Feature: The warrior of funk joins the party
Producer and composer Alex Moukala talks about recreating game music.
You’d be hard-pressed to browse the videogame music corners of the internet without seeing something Alex Moukala has a hand in, whether it’s his slap bass renditions of game music, a retooling of a famous piece into another game’s musical style, or even his lofi remixes. We had to find out more, so quizzed him on how he got started, what makes a soundtrack work, and just why he feels the call of the bass. PLAY: You have a real ear for different musical styles. What inspired you to start reimagining songs from games in the style of other games?
Alex Moukala: Simple curiosity! I think what sparked the initial interest in rearranging tracks in me was the first Dissidia [Final Fantasy] soundtrack by Takeharu Ishimoto and Square Enix’s music team. Hearing how those tracks I grew up with were able to change face completely and still sound mindblowing made me want to try to do the same.
At the same time, I discovered OverClockedReMix, a community where plenty of people were doing their own arrangements of videogame music in many different styles. Lots of those made me lose my mind, so I had to give it a try!
PLAY: What do you think composers on remakes like FFVII or Demon’s Souls need to do to successfully reimagine a classic score?
AM: If we’re talking about Triple-A remakes like those two, I think they need to have a modern sound to match the graphical update from the OGs.
However, even more importantly, they need to find a way to keep all the
Nobuo Uematsu
Known for Final Fantasy, Granblue Fantasy, Lord Of Arcana.
Masashi Hamauzu
Known for SaGa, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Hitoshi Sakimoto
Known for Valkyria Chronicles,
Final Fantasy XII, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together.
Yoshitaka Suzuki
Known for Final Fantasy VII Remake, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Bayonetta.
Shotaro Shima
Known for Final Fantasy VII Remake, Kingdom Hearts III, Kingdom Hearts 2.8.
Yoko Shimomura
Known for Streets Of Rage 4,
Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts.
Masayoshi Soken
Known for Final Fantasy XIV
(and expansions), Dawn Of Mana.
Bear McCreary
Known for Dark Void Zero, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – Jack The Ripper DLC, God Of War (2018).
quirkiness that came with the original score, which we learned to love so much it became nostalgic.
For example, in FFVII, one of these quirks is the ‘four-onthe-floor’ kick drum plus synthesizer arpeggio combo that we hear in J-E-N-OV-A. It’s a combination that isn’t used anywhere else in the soundtrack, and we remember it due to how unique it felt. In the Remake version, the composer knew exactly what he was doing when making JENOVA Quickening’s third phase start in the very exact same way.
That kick plus synth arpeggio combo made every FFVII fan go wild in the middle of the fight. Not only because it sounds great, but most especially because of the nostalgia it has.
It’s important that a remake keeps all of that ‘sauce’, and modernises on top of it.
PLAY: You work with a lot of instruments, but you often seem to return to bass to add some funky slap bass. It’s true that most soundtracks would be improved by more slap bass, but what keeps you going back to it?
AM: My bass music is the one that gets the most love and most shares on the internet, thus it’s the more visible, but I think I actually write way more orchestral music than bass! At least, I love writing orchestral music way more.
As for bass, though, I love to share those clips because they seem to make people’s days better, but I also do it to force myself to practise the instrument, which is one of my favourites. The thought that there’s people out there waiting for the next funky clip prevents me from being lazy on my practice!
PLAY: What’s the appeal of sharing your love of videogame music through your YouTube videos? It’s probably fair to say you’re helping fans understand what they like about game music in a new way.
AM: I guess I just love to share my appreciation for things I’m passionate about. I’ve been teaching orchestral music production on YouTube for several years before making those videogame music videos, on my tutorials channel (youtube.com/alexmoukala).
However, videogame music is my huge love and it didn’t really coincide with the interests of the music producers on my tutorials channel, so I decided to start a separate one to share that same passion to people who don’t make music, but still want to understand a bit more of how it’s done. I also think videogame composers don’t get as much attention as they should, so I’m trying to change that a little. And lastly, I wanted to have a place to share my own videogame-inspired music and remixes too!
PLAY: Recently you’ve been putting out some great lofi hip hop remixes. Beyond just a musical genre, in the last few years it’s felt like it’s become a whole aesthetic. Why do you think it’s had that huge draw and burst of popularity?
AM: I honestly think the YouTube algorithm had a lot of responsibility in this, as I don’t think there’s a single person who hasn’t seen ‘chill lofi beats to study/ relax to’ in their recommendations.
Lofi hip hop remixes are perfect background music. They don’t engage you too much, but at the same time, if you truly listen to them with a lot of focus, you’re gonna find they’re very intriguing musically. Lots of interesting harmonies and sounds.
Personally, I mostly write lofi remixes to have some background music to go with my videos. Sometimes a lot of people ask for full versions of those, and when that happens, I give it a go!
PLAY: Was there a soundtrack that initially got you hooked on lofi?
AM: I think Beneath The Mask from Persona 5 has a lot of that vibe – I wonder if they specifically tried to actively reference the lofi music aesthetic in that track, or if it was a happy accident. The Zelda & Chill compilation on YouTube is also great, but mostly, Nujabes is probably the most influential artist to me when I think of lofi music.
PLAY: As a music producer you have an in-depth knowledge of song construction. What would you say is unique to how tracks are put together for videogames, as compared to how music is written for film or television?
AM: I think videogame music is one of the genres that has to follow the least amount of rules or clichés, especially when you compare it to pop or film music. I believe that recurring melodies also happen a lot more in videogame music than in other media at this point, which is always cool to hear. But especially, videogame music is inspired from music of all eras and all cultures. It’s very brave in the way it goes about drawing inspiration from literally anything.
PLAY: You’ve mentioned before that you’re an orchestral composer – do you think there are similarities between videogame soundtracks (even nonorchestrated ones) and orchestra?
AM: Absolutely. The answer I gave to the previous question for example, applies
“Videogame music is one of the genres that has to follow the least amount of rules.”
both to orchestrated and non-orchestrated videogame music.
Videogame music also has a certain structure, which tends to stay the same despite the genre. For example, a title track for a game is usually a very simple arrangement that presents the main melody in a very easy-to-understand way, while final boss tracks usually sound ridiculously complex to represent the pathos and menacing nature of what you’re facing. This is true for Megalovania (Synthetic VGM) as well as One-Winged Angel (Orchestrated VGM).
PLAY: So if a new musician wanted to start recording their own videogame inspired music, where do you recommend they begin?
AM: I would just tell them to start with what they have! Enthusiasm and passion is way more important than gear, or even more important than skill sometimes.
Skill is a natural consequence of doing what you love every day in the best way you can, and you can buy gear gradually as you level up.
If you haven’t already, buy a webcam, an audio interface, and a DAW software plus MIDI keyboard to record yourself playing or to compose. Have fun and share your work on social media, and in places where it’s welcome! Bonus point if you do stuff that’s a bit different (and, I repeat, ‘different’, not ‘better’), than what is already out there.
PLAY: We’ve all got out favourites to listen to, but the music’s designed to run alongside action. In your opinion, which videogame soundtrack best marries its soundtrack to gameplay?
AM: I think, of the games I played, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Metal Gear Rising Revengeance probably win that award. Incredible experiences, both of them.
PLAY: And finally, if you could work on the soundtrack for a new game in any videogame series, what would it be?
AM: Definitely Final Fantasy VII Remake’s next instalments. One of my biggest dreams as a musician is actually to write music for a Final Fantasy game, the series that inspired me to become a composer in general. I think it’s quite noticeable if you watch my videos. For example, I made one where I wrote an ‘epic orchestration’ of many FFVII themes for a custom FFVII Remake Trailer I put together with a video editor, and it’s one of my favourite things I’ve ever worked on. [Find it at bit.ly/am-ff7]
Plenty of people wrote they cried while watching it, which was very moving for me to hear.
I’d love to contribute to this series officially if the opportunity ever arose!