3 x 5 Interview with Kat Bella

In Fives:
1) In exactly five sentences, give us what you feel is important biographical information about your musical/sonic background.

When I was 10 years old I was given an electric keyboard for Christmas. I played it every day and slowly I began to learn songs by memory. Eventually, I learned chords and how to piece instruments together by layers. As I entered the online community, I shared my music and people began to request custom music from me. I decided to go public with my works by putting together an online portfolio.

2) Please state, in exactly five words, your interest in music/sound.

Instilling powerful emotions in others.

3) Now please state, in exactly five syllables, how you might describe your process of work.

Record, play, edit.

In Fours:

1) Using the rhythm of the famous four-note opening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (i.e. short, short, short, looong), please tell us a fact about you that we may not know.

I love to write.

2) Who are four people that have influenced your musical tastes?

My mom, my best friend, my older sister, and my online buddy Alex Weaver.

3) Name your preference: The Fab Four, The Four Tops or just good ol' Four-on-the-floor music?

Four on the floor.

In Threes:

1) Name three artists (composers, popular music, etc.) that make you feel all warm and squishy inside.

Steve Jablonsky, Jeremy Soule, and Within Temptation.

2) Name three artists that make you want to wretch.

Sheryl Crow, Kayne West, and Justin Timberlake.

3) Address either three of your listed artists (in either category) with one question each or three questions to one artist. For example: "Dear Mr. Bach, how do you have such magnificent counterpoint?"

- @ Within Temptation: “What equipment does your keyboardist use?”

- @ Jeremy Soule: “What made you decide to compose for video games?”

- @ Steve Jablonsky: “Can I spend the day with you?”

In Twos:

1) List and describe two projects on which you're currently working.

- Symphonic II: This is my second full album. It’s classical music with the potential to be a soundtrack for something fantasy related. It has many of the same melodies as Symphonic I, but with some darker themes.

- Arkalian Baldur’s Gate NPC Mod Soundtrack: This is being done for a good friend of mine who is creating a custom NPC for this popular RPG. The themes of this vary, though it has an overall adventurous sound, different tracks are being composed for different parts of the mod.

2) And how are they both going?

Well enough. Symphonic II I hope to finish by the holidays and Arkalian is a work in progress that will probably extend into 2010.

3) How do you feel they are challenging your current skill set?

Both are challenging in their own ways since the types of music being made are a little different, but Symphonic II has some sounds which are completely new to me. Combine the new sounds with the old themes in Symphonic I and yeah, I’d say that’s a good recipe to learn and grow.

In Ones:

1) Name one environmental element of the creative process that you find essential (e.g. coffee, a certain chair, etc.)

Volume. I need for the volume to be as high as possible while recording. I love being immersed in the music I’m making. That’s how I know if I’m doing a good job. If I’m not immersed, the song’s a dud.

2) What is one area in which you hope to improve your work?

I would love to expand my equipment to add some more variety to the sounds I create. Having the capability is one thing but having the means to exercise that capability makes for great music…or anything really.

3) What is one thing you would like people to know when listening to your work?

I’ve never taken a formal music lesson in my life.

Mother of Troy's Mother

I honestly can't remember the last time I was bored. I think it was some time around when the first Matrix came out, circa 1999. Today is definitely no exception.

My work with Team Ko'mano proved to be a wonderful experience. I was able to get the project completed on time and, for my first game audio project and the amount of time I had, I was relatively pleased with the quality of work. It was far different from what I've done before, but it was an extremely positive and invigorating experience. I know it's worth pursuing further.

Because of the great blend of personalities and work ethics, I am working on three more projects which are all to be completed by the end of the year. I'm knee deep in the next project, LEAP, an action oriented platformer wherein the player scales an ever-crumbling building. My aim is to be done with all audio assets by November 10th, if not sooner.

If you're on Facebook and want to stay posted, feel free to become a Team Ko'Mano Fan. Hey, you might even get a chance to play a build of a game!

Music from a Tree

From Living on Earth:

Diego Stocco, a sound designer in Burbank, California discovers the wealth of sounds he can produce by playing a tree.

3 x 5 Interview with Brian Vlasak

In Fives:

1) In exactly five sentences, give us what you feel is important biographical information about your musical/sonic background.

I was raised surrounded by the serene and sometimes austere natural environment that is upstate New York. This peaceful location stood in direct contrast to the turmoil caused by everyday life and the dichotomy that exists served as a “perfect storm” for the formation of my unique aesthetic goals. It was the formal education that I received at The Crane School of Music that allowed me to open up my musical tastes to the 20th-century because of the rigorous listening and score study requirements that my principal composition teacher enacted upon me. The tastes and understandings learned in my undergraduate schooling were complimented, augmented, and refined at the University of Iowa’s School of Music in such a way that it allowed me to develop a highly-developed sense of aesthetic goal. Since graduating with my Ph.D. in 2007, I have spent a great deal of time formulating and codifying a philosophical stance and writing music to explore the arguments laid out in this forthcoming treatise.

2) Please state, in exactly five words, your interest in music/sound.

Pure intellectual and emotional stimulation.

3) Now please state, in exactly five syllables, how you might describe your process of work.

Precise construction.

In Fours:

1) Using the rhythm of the famous four-note opening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony please tell us a fact about you that we may not know.

Not a big fan, Beethoven’s Fifth.

2) Who are four people that have influenced your musical tastes?

David Heinick -- Webern, Bartok, Glass, Reich, Crumb; David Gompper -- Robert HP Platz, Feldman, the Burgundian school; Ketty Nez -- Stockhausen, Saariaho; John C. Griffin -- Joplin, Korngold.

3) Name your preference: The Fab Four, The Four Tops or Four-on-the-floor music?

The Four Tops -- NEVER understood the appeal of the Beatles: they need haircuts to match those suits.

In Threes:

1) Name three artists (composers, popular music, etc.) that make you feel all warm and squishy inside.

Anton Webern, Robert HP Platz, and Depeche Mode

2) Name three artists that make you want to wretch.

John Adams, Alberto Ginestera, and American Idol (...while I recognize that American Idol is, indeed, not an artist, I view it as creating an archetype of drivel that I just cannot stand)

3) Address either three of your listed artists (in either category) with one question each or three questions to one artist. For example: "Dear Mr. Bach, how do you have such magnificent counterpoint?"

a. Dear Dr. Webern, how were you able to hear such crystalline, unique, and pristine sounds in your head during a time of blind nationalism and traumatic upheaval?


b. Members of Depeche Mode, how do you view your music’s perceived relevance now as opposed to twenty-five years ago? As a follow up, do you believe that the music written two-and-a-half decades ago sounds dated at all in terms of sound or message and do you see that status changing anytime soon? Why or why not?


c. Dear John Adams, why do you allow yourself to be called a post-minimalist when it appears that the whole reason you repeat patterns is not because of an overarching philosophy of non-linear, vertical time, but because you wish to use common triadic sonorities that function in a quasi-common practice fashion?

In Twos:

1) List and describe two projects in progress.

a. [untitled work] for clarinet and alto saxophone. This work is the second of five pieces to be included in my first “meta-work” wherein several pieces are to be linked together and played through back-to-back without interruption. This particular meta-work is an extended meditation on the nature of death in different societies throughout the world and the progression of the five pieces reflects the progression of time through the night. In this, the second work, the death poem of the 18thcentury monk Kyoshu serves both as the inspiration and formal underpinning upon which it is based.

b. “Violin Concerto” (title pending) for solo violin, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, viola, and violoncello. This “micro-concerto” was commissioned by Iowa City violinist Nikki Gnatek for performance in the fall of 2010. It is in the planning stages now, but should be around 15 minutes in length and in one movement.

2) And how are they both going?

The [untitled work] still needs a title, final tweaking, and entry into Finale, but the actual composition is complete. The “Violin Concerto” is in the planning stages now.

3) How do you feel they are challenging your current skill set?

My duet really stretched my aesthetic philosophy to the limit in that I wanted to write a piece that was rhythmically active -- without a consistent pulse -- and did not spend a great deal of time ruminating over one sustained sound and how different interactions with that same sound would change the perception of it. As for the Concerto, this pick up from where I left off with the duet and add to the challenge to my aesthetic views by forcing me to develop an extended piece over an extended period of time without interruption. I’m a big “sectionalizer”, so I foresee the idea of a one-movement-work as being particularly challenging to me; however, as David Heinick taught me, if one were to grow complacent in one’s compositional goals and aims, we as composers would cease to strive for anything more than what we are comfortable with.

In Ones:

1) Name one environmental element of the creative process that you find essential (e.g. coffee, a certain chair, etc.)

Last year I purchased an Amish-made writing desk and matching chair that serves as nothing more than my writing space. I have found that having that one particular spot in which to compose fosters creativity, because it is simply not meant for anything else; let’s think of it as a “safe-place”. In addition to that, I must have my small, black Moleskin writing journal in which to work out formal and pitch relationships and my colored pencils with which to help me maintain order with my pitch-collection choices.

2) What is one area in which you hope to improve your work?

To become more spontaneous! All too often, I find that I have written myself into a corner and have to erase days worth of work simply because I refused to think beyond constructing an object with specific rules associated with it; that error, of course, not only wastes valuable time, but also can be quite discouraging.

3) What is one thing you would like people to know when listening to your work?

Listen with an open mind. Know that when I approach a work it is to explore a certain sound and that how we perceive that sound changes with every small utterance of something around it; I suppose this is the influence that Glass, Reich, and Feldman have had on me. I am absolutely fascinated with the idea one’s concept of the linear progression of time “getting lost in the music” and wish to impart that same fascination upon the audience. Indeed, it is only when we slow down our thought process that we are not only able to truly begin to understand the nature of sound and how it changes over time, but also tune out all that is around us and work towards a sense of peace and tranquility that is often lacking from our lives. Perhaps this is the ultimate goal of Western art music: to allow us to forget, even for just a moment, all of the horror and pedantry of everyday life and replace it with the pure experience that is exercising our intellect and feeling with our heart simultaneously.

Vhen I grow up, I vant zees job.

A quick look into the sound design of "The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Athena." After watching, I realize how much fun this kind of work is. And, wearing stilettos is sometimes required to get the job done.

It Starts, Akimbo

Here’s just a quick update on my latest project for class. We’ve moved past programming timbres using the a Kurzweill K2000 and are now in the composition phase. The goal is to create a work around six minutes using all the sounds (about 95) for a specific, formal intent. I’ve included a PDF of my intent in my A/V materials should you be interested in reading about it. A brief snippet:


“This project focuses on the relationship between symmetry and asymmetry and how each of these aspects might be enclosed within or superimposed upon the other.“

Jolly day!

3 x 5 Interview with Nathan Madsen

In Fives:

1) In exactly five sentences, give us what you feel is important biographical information about your musical/sonic background.

I started studying various instruments including saxophone, piano, flute, trombone and percussion as well as singing in choir at a young age. I come from a very musical family which has always strongly encourage music performance and excellence. I have two degrees in music- a bachelors and masters. I started messing with audio in college by making funny songs for my roommates like "Math is Fun" and "I have to go" which seems to be a romantic ballad but is actually all about having to use the bathroom. I love working with all things audio and strive to constantly better myself, my craft and deepen my understanding.

2) Please state, in exactly five words, your interest in music/sound.

I love all things audio.

3) Now please state, in exactly five syllables, how you might describe your process of work.

emotive - thinking.

In Fours:

1) Using the rhythm of the famous four-note opening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (i.e. short, short, short, looong), please tell us a fact about you that we may not know.

I love to skiiiiiiiiiiiii. :)

2) Who are four people that have influenced your musical tastes?

John Williams, my grandfather (a conductor and professor of music), Nobuo Uematsu, Maurice Ravel

3) Name your preference: The Fab Four, The Four Tops or just good ol' Four-on-the-floor music?

The Fab Four.

In Threes:

1) Name three artists (composers, popular music, etc.) that make you feel all warm and squishy inside.

Guilliaume Boulard, Miles Davis, John Williams

2) Name three artists that make you want to wretch.

Kayne West, Kayne West, Kayne West (he deserves all three)

3) Address either three of your listed artists (in either category) with one question each or three questions to one artist.

Kayne West, why do you do such stupid, ride things?

In Twos:

1) List and describe two projects on which you're currently working.

Lego Universe: MMO: A fun Lego game! That's about all I can say right now.
Jumpgate Evolution: MMO An epic space game! That's also about all I can say right now.
 
2) And how are they both going?

Pretty good.

3) How do you feel they are challenging your current skill set?

They are challenging my with regards to: Overall scope

In Ones:

1) Name one environmental element of the creative process that you find essential (e.g. coffee, a certain chair, etc.)

Inspiration (I can make all of the other details come into place)

2) What is one area in which you hope to improve your work?

Sound design

3) What is one thing you would like people to know when listening to your work?

That I do my best every time.

What's Done is Done

Well, we made it! After two intense weeks of writing, editing and sound designing, I have completed my first game audio project. What an experience! It has been a great experience working with these two guys:

They were encouraging, patient and offered a lot of latitude to me with regard to the music. I love their work ethic. Here's an additional image of the original game, Solar (basic).

I will have a release date for Solar (advanced) in a few days. I will also be including a post-mortem of my experience with writing, including formal and substance choices. Here's to fun!

3 x 5 Interview with John C. Griffin

In Fives:

1) In exactly five sentences, give us what you feel is important biographical information about your musical/sonic background.

I grew up exposed to a wide variety of music. My parents listened to everything from Hank Williams to George Gershwin to Richard Wagner and everything in between. In junior high, I became obsessed with film and television music, which I believe convinced me to be a composer more than anything else. It was only later that I discovered rock and pop music. When I got to college, I became more familiar with twentieth-century avant-garde music.

2) Please state, in exactly five words, your interest in music/sound.

Music is my life, man!

3) Now please state, in exactly five syllables, how you might describe your process of work.

One note at a time.

In Fours:

1) Using the rhythm of the famous four-note opening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (i.e. short, short, short, looong), please tell us a fact about you that we may not know.

I like hard roooock!

2) Who are four people that have influenced your musical tastes?

Mom, Dad, my friend Matt Priest, my composition instructor David Gompper

3) Name your preference: The Fab Four, The Four Tops or good ol' Four-on-the-floor music?

The Fab Four, baby!

In Threes:

1) Name three artists (composers, popular music, etc.) that make you feel all warm and squishy inside.

The Beatles, Jerry Goldsmith, Bela Bartók

2) Name three artists that make you want to wretch.

Michael Bolton, Creed, Jim Brickman

3) Address either three of your listed artists (in either category) with one question each or three questions to one artist. For example: "Dear Mr. Bach, how do you have such magnificent counterpoint?"

“Dear Creed: Why is your vocal style so irritating and yet so similar to other bands?”


“Dear Beatles: How were you able to write such complex songs without being able to read or notate music?”


“Dear Bela: Did you intend the third movement of “Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste” to be creepy, or do I just think that because it was used in The Shining?”

In Twos:

1) List and describe two projects on which you're currently working.

An arrangement of Frank Zappa’s “Get Whitey” for the Opus 21 Ensemble, and a flute and tape piece for Martha Councell-Vargas.

2) And how are they both going?

I have just started the Zappa project, and it is going okay. The flute and tape piece is still at the conceptual stage.

3) How do you feel they are challenging your current skill set?

Reducing a piece composed for 24 instruments down to 6 or 7 instruments has been the biggest challenge with the Zappa, for obvious reasons. I have never written an instrument and tape piece before that did not utilize a click track, so that will definitely be a challenge.

In Ones:

1) Name one environmental element of the creative process that you find essential (e.g. coffee, a certain chair, etc.)

Peace and quiet. (I guess that’s two elements, but…)

2) What is one area in which you hope to improve your work?

Orchestration

3) What is one thing you would like people to know when listening to your work?

As you may have surmised from above, I am inspired by an enormous range of influences, all of which creep into all of my music, I’m sure.

Incoming Interviews: The 3 x 5

In an effort to get to know people and create a wider community for myself and others, I have put together an interview called the 3 x 5. Its aim is to not only learn more about the interviewee, but to stimulate creativity in thought process and answers and also learn more about each other (e.g. how we think, what our creative goals are, our working process, etc.).

My goal is to collect responses from a wide range of composers, sound designers, audio programmers, etc. and publish the results on my blog for all to see. My hope is to have enough responses so as to post a new interview each week.

I'm not biased as to who is to be interviewed (students to seasoned pros), so long as there is passion and an open-mind to the interview questions.
 
I've already received a handful of responses and will begin posting them this week, but if you feel like being taken to task and want to be considered for an interview, shoot me an email at grhufnagl (at) gmail (dot) com and I will speak with you about the process.

Check back in a few days for the first interview along with some great music. Happy listening!

NYT: "Classical" Composers & Video Games: A Fun Read

An older article from the NY Times, but a nice read for the weekend. Enjoy!

IN the video game BioShock turbulent Rachmaninoff-like music plays while an evil composer named Cohen shouts, “Presto, presto” before incinerating a hapless pianist and his instrument. In Battlefield: Bad Company gamers hear a string quintet playing earthy music redolent of Bartok. In Alone in the Dark: Inferno the evocative timbre of the female choral group the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices adds to the suspense as the hero fights for survival in Central Park.



These are just a few of the recent soundtracks written and performed by classically trained musicians who are finding new outlets for their talents in the booming video game industry.

Read the full article here.

Gamasutra Feature with Rob Bridgett

I've put a permanent link of Gamasutra Audio Features under my Audio Resources, but I thought this one was worth sharing with my formalist friends.

Here's a look into the process by which some audio designers might create the dramatic audio curve in the development cycle of a game. To quote the beginning.

Video game sound can often be perceived as a car-crash of sound effects, wall to wall music, and out of context or hard-to-understand dialogue. However, there are some well established artistic techniques within similar media, such as TV and Film sound, that can help allow for moments of relative calm which serve to intensify moments of subsequent chaos, without needing to turn everything up to 11 all the time.

This feature examines common examples of dynamics from horror cinema and how those rules can be adapted to game design and game audio in any genre through graphic visualisation and planning techniques.

(example of a graph to plot out the audio intensity curve)