As an accompaniment to our
new music player track, we also have a new interview with Lars Hammer - the man behind most of the sounds of Sacred 2.
Stefan
Hello Lars, thank you for finding the time to comment on the new track on our web site once again.
Lars
Hello Stefan!
Stefan
It’s a rather relaxed song. When will we hear this tune in the game?
Lars
This track is the third daytime theme for the High Elves, therefore it’ll be played when you wander through the High Elf region.
Stefan
Is there anything special about this track?
Lars
It’s the purpose of a region track to underline the atmosphere of this specific location, but it shouldn’t distract the player. And this song fits in perfectly. The High Elf region is the first region of the game the player gets to discover, and this atmospheric music leads him or her in an atmospheric way into the world of Ancaria.
Stefan
Did you compose the song?
Lars
No, my job as a Lead Audio Designer is a different one. I designed the complete sound concept, i.e. the number and type of tracks, the style, tempo, and instrumentation of the music, and finally I was also responsible for the conceptual design and the programming of the sound engine. To get this extensive job done and to achieve the highest quality possible we worked with Dynamedion who are very experienced and also won some awards in this field. And it was this close teamwork that led to the creation of the single tracks.
Stefan
How do you develop such a concept?
Lars
I read the background story and I look at the designer’s concepts for the different looks and historical aspects of each region and location. This way it’s mostly quite apparent which kind of music and atmosphere (including all the atmospheric background sounds) would go nicely with a certain place. And then you also have to consider the special creatures at this location - does a boss monster live here? Which enemies will I meet here? All this has to be taken into consideration. Moreover, I have to think about which clichés to use and which to avoid. For instance, when we composed the music for the desert scenes we did not write a score that sounds like an Arab theme throughout (even though most people would have expected that), but we chose some guitars in a western-style that give you a kind of post-apocalyptic feeling. That’s much more suitable.
Stefan
Which instruments did you use for this track?
Lars
Flute, guitar, harp, and piano amongst others.
Stefan
What’s the difference between atmospheric and action tracks?
Lars
Atmospheric tracks are usually very quiet and relaxed, they’re mostly 1,5 - 3 minutes long, and they direct the player’s attention to the landscape. They also encourage the player to look around and to admire the details. They calm you down – as long as you can hear the region tracks there’s no danger ahead. But we refrained from a constant stream of music. There is a different day, night and dungeon version of each song, so each place is worth another visit at a different time.
In general the action themes are short, fast loops, which accompany the player into and through a fight. These tracks also have more than one purpose: when there is an imminent attack they are used as a warning for the player, and during a fight there are different themes according to the dangerousness of the opponent. Moreover the music also indicates how you are faring in a fight by adding or removing some instruments to or from different speakers if you are using a 5.1 system. This way you instantly know what kind of enemy’s waiting for you.
Each of our 6 main characters has its own set of fight-motifs that matches his or her history and background, just as many of the boss monsters have their own fight-theme, too.
Stefan
What do you like best?
Lars
Of course I like all our music, but I prefer to discover the different landscapes instead of fighting; I like to stroll through the countryside and to discover the small atmospheric details while listening to the regional themes.
Stefan
What’s your opinion on the fact that Blind Guardian will do a soundtrack for the game?
Lars
That’s great. Blind Guardian’s music is just perfect for fantasy action RPGs, and their songs are different from the usual stereotyped music for fantasy-games.
Stefan
By the way, how do you like the song by Blind Guardian?
Lars
It’s a great song. I love to listen to it again and again! It’s nearly 8 minutes long, and the separation into several parts gives the whole song a very progressive note.
Stefan
Are there any other musical surprises in Sacred 2 – Fallen Angel?
Lars
Yes. There are more “secret locations” in this game – and I certainly won’t tell you more about them right now… and of course, we composed some additional music for these scenes, which will be quite funny for the player.
Stefan
How many songs will be on the soundtrack?
Lars
Counting all variations we have more than 100 tracks with a total of more than 3 hours at the moment. There are three different versions for each track, i.e. stereo, 5.1 and a low-quality-version for slower computers. So there are more than 300 music files in our folder!
Stefan
You are an Ascaron veteran and you’ve worked on Sacred 1 as well, although not as a composer, but you were involved in the programming of the multiplayer part.
Does the new soundtrack differ from Sacred 1?
Lars
Yes, of course. First of all, we wanted a different style than the classical soundtrack of a RPG, so instead we focused on the regional themes, which are carefully orchestrated; there are single instruments in the foreground and not an entire orchestra. And for the action themes we used electric guitars so that they sound much harder.
And finally there are enormous technical differences: For Sacred 2 the complete soundtrack was mixed in 5.1, which means that you can hear the individual instruments from different speakers all over the room. The music virtually becomes three-dimensional. That’s a very new audio approach to game music and a real adventure for us.
Stefan
Thank you very much, Lars. It was a pleasure talking to you about the music of Sacred 2.
Lars
My pleasure, it was fun talking to you, too!
Linear Mode
