Earlier today, the Creative Assembly released a new developer diary detailing the music in its upcoming release, Shogun 2: Total War.
In the video, Jeff Van Dyke, Composer and Audio Director at the Creative Assembly explained the studio is working to make the game’s music as authentic as possible to draw users into the world of Feudal Japan. To achieve this, the Creative Assembly turned to TaikOz, an Australian band that performs using authentic Japanese Taiko drums.
TaikOz has performed throughout the world, bringing its unique Australian flare to the traditional Japanese percussion instruments. This experience made the group an ideal selection for Shogun 2, as it is well versed in playing both traditional and modern Taiko music.
“This project here with Shogun 2 is really interesting for us, because it’s kind of blending the traditional with the modern. We’ve got a huge number of instruments here in the studio, Jeff’s composed for the complete Taiko ensemble,” Ian Cleworth, Artistic Director for TaikOz, said in the video.
Cleworth explained he expects the powerful beats and rhythmic pulsing of the Taiko drums to provide a boost to the game, as Jeff Van Dyke’s score challenged the band to put on one of its best performances.
According to Jeff Van Dyke, the game will include between 20 and 30 minutes of unique music with anywhere from 30 to 40 songs.
Shogun 2: Total War, sequel to Creative Assemblies first Total War game, which released in 2000, is expected to hit PCs on March 15, 2011. The Total War series is renowned for its unique combination of turn-based strategy gameplay and real time, strategic battles featuring 1,000s of units.
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