Hollow Knight 翻譯練習1

      A musical score is a great way of guiding the player’s emotions. It can offer important clues about the world the player inhabits and indicate the severity of the obstacles being encountered. The 2D action-adventure title Hollow Knight, developed by Team Cherry Games, is an excellent example of this.

       In the game, you play as the character Hollow Knight who must explore a ruined kingdom buried beneath the ground. Along the way you’ll collect power-ups, discover new areas, and defeat ancient evils, with your actions underlined by a hugely atmospheric soundtrack by composer Christopher Larkin.

      The music for Hollow Knight presented many challenges for Larkin. The most significant being how to create an evocative score with distinguishable leitmotifs. He employed several solutions to achieve this, like using dynamics and varied instrumentation to differentiate tracks from one another, maintaining contact with the development team to ensure the score matched their interpretation of the characters, and taking the time to listen to a variety of influences for new ideas.

       音樂可以引領玩家融入他們的情感，並提供玩家居住的世界的資訊和阻擋玩家障礙的重要線索，由Team Cherry開發的2D動作冒險遊戲”窟窿騎士”成功地做出了這一點。

       

        遊戲中，玩家扮演角色-窟窿騎士，探索一個損毀的地底王國，沿路上必須收集、提升力量、挖掘新地圖和擊敗古老的邪惡，你將聽到作曲家Christopher Larkin在作品中強調的氣勢非凡配樂。

        窟窿騎士的配樂為作曲家Larkin帶來了許多的挑戰，最重要的是如何做出令人回味無窮且辨識度高的主旋律，他使用了幾種不同的方式製作，像是動態和多種樂器來區分音軌，持續的與開發成員們交流，確認他們對角色的想法，並聆聽他們可能會帶來多樣變化的新點子。

Using different instrumentation and dynamics

     According to Larkin, the initial brief that he received from Team Cherry was to compose a soundtrack demonstrating a sense of "dark elegance using minimal instrumentation”, but that remained “classical and melancholic.”

The score includes numerous tracks featuring little more than piano and strings, though there are certainly sections where he felt it was possible to add some intense sounds and instrumentation into the mix.

“We definitely started with the soft piano and viola in the opening menu and "Dirtmouth," but we pull out all the stops for the boss battles.” says Larkin.“That said, the melancholy and a certain sadness is still evident in a lot of these, underneath the crazy runs and shredding.”

使用了不同的樂器和動態系統

        根據Larkin介紹，一開始從Team Cherry收到的簡報要求，音樂是以”優雅黑暗、最少量樂器”但仍然保留”古典和抑鬱”風格。

      樂譜中包含數種音軌，使用比鋼琴或弦樂器少量，但多種音效組合為特色，雖然他認為有些部分可以添加一些強烈的聲音或其他樂器做混搭。

    “我們決定以柔和的鋼琴和中提琴，作為遊戲主選單和” Dirtmouth” 的背景音樂，但我們去掉所有在王戰的調音，也就是說，憂愁和某些悲傷的元素仍然在裡面，瘋狂的運行著。

The importance of live sound

     Some of the tracks required additional musicians and live instruments in order to bring them to life. On "City of Tears," for example, Larkin employed the talents of soprano singer Amelia Jones to achieve its ethereal quality. While, across the soundtrack, Timothy Cheel’s viola playing contributes a variety of emotions.

  

   “Adding live playing gives the score an element of human touch, and a certain organic sound,” suggests Larkin. “But I think what it really does is give an extra dimension to the musical content. A new interpretation of a melody or idea which I otherwise wouldn't have done.

    He elaborates, “Where I couldn't get the live performance in, I try to always sculpt my sequenced score to imitate live players. I'm always thinking about how and where the players need to breathe, or change their bow, even if it is the computer playing it back.”

The impact that this has is that it makes each theme feel more individual, as performers can contribute their own nuances to the piece.

現場音樂的重要性

         有些音樂需要其他的音樂家或是樂器，才可以賦予生命，像是”淚水之城” Larkin請到才華洋溢的女高音Amelia Jones 才能製作出空靈、飄渺的音質，而在整個配樂中，Timothy Cheel’s的中提琴則帶給了此曲各種情感。

     Larkin表示”加入現場演奏的元素可使音樂更加人性化並更具有原創性，但我認為它真正能做到的是為音樂內容增添更上一個層次，除了一種嶄新的詮釋或方法，否則我就不會做。”

        他說”如果我不能現場演奏，我總是會試著用我的方式去模仿現場玩家，我常常在想關於玩家在哪裡可能會需要喘口氣，甚至是不停重複撥放音樂。這樣做的影響是使每個主題音樂更加的個性化，因為演奏者可以呈現出他們想要的每部分的細節。

Communicating with development team

    While writing the soundtrack, there were several occasions when taking the time to exchange ideas with others helped to improve the finished score. One clear example he notes is with the boss theme Hornet.

    “The team and I would always discuss the layout and the character of each area at length," says Larkin. "But even then, things didn't always go right the first time. In the case of Hornet for example, I sent the team a sketch of the track which, while it sounded cool, had quite a heavy bass riff."

    The dev team noted that Hornet's character is quite sophisticated, elegant and swift despite her deadliness. By better understanding Hornet’s character, how she moves, and how she behaves, Larkin was able to alter the track to better suit the animations and the artwork that the development team had put together. This comes across in the completed version of the track, as her movements are matched by a more elaborate string accompaniment that implies her speed and grace.

開發團隊的溝通與討論

          在撰寫配樂的同時，有不少次的狀況是，當他花時間跟其他人交流想法時，可以幫助他改善、並完成更好的作品，最明顯的例子，是一個王關主題曲:大黃蜂”。

          我時常和團隊內成員討論，關於每個場景的配置、角色在每個區域的長度關係，但即使如此，事情並不會如你所願的第一次就完成，以”大黃蜂”為例子，我給了團隊一首雛型音樂，雖然聽起來很酷，但是有個低音實在是太沉重了。

         製作團隊提醒我”大黃蜂”這個角色其實是很狡猾、多變的，雖然她很致命但也優雅而迅速，更了解這個角色、她是如何移動的、行為，Larkin才可以更改她的音軌更加的符合動畫和美術，讓製作團隊更完美的結合這些元素。然後就完成了現在這個版本，使用了密集的和絃，象徵著她敏捷的速度和優雅。

Taking inspiration from contemporary and classical sources

     This wasn’t the only input on the soundtrack however. Larkin listened extensively to multiple composers while creating music for the game, including contemporary and classical artists.

“Joe Hisaishi has always been a big influence,” Larkin says. “You can definitely hear that in the piano and strings pieces. Same with James Newton Howard and his beautiful romantic cues from King Kong.” He continues, “Classical music also finds its way into my work, especially Mahler and Rachmaninov in developing long themes, as is evident in the White Palace.”

    Referencing a diverse selection of music was extremely important for Larkin. It led him to try out lots of new ideas during the process of recording. The "Mantis Lords" theme is a notable example of this.

    It was intended as a deliberate nod to the music of Vivaldi and has a sound unlike anything else on the score. This can be heard by the prominent use of harpsichord and its frantic arrangement. These qualities contribute significantly to the characterization of the Mantis Lords, giving them a particularly threatening and regal presence.

    The effect of all these measures is a soundtrack evoking a proper sense of place and character, while also fostering an emotional response from the player. Though the score is clearly linked by its elegiac tone and recurring piano, you never really hear the exact same combination of sounds or a similar intensity from the individual tracks.

靈感來源結合了現在與古典

        這不是音樂唯一的製作方式，Larkin廣泛地聽取了其他作曲家製作的音樂，包含當代和古典藝術家的，”久石讓一直以來都很有影響力” Larkin說，你無疑的可以一直聽到鋼琴和弦樂，就像是”金剛”裡Newton Howard他的音樂，隱含著優美和浪漫，古典音樂也融進了我的工作中，特別是Mahler and Rachmaninov長久以來發展的主題，就他在白宮裡一樣。

        對Larkin來說參考多樣的音樂選擇是非常重要的，讓他在錄製過程中產生了很多新的想法，"Mantis Lords"主題曲是一個值得注意的例子，期待Vivaldi可以在商討過程中點頭，即使這首跟其他首截然不同，可以在突出且瘋狂的撥弦古鋼琴聲中聽出來，這給了” "Mantis Lords"這首歌帶來了意味深長、獨特且危險、崇高且威嚴的元素。

        這個方法影響角色和世界觀的音樂，使他們呈現出他們應該的樣子，同時可使玩家更融入這個遊戲，雖然他傳遞悲傷的情緒和鋼琴有明顯的關係，但你不會在每隔不同的音軌中，聽到完全相同音樂組合或是相似的音樂。

It’s because of this that Larkin’s score can be considered a success. By drawing from a wide range of voices and inspirations, and making intelligent use of equipment available to him,he managed to insert a great deal of personality into the score. His leitmotifs add greater detail to the world, and also to facilitate the game’s storytelling.

正因為如此，Larkin製作的樂譜被大家公認為是成功的，不設限的聲音和靈感、聰明、合適的使用樂器，他設法在樂譜中以他獨有的方式寫出樂譜，他為遊戲世界中增添了許多細節，同樣的講述著這個遊戲的故事。

文章來源:
 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/294796/Crafting_an_evocative_score_for_Hollow_Knight.php#comments

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l   文章版權不屬於我，翻譯僅供學習使用，絕無商業行為，若有侵權請來信，會立即刪除!

-----------------------我的天啊~是分隔線!-------------------------

第一次翻譯文章，比我想像中的還要久，有點精神時光屋，

看到這篇文章的時候~沒有想很多~只是覺得這遊戲的風格我喜歡，

翻完才發現，是在講遊戲音樂，遊戲主體的部分比較少，

有些地方翻譯的不是很好，甚至有點翻不出來，覺得困難，

之後其他文章會稍微看一下再翻，像是長度、內容等等

可以的話，之後的練習想寫一些附錄!