My 4-year-old daughter loves smacking drums, strumming guitars, playing ocarinas... any instrument that happens to be around. Last Fall I was playing BG3 for the first time, maybe half an hour into the character creator, when she suddenly dashed to the piano. She bounced around notes for fun like she usually does, but eventually worked out, "Down, down, down, by the river." It was the first time she'd taught herself a melody. It was a magical moment I'll never forget.
Applauding BAFTA for doing this piece. Cannot even begin to tell you how much I love every, single, piece, of music, or should I say "blends" of music, uplifted and magicalized the game for me. Borislav Slavov is a legendary composer; he talked about his craft and his way of crafting with such power, humbleness, passion and love. His skill is different from musicians who made their own albums or directed a concert; to me it felt like Larian gave him a rough, rough pencil-on-paper storyboard sketch, and he somehow made a 10-meter tall, 100-meter long oil painting mural out of it. Sir, incredible job. Salutations.
There is not one single person I have seen in videos who have been in any way involved in Baldurs Gate 3, who have not made me shed a tear of joy listening to them explain their passion for this game.
Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity Original Sin 2 are without question my two favourite video game soundtracks. Many other games have amazing and epic main themes, but these two really stand out by having most of the scores be so memorable. It was great to hear some behind the scenes details of how this music came to be and how it was evolving. And Bobby not only is an incredible composer, but such a wholesome person as well. Thank you, sir, for everything you're doing, you're a treasure!
DOS2 has a fantastic soundtrack! I played it after BG3 because I was so impressed, I wanted to check out Larian's other work. That tavern music got stuck in my head for days! Very underrated game, I'm glad it's getting its own little renaissance.
Borislav's music has really touched me deep, and creates a multitude of feelings. I think that is the best kind of music, the music that let's you feel. Thank you for all your work!
Borislav inspired me through emotion for my own creation (based on the book Mamnik by the Bulgarian author Vasil Popov). You can see it in my profile if you are curious. But in any case, I am just so glad that I get to experience this talk and learn so much from him. We are all lucky to bear witness to such inspiration
Baldurs Gate 3 soundtrack will accompany me for life...This is how a music masterpiece can impact your life and be a constant "food for the soul".. Thank you from the bottom of my heart mister Borislav Slavov for your art
I think one of the greastest strengths of the music of bg3 is the use of lietmotifs. In the beginning of the game, i wasnt particularly struck by the music, however the more the themes kept popping up the more i fell in love with them. By the end, during the ending credits i was crying as i played my piano along with it. Beautiful work and it added such a needed aspect of the story to bring it together. Side note, i love the decision to be able to play along with any of the bards in the game. Being able to pull out a flute while the lyre player is playing and having them join you while playing was one of my favorite things in the game
Yeah, I'm replaying it now (I always play as a bard) :) and one of my other characters also ended up with music skills. So now it's so much fun during battles, to have them play together in combat. What a great game, so many cool little detail touches like that.
What an absolute genius. Baldur's Gate 3 is certainly among the best games I have ever played, and the music that invoked the incredible feeling through-out the experience was the Cherry on top.
Was so excited he won a BAFTA for this wonderful score. He deserved this. This game has some of the best sound design of any. The music is perfect, the atmospheric sounds immerse you.
It's hard to convey how much this game has meant to me and I know I am just a drop in the ocean of people so deeply touched by it but the music especially is engraved in my soul, I really struggle to think of any other body of work that can so easily evoke emotion from me. Thank you so much for this masterpiece Borislav.
I love BAFTA and what they do to bring attention to everyone involved in the making of video games. It’s always my highlight of the gaming awards season.
The moment you begin to create your character and the music starts playing, it's just magical. I'm absolutely not the target of this genre. And I was just chilling, reading everything for more than an hour. I'm sure that, to many of us, Borislav's composition had a huge impact on the first impressions of the game.
Years ago, I remember watching a behind the scenes documentary about the making of Doctor Zhivago. Maurice Jarre, who wrote the score and the iconic Lara's Theme, talked about bringing his first attempt to David Lean, sure it was technically "right." The director told him to go home, take his girlfriend out for dinner, spend some time, and write a song for her. Jarre did exactly that and wrote one of the best romantic themes in cinema. Borislav Slavov wrote from his feelings (as he says right at the beginning of this video) and created one of the best romantic themes in any game ever with Down by the River. Also anyone who objects to the comparison between Maurice Jarre and Borislav Slavov can get directly in the bin.
I remember going to a certain spot at the camp entering act 3, cause I wanted to see the city... and the singed version started playing; at that moment I had to just stay there until the end of the song... it felt like such a special detail.
Yeah, just one of the best game soundtracks I've ever experienced. I've played through the game way too many times and the music still gives me the feels. Probably even more now, as the songs take on deeper meanings to me as time goes on. Thank you Borislav, for this gorgeous music that I will never forget.
Literally brought to tears by the sample of the first draft of the theme. Is it because of the journey I've been on with these characters? The emotions I felt as we transformed from the lilting, simple guitar to the grand and cinematic blaring of the horns? I don't know. But when I hear that first recording I feel the echoes of everything I've come to associate with that tune. I haven't felt this love of fantasy in a very long time.
Wow, that's so cool! And really interesting to hear about your process - you've made it really accessible - thank you! And the raw vocals are so cool too :D
This was fantastic! Always inspiring to hear about the creative process and the mindset of a composer, and here mr. Slavov gives his heart and soul. Thank you!
This soundtrack is a lot of things, but the most important part of the main theme to me is how mysterious it is. He touches on this when he says it needs to be a "hook" and when he talks about "Down by the River" transitioning into the darker orchestral theme. It makes you curious: What's *really* going on here?
This was such a cool panel. I hope he attempts more conventions. It also just makes me have more respect for John Williams. There are some legendary people that would be priceless to meet.
Thank you Borislav for making all this music and taking some time to let all of us understand the process! I've always been fascinated by scalability of music where essentially the same song can give us such completely different emotions and experiences. You've communicated all of that to us beautifully!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this soundtrack. Truly brings this world to life in a tangible way. This music is timeless and voices the passion of the its creator. One of a kind truly ❤❤❤❤
Fantastic session! Bobby is as much a genius as he is humble. Would love to have a jam, a beer and chat with this guy - seems like a guy that is nice to hang with.
This was really great, thank you! I love the process of creating such a strong piece of music, and I'm not a musician. I think that many things, that Borislav have said, can be applied to other forms of art, not just main themes or music in general. Emotion is a key part of art of any form.
Bobbi is an amazing composer and a gamer at heart. No wonder you can feel his heart and soul in his works. Loved his music in DOS2 and loving his music in BG3. Looking forward for his next steps and here's hoping that he stays with Larian longer!
DOS1's was actually Larian's original long time composer, Kirill Pokrovsky, who was also an incredible composer and greatly missed. :( (If you like the DOS1 music, listen to the music from their earlier games especially Divine Divinity and Divinity 2, which Kirill also did. Actually DOS1 has a lot of the older music in it as well, because Kirill's health was declining at that point; they had hit the Kickstarter goal to have a fully orchestrated soundtrack, but Kirill wasn't well enough to do it, and instead they pulled in a bunch of his existing music to create a really expanded score.)
Absolute genius, I love how the main theme has been scaled and this template seems to fit for most of the pieces. It was clearly noticeable for me particularly with ''Last Shelter'' and ''Gather your Allies''. Amazing work Borislav and crew. I would love to see any events in Bulgaria - either musical or you showcasing your creative process.
this man is 51 years old and looks like a young 21 year old. Her has a computer science degree and is a composer. Talk about winning the genetic lottery.
Major spoiler ahead: 28:18 I only noticed on my second playthrough that a version of The Song of Balduran played when we learned that our dream visitor is illithid. It was such an amazing moment. Truly a gift.
Sometimes I'll be doing something and sing it to the tune of Down by the River. "I've ... got ... to ... let the dogs out". That song just pops in my head at random times. When I'm playing BG3 and take a break, I'm in Act 3 so I'll go to my Elfsong camp just so I can have Song of Balduran playing while I get my snack or whatever. The soundtrack is so good. I appreciate BAFTA and Borislav putting this show together!
I was so surprised to hear a game soundtrack with lyrics in a real language! Since Skyrim, it seems every soundtrack for years has used a conlang, dead language, or vocalise. Like our immersion would be ruined if we knew what they're singing about. Borislav Slavov and his team used lyrics as another storytelling tool, and it really works.
I was playing my first BG3 session with my wife. Obviously we spent about 2h in character creation. You can imagine how quickly my wife got upset with me making jokes about Down by the River when i kept singing along the theme for 2h xD
I wonder if Mr. Slavov is speaking literally or figuratively about the game. I haven't finished my first full playthrough yet. I guess one more spoiler that I know about doesn't hurt. I thought *spoiler* became a werewolf long ago.
I have been saying this for years but the OST in videogames gets overlooked and underappreciated WAAAAAY TOO MUCH i hope that borislavs work will change that in the future. Because everytime i think about a moment in the game i hear the exact music playing in my head and vice versa. I also use it for my DND campaigns as a DM lol. People like him, jesper kyd, mick gordon and many others need much more fame lol like hans zimmer level fame even 😂
I remember going to a certain spot at the camp entering act 3, cause I wanted to see the city... and the singed version started playing; at that moment I had to just stay there until the end of the song... it felt like such a special detail.
