Polygon Wireframe episode 1: Peter McConnell, Grim Fandango and the making of a composer. Patent US5315057 - Method and apparatus for dynamically composing music and sound effects using ... - Google Patent. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for dynamically composing music and sound effects using a computer-controlled sound system.
The present invention applies to, but is not limited to, a music and sound effects system in which music and sound effect composition is related to an interactive computer/video game and is dynamically composed in response to unpredictable action and events of the game and in which the changes occur in a way that is aesthetically appropriate and natural. The present invention may also be used in any other situation where dynamic music composition may be of benefit, including but not limited to live theater or musical performance, interactive computer education products, composition tools for quickly assembling soundtracks to accompany visual media, etc.
Although it may potentially be used in many other applications, the present invention was created in response to a need in the computer/video games industry. A. Standard MIDI File Format b. Grim Fandango composer Peter McConnell interviewed. It was all spelled out right there in the title.
After nearly two decades of praise it’s difficult to picture the stylistic tightrope Grim Fandango walked in blending film noir and Mexican folklore to tell its story of a Grim Reaper (basically a glorified spiritual travel agent), his four-year journey through the underworld to find a woman he’s sent on the wrong path, and the dark conspiracy they uncover. With full voice acting, a massive story spanning years, and extended homages to Casablanca and Double Indemnity, it was easily a game that could have collapsed under its own ambition. But it didn’t — Grim took its concept and soared. Twenty years later, it’s returned in a new edition to the masterpiece-accolades (and sales) it deserved all along.
Its remastering kept the soul of the game intact while polishing what needed to be polished: the graphics, animation, controls, and most importantly, the music. McConnell is busier than ever these days. That’s amazing! What are some of those? SoundWorks Collection Interview Series - Composer Peter McConnell. Composer Peter McConnell has composed award-winning scores for a diverse range of video games including Broken Age, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Plants vs.
Zombies: Garden Warfare, the Sly Cooper series, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Psychonauts, Brutal Legend and Grim Fandango. Before working independently, Peter composed in-house at LucasArts contributing to beloved franchises such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Monkey Island. We also discussed one of the most acclaimed adventure games of all time, Grim Fandango which was recently Remastered by Double Fine Studios. The 1998 LucasArts classic was remastered to look, sound, and control even better than the award-winning original release. Subscribe to the SoundWorks Collection Audio Interview Series. Grim Fandango Remastered: The Resurrection of Sound with composer Peter McConnell. Double Fine Adventure! EP11: “Ship It” Audio Bootcamp : Dj vu All Over Again? What We Can Learn from "Classic" Game Music. The Score: Grim Fandango composer Peter McConnell - Gamereactor UK - Grim Fandango Remastered. Peter McConnell is perhaps best known for his many contributions to soundtracks of classic LucasArts titles from Sam & Max, to numerous Star Wars titles, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and The Dig.
And of course, Grim Fandango, a game that's getting the remastered treatment later on this month. Following his days at LucasArts he continued to work with Tim Schafer and Double Fine alongside other developers. He has worked on the soundtrack of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, The Sly series and even Hearthstone.
Apart from seeing his soundtrack for Grim Fandango re-recorded, the conclusion of Broken Age is coming up (hopefully this spring) and we thought we'd reach out to the prolific composer with some questions. Peter McConnell Interview: A Wonderful Three Years. We last caught up with Peter McConnell in a fantastic interview from three years ago.
Since then, McConnell’s already-impressive profile has been raised with a plethora of major projects: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, the new Plants vs. Zombies titles, and the Kickstarter-funded Broken Age. Interview with award-winning video game composer Peter McConnell - Boston Video Game. Interview with Composer, Peter MCConnell. The Sound Architect speaks to amazing composer, Peter McConnell!
Peter has composed award-winning scores in the Interactive Entertainment Industry for nearly two decades. His credits include Plants Vs. Special reveal: Audio Team announcement and exclusive interview. Today’s blogpost is a special post.
Until now we have not shared much information about our extended team; the masters of audio in our game universe. From before, you know our lead composer Ragnhild Tronsmo Haugland. Peter McConnell and Broken Age on Top Score. February 13, 2014 Copy and paste the HTML below to embed this audio onto your web page.
Audio player code: St. Paul, Minn. — The game Broken Age was funded through a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, raising nearly three-and-a-half million dollars. "One thing that people don't realize is that, despite the incredibly impressive Kickstarter funding that the game has, this is a teeny, tiny budget for a game. " Video Game Composer Clint Bajakian And Actor Peter O'Connell Interview - Gamerhub.tv.
Www.doublefine.com/ActionCast/DoubleFineActionCast013_Composers.mp3. Peter McConnell and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time on Top Score. March 14, 2013 Copy and paste the HTML below to embed this audio onto your web page.
Audio player code: ST. PAUL, Minn. — The new Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time from Sanzaru Games and Sony is Peter McConnell's third go at a Sly score. The game has cartoon-ish art, and McConnell's score is a throwback to the sounds of Carl Stalling, Raymond Scott and especially Henry Mancini. In addition, players spend the game as Sly or one of Sly's merry crew (Bentley, Murray or other pals you make along the way), traveling through time in different regions of the world. This gave McConnell the opportunity to pull out every hilarious trick in the book; quaint accordion melodies in Paris, ancient reeds and strings in old England, Telecaster guitars and harmonicas in the old West.
Yet, when it came to scoring the Ice Age, McConnell initially wasn't quite sure what to do. McConnell takes this sort of tongue-in-cheek scoring seriously, and the insanely talented players on the soundtrack are thrilling to hear. The International House of Mojo - Peter McConnell. Interview with Peter McConnell - Classical Music Journal. CMJ: Did you find it difficult to translate your exact vision into a performance from live musicians? During recording, do you take much interpretive control over the musicians? PMC: On the contrary, I found the live process to produce results that were even better than my original vision.
Once you're in there working with real players, you start to see a lot more possibilities (see your question later about bass clarinet). I do tend to be a bit of a task master in the studio. I work people pretty hard -- sometimes too hard. CMJ: For the pieces that weren't using live musicians, what software did you use? PMC: Digital Performer was and still is my main tool, plus a lot of samples. CMJ: In regards to the bass clarinet\ contrabass clarinet extended techniques that show up later in the game(used to great effect near the very end) - how did they come about? PMC: That is a part of Ralph Carney's style. PMC: I'd say all the ideas that really mattered to me panned out pretty well. A Peter McConnell interview. By Domenico "Diduz" Misciagna (Click here for the Italian version) There's no need to introduce Peter McConnell to you.
You may ignore his name, but you've heard his music. It's impossible to forget many of his achievements, from the creation of iMUSE for Monkey Island 2 up to his recent wonderful score for Double Fine's Psychonauts. This bunch of simple questions is a lite (and perhaps lame? Interview with Peter McConnell (March 2011) Industry veteran Peter McConnell has shown himself to be one of the most creative and versatile musicians scoring video games. Having studied at Harvard and scored various popular adventures and Star Wars titles at LucasArts, he is now a successful freelancer. Peter McConnell. Peter N. McConnell (born in 1960[1] in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), also known as Peter Mc, is an American video game composer and musician, best known for his work at LucasArts and composing the Sly Cooper Soundtracks since the second game. Biography[edit] McConnell left LucasArts in 2000, but contributed to Escape from Monkey Island and special edition of The Secret of Monkey Island.
Since then, McConnell has composed scores for Psychonauts, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (about which McConnell says that he was influenced by Henry Mancini works),[3] and Kinectimals. McConnell is one of the founding members of G.A.N.G., the Game Audio Network Guild [1]. McConnell has just completed work on Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, with the release of the game on February 5, 2013, along with the release of the soundtrack showcasing McConnell's work on the game. Discography[edit] References[edit] PC Gameplay - Grim Fandango. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge (2/19) Psychonauts Walkthrough-Part 1.