Composer Tom Salta Talks to GameZone About the Wii Launch Title “Red Steel”
by Louis Bedigian 

“The entire score is filled with Japanese music and influences that cover everything from traditional to modern.” 

Last weekend saw the release of Nintendo's long-awaited, unusually titled Wii console. Several games went on sale alongside the machine, including The Legend of Zelda, Excite Truck, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Madden 07, and Trauma Center. 

Wii's launch was also accompanied by a new franchise engineered by Ubisoft: Red Steel. As the first officially announced Wii games (and first confirmed launch title), Red Steel has received more attention than any other third-party release. 

The gameplay is all action, and when it came time to produce a soundtrack that would embody that experience, the developers turned to Tom Salta. Known for his work on RalliSport Challenge 2, Salta's music has appeared in Need for Speed Underground 2, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. For his latest project, Salta had no predecessors to look to for inspiration – he had to start this one from the ground up. 

"Since Red Steel is a new franchise, there was no precedent style," he says. "I worked very closely with Ubisoft Paris' Music Supervisor, Manu Bachet, to come up with something very unique and special for Red Steel. He communicated all his wishes and those of the entire creative team for the scope of the score. I really enjoyed the challenges they put before me, and combined with my own interpretations, I think the score to Red Steel was a successful collaborative effort."  

A lot of your music leans toward the techno end. Is that true for Red Steel as well? 

Tom Salta: It’s certainly true that much of the music I initially became known for in the game industry has been electronic, but I think Red Steel shows how much I enjoy stepping completely away from that world. Sure, there are electronic cues (tracks) in the game, but there are also cues that couldn’t be further away from this style of writing. The score also draws from live orchestral and traditional Japanese Instrumentation including Taiko percussion. I’m equally comfortable with acoustic and real instruments as I am with electronic sounds. In fact, I’m working on a major project right now that has absolutely no electronic elements anywhere in the entire score. 

Is the music mostly upbeat? Are there any foreign influences? 

TS: I would say the score is divided between upbeat music to support all the fights and more downbeat tension building, explorative music. 

As far as foreign influences go, even before the project became official, I was asked to create the signature “Katana” theme. I enlisted three conservatory trained Japanese Opera Singers to sing this piece which ended up becoming the main theme of the game.  I also enlisted some incredible Japanese instrumentalists to play Shakuachi (flute), Koto, Shanisen and a five person Taiko group. The entire score is filled with Japanese music and influences that cover everything from traditional to modern. I was even asked to write a Japanese 70’s love song, complete with lyrics, for a level in the game. 

What sounds/instruments did you use for Red Steel? 

TS: As far as ethnic instruments, I incorporated Shakuhachi, Koto, Shamsen, huge taiko drums, as well as lots of smaller percussion instruments like temple bells and wood blocks.  As for non-ethnic, I worked with electric guitars, every kind of drum sound imaginable, violin, modern synths, vintage synths, epic orchestral sound, you name it. I even broke out my 5 yr old son’s training wheels to create the mechanical noises for the circus music level. And that’s just the start. Most every map in the game has a different style, yet they all work together as a whole design. 

How did you go about formulating the types of sounds that would become the music for Red Steel? 

TS: The sounds I chose were based on a combination of my ideas and the ideas of the entire creative team at Ubisoft.  They had some very specific requests and so I paid close attention to everything they asked for. 

Is the soundtrack comprised of complex or simple tracks, or music that is somewhere in between? 

TS: I’d have to say all of the above. For many of the “sub-fights" the music is a simple Taiko ensemble playing traditional upbeat rhythms. For other areas, the music is very rich and complex … And because it’s video game music, there are always transitional considerations, so the music can react to the action and transition into another piece seamlessly.  

Were there any sounds that were inspiring to you for this project, and maybe led to some music tracks in the game, but the actual sound that served to inspire didn't make it into the game? If that makes any sense? :) 

TS: I know exactly what you mean (scary ;-))… Actually no… Anything that might have inspired the styles of Red Steel made it into the game.  We had no concerns about going too far.  This score takes risks and doesn’t try to hide it. I guess you could say the same about the system it’s on as well.  Nintendo went all the way to be different from everybody else.  

Did they let you see and touch the Wii remote? Did you know exactly what you'd be working on, or was it more of a, "We want this kind of music, the rest is top secret" situation? 

TS: I was given a personal demonstration of the Wii behind closed doors at E3 2006.  The only music I created prior to that hands-on experience was for the demo trailer and the E3 map. Playing Red Steel at such an early stage was helpful for me to get a feel for the game and how the music would be used. 

No one knew the entire scope of the music score ahead of time, not even the music supervisor.  As the level designers created new maps, they would send me a new document saying, OK, we were thinking about putting music like “this” here.  The requests started to get so diverse that it started becoming an inside joke… OK, what kind of music do we want here. 70’s Gap Band Funk. No problem! 

The Wii remote has a little speaker built into it. Will we hear any of your music or other sounds coming from the remote while playing Red Steel? 

TS: The remote’s speaker will be used for various fx only, not music. 

Does the game make use of any surround sound features?  

TS: The Wii uses Dolby Pro Logic. I believe some of the music is linked to the environment and sounds different depending on what room you’re in. 

Anything else you'd like to share about the music of Red Steel? 

TS: Red Steel was a blast to work on and I hope people enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed creating it. We hope to have a soundtrack released in the coming months so please stay tuned. I love to hear back from gamers about how the music enhanced their gaming experience so feel free to drop me a line via my website. 

Thank you for your time. 

For more information visit Tom Salta’s Official Web site: www.tomsalta.com