Noting a great person in PC gaming, composer Jeremy Soule

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Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
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When I played Total Annihilation, like most people, the music stood out as amazing.

There were a lot of RTS games building tanks and lasers and such, but only one building them to an orchestral score like TA's.

It made me look up who did the music - someone named 'Jeremy Soule'. OK. Then I noticed his name coming up over and over in PC gaming - clearly 'the guy' for game music.

Turns out, I learned from Wiki, when he was a new guy making the music for Total Annihilation with Ron Gilbert who had left LucasArts, Soule suggested something different than the usual computer music, the orchestra - and bet it would help the game taking a year's reduced salary if it didn't. Gilbert took the bet - and the first thing he saw in the reviews was praise for the music and Soule won the bet.

Here are some of the other games Soule has composed for:

Icewind Dale, Dungeon Siege series, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Neverwinter Nights, Guild Wars series, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic series, IL-2, Warhammer 40K, Prey...

Wow. Designers often get big press, but Soule deserves a lot of credit.
 
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Iron Wolf

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Jul 27, 2010
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I've been a fan of his for years.

If you go to www.directsong.com, you can buy a lot of the soundtracks he has written, including for Skyrim. I think my favorite is the GW music. Wonder of he's doing GW2?
 
Kromis

Kromis

Diamond Member
Mar 2, 2006
5,214
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Jeremy Soule is my favorite video game composer. I love ALL his works, especially The Elder Scrolls series and SWKOTOR
 
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Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
348
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It's funny, I'm not all that crazy about most of what I've heard from him - the music in Total Annihilation stands out - but it is really nice background music in so many games.

Much of it gets to be a bit much of orchestral and even somewhat generic for me, but it makes the game more enjoyable than so much 'computer music' electronic sound.

I wonder what he would have done for the Lord of the Rings movies.

Another notable game for music, though, I think is World of Tanks.

They have several pieces composed, each of which is a unique bit of music that fits the game really well.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
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The dude should get an Oscar simply for his work on Skyrim. I gotta say, that is better than anything that John Williams has ever done.

holy fuck--did not know this was the same guy as KOTOR and Guild Wars! wow.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,594
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Iron Wolf said:
I've been a fan of his for years.

If you go to www.directsong.com, you can buy a lot of the soundtracks he has written, including for Skyrim. I think my favorite is the GW music. Wonder of he's doing GW2?
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's a rather long designer video for GW2 focusing on his composition. Didn't realize it was the same guy.

Funny, I started playing GW again recently because of all the GW2 achievements, and started notcing background scores that I had rarely noticed before--particularly the score in Asura towns. Mostly chamber music, reflective of the race's hyper-intelligent, high-brow, snobby demeanor. awesome.
 
Fenixgoon

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
31,574
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zinfamous said:
The dude should get an Oscar simply for his work on Skyrim. I gotta say, that is better than anything that John Williams has ever done.

holy fuck--did not know this was the same guy as KOTOR and Guild Wars! wow.
Click to expand...

yeah jeremy soule is a baller.

martin o'donnell also deserves mention (halo) because he did an absolutely awesome job with that. i doubt the game would have been nearly as cool without that music.
 
Kalmah

Kalmah

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Oct 2, 2003
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Via

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Jan 14, 2009
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I think KotOR is my favorite by him, especially the main theme.
 
Sulaco

Sulaco

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Mar 28, 2003
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zinfamous said:
The dude should get an Oscar simply for his work on Skyrim. I gotta say, that is better than anything that John Williams has ever done.

holy fuck--did not know this was the same guy as KOTOR and Guild Wars! wow.
Click to expand...

Dude, no. Just...no. Total loss of credibility.

I think he is easily one of the most talented game composers out there, and have been a fan of his for well over a decade.

But John Williams.....just lol.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,594
29,221
146
Sulaco said:
Dude, no. Just...no. Total loss of credibility.

I think he is easily one of the most talented game composers out there, and have been a fan of his for well over a decade.

But John Williams.....just lol.
Click to expand...

John Williams does good stuff, and I've played most of it at one time or another...but he's very samey, and so damn tapped out it isn't funny.

Also, he can't hold a candle to the true giants like Morricone and Rota.
 
videogames101

videogames101

Diamond Member
Aug 24, 2005
6,777
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Morrowind and Guild Wars would have been significantly worse games without his contribution.

He deserves way more credit then he gets.
 
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Zenoth

Zenoth

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2005
5,190
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Nice, I didn't know, but he also composed the main theme (playing at the main menu) for the Natural Selection mod. I wonder if he'll be making the main theme for NS2 (when and more important if that one ever comes out). He certainly is amongst the very best composer within the video gaming market. I also like Inon Zur who composed the music for games like Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Origins (fantastic soundtrack) and Crysis (and a crap load of others).
 
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PrayForDeath

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
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Wow didn't know he's the same guy who did Total Annihilation music. That explains alot, lol. (loved Skyrim's soundtrack)
 
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