Nowadays there also exists someone called an ‘audio implementer’ – a person who inserts the music in the game engine so that it becomes interactive.
FL: And the musicians?
MS: I supply the producers with music I create; in the age of computer technology, I can supply music that sounds good. A few decades ago, composers who worked for the film industry faced a greater challenge; they had to present fragments of music to directors and producers by performing them on a piano, while the listeners filled in the orchestral part with their imaginations. Revisions are an integral part of my job; I have to keep working until everyone is satisfied.
FL: What is it like to work with an orchestra? Performing works by Beethoven or Penderecki probably requires different skills than performing music for computer games.
MS: The recording must be carefully planned in advance. The most important thing is communication with the editor and orchestrator – they help to keep the music interactive. In the case of film music, I can record the entire work in one sequence, of course, if the budget allows it. Game music is recorded in ‘layers’, which only later become a unified whole.
FL: Are there ever any conflicts between the game’s creator and the composer?
MS: I can’t imagine having such a conflict because, after all, it’s the composer who will be fired, not the game’s creator. I always say that taming one’s ego is the key to success as a professional composer. We must remember that music is not the most important thing here – what matters is the game, the film, the series. We serve the product and its consumers; they’re the ones who need to be satisfied. The artistic vision sometimes becomes less important.
Of course, there have been such conflicts, both in the American gaming industry and among Polish developers, leading to the end of several careers.
FL: Music for computer games has a specific sound. I’m not a player, but sometimes I listen to video game soundtracks. It seems to me that this results from the history of computers – technological limitations have forced the sound to be compressed. This causes the music to sound, in some cases, quite rough, a bit square.
MS: One of the characteristics of game music is stagnation and the fact that the melodies are looped. A two-minute piece of music needs to last for ten minutes, or half an hour – or even for several hours. When composing game music, one must make sure that it matches the space in which the player’s character is. While developing the themes and sound textures one has to be careful. The space in which the player is situated is a kind of cage, so if the music develops too much, it might not fit the area to which it is assigned. The music doesn’t change until the character moves. The tension doesn’t increase by itself, but the sound must remain interesting at all times. In a film it’s different because it’s a linear medium and the soundtrack develops along with the film’s plotline.
Roughness? I guess you mean old, 8-bit sounds. Technology has advanced since then. Symphony orchestras are now being used in the creation of game music, so the sound is incomparably better than before.
FL: What is your favourite moment while working on a game?
MS: The moment when I first find out what the game is about. And when I start thinking about how I’m going to create some kind of unique colour, a musical language that will be associated solely with this game. It’s wonderful.
FL: Does the music come to you all at once, or do you have to think about it for a long time?
: You have to think a lot, which is why this moment is so wonderful - if we put a lot of effort into something, it will bring more satisfaction. Especially if you add to this effort the artistic satisfaction of creating something that didn’t exist before.
FL: Can you name an example of an ideal video game music score?
MS: Yes. Michael Giacchino won an Oscar in 2010 for the music he composed for the film Up. Now he’s one of the leading soundtrack composers in Hollywood, but in the 1990s he created music for computer games – for example, for Medal of Honor, a shooter game. This is music that lifts my spirits. I remember how one time, while I was playing the game, I had to stop for a moment because I was starting to tear up.