Monday, December 5, 2011

GameOn - Indie Game Composers - Danny Baranowsky

Official Site: http://dbsoundworks.bandcamp.com/

Source: Youtube Channel IndieGameMusicHD

I'm going to talk about some pretty awesome people who compose and produce music for the indie game development scene this week.  First up for this week's GameOn event is Danny Baranowsky.  I first took notice of Baranowsky's work when Super Meat Boy released as a full fledged game on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade.  At first, I only thought the music for Super Meat Boy was "okay" and somewhat "catchy".  As I played for longer durations of the game, I realized one of the greatest aspects that made me keep playing the game was the music!  I've taken quite a liking to Baranowsky's style of semi-retro/electronic upbeat tracks with a complex melody.  It kept the game at a frantic, fast-paced frenzy if not a haunting and daunting mood from all the death traps littered throughout each level.  When the developers of Team Meat moved on to create "The Binding of Isaac", an Action dungeon crawler with Rogue-like RPG elements, Danny Baranowsky once again joined in and created a morbid feeling track that really accentuated the grotesque theme and art style.

Source: Youtube Channel 8BallsEmperor

In terms of listening, I think Super Meat Boy's tracks are more fun to listen to.  But what really got me liking the music in "The Binding of Isaac" is how effective it was in the game.  The impact it had on the game's environment and the player's mental state was a large part of the experience while playing.  The tracks are a mixture between some orchestration with dark electronic synths and pads which make it sound eerie.  You can check out Baranowsky's site on the top and listen to samples of his other works and even buy them.  I'm very excited to see what he works on next.

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