SON ZINE

Media composer trade magazine

SPRING 2016 | #007

Feature

Exclusive interview

Tutorials

NAMM 2016 Experience

Johan Sderquvist

Writing for games using

Get The Fright One In

sample libraries

2016
#07

MULTISAMPLING

GET THE FRIGHT ONE IN

COMPETITION

04

were doing now and whats

in the pipeline for the coming
months.

Marie-Anne Fischer has been

06

on the road again and gives

Johan Sderqvist
In this exclusive interview, Reuben Cornell talks to Swedish
film composer Johan Sderqvist known for, amongst others,
Let the Right One In and Kon-Tiki.

Sampling and Videogames

to NAMM 2016.

14

SPEED FLiX

03 Editorial
24 Colophon

video games using samples.

Our ranking of the greatest

motor sports films.

Production.

OTHER

Reuben Cornell returns for an indepth take on scoring

18

Composing Award
original Sonokinetic cinematic

Johan Sderqvist

23

you the loaddown on her visit

Create an original score for an

ON THE COVER

VIDEOGAMES SCORING TUTORIAL

NAMM

A look into the current state

weve been doing, what

TOP 3

16

CEO editorial
of affairs at Sonokinetic. What

NAMM 2016

hank you for downloading this

ness professionals, like at NAMM,

age. We hope many of you will partici-

new edition of Sonozine. In

the Messe or for instance the Score-

pate in our composers contest in this

one of our busiest production pe-

cast events, you find people who

edition and share your work with us.

riods yet the Sonozine team led by

have virtually known each other

We love hearing what people create

Rob van den Berg has managed to

for years meeting for the first time

using our products, in the end that

get another one out the door. The

in the flesh. As Marie-Anne Fischer

is where the value of what we do lies,

community aspect of the media

describes in her NAMM article the

in the music it helps bringing to life.

composing world has always been

part of it that is a community com-

very important to us. Always when

ing together is the true value of

theres a gathering of music busi-

gatherings like these in the digital

Son Thomsen

MULTI SAMPLING

MADNESS
A BIG STEP FOR SONOKINETIC INTO NEW AND EXCITING TERRITORY

It had to happen at some point, coming from the

biggest challenge in the past couple of years, and

phrase based libraries that had the whole orchestra

we feel we are on our way to a very realistic sound-

playing together, to sections, to subsections, it is only

ing yet very intuitive suite of instruments, that in the

logical that the next big step for our company lies in

next years we will expand to cover the entire orches-

a full-on approach to the multisampled orchestra.

tra. At this point we are not only creating the wood-

For the uninitiated, this means single notes in differ-

winds, but setting up a framework that should carry

ent articulations, making the orchestra playable like

us forward across a whole new line of multisampled

a piano, with all the flexibitlity that offers.

instruments yet to come.

As with all added levels of flexibility you introduce,

Dont think this means there will be no more phrase-

this usually comes with a trade-off in realism, one of

based instruments coming out though, we already

the reasons our phrasebased instruments enjoy the

have a new one recorded and another one planned

level of success that they do is because it is really

for recording soon, and of course the NKS and fea-

hard to make these single notes blend together into

ture updates for Minimal and Grosso that are in a far

a coherent live orchestra sound again, something

state of development as well.

that is much easier to achieve with phrases.

We feel very confident that at this point in our develWe have never been known to shy away from chal-

opment of our company we are able to provide you

lenges though, so we decided to face the beast head

with great composing tools, and we think the new

on and pour all of our knowledge and expertise

orchestral multisampling line will be a welcome ad-

gathered over the years in all aspects of the produc-

dition to any composers palette that will shine in its

tion process into this project, and I must say the first

realism of sound and its ease of use, combined with

results sound very promising.

advanced under-the-hood features for those of you

who like the added control or need to tailor the in-

The first orchestral section that we will offer is the

strument to fit your existing workflow.

woodwinds section (3 flutes, 3 clarinets, 3 oboes

and 3 bassoons) and we have been working like mad

Keep watching the socials for more on this!

to figure out what the characteristics are of how it

should play, sound and feel, what the limitations
are in the sound created by our test instruments,

Son Thomsen

and how we can get around those in the final instru-

CEO, Sonokinetic BV

ment. No stone is left unturned in what we feel is our

GET THE
FRIGHT ONE IN

Although most well known for his thriller and horror scores, Johan Sderqvists 25-year career has
touched every film genre imaginable. After completing work on season 3 of Nordic Noir blockbuster
The Bridge, we talk pressure, partnerships and pulverizing pianos
Welcome Johan. What have you been working on?
Right now Im scoring a new Swedish TV series
based on a book, following that trend of Nordic
Noir. Since we did the first season of The Bridge
there have been many Nordic spin-offs but I would
say that this is very different. The Bridge has no
light or color and pretty bleak but this new show is
set in the spring / summer so its a more colorful
version of noir. That reflects in the music, as its a
warmer sound. Its hard to predict how it will go,
as Im in the middle of it right now. Im not sure
what the title will be in English but the Swedish
translates as Spring Tide

I guess theyll be a few things that dont translate

well between Swedish and English, so Ill try my
best with that. Lets go back to your roots; did you
come from a musical family?
My mother is completely unmusical but my father
was the opposite. Im the result of a genetic tombola
I think. When I was a child my mother would sing
a lot but always out of tune. My father used to
be a jazz musician when he was younger. I was
definitely brought up in a musical environment but
Im the first to actually work in the music industry. I
just slid into film composing unconsciously, when
a director I worked with (as a piano player on his
TV documentary) suggested that I could write for
his next feature film. I wrote and arranged the
music for all of the different bands I was in, so it
was total luck.

Do you think your background in jazz informs your

work as a composer?
I think its a big bonus. Its almost impossible to
get straight-up jazz into a film score but it helps
me think in a different way, thinking in emotions
instead of just phrases and bars. Every piece
of music I write seems to start as some kind of
improvisation. For example, if Im recording a cello
I would encourage the player to try out some new
things, playing upside down or retuning it in weird
ways. I want to get sounds out of instruments that
youve never heard before. Maybe my background
in folk music informs my composing even more.
Before I scored Susanne Biers film After the
Wedding I had toured throughout India with a folk
music band. Id started to learn about the different
instruments, the ragas and talas of Indian music.
That background knowledge helped a lot..

With that score and with your work on A Better

World the vocal work is impressive. Have you got
any tips about working vocals into cues?
Let me give an example, one of the singers on
that score is from Uganda. African folk music is
normally really driving and energetic. Instead
of that, I wanted to see how it would work if he
removed all the rhythm and sung very softly, whilst
being micd really closely. That was definitely a

Sofia Helin in The Bridge

Bron/Broen (original title)
photo Carolina Romare

conscious experiment to try to get a totally different

sound but still based on African folk music.
Whenever you work with good ethnic musicians its
almost always like you get something extra for free,
because of all the emotions that they are so close
to in their tradition. Thats the reason why I really
like the improvisations and phrases in Sonokinetic
ethnic libraries; because you can really hear that
quality. Theyre playable, fun and intuitive and I
love the interfaces.

What kind of other commercial libraries are you

using?
I own many of the commercial scoring libraries
that are out there and Im more than willing to pay
the price, since I know how much work it takes to
make a good library. I do like libraries that sound
human and not too clean. Everything I do has some
kind of grittiness so I like libraries that sound live
and mix well with live instruments and orchestras.
I find it a bit weird to use templates unlike some
composers: Its almost like painting a picture but
deciding which pigments you want to use before
you start. If I have an idea I want to fetch the paint
as I go along for that specific painting. However, if I
want to sketch quickly I tend to use Ivory Pianos for
simple piano playing. For orchestra its Symphobia
1/2 or Sonokinetic Da Capo because I like the tutti
combinations. Thats for the fast stuff, to make a
first really rough sketch. The next step is often a
lot more tedious, trying to make a mock-up sound
as good as possible with many more samples and
libraries.

Ive read that you have a huge library of bespoke

sounds, are you still working on that?
Yes, Im a soundaholic. Im always buying new

instruments. My most recent purchase I found in

Cornwall; a Dulcitone from 1880 in mint condition!
So now soon well sample improvisations and loops
using that instrument. When I first started playing
keyboards I was a real synth guy using old analogue
synths like the Oberheim Matrix-12. Its weird because
it doesnt matter what kind of synth Im using, I always
tend to end up with the same style of sound; a soft,
gritty and foggy timbre. My assistants work on putting
the virtual instruments together for me. For example,
at the moment my fellow composer Patrik Andrn and
I are working on our first game. For that project weve
been sampling extensively. Weve used an untuned
Steinway piano, which we smashed up and sampled.
We used soft beaters for a super-low sub sound and
also used both an ordinary bow and an Ebow on it.
We basically abused this old piano frame as much
as we could. We also made a Big drum session with
three percussion players playing the biggest drums
we could find and a lot more. Im trying to reverse the
creative process; starting with recording sounds and
not thinking so much about what Im aiming for.

How does that differ to when you first started out?

Im from the Stone Age. For my first scores in the
early 1990s we were using 24-track analogue desks
and mixing to tape. That tape sounded great. I had
an old mac that I upgraded from 1 megabyte to 2.
Everyone said I was crazy as they thought Id never
need so much memory. It was such a different world.
I was really more working with piano and paper at that
time. Id just finished studying at the Royal College
of Music in Stockholm and was probably about ten
times smarter than I am now when it came to music
theory. But nowadays Im probably ten times more
intuitive than I was then. Ive just switched from Logic
7 directly to Logic X which I find really fun to use and
inspirational (although I hated learning it for the first

two weeks)

Do you still find your college background useful

nowadays?
At school its easy to learn the theory but film is
so much more about intuition. I would say that a
common mistake by us composers is locking our
emotions to the picture too early in the scoring
process. I often feel that films have different colors
and you need to find these. In order to do that you
need to spend some time with the film. In Swedish
you would say you need ice in your stomach.
This means not jumping on the first idea but trying
things out and looking for a thread. Before you
find that thread you should stay still and try to find
the inner musical world of that film.

What kind of prompts do you get from the director

to find that color?
First I sit down with the director to understand his
or her vision. Then I try to imagine how it could
sound and dream the score; how will it feel, what
instruments, what colors and so on. I always try to
find a specific sound world for all different films.
25 years ago when I first started out there wasnt
so much temp scoring going on. They would just
ask you to write the music and maybe talk about
different musical inspirations. Nowadays the
process is often more controlled and guided by temp
tracks, regardless of whether its a Scandinavian or
an American movie. Directors often use my own

music to temp films. I think they want to be nice but

it can sometimes be even harder than using tracks
from other composers. This is because my feelings
towards the new film can be framed by my emotions
towards the old one. I try not to cannibalize on my own
sound. I once got some great advice from a music
supervisor who said Try to change musical styles all
the time. So you dont end up being only the horror
or comedy composer.

Have you recorded your own bespoke libraries or do

you prefer off the peg solutions?
I have several thousand sounds that Wolfy and I
created over the years. Usually, only thirty percent of
a library we create is applied to the property it was
developed for, so sometimes the unused sounds
become the perfect idea for a different project
somewhere down the line. Given the time constraints
that composers face on a daily basis, I think the
commercial libraries are incredibly helpful in making
interesting music quickly. I like aspects of most
libraries.
Sometimes a little distortion will bring a bland sound
to life: I love the Soundtoys Decapitator on vocals. I
use their Little Radiator on mid / high percussion and
also to heat up a guitar track once in a while. I have a
UAD card in my rig and their plug-ins are remarkably
similar to the hardware units they emulate.

Do you usually work remotely with Susanne?

Kon-Tiki (2012)
Nordisk Film

project where I really wanted to do an old style epic

orchestral score, not something Id done before.
Whatever Im doing I really need the orchestra to
feel the music and give warmth back. I think that
when a musician plays he or she really has to be
on the edge to be effective. I love when things
go wrong and the sounds get weird. You have
to let musicians know that what theyre doing is
important and crucial to the result - theyre not
machines and they need to play with heart. That
can sometimes be tricky with big orchestras who
are used to playing classical music. I recorded
once in Abbey Road and it was scary how good
that orchestra was. They were intuitively reading
things into the notation that I hadnt even written
and feeling the music how I wanted them to. It was
so inspiring to hear such good musicians.

How do you feel about your success being quite

localized? Would you like to see more of your
films doing well overseas?

It always starts with a meeting with Susanne and

her longtime editor Pernille Bech-Christensen & the
sound designer Eddie Simonsen. We talk about the
film and sometimes look at edited material. From
there I usually work on a daily basis with Pernille.
She and Susanne have a very close relationship. She
often knows exactly what Susanne will think about
a certain piece of music. I also get feedback from
Eddie. So there are 3 of us operating as a kind of
triangle and thats a great way of working because if
two people think an idea is good then it probably is.
Then well have a meeting during the writing process
with Susanne where shell have ideas and comments
and lastly well all come together again for the final
mix.

Kre Hedebrant
in Let the Right One In
Lt den rtte komma in (original title)
EFTI

Stylistically, youve done everything from grand

orchestral to minimal. Do you sometimes choose
projects because youd like to work in a particular
genre that youve not done before?
Sometimes yes. For example, Kon-Tiki was a

Because I started in another time, where there

was no Internet, my older films just stayed in
Scandinavia or maybe traveled to Northern Europe.
What has happened more recently with The
Bridge, Let the Right One In and Kon-Tiki, is
fantastic in that I can work from Sweden and be
involved with international projects. I can still live in
my house with my wife, 3 kids and a dog. My studio
is in an old barn, next to a lake in the countryside
of Stockholm. I would say its the opposite of your
question and that its been amazing to be able
to work internationally at all! The world is much
smaller now. Its kind of weird but fantastic that the
whole world can hear my music nowadays. Having
said this, Id love to work more in the States and
perhaps live there too. Maybe I will in the future.

Presumably youve been to the USA for awards

and to meet directors?
Yes, for sure. The thing is that European films
have a much longer lead-time. In America its far
more short notice and I get calls saying Can you
come next week? Its hard to drop everything and
do that because Id already be committed to other
projects. There are different timelines over there.

Do you think that being a composer whos more

under the radar enables you to have a more
experimental style?
I would say that if and when I settle in Hollywood
I would like to keep a style of my own. But that
seems like it might be very hard as youre expected
to write in a certain way. Its right that Im free
to be more experimental, but some successful

composers like Thomas Newman, Mychael Danna and

others succeed in combining the art and the industry.
I dont really feel pressure to compete with other
composers; its all about the music. However, I do
feel pressure from myself and I feel really tired when
I dont write good music. But everyone has bad days
when you just write shitty music and the important
thing then is just to continue to work and write more,
because suddenly you will write something great.

What do you enjoy watching and listening to when

youre not working?
I really like TV series and watch lots of episodes in
a row. I used to have Netflix but I had to unsubscribe,
as I cant work with that many distractions. Its much
harder work to write for TV series than to watch them
(laughs). Theyre a lot of effort because I score TV
the same way I score films so I do the full works:
5.1 mixing, real instruments and orchestras etc. Its
exhausting because doing a series is like doing 10
films in a row. I love to go to the cinema when Im free.
Whilst I have a hard time watching my films with my
own music, I tend to like most of the other stuff I see.
Pixar are great - Finding Nemo is one of my favorites.
Id love to do a feature animation like that some day.
Im scoring a short horror animation at the moment,
La Noria which Im really enjoying.

We ask every composer this; is there one movie you

wish youd had the chance to score?
Thats a tough question. When I was young I saw a
movie called Ran by Akira Kurosawa (composed by
Toru Takemitsu) and I came out of the cinema crying.
It didnt have so much of a score in it but there was
a battle where there was a long emotional piece of
music and no other sounds that was fantastic! My not
so arty answer is the Godfather trilogy. I wouldve
loved to be a fly on the wall during the making of
those films.

Finally, which of your own scores is your favorite?

I liked the process of writing, Let the Right One In
and I love the way Kon-Tiki turned out. But honestly
Im never totally satisfied, so I hope my next big film
is the one that will be my favorite.
Thank you to Johan Sderqvist.

Reuben Cornell

promote Moog synths.

On display was the new Mother-32, the first compatible
Eurorack model in the smaller format. It comes with an
oscillator that can produce pulses and sawtooth wave
outputs, low pass and high pass filter, attack and decay
controls, low frequency oscillator and voltage controlled
amplifier, a patch panel with 32 patch points, 32 step
sequencer with 64 locations, also a MIDI input and it can
be expanded and used with other modules.
After a satisfying dose of Moog synths I made my way to see
the new Korg Minilogue synthesizer, a 4 voice polyphonic
analog synthesizer which is fully programmable, and it
sounded amazing! It has 2 oscillators, noise, and a choice
of different voice modes which can be selected as poly,
duo, unison, mono, chord delay, arp or side chain. It also
has a built-in delay, and what I thought another excellent
feature, the oscilloscope display which shows the wave
shape. Its great to see the waveform visualised this way.
It has 100 built in sounds and 100 user sounds. Most
importantly, it has a USB plus MIDI and sync I/O providing
easy connectivity.

Island of Electronicus
by Moog

THE NAMM EXPERIENCE - 2016

by Marie-Anne Fischer

The NAMM show (National Association of Music

Merchants Inc.) is the worlds largest music products
trade-only show which takes place every year in Anaheim,
California. In January this year it brought together 99000
registered attendees from more than 100 countries
featuring 1600+ exhibitors representing 5000+ brands.
As you can imagine, a highlight for anyone working in the
music industry. This was my third visit to this 4-day event,
Ive probably seen more gear and attended more events
than I would have in an entire year!
For me, being at the NAMM show means having the
opportunity to see the latest emerging gear and
technology, having a hands-on experience and trying out
new keyboards, sample instruments, editing tools but
its equally a wonderful opportunity to meet and speak
directly to developers and colleagues.
Modular Synths
This year, there seemed to be a definite increase of analog
synths in all shapes, colours and sizes, a veritable feast
for any analog user and enthusiast. There were booths
right next to each other creating a line of modules making it nearly impossible to walk past without tweaking
and trying out a few synths. I lacked deep understanding
of some of the technical aspects of modular synths but
loved the sound they produced, therefore seeing and
experiencing so many of them in action was an inspiring
way to improve my knowledge.

Soon after I delved into the synths, I met Dan Green of

4ms Company who demonstrated the Spectral Multiband
Resonator (SMR). He showed me how one single sound
could be isolated and manipulated through filters and
resonate controls and how to create a constant flow of
different sounds and patterns. Also on display was their
2 channel Dual Looping Delay (DLD) Eurorack Module
where each channel has a delay up to 88 seconds.

I saw quite a few small MIDI controllers and the Roland

A-01, 8-bit synth stood out, being flexible, and compact.
It can be used as a CV interface or MIDI device, it has a
mono 8-bit digital engine and can be used as a pattern
sequencer. It can be paired with the optional Roland
K-25m keyboard.
Before moving away from all the Synth talk, I discovered
small pocket operators, Robot (great for melodic playing),
Arcade (game sounds), and Office (rhythm machine

sampled from office equipment), I thought they were

innovative and fun synths by Teenage Engineering.
They run on 2 batteries, have 16 patterns and effects,
sequencer, built-in speaker, LCD display, folding stand
and watch plus alarm clock. There is an effects and chord
button and write mode. The pocket operators can be
daisy chained together and have jam sync functionality.
They each have their own individual qualities. I liked the
design a lot and they are small enough to be carried
around in your pocket.
I made my way to the second floor to visit the ROLI room
where Danny White showed me the new Seaboard RISE
49 keyboard (4 octaves playing surface). Its a beautiful
looking touch sensitive keyboard with a silicon surface
which has sensors under it to detect 5 dimensions
of touch. The sound can be shaped through striking
the keys, applying pressure, through sliding up and
down, bending or vibrato movements opening up great
possibilities for shaping sounds. The keyboard is wireless
with MIDI over bluetooth and includes the Equator
software synthesizer. The concept of the Seaboard is
that modulation and pitch-bend can be controlled on
each note. You can experience the touch-response that
the Seaboard offers by downloading the free NOISE 5D
app by ROLI Ltd. compatible with iPhone 5c and above
for the sound engine. Obviously the 5 dimensional touch
is only available with haptic technology of the iPhone 6s
or iPhone 6s Plus. I heard that new MIDI specification has
been developed called MPE (Multidimensional Polyphonic
Expression) allowing more multi dimensional control
within MIDI so that you have full expression support in
your generators and DAWs.

Synthrotek Modular Systems showcased the MST Eurorack

Modular System in 2 sizes which can be integrated to MIDI
keyboard or DAW. Audio Damage announced their new
analog drum model, Boom Tschak, a pure analog drum
voice with great tonal possibility, having trigger, accent
and choke inputs and plenty of unique controls.
Another innovative synth I saw, was the Make Noise
0-Coast Single Voice Desktop Synth very versatile and
due to its size, easy to have on your desk - which would
be pure joy.
I spent the morning walking around the synth alleys,
each sounding pleasant and busy but the best was yet to
come. It was like an oasis of peace when I ventured upon
the Moog booth - the Island of Electronicus (pronounced
Mogue, I subsequently learned), a haven of modules laid
out between cactuses of all sizes with carpets and comfy
cushions to sit on, pure pleasure to someone with tired
feet and jet-lag. The display was set up to commemorate
one of the first Moog events that took place in 1970 to

A r c a d e ( g a m e s o u n d s )
b y Te e n a g e E n g i n e e r i n g

Software Libraries
Naturally, viewing software instruments was high on my
list of priorities and interest. I met up with Mike Greene
from RealiTone, who had on display RealiDrums, a very
versatile drum library with a range of different drums and
cymbals, hi hats, kicks, toms, crashes and rides which
could be selected. Mic mix options were also available
with a choice between close, room, rock or beast.
Included was a groove generator with loop menu and a
unique feature is the complexity slider which can control
each instrument and making it more or less complexed
within the loop. Furthermore, MIDI can be dragged into
a project. I had previously only met Mike virtually when
I created a demo for his beautiful vocal Realivox Blue
library, as is often the case in our business, so it was nice
to take a little face-to-face break at his booth and chat
over chocolate brownies, which were also very welcome. It
was such a nice surprise to bump into Samuel Estes from
Sonicsmiths and catching up with him. Sams powerful
sound design instrument The Foundry was on display at
the Big Fish Audio Booth.
I made my way past Orchestral Tools and caught up
with Sascha Knorr who kindly gave me an in-depth

demonstration of METROPOLIS, a powerful and versatile

orchestral library containing strings, brass, men and
women choir, percussion ensemble, grand piano, heavy
guitars, electric bass and drum sets.
Spitfires stand was a spacious, impressive and inviting
display that gave me a chance to try out a few of their
high quality libraries. lafur Arnalds composer toolkit
was announced with custom Felt Grand Piano and Sonic
warps. The composer toolkit consists of organic warps,
synth embellishments and a Tempo locked section. It was
great to take a moment and chat to their friendly staff
members. Composer Diego Stocco gave an excellent A
Fistful of Leaves demonstration using Omnisphere 2, he
took an audio clip from the sound of a leaf blower and
created an entire track using the same clip by applying
different effects and editing tools to the sound. He used
Innerspace, Toxic Smasher, an arpeggiator, wave shaper
within Omnisphere 2 and his end result sounded great
and as crazy as his demo, well, his motto was Dont forget
to be crazy once in a while!
For the first time there was a room on the second floor
allocated to the music software community with Antares
Audio Technologies, Audible Genius, Audiofanzine,

M E I N L G o n g s , Ta m Ta m ,
SingingBowls

Best Service, Boz Digital Labs, Chocolate Audio Di Coen

Simone, Eventide, FXpansion, GuitarTunes, KVRaudio,
Lumit, Mozaic Beats, Newzik, Pioneer DJ Americas, Inc., Q
Up Arts, SkyTracks, Sonnox Ltd., SoundToys, Inc., Straight
Ahead Samples, Synchro Arts Limited, Tracktion Software
Corporation, WaveDNA Ltd. and Wholegrain Digital
Systems LLC showcasing their products.
When you are far from home its always nice to find a
friendly face and so I popped past Best Service and said
hello to the lovely Eduardo Tarilonte, an award winning
sample library developer, who also invited me to attend
the software developers dinner organised by Alex Davis
from Embertone.

Mike Greene
f r o m R e a l i To n e

This year I didnt get a chance to get to the guitar Hall

as I really wanted to spend more time with the synths,
but, during my many long walks of discovery I saw the
beautifully made Planetary tuned Gongs, Tam Tams,
Tuning Forks Chakra Set, Singing Bowls and instruments
by The MEINL. I had not come across such beautiful
crafted masterpieces before, I was tempted to purchase
at least one item. In many ways it is a good thing that
nothing at NAMM can be sold, I would have come home
penniless. I also stopped by the Hapi Drum stand and had
a chance to try out the Slim drum version with fixed tuning
and also the Origin drum with deeper tones. I absolutely
love the calmness of the sound and how versatile they can
be. Another great award winning product I saw was the
IsoAcoustic Isolation stands for speakers, which enhance

sound quality and clarity and also absorb unwanted

reflections. I think these a great to use for composers
who have their speakers standing on their work surface.
The stands have 14 combinations of height and can be
tilted for desired listening positions.
I could carry on writing about all the incredible products I
saw, the sheer scale and variety are overwhelming. During
NAMM there is never a moment when you do not hear
music, whether one goes outside to absorb some winter
sunshine or whilst queuing for lunch, you hear music or
youre able to watch a band play on the main stage. There
are also many talks and educational events that happen
during the day and so there is always something to do or
of interest to everyone, and Disneyland is just over the
road. I would highly recommend that every reader go to
the NAMM show if possible, even if only once. The show
never totally ends at NAMM, friendships and connections
continue long after all the doors have shut.
One of my highlights and a perfect end to NAMM was
attending the SCOREcast 10th anniversary dinner, where it
was great to spend time with Deane Ogden, Brian Ralston
and so many talented composers from the Hollywood
SCOREcast community and also the event sponsors. The
evening was a wonderful blend of Mexican food, music
talk, speeches and emotions - it was all a thoroughly
incredible experience!

from at the end of a bar and pasting it at the beginning

of your loop. Youll also need a separate audio file of
the release tail on its own so that the ending of your
loop doesnt sound unnatural when the in-game music
stops.
Scoring with stems is a more complex affair but makes
for a more adaptable game music experience for the
player. Youll need to compose several different stems
with varying levels of intensity which can be mixed
together by the audio engine. In practical terms that
means writing several different stems for one in-game
loop. A good example would be to have pizzicato strings
for light action, switching to staccato strings for a more
intense fighting section. Again you have to take release
tails into consideration and its also worth resetting any
round robin samples at the beginning of each export
to make sure that the sample performance is exactly
the same for each different stem.

Grand Theft Auto 5 by Rockstar gaes

TRACK TECHNIQUES
WRITING FOR VIDEO GAMES USING SAMPLES
Game music has come a long way since the first bleeps
of Space Invaders. Nowadays youre more likely to hear
an orchestral score than an old-school chip-tune. There
are several different ways to write music for games. For
the purposes of this tutorial Im going to concentrate
on the process of composing dynamic music which
adapts as the action on screen progresses. This type of
music is completely different to normal film scoring as
it has to be written in short loops or stems which can
be mixed live by the game engine.
The first thing to know when embarking on a video
game writing project is the type of audio middleware
the developer will be using and how will your music
fit into that software. Its likely theyll be utilizing either
FMOD or Wwise to organise sound effects and audio
cues, although some developers may have their own
in-house tools. A basic knowledge of an audio engine is
the least you need to get started in game audio design.
Watch the extensive tutorials online provided by the
developers and download demos so that you know
your way around the interfaces.

Now to the process of composing: Youll likely be given

a brief by the game developer as to the feel of each
section of the game. That could mean writing music
at any sort of tempo and intensity and in any genre.
I mentioned loops and stems previously so lets take a
look at each in turn:
Within the in-game audio engine loops will be
programmed to play after one another, depending on
the on-screen action. For example, a characters walk
through the forest could be underscored with some
light percussion and harp. This would loop until a
monster attacks when the music would switch to faster
hand drums and low strings, perhaps playing the same
melody as the earlier harp. These kind of music loops
are best written to a fixed tempo, root key and time
signature. Keeping these characteristics consistent will
make it easier to bolt different loops together within the
audio engine. It is possible to change these elements if
you can write a functional bridge section to cover the
transition. Suspended strings and drones work well for
this. You need to make sure that the release tail from
the end of any loop is also heard at the start. Do this by
bouncing your entire project, copying the release tail

Despite writing with loops and stems, youve got to be

mindful of general repetition in your score as a player
might be playing the game for many hours, hearing
the same music over and over again. This means that
obvious melodic motifs, vocals and solo instruments
should be used sparingly. Its more effective to create
an atmosphere rather than a traditional filmic score.
Be careful of using stylistic tropes in your score. Its
all too easy to fall into a trap of orchestrating with
bells for ice levels or ethnic winds for desert sections.
Unless your developer specifically requests it, avoid

being derivative in instrumentation and style. Some

of the best game soundtracks have been made by
composers willing to create their own samples to
mix with more traditional instrumentation. That said,
many sample libraries have been created with one
eye on the gaming market. Sonokinetics own phrasebased libraries, Capriccio, Sotto, Minimal and Grosso
provide perfect orchestral loops for creating stems.
Cinesamples Deep Percussion Beds and 8Dio Hybrid
Tools do the same for drums and drones.
Depending on the genre of game, there are some very
specific things to watch out for when youre composing
and mixing your cues: In a similar way as writing for
film, your score will usually have to compete with
sound design. But unlike film, you wont know when the
sound effects will be happening. This means allowing
space for the listener to experience the sound design.
As a rule of thumb, you should writing in a more
sparse style than you normally would and reign in the
low-end of your cues. This makes space for in-game
explosions, punches and engine sounds. To maintain
a pacy feel without low drums and strings consider
using higher percussion like toms and hand drums.
Synth arpeggios, fast violin figures, gated drones
and fluttering woodwinds can also help keep up the
momentum of a track. Until next time... game on!
Reuben Cornell
@reutunes

MUSIC
FOR MOTOR SPORTS FILMS

OUR TOP 3 PICKS

or a proper racing film all you need is the revving of V16 and ultra
closeup of the drivers concentrated stare. Though some composers
have nailed it to perfection with their film score for the fastest films
out there. Here is our highly subjective top 3.

RUSH

A very stylish film by Ron Howard with a beautiful score by Hans Zimmer.
An exciting movie with a the grand orchestrating by Hans and his team make
this an epic speed flic to remember for both music and film.

SENNA

Not only the movie left an everlasting impression on us, the way this
masterpiece is scored is an absolute lust for the ears. We find that in all Antonio
Pintos work Brazilian music and traditional instruments are a key feature and
no movie (beside City Of God perhaps) is more suitable for the way this soundtrack is
crafted. The Main theme and chasing themes deserve a pole position in Film music
history. Well done Antonio!

LE MANS

This Oldtimer by Michel LeGrand stands out on all fronts. This real 70s score is
a time period piece but stand the test of time. Were recently watched it again
and the blend of Jazz orchestraion and harmonization with a symponic orchestra
really speaks to us. The whole production of this film might have been a trainwreck,
but its like a good wine, the longer you wait, the better it gets. This one sure is a
Grand Crux by mr. LeGrand. Go listen, then watch...

RECORD YOUR MUSIC LIVE

COLOPHON
PRODUCTION

Sonokinetic BV
EDITORIAL
Rob Vandenberg
Son Thomsen
Reuben Cornell
Marie-Anne Fischer
Sophie Wolke
Ken Black
Art Director Sonokinetic BV
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