Miracle of Sound

For the 1940 short documentary film, see The Miracle of Sound.
Miracle of Sound

Gavin Dunne, better known as Miracle of Sound
Background information
Birth name Gavin Dunne
Born 1980
Origin Ireland
Genres Video game music, Rock, Pop, Electronic rock, Hard rock, Heavy metal, Alternative rock, Dubstep, Jazz, Doo-wop
Years active 2010–present
Website Miracleofsound.net

Gavin Dunne (born 1980), better known by the name of his music project 'Miracle of Sound', is an Irish indie musician known for his music inspired by video games, films, and TV shows.[1] While not widely known in his home country of Ireland, his music is very popular with the online gaming community, and he has been described as Ireland's most successful indie musician.[2][3][4] Miracle of Sound is generally a one-man-band, though Dunne occasionally collaborates with other musicians and singers. His songs vary widely in genre, typically using a genre that best fits the song's subject; these have included rock, pop, electronic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, alternative rock, tribal music, dubstep, jazz, and even doo-wop.[1]

Early life and origins of Miracle of Sound

Dunne is the son of late Irish poet Seán Dunne and is from Cork, Ireland.[3][5] Before starting Miracle of Sound, Dunne spent 15 years playing in various groups.[6]

As part of his previous band, Lotus Lullaby, he and his bandmates competed in and won the Bank of Ireland National Student Music Awards in 2006,[7][8] as well as the Murphy's Battle of the Bands earlier the same year.[9]

After the breakup of Lotus Lullaby, Dunne became inspired by the video games he was playing and wrote several songs based on his favourite games, intended on conveying the atmosphere of the game or the mood of the characters.[6][10] He began with the song "Gordon Freeman Saved My Life",[10][11] based on the character from the Half-Life franchise. The song amassed 15,000 views in one night on youtube, something Dunne had struggled to do for years.[10] He continued with "The Ballad of Clay Carmine", which had another positive reception, and Dunne realised that he had found a significant niche audience and he continued to write songs based on video games.[2][6][10]

One of these early songs, "Commander Shepard", based on the character from the Mass Effect series of the same name, went viral and eventually amassed millions of views, leading to rapid rise in popularity for the musician.[2][10][12]

Coordination with game developers

Following his success with "Commander Shepard", Dunne eventually met with the marketing team from Bioware, the creative team behind the Mass Effect series, while he was at gamescom in Germany in August 2011.[10] There he released another Mass Effect song, "Normandy", based on the ending of Mass Effect 2.[13][12] Coordinating with Bioware, Dunne became involved in the marketing campaign for the next game in the series, Mass Effect 3. Both voice actors for the male and the female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series (Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale, respectively) performed dramatic readings of parts of the song "Commander Shepard" before the release of the Mass Effect 3, to raise publicity.[14][15] Bioware subsequently sent Dunne advance footage for use in making a song and accompanying music video based on Mass Effect 3, so that his release of "Take it Back" could coincide with the game's launch.[2] Dunne later made two additional songs based on the game; "Crucible" and "Kalros".

His song based on the indie CRPG Wasteland 2, titled "Cries of a Dead World" was included in the game itself, being used for the end credits.[16]

One of Miracle of Sound's earliest songs, "Gordon Freeman Saved My Life", was included as a playable song in the game Rock Band.[17]

Music and reception by critics

In traditional video game style, his albums are named in increasing levels - Level 1, Level 2 and so on. However he has also released two other non-gaming-related albums. His instrumental album called Vistas was reviewed positively, receiving 3.5 out of 5 stars from Nick Mongiardo of Sputnik Music who said "Vistas has some issues with pacing and contains some jarring shifts in style, but anyone who enjoys chilled out instrumental music will love this."[18] His seventh album, Metal Up, a heavy metal compilation with some songs based on Irish folklore, topped the iTunes Metal chart for 2 days following its release in early 2015.[19] Metal Up was described as mix of classic rock, hard rock, and metal, and was praised by Firstherd for its celtic influences in some songs which were "very original when placed in a metal framework",[20] and the album was also given a 5 out of 5 score by Rock Review.[21]

Shortly before the Wasteland 2 Director’s Cut re-release in 2015, Dunne released a parody of the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing", titled "I want my RPG". The lyrics of the song criticise modern free to play games, microtransactions and downloadable content and express the desire for more games of the old CRPG style.[22] He did not include the song on any album, saying on Twitter that "It's a parody of someone else's song. Wouldn't feel right to monetise it."[23] Dunne has also used his music to criticise quick time events in his Resident Evil 6 song "Wigglesticks".[24] It has been suggested that other indie games on limited budgets could improve the quality of their music by employing indie musicians such as Miracle of Sound.[25]

Many of his songs have received very positive reviews, such as his doo-wop song "Going Nuclear", based on the then-upcoming game Fallout 4, which drew praise from video game journalists for matching the tone and style of the game's aesthetic very well.[26][27] His song "The Lucky Ones" was considered unique by being written from the point of view of the background characters, rather than the player characters of Tom Clancy's The Division.[28][29] He has written two songs about the Uncharted franchise "Keep Drifting" and "Here we go Again", inspired by the main character's sense of adventure and being a drifter at heart.[30] Nerdist reviewed his song "Get the Gang Back", based on the popular Blizzard game Overwatch, and called it "an incredibly catchy tune" and said that the lyrics "[mirrored] the game’s relentlessly positive outlook".[31]

Collaboration with others

Dunne generally works alone, performing or synthesising all of the instruments for his music and layering the result to create a single track.[10] He provides most of the vocals for his songs himself, plays guitar, bass and keyboard, and can synthesise drums and some other instruments. However, he has collaborated with other artists at times for vocals or other instruments that he cannot play or synthesise.[10]

He has worked with several guest vocalists; Malukah on the song "Legends of the Frost",[32] Irish singer Ailín Kennedy on "Lady of Worlds",[33] YouTuber Sharm on "Fires Fade"[34][35][36] and "Mother of Flame",[37] and Lorna Dollery on "Dream of the Sky", "Dream of Goodbye", and "Evacuate".[38][39][40]

He also had guest musicians Jack O'Rourke (piano) and Gary Baus (saxophone) perform for his jazz song "Sweet L.A.",[10][41] and guest musician Gwen Boyle (violin) on "Dream of the Sky".[38] For is album Metal Up he had two guest musicians, 331Erock and Dave Divilly, who provided guitar solos for "I am Alive" and “Get Your Metal On”, respectively.[19]

In early 2015, Dunne joined video game critic Jim Sterling and gaming journalist Laura Kate Dale (Laura K Buzz on social media) on a weekly podcast, the Podquisition, which primarily discusses video game and pop culture related news.[42]

Sale and distribution of music

From 2011 until February 2015, Dunne released new music videos on The Escapist (an online video gaming website) every two to four weeks, in addition to releasing them on his YouTube channel.[12][43]

Views on YouTube for Dunne have continued to grow, with 3-4 million YouTube views per month, and with total views of over 130 million.[44] He makes the majority of his income with sales of his songs and albums on Bandcamp and iTunes, as well as monetisation of his YouTube videos.[2][3] He has taken an unusual approach to piracy, and has said that he is fine with people pirating his music if they are poor or broke, and encourages them to tell their friends about him, credit him if they use his music, and buy it when they can.[19][45][46]

In late 2013 multiple copyright strikes were issued by Youtube against Dunne's videos for use of his own music, as well as against other users who had used his music in their videos with permission. All of the strikes were initiated by INDMUSIC, on behalf of TuneCore, the company that distributed Miracle of Sound's songs at the time. Though the incident was resolved successfully, Dunne said: "I think TuneCore has the artist's best interests at heart but their methods need massive changes. People using our songs in lets plays/gaming videos is free advertising. I depend on this kind of word of mouth spread to popularize my music as I do not have the money for advertising and that kind of thing. They are trying to help us by collecting what we 'are owed', but they are doing more damage than help."[47]

Discography

  • 2011 — Level 1[1]
No. Title Length
1. "The New Black Gold"   04:51
2. "Sovngarde Song"   05:34
3. "Commander Shepard"   03:28
4. "Big Ten"   02:46
5. "Sweet L.A."   04:04
6. "Wheatley’s Song"   03:35
7. "Redemption Blues"   04:06
8. "Age of the Dragon"   03:57
9. "Little Sister"   04:43
10. "Mining All Day Long"   03:09
11. "The Mind of the Bat"   03:48
12. "Normandy"   05:00
13. "The Dead Don’t Shuffle (They Run)"   03:58
14. "Wasteland Soul"   04:30
15. "Brothers of the Creed"   04:11
16. "Beauty Bleak"   04:00
17. "I Suck at Call of Duty"   03:34
18. "Necromorph Soup"   02:40
19. "Gordon Freeman Saved My Life"   03:39
20. "She Gonna Teach Ya (How to Rock N Roll)"   03:19
21. "Santiago’s Lament"   03:49
22. "Zombie Holiday"   03:10
23. "Goodbye Black Ops"   03:18
24. "Duke, You Used to Be Cool"   04:37
25. "Fire in Your Hole"   03:31
26. "Comin' For Your Tank"   03:31
27. "Thunder’s Theme — Full Version"   02:13
28. "The Grind"   03:23
29. "Mortal Kombat Party"   03:23
30. "Second Chance Song"   03:41
31. "Trip to Vegas"   02:36
32. "The Ballad of Clay Carmine"   04:29
33. "Thunder Mountain"   01:47
Total length:
2:02:20
  • 2012 — Level 2[1]
No. Title Length
1. "Take It Back — Extended Cut"   04:28
2. "Nord Mead"   03:10
3. "Joker’s Song"   03:34
4. "Shadows in the Moonlight"   04:00
5. "Shooter Guy"   04:27
6. "Miracle of Sound ft. Malukah — Legends of the Frost"   02:45
7. "Life in Bullet Time"   04:40
8. "Crucible"   03:33
9. "Silver and Steel"   03:05
10. "DNA"   03:38
11. "Keep Drifting"   04:11
12. "Give Them Hell"   02:21
13. "You Died"   03:03
14. "Kalros"   03:32
15. "Khajiit Like to Sneak"   03:16
16. "Binary Divide"   04:20
17. "Survivorcraft Theme"   01:06
18. "Back in Time"   03:07
Total length:
1:02:16
  • 2013 — Level 3[48]
No. Title Length
1. "City of Night"   04:01
2. "Breaking Down the Borders"   02:47
3. "Rise"   03:48
4. "Dream of the Sky"   06:25
5. "Reclaimer"   03:43
6. "Halfman’s Song"   03:16
7. "Calamity"   04:01
8. "The Savage Side of Me"   03:52
9. "The Best I Can"   04:08
10. "Distant Honor"   03:54
11. "Motor Girl"   02:36
12. "His Father’s Son"   03:27
13. "Wigglesticks"   00:44
14. "The Call of Duty Circus"   03:07
15. "Blood of the Creed"   02:01
16. "The Spy Who Survived"   03:36
17. "Doorfighter"   01:03
18. "Hell in the Headspace"   03:33
19. "Roll Out"   03:58
20. "Hengsha"   02:43
Total length:
1:06:43
  • 2013 — Level 4[48]
No. Title Length
1. "The Crush"   03:46
2. "Beneath the Black Flag"   02:40
3. "The Call"   04:17
4. "Forever Blue"   04:13
5. "Higher Tonight"   03:23
6. "Kickback"   03:53
7. "Digital Shadow"   03:49
8. "The Day the World Died"   03:51
9. "Drive"   03:23
10. "Rampage"   02:47
11. "Hard Cash"   04:11
12. "Cries of a Dead World"   02:39
13. "My Iron Skin"   03:21
14. "The Best of Us"   06:09
15. "Hammers in My Head"   03:16
16. "Nameless"   03:00
17. "Niko It's Your Cousin"   03:19
18. "Co-Optional"   01:34
19. "The New Black Gold 2013"   04:39
Total length:
1:08:10
  • 2014 — Level 5[1]
No. Title Length
1. "Welcome Home"   03:57
2. "Wake the White Wolf"   03:46
3. "Amnesia"   05:11
4. "My Revolution"   04:15
5. "All as One"   05:18
6. "A Dog's Life"   03:58
7. "Cataclysm"   04:57
8. "Messing with the Best"   03:28
9. "Perseverance"   02:58
10. "Uncivil War"   01:40
11. "Dream of Goodbye"   05:21
12. "Every Time You Look Around"   04:08
13. "Shadow of the Ash (Hard Vox)"   04:08
14. "Fires Far"   05:03
15. "Jet Black Dress"   03:41
16. "Breathe"   03:01
17. "Into the Mind"   04:31
18. "Fistful of Concrete"   04:01
19. "Call of Home"   05:32
20. "Resistance"   04:53
21. "When Winter Comes"   04:12
22. "Machine"   02:22
23. "Man and Machine"   04:01
24. "The Strut"   02:55
25. "Ploughing a Troll"   02:10
26. "Voice of a New Age"   02:44
27. "Cries of a Dead World (Wasteland 2 Credits version)"   02:51
28. "Digtal Shadow"   03:49
29. "Shadow of the Ash (Soft Vox)"   04:06
30. "Wake the White Wolf (Metal Version)"   03:46
Total length:
1:56:13
  • 2014 — Vistas[18]
No. Title Length
1. "38th Street"   02:48
2. "4am"   02:40
3. "Hitoshio"   02:16
4. "Electric Sky"   01:54
5. "Manhattan Midnight"   02:29
6. "Cosmic Slum"   02:48
7. "Gougane Barra"   02:07
8. "Downtime"   02:34
9. "Kakolukia"   02:59
10. "Lover Stone"   02:33
11. "Sunny Day Part 1"   01:58
12. "Sunny Day Part 2"   01:57
13. "Nimbus"   01:55
14. "Ocean Hotel"   03:26
15. "The Call (Instrumental Version)"   04:17
Total length:
38:41
No. Title Length
1. "Sirona"   05:39
2. "I Am Alive ft. 331Erock"   04:18
3. "Next Empty Page"   03.41
4. "Convalescence"   05:25
5. "Celebrate and Rejoice"   04:18
6. "Compulsion"   04:53
7. "Gráinne Mhaol, Queen of Pirates"   03:05
8. "Get Your Metal On"   02:37
9. "Spin the Venn Wheels"   05:54
10. "Into the Nothing"   03:48
11. "Mother Earth"   11:44
Total length:
55:17
  • 2015 — Level 6[49]
No. Title Length
1. "Don’t Say a Word"   03:38
2. "London Town"   03:58
3. "Lady of Worlds"   04:52
4. "Road Rage"   03:49
5. "Stand by My Side"   03:55
6. "Going Nuclear"   01:59
7. "Friends"   03:48
8. "I Am the Night"   03:38
9. "Evacuate"   03:49
10. "My Shooting Star"   04:16
11. "Paleblood Moon"   04:30
12. "Friends to Foes"   04:54
13. "Metasonic"   04:31
14. "I Am Pudge"   02:54
15. "Hard Cash 2015"   04:11
Total length:
58:42

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Leogue, Joe (2 March 2015). "This is Ireland's most successful indie musician and you've probably never heard of him". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Elkin, David (12 March 2015). "This Cork man you've never heard of is one of Ireland's most popular musicians". thejournal.ie. The Journal. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  4. Gonzales, Dave (17 June 2015). "11 Game of Thrones songs to get you through the off-season". geek.com. Geek.com. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  5. "Twitter comment by Gavin Dunne". Twitter.
  6. 1 2 3 "Музыкальный центр". Issue 123. Mir Fantastiki (Fantasy World Magazine). 1 November 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  7. "Bank of Ireland National Student Music Awards' acts revealed". The Hot Press. 2 March 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. "Tension mounting for National Student Music Awards final". The Hot Press. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  9. "Murphy's Battle of the Bands Final 2006". 4 April 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
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  11. miracleofsound (8 September 2010). "Gordon Freeman Saved My Life! Half Life song by Miracle Of Sound" via YouTube.
  12. 1 2 3 Westbrook, Logan (2 March 2015). "Miracle of Sound Talks to BioWare". escapistmagazine.com. Escapist Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  13. Tito, Greg (11 August 2011). "Miracle of Sound to Premere Mass Effect Song Live with BioWare". The Escapist. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  14. Neltz, András (31 January 2014). "Commander Shepard: A Dramatic Reading by Commander Shepard". Kotaku.com. Kotaku. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  15. Maggs, Sam (17 August 2014). "FemShep Does A Dramatic Reading Of The Most Hilarious Mass Effect Tribute Song". themarysue.com. The Mary Sue. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  16. Hoffman, Mike (19 September 2014). "Wasteland 2 Features Music From Miracle of Sound". escapistmagazine.com. Escapist Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  17. Tito, Greg (17 January 2012). "Play Miracle of Sound in Rock Band". The Escapist. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  18. 1 2 Mongiardo, Nick (10 February 2014). "Miracle of Sound Vistas". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Matyi, Kevin (7 April 2015). "Metal Up: Metal For Everyone!". sbindependent.org. Stony Brook Independent. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  20. 1 2 FIRSTHERD (21 April 2015). "First Listen Review: Miracle of Sound – "Metal Up"". Firstherd. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  21. 1 2 Доктор Форкосиган (25 May 2015). "РЕЦЕНЗИЯ НА АЛЬБОМ MIRACLE OF SOUND - METAL UP". Rock Review. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  22. Batchelor, Carl (23 June 2015). "Big Wasteland 2 Kickstarter Update Talks Names Changes, Music, And Perks". nichegamer.com. Niche Gamer. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  23. Dunne, Gavin (14 December 2015). "Twitter comment by Gavin Dunne". Twitter. Retrieved 20 October 2016. @TheFerfles @apbusch It's a parody of someone else's song. Wouldn't feel right to monetise it.
  24. Haas, Pete (October 2013). "Resident Evil 6 Parody Song Makes Fun Of Quick Time Events". cinemablend.com. Cinemablend. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  25. B., Mark (8 January 2016). "Review: Amplitude (Sony Playstation 4)". diehardgamefan.com/. Diehard Gamefan. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  26. Prell, Sam (25 August 2015). "Fallout 4 Fan Song Going Nuclear". gamesradar.com/. Gamesradar. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  27. Sledge, Kyle (August 2015). "Fallout 4 Song Going Nuclear". www.gamerant.com/. Gamerant. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  28. MARNELL, BLAIR (April 2016). "MIRACLE OF SOUND'S THE DIVISION INSPIRED SONG FINDS 'THE LUCKY ONES'". www.nerdist.com/. Nerdist. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  29. CUENCA, ENRICO (April 2016). "'THE DIVISION': LATEST UPDATE PATCHES, ORIGINAL GAME-INSPIRED SONG RELEASED!". www.movienewsguide.com. Movie News Guide. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  30. MARNELL, BLAIR (May 2016). "MIRACLE OF SOUND RELEASES AN UNCHARTED 4 INSPIRED SONG". www.nerdist.com. Nerdist. Retrieved 19 September 2016. When asked about his inspiration for this song, Dunne told us that it was “mainly the sense of adventure. All [of] the Uncharted games have enjoyable narratives. The idea of never settling down and always being a drifter at heart was what inspired the song.”
  31. Marnell Blair (3 July 2016). "MIRACLE OF SOUND'S NEW OVERWATCH SONG BRINGS THE GANG BACK TOGETHER". Nerdist. Retrieved 20 October 2016. Dunne’s “Get the Gang Back” is an incredibly catchy tune that primarily focuses on Winston, as he brings Overwatch back together after the team was disbanded years before. The lyrics of the song also acknowledge the previous fall of Overwatch, while mirroring the game’s relentlessly positive outlook as the new and returning heroes come together.
  32. "SKYRIM SONG - Legends Of The Frost by Miracle Of Sound ft. Malukah -".
  33. "WITCHER 3 CIRI SONG: Lady Of Worlds by Miracle Of Sound".
  34. "DARK SOULS 3 SONG: Fires Fade by Miracle Of Sound ft Sharm".
  35. "Dark Souls III: о затухании огня в новой композиции Miracle Of Sound".
  36. "DARK SOULS III, MIRACLE OF SOUND LE DEDICA UN PAR DE CANCIONES".
  37. Dunne, Gavin (18 July 2016). "GAME OF THRONES DAENERYS SONG - Mother Of Flame by Miracle Of Sound ft. Sharm". Youtube. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  38. 1 2 "BIOSHOCK INFINITE SONG - Dream Of The Sky by Miracle Of Sound".
  39. "BIOSHOCK SONG - Dream Of Goodbye (Burial At Sea)".
  40. "Evacuate by Miracle Of Sound".
  41. "SWEET L.A. - L.A. NOIRE SONG by Miracle Of Sound".
  42. "Podquisition". thejimquisition.com. The Jimquisition. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  43. Dunne, Gav (February 23, 2015). "Hi lovelies,". Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  44. "miracleofsound YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics - Socialblade.com".
  45. Dunne, Gavin (2 April 2015). "Twitter comment by Gavin Dunne". Twitter. Retrieved 21 October 2016. Hey. Listen. If you are poor or broke, pirate my music. Take it. Enjoy it. But tell your buddies about it & please - buy it when you can <3
  46. Dunne, Gavin (31 October 2013). "GAV'S 'TRICKY QUESTIONS' MIRACLE OF SOUND FAQ!". Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  47. 1 2 Юлий Ким младший (1 February 2014). "Miracle of Sound Level 4". Мир фантастики. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  48. "Miracle of Sound, Level 6". Мир фантастики. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.

External links

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