Full video

0:01

Can you recognize the game from its

0:03

soundtrack?

0:04

That's right, you fans of World of

0:06

Warcraft.

0:09

But who makes the soundtrack for video

0:11

games?

0:13

[Applause]

0:13

[Music]

0:15

[Applause]

0:17

They are, of course, written and

0:18

recorded just like a movie soundtrack.

0:21

Tunes which take you straight to the

0:23

planet of Azeroth.

0:24

[Music]

0:26

Some of them born from this musical

0:28

mind.

0:33

I get to work on lots of different types

0:35

of music, but no matter what I do in

0:38

life, I will always, always, always come

0:41

back to the game music.

0:44

[Music]

0:51

Ianoon is known as the Irish queen of

0:53

game music. an award-winning composer,

0:57

conductor, record producer, and

1:00

trailblazer for female maestros

1:02

worldwide. Not only was she the first

1:04

woman to conduct the Oscars, but she is

1:07

the creator of some of the most iconic

1:09

video game scores of all time. We're

1:13

talking Legend of Zelda: World of

1:15

Warcraft Diablo 3, so we're not messing

1:19

around here. and she's going to tell us

1:21

the secret of how to compose really

1:23

great game music.

1:29

>> First of all, we immerse ourselves in

1:31

the world because if you live there,

1:33

you're going to make it sound right.

1:38

>> A really good example is World of

1:40

Warcraft. Look around. Who do you see?

1:43

What instruments do they play?

1:49

There's the the bones, which is an Irish

1:52

percussion instrument. They have that

1:53

clackity clack.

1:57

Then there's the Hebrew chauffear, which

2:00

is a call to battle. It's a ram's horn.

2:03

And when I was recording the high

2:05

priestess, every singer I brought in

2:07

sounded too nice. So I recorded myself.

2:09

She goes

2:14

and the trumpets have this really really

2:17

dissonant. It's almost sounds like uh

2:19

they're firing shots in the in the

2:22

notes.

2:26

[Music]

2:30

All of those things we use to to um to

2:33

immerse the audience.

2:39

Another thing is to feel the emotion.

2:41

How do I feel when I'm there?

2:47

Is it very bright? Does it use lots of

2:49

woodwinds and and and bright strings and

2:52

pits of caddy like a a Hyrule? Like a

2:55

like a Zelda?

2:59

Or is it a a dark guitar lead electronic

3:04

cello something like that for bloodlines

3:10

that makes very a very big difference to

3:13

the harmonic language and melodic

3:14

language we use.

3:20

When I'm asked by younger composers what

3:22

to do, I always say, "Well, mine who you

3:24

are, everything about you that makes you

3:27

unique."

3:32

Where I'm from, which is Ireland,

3:33

doesn't mean that I'm I'm writing

3:35

traditional Irish music, but something

3:37

about the culture and the mythology, I

3:40

can dip into that when I need to to

3:42

create a score. We have a lot of living

3:45

history and our myths and legends and

3:48

lore. It's all over gaming. Legend of

3:50

Zelda, three goddesses with three

3:52

different powers. Come on. I'm I'm so on

3:54

to you. Uh Nintendo,

3:59

why do I choose to compose and conduct

4:01

video game music? Growing up, I loved

4:04

music that could paint a picture, tell a

4:06

story music like Beethoven sixth

4:09

symphony,

4:11

the Vittor Storm, where you hear the

4:13

tremoli bases and it's terrifying.

4:17

As a child, there was so much room for

4:19

imagination and I'd listen to this

4:21

music. Later on, when I I got to

4:24

understand that you could work in the

4:26

medium of film and video games where you

4:29

got images to work with, I was in. That

4:32

was it for me.

4:33

>> Once in, she was all in.

4:36

>> All right. So,

4:38

>> you recognize this?

4:39

>> Yeah.

4:40

>> Married to her musical partner, Craig

4:42

Garfinkle. Here's what it looks like for

4:44

the pair to write the chilling score to

4:46

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2.

4:49

>> Talking about bringing up the woodwinds

4:52

here into the upper register.

4:54

>> Music has brought Craig and I together.

4:56

We do feel similarly about music. It's

4:59

the I feel something. Why? Not, oh, I

5:04

intellectualize about music, therefore I

5:06

feel something. It's the other way

5:08

around. Do you want to play the scene?

5:10

How uninvited.

5:13

There had better be a reason.

5:16

>> Fun stuff.

5:18

>> Writing is one thing, but the music's

5:20

got to move from the computer to the

5:21

orchestra somehow. And Emma has another

5:24

string to her bone. Well, it's a baton,

5:26

but you get the point.

5:28

>> Hello everyone. I'm EMR. It is always

5:31

such a pleasure to be with the Royal

5:33

Philarmonic. Let's do it. Halo, please

5:36

everybody.

5:40

[Music]

5:45

My number one job is to make sure that

5:48

the the the nuts and bolts are in place

5:51

and then you take that to the next

5:52

level.

5:57

The dots are just static. It's only when

5:59

we play them that they're brought back

6:01

to life.

6:03

[Music]

6:08

You get this feedback loop of energy and

6:11

you're in the middle of it. It's it's

6:13

three-dimensional. It's amazing.

6:18

[Music]

6:20

>> I'm going to hold that last chord

6:22

forever and a half.

6:24

>> Emma has wielded dozens of batons on

6:27

stages around the world, but today she's

6:30

showing us the one she won't leave home

6:32

without. These are my weapons of choice.

6:36

These are made for me in upstate New

6:38

York by a wonderful man called Phil

6:41

Agulia of Pagu Batons. My baton case

6:44

says wake the winds as a tribute to the

6:48

most famous baton of all time and that

6:51

is the wind waker from the Legend of

6:53

Zelda. They're all weighted especially

6:56

for me. So they don't balance there the

6:58

way most do. Mine are slightly

7:01

different, so they tip forward so that

7:03

they they glide.

7:06

This one uh Phil created for me for the

7:10

Oscars. If you can see, Oscar is right

7:14

there himself. He always puts my

7:17

signature on the back. And of course,

7:22

I have to have one that's pink.

7:28

Thanks to the Irish queen of gaming, a

7:30

whole world of music opens up from the

7:32

orchestra to your console.

7:35

>> It makes me feel really proud when we

7:37

create something that touches the

7:40

players in a way that lingers after they

7:43

go away from the game. When you're on

7:45

stage performing something live and it

7:49

brings the audience together who may

7:51

have experienced something on their own

7:54

that brings the feels and brings

7:55

memories that are are positive. That's

7:58

huge. That's full circle. That's that is

8:01

the zenith.

8:02

[Music]