The previous trailer for The Order: 1886 is a good indication that Ready at Dawn are quite attentive to the way the game is going to sound. An even better indication of that attentiveness is this behind-the-scenes video, featured above, that documents how the music in The Order: 1886 has been approached.
Game Director Dana Jan; Co-Founder and CTO of Ready at Dawn, Andrea Pessino; and Composer Jason Graves all discuss why and how the score for The Order: 1886 is what it is. It’s fascinating stuff, if you’re into the nitty-gritty, and sounds fantastic even if you aren’t, so check it out.
Given the time period of the game world, Ready at Dawn decided on a full orchestral complement of live musicians. They wanted to evoke the era in which the game is set, but at the same time make it sound “a little more uncomfortable”, and update it with industrial sounds.
“Just like the visuals seem like they could have happened in that time, but didn’t quite, the music should feel the same way,” says Pessino.
“If I had to choose one word to describe the score, it would probably be ‘weight’,” says Graves. In order to achieve this feeling, Graves cut out all bombastic instruments, like brass, and hired only baritone and bass voices for the choir. “The biggest challenge, I think, as a game composer, is to come up with a sound for the game that is specific and unique to that franchise. That is something that I really wanted to do for The Order—where you could hear ten seconds of music, and you could say, ‘That’s from The Order.'”
As an example of the game’s soundtrack, they’ve released the full track of “The Knight’s Theme” below, which you can also download.
The Order: 1886 is due out worldwide on February 20th, for the Playstation 4.
