MMORPGs have long been heralded for their soundtracks by the games industry. Rousing scores set the mood for hours and hours of gameplay, providing the backdrop to so many of our seminal gaming moments. Black Desert Online's soundtrack is no different, with the MMO's use of music helping to set the tone for each of the various regions and cultures in the MMO.
When starting up Black Desert Online for the PC for the first time, you'll be met by a rousing chorus of strings, setting the tone for the game to come. Wind instruments start to poke their heads through the wall of strings, then the brass. Before long the percussion starts to build, with each part of the orchestra growing in intensity till the French Horns take over the melody. The piece of music is called "I. Balenos - Overture," and it sets the stage for the start of the adventure.
This is something clearly highlighted in the music for the upcoming Land of the Morning Light expansion coming to Black Desert next month. Pearl Abyss has been ramping up getting players excited for the upcoming region, which is heavily inspired by Korean folklore and mythos, and one way was through music.
Last month, Pearl Abyss released three original soundtrack videos highlighting the music players can expect to hear while exploring the Land of the Morning Light. The videos highlight traditional gugak music, or traditional national music in Korea.
Behind this music is Pearl Abyss' Audio Director and Composer Hwiman Ryu. Hwiman has worked at Pearl Abyss for the last eleven and a half years, working on the composition of Black Desert's music, as well as audio recording, the game's audio direction and more. As we head into the release of the upcoming content, I had the chance to chat with Hwiman in an email interview about the music and soundscape of Black Desert, as well as the approach to Land of the Morning Light's music.
MMORPG.com: What has been the overall approach to building the music of Black Desert Online?
Hwiman Ryu, Pearl Abyss: When creating music for Black Desert, we work toward achieving three main objectives.
The first and most important goal is to create music that not only sounds good but also fits well with the world and gameplay of Black Desert, both functionally and atmospherically. Even if the music is great on its own, it will be difficult to use if it does not match the game.
The second goal is to give the music a unique originality that can only be heard in Black Desert, rather than making it typical and similar to music heard in other games or media.
The final and third goal is to create music that is complete and polished. This is a time-consuming and difficult task that requires a high level of skill to enhance the completeness of the music.
MMORPG.com: Given that Black Desert is, mostly, based on European Medieval Fantasy themes, what challenges did you have in creating a soundtrack that helped to sell that vision?
HR: I was born and raised in Korea, and I have always enjoyed Korean culture and have a different disposition toward artistic expression. Therefore, I think it would be quite difficult for me to create music that accurately captures European medieval music.
Instead, I approach the task with a unique perspective. As a Korean, I respect and study European medieval fantasy music as much as possible, and create a fusion of distinctive music that results from this approach. While the music may not feel entirely authentic to a Western audience, it will still be enjoyable and fitting, resulting in an exciting and fun listening experience.
MMORPG.com: Each of the various regions have a unique soundtrack, each telling the story of the region. From Calpheon’s propensity to start wars to the early music players first hear in Balenos, the soundscape changes as players move through the world. How do you keep that fresh and interesting as players move between regions?
HR: It may seem obvious, but in Black Desert, music is produced and serviced as an album for each continent whenever a new continent is added. The continents are numbered in the order in which the music was created. For example, they are labeled as I. Balenos / II. Serendia / III. Calpheon, as if they were different volumes of an album. While numbering the albums is not necessary, it changes the attitude of the music producers, as it gives the feeling of carefully stacking each song on top of the other, creating a sense of progress. To achieve this, we put effort into every album and don't neglect any of them.
So far, there are a total of 11 music albums produced for the continent updates in the game.
In fact, there are still songs that haven't been included in any album, such as promotional music, jukebox exclusive music, jazz arrangements, Atoraxxion's music, and Great Ocean's music. We are planning to release these songs as albums soon.
Assuming that we would release the 11 albums officially, they may not be satisfying enough for collectors who enjoy Black Desert's music. Therefore, we put effort into giving each album a unique personality and value, centered around the big theme of Black Desert, while still maintaining the commonality of the overall music.
To achieve this, they planned the concepts of each continent's unique characteristics and atmosphere based on the hands-on gameplay experience and used music composition techniques that fit the corresponding concepts when working on the music.
MMORPG.com: What are some of your favorite tracks in BDO, and was there one that was particularly challenging to compose?
HR: The meaningful music to me is "Balenos – Overture." It's the first classical-style music I composed in my life, and it was well-received, becoming the driving force behind my ability to create Black Desert music up to this point.
The most difficult piece I worked on was the music for the Serendia continent. I went through a personal slump while composing these pieces, so it was the most challenging for me. Some of the Serendia continent music have been remastered and improved before being released again.
MMORPG.com: Sound in games helps to tell the story, and music plays a big, big role for many players. How do you ensure that the music you create for the game is both interesting and varied enough so it fits with the world while also being one part of the whole presentation?
HR: In the early stages of development for Black Desert, the emphasis was on symbolically and indirectly expressing the world's atmosphere and worldview rather than on the music's narrative role. Initially, we had only two full-time composers, including myself, and a few freelance composers who worked on some of the tracks. We were short on staff.
For each continent, an "Overture" was composed first, and when updated, it was used as the login title screen music. The melody of this song was referred to as the "seed" of the continent's theme, and from there, variations and developments were made to compose field and battle music. The advantage of this method is that by using the seed melody as a starting point, the composition process becomes faster, and ultimately, multiple tracks are created based on a single theme, which unifies them with a consistent element, similar to how family members can look different but still resemble one another.
This method continued until the development of the Mountain of Eternal Winter, where our team expanded. From then on, the music was rearranged in a simple, straightforward way, similar to the style of open-world games. The current team of composers at Pearl Abyss has different styles but all possess excellent skills. They evenly distribute the work of composing music for each continent.
As a result, the diversity and completeness of the music in Black Desert have become more robust since the Mountain of Eternal Winter, Re-Valenos, and the Land of the Morning Light expansion, where the storyline and combat were also improved. Due to these changes, the role of music in the game has become more prominent.
Although Black Desert has undergone significant remastering of its music, I still believe there is room for further development. If the opportunity arises and resources allow, I plan to revisit the continent's music that was introduced before the Mountain of Eternal Winter update and conduct another overhaul.
MMORPG.com After so many years working on the music for Pearl Abyss’ games, how do you keep ideas fresh and interesting? Is there any advice you could give to young composers looking to break into game sound composition?
HR: Thank you for the question. I appreciate that you have taken the time to listen to the music, which has been continuously added and expanded, despite it being video game music that has been in service for a long time.
As a musician and game developer in a rapidly changing time, I strive to improve my skills and avoid staying in my comfort zone. Whenever I work on a song, I aim to incorporate something new musically that I haven't tried before. However, I still believe my skills as a composer are not perfect, so during the periods when I can take a break after completing a big project, I dedicate my spare time to studying composition-related subjects.
Whenever I have the opportunity, I seek out games with exceptional music and play them. I personally analyze and research the music-making process, including the technology used. Video game music has evolved significantly over the years, and I anticipate a significant transformation will occur in the future.
While I cannot offer any particularly compelling advice to aspiring game music players, I want to emphasize that I am still working hard to survive in this industry, despite having been in it for a long time.
MMORPG.com: The Land of the Morning Light is based more on traditional Korean themes and folklore. The music, based on the Soundtrack video’s release, helps to reinforce this. Can you talk about your approach to this region’s arrangement, especially when it comes to instrumentation and the style of music here?
HR: There are many unique aspects of Korean traditional music I would like to introduce. Despite its attractiveness, I think there are parts that are not well-known compared to traditional music in other countries.
Korean traditional music stands out in the way it is played, rather than in its tonal and instrumental qualities. Its distinguishing features can be described as music with splendid curves and exciting rhythms that encourage movement in the shoulders. In contrast, Western classical music can be compared to music with architectural beauty, composed of straight and tidy lines.
One of the striking features of Korean traditional music is the technique of embellishing pitches when playing a scale. While China, Japan, and India also have unique ways of embellishing tones in their traditional music, the embellishing tones of Korean traditional music are particularly bold, diverse, and sophisticated. When these performances are visually expressed, they appear as bold and splendid curves.
The rhythm of Korean traditional music is also very unique. When played properly, the rhythm flows continuously in a circular motion. It's hard to describe in words, but when you ride the rhythm of Western dance music, your body starts to groove and move slightly in a small circle. On the other hand, when riding the rhythm of Korean traditional music, you ride the groove while drawing a big circle, with your shoulders moving due to its unique curvilinear taste. There may not be a perfect English expression for this feeling, but it is exciting.
In Western music, the rhythm is mostly composed of four beats, with the 4/4 time signature dominating the world. Korean traditional music is especially characterized by a series of three beats and five beats. In particular, the five-beat rhythm which combines three beats and two beats, can be unfamiliar and difficult to grasp at first.
The way of creating rhythm in Korean traditional music is also unique. While Western rhythms are typically created by dividing large rhythms into smaller ones, while Korean rhythms are created by combining small rhythmic patterns like Lego blocks to create a complex and unique form. As a result, Korean rhythms have unusual time signatures such as 8/25 and 8/17, which may be unfamiliar to Westerners.
MMORPG.com: Were there any pieces of art or traditional music that you drew inspiration from when composing the soundtrack for Morning Light?HR: Before starting to work on the Land of the Morning Light music, I invested my time in studying Korean traditional music for several months. There was so much to learn that I narrowed down my studies to the rhythm of Korean traditional music and focused on researching Korean folk music performances.
Before I explain the performance of "Samulnori" (Korean traditional percussion music), let me introduce "Nongak." When ancient farmers planted crops, they formed a cooperative called "Dure" and played music to soothe their work and pray for a bountiful harvest. Nongak is the music played during these events, which features lively percussion performances that farmers dance to. In the 1980s, performances of Nongak were rearranged into seated performances featuring four percussion instruments: "Kwanggari," "Jing," "Jangu," and "Buk." This is now known as "Samulnori".
I studied “Samulnori” to learn the rhythm of Korean traditional music, and the more I studied, the more I fell in love with the charm of it. I spent a lot of time studying and eventually created a music for the Land of the Morning Light.
I'm proud to say that the Samulnori music is fantastic and lively music that even Westerners can enjoy. When the Land of the Morning Light launches globally, I really hope you will enjoy listening to Samulnori music. You will fall in love with the unique sound and rhythm of the "Kwanggari", a Korean traditional small hand gong.
MMORPG.com: What is the response to the background music of the Land of the Morning Light release in Korea?
HR: The new region ‘Land of the Morning Light’ in Black Desert is receiving high praise from adventurers for its extensive content, high quality, and the use of Korea's unique colors, enough to be considered a new game. Land of the Morning Light is a fictional country based on the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, and interesting stories have been added based on Korean myths, folktales, and legends. Users can encounter various creatures and traditional fairy tales from Korean fantasy which includes goblins, fox spirits, SonGaksi, Heungbu and Nolbu, The Hare and the Tortoise, and Fool On Dal in the game.
The lively and dynamic traditional Korean music also adds fun to the game. Pearl Abyss audio team has carefully produced the original soundtrack of Land of the Morning Light to enhance the immersion of the game. In particular, they researched the characteristics of boss monsters and reconstructed them with appropriate traditional Korean rhythms to better express the feeling of battle.
The music produced for the Land of the Morning Lights includes more than 30 tracks divided into five themes, including meditation music that soothes the mind, emotional music that moves the heart and helps the story unfold, village music suitable for wandering around the town, and horror music that fits the atmosphere of spooky situations and fields.
To deliver the excitement of the game, the audio team has been producing realistic and beautiful graphics that capture the emotions of the game engine. Pearl Abyss audio studio is equipped with top-level facilities including a poly sound studio, composer room, and a dubbing room.
