is a strong Renaissance theme in the art direction ( read more), most of the musical influences were modern. I also spent a lot of time manipulating the acoustic elements to sound “more than human” – editing them for perfect pitch and timing, so they become very mechanical – and often the line between acoustic and electronic is completely blurred. One key element is the duality between acoustic and electronic instrumentation – and for every cue there is a constant trade off between the two – they kind of weave in and out of each other, always fighting for priority. These two sides are represented in many different ways throughout the soundtrack. But out of all these themes, there is a definite struggle between the natural and the technological. In the game’s story there is often talk about the merits of scientific discovery – whether it’s good, moral, responsible – or in a political sense for example, whether it creates a division in classes where some people can afford access this technology while others are left behind. I’ve always been inspired by transhumanist themes, and there were a few ways it was represented in this score. The power that scientific discovery ultimately yields also makes transhumanism a great foundation for conspiracy themes – another common thread throughout the Deus Ex world. It’s obvious, especially today with the controversy behind stem cell research, that this kind of scientific advancement has consistently come into conflict with religion and politics. On the surface, transhumanism deals with the use of technology to push humanity beyond our physical and mental limitations – in the extreme it would be a push toward immortality. What makes this theme so powerful is that it permeates almost every part of life – science, philosophy, art, religion, and politics. Transhumanism is definitely the core theme throughout the Deus Ex series. ![]() Luckily, McCann jumped at the chance to share his thoughts directly with PlayStation.Blog readers, and it makes for fascinating reading whether you’re interested in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, game soundtrack creation, or none of the above. Through a series of unfortunate events, I narrowly missed meeting with him at this year’s GDC in San Francisco. I’ve wanted to meet Composer Michael McCann ever since I heard his work in the Deus Ex: Human Revolution E3 2010 trailer. For a complex, emotionally charged stealth-action game such as Deus Ex: Human Revolution the soundtrack serves multiple roles, grounding the player in the game’s rich atmosphere while staying limber enough to reflect the player’s choices, be it sweet-talking a pimp or blowing him away. I’ve always been fascinated by video-game soundtrack composition, partly because game composers sometimes face dueling or outright contradictory objectives. ![]()
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