Hidden Orchestra
Pražské studio Amanita Design uvolnilo toto léto svou novou puzzle adventuru Creaks. Tentokrát k vytvoření soundtracku angažovali Joe Achesona (aka Hidden Orchestra), který se vydal po stopách dua DVA a Joeova dlouholetého přítele a spolupracovníka Tomáše Dvořáka (Floex). Pro samotného Joea to svým způsobem byla zcela nová promyšlená hra, neb tentokráte bylo cílem vytvořit jakýsi nekonečný soundtrack, kdy hráči mohou jednotlivé úrovně hrát na několikrát, a tak musely vzniknout i další hudební alternace, opakování struktur motivů a remixy původních verzí jednotlivých skladeb. Creaks Soundtrack je čtvrté studiové album Hidden Orchestra, které následuje po Night Walks (2010), Archipelago (2012) a Dawn Chorus (2017). Loni pak éru nahrávky Dawn Chorus uzavřelo vydání koncertního záznamu Live at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts. Za zmíňku stojí i kompilace Reorchestrations (2015), kam Acheson seskupil své remixy pro spřízněné projekty. Efektní a virtuózní živá show Hidden Orchestra za poslední dekádu prošla desítkami zemí, kde odehráli stovky koncertů s proměnlivou sestavou hostujících hráčů za použití poutavých vizuálních efektů.
Prague-based indie games company Amanita Design released their new puzzle adventure Creaks this summer. This time they enlisted the help of Joe Acheson (aka Hidden Orchestra) to create the soundtrack, following in the footsteps of the duo DVA and Joe’s long-time friend and collaborator Tomáš Dvořák (Floex). For Joe this was a new challenge, which he was able to meet with an outsider’s perspective on the gaming music tradition, as a non-gamer doing his first soundtrack. In this brain-teasing game, players may have to restart levels several times, and the duration of each level depends on each player’s speed at finding the solutions. In order to avoid listener fatigue caused by constantly restarting and looping pieces of music, Joe decided to create an endless ‘living soundtrack’, using software primarily designed for sound effects and atmospheres. By creating numerous variations for every part played by every instrument, and choosing between them using randomised conditional logic, the game’s music is self-generating and infinite, with constantly varying arrangements - while each piece is clearly recognisable, it will never sound exactly the same twice. Creaks Soundtrack is the fourth full-length studio album from Hidden Orchestra, following Night Walks (2010), Archipelago (2012), and Dawn Chorus (2017). Other notable releases include Reorchestrations (2015), a collection of Joe’s reworkings of mainly classical and folk musicians, 2016’s Wingbeats EP, and several volumes of remixes of Hidden Orchestra material by an extremely diverse array of artists. The powerful and virtuosic live show has toured dozens of countries over the last decade, performing hundreds of shows with a fluctuating lineup of guest players and arresting live visuals.
