The Arreat Summit - Files: MP3 of the Week

This edit is the original incarnation of the "Monastery" as it first appeared back in October 4, 1999. The first 1.5 minutes, particularly the opening 30 seconds, provide a good example of what may work as title music but suffers a bit as game action music. The initial voice and string clusters (a technique largely inspired by the Polish master, Penderecki) slide into a big, expectant chord with a bit too much drama. I ended up moving this first minute and a half to the title screen because it stuck out from under the game action in a way which seriously disturbed the flow of the play.

I was quite fond of the piece, however, and thought it worked very well in contrast to the new reworked Leoric march which ended up beginning the title sequence. Big dissonant clusters helped dispel the way the march could seem to be some kind of strange theme from a Main Street, Hell, parade in a Blizzard-inspired theme park. (Lazarus as grand marshal . . . The Garbad float . . . Can you see it? . . . )

The middle section, which ended up getting 8 or so bars cut out in the final game edit, is based on the 4/4 pitter-patter of a heartbeat. This musical trick is used to great effect in dozens of horror flicks (perhaps used best in the Giorgio Moroder score for Midnight Express). It is a nice, cheap way to generate tension and also gave me a chance to put that big, beefy 909 kick drum front and center while engaging in some dub-style shennanigans with my trusty tape-delay space echo. Stylistically, this tune doesn't deviate too far from the classic Diablo formula - heavy beats around 75 bpm, slow, ominous, choral clusters, very wet delay effects all around.

It seemed appropriate for the game, seeing as the monastery/cathedral sequence in the last third of Act I aims to give the player the sense of indoor claustrophobia that Diablo did so well. Big extra points are awarded to those who notice that the prepared piano melody in the last few seconds makes an appearance again in Act III town as well as the jungle.