Dark Action Device - War of the Worlds

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:04:55 +0100

Here is a quick little dark action device, which I first heard John Williams use in Minority Report, but which he then expanded upon in Spielberg’s remake of War of the Worlds.

He uses it quite a lot in this score, in cues like “The Ferry Scene”, and “Attack on the Car”. It’s very effective in conjuring up a sense of urgency, dread and action.

FerrySceneDevice.jpg

Pitching for Tintin Video Game

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:16:48 +0100

Hergé’s Tintin is a childhood hero of mine, so when I found out Ubisoft were making a Tintin game, I had to pitch! Here is a spec demo I sent them last week.

Here is the written score: TheAdventuresofTintin.zip

I didn’t get the job unfortunately, so better luck next time. I’ve already started on a few more pitches for other games. It’s great to be pitching and networking again after being out of the loop for a while.

Also, I’ve made a new little page with info on my Skype lessons because I get way too many emails about that, so that should answer lots of questions off the bat.

New Rig, New Assistant and New Cue

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:22:51 +0100

Most of my time since my last blog post has been spent moving my studio and setting up my new rig, a truly wonderful 8-core Mac Pro. It’s replacing my old virtual orchestra, an unwieldy and crash-prone 7-computer setup (6 servers running kontakt, and a main daw).

Amazingly, this Mac Pro can run my entire orchestral template, with no need to freeze tracks, even in a huge tutti. So each CPU core is at least as powerful as one of my old computers, and it seems OS X is capable of juggling all that traffic perfectly.

Now working with me is Luc Suarez, one of my students, who is training as a production assistant, so I have the immense pleasure of someone else mocking up my music. I hope to be working with Luc on game scores we will be demoing for over the coming weeks as a team. Having a production assistant will enable me to focus all my energy on composing, and count on a second pair of ears throughout a project.

Yesterday Luc finished mocking up a 4-page test piece I composed a couple of weeks ago, which I’m thrilled to share here:

LucMockup.mp3

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From Dark to Romantic to Sweeping

Wed, 3 Jun 2009 10:12:34 +0200

Here is another mini-cue comprised of several devices I’ve been studying. The first page is a device I have seen many times in John Williams’ scores for Star Wars, when he’s depicting a villain, particularly underscoring dialogue. It was interesting to see that it’s parallel major sixths in very deep instruments -- and care is needed for it to not become too muddy.

The music then transitions through a short piú mosso which was freely composed, to a lyrical oboe solo. The orchestral scenario here is a device obviously used in many scores for romantic situations, but I felt it was particularly well done in David Arnold’s The Musketeer, which is the score I’m emulating here.

The big modulating crescendo that follows is a device I spotted in McNeely’s Return to Neverland, where the destination of the modulation is unclear until the very end, where the music moves to quite a remote key. Good voice leading and a well-orchestrated crescendo hold it together.

The final sweeping theme was an opportunity to emulate the big mushy “friendship” theme in Williams’ Harry Potter scores, with triple octave strings, horns and flutes in the melody, open voice trombones/tuba in the harmony, celli and bassoons offering broken chords, and the middle woodwinds bubbling along with arpeggios.

From Dark to Romantic to Sweeping.mp3

From_Dark_to_Romantic_to_Sweeping_1.pdf
From_Dark_to_Romantic_to_Sweeping_2.pdf
From_Dark_to_Romantic_to_Sweeping_3.pdf
From_Dark_to_Romantic_to_Sweeping_4.pdf

Various Dark Devices

Tue, 2 Jun 2009 14:54:35 +0200

Rather than mock up my emulations of single devices, I’m leaning towards building miniature cues comprised of several devices I am eager to learn. It’s not only more fun, but also more challenging, because you have to find a way to link up the devices convincingly. In particular, this brings about the healthy challenge of placing the devices in such a way that the overall harmony has a sense of progression.

The first device is a big orchestral “shock”, I forget from which movie I got the device, but it’s interesting to note that there are no orchestral effects, or unusual playing techniques involved. Just specific notes written down for them to play.

The second device, with the clarinet solo, the soft and deep string chords and the eerie tremolando violins (divisi) was a device that captivated my attention when I watched the move Paris je t’aime, scored by Pierre Adenot. It’s the scene with the vampire. I love the vintage, golden era Hollywood sound of this device.

There follows a fanfare which I had transcribed from Anakin Defeats Sebulba (Starwars Episode I). It’s not the same notes, but it has the same feel and harmonic function (dominant).

Finally, the music settles into a 5/4 groove, similar to those John Williams uses in films like Minority Report and War of the Worlds. I really love those grooves and will continue to try and emulate those until I feel I’ve nailed it.

Various Dark Devices.mp3

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Pondering Woodwinds

Fri, 15 May 2009 13:47:12 +0200

Many of the hundreds of film score devices I am studying are so short that they hardly merit a blog post – especially kid’s stuff. So every now and again I pile a few into a micro-cue. This one brings together a few devices featuring woodwinds and their capacity to evoke a humorous/pondering underscore.

It’s wonderfully enlightening to take the time to transcribe and absorb all those pearls of wisdom in such scores as Home Alone, and to realise they are all so simple and transparent. I hope this small sample is interesting – take a look!

Pondering Woodwinds.mp3

Pondering Woodwinds.jpg

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Pondering Woodwinds.tif

Quiet Wizardry

Fri, 15 May 2009 13:39:20 +0200

Of course, shadowing single voices with block triads is nothing new; we have seen that all over the works of the twentieth century, and all over film scores too. But I found it interesting how cadencial it felt when John Williams used this device in the prologue to Harry Potter.

I noticed that, in order to round off the phrase, John Williams would outline a cadence with the top voice, and it didn’t matter that the shadowing triads were completely non-diatonic. Also, a tonic pedal throughout (orchestrated so it remains opaque in colour) helps ground it in a key.

I’ve posted a very similar use of this device, with a more chromatic, meandering line than the original (which admittedly was more simple and elegant), just to test out the idea.

Quiet Wizardry.mp3

Quiet_wizardry_1.jpg
Quiet_wizardry_2.jpg

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Quiet Wizardry_0001.tif
Quiet Wizardry_0002.tif

How to Get Your First Job Composing for Video Games

Sat, 9 May 2009 19:57:27 +0200

A lot of people have asked me how I got into composing for games (and especially how to land that first paying gig). While my career is very short so far I do think I can share a couple of pointers for people hoping to get their foot in the door. I think the plan I followed when I got started is doable by anyone, and a fantastic way of getting that first gig in the video game industry.

The focus here is not just getting hired on a project no matter what. The focus here is on getting hired on a really great project that's right for you.

Step 1: Know Your Forte

When I decided I wanted to score a video game, I realized my endeavors would be all the more successful (but more importantly: enjoyable!) if I focused on finding a project that needed music in a genre I truly loved.

This may seem rather obvious written out like that, but I think many people looking for their first gig forget this. With first-time pro composers, there is sometimes an "I'll do anything!" mentality, that could land you a job that's not a great match for your strengths, resulting in less enjoyment, less musical quality and a less satisfied game developer.

In my particular case, I wanted to find a game that was:
- story-driven like a film
- produced in a cinematic style
- adventurous and larger-than-life, requiring a symphonic score
- character-driven, hopefully requiring themes for the characters

So what kind of game you would do a really great job scoring? What kind of style would you really love writing in? What's your forte?

Step 2: Detective Work; Finding a Game that's Ripe

Having decided on the kind of game you'd like to score, it's time to do some detective work. Not only do you have to track down projects that are a stylistic match for you; you have to track down projects that are "ripe".

A project that's "ripe" is a project that's in the right stage of the game's development process. You want to hit them when they are actually looking for a composer, or (even better) should be looking but haven't started yet.

Typically, the entire first year (or more) of a game's development is spent coding. There are no graphics yet, no animations, etc. These are the embryonic stages of a game's development and they are not even remotely interested in you yet.

At some point during the second or third year, the game starts looking good (but unfinished and buggy). This is when they generally either hire or get their in-house sound designer involved. Very often, this same person will be in charge of outsourcing the music for the game. Obviously this is where you come in -- just at the right time!

An exception to the second/third-year ripeness guideline, is when a developer that has licensed an engine. What this means is that they have bought the technology they might have spent their first year-or-so coding, and are ready to get straight in there and start fleshing out the content. This means the game will be "ripe" for you much earlier.

So how on earth does one actually find out what projects are cooking, and how ripe they are?

I did my detective work at the following websites:
GameSpy release dates index
Adventure Gamers release calendar
Gamasutra

When I was looking for my first gig, I built myself a shortlist of games that fit my idea of a great project. In my particular case that meant going through the RPG (Role Playing Game) and Adventure sections, making a note of games that looked character-driven, filmy and that just basically seemed like interesting projects.

I realized that the projected release date of the game is a great clue as to how ripe the projects are, and of course I found I could filter the results so I was only looking at games to be released a year or so from now. If a game is three years away from release, they are still just coding. If a game is four months away from release, the composer is already hired -- forget about it!

Once you have some promising titles, google is your friend. What projects already have a composer attached? Discard those. What projects are begging for you to step in? Google will help you build up all kinds of valuable information on the games you are tracking.

Step 3: Find the Gatekeeper

After spending quite a few days researching about two or three hundred games, I was left with a shortlist of three titles. These were titles that absolutely fit my own stylistic preferences, were definitely ripe, and had no composer attached that I was aware of.

Time to find out who's in charge of hiring the composer. Personally I just called the front desk of the three developers (two European and one in San Francisco) and politely asked if I could speak to the Audio Director.

I guess this was a little forward because in two of the cases they worked out that I was cold calling and weren't really too keen on putting my call through. So I asked if I could email the front desk, and if they would be kind enough to forward my email to the Audio Director. They were fine with that. Perhaps you could go straight for that approach.

The reception at the third developer was happy to put my call through to the Audio Director, but he didn't pick up! Since I was going to be writing two other emails, I just asked the reception to be ready to forward my email on to the Audio Director, and they were very happy to do that. Incidentally, the more open and friendly developer was the one I ended up working with.

In any case -- your mission at this point is to simply find out exactly who you're going to be applying to.

Step 4: Making Contact

My decision in my first contact with the Audio Directors of my three chosen games was to present an mp3 showreel link directly in the email. I felt it was important to make an immediate impression musically, and I'd recommend this approach to you. I got email replies from all three Audio Directors!

I also felt it was very important for the showreel to be specifically-prepared for the game I was applying to. The game based in San Francisco was set in a Lord of the Rings-inspired world, so obviously the showreel I sent them was completely different from the urban thriller the French guys were making, which was still different from the showreel I prepared for the Norwegian guys making a sci-fi/fantasy adventure game.

I can't say this for sure, but I'd say sending a very generic showreel with a very broad range of styles isn't likely to inspire a response.

It's important to show a keen interest in the game they are currently developing, showing that you're up to scratch with all the insider's info you've gathered, without being too forward.

Another important thing to do is to show you know about their company. Stuff like "I've been looking at the titles you've released in the past and was very impressed with your sound work on ................ . I'd love to participate in that kind of a production!". If you're genuine in your remarks it comes across, and there's nothing like a keen applicant in the eyes of an Audio Director.

Step 5: You Got a Response... Now What?

My reaction to getting email responses was to immediately offer to score a short (1 minute) example of my work for free. I offered for them to send a short cinematic or some in-game footage for me to score. That way they could make a very informed decision on weather they might want to work with me, or not.

I was very open about this, and not at all pushy. I just expressed that I would find it fun, and I was perfectly willing to make a small sample.

Two of them accepted, and one declined, saying they were very impressed with the showreel as it was, and that they didn't think it was necessary. But I did it anyway, even for the ones that declined! I did some detective work and found a cinematic for an older game they had done, and re-scored it, just so they got a taste of what I could offer their productions.

I heartily recommend this kind of enthusiastic approach when you are communicating with your possible future Audio Director. Going above and beyond at this stage is what puts on top of that pile of showreels they have.

So what happened with my three developers? The San Francisco guys offered me a gig for $200 per minute of music (mixed and mastered), and I declined because I thought such a low budget would be difficult to sustain for me, and the quality would suffer. I also found it odd that they were willing to work with someone they had only just met through a handful of emails. French guys decided I was too classical for their urban thriller and declined. But they were very graceful and paid me for my sample.

At this stage, remember not to be disheartened when you are rejected on stylistic grounds. In my case, I wouldn't have wanted to spend months working on an electronic thriller score if that's not what I loved doing -- and the same goes for you!

The Norwegian guys were very enthusiastic, and offered to pay me to come over and meet them.

It's important here to note that this was the project that best matched my style of symphonic scoring. At the time I viewed the situation as a fantastic stroke of luck -- but in retrospect I don't think it was. If you truly focus on finding a project in a genre you're very good at, it will be a very natural result for the developer to be enthusiastic. This is the best situation for everyone involved, so go ahead and home-in on your favorite candidates.

Step 6: Meeting the Developer

My personal experiences aside, you will find most serious developers (i.e., the kind of developers you want to work with) are happy to put you up in a hotel and pay your travel costs to meet you in person.

Now's the time to prepare for your meeting. I decided it was important to have some fresh music to show them when I got there, so I gathered up cues I knew I hadn't sent them yet, and I even composed a new cue for their game, inspired by some early screenshots and artwork I found on IGN.

I also prepared a small presentation about my approach to film or game scoring, where I took a little scene from StarWars and re-scored it. That way I could show them my approach to scoring a scene bar-by-bar, in a fun and interesting little presentation for them, which broke the ice and gave way to good conversation.

In any case, I'd say your mission at this stage is to turn up with some fresh music, a very keen interest in their company and perhaps some kind of presentation on your approach to scoring to picture.

Step 7: Negotiating the Contract

I admit this part was a little uncomfortable for me, especially since it was my first time. I was ideally looking for a composing budget plus a recording budget, so I could record my score with a live orchestra (or at least live instruments to sweeten the MIDI production). I was looking for €500 composing plus €275 recording budget per minute of music.

In my meeting with the producer and the audio director it became clear that they were not prepared to commit that kind of a budget to the music, which I found reasonable since they had not commissioned live orchestra recordings before, and I was a first-timer.

Their first offer was €300 per minute, and I was very reluctant to give up my recording budget at the beginning, but after about an hour of chatting we settled on €500 per minute of music, all inclusive (that's roughly 700 US dollars). I had a good think about whether I could come up with a long symphonic score on that budget, and I felt confident that I could.

At this point I asked them very clearly: "Are you sure you're comfortable with this amount? I don't want you to regret it down the line and feel ripped off."

I think it was a very important thing to ask at that point, because if you are asking for more money than they were thinking of spending, you need to make sure your relationship is not going to be bitter when deadlines loom and the chaos of game development kicks in.

Case in point: while working on this title I made a blunder of the main title the developer wanted when they were making their big Game Developer's Conference presentation, so I spent all night rewriting the cue so they would have it in time, and handed it in a 5 a.m. Despite the stress everyone was under, the general atmosphere was great, and that's something I really treasured at the time.

So when you are at the negotiating table, make sure everyone's happy, or walk away! Having your first gig but being miserable for months on end will not be worth it.

How did Things Turn Out?

Things turned out fantastic. In writing my score for the game Dreamfall (Funcom/Aspyr) I had the opportunity to write a feature-length symphonic score for a game with an amazing story and great characters. I built up a great relationship with the developer. I was able to release the soundtrack album on CD and iTunes. Reviewers loved the score, and it was awarded and nominated for several industry awards, including IGN, gamespot, gamespy, GANG, and even MTV.

But I'm not telling you this to impress you. I'm telling you this for you to feel impressed with the opportunities you might have if you really apply yourself to finding the right project. You can do so much better than "I'll take anything and go from there!".

By seeking the right project you will be afforded the opportunity to write the music you are best at (and most love writing), forge a great relationship with those you work with, and gain credit on a project that establishes you in the genre of your choosing.

Happy composing!

Pesky Chances

Tue, 5 May 2009 11:22:34 +0200

Jar Jar Binks may be one of the most annoying characters to grace our screens, but he yielded some pretty cool music.

I was interested to see wide chords built out of a mixture of thirds and fourths in some of the underscore music for this character, and also the treatment of such chords as homogenous blocks, to be wielded as one wields a single voice.

A little device I discovered in Home Alone (the bassoons) make a guest appearance in what is otherwise just a test to try out some of these wide block chords.

Pesky Chances.mp3

pesky_chances.jpg

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Pesky Chances.tif

Jango’s Counterpoint & Plummet

Tue, 5 May 2009 11:22:32 +0200

I’ve been looking at John Williams’ exhilarating action writing for the Star Wars fight scene between Obi-Wan and Jango Fett. On the first page of this example we see a three part counterpoint between high, mid and low elements in the orchestra. The second page is a look at the device Williams uses to describe Jango’s plummeting down, almost falling off the hangar platform they are fighting on.

While my emulation of the devices is somewhat convincing, there is far less clarity in this example than in John Williams’ cue.

It’s interesting to see how certain basic counterpoint principles escape us when we are distracted by novel harmonic language. For instance, a typical mistake is to assume the pulse is clear, but not giving your listener a chance to clearly grasp the meter. The horns and trumpets enter on the second beat of bar two, giving a sense of 4/4, which was not the intention.

I’ll continue to look at this kind of writing and see if I can gain the kind of clarity Williams has, without loosing the sense of chaos and exhilaration.

Jangos_Counterpoint_+_Plummet.mp3

Jangos_Counterpoint_+_Plummet.jpg
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Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Jango.zip

A Couple of Light Flourishes

Tue, 5 May 2009 11:22:30 +0200

I’ve been looking at some of those elusive orchestral flourishes in Return to Neverland and Attack of the Clones, and it’s often surprising how light and simple these things are once you work them out. It’s also easy to be too heavy-handed with the orchestration, with too many doublings, when simplicity and clarity work best.

“Pan’s Flourish” is simply an upward run and stab, but it’s interesting to look at how the orchestration helps accentuate and clarify the gesture.

Pan's Flourish.mp3

pans_flourish.jpg

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Pan's Flourish.tif

“Neapolitan Flourish” sounds elusive, but is just an accompanied melody with very simple orchestration. The Neapolitan harmony and the way it trails off is something I spotted in Williams’ Attack of the Clones.

Neapolitan Flourish.mp3

neapolitan_flourish.jpg

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Neopolitan Flourish.tif

Rising Adventure Triads

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:19:19 +0200

Today I’m looking at an awesome device that I found in Joel McNeely’s score for Return to Neverland. I used this device in a short fragment, which inspired a couple of bars either side.

The opening is just your typical huge tutti with an orchestration very similar to the starwars opening, with broadly-orchestrated call-and-answer counterpoint between high and low elements.

Then comes the “rising adventure triads” device which I took from McNeely’s score, where triads rise non-diatonically while they keep on resolving their sus4 suspensions. The effect is really fanciful and optimistic.

The last couple of bars use a nice device that I discovered in Williams’ score for Saving Private Ryan (and have since noticed all over the place), where you set up a dominant chord but leave the leading tone hanging; the music modulates up a major third, so where you expected the leading tone to resolve it becomes the fifth of the next chord. I associate that harmonic device to a sense of elation and it seems to work really well for that family movie adventure feel here.

Download mp3

Download the Score

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Rising Adventure Triads.tif

A Few Mickey-Mousing Devices

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:32:56 +0200

I’ve been looking at the Home Alone scores and a number of other great scores with a lot of mickey-mousing.

The first device I used today (bar 1) is a typical surprise stab you’ve heard in a hundred scores, but it’s interesting to work out what’s really going on there. The way the bassoons come in slightly late, and simply noticing exactly what kind of chord it is was instructive.

Next up is a device where the bassoons are harmonised in major thirds during a meandering melody. This is from Home Alone – he uses that one a lot.

I don’t remember where the next one comes from (bar 4), but it’s a great device for those moments where you’re expecting something sudden to happen on screen but the wait seems eternal. Like turning a corner in anticipation. In this case you’re just outlining the fifth and root of a chord chromatically (while the root itself is held), by opposite motion.

The last one I discovered in McNeely’s Return to Neverland, where brash, playful statements are made in high woodwinds and xylophone, usually using distantly-related triads (in this case, a tritone away from eachother).

Download the mp3

Download the Score

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Mickey Mousing Devices.tif

Low Growls from Jurassic Park

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:38:00 +0200

There’s a device I’ve been aware of for some time which can best be described as “low orchestral growls”. I first heard it in John Williams Jurassic Park scores, representing the velociraptors, I believe. I’ve since noticed these “growls” in other scores, including Don Davis’ sequel score Jurassic Park III, and the more recent David Arnold James Bond scores.

After some pondering I’m satisfied I’ve found a good way of achieving this effect. Have a listen and check the score. Today’s fragment also includes a mysterious tutti that I wanted to emulate from a cue in Jurassic Park III. All of the notes in the hamonic minor scale sound at once, but arranged according to the harmonic series, so it just sounds like a particularly rich C minor chord.

Download the mp3

Download the Score

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Jurassic Low Growls.tif

Tinkerbell's Frantic Romp

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:25:04 +0200

As I get ready to get back into some commercial scoring, I’m brushing up on my chops by transcribing film music that I love and then putting the devices I discover to use in a small, fully orchestrated fragment.

I’ve been looking at John Williams’ wonderful score for Hook, and a few other Peter Pan-themed movies like Return to Neverland and Tinkerbell, both scored by Joel McNeely.

These scores are a gold mine for brilliant orchestral devices. After working out exactly what’s going on, I’ve put a few of them to the test in a short fragment, Tinkerbell’s Frantic Romp, which uses ten or so different devices, mostly taken from Hook.

I found it interesting to discover how much the octatonal scale is used in this style and that was definitely instructive, especially how it is mixed with functional harmony.

Also it was interesting to see how you can modulate with zero preparation and it will sound natural as long as the harmonic rhythm is constant. The thing is, once you get it going, the listener is expecting changes at every turn anyway, so unprepared modulations don’t sound surprising as they would in another context.

It was good practice to apply the general principles of counterpoint not to voices, but to whole orchestral elements as they dance, intertwine and give way to one another. With so much going on you really have to be clear and elegant as your elements come in and out.

I have a huge folder full of about 500 orchestral devices that I’m going to do this kind of thing with – I’m pretty excited. Hollywood film scores are rich with tradition and that’s something I hope to absorb in earnest.

Download mp3

Score Page 1
Score Page 2
Score Page 3

Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Tinkerbell.zip