Top Score

After four years of soundtrack development, the score for the game 'Ori and the Blind Forest' rested on one composer's ability to unite new musicians and seasoned score professionals.

Composer, audio engineer and voice actor Alexander Brandon joins Emily Reese on this week's Top Score to talk about creating soundtracks that support the various atmospheres of video games.

Composer Marios Aristopoulos has scored the video game, 'Apotheon', a game set in ancient Greece that combines Grecian art styles and 2D platform gameplay. Marios spoke to Emily Reese on this week's Top Score.

In creating the soundtrack for 'Assassin's Creed Unity: Dead Kings', composer Cris Velasco used traditional sounds, including arpeggios, counterpoint and harpsichord to create music to fit the game's 18th-century setting.

The California-based composer and violinist has spent significant time living and working in Alaska. He still draws inspiration from the beauty and solitude of the North. Jeff is Emily Reese's guest on this week's Top Score.

Composer Billy Martin is known for writing soundtracks with comedic and with jazz elements. This week on Top Score, Emily Reese talks to Martin about his work, and we hear samples of two very different soundtracks.

Composer Peter McConnell felt pressure to write great music for the game 'Hearthstone', which was projected to be a big seller. McConnell is Emily Reese's guest on this week's Top Score.

To compose the music for 'The Order: 1886', Jason Graves removed instruments that don't carry a heavy sound. Violins and high woodwinds were thrown out, and violas and cellos doubled up. Learn more about it on this week's episode of Top Score.

A highly versatile composer, Winifred Phillips has created music for the ever-adorable 'LittleBigPlanet 3' and for the brutal 'Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'. She recently pulled off a five-minute fugue for 'The Ziggurat', voicing 12 vocal parts herself. Phillips is Emily Reese's guest on this week's Top Score.

To create a reactive soundtrack for the five simultaneous players of 'Evolve', composer Jason Graves created hundreds of short pieces of music. And he used some creative instrumentation to get the desired results. Jason Graves is Emily Reese's guest on this week's Top Score.

When composer Peter McConnell finished scoring the video game 'Grim Fandango' 1998, he asked people living in his neighborhood to be the instrumentalists. For this year's 'Grim Fandango' re-release, McConnell recruited the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Composer Peter McConnell is the guest on this week's Top Score.

Written by Finnish electronic dance music (EDM) composer Jukio 'Kozilek' Kallio, the thumping score to the new game 'Luftrausers' contains both club and cinematic influences.

For composer Ben Prunty, the glamour of scoring video games did not come without effort. While working alternately as a janitor, Google diagnostician and volunteer coordinator, he received a call from the developers of the new game, Faster Than Light (FTL). They asked for a score, and Ben's life changed forever. Ben is Emily Reese's guest on this week's Top Score.

For the latest 'Borderlands' release, the game's developers wanted a new sound. Their instruction to composer Jesper Kyd was simple: Bring back the '80s. Kyd is Emily Reese's guest on this week's Top Score.

Composer Jason Graves talks about his score for 'Tomb Raider' and about writing memorable music for video games. Hear it on this week's episode of Top Score.

It's possible to turn on your TV and find a show scored by Silas. The commercial break could then include his work. If you want a movie, there are more than 14 that include his music. Video games afterward? Silas still has you covered. Composer Silas Hite is the guest on this week's Top Score.

Top Score, which is part of the Infinite Guest podcast network, is counting down the best game soundtracks of 2014. A score's creativity, ingenuity, execution, and implementation were all taken into account.

Indie game developers White Paper Games took on a seemingly impossible project for an untested, six-member team. They wanted to create a free-roaming, first-person puzzle game set in the surreal, disjointed mind of a woman with dementia. This project presented White Paper Games's composer, NJ Apostol, with a tremendous challenge -- and his score rose to the occasion.

Trevor Morris received his first commission at 13 years old, when he wrote a song for the Pope. Now, Morris's commissions are for the 'Dragon Age' video games. Morris is Emily Reese's guest on this week's Top Score.

Composers Joe Henson and Alexis Smith form a composing duo called The Flight. They've been working together on music for more than 20 years, including video games. Henson and Smith speak to Emily Reese on this week's episode of Top Score.