VGMO -Video Game Music Online- » Grant Kirkhope Interview: What to Expect from Yooka-Laylee. Grant Kirkhope is one of the most popular game composers in the Western games industry.
He achieved great recognition at Rare for his scores to the adventure titles Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64, first-person shooters Perfect Dark and GoldenEye 007, and, of course, the life simulations Viva Piñata and Trouble in Paradise. His more recent projects include co-composing Civilization: Beyond Earth, A Hat in Time, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z and the recently-funded Yooka-Laylee. In this humorous interview conducted on the first day of E3 2015, Kirkhope talks about the Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter, which had been fully-funded for £2,090,104 (roughly $3,304,590 USD) earlier that day, and what to expect from its nostalgic orchestral soundtrack.
He also discusses his partnership with David Wise, his plans to write metal covers, and the hoopla surrounding the removal of his Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 soundtracks on Bandcamp. Interview Credits. N64 Composer Grant Kirkhope Talks Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark. I am Grant Kirkhope, composer of Banjo and DK 64, along w/ developers Prismatic Games of the Party-RTS, Hex Heroes, for Wii U/PC : IAmA. Grant Kirkhope. Interviews: Grant Kirkhope. Posted Feb 23, 2012 at 9:00AM EST by Mr Ham Listed in: Interviews Tags: grant kirkhope interview, kingdoms of amalur reckoning soundtrack Videogame music is always a hot topic, and with a fewer and fewer legends having big releases these days (Where’s Uematsu gone?!)
It’s a pleasure to see Grant Kirkhope back with Kingdom's Of Amalur. And with a new game comes new spotlight, and with spotlight comes interviews! I was lucky enough to exchange a few words with Mr Kirkope and, instead of advertising Reckoning, we talked about the gaming industry and the changes it’s gone through recently. Gadflow by Grant Kirkhope MP (Mr Pham): What do you think of the videogame music industry today compared to when you started out, and are there any particular composers you like? GK (Grant Kirkhope): It's very different in terms of what we can actually do with sound now but the basics are still the same really.
MP: Reckoning was a new kind of soundtrack for you. GK: That's easy! So there you have it. The Sounds of Reckoning: Interview with Grant Kirkhope (January 2012) Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is just weeks away.
The giant open-world RPG, designed by Big Huge Games and published by Electronic Arts, is one of the most eagerly anticipated titles of the year. Interview Series - Grant Kirkhope. RPGFan: Can you give us a little bit of your musical background?
How did you become involved in scoring games? Grant Kirkhope: I played trumpet and recorder at school and was a member of the usual school and county orchestras. I also taught myself guitar and played in rock/metal bands from the age of 12 or so. When I left school I went on to attend the Royal Northern College of Music and spent four years there majoring in trumpet. After I left I played for a number of different bands over the next 11 years, some did ok some didn't ... heh! I had met Robin Beanland through playing in bands over the years and we were good friends. RPGFan: How did you approach the score for Reckoning? Grant Kirkhope: I think any composer will have an instant idea when he looks at something he needs to write some music for.
Even though the games I'd done at Rare were very different to Reckoning I don't think my process is any different. Interview with Grant Kirkhope (former Rare Composer) ~ Nintendo Kingdom. Back in the days of the NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64, one of the best, if not the best 2nd party companies was Rare Ltd.
(formally known as Rareware). They're games were so good, that they were argueably better than Nintendo themselves. Interview with composer Grant Kirkhope. Hi Grant, thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
First of all, tell us about yourself. How did you get into the video game music business? Hello Oliver, thanks for taking the time to talk to me! I’d studied music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester majoring in classical trumpet and after leaving there spent the next eleven years playing in metal bands on guitar and a couple of other bands on trumpet (most notably the british rock band 'Little Angels'). At the end of this period of time my last band fell to bits and I was left with no form of income and during the eleven years I was on and off unemployment benefit as well. One day he announced that he had got a job at some company called Rare writing music and making sound effects for video games and off he went.
Let’s talk about your latest project Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. I moved to Big Huge Games in Baltimore, USA in August of 2008. How did you first start out writing the music? Grant Kirkhope Interview. Interview with game composer Grant Kirkhope. También disponible en español.
MAGFEST X- Grant Kirkhope Interview. Interview with Grant Kirkhope (May 2010) Grant Kirkhope is one of the most popular game composers in the western games industry.
He achieved great recognition at Rare for his scores to the adventure titles Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64, first-person shooters Perfect Dark and GoldenEye, and, of course, the life simulations Viva Piñata and Trouble in Paradise. A couple of years ago, he left the British developer to join the Maryland studio Big Huge Games, where he is currently serving as audio director, composer, and sound designer on their dark fairytale RPG Project Mercury. Kirkhope recently took the time to talk with SEMO's webmaster and recollect his career so far. The result is one of our most entertaining and expansive interviews ever. Grant Kirkhope reflects on all the scores he has worked on to date, while also providing valuable insight on his background and future projects.
Composer Interview: Grant Kirkhope - OCRWiki. At this stage in his career, it's safe to say Grant Kirkhope is not a complacent man.
Having started with Rare back in 1995, Kirkhope's proficiency as a composer and sound designer steadily grew, initially navigating the hexadecimal hell of writing for the Game Boy, then moving on to the Nintendo 64 with GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie & Tooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Perfect Dark. Grant graduated to CD-quality audio after Rare's 2002 acquisition by Microsoft, and subsequently reached his latest apex, having his three most recent scores (Viva Piñata, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and the upcoming Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts) brought to life by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
After more than 12 fulfilling years working on big, huge games with Rare, Kirkhope recently switched sides of the Atlantic, joining THQ studio Big Huge Games for his latest challenge as its audio director. Interview djpretzel: First off, welcome to the United States! Thank you! Ha! Too right! That's true. Sound Byte: Meet the Composer - Grant Kirkhope. The next composer in the Sound Byte spotlight has been around the music-making block longer than you might think.
Grant Kirkhope was an old-school alum from renowned development studio Rare, where he lent his prowess as an audio director, audio designer, and composer for titles like Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Pinata. Right now, he's busy composing fantasy pieces for the upcoming EA and Big Huge Games role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. We managed to get a few words from the composer about his past, present, and future works. GameSpot: Tell us how you got started in a career in music. Now!: SoundCast Interview: Grant Kirkhope (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning) Interview: Grant Kirkhope (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning)