THE EPIC SOUND BLOG

Our collection of bite-size, audio related stories from around the web.

Audio interview with Assassin’s Creed composer Lorne Balfe


January 30, 2012

A great interview by Marius Masalar over at Tracksounds with ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’-composer Lorne Balfe. Check it out below, and hop on over to Tracksounds for the full details on the interview:
 

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Marius Masalar talks with composer Lorne Balfe about two of his latest projects: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Skylander: Spyros. Balfe also reveals how he got into video game music, the challenges of writing music for popular sequels and what he considers his dream project.
 

CORRECTION: Lorne Balfe composed the exhibition trailer for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, which was the third game of the series, not the second as he inadvertently stated.
 
Episode Highlights
 
02:06 — How did you transition from film to video games?
06:27 — How did you come to work on SKYLANDERS
13:13 — Did you feel that you had to be dutiful to the original Spyro?
15:25 — WHYBLT? – Hugo, Twilight for Chamber Orchestra
17:22 — Assassins Creed: Revelations – How did you work with composer Jesper Kyd?
24:14 — What were some of the musical highlights for you from AC: Revelation
27:00 — What sort of reactions have you gotten to your music for AC: Revelation
28:51 — The next Assassins Creed, Sherlock Holmes, Anthems, and Bat Man
33:01 — What is your ideal project?
36:02 — The Ron Howard/ Canon Project
40:10 — Taste, subjectivity, and style

 





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio,music Tags , , , , , —

Video interview: ‘Drive’ & ‘Contagion’ composer Cliff Martinez


January 26, 2012

Over at Tracksounds, Christopher Coleman posted this video interview with ‘Drive’ and ‘Contagion’ composer Cliff Martinez:
 

Cliff had just come back from an early morning screening and mentioned he was running on a few hours of sleep as his duties as a Jury Member of Sundance were starting to take its toll on Day 6 of the festival, however Cliff was pleased to sit down with me for this interview.
 
We discussed his work on DRIVE, CONTAGION, his working relationships with his directors and his experience as a Jury member at Sundance 2012.

 

 





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound,music Tags , , , , , , —

John Williams: From ‘Jaws’ to ‘Star Wars’ to ‘War Horse’ and ‘Tintin’


January 4, 2012

There’s an excellent feature on John Williams over at The Wall Street Journal – do have a look:
 

Mr. Spielberg credits the composer for making him “a better director than I could have ever been without him.” Recalling the blockbuster that made them both household names, he describes the “esoteric” placeholder music he’d selected as a model for the “Jaws” score—and how Mr. Williams forced him to reconsider.
 
“He said, “Steven, it’s not an intellectual film. It’s a pirate movie,” the director says, adding, “John is like a great writer. He rewrites me musically every single time.”
After the success of “Jaws,” Mr. Spielberg nicknamed Mr. Williams “Max,” after Max Steiner, who wrote the first memorable original feature film score (for “King Kong”) and helped establish the orchestral language of the movies.

 
Read the full feature on John Williams here.
 
(via @YvetteJJackson)





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound,music Tags , , , , , , , , , —

Meet the Composer: Chris Huelsbeck


September 30, 2011

Over at GameSpot, Sophia Tong has a great interview up with veteran game composer Chris Huelsbeck:
 

 

Hop on over to the GameSpot page for a selection of Chris’ music.
 
Chris Huelsbeck has been composing for ages – check out his now-classic theme for Turrican 2 for the Commodore Amiga below:
 

 





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio Tags , , , —

The Sound and Music of Angry Birds


September 22, 2011

There’s a new feature up on The SoundWorks Collection, this time on the sound and music of Angry Birds:

 


 





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio Tags , , —

Cartoon Composing – scoring an animated series


August 30, 2011


 
I found this great read on composing for an animated series in an old copy of Sound on Sound magazine – and lo and behold, it’s available online as well. Check it out:

 

Television animation has come a long way since the golden age of Bugs and Woody. There has been a recent explosion of production companies and animation studios working around the world, cranking out quality cartoons for a thriving, healthy market. All these cartoons need music and if you’re the composer who gets the call, there are a few things you need to know.

 

Composing for a cartoon series has its own unique set of challenges that differentiate it from live-action scoring. Having just wrapped up scoring 52 episodes of a new series called SuperNormal, I’d like to take you through the process so that you’ll know what to expect and how to avoid the potential pitfalls that are common when writing music for a cartoon.

 
Check out the full article on cartoon composing here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category music,television sound Tags , , , , , —

Interview with composer Alan Silvestri


August 11, 2011

Over at Film Music Magazine, Daniel Schweiger has a great interview up with composer Alan Silvestri, where he discusses his recent score for Captain America and much more.

Best of all, Silvestri has captured the stuff of legend with CAPTAIN AMERICA, creating the kind of soaring, determined heroism that great comic book-to-screen icons are made of. It’s enough to make any admirer of Steve Rogers stand up and give the pledge for God and Country, not to mention any film music fan wants to see a composer fighting the good fight to continue on the worthy tradition of writing epic melody and themes for today’s action pictures.

 

Read the full interview with Alan Silvestri here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , , , —

Original music from ‘Super 8′ available for free


August 5, 2011

Tying in with the premiere of ‘Super 8‘, composer Michael Giacchino has released five cues from the film for free! These can also be used by budding film makers in productions under a Creative Commons license. Check out and download the tracks below:

 





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , , , , , —

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