The Truth About Spider-Man: Miles Morales' Epic Soundtrack

Music in video games is an important part of the immersive experience — whether its a jaunty adventure tune while traversing the dangerous lands of Hyrule, or the suspenseful thrum when a dangerous boss battle is about to commence. Bad audio can ruin a great game, but a good game soundtrack can provide an added layer for players to make the adventure all the more thrilling, emotional, and memorable.

Creating the music for critically-acclaimed Spider-Man: Miles Morales was a hefty task for composer John Paesano. He described his experience in an interview with i09 Gizmodo, relaying the trials of creating the right sound for the game. Paesano collaborated with hip-hop producer and artist Boi-1da to bring the music of Spider-Man: Miles Morales to life. "Boi-1da was instrumental in making sure that we got this orchestral sound down that incorporated hip hop correctly," Paesano told i09. 

The composer also spoke about the challenge of merging classic composition with modern beats. While Paesano's career began with composing movie soundtracks, he expressed a desire to move away from more traditional facets, citing John Williams's memorable Superman theme as an example. "The important thing with [Spider-Man: Miles Morales] was bringing that old, traditional thematic touch to his sound, but accenting it with these elements to create this meshing of the new and old worlds of sound," said Paesano.

Paesano went on to describe his process and how he overcame the hurdles that he encountered while composing the Spider-Man: Miles Morales soundtrack. The technicalities were very complex, including how the composer created layers of sound that had to be cued depending on what was happening in the game. "In order to compose music that way, you have to take into consideration a lot of different things ... You're kind of writing more to scenarios that may happen throughout the game and foreseeing the future of what the player might encounter. It's all very musical, but there's also this technical element that's complex, and you can get lost in it."

The most important goal for Paesano was that the music stayed true to Miles Morales's character. "[T]o me, [Miles] represents everything about this new world of modern superheroes we've been shifting into," Paesano explained. "He embodies this much younger mindset than, you know, many of our legacy Marvel characters who come from this older world. Miles is part of the present, but he's also part of this bright future that a younger generation is creating."