An Interview with Darryl Duncan

What's a typical work day for you and the gang?

We usually get started around here at about 9:30 am. We utilize the morning hours to get most of our administrative tasks completed. We try to get all of our calls placed, calls returned, quotes out, documents prepared before noon or 1 pm, then we get started on the creative things. By 2 pm we are usually at our workstations handling the various tasks that have been assigned to us at the beginning of the project. We customarily eat lunch around 2:30 and we try to go together so that we can discuss projects, deadlines, and other issues over lunch. By 4:30 we continue our task and also use that time to bounce ideas off of each other for feedback and constructive criticism. Our day usually ends between 6:30 and 7:00 pm. Of course, if it's crunch time we go well into the midnight hour, but fortunately we don't have to do that often unless a client calls us needing a five-week project done in a week!

What projects do you currently have on your plate?

Recently, we have completed development on several very popular titles, one being the music and sound effects for the new Ultima Online: Third Dawn (recently released) and we created sound effects for a new title for the popular Children's title called Blue's Clues Big Music Show. We've also just wrapped up production on Microsoft's Zoo Tycoon, for which we've provided tons of custom sound effects and music. Lastly, we've provided some cool rap music for Knockout Kings 2002 (in development) and also a Sega Sports title which we cannot divulge at this time. By the time this interview is published, details will probably be posted on our web site. We are currently in negotiations to supply the music and sound effects for another Fantasy/RPG title, but we are not at liberty to give details on this just yet. But these are just our game industry contracts: we also have some interesting projects on the table in the advertising world. Again, as soon as we can share this information it will be mentioned in the news section of our web site.

Do you work strictly with the developers or publishers or both?

We work with both. Our clients have been a mixture of developers and publishers. We try to target our services to the many independent developers who do not have an in-house audio team, since we find they are the clients most in need of our services. We also have clients who do have in-house teams, but are simply swamped with audio work and need to outsource some of it.

What makes for the best type of relationship between the audio folks and the developer/publisher?

A close one. I feel strongly that the relationship between the audio team and the developer should and be as close as the developer is comfortable with. Mis-communication can cost a lot of money on both sides, not to mention strain the business relationship. If everyone remains on the same page throughout the project, it makes for a much stronger product in terms of the audio and, of course, helps to ensure that our audio team will be called again in the future. Clear communications is a must. We've found that this close line of communication has worked very well for us and has made our projects go smoothly from start to finish.

What sort of qualities should developers look for when hiring outside composers and sound designers?

I think developers should do their best to judge just how creative a composer and sound designer is. It's clear that the most trained and skilled composer may be technically perfect when it comes to music composition, but lack a basic element of creativity. I know it sounds impossible, but I do know of a few highly educated musical geniuses who can play any piece of printed music—even write for and conduct a full orchestra—but they'd be pretty lame if you asked them to create something completely original. They really do lack the originality to create the deep and colorful audioscapes that these games often require. This is also true on the flipside: there are several musician/composer types with little or no formal musical training, yet the music that they create is some of the most captivating and intensely creative work I've ever heard. I think a game is done more justice by that type of musician. Not to say that the other can't produce good music, because there are many games that require nothing but that intense technical musical background—especially the large orchestrations and epic scores. So, this is no disrespect to formally trained musicians. I mean, I attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and can honestly say that I do not use a great deal of what I learned there in my work.

Either way, there is something for all types of composers. The developer should do the homework to learn just what creative level an individual might be on. Just like you see a graphic artists rendering of this mythical alien creature that's unlike anything else you've seen, so too must a composer have the vision to create something extremely expressive and unique. That kind of inspiration can come from nowhere but deep inside the composers mind. That's one of the reasons I don't listen to radio or music of any kind. I think it helps me to be 100% original with everything I create based on that project's needs.

When do you find that you are most creative?

I am definitely most creative in my sleep or just before I fall asleep. Why? I don't know, but it seems that most of my inspiration comes when my mind is most relaxed and that always seems to be right before I drift to sleep. On my bedside are my digital recorder, a pen and a pad. That way, ideas can hit me at anytime—I know that if I don't try to capture them right away they could be gone forever. Then when I get to the studio, I'm able to hash out those ideas pretty quickly and sometimes even be mixing in a few hours.

Are there any particular secrets to your creativity?

No, no real secrets—other than that, when I am creating with just my little digital hand held tape recorder (I call it my "Lick Saver") or humming something when I'm driving, it completely disrupts my flow if I hear anything else musical. Strangely, I don't listen to music, the radio or buy records. It is important to me not to be influenced by anything or anyone, not even subconsciously. I like to keep talk radio on in the car when I drive, because if I hear a song on the radio that I like, I have a tendency to hum it for days. It makes it pretty hard to be original and creative when someone else's catchy hook is burned on your brain!

Describe your thought process for scoring.

This is actually one of the most exciting parts of scoring for a video game. Unfortunately, there is often no playable game demo available to us. We usually only get storyboards or graphic files to work with. In John Madden we received pencil sketched storyboards, which was great. On the recent Ultima Online: Third Dawn game we were supplied with 3D renderings of several of the new creatures in the game. Fortunately, this was all we needed to put ourselves in the mindset to create the intense period music for this game. We printed out color versions of the creatures and taped them to the walls of the studio. This, although simple, helped us get into the mood of the music. Tarrance, one of our composers, actually went as far as to cut out each of the creatures and glue them to cardboard backs so that they could stand and he placed them all around his workstation. It looked like a little war was going on right at his desk! But the music reflected this level of immersion and Origin loved what we supplied. So, although we laughed at the time, those things were necessary to place us in the mood. We were fortunate to receive a playable demo of the Microsoft Zoo Tycoon game and this was COOL! We were able to create music that really worked well for the game, but we know that getting a playable demo is a luxury and we should not count on it often.

How does this scoring process usually start for you?

For me the scoring process usually starts with my "Lick Saver." Most of my inspiration comes when I am nowhere near my gear, so I need to be prepared to capture a melody or rhythm that suddenly pops into my head. I get my musical ideas differently than most, I am told. When I write a piece of music, I hear the entire piece in my head fully orchestrated. I hear the melody, strings, drums, synths, guitar, vocals, I hear it all before it ever even exists. So, nine times out of ten it is just a matter of me translating what is in my head. It's pretty weird. Like most people might go around humming their favorite tune they just heard on the radio, this is how I hum things that I didn't even create yet. For me the piece is pretty much 98% composed before I even touch the keyboard.

What equipment do you use for music production?

Well, we have several "Toys to Make The Noise", however, our studios are centered around Digidesign 64 track ProTools Mix Plus Systems. We have 2 identical workstations for our cinematics scoring and music production and a smaller Digi 001 workstation we use primarily for sound effects editing. Each of our larger workstations have a variety of Plug-Ins including the Waves Gold bundle and Wave Mechanics plug-ins for our extreme sound warping needs. We use Event 20/20 monitors for our main and surround sound monitors. This along with literally dozens of synthesizers, sound sources, and outboard gear allow us to create just about any audio environment desired.

	Main control room at Game Beat.