Christopher Tin's 'Baba Yetu' composition for Civilization IV was awarded video gaming's first Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement with Vocalist(s) during the 53rd Annual Grammy Award pre-telecast event in L.A. That's right, the pre-telecast, because heaven forbid one of the most important milestones in gaming be witnessed by a crowd of over 50 seat fillers.
The track appeared in Tin's first album, Calling All Dawns, back in 2009. It rose to popularity soon after appearing as the epic intro song to Civ IV, and has been performed live in countless venues since.
%26ldquo;This win is actually sort of historic because this song was written for a videogame, and this is the first time that a piece of videogame music has won a Grammy,%26rdquo; said Tin in his acceptance speech, adding, %26ldquo;I hope this brings more awareness to the fact that great music is being written for videogames out there and hopefully other game composers will follow me up here on the stage some time.%26rdquo;
Above: Have a listen!
Sadly, Tin's heartfelt encouragement to industry composers was interrupted by Kanye West who stormed the stage to proclaim, %26ldquo;Yo Tin. I'm really happy for you, imma let you finish, but Silje Nergaard and the Metropole Orchesta Strings had one of the best instrumental arrangements of all time.%26rdquo;
Stale pop-culture references aside, congratulations to Tin on his landmark victory. May it lead to more mainstream recognition for video game musicians; preferably the kind that isn't pre-taped in front of an audience who came for the free food.
Feb 14, 2011
[Source:LA Times]
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