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Kniggit:
What 'stuff' do you use to compose? Some tracking program obviously,
but what about sampling? Where did those samples come from?
AB: We used Impulse Tracker for the composition and Sound Forge to create our samples. Some samples were from other tracker composers such as Necros, Basehead, and Skaven, but most were original. Kniggit: How long did it take you to do a typical Unreal song? AB: Anywhere from a day to a week, but most in just a few days. Kniggit: Do you have a favorite one? AB: Hard to say but believe it or not, probably the end title piece. Kniggit: What are your main musical influences? Was the Unreal music a 'stretch' in any way, or pretty representative of your preferred style? Any favorite works, either regular albums or game soundtracks? AB: Influences? John Williams, the man himself, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Michael Kamen, Orbital, Orb, FSOL, John Mcglaughlin, Tribe Called Quest, a lot of 80s bands like Journey, and a lot of computer music composers, too numerous to mention. Unreal was a stretch but not too much of one. The more designers push us the better our repertoire gets. Favorite game soundtrack: Strider for the Genesis (yes, its an incredible work of composition even though it isn't live music.. my favorite computer game is probably Dig by LucasArts), favorite movie soundtrack: "Alien" by Jerry Goldsmith. Kniggit: Any other games that come to your mind as implementing music in cool or nifty ways? Any game composers you really admire? AB: Wow... that's a tough one, there are tons of soundtracks I'm fond of that do new and interesting things, written by people like Mark Miller at Crystal Dynamics to Michael Land at LucasArts. Some incredible PSX tracks too. I loved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I've been following game music for awhile, from taping them in the arcades ("Side Arms", "Super Contra", "Rolling Thunder" are all on a tape of mine) and at home (NES, Genesis, and lots of games from each are on tape), to writing about a hundred Ad Lib card songs, to actually meeting George Sanger ("The Fatman"), Dave Govett, and the guys who did the Wing Commander music at the Computer Game Developers Conference. |