An Evening with the UNCHARTED 2 Music Team at Pyramind
Naughty Dog's hit PS3 adventure titled Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was no doubt one of the best games of 2009, winning the Spike VGA 2009 Game of the Year. The music and audio team pulled out all the bells and whistles for this one. Vivid 3D imaging, an amazing soundtrack, impactful sound design, and 5.1 surround sound.
Being very technical ourselves, we loved that TravSonic had the opportunity to attend this event held at Pyramind Studios located in San Francisco, CA. It was an event held to showcase all of the hard work that went into this game and allowed us to take an inside look at how the game was made.
The panel featured a "who's who" of audio excellence:
- Greg Edmonson, Composer
- Leslie Ann Jones, Director of Music Recording & Scoring, Skywalker Sound
- Clint Bajakian, Senior Music Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment
- Jonathan Mayer, Music Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment
- Scott Hanau, Music Editor, Sony Computer Entertainment
- Marc Senasac, Music Engineer, Sony Computer Entertainment
- Joel Yarger, Music Engineer, Sony Computer Entertainment
Key Topics Discussed at This Event
The Uncharted 2 music team shared behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process, technical challenges, and collaborative workflow while it was in production.
How Scoring Games Differs from Linear Media
This was brought up quite a bit when discussing scoring games versus traditional linear media. Instead of laying down bricks of music, Greg Edmonson composed music with breakpoints and silence. Allowing the engine to chop cues and move them around the player at any moment.
Oftentimes you were writing music for these builds with little to no reference. You may have level blockouts with some lines and gunshots that you're writing the music to. They discussed placing their themes in the levels they had and seeing what worked best for certain moments in the level.
Solo Instruments and Stemming your Orchestra
They discussed their time with an 80-piece orchestra that was stemmed out for their needs. With the help of Scoring Engineer Leslie Ann Jones, they were able to get very precise with their solo instruments and orchestral stems. This allowed their mix team to have the ability to play around with the orchestra within the game engine.
Because the story followed Nathan Drake's journey, we wanted more solo instruments to play certain themes. They spoke about the featured Erhu player, Karen Han, and how she helped give the music a more human feel.
Collaboration with Mixers at other Studios
They ended on their experience working with mixers at different studios. Spending many days mixing cues with each studio to get the final product we have today. Having outside composers and players on your team can make a world of difference when making a game.
Final Event Recap
At this event, it was great to see many of the veterans of our field, students, as well as up-and-coming audio engineers. A great night to celebrate and learn about each other's accomplishments and network on a higher level. This past event was put on by Pyramind Studios along with Sony Computer Entertainment, DTS, and the Game Audio Network Guild.
In order to hear the full glory of the score, the team showcased the audio in a dedicated 5.1 surround theater setup. You can't go wrong when hearing behind the scenes on a piece of music that will blow your mind. They then opened up the floor for some gameplay as well as to talk to those who helped create the music.
There are still many things to wonder about Uncharted 2, but I think we're all asking, "Uncharted 3, anyone"?
