Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538144
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 61 occasions, but mostly they were able to focus on making the source content shine while we were tinkering away at making it feel seamless. Do you feel Star Wars Outlaws represents a new standard for interactive music editing? If so, what made this project different? Simon: I'm proud to have been part of one of the best Star Wars interactive music experiences! It's by far the most complex music system I've seen to date, and I think we made some smart decisions along the way. It's something we will keep building on, regardless of what's to come next. What advice would you give to music editors shifting from film or TV into games, especially those working on large, cinematic franchises like Star Wars? Simon: Play a lot of games and think about why you are hearing the music at a specific moment. Play games with nothing but in-game music on and see how it reacts. Watch GDC or Wwise talks on game music. Talk to game audio folks in general. It's a great community. transition to 2D, so it felt like the sound wasn't necessarily coming from the jukebox itself, but more like hidden speakers around the cantina. Building a Sonic Identity for a New Chapter in the Galaxy How did you navigate editing together a blend of original score, diegetic music, and legacy Star Wars motifs without it sounding disjointed? Simon: With Wilbert's experience, we were able to "flirt" with legacy Star Wars motifs and feel, yet still keep our own identity, which was important for us. The orchestral part of the score was always going to be the main pillar, but we also wanted to showcase the underworld and its criminal syndicates through the use of electronic elements, and Kay's personality through the solo instruments. As for diegetic music, our cantina music composer, Cody Matthew Johnson, did an amazing job of making each planet or location feel unique and different from the others. We also had rules in place to not play any original score if you were inside a cantina or close to a jukebox, so those in-world moments could shine as well. Tracking Complexity: Editorial Organization and Continuity Did you find yourself editing multiple versions of the same music cue for various game states or emotional beats? How do you keep track of all those assets and ensure musical continuity? Simon: We had a music tracker that kept track of all the themes, keys, BPMs, and approval states. For most character themes, we tried to save them for cinematic moments, and for planet/location or syndicate themes, we made various edits where we needed to expand, or if we needed more transitions or stingers. We also had Wilbert write a few non-descript cues for cinematics, asking more for different emotions rather than specific themes. So, we had dialogue cues that sounded like Star Wars, but evoked In Star Wars Outlaws, music is more than a backdrop. It is a living, breathing narrative force shaped by gameplay, storytelling, and the trust between composers and editors. The team's meticulous approach, from modular theme construction to seamless system integration, reflects a deep understanding of both the Star Wars legacy and the demands of modern interactive sound. As games continue to push narrative and technical boundaries, projects like Outlaws show what is possible when editorial vision, musical intelligence, and middleware mastery come together. It stands as both a blueprint and an inspiration for the evolving role of music editing in cinematic video games. things like positive, negative, neutral, or tense emotions, which we also used to fill out some gaps in certain story moments. Mix Collaboration: Music, Voice, and Dynamic Soundscapes How closely did the music editorial team work with the broader audio and mix team to ensure musical clarity amid heavy sound design moments? Simon: One of the audio direction pillars for Star Wars Outlaws was for it to be a cinematic sounding experience, with voice and music leading the mix while the rest of the soundscape acted as support. With this approach, we decided early on to take voice and music out of our HDR structure and instead have them "govern" the mix space. We wanted to avoid a pumping feeling in the mix. As an example, the "critical voice" bus used dynamic EQ sidechaining by analyzing the loudness of the voice in real time and ducking certain frequency bands of the soundscape, sometimes even music. But we rarely ducked everything. For music itself, since we often had a lot of information in the center channel, we processed some of the heavier moments like speeder chases or space combat with mid-side compression to give it a wider feel and thus leave more space for the elements in the center channel. Looking Forward: Lessons, Legacy, and Advice What was one of the most valuable lessons learned from working on Outlaws that you'll carry into future interactive music editorial projects? Simon I think a lot of our success is based on our love for the project and the creative trust established between the composers and the team. We trusted them to deliver what we needed, and they trusted us in our ability to make it shine. We did discuss the music system together on several