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Hello, Nick Laviers here, Audio Director for Command & Conquer 4 (you may remember me from Red Alert 3). For the last couple of weeks since we finished Tiberian Twilight I've been priming our official Soundtrack for iTunes release (Amazon and the rest) on the day the game ships. I’m really pleased with the way it's turned out and excited about getting it into your hands and finding out what you think of it. This is the first of a series of three blogs where I'm going to give away some extra info about the work of each of the three composers. First up is James Hannigan and the work he did on creating melodic 'themes' for the game.
James Hannigan is well known for his composing on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and The Order of the Phoenix, as well as other accredited games and movies. Click here to visit his official site.
There is a musical term 'Leitmotif' which basically means a 'recurring tune associated with a person, place, thing, etc...' Tiberian Twilight uses leitmotif extensively. James had the task of coming up with the tunes for the two factions and the main characters in the game. The idea was for the tunes to say something about what they stood for. Then these themes could be orchestrated differently to represent different settings and moods.
This ended up being the main theme for the game because the graphics in the main menu have a GDI styling. James actually wrote two where the main menu look and sound would differ depending on whether you were playing as GDI or NOD, however, not all great ideas always come to fruition.
The mood of the GDI theme is military and heroic, as you can hear from the big brass melody line. Like all the other GDI tracks, it uses just orchestra. No singing or electronic instruments. Here are some samples: (1) Is the 'basic' GDI theme as it appears in the main menu, (2) as it appears in the first movie of the GDI campaign underscoring the dialogue, (3) in a 'getting down to business' style as heard in the early missions of the game and (4) in a combat setting.
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1. Basic GDI Theme Alternative content |
2. GDI Theme - Walky Talky Alternative content |
3. GDI Theme - Down to Business Alternative content |
4. GDI Theme - Fighting Alternative content |
The main theme of Tiberian Twilight is Kane’s 'ascension', and I'm not about to spoil exactly what that means. However, we wanted a beautiful 'sacred' sounding theme (a boys' choir really helped there) that would give a sense of awe and wonder and also a feeling that we are at the conclusion of an epic struggle. Although it was originally slated to go in the front end, this theme doesn’t make an appearance until the later stages of the game. If you can’t wait to hear it in its entirety, just listen to the credits!
So, the samples below are: (5) a snippet from the 'basic' Ascension theme, (6) the theme as heard when Kane is having to struggle a bit and (7) something bad happening to Kane! This last sample is a more subtle reference to the theme, using the same rhythm, but different chords.
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5. Kane Ascension Theme Alternative content |
6. Kane Ascension Theme - Threat Alternative content |
7. Kane Ascension Theme - Calamity Alternative content |
If you've played the other Command and Conquer games then you’ll know that Kane has a tendency to deliver long and eloquent monologues! James came up with a special theme for these Kane 'soliloquies' (8) which can be heard in the movie sequences and throughout the game.
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8. Kane's Theme Alternative content |
Lily is the long-suffering wife of your character in the game. There are a lot of scenes where she is imploring you not to embark on the next mission while you ignore her and read the electronic messages and news feeds popping up in front of your eyes. James created a tender piano theme (9) for Lily to reinforce her longing for you to just be a stay-at-home husband...and generally associate her with sadness and longing. This theme also pops up in the gameplay when bad things start happening to her.
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9. Lily's Theme Alternative content |
That's it for this blogging round. I'll be back with Round 2 shortly here at our official C&C website. Be sure to click here to preview the entire C&C 4 soundtrack, and if you like what you've heard and intend to buy the game, then do your ears a favor and pre-order, so you can get the soundtrack for free!
Cheers,
Nick
Command & Conquer 4 Audio Director
