Xboxist

Interview With Section 8 Composer Jason Graves

Southpeak's new game Section 8 is named for the code word the military uses to describe a soldier who has gone insane. That's because the airborn drop-troopers in this sci-fi shooter would have to be crazy to launch themselves onto the battlefield from an altitude of low orbit, ready to fight in hostile alien terrain. This multiplayer shooter supports 32 players online on the Xbox 360, and plays like a mix between Tribes, Battlefield 1943 and Halo. We recently had a chance to sit down with Jason Graves, who composed the musical score for this action title. Among other questions, we wanted to know what it was like to make music for a mutiplayer fps. You can read all of his interesting comments on the game production process below.

First of all, are you a gamer yourself? If so, what are some examples of memorable video game music, and what makes those scores special?

I'm an absolute game fanatic! Unfortunately, the time I spend playing games is inversely proportional to the time I spend composing for games. In other words, when I'm really busy on my own games there's less time for the other ones. But I've got one of every console at home, so when there IS time for me to play I have plenty of choices.

My favorite game scores really run the gamut. All the classic Mario Brothers music is just fantastic. You can play all that stuff with just two notes. Sounds simple, but pulling it off is the exact opposite. I think the Castlevania series has got some great, memorable music in it. Of course, Nobuo Uematsu has contributed so much wonderful music to games I lose count, but the Final Fantasy series is a great place to start. Also, Medal of Honor really pulled game music into the cinematic, Hollywood sound.

Tell us specifically about how you got involved making music for this title at Southpeak Games. How far along was game development when you first started laying down tracks? What kind of information did the developer provide you about the game to help with the job of composing music?

The developer, TimeGate Studios, contacted me back in May about composing the score. They had heard some tracks off my website and thought I would be a good match for their title. They told me I was their first choice, which is always a nice thing, so there weren't any demos to write or music to submit for possible consideration.

The game was well into its development when I was brought in, so I was able to see close-to-final builds, both with and without my music implemented. Initially, there were some music examples for me to listen to that suggested a direction for the score. There were a few orchestral/film score examples and some techno/electronics tracks, but nothing that really had the right kind of feel that I heard in my head.

I knew from the beginning that the game took place in two major locations - a desert environment and a temperate environment. My idea was to treat each of these locations differently, highlighting the guitars and synths in the desert and the orchestral side of things for the temperate.

I was also given plenty of artwork, scripts and movies of gameplay to really immerse myself into the world of Section 8. Those kinds of things always help me, as a composer, to get a better sense of what the game is all about.

Section 8 is a fast-paced shooter set in the far reaches of space. How did you create a sound that accompanied the mood and atmosphere of the title so well?

TimeGate wanted the music to be futuristic, tense and action-packed, so there were some obvious things that needed to be included in the final score. I also wanted to interject some of my own ideas into the score - probably not anything revolutionary to the world of game music, but definitely things that I had not had a chance to do in a game soundtrack before.

My ultimate goal on any new game is to learn something new and try to think a little "outside the box." For Section 8, that meant incorporating electric guitars and synthesizers into the orchestra, augmenting the more traditional sound with some modern, futuristic textures. When the orchestra takes the foreground it's playing up the heroic, positive qualities of the score. When the guitars and synths take the lead they're emphasizing the more brutal, dark aspects of the gameplay.

I spent a lot of time making sure that the score had a good balance between orchestral and non-orchestral, starting when I was composing for each specific instrument and ending when I was doing the final mixing. The end result is hopefully a unique spin on the world of first-person shooters.

We have written quite a bit here at GameFlavor on steps that young people can take if they want to work in the video game industry. Music is one area we have not covered yet. Could you both please give a sense of the career path that you followed to get here, and any advice to someone freshly out of high school who wants to get into game music?

I decided I wanted to be a film/television composer when I was finishing my Bachelor's in Music Composition at ASU. One of the things I loved about their School of Music was the diversity of ensembles - I performed and composed for an authentic Middle-Eastern ensemble, a Steel Drum band, an electronic music ensemble and a percussion ensemble. The Music Composition Department had a heavy emphasis on 20th Century music, which ended up being a major influence for me.

I attended the University of Southern California, where they have a program called "Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television." I started working professionally in Los Angeles almost as soon as I started school at USC. By the time I graduated from USC I had been composing for television, film trailers, commercials, and feature films for almost a full year. While I was definitely "living my dream," I couldn't help but be disappointed that so much of my work was "Just copy the music from this soundtrack..." To say there was little creative freedom would be an understatement!

I was approached about eight years ago for my first video game due to my experience composing and conducting for live orchestra. After that first title I was hooked. I was already an avid gamer and it seemed the game music industry was really starting to take off.

I would advise anyone interested in getting into game music to write as much music as you can, regardless if you're getting paid for it or not. Nothing can make up for lack of experience! Go to the game conventions as often as possible. Chances are there's a local game developer chapter, such as IGDA, nearby. The reality is no one's going to hire you if they don't know who you are, so get out there and make a name for yourself!

For a brand new game franchise, Section 8 is looking promising. Can you tell us why you're excited about its upcoming release?

I think TimeGate went into Section 8 with the idea of doing something different with the first person shooter, especially where multiplayer is concerned. I also hear that it's got a great soundtrack!