An Interview with Will Davis

Gama Network Presents:

An Interview with Will Davis
By Aaron Marks
Gamasutra
September 1 , 2000
URL: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000901/Davis_01.htm

Will Davis headed blindly into computer gaming only because he didn't want to be left out. In 1985, a group of school chums were writing a game and needed someone to do music and sound effects, and even though he had never composed a song or had a clue about sound effects, Will jumped at the chance. At fifteen years old, he was paid to write the very first song of his life. With 140 games to his credit and more than half of his existence devoted to audio, he has created truly astounding music and sound effects for titles such as Driver, Aliens vs. Predator, Nightmare Creatures 2 and Battlemorph.

At the helm of Will Davis Audio Development, his 20-hour work days consist of caffeine and pure adrenaline, composing or scheming non-stop for his next big project. Another business venture, Audioarts, which he shares with fellow audio guru Allister Brimble and programmer extraordinaire Michael Delaney, drives him further into the gaming industry as a permanent fixture. I've been corresponding with Will via email for months attempting to pin him down long enough for this interview. Several attempts later, after lost questions, a stolen laptop and a dozen game projects between us both, we have finally stumbled upon the world according to Will Davis, professor of chaos theory.

So Will, what projects are you currently at work on?

Several CGB (Color Game Boy) projects, which are always great fun as I get to use all the traditional skills of a games composer. Good old-fashioned chip tunes. I love 'em! I've also got a strangely high number of effects projects for race games, for some odd reason either developers are making a disproportional number of race games or I'm getting a reputation as the guy to go to for race effects, I'm not sure which though.

What have been your favorite projects so far?

Hmmm tricky, it's easier to remember the bad ones, but all the Rebellion projects have been fun, as they are a great company to work for. Nightmare Creatures 2 was interesting, a nightmare project to try and work on, but I had a good time trying and the people at Kalisto are great. I have a soft spot for Gameboy and any cute Nintendo-esque games, even though they don't crop up very often at the moment.

What platforms do you generally develop for?

Simple, all of them! I have enough talented people working with me that if anything new comes along, as in recently with mobile phone games, it's not new for very long.

Dare I ask? Is there a typical workday for you?

Hmmm, I get up when I wake up, which is much better than trying to get up before I'm awake, which I've tried on occasion but I then spend several hours blindly fumbling around the kitchen desperately trying to make coffee. If I'm doing a CGB project I'll just grab the laptop and find somewhere nice to sit and work. Which in the summer is normally the beach. If it's a full blown CD score then it's into the studio and work away until I run out of coffee.

When do you find you are most creative?

Any time except early in the morning, I'm a night person at heart. Which is fine as it fits in with the American companies' office hours anyway.

What is your studio set-up like?

I'm not going to give a list of gear, to be honest it's rather pointless. I use whatever I need for a project. Though I do have particular pieces of gear that get more use than others, my trusty old Trinity gets bashed around quite a bit, as does an old Quadrasynth which is still one of my favorite keyboards. Loads of samplers of course, but the main instruments are computers, I have four PC's which are just used as instruments, whether running soft-synths or samplers, they are the heart of the digital set-up.

What's your musical background?

Well, I guess my background is fifteen years of creating music and sound effects for computer games, from the Commodore 64 through the Nintendo 64 and beyond! I'm not a film composer or a failed musician from another field, I create music and sound effects for games.

Describe your thought process for scoring?

The primary goal is to simply create audio the client wants, the trick is to work within the parameters of the project and create audio that has the desired effect on the player and also fits in with the vision of the designers. At the end of the day, the audio is just part of a greater whole, it has to 'feel' right. Everything I create for a game is easily changeable which allows the audio to adapt to modifications to the project with a minimum of fuss. There is little point in wasting time or money.

Are there any particular secrets to your brand of creativity?

Not really it's pretty simple really, music is just a note, a bit of a gap, another note and so on until it's finished. Coming up with ideas and themes is the easy bit, it's the tidying up and getting the production to sound and feel right that takes the time.

What do you normally charge for music?

I work within the budget the client has. I do have standard rates, which is the normal $1000 a minute type thing but I much prefer the client to be honest and openly discuss the amount they wish to spend. It's always far easier to get all the audio planned out at an early stage, especially now the projects have grown in size. I provide all aspects of audio, including an in-house service, which is becoming quite popular.

In-house service?

Yep, it's becoming more common and it's something I've been providing for a few years now, especially with sound effects creation, to provide a sound designer to work on the company's premises. It helps greatly with the implementation of the sounds and provides a much greater cohesion for the project. It's so much nicer for the programmer to be able to sit and talk face to face with the sound people whenever they feel the need, rather than having to wait to set up meetings or trying to explain an effect over e-mail.

Do you have a particular business philosophy that you follow?

Yeah right, a philosophical games musician. My only real guideline is that the client gets what they what, when they want it.

You do sound effects as well. How do they normally start for you?

One of three ways really, a nice friendly meeting with the team and brainstorm with them to create the effects list; I'm simply sent an effects list and told to get on with it or; I'm sent the game and asked to come up with the effects list and then create them. I don't mind really, whatever the client is happiest with suits me fine.

Do you have a personal sound effects approach?

That's easy, the question I ask is: Do they work in the game? It doesn't matter if the sound is realistic or over the top or even completely wrong if it works in the game and sounds and feels right, then it works.

Which effect libraries do you use?

Sound Ideas and Hollywood Edge are often good starting points but I have built up a huge custom library over the years. Most of the time it's much better to create new custom sounds for each project. Every project, even similar ones are different anyway. Although a games sound requirement might be almost identical to another game, the mood or feel of the game might be different, so the sound effects need to reflect that.

How do you charge for sound effects projects?

Again I'm very easy going, either per sound effect, or a single set fee to cover the project however many fx might be required, or even a monthly fee. I'm happy with whatever the client requires and is more comfortable with.

What advice would you give a developer/publisher when looking for audio?

Make sure the people you hire can do the job. The amount of times I've been called in to either finish a project off or to convert to different formats is rather scary. No, on second thought, keep doing it, I get loads of work that way! Mind you it would be easier if I was called in at the start. J Plan your audio requirements from as early as you can, if you're unsure, get a consultant in to help. This is particularly important if you're going to have a lot of speech.

What do you see as the best type of relationship between the audio folks and the developers/publishers?

A happy one, full of mutual respect that benefits both parties that allows the audio process to flow, or failing that, one that has some dialogue!

What do you see as the major difference between Europe and the US in terms of audio for games?

That's easy. Even now far too many UK companies still think audio is unimportant and only worth a few hundred pounds, even for a major project. It seems that in the US, the primary consideration for game audio is whether the audio is good or bad, in the UK the primary concern is price.

Do you mainly deal with European companies?

God no! I wouldn't be able to pay the bills if I only worked for UK companies! Other European companies, especially those in France, are run along the American line and appreciate the value of good audio. Obviously not all UK companies are this way, just most of them. I like working with US companies best, for the simple fact that they are far more positive, I guess it must be the weather or something.

What does your professional future hold?

Work wise I'm looking forward to GBA (Game Boy Advanced), Myself and Allister Brimble as Audio Arts are the best on the CGB so were are confident of becoming the best on GBA as well, it's going to be fun. Personally, I'm looking forward to Dolphin as I still play games, and Nintendo just make the best games.

Do you have any film or TV aspirations?

No, not really. I'd rather work on the next Mario game than work on the next Hollywood blockbuster. I'm a games composer and I guess after fifteen years, at least, a competent one. Games are far more challenging than a linear film or TV score, after all a film is just a long FMV (Full Motion Video) sequence. The only differences are that most games don't have the budget or time for a real orchestra or quality post-production to get the audio balance right. If I had to pick one difference between film and game audio, it would be the time spent on post-production, just taking that extra bit of time to get the balance between speech, music, ambience and spots just right.

What do you do for fun?

Apart from play games? Well I still do doorwork (works as a bouncer) from time to time as it's so completely different to sitting at a computer all day long. There is something quite relaxing about having a bunch of drunks try and kick your head in. I'm also trying to learn how to fight with broadsword & dagger, plus I teach martial arts so I keep busy.

I also invented a new sport, Jetski Jousting! Get a couple of jetskis, grab some friends, make up a couple of medieval looking lances (but padded, of course) and then charge at each other trying to knock your opponent off. It's great fun! I'm going to try to get into the next Olympics if anybody wants to email me for the rules, that's fine, hey perhaps someone can set up a USA team and we could have international jetski jousting tourneys. That would be cool!

On a final note, what do you attribute your success to?

Very strong coffee, a lot of luck and a willingness to be exploited.

Find out more about Will at his website http://www.will.vg or shoot an email in his direction at: fire@will.vg

Aaron Marks (aaron@onyourmarkmusic.com), when not interviewing game composers and sound designers, is actually one himself as the proprietor of On Your Mark Music Productions (www.onyourmarkmusic.com). He is currently hard at work on projects for Havas and uWink.com and authoring a book, "The Complete Guide to Game Audio", to be published summer 2001 by Miller-Freeman Books.