Starcraft II

Featured, Game Music

BlizzCon 2011: Our Annual Interview With Russell Brower

October 25, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

BlizzCon 2011 took place this past weekend, and while the biggest announcement coming out of the two-day event was the World of Warcraft expansion titled Mists of Pandaria, Diablo III and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm were also on hand for attendees. There was the annual audio panel where the audio team shared their experience and a couple performances related to Diablo III, and of course we were able to sit down with audio director Russell Brower to discuss some of their upcoming projects.

Hit the jump for updates on all three of Blizzard Entertainment’s upcoming titles. (more…)
Game Music

BlizzCon 2010: To Liberty and Beyond – StarCraft II News and Photo Gallery

October 26, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Yes, even though StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty has been released, there was some cool StarCraft II stuff on hand at BlizzCon 2010. From a vinyl record release to a live performance of music from the game, there were even some details about the next chapter, Heart of the Swarm.

First of all, Revolution Overdrive was released. This is a vinyl record featuring music from the jukebox in Wings of Liberty, and Audio Director Russell Brower noted that they filled it to the max (about 40 minutes of music). The limited release record is meant to be a collector’s item, coming with a code to download the music (with additional tracks) on iTunes. The music will be available without purchasing the record (which was on sale for $25) next week on iTunes. The image on the disc itself is of the lady featured on Tychus Findlay’s suite, and was apparently meant to resemble the ladies painted on the front of World War II airplanes. They had one of these signed by the artists up for auction, and it was listed at over $600 the last we checked.

Another happening including a performance of Raynor’s Theme by Laurence Juber on guitar and renowned harmonica player Tommy Morgan during the sound panel on Saturday. The two brought down the house with some wild western music. Morgan talked for a bit at the panel, and noted that he’s been involved in over 7,000 recording sessions, being responsible for many of the classic harmonica performances heard in Clint Eastwood’s early spaghetti westerns.

Finally, Heart of the Swarm! I asked Russell Brower about the fact that music for the Zerg and Protoss had already been created since the races were playable in the Wings of Liberty multiplayer. He noted that this was true, but that he’d like to record new themes for each of the races for their respective game releases within the trilogy. I’m certainly looking forward to more Zerg music, as “The Hive” from the Wings of Liberty soundtrack wasn’t enough to keep me satiated!

What do you think of Revolution Overdrive? Will you be picking it up on iTunes?

Hit the jump for our StarCraft II photo gallery, including the impressive display case for Revolution Overdrive! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

StarCraft II: Being Liberated Never Sounded This Good (Review)

July 30, 2010 | Gideon Dabi | 3 Comments Share this

“If Raynor can seem to pull his revolver a little faster, or if Tychus Finlay’s presence can feel more imposing due to a theme or flourish in the music, then the composers and musicians have truly called down the thunder.” – Russell Brower

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, arguably the most anticipated game of the year, arrived in stores and digital download this week and ActiBlizzard/Blizzardvision is sure to have another monster success on its hands. Although it is quite in fashion to bash the gaming evil empire, I must say that the treatment the soundtrack has received is exceptional from all fronts. The production values, sound quality, and iTunes LP treatment (digital liner notes with videos, track descriptions, etc.) are all top-notch and make the listening experience truly an experience. A tremendous amount of dramatic energy is added to the tracks as a summary of the contextual inspiration for the tracks is presented for each track.

But, even with all the pomp and circumstance of a wonderful presentation, a soundtrack is not much without quality music. So, do Russell Brower, Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Neil Acree, an co. deliver us with a soundtrack of rich minerals? Or has it come and gone like a bad case of Vespene gas? Read on as we conquer the galaxy! (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Riding the Wings of Liberty With Russell Brower and Glenn Stafford

July 27, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

The wait is finally over. StarCraft II hits store shelves today, and to celebrate, we’ve got a special interview with Blizzard Entertainment Audio Director, Russell Brower, as well as composer Glenn Stafford. We get a run down of all the composers and session artists that are featured, talk about the soundtrack album that comes with the Collector’s Edition of the game, and discuss the music contained within the in-game jukebox We talk about the possibility of distributing new music along with other content on Battle.net, and jump into what Derek Duke has in store for fans in the Heart of the Swarm expansion pack that will be released in the future.

There’s a lot going on with this game and its lengthy soundtrack, so check out our interview after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Soundtrack Included in Collector’s Edition

April 12, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Dear Blizzard, oh how we love thee. It looks like there will be a soundtrack release for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty which will come packed in with the impressive collector’s edition of the game that will also include a 176-page art book, a 2 GB flash drive, a behind-the-scenes DVD, a comic book, an in-game pet for World of Warcraft, and exclusive Battle.net content. Sounds pretty sweet to me!

From what we know, the disc will contain 14 tracks mostly composed by Glenn Stafford, who’s handling the core Terran themes. With only 14 tracks, however, I do wonder if all of the music from the game will be featured, but we’ll have to wait and see. I also take the announcement of this disc to mean that there will likely be similar releases for the upcoming chapters in the StarCraft II series, and this announcement is made even more great by the fact that the original StarCraft didn’t even receive a soundtrack release until 10+ years later, and was distributed in such limited quantities that it’s one of the most sought after game music albums to this day. Not this time!

You can check out our impressions of some of the game’s preliminary music in our BlizzCon 2009 coverage along with an interview with Russell Brower that touches on the game. Are you looking forward to the game and its soundtrack?
Game Music

BlizzCon 2009: Audio Director Russell Brower Digs Deep With StarCraft II Details and Career History

August 24, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on BlizzCon 2009: Audio Director Russell Brower Digs Deep With StarCraft II Details and Career History Share this

A trip to BlizzCon wouldn’t be complete without a chat with Russell Brower, the Director of Audio at Blizzard Entertainment. We checked in with him to get an update on the progress of all the titles that are currently being developed at Blizzard, and he has some interesting information regarding the score for StarCraft II in particular.

Later in the interview, we touch on his background, digging into his history at Disney and how his work there was helpful in working on World of Warcraft. We also find out what his favorite Disney ride is as well as his favorite track that he’s created for Blizzard Entertainment over the years.

It’s definitely an interesting discussion with lots of juicy details, so join us for our interview after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

BlizzCon 2009: StarCraft II is Sounding Pretty Good!

August 24, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since BlizzCon 2008. The Blizzard sound team has certainly accomplished a lot, however, including live rock recording sessions and orchestral sessions at the Skywalker Ranch for the 2010 release of StarCraft II.

We had the opportunity to check out a bit of the single-player campaign and hear one theme from each race in the skirmish mode, and I’m quite impressed with what they’ve done. With Glenn Stafford and a host of live players handling the Terran, Derek Duke on the Zerg, and Russell Brower on the Protoss, I think you should rest assured that they’re on to something here.

Read our impressions of the game and the various themes from the BlizzCon 2009 build after the jump. (more…)