27 Rules for the game of Chrispin Hands
Chrispin Hands has been working in the gaming industry for many years. He began the usual beta tester, then decided to connect his life with music, began to compose some melodies, and then he did not manage to blink an eye, as he became a real composer and professional sound engineer. The list of games he managed to work is really impressive: Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit, NFS: Porsche Unleashed, Unreal 2, Neverwinter Nights, Company of Heroes and many others. His soundtracks won dozens of prestigious awards and love of players, but Hands did not limit himself games. The composer wrote music for several short films and television projects, and is working on an unnamed film right now.
We spoke thoroughly with Krispin about how the soundtrack recorded, about the role of the sound engineer in the success of the game and why it is so important to do something new.
Rule No. 27. I started as a musician, tried to write songs, sing, but I did it, frankly, fig. But then I accidentally invited my friend to write music for his film. I really liked the process, I immediately realized that I want to do this all my life. At the same time, myst entered the PC. I fell in love with this game, and then I watched the video about the development and decided to work in the game industry.
Rule No. 26. Karl Sagan (famous American astronomer and astrophysicist, author of more than 600 scientific works. – Approx. "Gambling" ) was the idol of my childhood. I adored science, even studied information technology before I quit my studies to devote myself to music. Now my idols are noticeably more: Thomas Newman, James Newton Hoadard, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Joss Uidon (all, except the latter, are the most famous composers who worked on the most loud films; Joss Whidon is the director of Svetlyachka and the recent Avengers and the recent Avengers ". – Approx. "Gambling" ) and some of my incredibly gifted friends and colleagues.
Rule No. 25. The main thing that distinguishes the writing of music for the film and the game is the interactivity of the last. When you work on the game, if this is not a cut-scene, you often have to write very long sounds or compose highly adaptive music, breaking it into hundreds of pieces. I like both ways, I don't like to get hung up. The main task is that the music relevant to meet the actions of the player and the atmosphere of history. This is difficult, because the player can commit an unobvious act at any time; At the same time – fantastic creative. We have to study the psychological subtleties of the moment and collective choice; You often wonder how the player behaves in a particular situation. Often we, developers, are not enough cultural baggage and vocabulary to understand the behavior of different players, and this is the coolest, you are constantly surprised.
Rule No. 24. When I work on the game, I always try to learn more about it – to understand the atmosphere, to study the setting. I watch screenshots, videos, listen to the wishes of a creative director. You need to know as much as possible about characters, history and main conflicts. It is important to identify the emotional center, the basis of each moment – and decide how to beat it in the context of a key topic. Of course, the creative director wants to take a direct part in this process, because he knows his game better than others, but it usually has another million other responsibilities, so the composer’s task is to ask the right questions and help determine the most important emotional goals that the game designer wants to broadcast through music.
Rule No. 23. Surprisingly, many do not even imagine what the work of the sound engineer is. The player perceives the game world through two channels – vision and hearing. The sound engineer is responsible for the last. It has three main tasks: to ensure the high quality of dialogs, music and sound effects. Less obvious (but very important) things such as determining the general audio aesthetics, achieving integrity. To do this, you need to work closely with all departments of the studio, find inventive ways of sound interaction and basic game mechanic. The sound engineer also determines the technologies and functionality of the equipment and gains the specialists he needs. He must inspire and instruct the team of designers in sound, composers, engineers and performers (musicians and singers). Well, of course, the sound engineer solves all issues with other developers, producers, directors and marketers.
Rule No. 22. My sources of inspiration are constantly changing. The soundtracks of games, films and classical music were greatly influenced by me. In particular, I love the work of Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky and other composers. But when I compose, say, swing, I switch to Don Byron. When I write electronics, I turn on the Bird of Prey or Dubstep. If I work on something heavy, I listen to Ratm or Mastodon. This is generally one of the coolest features of my work – you need to constantly listen to new music, study, research.
Rule No. 21. I have very different tastes in music. I remember that in the early nineties I maximally called all the electronic music shit, said that you did not need to be a musician to write it. A few years later, in the process of writing the soundtrack for NEED for Speed 2, I happened to understand how I was wrong. It is very difficult and requires real talent. The difference is that your tool is equipment with a bunch of sliders, behind which you spend a day long in search of the desired sound. After the release of the game, I promised myself that I would no longer be reprehensible and I will try to get acquainted with as many genres as possible.
Rule number 20. I know a bunch of composers who are guided by some complex theories and methods in their work. I'm just trying to make the player believe in the story that the game tells, feels strong emotions.
Rule No. 19. Many people ask how I cope with doubts and experiences about the finished soundtrack. Everything is simple – naked stubbornness. Kidding. Seriously, each composer experiences such moments of hopelessness, you just need to go through this. The presence of muses and support for friends help a lot. Even sometimes I read the moment from one book about architecture, which says that it is necessary to overcome doubts and fear and move on. This is fine. When you do not know what to do next is part of the process. You just need to continue. As for the anxiety and distracting trifles, it is a constant struggle, but when terrifying deadline looms ahead, attention is somehow focused.
Rule No. 18. I'm not afraid to try something new-on the contrary, I'm afraid to stand still, I'm afraid that I will become completely lazy and they will hang a label on me. Fortunately, I work on such a wide range of projects that I feel how my style is changing almost from year to year.
Rule No. 17. Sometimes so lazily invent something new, but it is necessary. Game music has come a long way from Midi Melodia to full-fledged orchestral soundtracks. Now the technologies have froze. This means that there is a demand for original, inventive directions.
Rule No. 16. To say that music in games is not important is how to say that it is not needed for dancing. A person perceives the game with eyes and ears. Of course, you can make a game without music, like a game without graphics, but they will never have such emotional power. Gameplay is the art of managing emotions. The risk of remuneration is what creates tension at it. Even text quests excite visual and audio image in the minds of the player.
Rule No. 15. Composing music for playing with a strong plot is how to build a complex map from different topics and audio textures that will help the player find the way to understand the characters.
Rule No. 14. Young game studio should not make compromises between the quality and the desire to cut the quick money. In financial terms, such a model requires more time to pay off, but this is the only way to earn the respect and trust of the players, and there will already go fantastic sales that will stay at the level, even if the market suddenly sags.
Rule No. 13. Companies such as Naughty Dog, Blizzard, Valve, and small studios like Thatgamecompany push the whole industry forward and have a powerful effect on public opinion about what the games can be in a good way. These guys clearly show why I generally wanted to make games. Of all the media, only games make it possible to come up with an amazing world, tell an incredible story, give a unique and memorable experience.
Rule No. 12. Not every game needs interactive music. Many? Yes. Most? May be. All? No. The main thing is the final result. Everything else is pedanity.
Rule No. 11. When they talk about plagiarism, I recall the words of my friend, a respected composer: "On a musical sheet is only twelve lines". Some motives are repeated from time to time. If the borrowing is very noticeable, then the author was too lazy, and sometimes the composer simply remembers a melody somewhere and unconsciously tries to reproduce it.
Rule No. 10. Selection of licensed soundtrack – thin thing. In the nineties, I worked with a sound engineer, who was then a musical supervisher of the FIFA series. The former drummer of the famous Canadian rock band, he always held his hand on the pulse of new trends, had an amazing taste, treated music with particular passion, loved it to the last chord, the last blow to the strings. Since then, everyone from the sound to the producer and lawyer – could offer a song for the soundtrack. It is important that a person feels the music and mood of the young generation, and also understand what suits the brand and what is not.
Rule No. 9. I love Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I have friends, professional musicians who start like children when we play. It seems to me that such games are beautiful, they bring people closer to music, inspire them. Damn, what is there-in Rock Band you can really practice the game on the drums!
Rule No. 8. One of the unpleasant aspects of my work – you can never talk about future projects. I can only say that I work on the soundtrack for the film, which will be released later this year. But what about this to you?
Rule No. 7. I did not work with organizations like Play!, Video Games Live and Eminence (bright shows where soundtracks from famous games play. – Approx. "Gambling" ), but I think that they provide a great service for both the gaming industry and classical music by helping people to love beautiful soundtracks. My friend Jeron Moore produces the concert tours of the orchestra, which plays the soundtracks of The Legend of Zelda. This is fantasy, believe me.
Rule No. 6. I am a chronic player. If I am far from the console, then I constantly play something on the phone and laptop. When the work is pushing, I play a lot in our game, but I still manage to find the time for a “break” and play something else. Otherwise you will not see the forest behind the trees.
Rule No. 5. There are about 5,000 songs on my iPhone – and twice as much at home. I constantly listen to a variety of music, especially a lot – when I am preparing for writing the soundtrack. But during the work itself, I try not to turn on anything, so as not to bring down the process.
Rule No. 4. The soundtrack from your favorite game is often so difficult to buy because of a pile of fucking rights and agreements. Things are especially tough with licensed soundtracks, because, as a rule, the agreement allows you to use a specific song only in the game, and it cannot be sold as part of the collection. In large corporations, no one specifically does this. Depending on the terms of the contract with the author of music, the issue of the soundtrack can bring a lot of risks to the company. In general, there is a lot of muti. Fortunately, the situation is getting better. I think the best way to correct the situation is to enlighten people at all levels, this will help to instill the tradition of releasing soundtracks to most projects.
Rule No. 3. Music of different countries is distinguished by cultural baggage. A person is born and formed in a certain environment that affects his work. I remember a hundred years ago I tried to write something similar to Japanese music for Digimon. It was a miserable failure. Maybe I have not prepared well enough, but I suspect a real Japanese would have done much better.
Rule number 2. In old games there was beautiful music, because of a bunch of technical restrictions of melodies, they had a special character-the soundtrack of Scott Pilgrim and the surge in the popularity of eight-bit music only confirm this.
Rule No. 1. Russia gave the world a number of the greatest composers of all time-Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov and others. But to remember modern Russian performers on the move, I can't do.
Blitz-back
– The main troubles of our society: ignorance https://sister-site.org/golden-genie/, greed and corruption. We treat the planet as a Swedish table and toilet at the same time. Very soon we will have to eat shit.
– Better food only sex! Well, maybe music.
– Last year, the best soundtrack was undoubtedly at Journey. Skyrim was close.
– I don't even know which game I liked the most last year. I will highlight three: Portal 2, Skyrim and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
– I dream to work with Valve and Naughty Dog.
– I still think that game soundtracks are more diverse than movie and television. I wonder what will happen next.
My favorite soundtracks change almost every year, but at the moment the top of the favorites looks something like this (in random order).
MOVIE
4. "How to tame a dragon", John Powell. Stunningly told with the help of music history, I have not seen such skill for a very long time. I can listen to this soundtrack many times in a row and not get tired.
3. Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban, John Williams. Darker, bizarre, more inventive than he composed over the past twenty years.
2. "Super family", Michael Dzhakkino. The composer coped with the setting remarkably. Fantastic topics.
1. "Scott Pilgrim against all", Nigel Godric. This soundtrack, as they say, set such heat that people ran to the store with a rampart. Seriously, this is an ideal example of an understanding by the composer of the cultural layer and the emotional message of the film.
Games
4. Has always been in love with Grim Fandango soundtrack.
3. I love every orchestral soundtrack of Jeremy Soul, especially his work on the games on Harry Potter and Star Wars.
2. Starting with The Burning Crusade, dude from Blizzard and specifically Russell Browser make fantastic orchestral soundtracks for World of Warcraft.
1. The music that Austin Wintori wrote for Journey just demolished the tower for me and caused as many emotions as no other game over the past decade.