Music of the Dead Space series
For Dead Space 2, Graves expanded the orchestral elements, and incorporated a string quartet to represent protagonist Isaac Clarke.
[14] For the later movie Dead Space: Aftermath, the score was composed by Christopher Tin, who was told to emulate Grave's musical style.
[21] One of the key challenges for the score was creating a musical and sound experience equivalent to linear horror movies within a non-linear game environment.
[22] Rather than character themes and bombastic pieces, the score is based on moody ambience aside from boss encounters or scripted chase sequences.
[18] To create the horror-styled environment, Graves visualized the situation through the eyes of protagonist Isaac Clarke, then used modern contemporary instruments to make the score "as non-musical as possible".
[24] An exception to this approach is the theme of supporting character Nicole Brennan, which followed Graves's more conventional musical tastes with traditional chord progressions.
[25] The score uses a live orchestra; each section is recorded separately, then arranged into four musical layers and adjusted in-game based on the situation.
[18][25] Many of the ambient elements as produced by string or brass sections being allowed to each play any note they wanted, with the resultant sounds mixed into the environment.
[24] The final in-game score for Dead Space is three hours long and was recorded over five months, several times more than Graves had composed for previous video game titles.
[27] Robert Halvarsson, writing for Original Sound Version, praised the ambience and constant tension invoked by the score, but noted a lack of subtlety in later combat-oriented tracks.
[28] Rick Damigella of G4 praised the soundtrack's overall quality and called it "truly original", saying it had encouraged him to try out the game despite his dislike of the survival horror genre.
[28][29] At the 2009 British Academy Games Awards, Graves and Dead Space won in the "Original Score" and "Use of Audio" categories.
[33] Graves drew inspiration from classical music from the first half of the 20th century, citing Krzysztof Penderecki's Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima as a point of comparison for the string focus in Dead Space 2.
[35] Speaking about its tone compared to the rest of the score, Graves admitted that he liked playing against genre expectations, while also giving Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky as possible inspirations for its instrumentation.
[35] An official soundtrack album, Dead Space 2 Original Videogame Score, was digitally released on January 25, 2011 by Electronic Arts.
Due to the large amount of music in-game, his biggest challenge was selecting which pieces and arrangements to pick for commercial release.
[35] At a launch event called "Dead Space Exposed", Graves conducted an eleven-minute version of "Lacrimosa", performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra.
[42][43] While there was a greater focus on action, Graves wanted to maintain musical links to the earlier games, blending the series' established horror-based sound with "some modern, edgier appointments".
[42] For the long space sections, while otherwise realistic in their muting of sounds beyond the range of Isaac's suit, use musical cues to emphasise the action.
[52] Gureckis was inspired in his approach by a story breakdown from the remake's lead writer Joanna Berry, who equated it to "a descent into Hell".
[53] Early in the process, Gureckis wrote suites associated with themes and characters rather than specific scenes, with two mentioned pieces being for the Marker and Unitology.
He used pieces of these suites throughout the final score, along with expanded musical elements for Isaac, to create an atmosphere that would immerse players into the world and story.
[52] He described his role as expanding upon the original work, creating new themes for characters such as Nicole and story sections, while incorporating and exploring the musical elements established by Graves.
