Recording - May 2010 - 41

MAY 2010 TAXI Road Rally 2009

Video Game Composers Panel
Moderated by Michael Laskow
I’m unbelievably excited to have these guys here today. These guys are three of the top video game composers on the planet Earth, and you will rarely get a chance to learn what they know and hear from them directly. [applause] Also joining us today is the gentleman in front of me, Mr. Bob Rice. Bob is the founder and CEO of FBI, Four Bars Intertainment. He’s been in the music business since he was 15, and had his own record label at the age of 16. In the video game industry, Bob created and executive produced the world’s first Rock ’n’Roll video game called JourneyEscape. Today, FBI is the largest provider of original music for video games. Please welcome my all too modest friend, the one, the only, Mr. Bob Rice. [applause] Inon Zur composes emotionally dynamic music for feature films, television, movie trailers, anime, and video games. Inon is currently scoring projects for Ubi-Soft, Warner Bros., and Sony Online Entertainment, as well as writing and producing music for APM, Bruton, and XRay Dog Music libraries. He has composed music for movie trailers for X-Men:Origins,Wolverine,Escapeto WitchMountain—which I’ve seen four times with my kids—HarryPotterandtheOrderofthePhoenix, and many, many more. Please welcome Mr. Inon Zur. [applause] And let this bio semi-serve to also introduce the gentleman on your far right, whose name is Cris Velasco, who just showed up with these guys today. I’m thrilled to have him here. I asked him if he wanted to join us for the panel, and he said,“No, it’s cool.”And I said,“Come on, do the panel.”So he said“OK.” Cris works hand in hand very frequently with the gentleman in front of me, whose name is Sascha Dikiciyan. Sascha is one of the most sought after composers of the video game music industry today. His interest in video games began in the early ’80s, compelling him to independently produce and release MethodsofDestruction, the first ever, audio add-on for the original Quake in 1996. His innovative work captured the interest of IB Software, who recruited him to compose original music for QuakeII. In 2005 Sasha teamed up with the afore-

Video Game Composer panelists, Sascha Dikiciyan, Bob Rice, (moderator) Michael Laskow, Inon Zur, and Cris Velasco pose for a post panel shot at TAXI’s 2009 Road Rally.

mentioned Chris Velasco, composer for such games as GodofWarIand II, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. The pair quickly became known for their ground-breaking hybrid style, combining orchestral scores with electronic industrial beats. Together, the two have collaborated on more than a dozen game titles including DarkMessiah, SplinterCell4,Beowulf,Haze,Hellgate:London, and the just-released Borderlands. Oops, I left Prototype out of there as well. Please welcome Mr. Sascha Dikiciyan and Mr. Cris Velasco. [applause] Welcome gentlemen. I am delighted that you were all able to join us today. I recently found out that the video game industry has now surpassed the film industry. It’s a $52 billion industry—$52 billion a year. And that’s without any “stimulus” money. That blows me away. Bob, does the video game industry treat composers like the film and TV industries in that they always seem to be standing at the end of the line getting the smallest piece of the pie? Is it the old“We’re out of budget; what can you do the music for?”Do the guys who are doing video game music get treated that way, or with a little more respect, I hope? Bob: Music is always post-production, “We’re out of

money.” “We’re out of time,” “yada yada yada.” You all know that story. Candidly, I think that the top composers such as the three gentlemen sitting here with me today are treated with a lot more respect than I would say the top composers from film and television. And it really is because, I think, there is a lot more communication between the customer and the company. Because, you know, you see a film, you like the music, that’s it. You see a TV show, you like the music or whatever and that’s it. In the video game business, you have a lot of feedback, you have a lot of fan pages, you have a lot of Web sites for the various different games, such as Prototype. So the fans will go to those Web sites and say, “Oh my God, the music was great. Who is that composer? Do they have a Web site? Do they sell CDs? Are they on iTunes?” So I think because of that instant feedback from the customers, if you will—the target audience, the consumers—the companies understand the contribution that these gentlemen make to the world of video games, so I think they do get a little bit more respect. Nice to hear. Refreshing to hear. Inon, did you start out wanting to be a video game composer specifically, or just purely a composer? Tell us about your career path. Inon: Well, I didn’t start out as a video game composer, although I’m quite proud to say today that I Continued on page 43
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Recording - May 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2010

Recording - May 2010
Fade In.
Contents
Talkback.
Fast Forward.
Keb’Mo’ And His Home Studio.
When Your Studio Meets Your Wallet.
Pragmatic Design For Project Studios.
CAD Audio E100S.
Universal Audio UAD-2 SOLO/Laptop.
Recording’s Guitar Column.
Square State Solid State EQUALIZER model one b.
Akai LPK25 and LPD8.
Recording’s Keyboard Column.
Know Your Audio Interface.
SXSW 2010 Report.
Readers’ Tapes.
Advertiser Index.
Classified Ads
Fade Out.
Recording - May 2010 - Recording - May 2010
Recording - May 2010 - Cover2
Recording - May 2010 - 1
Recording - May 2010 - Fade In.
Recording - May 2010 - 3
Recording - May 2010 - Contents
Recording - May 2010 - 5
Recording - May 2010 - Talkback.
Recording - May 2010 - 7
Recording - May 2010 - Fast Forward.
Recording - May 2010 - 9
Recording - May 2010 - 10
Recording - May 2010 - 11
Recording - May 2010 - Keb’Mo’ And His Home Studio.
Recording - May 2010 - 13
Recording - May 2010 - 14
Recording - May 2010 - 15
Recording - May 2010 - When Your Studio Meets Your Wallet.
Recording - May 2010 - 17
Recording - May 2010 - 18
Recording - May 2010 - 19
Recording - May 2010 - Pragmatic Design For Project Studios.
Recording - May 2010 - 21
Recording - May 2010 - 22
Recording - May 2010 - 23
Recording - May 2010 - 24
Recording - May 2010 - 25
Recording - May 2010 - CAD Audio E100S.
Recording - May 2010 - 27
Recording - May 2010 - Universal Audio UAD-2 SOLO/Laptop.
Recording - May 2010 - 29
Recording - May 2010 - 30
Recording - May 2010 - 31
Recording - May 2010 - Recording’s Guitar Column.
Recording - May 2010 - 33
Recording - May 2010 - Square State Solid State EQUALIZER model one b.
Recording - May 2010 - 35
Recording - May 2010 - Akai LPK25 and LPD8.
Recording - May 2010 - 37
Recording - May 2010 - Recording’s Keyboard Column.
Recording - May 2010 - 39
Recording - May 2010 - 40
Recording - May 2010 - 41
Recording - May 2010 - 42
Recording - May 2010 - 43
Recording - May 2010 - 44
Recording - May 2010 - 45
Recording - May 2010 - Know Your Audio Interface.
Recording - May 2010 - 47
Recording - May 2010 - 48
Recording - May 2010 - 49
Recording - May 2010 - 50
Recording - May 2010 - 51
Recording - May 2010 - 52
Recording - May 2010 - 53
Recording - May 2010 - SXSW 2010 Report.
Recording - May 2010 - 55
Recording - May 2010 - Readers’ Tapes.
Recording - May 2010 - Advertiser Index.
Recording - May 2010 - Classified Ads
Recording - May 2010 - 59
Recording - May 2010 - 60
Recording - May 2010 - 61
Recording - May 2010 - 62
Recording - May 2010 - 63
Recording - May 2010 - Fade Out.
Recording - May 2010 - Cover3
Recording - May 2010 - Cover4
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