Paul McCartney has collaborated with video game developers Bungie and publisher Activision to create the score for the game Destiny, a first-person shooter for the Playstation and Xbox systems, and plans release the game's currently untitled themes song, as a single on the day of the game's release.
As noted by Pitchfork, the score was composed over four years of the game’s development in several locations, including New York, Los Angeles, and even Abbey Road Studios in London. McCartney worked with Bungie’s own then-composer, Martin O’Donnell (known for his work on the Halo soundtracks), as well as Mike Salvatori.
McCartney wrote the theme song for the game, which was recorded with an orchestra of 120 musicians directed by Giles Martin, who, as Pitchfork notes, is the son of the Beatles’ most famous producer George Martin.
The song was produced by Mark “Spike” Stent.
The song, as reported by the New York Times, will be released as a single.
McCartney is not a video game fan by any means, and but was, as reported by IGN, involved in the development of the Beatles: Rock Band game which released several years ago.
However, according to the NYTimes, McCartney was creatively challenged by O’Donnell to write orchestral music for an interactive experience in which the music’s tone and rhythm would have to change based on the player’s choices. While McCartney has written orchestral scores, classical works, and even electronic music under the name of “Fireman,” he still was fascinated by the idea of interactive game music.
The game’s score, the NYTimes notes, was widely praised during the game’s beta version, which was released a few weeks ago.
McCartney mentioned his involvement with the game back in 2012 on his Twitter , but has not mentioned the game, or the single, since.
“I’m really excited to be working on writing music with @bungie, the studio that made Halo.” - Paul pic.twitter.com/lRxl8Jr8
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) July 7, 2012
Destiny will release on September 9th. As Lev Chapelsky (who runs "Blindlight", a company dedicated to creating collaborations between musicians and game developers) told the NYTimes, McCartney’s single will be released on the same day.
The game – about a ruined Earth in the future, features futuristic knights having to defend the last remnants of the human race from hostile aliens – also features the voice work of Peter Dinklage (also known as Tyrion Lannister of Game of Thrones.)
Credit: INFphoto.com
Image via Twitter from Paul McCartney