Joel Corelitz is an American composer and sound designer. He is best known for his work on ''
The Unfinished Swan'' which garnered him a
BAFTA nomination for Best Music. His other works include ''
Gorogoa
''Gorogoa'' is a puzzle video game developed by Jason Roberts and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, and iOS on 14 December 2017, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in March 2018, and sho ...
'', ''
Death Stranding'' and ''
Halo Infinite
''Halo Infinite'' is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the sixth mainline entry in the ''Halo'' series, following '' Halo 5: Guardians'' (2015).
The campaign follows the hu ...
''.
Life and career
Having grown up in the late 1980s, Corelitz developed an interest for sounds and electronic music at the age of five. He later attended
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...
pursuing a Major in Technology in Music and Related Arts. Before his foray into video games, Corelitz had worked on various commercials with composition studio, Steve Ford Music. He later set up his own studio, Waveplant Studios, dedicated to creating soundscapes and music for visual mediums and installations.
His breakthrough would come in 2012 when
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
approached him to compose for ''
The Unfinished Swan''.
Speaking about his process on the game, he said that "We wanted the music to serve as a companion for Monroe and the player as they explored the world of the game."
With that in mind, Corelitz based the score around an assortment of strings and percussion which included harps, violins and marimbas mixed with electronic elements. He noted that "The music is not just background noise, it’s part of the world, it’s part of how you feel, how the character feels."
In 2017, Corelitz was hired by Ludvig Forssell, composer for ''
Death Stranding'' to assist him in creating sounds for the game. In order to do this, the duo went to
Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...
to gather tools and random objects for use in recording. They recorded various metallic, rustic and unearthly sounds in a three day session with Forssell also integrating the sounds into his score. Corelitz also experimented with a
prepared piano
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for '' Bacchanal ...
which he calls "..the ultimate percussion instrument". He struck piano strings with various objects like a rubber mallet and a sledgehammer producing a string sound that was "dominant". The collaboration later led Corelitz to write additional music citing the studio's preference to "keep things fresh and different".
In 2020, Corelitz was announced as one of three composers on ''
Halo Infinite
''Halo Infinite'' is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the sixth mainline entry in the ''Halo'' series, following '' Halo 5: Guardians'' (2015).
The campaign follows the hu ...
'', along with Curtis Schweitzer and
Gareth Coker
Gareth Coker is a British composer. He has composed work for video games including ''Ori and the Blind Forest'', ''Ori and the Will of the Wisps'', '' ARK: Survival Evolved'', and ''Halo Infinite''.
Life and career
Coker learned the piano at a ...
.
Discography
References
External links
*
*
Video game composers
Living people
Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corelitz, Joel
Year of birth missing (living people)