Gamasutra - Game Audio Gallery: Simon Ravn


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CannonCruise Intro1
This was done for a Hugo The Troll game by ITE for the first cut-scene in the game (which is the very first introduction). It involves both good and evil - magic and mystery. The music was made to accompagny the images, so that was the inspiration. I used my standard setup with 4-5 PC's + one for video sync, 3 of them running GigaStudio loaded with various sample libraries, my DAW PC running Logic Audio Platinum, and the last one running V-Stack with EastWest Quantum Leap Orchestra.
[MP3]

NovoMatrix
This was done for a corporate "spoof" video, done by 3D post-production company Ghost, for NovoZymes. It was a combination of Star Wars and The Matrix and gave me the chance to do Star Wars-like music for the space scenes. Again, music accompagnies the images on screen - an approx. 5 minutes long presentation. Used my standard setup of 5 PC's + one playing back the video.[MP3]

The Traveller
This was done as a demonstration of the 1st Edition of Vienna Symphonic Library. Inspired by John Williams' love theme from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones mainly. All sounds are played back by 3 PC's running GigaStudio loaded with sounds from the VSL 1st Edition. Recorded into Logic Audio, reverb added both by outboard (Lexicon MPX1, Lexicon MPX500) and UAD-1 RealVerb.
[MP3]

CannonCruise Outro1
This is from a cut-scene from the ITE game CannonCruise. The music had to follow the action on-screen. Setup is the standard one with 3-4 PC's loaded with samples.
[MP3]

The Punisher - Main Titles
Imaginary main titles composition in Elfman style, inspired mainly by The Hulk. This was done for a competition arranged by a John Williams messageboard. Standard setup of 3-4 PC's with GigaStudio + one instance of Atmosphere running on my local DAW, as well as one instance of EWQLSO Percussion for timpani, gongs etc.
[MP3]

Hugo - Runnamuk (Temple of the Kawas)
. This is an ingame tune done for another game from ITE which has a more "ethnic" theme to it. It had to be loopable, around 1 minute long. I used 2 PCs for this with various percussion samples, as well as Asian stringed instruments from Sonic Implants Silk Road. Also employed a flute from my Yamaha VL70m physical modelling synth which makes for very expressive sounds.
[MP3]

The Story of a Mother
This one is from a short film I completed in late 2004. The film is based by a story by Hans Christian Andersen and will be featured on Danish television during the H.C. Andersen year (2005). The scene here is the mother trying to find out where the Grim Reaper took her child. She gains some hope after talking to the Night who knows where the Grim Reaper went.
[MP3]

Game Development Gallery

Music & Sound Effects Gallery

	Simon Ravn Composer Epic Sound Home: Copenhagen, Denmark Email: melo@marble-eyes.dk Web: http://www.epicsound.com
Current Projects:
CannonCruise for ITE
Credits:
Genetic Species (Marble Eyes) Foundation (Vulcan Software) Runamukka (ITE) Bukkazoom (ITE) Gangland (MediaMobsters) CannonCruise (ITE)
Bio:
Simon became interested in orchestral music in the early '80s after sitting through many Spielberg films and being fascinated by the scores of John Williams. Simon has not received any musical education except for the a small dose received when he was a member of the Copenhagen Boys Choir. Simon began composing music on the Amiga 500 in the late '80s and got his first synth (Roland XP-50) around 1990. It came with more orchestral sounds and he created the music for a couple of Amiga games. Then in the mid '90s, Simon started getting into sample libraries played back on PCs. He was fortunate enough to become beta tester and demo creator on many of the great sample libraries (Sonic Implants Symphonic Strings, Sonic Implants Symphonic Brass, Vienna Symphonic Library, SAM Trumpets, East West/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra, etc.) and that improved his arsenal of orchestral sounds more and more, so he could practice to get closer and closer to the real sound (as real as you can get with samples - he would still much prefer to use a live orchestra). Eventually, along with his compatriots, Asbjoern Andersen and David Filskov, Simon co-founded Epic Sound where he works today as a music composer.
Why I Got into the Industry:
Because I like doing music that accompanies action and scenes and I believe I can add something to a game that will improve the experience.
Tools I Can't Live Without:
GigaStudio - because it's a great sampler to use with you setup a big template of sounds. I much prefer that to loading up a bunch of VSTi's like Kontakt. MidiOverLAN - because it saves me $$$ in MIDI interfaces. Logic Audio - because it is so fast. I just wish it was still deveoped on PC.
Favorite Game Music:
I can't give you a title but I believe people like Jeremy Soule and Bill Brown are the best composers working in the gaming industry - they're the people I've been most impressed by. Those are my "idols" so to speak. They compose film quality music for games.
Inspiration:
John Williams is without a doubt my main inspiration, although I don't think much of my work really sounds like him. But there are some obvious influences in some of the string writing among other things. My other inspirations are mainly other film composers like Thomas Newman, Danny Elfman and Howard Shore.
Music I Listen To When Not Working:
I mainly listen to film music - obviously I pay attention to that while watching films and also some game music of course. At the other end of the spectrum, I listen to psychedelic trance actually. Also I like chill from Shpongle, Royksopp, Air, and new-age from Enigma, Enya, etc.
Favorite Book:
I'm not much of a reader.
Favorite Movie:
That's a tough one... I'll name a few: E.T., Magnolia, Schindler's List, Hunt for Red October.
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