Vertical Remixing in Guardians of the Galaxy: A Game Audio Breakdown

By Hagai Davidoff, Steinberg Certified Trainer, composer and sound designer.

While playing Guardians of the Galaxy, I came across a piece of game scoring that stopped me in my tracks. As Star-Lord puts on his visor to operate an alien elevator, the music shifts seamlessly between an orchestral layer and an electronic layer, following the player's action without ever breaking the flow of the scene.

That moment is a clean example of vertical remixing: one of the core techniques in modern game audio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjlXC5Zck1s