Bill Chatted to Techtv101.com about the upcoming Activision release "Wolfenstein" which is due to be released this August and his input into the composition of the music for the game.
TECHTV101: Hi Bill Thanks for talking to us, do you think the growth of game scores in the last 10 years has helped out peoples attitude towards enjoying gaming as a whole (As in proper, orchestral compositions as opposed to the electronic dross of old)
BILL BROWN: Absolutely. Developers were generally already aware of the emotional power that live orchestral recording offered films; it was just a matter of the technology evolving to the point where full orchestral scores could be implemented. I think Playstation was the first platform to stream 16 bit stereo tracks directly from the game CD/DVD, and this opened up a whole new level of possibilities for game audio. Slowly, all platforms evolved and allowed for reactive and interactive use of live scores in multiple tracks and layers in Dolby 5.1, matching the audio spectrum allowed in films, and then making the score reactive to the player's experience, making the game experience truly cinematic and immersive - a pretty far cry from the mono computer bleeps and bloops from 30 years ago...
TECHTV101: Michael Giacchino was one of the leaders in this trend when he started to write scores for the Medal of Honour series for DreamWorks and EA, What do you look for in the game to guide you to the style of composition, and do your compositions sway the game producers much on the way they make the cut scenes etc?
BILL BROWN: Cut scenes are completed or are well under way by the time I get them. I try to get as much information about the game, as early on in the process as possible so the score is as connected and reflective of the game's content and narrative as is possible. I imagine there have been moments where editors have re-edited to my tempo, or have been inspired by something in the score and re-worked visual textures, etc. - but I rarely hear about it.
TECHTV101: How do you go about scoring for a game from start of game production to finish? Can you go through stages with us please?
BILL BROWN: With Wolfenstein, I actually started writing cues after some long conversations with the developers and before seeing anything substantial from the game.. We really kicked into high gear when the development team was able to send me QuickTime movies for every cue. That's when we really dug our feet in and got serious about the schedule and scope of work to be completed, not to mention it was a lot of fun to see the game in progress! It took more than a year off and on to complete and followed the production schedule for the levels of the game, which is generally not a blazingly fast process. I actually completed 95% of the score before we got into showcasing the score within the game for the producers at id, and luckily, they loved every cue. Then there were a few more last-minute additions to the scope of work, which I was happy to help with before the final milestone. The score was fully approved just a couple months ago after more than a year and a half of work (off and on).
TECHTV101: What is your favourite piece of music which has been used in a game to date?
BILL BROWN: The first thing that comes to mind is the theme for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. That is meaningful to me because it basically helped launch my career, and I got to live with it for so many years, reinventing it as the franchise evolved. My second fav might be the intro cinematic from Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I'm getting more nostalgic now where before it was always whatever I happened to be working on at the moment..
TECHTV101: Wolfenstein is a cult classic, have you tried to stay with the same style and tempo for your compositions as the original, or have you used any of the original sound samples in your compositions?
BILL BROWN: I've done something similar in that I've used some of the original themes from Return to Castle Wolfentein in the new Wolfenstein score, but sparingly as it was more important for me to explore a more classic 20th century orchestral sound for Wolfenstein, inspired more by composers like Bernard Herrmann, Stravinsky and Bartok.
TECHTV101: Finally, years ago game music was midi based, now large orchestras are being used along with well know artists providing music for games. What in your opinion is the future for game scores as a whole?
BILL BROWN: I would like to see the game genres open up a bit as generations of gamers mature. There will always be the first person shooter, and those can be fun. I'd be interested in working on the next generation of "indie" games and game narrative.. out of the box story-telling, surprising, cinematic and still immersive - where the score doesn't "have" to work a certain way to push the action forward - where there is more open-ended room for creativity, musically and otherwise..
http://www.billbrownmusic.com
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