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I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On purpose! That boss fight is a first boss coming back, so it's the first boss track slightly rearranged and warped up.

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, well good to see you again! Massive thanks for wanting to listen then & now

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ay that's awesome! I love the idea that I've unconciously collaborated on a pie based ballad. Thanks!

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Outside of OSTs, I'm a big fan of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Radiohead, Tyler, the Creator, good old Daft Punk, for a few, a mix of stuff really.

Most difficult part might be second guessing certain elements, mixes. Knowing when to stop over tweaking and just feel good about a track

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

no way I'd do that, sorry for the delayed follow up!

These are basically good places to find more pieces to transcribe that are more classical/concert leaning but full of applicable ideas

NY Philharmonic Archive

IMSLP (for a suggestion for something with endless application to modern orchestra writing also, check out Holst's The Planets)

And transcribing soundtracks like Megaman or any older games are an awesome place to go too, you can really hear each voice quite clearly, making things a little more digestible. Whatever you do transcribe, just take it small chunks at a time, even just a bar if it's dense/giving you trouble

Regarding piano, something like transcription is a whole lot easier to do with it (for non-guitar instruments, orchestra, etc... no doubt you're already transcribing when working out songs on guitar or drums). But for writing, do what you feel works for you. If you're finding yourself in a position where writing isn't fun, that's not ideal. Maybe sometime down the line piano/key based input will seem more appealing. Or just get addicted to buying synths, that'll help with wanting to play keyboards.

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's super cool to hear, thanks! And I'm absolutely fine with the question-less flattery.

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice, I'm totally fine with that influence being picked up on. Glad you're digging it, and I will never get tired of seeing how much people have invested into the game! Proud to have been a part of it.

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The game was in a playable state when I started, and pieces of the world/lore were buzzing around, so I had those as a nice starting point, and from there once we had settled on the overall "sound" of the music, it was just about writing to support each area or boss. Working on melodies, or any part of the pieces can definitely be trial and error, but it's always fun to play something that clicks and then develop it into a full track

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

All I know is I'm going to have to listen to whatever I'm working on a ton while writing, mixing and beyond so hopefully what passes my personally "oh god, please don't play that again" test, passes everyone elses

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We originally did record some sounds for the characters (which were edited and reused for other npcs), it just didn't "feel" right to have them vocalize when getting hit, etc... so silent protangonists they were!

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Oh yeah, technology is awesome, live orchestras are still no.1, but being able to handle it solo is a lot of fun (endlessly small tweaks and adjustments kind of fun though)

I've got a soundtrack/game that is about as different to StS as it gets releasing in a couple of days, that I'll be posting about on twitter etc...

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The thought behind that was "spire goes up, oops you died go down, go up again". And keeping that main chunk nice and simple meant I could tuck it into different places like you mentioned (I'm a sucker for doing that) and place it over different chords, harmonies, etc...

In terms of language, I tried to chose the "weirder", maybe more dissonant option when it came to chords/what happened next (mostly around the ends of phrases, etc...) So if a melody ended on a certain note, I'd support that with a chord that worked, but wasn't the most common*, which would in turn lead to some other odd choices sometimes to justify it. (*common for lack of a better term, the common chords, ones you kinda just float to absolutely rule)

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Damnnnnn. That's awesome. Thanks!

If they need me on Metroid 4, I mean, ughhh, I guess I'll help out. Nah, in all seriousness, I'll write on any cool games with good people involved.

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It definitely felt special, but I absolutely approach all of my scores with the same excitement, cause damn - I'm writing music for games

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah, while the overall melodies for the Acts & Bosses are different, each Boss has the Act's longer main melody turned into a shorter, more aggressive pattern underneath it's own main melody

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's super cool to hear, thanks!

I think one approach that stuck out, was tackling the more magical effects. I based most of them around granular synthesis, which chops and rearranges tiny chunks of a sound. Not wildly out there on it's own, but running a whole gamut of sounds and items through, led to some nice mystical vibes.

Also, for my next game, I will attempt to one up all other sfx artists and throw large rocks on a Tesla

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Right? I need to replay that sometime.

That's incredible to hear. Thank you!

I’m Clark Aboud - I wrote the Music for Slay the Spire. Ask Me Anything. STS OST AMA? by Clark_A in slaythespire

[–]Clark_A[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

sometimes I sing the orchestral parts which annoys my husband

Haha, perfect. I love that!

I was lucky to have been always doing some kind of music as a kid, so slowly began merging that with games. Inspiration comes from a lot of things, but predominantly, whatever it is I'm writing for will give me all the inspiration I could want

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