Interview: Jason Graves, Silent Hunter 5 Composer

[Onkel Neal]

In Silent Hunter 5, players command a German submarine. I wanted the music to have a unique sound that mirrored that same idea. I approached the score the way a classical German composer might have, using operatic harmonies and choir to give the whole soundtrack a sense of drama you hear in those kinds of classical pieces.

Das Boot, Tchaikovsky, the Godfather, Captain Kirk--this interview covers a lot of ground.

:ping: Interview: Jason Graves, Silent Hunter 5 Composer :ping: (http://www.subsim.com/2010_03/interview_sh5_graves_03_2010.php)
(http://www.subsim.com/2010_03/interview_sh5_graves_03_2010.php)

Enjoy!
Neal
SUBSIM

[SteamWake]

Very cool.. diving in...




What orchestra were you working with on Silent Hunter 5?
That would be the Jason Graves Music Philharmonic, otherwise known as me sitting in the studio banging away on my keyboard! There wasn’t a live budget for SH4 or SH5. When that’s the case, I do my best with my computers and personal orchestra sounds. Hopefully the end result sounds as if it were recorded with a live orchestra, especially once it’s in the game and playing with the sound effects and dialog.


Wholy moly this guy is talented. !!!111

[kylania]

Sure with the "Gold Edition" had come with the soundtrack like the "Collector's Edition" did. Nice interview, he does some amazing music.

[tonschk]

:rock: Excellent , I LOVE :yeah: Silent Hunter 5 :salute:

[alexradu89]

Cool!:up: Except I play my games with music turned off! :arrgh!:
Pytor Tchaikovsky
It's Pyotr :damn::D

[rohling]

is he the same guy who did the sh3 soundtrack?

Don't know about you guys, but i still think its far better then sh4 & 5 soundtracks combined!

anyone remembers who did the music on sh3?

[mookiemookie]

Great interview!

[Onkel Neal]

is he the same guy who did the sh3 soundtrack?

Don't know about you guys, but i still think its far better then sh4 & 5 soundtracks combined!

anyone remembers who did the music on sh3?


That was Patrick Giraudi on SH3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djWfHEWaqdo&feature=related).

Kevin Manthei did Silent Hunter II (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OljrK0sptWs&feature=related)

[rohling]

great info, thx neal :salute:

reading on imdb about patrick giraudi he has only done one soundtrack namely sh3!

i could not play any sh series without his tracks.. i guess thats why they are still in the DasBoot Soundmod:)

what bugs me about the scores jason did is that he sounds too much like hollywood orchestral mainstream, ie hans zimmer! ..don't get me wrong Hanz Zimmer is a great composer but sometimes he does scores that sound like it was just another job. same goes for sh5 compared to sh3, sh5.. just another job.

anyways nice to read some behind the scenes info on sh5.

[Turm]

Very interesting, thanks Neal :salute:

Due to it becoming slightly repetitive whilst playing SH5 for many hours, I have finally disabled music in-game, but the SH5 soundtrack is still enjoyable to listen to on its own from time to time.

On this topic, does anybody have a tracklisting for the bonus CD that came with the Collector's Edition? There's no mention with the game that I can see, and on popping it into my PC, Media Player didn't bring up any information from its database, so I just see Track 01, Track 02 and so on. And that bugs me ... guess I have an OCD thing ;)

I see that about 6 tracks are available on Jason's website, so I could match a few up, but surely there must be a tracklisting somewhere?

[Onkel Neal]

Cool!:up: Except I play my games with music turned off! :arrgh!:

It's Pyotr :damn::D


How about "Peter"?
Did I mention I visited his gravesite in St. Petersburg in 1993?

Very interesting, thanks Neal :salute:

Due to it becoming slightly repetitive whilst playing SH5 for many hours, I have finally disabled music in-game, but the SH5 soundtrack is still enjoyable to listen to on its own from time to time.

On this topic, does anybody have a tracklisting for the bonus CD that came with the Collector's Edition? There's no mention with the game that I can see, and on popping it into my PC, Media Player didn't bring up any information from its database, so I just see Track 01, Track 02 and so on. And that bugs me ... guess I have an OCD thing ;)

I see that about 6 tracks are available on Jason's website, so I could match a few up, but surely there must be a tracklisting somewhere?


Yeah, I need to ask about the track listing too, the CD the agent sent me had no names either! I had to ask abut tracks by refering to their number :88)

I usually switch the music off too, after a few weeks of gameplay. It's nice to be able to switch it on from time to time on the gramophone, though.

[mookiemookie]

I usually switch the music off too, after a few weeks of gameplay. It's nice to be able to switch it on from time to time on the gramophone, though.

Never thought of that. I have my gramophone loaded with period music. It's kind of funny....I'll catch myself humming "U-boat Lied" or "Horst Wessel Lied" in the elevator at work and think to myself, geez those are Nazi songs! :dead:

[ReallyDedPoet]

Liked the music in 4 and now 5. Have not had the urge to turn it off so that must mean something :yep: