7 minute read
HADES'S DARREN KORB
Darren Korb is the award-winning composer and musician behind the scores for Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades. As Audio Director at Supergiant Games, Darren is responsible for all of the music, sound effects, and voiceover recording at the studio. He also voices Zagreus and Skelly in Supergiant’s latest game, Hades. G.A.N.G. Staff (GS): Supergiant Games swept the G.A.N.G. Awards this year in the Indie category for Hades, including award wins for Best Audio for an Indie Game, Best Sound Design for an Indie Game, and Best Dialogue for an Indie Game. Congratulations! What were some of the factors that contributed to the great success of Hades?
DARREN: Thank you!! It’s been pretty surreal to see the incredible response to Hades. I think the fact that this is a game people can really lose themselves in, and that there are so many interesting characters to connect with is something that seems to have resonated with people. Even though the setting and characters are fantastical, Zag’s struggle is relatable. Everyone can understand navigating complicated family relationships.
GS: You contributed a tremendous amount of your own talent to the audio for Hades, including voiceover for multiple characters, original music, and sound effects. In what order did you tackle the audio and why?
DARREN: I tend to start with the music for a project. This aspect really helps me explore the tone of the game we are making, and figure out what the textures of the world are
going to be. Once I have an idea of that aspect, the sound design falls into place much more naturally. That being said, each aspect of the audio is developed over the course of the project. I’ll work a bit on music, then VO, then SFX, and round and round over the course of the entire project.
GS: With so many demands, how were you able to manage all of the audio asset requirements and scheduling, while also contributing creatively? Can you tell us about your creative and organizational process, including systems and platforms?
DARREN: After an initial experimental phase during pre-production, once we moved properly into production, I had a fairly regular cadence of a music piece or two every month, along with VO sessions and some SFX work. I was mainly focused on small internal milestones, and tried not to worry too much about overall work scope, since that didn’t really even become clear until much later in the project. It’s mostly about answering the question “What does the game need most urgently?” over and over again until... it doesn’t need anything urgently, I suppose! I really like bouncing between different disciplines. I find it creatively
refreshing to do a bit of music, then SFX, then VO, and by the time I get back to music again, I’m excited to get back to work on it. This helps me stay productive, since I can use other types of work as “breaks” sometimes. I have my work organized in Basecamp tasks. I’ll try to mix in big tasks that take weeks with some smaller, easy-to-check-off tasks to help me feel like I’m accomplishing things.
GS: Where did you get your musical inspiration for Hades? Was it from storyboards, the story itself, or any other visuals?
DARREN: At the beginning of a project, I’m usually developing the musical style concurrently with many of the other aspects of the game, so much of that initial experimentation comes from high level ideas about the tone and setting. For Hades, I looked to various mediterranean instruments to help me establish some Greek vibes, and the underworld setting led me directly to metal (because it comes from hell, obviously), and to express some of the quirk and lightness of the game’s tone, I pulled in a theremin-like sound for a bit of “Halloween music” vibes.
GS: Ashley Barrett has been a long time collaborator of yours. Can you talk about the partnership and why
DARREN: Ashley and I grew up doing musical theater at the same place in San Jose, though we met much later through mutual friends when I needed a demo singer for a project I was working on, and she was recommended to me. She kicked butt on that, so when I was writing “Build That Wall” for Bastion, her voice immediately came to mind. We’ve been working together since! I find her voice to have a really special texture to it, and we’ve been doing this long enough now that I feel like I can write specifically for her voice.
GS: What were some of the challenges you and your team faced on this project?
DARREN: Releasing Hades into Early Access was certainly a new thing for us. It was totally essential to the game turning out how it did, but was really challenging too! The cadence of constant updates could be pretty intense. It certainly kept us honest. We had a few weeks at the beginning of each cycle, after the previous update had been released, where we could break everything and add new features, and then we had to put it all back together and make sure it was as bug-free as possible, polish it up and kick it out the door. Oh, there was also a global pandemic that happened six months before the end of the project...
GS: Were there any unexpected wins?
DARREN: I think we were all pleasantly surprised by how well Early Access worked in helping us tune Hades, and lean into the stuff that was working the best, and shy away from things that maybe weren’t working as well.
GS: You and Ashley gave at least a few live (virtual) performances of the music of Hades this year, including the 19th G.A.N.G. Awards. Can you talk about what it’s been like to perform virtually and the response you’ve received?
DARREN: The virtual performance thing is weird! Since Ashley and I were doing them together, I’d record my instrument parts and vocals, then I’d pass that over to Ashley and she’d record her parts, then I’d stitch them together. It was fun to work on, and to be able to get an opportunity to perform in any capacity, even if it wasn’t “live” exactly. The response has been very kind!
GS: 2021 has been another challenging year for everyone. On a more personal note, what have you done to stay healthy, connected, and inspired?
DARREN: I decided I should probably...do exercise? I ended up getting a Peloton, so I’ve been trying to do that on a regular basis, walk the dogs, etc. I’m always playing a bunch of games,
watching movies/shows, and listening to new music. I think that stuff really helps me understand my creative preoccupations, which tend to manifest themselves as inspiration for me. I’ve also been working on an album with a garage rock band I have with a couple friends, so that’s been fun!
GS: We’ve heard you’re quite a foodie. What are your top three restaurant recommendations in the Bay Area?
DARREN: Oh gosh, that’s tough. I really dig this place called Ajanta in Berkeley. Really awesome Indian food. There’s a place in Hayes Valley in SF that closed during the pandemic, sadly, called Mazzat, which had incredible Lebanese food. I really love this place near UC Berkeley called Urbann Turbann, where they’ll essentially make an Indian burrito that’s wrapped in a thin naan bread, and consistently blows my mind.
GS: Can you tell us what’s next for you?
DARREN: Mostly figuring out what’s next for us over at Supergiant. I’m hoping to finish up that album with my band, Control Group, and release that before the end of the year!
