''Diablo II Soundtrack'' is the soundtrack of

video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...

from ''

Diablo II ''Diablo II'' is an Action role-playing game, action role-playing hack and slash, hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000 for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and macOS. The game, ...

'' ( PC). It features music composed by

Matt Uelmen Matt Uelmen (; born July 31, 1972) is an American video game music composer and sound designer. He is best known for his work in Blizzard Entertainment's '' Diablo'' series, which was recognized with the inaugural Excellence in Audio award by the ...

for the game. It was released on June 30, 2000 as part of the Diablo II Collector's Edition, and later on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Recording

The score was composed by

and integrates creepy ambience with melodic pieces. The style of the score is

ambient industrial Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...

and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

. Some tracks were created by reusing the tracks from '' Diablo'', while others by rearranging tracks that were out-takes. Other scores are combinations of parts that were created more than a year after the first game's release. A single track usually integrates recorded samples from sound libraries, live recorded instrument interpretation samples specially meant for the game (guitar, flute, oriental percussion), and electronic instruments also, making the tracks difficult for later live interpretations. While the player visits the town, the game recreates the peaceful atmosphere from the first ''Diablo'' game, so for that the theme from Act I called "Rogue" comes back with the same chords of the original piece, reproducing only a part of the original ''Diablo'' town theme. For Act II Mustafa Waiz, a percussionist, and Scott Petersen, the game's sound designer, worked on the drum samples. Waiz played on the dumbek, djembe, and finger cymbals which gave Matt Uelmen a base upon which to build tracks around. The town theme from Act II, "Toru", makes strong statement of departure from the world of Act I while also maintaining a thematic connection to what had come before. It is the first time in the series to be used some radically different elements than the guitars and choral sounds that dominate both the original Diablo and the opening quarter of ''Diablo II''. The foundation of the "Toru" piece is found in exciting dynamics of a Chinese

wind gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and S ...

. The instrument radically changes color from a steady mysterious drone to a harsh, fearsome noise, that gives exotic feeling and at the same time the pacing of the second town. In all sequences of Act II with deserts and valleys, Arabic percussion sounds dominate. The composer was impressed by two of the Spectrasonics music libraries, ''Symphony of Voices'' and ''Heart of Asia.'' He used samples from ''Heart of Asia'' in the ''Harem'' piece from Act II. The "Crypt" track uses a sample from ''Symphony of Voices''; the choral phrase ''Miserere''. The piece "Coda" samples from

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's Prelude in C Minor, opus 28, no. 20.

Reception

In 2001, Uelmen, who composed the soundtrack, and cinematic soundtrack composers

Jason Hayes Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

Glenn Stafford Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settlement i ...

and

Andrea Pessino Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

won the

International Game Developers Association The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers." The IGDA is incorpo ...

award for Excellence in Audio for their work on ''Diablo II''.

Different Versions

The original soundtrack, which can be extracted from the game files, comprises over twenty songs totaling more than two hours in length. Because of space constraints, some songs on the CD release were edited to reduce their length, while others were left out entirely. For example, "Rogue" is a reduced-length version of the Rogue Encampment theme, and the Tristram theme was not included. A full length collection of music from ''Diablo II'' and '' Diablo II: Lord of Destruction'' was posted to the official fansite, but has since been removed.

Track listing

# "Wilderness" - 7:58 # "Rogue" - 2:58 # "Sisters" - 1:45 # "Spider" - 5:19 # "Jungle" - 2:24 # "Zakarum" - 2:56 # "Desert" - 3:38 # "Toru" - 2:57 # "Sanctuary" - 4:08 # "Crypt" - 3:31 # "Tombs" - 5:17 # "Monastery" - 5:56 # "Cave" - 3:50 # "Mesa" - 3:26 # "Leoric" - 3:06 # "Coda" - 0:56 # "Roger and Me" - 1:03

Personnel

* Mustafa Waiz (

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

and

dumbek The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet- ...

) * Scott Petersen (drums) * Roger Weismeyer (

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

) * Bernie Wilkens (pedal steel

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

). * Heart of Asia, Heart of Africa and Symphony of Voices samples by

Spectrasonics Eric Persing is an american sound designer, professional synthesist and producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known as the Founder and Creative Director of the music software and virtual instrument company Spectrasonics. He has ...

. * Recorded by Scott Petersen and

. * Produced, composed, and performed by Matt Uelmen.

References

{{Authority control Diablo (series) Video game soundtracks 2000 soundtrack albums