![]() ![]() World’s Edge: What is the goal of a remaster? We also used an outside team of two engineers to remix and remaster the music tracks, which took roughly two months to complete. ![]() Todd Masten: The original team did the bulk of the work, and they did an outstanding job of capturing the spirit and feel of an Age of Empires title-which communicates the emotion through the music. World’s Edge: How many others participated in this process? “Noddinasgushpa” – Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Main Theme We used a somewhat complicated chain of multiband exciters and multiband compressors to remaster the tracks, which adds a bit of low-end ‘thump’ and high-end ‘sparkle’ to each of the tracks. We were lucky to have access to the original stems (tracks are broken out by strings, winds, brass, choir, etc.), which allowed us to remix each cue and remaster the files at a higher sampling and bit rate. Age of Empires III used live orchestral recordings in the original game, which resulted in high-quality music tracks available at the start of the project. Todd Masten: For the Age of Empires III: DE soundtrack, we chose to remix and remaster the music as opposed to recomposing each of the game’s tracks. World’s Edge: What was your approach to remastering the soundtrack for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition? Aside from working with our partner studios on their audio needs, I also compose music for most of the titles I work on and provide some amount of sound design support in conjunction with our outsourced vendors. I am a 20+ year audio veteran in the games industry with credits spanning handheld, mobile, VR/AR, console, and PC titles. Todd Masten: My name is Todd Masten, and I am the Audio Director for the Age of Empires franchise: starting with Age of Empires: DE up to and including the forthcoming Age of Empires IV. World’s Edge: Hello Todd! Please introduce yourself and what you do for the Age franchise. The Age of Empires and Age of Empires II Definitive Editions waited two decades for the definitive remaster of their soundtracks, so how has the youngest of the series been handled-considering its setting in a more modern era? Today, we’re answering your questions while offering an early listen to some of what’s on the way! So, join us in welcoming the Audio Director at World’s Edge, Todd Masten, as he talks about the challenges and opportunities when remastering the original RTS(Soundtrack)! With only a few weeks until Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition joins the ranks of our other two Definitive Editions, many of its dedicated, long-time fans have been looking (or, should we say, listening) for details about the remastered soundtrack.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |