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Great conversations about music in games, as well as voice actors, musicians, developers, audio directors, and more
Episodes
6 days ago
6 days ago
We always love having composer Garry Schyman on the show. His music is so darn great. This time, we talk about his gorgeous orchestral score for Forspoken, the new RPG from Luminous and Square Enix.
Recorded live in Nashville, the music is full of energy slathered in soaring melodies that take you somewhere with each new phrase. It's so fantastic.
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Composer Jonah Senzel talks about his music for Inscryption. He wrote in a handful of different styles, from music heavy with sound effects to the simplest, slow chip-tune chords. The game also is a bit of a mash-up of styles - a deckbuilder with escape room elements and a bit of horror.
It was great chatting with Jonah about his music!
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Jan 20, 2023
Friday Jan 20, 2023
The show itself is an absolute delight and it's almost inexcusable if you don't watch it (the episodes are brief enough that you could binge all 3 seasons in a day). And with comedic animation like this, the music is intertwined with the visuals that you really need to just watch it. It's SO worth it.
That's my endorsement. As for Ego's music - he fumbled through the restrictions of the pandemic like any composer, finding musicians capable of recording themselves as far away as Greece. It sounds so good and the energy he still managed to capture is electric.
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Jan 13, 2023
Friday Jan 13, 2023
I met video essayist Jacob Geller during my occasional appearances on The MinnMax Show to discuss the best game music of a given year. Meeting him led me on a journey through his videos, and I absolutely adore his videos. We talk about why in this conversation!
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Jan 06, 2023
Friday Jan 06, 2023
Composer Thomas Cipollone writes 8-bit scores for games that release on NES cartridges. He has to adhere to all the rules composers followed in the 80s, constricted heavily by the size of his audio files and the voicings he can compose.
And he does so brilliantly, with creative textures, great grooves and fulfilling melodies. We spoke about four of his scores, some of which have been released, some of which are still in the process of getting released: Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum, Full Quiet, Unicorn and Beyond the Pins.
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Dec 30, 2022
Friday Dec 30, 2022
Composer Curtis Schweitzer talks about his hypnotic, largely orchestral music for the indie 2D space explorer, Starbound. I loved how many of the tracks stretch out almost indefinitely, giving the listener time in that musical place. And there's quite a bit of music too - more than 6 hours of it. It's worth your time, I promise.
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Dylan Wiest is the director, drummer and sometimes-keyboardist in The OC Jazz Collective, a talented group of musicians from the legendary OverClocked Remix brigade.
The ensemble released a new album in November, 2022 called Mode Seven: A Jazz Tribute to the SNES. If you've never dipped your toe into the OC Remix crowd, this is a fantastic start. Dylan, who goes by "Wiesty" in the OCR community, has been remixing video game music for more than a decade.
Check out their prior album too, Chronology: A Jazz Tribute to Chrono Trigger, which in addition to Mode Seven can be downloaded FOR FREE on OCR's site.
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Composer Vincent Diamante's music for Sky: Children of the Light is gentle, gorgeous and uplifting. The palette is mostly orchestral, especially in the early volumes of the soundtrack (there are 4 volumes, currently).
The game is from thatgamecompany, known for its brilliantly designed indie games such as Journey, Flower and Flow. Vincent composed for Flower, and that soundtrack remains one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time. There's likely an old Top Score episode with Vincent and me floating around out there in cyberspace about that score.
I loved talking with Vincent again, loved learning about how he composed and recorded it, and loved meeting Copper.
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Dec 02, 2022
Friday Dec 02, 2022
Nuno Fonseca grew up with an equal love for music, audio and technology. He's a former university professor in Portugal, and he's published more than 20 papers on computer audio and 2 books on sound and computer design.
His interests led him to create Sound Particles, which is immersive software capable of generating thousands or millions of sounds for 3D audio. It's a tremendously efficient way for a composer or sound designer to multiply the sounds they're working with, and to generate other effects for audio.
Nuno generously provided our producer, Sam Keenan, with the Sound Particles software so he could learn about these software tools with regards to Sam's own music. Thank you so much, Nuno!
There are some great FREE TOOLS on the Sound Particles website, including a highly accessible eBook called All You Need to Know About 3D Audio, and their YouTube also has a great series of videos if you don't feel like reading!
And most importantly, if you're a student or an educator, you can get all of Sound Particles software for free.
You can support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Kristin Naigus plays dozens of instruments and has performed on dozens of soundtracks. Here's a fraction of her credits: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Aragami 1 & 2, ABZU, Farpoint, various Minecraft mythology projects like the Egyptian, Norse and Chinese Mythology packs, Moss: Books 1 & 2, Darksiders Genesis, Hades, The Pathless, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Immortals: Fenyx Rising, Ambition: A Minuet in Power, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Psychonauts 2, Return to Monkey Island, MultiVersus, and Horizon: Forbidden West.
We had such a great conversation and I loved picking her brain about her artistry and her work! I can't wait to have her back on the show.
You can find a playlist and support Level with Emily on Patreon. Join us on Discord for free. Find us on YouTube and Twitter. Patrons have access to special Discord events and special guest playlists.