Although
interest in game music has been growing over the last few years,
it still takes a back seat to graphics and design. What's more,
it often is lumped together with sound effects and voice acting
by developers - and publishers - not giving it the full respect
it deserves. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that the idea of
a European game music concert was virtually unconsidered until this
year. Most assumed that there was no market for such an event.
The
Symphonic Game Music concert in Leipzig, Germany disproved that
notion. Performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra at the
famous Gewandhaus hall, it was the first of its kind held outside
of Japan. It attracted a sell-out crowd of approximately 2000 people,
and its popularity indicates that game music can be appreciated
by a wide audience -- including people who may have no interest
in playing games. This article tells the story of how that event
came to pass.
Perhaps
at little background about myself is in order. Since 1999, I have
been fortunate to work within the industry as a producer, Music
Director and/or music consultant for titles like Chicago 1930
from Wanadoo, Knights of the Temple from TDK Mediactive and
Stalker - Oblivion Lost from THQ Inc. As the Executive Producer
of the Merregnon trilogy, a soundtrack CD set in a fantasy
world, I had the chance to work with the finest game composers from
around the world, including Chris Huelsbeck, Yuzo Koshiro and Fabian
Del Priore. My role on the project was session manager for the live
recordings, which were performed by the Prague Symphony Orchestra
and choir. In that role I was able to select players from famous
ensembles like the New York Pops, too.
Selecting A Venue
As
the event producer, I was responsible for organizing everything
related to the performance. We knew we needed to hold the concert
alongside an established event, ideally one that was connected to
the games industry. The Games Convention (GC) in Leipzig seemed
like the perfect opportunity, as it is generally regarded as Europe's
leading videogame trade fair. By scheduling the concert during GC,
it would pull in people from our target audience. I impressed upon
the GC show management the idea that I would most like to honor
publishers who worked with live orchestras in the past. I wanted
the majority of the selected compositions to have been previously
recorded with this kind of ensemble. I did allow some exceptions
to this rule - for example, I chose Chris Huelsbeck's "Apidya"
from 1991. This music had never been performed by a live orchestra.
But as Germany's most well-known composer in his field, Huelsbeck
was certainly an important influence in the industry.
Fortunately,
GC show management liked my proposal. We got their blessing to hold
the concert during the show.
Choosing The Musical Content
With
the date and location established, the next decision revolved around
the content. Although I was born in Germany, I didn't want the concert
to focus exclusively on European game music. The goal, then, was
to provide a selection from titles around the world. I wanted the
program to be adventurous, so as to appeal to younger audience members.
Choosing music from the greatest games of recent years would help
in that respect, and would also show that the most successful productions
also use a live musical score. My plan was to assemble about 70
minutes, brought together in an interesting juxtaposition of Asian,
European and American titles to showcase and contrast various musical
styles. Fortunately, my recent work on Merregnon provided
me with many industry contacts including conductors, orchestras
and composers.
The Management Team
Three
of us acted as musical directors for the concert: Andy Brick, Petr
Pycha, and me. Andy Brick (composer of Sim City 4: Rush Hour
and The Sims 2) was responsible for getting the scores, checking
them and making suggestions for changes that would make them work
better in a live performance. One of his bigger challenges was to
establish a format for people to deliver submissions to us. Perhaps
Brick's most important task, however, was learning the material
and preparing everything for the rehearsals and the concert's conductor.
Petr
Pycha (the orchestra contractor for Splinter Cell and EverQuest
2) also had his hands full. His major tasks were to book the
orchestra and manage the transportation of the musicians from Prague
to Leipzig. Additionally, he saw to it that somebody was available
to work with the parts for the orchestra and that the sheet music
was printed locally.
My
job was to make sure everyone knew what was going on and had access
to the latest information about the project. We set up a database
on the Internet, in which we used to store contact information for
the composers, orchestrators, Andy Brick and Petr Pycha, and the
management of the Games Convention, among other things.
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