Grammy best video game soundtrack is here! For the first time in its history, The Recording Academy will celebrate music composed especially for video games and interactive media this weekend with the presentation of a newly created Grammy Award category. The growing popularity of video games and the value of game scores are important marks of this year’s Grammy Awards.
Nominees came from popular franchises like Alien, Assassin’s Creed, and more. Among these hit games, do you know who won the Grammy Best Video Game Soundtrack Award? Let’s take a closer look!
Grammy best video game soundtrack (2023)
Here are the winner of the Grammy best video game soundtrack award and all the other nominees:
The Grammy Winner: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök by Stephanie Economou
After composing music for “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Siege of Paris,” violinist and composer Stephanie Economou of Los Angeles wrote a score for the game based on Norse mythology. Stephanie Economou gives a new breath to Norse mythology through black metal and neo-folk music in the beautiful score.
Norwegian singer Einar Selvik contributes songs and vocals to Economou’s score which was awarded the Grammy Best Video Game Soundtrack of 2023!
Are you a fan of Ezio and the Assassin’s Creed franchise? You might also like these:
- New Assassin’s Creed games to be revealed at Ubisoft Forward (including the one set in Japan)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla receives a 1.1.0 update to prepare its next event: Yule
Aliens: Fireteam Elite by Austin Wintory
Music has played a significant role in the “Alien” franchise ever since the first movie and Jerry Goldsmith’s mesmerizing score. However, music can easily be overpowered in a multi-shooter game with stunning sound effects (and player yells).
Nevertheless, the sound of the video game “Fireteam Elite” alternates between intense action sequences and quiet anticipation in between, giving audio space to the players during the action sequences and filling the gaps between thrilling scenes with suspenseful music.
In addition to isolated or odd instruments (recorded during the epidemic in pods of performers), Austin Wintory’s soundtrack also includes non-instruments (including the sounds that were created by construction equipment that was being used in the building next door). Additionally, he added effects processing and feedback loops to the music, resulting in a soundtrack that “gets fairly wild,” as he told Spin magazine.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes video of Austin Wintory’s creation process of the score:
Call Of Duty: Vanguard by Bear McCreary
Credited for the music of major TV series such as “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Outlander,” “The Walking Dead,” and video game franchises such as “Star Wars” and “God of War“, Bear McCreary is a compelling composer and he was the one in charge of the creation of “Call of Duty: Vanguard.”
For the extraordinarily robust score of “Call of Duty: Vanguard”, McCreary combines sensational orchestral music with smaller ensembles of string instruments in order to reflect the unique emotional and individual stories of different characters in the game.
Are you interested in “Call of Duty: Vanguard°” There is more information about the game in the links below:
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy by Richard Jacques
Richard Jacques, a British composer who has a long list of TV and commercial credits, has spent most of his career writing and arranging music for video games, starting with “Darxide” in 1995.
The Sonic the Hedgehog series, “James Bond 007: Blood Stone,” “Starship Troopers,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Headhunter” are just a few of the films for which he has provided music.
Jacques composed the “Guardians of the Galaxy” video game’s music over the course of over six hours. Following the creation of a preliminary MIDI demo for the game’s heroic main theme, Jacques created about 2,400 songs for the game’s 16 chapters. These tracks featured vocal effects and performances by an orchestra, synths, and choir that were recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
Want to know more about Marvel and “Guardians of the Galaxy?”
Old World by Christopher Tin
In 2011, Christopher Tin won the Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement with Vocalist(s) for his “Baba Yetu,” which first appeared in the 2005 computer game “Civilization IV” Tin’s music for “Old World” was up for an award this year.
Tin stated: “A strategy game like “Old World” takes place over the course of many, many hours, and there is no practical way to predict exactly what the player will do at any one moment. As a result, the music is frequently requested to do little more than serve as enjoyable background music that establishes the scene and inspires you to play the game.”
His music is performed by musicians Camille el-Feghali, Meena Shamaly, Orkun an, Jamie Papish, Sandro Friedrich, and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, as well as vocals by Abeer Nehme and Layal Watfeh, and it combines ethnic instruments (ney flute, duduk, darbouka, and oud) with modern classical modes.
If you wish to know more about Grammy’s, here’s a recap of the last year’s ceremony:
