River City Girls Composer Answers Student Questions!

The music composer for River City Girls answers university students' questions! ✨

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00:00 Intro
00:44 My Story
03:45 The Process
09:58 Lyrics
11:58 Music and Character/Story
17:15 Retro vs Modern Balance
19:53 WayForward
21:27 Intellectual Property
22:04 Technical
23:52 Video Games vs Other Media
25:16 My Favorites
28:31 Outro

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Questions for Megan McDuffee
DMST 115 Video Games as Interactive Storytelling
Dr. Joseph Loporcaro
University of Rochester

My Story

1. What is your background with music?
2. How did you first get involved in composing music for video games?
3. How did you get connected to the RCG projects?
4. Any pieces of advice for people who want to get into creating video game music?

The Process

5. What's your thought process when making music?
6. Do you look for references or draw in inspiration from certain people?
7. Where do you get inspiration from?
8. What inspires you the most lately?
9. Could you share your approach to integrating diverse musical styles into a cohesive soundtrack that aligns with the game's dynamic environment?
10. How did you decide on the mix of musical styles to match the game's vibe?
11. Can you talk about your creative approach to composing for such a high-energy, retro-inspired world?
12. Does your creative process change at all when working on multiple projects that have different goals or needs?
13. How does your process change when you have to write an isolated song compared to an entire soundtrack?

Lyrics

14. What was the criteria that determined which sections of the game got a vocal track and which didn't?
15. What’s your lyrical process?

Music and Character/Story

16. How do you match a character's personality to the song in the writing process? Are there any specific genres or rhythms, etc. that you tend to use for specific characters or character types?
17. How did you think about larger scale musical development while composing the soundtrack for River City Girls 2?
18. How did you approach composing music for River City Girls 2 to enhance the game’s atmosphere and player immersion, especially with its mix of action and humor?
19. Did you use any specific techniques or approaches to pace the music to complement and enhance the narrative experience?
20. How do you balance revealing information about the character via song versus spoiling things the gameplay or dialogue will eventually reveal?
21. How do you get ideas for implementing plot points or character motifs into your songs for the game?

Retro vs Modern Balance

22. How did you balance introducing your own ideas and referencing the musical styles of older River City games? Did the technological limitations of the older games’ sound influence the music you created for this game?
23. How did you balance staying true to the beat-'em-up genre while bringing in your own musical identity?
24. How did you balance retro and modern elements in the soundtrack to ensure both vibes were distinct yet cohesive in the game?

WayForward

25. What was it like working with an established studio like WayForward? Did you have a lot of creative control or did they ask you to work towards a certain sound or vibe?
26. Did you work more individually throughout this process, or did you work more closely with the Writing and Directing teams?
27. Do you think there will be a RCG3??

Intellectual Property

28. Do you own the music you make for video games? or does the video game company?

Technical

29. What hardware/software do you use most?
30. What is your favorite instrument? (is it your voice?)
31. How did you reach the mixing decisions about sounds and layers for River City Girls?

Video Games vs Other Media

32. How is the creative approach to video game music different from that of other mediums (TV, film, theater, music in general, etc.)?
33. Since you’ve worked on both film and video game audio, did your creative process for River City Girls differ from other projects? Are there unique aspects to creating game audio that stand out to you?

My Favorites

34. Do you play a lot of video games? What are some of your all-time favorites?
35. What's your favorite song from RCG2 that you've worked on?
36. Who is your favorite character from RCG and why?
37. What’s your favorite track from any game you’ve gotten to work on?
38. What's your favorite video game soundtrack and why?

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Come chat with me!

#rivercitygirls #videogamemusic #musicproducer

[matthewharris]

Best side scroller beat 'em up ever

[Nfoster]

YASSS! Absolutely "the hunt" is my fav! Love your work in Yars too. Finally got around to play that. I loved hearing how the process comes to fruition and where you draw inspiration; wonderful Q&A! I look at your immersion an tone setting similar to how Sonic games how always defined the atmosphere and mood, and color palette of the environment and level of intensity in gameplay. I grew up as a SEGA kid. Looking forward towards whatever you have ahead. Need some Depeche Mode covers now. Keep immersing and creating that vibe always! I'll be listening!

[GotrekGurninsson]

My daughter and I are playing through river city girls 1 and now two and we love you great work

[ryanhall]

Your work on River City Girls is fantastic! Thank you ❤

[socialistprofessor]

I love these games and the soundtrack is the primary reason. Thank you for your art!

[sandy__matt]

you're extremely talented and i'm happy i found your content. been listening to RCG2 OST a lot lately at the gym. go slugs :)

[owen_m]

Thank you for answering our questions! Your work is incredible!

[RQS]

I love how the interview is all upbeat tracks in River City Girls when they are River City Girls related... But then there is Things of Mist, which is a River City Girls track that is so entirelly "Megan" I found when I heard it in game. Its all dark and creepy but somewhat fun. Has a completely different feel from anywhere else in the game but its clear that track in particular you had a lot of fun on. And its a pretty special track for me to hear, knowing its so much similar to the darker tracks on the channel, and songs you clearly love!

Really awesome Interview as well! I hope you are doing well Megan, and having a wonderful rest of your day/evening!

Also PS.. The Couch Potato song is amazing! People don't talk about it because its in the credits and an amazing spoiler I reckon! Its hard to talk about it. But it made me so happy when I finally beat the game and heard it. It sort of has a bit of a shock value element to it, in a fun and entertaining way. I would talk about it more to my friends, but since its such a special song, all I can really tell them is to beat the game, which is sad, but its one of the better credits songs i've ever heard. I wish more credits songs were fun and surprising in that genuinely wholesome way.

[Bangulo]

Awesome! some good questions in here! Love Layers of Fear as well! such a great game!

[Knightofducks]

This was a lovely thing to wake up to! thank you for everything, Megan

[IntimaSonic]

Such an informative video. Brilliance and genuine humility truly reflects Megan as an artist and person. I wish and pray for abundant success and continued appreciation for your talents. Cheers and admiration Megan 💜💜💜

[DracoChavezJay]

You are the real deal Megan!

This interview was Very informative, thank you for sharing your insights!

[AbuguedVG]

Very cool video!! thanks for your work on a series i love so much

[PeterReidJones]

@3:41 #4 Do NOT forget Grabthar's Hammer. 👌

[Ephigy]

We're playing RCG 2 this hoiday but Tidal Wave from RCG 1 is a banger!

[DorothyGaleRIP]

My favourite track is "Unseen", definitely.

[IntimaSonic]

For inspiration i would recommend SKIES OF ARCADIA for brilliant music and a gem of an RPG. I would love to see you as a composer for the next SONIC game. It would be a match made in Heaven. Cheers always 🙏💕

[SuperMVOMarc]

Hello Megan great watch this video!!🎮❤️🖤👍🏻👍🏻

[golnectr]

How are they not best music every year?

[mtvproductioning]

I had a question about this soundtrack. How come they never had you release the boss intro cutscene songs for your RCG2 soundtrack playlist? Because some sound like the boss battle music without the lyrics but some like Ken and Sabu's are "I'm Better Than You" and "Mobbin'" music revised. Did you plan to release those at some point and add them to the soundtrack?