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this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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classical/orchestral has a prestige that codes as timeless. if you've ever played an orchestral version (like professionally arranged, played) of something like pop music, metal or video game music for someone who is unfamiliar with it, they have a hard time describing it. even if they have been exposed to the themes and find it familiar, they have a hard time placing it.
but yeah, synth has only been around for about 40 years, so people place it as being something newly arrived at a specific moment in time, while orchestra goes back before any of my known ancestors. before anything anyone alive's great grandparents exoerienced., making it seem culturally eternal.
I'm not saying an individual piece can't be repetitive or stale or just plain crap. that's a composer critique. I was making a response to the genre.
also, when done effective, full orchestras can be crazy evocative, which might be why the lazy/uncreative default to it when they think "big". they have a memory of "big feelings music" and it probably was an orchestra. sort of like someone not knowing what to paint or what they are trying to communicate, but sourcing only the most expensive pigments and putting effort into having the widest possible palette without considering that a narrower range can work even better.
in theory you can use an orchestra in any setting or time, but connecting to a place or moment requires some cultural literacy that probably a lot of game designers didn't go to school for or recognize the value of.
that's why I imagine they jump to the do it all, one size fits all epic orchestra composer, instead of hiring like Daniel Lanois or whatever.