Currently the destiny music holding has been a bit stale DLC. I know that music rights = momey. However some more orchestral would be excellent with shorter durations to allow for Bretter switch ups. I understand that from a Corperate project standpoint that costs like these can offset funds for hours. However I wholeheartedly think some substitutions would help.
Original Soundtracks Example:
Warhammer 40K Dawn of War II (OGS)
Homeworld 2 (OGS)
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People keep forgetting what we are in the middle of a global public health emergency. Recording an (chamber) orchestra requires putting dozens of people into very small (usually enclosed) spaces for many hours at a time....which creates an unacceptable health risk. Also you can't effective record one WITHOUT doing that because the acoustic interplay of the instruments as they resonate to the music other instruments are making.....as well as the acoustics of the environment being recorded it are all part of the experience. If those things are removed, the kind of ear that is going to find listening to that kind of music entertaining is going to detect it.....and are going to be turned off by it. Also the composer themselves are not going to like it, and won't think it does justice to what they've written. So music production...and composition....in this time has had to change. Bungie has always had the vision to work with VERY skilled and VERY talented composers. So I believe they'd probably want to change styles....and do that style of music well. Rather than stubbornly ling to one particular style, and butcher it as result of the limitations. Lastly, when you're writing music for other media (movies, TV, games) you are not really free to simply write what you want. Ideally, the music you write should be "invisible". IOW, it blends in so well to what the audience is otherwise experiencing that it doesn't stand out as "music". It just becomes part of one singular experience. The "mood" of this season was one of dread, and moving in and out of artificial (digital network) environments. Bungie basically heavily borrowed from TRON. So the the kind of music that was written for the Dreaming City, and its largely acoustic instrument orchestrarion (and medival vibe).... ....would have been WILDLY out of place for this seasons content and would have stuck out badly as being inauthentic....and probably would have been experienced as an irritant by most players. Rather than seeing it complement the experience. As someone who is amateur musician with compositional experience....I can't remember most of the music for this season. What I do remember are just snippets. Which---imo---is the mark of someone who as done a very good job of writing FOR the experience. Its a sign that the music became PART of the overal experience, rather than calling attention to itself. Which is a common theme for me with Bungie soundtrack music. There are only a couple of pieces that are so memorable that they stand apart from the game. In both cases, it was music that was delivering an emotional message so powerful (but still relevant to what's going on in the game) that I got caught up in it. https://youtu.be/jgS9mNBFec0 This is the music from vanilla D2. "The Traveler's Dream". In the game we've just been defeated in the opening battle of the Red War. We've lost our light. We're seeing Guardians without their light being murdered in the streets. We are lucky to be alive after being contemptuously kicked off the fligth deck of Ghauls ship. Yet the Traveler reaches out to us, and gives us a vision of Hope. This short piece of music captures that emotion beautifully. https://youtu.be/U8ilLSEjlAQ This is the theme from the Farm. This waltz is so powerful that It can bring me to tears. It perfectly captures the overwhelming sense of grief and loss that can come with death on such a massive and senseless scale (that the world is ironically going through right now)....but touched with the distant hope of something better that came with arriving at the Farm by our Guardian and seeing that all wasn't lost. That there was still something left that be built upon. That Life does go on after loss. Hence the sweetenss can still grace the most bitter loss. https://youtu.be/GorTWyjD4tc This stood out to me for more personal reasons. I'm a lifelong Tolkien fan....and The Dreaming City was clearly inspired by The Silmarillion and the Elven Realms of Beleriand in the Eldar Days (When the High Elves warred with The First Dark Lord of Middle-Earth---Morgoth.) The artistry here is the music is **just ** similar enough to evoke memories and feelings associated with the soundtrack of Lord of The Rings to help you make the connection with The Elves....and cement the notion that the realm had been inspired by Tolkien. ...and that Bungie was changing the story of the game and drawing a parallel between the Awoken (The Elves refer to their place of creation as Cuivienen....The Water of Awakening) and the Elves. Who are essentially immortal unless they die in battle or lose their will to live (Fading).