The lights are on
Deep inside the hallowed halls of Minnesota Public Radio, Emily Reese is studying game soundtracks. Outside of her full-time position at the radio station, she fights to find the time to host the Top Score podcast. Since April of 2011, Emily Reese has interviewed the composers behind Red Dead Redemption, Halo, Assassin's Creed, and many other triple-A games that you know and love. These aren't light interviews about features in the games. Emily dives deep into the musical theory, stories behind the soundtracks, and plays examples of the composer's work. Alongside her technical director Sam Keenan, Emily Reese crafts a tightly edited show that aims to give the composers behind the world's biggest games the recognition and attention they deserve. Watch the video below to get an inside glimpse at how she creates the show and why she feels so passionate about spreading the word about game music to the larger classical music scene.
To get a better idea of the show, feel free to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
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Email the author Ben Hanson, or follow on Twitter, and Game Informer.
I love Top Score! I've always been really impressed with it because it always sounds very good. It almost never sounds like Emily isn't in the same room with the interviewee. I also really like that episode they're working on in the video. That soundtrack is one of my favorites.
This is amazing! Strangely, I didn't even know that this is what I was looking for. After the first few minutes, I said to myself, "Yeah, I'm definitely listening to this podcast now." I would have never of found it because of my relatively far distance from Minnesota. Thanks Hanson.
I'm going to check this podcast out now. Thanks Ben Hanson.
I always love seeing the inner workings of podcast/radio shows. I am now going to get this off of iTunes.
I absolutely love this podcast, I've been a faithful listener for almost a year. Emily is very strong interviewer and she has the best guests on the show!
I found this podcast by chance when it just started out a year and a half ago, and I couldn't believe something this specific to the things I like existed. Love the show.
thank you again Game Informer! Another article and resource I never would have found on my own. I just subscribed to her podcast and i'm loving it so far! Keep up the great work GI!
Awesome video, thanks Hanson!
Wow this is a great find, thank you Ben Hanson and the rest of the Game Informer team for this and all of your other great work, your frequent and quality news updates are unparalleled on the internet.
I looked at the iTunes page and noticed several of my most revered composers and games there, from Jesper Kyd to ME3 to Batman and Red Dead. This is going to be a podcast I'll go back to frequently!
Really enjoyable to watch. Soundtracks from videogames are often overlooked by those in search of good music. I hope Top Score covers Mass Effect 3. I'm sure Sam Hulick will be glad to tell them the stories over the course of the trilogy.
Gawd i love game music. From Brawl to skyrim, to even some 8-bit tracks, i love it all. I hope more people hear about this radio station, or more do things like this, cause this was awesome.
Also, trumpet players FTW
I find the music in a game to be an extremely important part of the experience! A great soundtrack can make an rpg, while a poor one can inhibit it severely.
Ahh, music. Thank you so much, it's by far my favorite thing in every form of entertainment. Give me sounds and music, I shall be content for a lifetime.
I am surprised Tim Turi didn't write this article... I THOUGHT I KNEW (of) YOU! But.. GOOD JOB HANSEN! Keep those ears to the ground.
Go game music!