Elden Ring Nightreign's Composer on Marilyn Manson, Myst, and More – IGN First

The last halt for our IGN First travel to FromSoftware was the dependable country wherever Lead Composer Shoi Miyazawa crafts the fantastic soundtracks that capable The Lands Between and Limveld with notes of hope, melancholy, and strife. Here's our interrogation touching upon what goes into creating a FromSoft soundtrack, what specifically were the notes from the manager fixed with regards to Nightreign's music, and Miyazawa's ain idiosyncratic influences.

IGN: So I conscionable wanted commencement disconnected by asking you astir however you fell into the satellite of composing euphony for video games. Are you a large fan?

Shoi Miyazawa - Lead Sound Designer connected Elden Ring Nightreign:

I was a instrumentality of the Armored Core games. So erstwhile Hoshino-san approached maine astir recruitment astatine FromSoftware, I was precise interested. I'm a large instrumentality of the Armored Core music. Also, I similar immoderate different titles from my puerility specified arsenic Ganbare Goemon and Secret of Mana. So I'm ever putting probe and trying to find inspiration from these titles arsenic well. The Castlevania series, arsenic well, was a large philharmonic inspiration.

Along those aforesaid lines, bash you person immoderate favourite composers that person besides possibly inspired your work? Not conscionable video games, conscionable successful general.

I've ever been a instrumentality of King Crimson and Marilyn Manson. I similar these kinds of antithetic sorts of vibes wrong music.

Switching gears to Elden Ring and Nightreign, what's the process for composing for thing similar Elden Ring? Are you fixed conception creation for a brag oregon a determination and past usage that inspiration for the sound? Or are you fixed circumstantial notes of the consciousness oregon temper that the manager is looking for?

There are respective approaches we tin instrumentality specified arsenic that you mentioned. Sometimes the manager volition springiness a speedy statement of the temper oregon the determination helium wants. Sometimes it's from the existing conception creation of the game. And sometimes it's a elemental text-based bid specified arsenic a statement of a boss's backstory oregon the arena that they combat successful oregon thing similar this.

Has moving connected the soundtrack for Nightreign been immoderate antithetic from the acquisition of moving connected the soundtrack for the main basal game?

Of people it is an Elden Ring spin-off, truthful we wanted it to transportation oregon transportation implicit definite elements from Elden Ring and the benignant vibes it gives off. I had galore nonstop talks with the manager himself discussing the aspects of Elden Ring and however we should attack Nightreign. And I deliberation portion helium wanted this to beryllium rather chiseled from the Souls titles, helium besides wanted it to beryllium catchy successful its ain mode arsenic well. So this benignant of catchiness and offering thing that was chiseled from Elden Ring was rather important successful our work.

Can you picture possibly immoderate of the notes that you mightiness person been fixed from the manager with regards to the dependable and code of this soundtrack? Were determination immoderate recurring themes that you wanted to hit?

Yeah. So seeing arsenic nighttime was an important taxable of Nightreign, we wanted this feeling of being retired of place, this feeling of loneliness, this consciousness that comes with the acheronian oregon the benignant of loneliness of nighttime. These were elements that we wanted to incorporated into the music.

Among the galore projects that you've worked connected truthful acold astatine FromSoftware, which has been your favorite, and which has been the astir challenging arsenic well?

Of people I person tons of fond memories of moving connected titles astatine From and it's truly hard to fastener successful connected a peculiar title. But determination are a mates that person stuck with me, a mates of pieces successful particular. One of them being erstwhile we composed Consort Radahn for Elden Ring. What I similar to bash is I really similar to constitute successful a benignant of acheronian room, successful a dimly lit room. So I had this feeling portion I was composing that way of determination ever being idiosyncratic determination successful the shadows and looking implicit my shoulder. So this benignant of came done successful the portion for Consort Radahn.

Another 1 would beryllium the way Takes Me Anywhere from disc 3 of the bonus soundtrack from Armored Core VI. I cognize this is simply a spot antithetic from the phantasy euphony that we've made with our games, but for me, arsenic I said, Armored Core was a bid I was peculiarly fond of. And arsenic I entered the company, From conscionable happened to benignant of enactment that bid connected hiatus for a small bit. So I had something, had immoderate ideas going there, but AC IV was a long-awaited game. It was a agelong clip coming. And Takes Me Anywhere was 1 of the archetypal tracks we produced for that bonus all-encompassing disc set. So it was thing that brought backmost representation of those days and it was a track, it was a portion that I really had successful my caput since coming to From and since I started moving a small spot connected those titles but didn't rather get to afloat make into those games. So it reminds maine a batch of those days and everything we went done with Armored Core. And truthful hopefully radical volition springiness that a perceive arsenic well.

There are respective composers that are credited with moving connected Elden Ring. Can you speech a small spot astir however collaborative of an effort it is to constitute euphony connected games similar Elden Ring and Nightreign? Do you each enactment wholly separately oregon bash you enactment intimately unneurotic contempt being liable for antithetic pieces?

Generally erstwhile we constitute euphony astatine From, it's 1 composer to 1 track. That's the wide attack we take. But of people we tin get proposal and benignant of speech ideas with the different members of the dependable team. But yet connected the credits, you'll spot the idiosyncratic credited to that way is the 1 who took it done to completion. But Nightreign was a small spot of an objection here. So we person aggregate composers moving connected a azygous way successful immoderate instances.

One of the bosses that we got to cheque retired contiguous arsenic portion of our sojourn was Libra: Creature of Night. And I was wondering if you had immoderate benignant of insights oregon stories arsenic to what went into the instauration of that track.

Actually with Libra, it was 1 of the uncommon cases wherever a peculiar philharmonic absorption oregon ideas was fixed wrong the quality brief. So that was 1 that stood retired to me. We had these themes of trying to bring thing arsenic the quality and arsenic the brag combat itself suggests, immoderate themes of an exotic quality oregon these impressions of madness oregon similar a demonic quality to the boss. And again, introducing this duality that you find some earlier and during the brag fight, considering elements of triumph and defeat, that trade-off, that hazard and reward. We effort to make a harsh opposition with a batch of our bosses, but successful peculiar we wanted to instrumentality it to extremes for Libra.

The opposition betwixt time and nighttime during brag fights is precise striking, and it's evident successful the euphony arsenic well. Could you archer america a small spot astir however you approached composing these pieces?

So of people we person this time and nighttime rhythm and this 3 time operation to Nightreign. So arsenic we mentioned earlier, we wanted the subordinate to consciousness similar there's this imposing consciousness of danger. Enemies and bosses are getting stronger arsenic the nighttime approaches. We wanted this feeling of being much and much retired of place, much and much retired of your depth. These are things that we effort to, feelings we effort to convey done the euphony of Nightreign.

Is determination immoderate peculiar opus oregon thing that you're truly excited players to acquisition for the archetypal clip erstwhile they play that you worked on?

So 1 happening that compares to the euphony we did for Elden Ring and the DLC was truly focusing connected the individuality of each of these brag fights that players are going to beryllium encountering galore times. So we wanted to truly propulsion the limits of the euphony arsenic good for each of these fights. And sometimes it was a lawsuit of tin we truly propulsion it this far? And I deliberation successful the extremity we did extremity up truly expanding those limits and truly pushing the boundaries of the euphony astatine From successful our phantasy titles. So that's 1 country that I anticipation players look guardant to.

Going backmost to your ain idiosyncratic tastes, bash you person a favourite philharmonic instrumentality oregon thing that you similar to incorporated into your compositions?

It's not an instrument, but really erstwhile I archetypal started dabbling successful music, it was with a idiosyncratic machine and it was with DTM software. So that was my archetypal existent interaction with making euphony and particularly professionally. So arsenic a creator, bundle similar this allows maine to truly ore connected the finer elements and truly good tune these pieces down to each past enactment and pitch. So I deliberation this is thing that I'd similar the subordinate to recognize oregon hopefully announcement erstwhile they perceive to these pieces. Because I truly bash get mode excessively into it, astir apt excessively overmuch that is steadfast for work.

One of the things that I've been asking everyone that I've been talking to astatine FromSoftware has been what your favourite crippled is. We cognize we talked a small spot astir video games from the euphony side, but bash you person immoderate games that truly basal retired arsenic conscionable your favourite crippled of each time?

One of the games I retrieve fondly is Myst. Adventure games similar this, they usually person this quite, possibly lone immoderate readers oregon viewers volition remember, but these benignant of pre-rendered scenes that benignant of modulation 1 from the other. But you're going done the satellite and you're solving the puzzles connected this adventure. This truly stuck with maine arsenic a player. So yes, I deliberation Myst would beryllium a bully example.

Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial shaper astatine IGN. You tin find him connected twitter @JurassicRabbit