Composing for video games requires many things — musical skill, an understanding of modern scoring techniques, an awareness of player experience, and perhaps even a hint of sorcery. Rhythm title God of Rock is *all about* the music (and then some), and weaving together notes and melodies than can invoke a spectrum of emotion often goes beyond skill and into the arcane, according to its creators.
God of Rock’s 48 music tracks were masterfully curated by a talented team of five indie composers: Marina Ryan, DeBisco, Whitetail, Tyson Wernli, and Fotts. Each composer brings unique perspectives from their experience in the industry and from working on this unique project. Check out the full interview with the composers here, or click the link above.
”Music has always felt like a sort of magic to me,” says Wernli. “The fact that I can put notes on a page and make someone I’ve never met feel sad or feel powerful…it’s an amazing feeling.”
Storytelling Through Music
Composing for video games is not just about creating catchy songs but also about helping the developers share the game’s story. The composers work closely with the developers to familiarize themselves with the narrative, setting, characters, and overall atmosphere of the game to deliver music that enhances the gameplay experience rather than distract from or clash with it.
“With video games, it’s an interactive medium, and so you’re constantly telling a story,” says Ryan. “But it’s also a dance between [the composer] and the player. What I love about it is you have to be aware of what that player experience looks like to ultimately create something beautiful.”
Composing For God Of Rock Created New Opportunities
Working on God of Rock created unique opportunities and challenges for the composers. For example, it was a chance for some of them to break away from their usual genres and try something new.
“What excited me most about composing for God of Rock was the opportunity to make rock music,” shares Debisco. “I’m mostly an electronic music artist…so I had to do a lot of research. In addition to that, I’ve always wanted to make music for fighting games, so it was an incredible opportunity overall.”
The project also posed an extra challenge for the composers, stretching each of them to pull from their knowledge of many different genres and fuse them with rock.
“The thing I appreciated about working on God of Rock was that it gave me a unique challenge to try and compose in as many genres as possible,” says Tyson. “So being able to write rock n’ roll tracks, but also experiment with other genres— EDM tracks, folk-inspired tracks, fusion tracks. I really tried as best I could to stretch with each piece that I wrote and do something a little different…And a game like God of Rock gave me that opportunity, which I feel like is pretty unique for video games.”
Become a NoteChart Artist With The Custom Beat Builder
You can take the center stage as an artist with the Custom Beat Builder game mode in God of Rock. Try your own hand at composing a fight chart to craft your very own battle to the beat. Then share them with friends as you play locally or online.
“If you are thinking of picking up God of Rock or maybe you already have, I just wanted you to know that we poured so much love into this,” Ryan shares. “And I hope you love it as much as we loved making it.”
Connect with each of these talented composers by following them on Twitter: Marina Ryan (@marinahascoffee), DeBisco (@debiscomusic), Whitetail (@doetunes), Tyson Wernli (@the_com_poser), and Fotts (@ambassotter).
Listen to the God of Rock Original Soundtrack now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and more!
God of Rock is available to order now on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. For more information on God of Rock and Modus Games, visit www.GodOfRockGame.com or follow @godofrockgame on Twitter and @modusgames on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord.
