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Around the time of Dune Awakening’s launch, I had a chance to speak with Knut Avenstroup Haugen, the game’s composer. Those who are familiar with Funcom’s games have heard his work before, as he also composed Conan Exiles. I haven’t come across a composer who understood the assignment this well in ages, when it comes to nailing the theme and feel of an established piece properly.
Each musical track in the Dune Awakening soundtrack is incredible in its own way, and so it was a pleasure to pick Knut Avenstroup Haugen’s brain about what went into creating this musical masterpiece. It was one of the highlights of our time reviewing this survival MMO.
The Sportskeeda MMO team felt the music stood out in Dune Awakening. From the moment you start the game to the moment you log out, each musical track is remarkable.
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Dune Awakening composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen on creating Arrakis’ soundtrack
Q. Dune Awakening has a truly phenomenal soundtrack that really feels like it channels the mystery, danger, and wonder of the planet of Arrakis. You’re no stranger to composing for video games, but what sort of preparation did you do, going into creating this unique composition?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: Thank you very much for your kind words, Jason! Developing a concept for the score is always the first step. For each game or film you work on, you need to create a style and a musical language that is consistent, appropriate, and as unique and exciting as possible. You want to make it recognizable and memorable. If you don’t have a clearly defined concept, the score will be fragmented as well as uninteresting.
The first thing I always do is to talk to the developers and try to understand their vision. I also look at what they have created, written descriptions and concept art, but the creators themselves will immediately give you a clear understanding of what they want to achieve with the game and the story they want to tell. The end goal is always to find out how you can support the creators vision in the best possible way and express it with music.
Based on all this information, you start getting ideas as to what styles and instruments might be appropriate. As a film or game composer you very often implement elements from several different musical styles and traditions and you select and combine all kinds of instruments that would normally never be used together. Sometimes you need to invent new styles, create new instruments and change your workflow.
There is usually a lot of experimentation at the start of each new project. It’s all about finding the right language through which you tell the story. In the case of Dune, the music is a combination of myriad styles, time periods, and instruments from all over. The challenge is to make it all come together in a way that is both tasteful and appropriate.
Q. This isn’t even your first Funcom game, or your first game set in a harsh, unforgiving desert. When considering the tone and themes of the music for something like Conan Exile and then Dune Awakening, where do they differ? Both are brutal settings, known for being unrelenting to all life, but the settings couldn’t be more different.
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: You are right, both worlds are brutal and unforgiving, and both have a lot of desert! The biggest difference is obviously that Conan is set in a world that existed long before our time, while Dune is set far into the future – and on another planet.
There are definitely some timeless «desert influences» in both games, and I use a symphonic orchestra, but I think that’s where the similarities end: The musical language of most of the Conan score is quite old school and traditional. In Dune, it is contemporary with prominent use of synthesizers, manipulated and processed instruments, sound design, and modern production techniques.
Q. Before going into creating the score for Dune Awakening, were you already a fan of the books or films? Did this help put together your vision for what the music should sound like?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: I have to admit that I had not read the books. The new films had not yet been released, so I had no idea what they would be like or what kind of music they would have. I had seen the David Lynch film, and I was familiar with the failed Jodorowsky project.
I had also had some brief encounters with previous Dune games, but going into this project, I was pretty green about the whole thing, and I didn’t in any way consider the music for any of the mentioned projects as reference points.
I started with a blank slate, but I spent a lot of time familiarizing myself with the Dune universe. The books helped me gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for it, and I believe it also helped me go deeper with the music and avoid it becoming superficial.
Q. I haven’t heard a soundtrack that worked so well with a game’s atmosphere in years. Whether it’s the synth sounds of “Welcome to Arrakis” or the low, sonorous tones of “When the sun is low”, it all fits the setting expertly. Did the developers give you any notes on what types of music they needed, or was it left up to you?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: Oh, thank you very much! The highest praise you can get is to hear that the music works well for its intended purpose. The main function of the music is to enhance the storytelling, so if it succeeds in that regard, it makes me very happy! I was given briefs about where the music would be used alongside descriptions of the desired moods, like: dark, uplifting, threatening, tense, etc., and whether the music should be mainly thematic or ambient.
The rest was up to me. I was given a lot of freedom. In this context, it makes sense to mention that when I first started composing for the game after I had been given the job, there was still quite an intense test phase when the music (and by extension me as composer) needed to be approved by both Funcom, Tencent (as owner of Funcom) and Legendary Entertainment (as the owner of the intellectual property).
When everyone felt confident that I would be able to do the job well, we had already agreed on the musical approach, which in turn gave me more freedom, as I by then was familiar with the boundaries within which I had to work. Each track is a result of the desired function for the particular piece being expressed through the musical language of the score as a whole.
Q. It’s not just the music that makes it so easy to get lost in Dune Awakening, but the sound design in general. Did you have access to any of the sounds the game would use, such as the sandworm rumbling, to make sure everything synced up nicely?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: For cinematics and trailers, I would in some cases work closely enough with the sound design team to know what to expect – and I did indeed hear quite early on how the sandworm was going to sound! However, in general, the sound design is developed in parallel with the music, and I don’t get to hear much of it.
There were several sound design teams located in different countries specializing in different things, like weapon sounds, atmospheric sounds, etc.
Arild Iversen, the audio director, coordinated all these teams, and to my knowledge, he was the only person with the complete overview of what the sound design would be like in the end. Because of this, he was able to tell me what to expect, and that was very helpful.
There are things you can do with the music to make it fit better with the sound if you know what is going to be there, and vice versa. Sometimes one is more important than the other. Arild understands this as well.
He also knows the importance of a good game mix and how to make room for both sound design and music, so they will both be allowed to shine and not kill each other. This is a very important quality for an audio director and could mean the difference between a good and a bad gaming experience.
Q. Do you have a favorite track in the game, whether it was to compose or simply to listen to? If I had to pick one personally, it’s probably “The Mind Killer”.
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: “The Mind Killer” is significant, as it is being used for character creation and the pain box sequence. The mood of the game is, in many ways, being established at this point. It’s a very atmospheric track with several phases, so it’s an exciting listen. For me, it’s impossible to pick only one favorite.
There is more than 5 hours of music in total in the game and the album is actually a limited selection of tracks that go well together. The album duration is approximately 90 minutes. I had to cut many favorites just to get there! That said: I love how all the different elements came together so well in “Welcome to Arrakis”. It is a very good mix, but it doesn’t mean I think it is THE best track.
I think all the tracks are good in their own ways. There is something particular that can be said about each and every one of them. I absolutely adore the vocal solos, the orchestra is spectacular, and every time I listen to the synthesizers, it just makes me happy!
Each track is like a chapter in a story, and every time I write one, it’s a new journey of discovery: You find a musical story that wants to be told and discover strange and exciting new sonic landscapes.
Sometimes, when you come out on the other side, you are not really aware of what you did along the way. Despite working intensely and being extremely conscious about every choice you make, you feel almost like a passive receiver and as if the music presents itself to you.
Q. Did any other composers or works help inspire the tone you took with the Dune Awakening soundtrack?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: It’s very difficult to say who or what inspired the music the most. My love for music was ignited in the late 70s and early 80s when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I loved ALL kinds of music. I listened to cassettes, LPs, and the radio for hours on end. This is also when I discovered synthesizers and electronic music.
My first big crushes were Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis. I became a lover of film and game music during that same time: Videogames were the absolute coolest thing in the whole world and I spent a lot of time in arcades and on my Commodore 64 (and later the Amiga 500). I loved the music on those machines.
In the early 80s it was a big event to watch a movie: We had to go to the movie theater or from time to time we would rent a «movie box» (VHS player) and 2 films which I watched and rewatched for 2 days straight before we had to return them.
Composers like Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, Basil Poledouris, Danny Elfman, James Horner, John Williams, and Hans Zimmer quickly became my film music heroes, and their influences are probably always apparent in my music. At the time, there was obviously a very big difference between game music and film music, as there was also a huge difference between the two mediums, but I loved both the same. It was just two different things that I cherished equally.
I come from the classical world, so there are also obvious influences from the classical repertoire in my music, going back several centuries. In many ways, this project has allowed me to go back to my roots, and the soundtrack has been shaped by many of my earliest influences. It’s inspired by all the music that made me want to become a composer in the first place.
Q. When it comes to musical composition, each creation introduces its own challenges to overcome. What sorts of challenges did you face when putting together the Dune Awakening soundtrack?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: I find that the composition itself is rarely a problem. Sometimes it takes time to find the right idea, but it always comes. However, the soundtrack consists of a great many stylistic elements and instruments that aren’t normally used together. To combine all of these things in a way that doesn’t only make sense, but in a way that sounds natural and inevitable – that is very difficult!
There is an orchestra, a band with drumkit, electric bass and several electric guitars; there is lots of ethnic percussion, guitar instruments and flutes; there are three different vocalists, tons of synthesizers and so on. It’s not to be taken for granted that all of these things will work well together.
Some of these instruments are acoustic, some are electric, and some are electronic. They have been recorded in different spaces with different acoustics. Making all of them sound as if they belong in the same track requires a lot of experimenting and planning from my side, as well as an experienced recording and mixing engineer.
You also don’t want it to sound like a pop or rock album or a classical orchestra recording. It needs to sound like a score! The mixing engineer, Jake Jackson, had a very difficult job, but he did it extremely well.
Q. I love the blend of more classical musical instruments, with more modern synth sounds and guitars. Was this always the intent, to help it perhaps stand out from other Dune presentations?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: I am happy to hear you think it works! The orchestra makes the score more cinematic and grandiose. However, it’s very difficult to find the right balance between “elegant” and “old-fashioned”. It could easily have tipped over.
It was a deliberate choice to use the orchestra so extensively, and I agree it helps the score stand out, but the main reason was that I wanted the score to have a strong emotional impact. Electronic instruments can be very expressive, but they cannot be compared to orchestral instruments performed by the best players in the world in terms of expressiveness, versatility, and control.
I made live recordings wherever it would improve the score. I also performed the synthesizer parts instead of just programming them, to give them the additional human touch and that «je ne sais quoi». The notated score or the data in your sequencer is just information, and you need a human to really bring the music to life.
I have been very fortunate to be able to work with the best musicians in the industry, and this has elevated the score far beyond what you can achieve with a computer alone, and it has given it an emotional and expressive range that is only possible through human interpretation.
I have always put a lot of emphasis on melody and there is no better way to present a slow moving line than with a string section or a majestic fanfare in a big brass section. As a side note, I think melodic writing is something that is often lacking in modern film and game music.
There are of course many brilliant movie themes, but there is an overwhelming amount of ambient scoring which focuses mainly on the production. I find that there are many missed opportunities for melodic writing and I think it has almost become a lost art.
Q. The radio stations have quite a few songs, although the radio system is never really formally introduced in-game. Is all of this also original music? This is supposed to be Fallout-style persistent music to keep you company in the lonely sands, so does music like this have a different dimension from the perspective of a composer?
Knut Avenstroup Haugen: The music you hear on the radios is the only music that I had nothing to do with. What you can listen to there is music from previous Dune games! It’s a super cool easter egg for those who have been following the Dune franchise through the years and adds an additional layer to both the soundtrack and the game.
Dune Awakening is available now on PC and has had some impressive peaks when it comes to a playerbase. Between the solid gameplay, incredible music, and frequent updates, Funcom’s got a real hit on their hands.
