David Vitas is a musician/composer that makes both music and sound effects. Over the past couple years I have watched David grow into an incredibly talented artist, and he’s always blown me away. David Vitas has been playing music since he was 7 years old and also attended school for music production, where he learned how to sculpt sounds. “Music is my passion” he says – and trust me, this passion can be seen in every single creation. On May 17th, David Vitas released a brand new RPG music pack. This pack is filled with compositions that will bring back some nostalgia and breaks down the soundtrack to an RPG game. This pack ranges from songs for a title screen, town theme, battle theme, boss battle, and even a beautiful lullaby to end the pack. I’ve sat down with David to discuss his inspirations about this pack, and his future plans.
David Vitas RPG Music Pack © Art by Sketchcraft
Stephanie: Your new RPG music pack is incredible, what was your inspiration?
David: I was heavily inspired by all the old games I played as I was growing up. In particular, old Squaresoft, Enix, and Capcom games (remember when they were still called Squaresoft!?). I loved playing through Chrono Trigger, so I’d say that game inspired me the most. The soundtrack is incredible, and actually caused Yasunori Mitsuda to be hospitalized because he overworked himself while making it! Crazy, I know.
S: There is a lot of controversy about artists being underpaid, seeing FREE content is becoming very rare. With that being said is there a specific reason you decided to give this pack away FREE?
D: Honestly, I contemplated making it a paid pack. That being said, the only way that would have worked out is if people knew I existed. I feel like I made the right decision by making it free because I reached a lot more people this way. In my opinion, people tend to overlook paid packs a bit more (unless you have some reputation). It’s free, but I also feel like I made more of an impact by making it that way. It paid off in the end!
S: This pack seems to be a huge success. Your DropBox has been disabled from generating too much traffic. Did you expect the RPG music pack to do this well?
D: I didn’t think it would do this well at all! I just shared it through twitter, but I decided to post it on some Facebook groups as well. One group I posted to was Indie Game Developers, and within about a half hour they took down my dropbox link! I originally only created just the dropbox link, so I had to quickly add more links to Google Drive, Mediafire, Mega, etc. I also posted it to the /r/gamedev, and they seemed to really dig it as well. I’m really blown away by the feedback. It’s tough and demotivating as an artist to never receive much feedback for the things you post you know? These small little viral episodes that I get from time to time keep me going.
S: Which song from the pack stands out to you most? Is there a song that took longer to compose then the others, or you fell in love with more?
D: I do have some favourites. The two that really resonate with me are “Overworld”, and “Title Screen”. This is actually a really interesting OST (Original Sound Track) for me, because I find myself listening to it like Kanye West listens to his own music *laughs*. I honestly never do that, reason being is that I spend hours and hours working on the tracks. They get “dull” as a result, not because they are bad, but because I’ve listened to them too often. However I find myself really jamming to these tunes. I think part of the reason is because I’ve wanted more music like this personally for a long time. Instead of waiting around though, I just decided to go ahead and make it.
I’d say the two Battle Themes (Boss Battle, Battle Theme) took the longest to compose because I wanted to get them just right. They are more laid back battle themes, but I really like them. If you imagine actual gameplay while listening to them, everything just clicks. The “Victory Fanfare” finishes them right off amazingly as well.
S: The artwork for your RPG Music Pack is beautiful, who created it?
D: My good friend Rob Duenas from Sketchcraft made all the artwork. He’s one of the best artists I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, and you should totally check out his work! He does several gaming themed pieces, and also does a podcast. http://www.sketchcraft.com.
S: Your portfolio is filled with many gaming/anime tracks – Is this your main focus?
D: I’d say my main focus is Video Game Music, but I’m totally interested in working on animations, trailers, and commercial songs. There are two League of Legends based tracks on my portfolio that I’m really fond of because they have an interesting story behind them. The two tracks are called “Awaken The Sun” and “Lullaby Of The Moon”. You can check them out below:
Awaken The Sun
Lullaby Of The Moon:
I originally wrote Awaken The Sun for a job application at Riot Games. It actually went viral on the /r/leagueoflegends subreddit and I got around 70K plays in 24 hours! I didn’t end up getting the job, but I decided to finish with a bang and write another track. Lullaby of the moon is one of my favourite tracks because I got to work with a very talented singer named Elsie Lovelock. She’s honestly great, and we worked back and forth. She delivered exactly what I envisioned, and the rest is history. Check out her YouTube channel for more: SweetPoffin.
S: Is there a particular soundtrack from a Video Game that stands out to you?
D: The first soundtrack that always comes to mind is the Shadow Of The Colossus OST by Kow Otani. It’s incredible, and fully orchestrated. It matches the game perfectly. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend it. Play the game first though!
S: Are you going to make any more free packs? What have you been working on Recently?
D: I’m not sure at this point. I’d love to make more free packs, because I like giving back to the gamedev community. I was also thinking of doing more League tracks because they seem to be very popular. I just wish I had more time for music to be honest. Working full time, then trying to do commissioned work on the side leaves me with very little time to do stuff like that. I’ll have to delegate.
Recently, I was part of my first Game Jam (ToJam11). I was an audio floater so I contributed music to about 5 or so games. Only 2 out of 5 games actually made it up, but I’m very happy with the results! You can play most of the ToJam11 games here: https://itch.io/jam/tojam-11. Check out “Last One Standing” and “In Consequence”. I wrote the music and did the sound effects for both of those.
S: What are your future plans/goals for your music? Are you wanting to become more involved with the gaming industry?
D: My ultimate goal is to do Video Game Music (or music in general) full time. Being in Toronto is a great step in that direction, because it allows me to network more and go to actual gaming themed events. I really enjoyed ToJam because it allowed me to work with like-minded individuals. It didn’t feel like a networking event, more-so an event where I could make a bunch of cool friends who share the same passion that I do. I’m always open to working on more games. If you need music or sound effects, shoot me a message!
Thanks so much for interviewing me! I actually had a good time thinking about what it took to make the RPG pack. I’m very happy with how it turned out, and I don’t regret giving it out for free. Time to work on my next release!
You can find David Vitas on all of the social media platforms below:
Website: http://www.davidvitas.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidvitas
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/davidvitasmusic/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/davidvitas
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/vitasdavid