Why Austin Wintory Re-recorded Journey’s Soundtrack 10 Years Later

Thatgamecompany’s release of Journey was 10 years ago on March 13th 2012. The game’s peaceful, contemplative approach to gaming and its emphasis on multiplayer, which encourages interaction rather than competition, was a first for thatgamecompany. This game won a lot of recognition, including numerous awards from the gaming industry and the wider art community. 

Austin Wintory was radically transformed by the experience. Today, his name is a household name for video game soundtracks. He didn’t have a first job. However, he was working with Thatgamecompany for the first time. The soundtrack of Flow, the studio’s first ever commercial, was his first. This project put him on the map. He has composed music for many films and the Assassin’s Creed Series, The Order 1886.

According to Wintory, it is all Journey’s fault. 

In celebration of the game’s 10th anniversary, today, Wintory released a re-recorded, re-imagined version of Journey’s soundtrack recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Voice choir, and cellist Tina Guo – who played on the original soundtrack. 

Wintory spoke to us about the revisiting of one his best-known pieces a decade after it was created. We were able to get an intimate view into Wintory’s creative process.

This interview has been reduced in size and clarified. 

Game Informer: How did your brainstorming begin?

Austin Wintory However, I do not want to make it sound as though that is a problem. I am so fortunate to have one thing in my entire career that seems like it is always of interest. You know, a lot of composers could go their whole career – even very successfully – and never have something that quite strikes a nerve with people in that way. This is 100% my fault. My music is one of those games where I simply tried to follow the instructions and people were able to enjoy the music. That attention is due to the game I think.

All that being said, Journey is constantly around and in conversation, so I started to think about what it was like seven months ago. […]”The game’s tenth year anniversary is near, so I should do something.” As a token of my thanks, I would like to express to the entire world that I am grateful. [for]It is obvious that everyone seems to be interested in this music, this score, or this game. What can I do to make it interesting and/or fun? It was hard to imagine what I could do. Then, a few things converged. 

[The London Symphony Orchestra]Actually, he reached out to me many years ago to say, “If ever you have anything, here’s the way to get to us.” Both of us are open to the possibility of working together. While I do record in London almost every day, I rarely record traditional orchestra. If you look at the game Assassin’s Creed, it is Abbey Road. But, that was only with a very small chamber ensemble, consisting of three violins and three cellos. A small, intimate group. Or Abzû we recorded there. Choir was also recorded. A room with all harps was recorded by me. They aren’t traditional orchestra though. Then I thought, “I don’t do traditional orchestra that often.” It was something I used to do growing up. I still love it, even though it seems so outdated. Although I like that type of music, it’s not something that I find myself doing much. Even if it is, I modify it in some way. 

They were very open to my ideas, so I was determined to get to know them. I had this thought about six months before it hit me. [Journey’s 10th anniversary was coming up]. “What if they were to merge these two threads? A London Symphony re-imagining would be possible?” Then, as I was searching for words to describe what I wanted to accomplish, I got a surprise. […]Someone tagged me on twitter and gave me the best succinct description possible of my work. They were more knowledgeable than me about what I was trying achieve. This Twitter account deserves credit [user]. They don’t have a Twitter account. I was tagged by them in a tweet. Although they were replying to someone else, they basically said Journey was their top pick for going back in time and experiencing something new for the first-time again. The idea that, If I could erase my memory and Men In Black de-neuralize – or neuralize, I guess – and have the feeling of this thing that meant so much to [me]Yet, it is still fresh.

This project allowed me to do something that I didn’t want. We can do something as close to it as we think possible. This is my goal. That’s my goal. But the aspiration is, for people who really care about this music – and if there’s even one person in the world, consider me grateful – hopefully, this gives them a chance to have that feeling of, “This is familiar, anThis is the first time I heard it. This version is not what I know. This was the guide light. It was a way to offer something new, not just repeat it. This requires the chance to give up something.

GI: The moment we answered the call, When we spoke about the electronic components in the original music, it was obvious that they are much more numerous. You wanted to transform that sound into something which now uses a full orchestra. 

Q: What do you mean? I’m not sure. I just tried X and then Y, and it worked. The process involved a lot more exploring, experimenting, and feeling frustrated. [laughs]. The original form of new age music has no borders until the last. This music is very peaceful. Electronics are extremely smooth. The electronics work well with the exception of a few key areas, such as the [sand]Surf section we refer to as “Road of Trials”, and other similar terms. It’s very inward-looking, and intentionally low-key. 

Austin Wintory

Then I was thinking, “Okay. If that’s an album of new age, how can I make something almost like Joe Hisaishi?” [Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away] album?” It uses orchestral sounds in an expressive, colorful manner. What was once a single note held by a synthesizer may now become a note that floats in flutes, french horns, and violas. The same note is being passed around, but it now feels almost grayscale. Hopefully. Let’s see what happens to the rest of us. That was our goal. 

You might be able to imagine that it was very easy to do too much and then it felt like Journey. It was easy to get excited, work hard, and then I’d feel like “Oh!” This is possible! And it would become this thing where the orchestra – especially the size orchestra we had, which was gigantic – it’s really easy to kind of unleash the fireworks. Because it is so much fun, it can be tempting. You know it’s very satisfying. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of hearing just off-the-hook orchestral forces mingling together. Journey, however, is not like that. It became “Okay. Can I be quiet?” This is because there are over 100 musicians and I’m able to get them all playing together on the quieter side. That gives me a lot of joy.

GI: Every creative, no matter how big or small, will contain one or two elements that are different from your opus. Is there any Journey piece that you could recall for 10 years and that made you feel like “I want to change that thing.”

A: I found it funny that once you are doing this type of thing continuously, even the smallest changes start to accumulate and suddenly everything feels very different. It could prove to be problematic. It could be a problem. I’m 37 now.” I’m a pretty different composer than I was then – hopefully a better one. I can see the things I do now more clearly than when I was there. Journey’s innocence is what I believe is what gives it its uniqueness. This was something I refused to give up. It wasn’t something I wanted to make. This meant that I had to pick the moments when I could sneak in more sophisticated, dare I say, things. 

There are also obvious things. For instance, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Lisbeth Scott, an absolutely amazing and talented singer. Her name is legendary. John Williams wrote her a solo to accompany the Spielberg movie. This is one of my favourite bragging points. MunichThis is the most disturbing thing I have ever seen in a film. She was also the singing princess at that time. ShrekWhen the birds and princess sing higher and higher, the bird explodes. Lisbeth is the voice of the princess at that time. Her music is part of over a million soundtracks. She was a friend of mine. I worshiped her. I even hired her for “I Was Born For This.” It’s written in five languages, but “I Was Born For This”, it turns out. It’s in Latin, French – and technically not modern French, because it’s Joan of Arc, so it’s more like Middle French, but it’s effectively French – Middle English, which is not the same thing as modern English at all, it’s a fully different language […]Japanese and Greek Ancient Greek. 

My thought has always been, “How awesome would it be for each language to be represented by somebody who speaks the language?” It was always one of my favorite things. [the things in the]Back of my mind. This piece would make a great redo. The only languages that I am able to perform the full version are the Japanese and French. For the Latin section I managed to secure a Russian-speaking singer. A Greek Singer and Japanese singer were also available. […]A Mexican friend of mine is someone I know and have worked with many times. I am always looking for new opportunities to work with. She said, “You can do the Beowulf Middle English because nobody speaks it anyway.” Anyway, she’s a phenomenal singer. The final verse is when we hear the powerful main theme statement. [of]Joan of Arc said her last words before dying, “Don’t grieve for me. For this purpose, I am alive.” So I decided to reach out to some people with whom I either have worked for years and still love to work or who I always wanted to do so. All in all, 11 singers piled on top of one another for “I Was Born For This.” 

This is as much about the journey I have taken. Journey allowed me to make connections with all these people during the past 10 years. All these incredible talents crossed paths because of my 10 year career. This seemed like an enjoyable way to share my experience and tell you that I would not have known about your work if it wasn’t for this. Now let’s get to work. It’s quite a change. 

GIThatgamecompany and Sony are involved with this? 

A: Jenova [Chen, co-founder of thatgamecompany]We talk quite often. He seemed excited when I said that I would do it. It’s huge. Sky is his 24/7 job. The feeling was a bit like “Oh, this sounds so cool!” Please let me know what happens. I offered to take him to London. I replied, “If your schedule allows, you can come to London and have a good time while we record the orchestra.” His wife was due to give birth in 10 days, and he stated that he would not be able travel to London. It was exciting to him that he knew about it. 

Sony also did not participate in creative or pragmatic ways. However, they were informed that I was involved. My shenanigans were always supported by my family. They’ve supported me in making alternate tracks for live performance and have allowed me to conduct the music live.

GI: So, does that mean – were you self-funding this whole thing? 

A: [laughs]. Yeah. A friend and I. [Ready At Dawn co-founder Andrea Pessino]. Originaly, my vision was for a smaller version. My imagination began to run wild and I realized that I was beginning to reach a financial point where I could afford it. 

[Andrea]So, basically I said “How can you be involved?” We met in London. I reached out to him throughout the process for his opinions. He is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Ready At Dawn. The engine of The Order [1886]He built everything himself, and he runs in. This makes him a brilliant programmer and engineer. He’s a genius. However, he is also an incredibly talented and intuitive musician. [He was a] conservatory student growing up in Italy as a kid – essentially a child prodigy pianist. Although he could easily have chosen a career as a musician, he chose to do something completely different. […]He wanted to get more involved with music and the plan was “Well, let’s make this album together.” That meant that we split the cost, but also that he was creatively confidant and an ear for me. He attended all the sessions and assisted every step of it. It was a great experience and I am forever grateful. He wouldn’t have made it possible. 

GI:What number of musicians were involved in the original music? 

A: 22 to 23 maximum players. It caps at or close to 30 musicians for the original score. 

GIBasically, 70 more people are needed to jump up the new music.

Q: Around 100. A: It is more than 130. Due to the fact that we had both a 91-piece orchestra as well as a 32 voice choir. Then, we had 11 people singing. 

[In the song “I Was Born For This,” there is]A big moment in which the orchestra builds. Then you only hear two violins, just prior to the big climax. It’s actually the work of a different musician. Taylor Davis, a Detroit-based violinist. She’s also a popular YouTuber and someone I have worked many times with. Her featured soloist in the Banner Saga trilogy was hers, and she is still one of my favorites. Live shows have been done together and she is an absolute joy to me. 

Travel

We met because she performed one of the greatest Journey covers anyone has done. YouTube has a great video of her playing the violin in the sand and in the snow. [She]This is an amazing feat. When that came out, it was the first time I had seen somebody go to that length – with a full music video and everything – of my work. She was so impressed that I reached out, and has been a friend of mine ever since. Her music video was amazing when Assassin’s Creed Syndicate released it with another artist. Then I told Taylor, “I must find a place for Taylor to participate in this. Also, you can find a small bit in “I Was Born For This.” 

All in all, it’s not a complete count. It is located in this area. 

GIHowever, it’s an enormous jump.

Yes, it’s quite a different animal. It’s about 135  

GI: Are all these people on the tracks? You mean, you live-tracking 135 people? Did you break it up? 

A: Almost. It is always playing with the orchestra. However, the choir performed on its own day. There are many reasons, but the most important one is Covid. [laughs]. Recording 91 musicians was enough of a challenge. [the Omicron variant]London began to see signs. Every day, we had to test. Each member of the orchestra was required to take daily tests. It’s that simple. 

We were at the London Symphony’s recording studio, which was the one we used. It is a former 18th-century church, located in central London, that they purchased and renovated to be their main recording studio. […]When they tour we record there. It is their territory. 

If you wanted to really jam in the choir, there is enough room. We would have been tempted by fate to put so many in the same room. When you record, you loose control of how you mix your music afterwards. Now it is just as simple as “Whatever happens within the room will be what you receive.” Imagine that the mix places the listener’s ears somewhere. You could move their ears around slightly if there are a lot of them. It’s impossible to say things like “Oh the French horn is too loud. Let’s bring it down.” because the noises will be filtering through every microphone. The only way to reduce them is to lower the entire thing. This is why, a lot of the time, on both video games and films, you will often cut down portions to ensure maximum control and that your master volume doesn’t just go up and down. This kind of thing I found it just as heavenly to do it the old-fashioned, but not for video games. 

GIThis is your Journey 10th Anniversary Recording. Do you believe there will be stories or anecdotes about this journey that will stick out 10 years later? 

A: That’s an excellent question. It occurred to me that out of all of the people I had left off my initial list this was the most humiliating and embarrassing. Tina Guo comes back, however, and she plays cello solos yet again. Her recording was done at Capitol Records, Los Angeles. She also remained separate from the orchestra. Because she is the heart and soul, it would be a blasphemy not to mention her. However, the cello and the music have been rearranged by me. 

In any event, it was because she and I were the first to think of going into the studio together. She and I know each other well. [for]It has been around 15 years. It was 13 years ago that we started Journey. It was released 10 years ago. This was an important launching platform for us both. She’s probably now the most busy musician on the planet. This is not because Journey. Journey may be the most important at this moment. My God! She is a featured soloist. DuneShe also uses a multitude of signals to boost her performance. However, it’s nostalgic and that makes me and her happy.

Recording is a profession for me, and I often go into battle mode when recording. I can be very cavalier. I also joke around. It’s a joker’s paradise. My jokes are shared with them the first day. They’re very British and stoic and have a hard time understanding my jokes. The second day was a good one. They began to get along with me and started enjoying each other. They were much more playful than I usually am and they also had a lot of fun. Just having fun. Because I say, “Look, we’re making music! This is crazy! Today’s job is to leave with something beautiful. You may find yourself in dangerous, grueling, or boring work. We have to do this job today, so —–g hell let’s be fun. We want it to be fun and not too serious. You’ll be late if your project isn’t on time. You can’t just take as many recordings as you like and then run the clock to midnight. These things can be quite expensive. [laughs].

So I’m very meticulous and very precise. I also plan everything carefully. I did know that there would be a bit more time so I decided to close with “Apotheosis.” That seven minute piece changed everything in my life. This one is the perfect way to end this nearly spiritual recording session. And as focused and warrior mode as I can get while I’m working – despite the joking – when we first recorded it, we do what’s called a sight-read. This is almost like a rehearsal. This is because they are not familiar with the music. The first time they are hearing the music, it is their first attempt at reading it by sight. They didn’t have a rehearsal yesterday or anything like that. The music is on the wall, the staff look at it, then they walk in the door. [go], “Okay. Ready.” They can even play it nearly perfectly in the first attempt. This is magic. It should not be possible. It’s not easy to listen to, even though Journey is minimalistic. Particularly “Apotheosis.” […]It’s not a random note they play; it is a specific piece of music that they must perform. Everyone can hear if they are playing a wrong note. 

Although it is not impossible, it can be difficult. The goal isn’t just getting it right. It is important to let it sing. It should feel expressive and beautiful, as though they have been practicing and working hard on the instrument all their lives. It’s my duty as a conductor and to set them up for success. We do this by saying, “Let us just read it down from top to bottom.” This is like an actor reading a book from a television show. We’ll just be reading around the table. There’s no need to fret about acting in character. It’s not necessary to be concerned about your body language. The first thing we want to do is find out what each word tastes like. After that, we will start to put it all together. In a recording session, we do something very similar. Then I suggested, “Let us just go through it and then read it.” Tina plays the role of the character walking towards the light in “Apotheosis”. Alert! 

GIIt’s easy to play, so don’t be afraid.

A: Yeah, I suspected you did. The principal cellist for the London Symphony tells me, “For the moment, this part will be recorded at Los Angeles. I’ll return home when that happens.” Will you please play the part so the rest of orchestra know? “Just for this moment, it’s our first attempt.” He must sight-read these very delicate and high levels. [part]. As you all know cello can be played as a very low instrument. [this is a]This is a really expensive part. Tina is a master at this; her ability to play where violins are playing makes Tina a formidable player. Cellists are not normal cellists. These cellists are world-class, and they all can handle it. 

It was then that we read it. They played all seven minutes and a quarter of this music very close to perfect from beginning to end, Tina’s solos being a placeholder. While I was conducting, my eyes grew wide. The overwhelming feeling wasn’t like I burst into tears. This isn’t because I don’t react the way others might. I just get emotionally moved by the piece, simply because I know how it was made. But the piece’s become – it’s like this old friend. The feeling is similar to if you visit a college friend you used spend the day with. But you don’t see each other for many years. 

It was all at once. I felt like an old friend, seeing me for the first times in years. And it made me realize how much I have missed this moment. It was amazing. I’ll never forget it. […]The London f g Symphony Orchestra has me conducting it. This piece changed my entire life. We’re creating music together. This is all part of my reality. That moment was a turning point for me. I was stacking everything on top. It made me very emotional. That is something I will never forget.