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Interview with Jon Holland
Do you see the industry leaning more towards interactive music? Personally, I’m not sure I’m all that interested in it. It could be interactive to a point, I suppose. Maybe I’ll feel differently when I see more implementation of this stuff. A lot of bright people are working on this technology, so it’s probably much deeper than I can imagine right now. However, to me there’s a huge difference between painting someone a picture and giving them a brush and canvas. Maybe if we’re talking about "paint-by-numbers", then at least I still have some control over the big picture they are going to paint, so to speak. If there are too many options though, the focus may get lost. But I may be wrong, we’ll see. Do you think that adding game music as a Grammy category will have any impact on the industry? Absolutely. It will probably be taken more seriously. Budgets could go up and we may start to hear more robust, serious music in games. That grand style of music is out there, it seems to me that every successful game that has an epic orchestral score gets taken very seriously – "Game of the Year!", and so on. It would force a new perspective on game scores from the developers’ standpoint. And I don’t feel that only orchestral scores should be eligible for this award. Any good score should have the chance to win, Electronica included. Great music should translate in any medium. Another thing to consider, however, is that if a developer limits you with technical restrictions such as not having room for Red Book or digital audio on a game disc, then you’re essentially out of the game. The Academy probably won’t be nominating a lot of midi sound-chip scores, regardless of how brilliant they are! Like I said before, the developer has to believe in the power of the music. Have budget, will deliver. Would the prospect of a Grammy change the way you compose at all? No, I don’t think I would do anything differently than I do now. Much of what I do now is somewhat limited by technical restrictions or simply by the producer’s taste in music. After all, they decide the overall feel of the game’s music before I give them my interpretation of it. Would you like one on your mantelpiece? Yeah, sure, naturally. I don’t think there would be much argument there. How should other composers go about getting into this business? As far as music demos are concerned, composers have a cornucopia of options available to reach the important folks. First of all, get the names of the music directors at the various companies. You can find them on the web or just get the phone numbers from magazine ads. Call the companies directly and ask who the music director is. Get in touch with them if you can, and introduce yourself. Ask if you can send them a CD or cassette of your stuff. Remember, first impressions can make or break you. If you really do have something to say, someone will eventually recognize this and give you a chance. I’d have to say that people skills are probably the greatest asset that anyone can have. Learn to deal with rejection. You must first realize that absolutely no one out there in gameland needs you. No one. Then, with that in mind, you must set out to convince everyone that they do. The truth is that they probably really do, they just don’t know it yet. Most of my work comes from word of mouth, but there are no rules. To me, music is all about flavor. I have a style that I compose in, and fortunately my clients seem to like that flavor. Whether I’m writing drama, racing, or sports music it will always have my flavor stamped on it. But in reality, it is not going to be the flavor that answers every producer’s needs. Maybe a producer will want Bluegrass music for their game. Well, that may be your shot because I don’t write that kind of stuff and maybe you do. Before you go, tell us about your Tryptonite project. Tryptonite is an alias that I record under, and I’m currently working on the first album. It’s moving along. It will be equal parts trance, trip hop, and drum and bass. I’m also planning some ambient and even orchestral tracks as well. It will have elements of the BT Epic House sound, crossed with William Orbit and Massive Attack. I’ve got some great female singers that will be involved too. I hope to release the project before the summertime. If it’s anything like I’m hearing in my head, it should be very interesting. Aaron Marks thoroughly enjoys his association with the creative talents of the gaming industry. His music and sound design credits include software titles from A&B Entertainment, Silver Creek Entertainment and Enemy Technology, online gaming with Virtual Vegas, Prize Central and Bali Casinos, multimedia projects for The Wall Street Coffee Company, Top Gun Entertainment and Capoot Racing. Aaron can be reached via email at abmajor@aol.com or you can stop by his website http://members.aol.com/abmajor to find out all about On Your Mark Music Productions. Jon Holland can be reached via email at Xyxu@aol.com or by phone (209) 962-6228. Want to listen to some of his work? Here’s an MP3 file of his. http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990604/jholland_demo.mp3 |
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