The Music of Guild Wars 2 with Maclaine Diemer

July 24, 2022 @ 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Join us on July 24th as special guest Maclaine Diemer takes us behind his music for the hit game Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons! End of Dragons is the third expansion for Guild Wars 2, and one that presented a special challenge: how to revisit a fan favorite area from earlier iterations of the game while re-imagining it with more respect and sensitivity. Taking inspiration from Korean history and culture, the soundtrack needed to weave Korea’s unique musical traditions with the familiar sounds of the Guild Wars franchise. Maclaine will go through the process of educating oneself as an outsider, early missteps, incorporating Korean voices into the team, and ultimately shining a light on a form of music that is sorely underrepresented in Western media. Attendees will learn how they can expand their creative boundaries, understand and meld disparate musical traditions, and re-invent the sound of a well established franchise, all while avoiding the pitfalls of strip-mining a culture for commercial purposes.

This is an in person event! We will be returning to our old stomping grounds: Vitello’s in Studio City! Ticket price includes coffee, pastries and LUNCH!

Non-members – $30

Chamber – $25

Orchestra – $10

Philharmonic – FREE

Become an ASA member here!

ABOUT MACLAINE DIEMER

Maclaine Diemer is a composer for interactive and traditional media. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he entered the rock and roll rat race, climbing speaker towers and playing to sold out crowds across the U.S. and Canada with several bands before entering the game industry.

Now, with 14 years of experience in games, he has worked on some of the highest profile titles across multiple game console generations as well as PC. An insatiably curious musician and multi-instrumentalist, he works in a wide variety of styles. Whether performing stripped down arrangements of his Guild Wars 2 score at the first Twitchcon or conducting a full orchestra in Boca del Rio, Mexico, Maclaine lives to carry the torch for game music all over the world.

Notable credits include ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2 and Harmonix’s Rock Band franchises, Riot Games’ League of Legends, and Amazon Game Studios’ first major original title Crucible.

Maclaine lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his cat, Mr. Darcy.