Sascha Dikiciyan & Cris Velasco Interview: A Spectacular Collaboration. Despite coming from contrasting backgrounds, underground DJ Sascha Dikiciyan and classically-trained orchestrator Cris Velasco have formed a high-profile collaboration in recent years. Their hybridised sounds have featured in high-profile games such as Borderlands, Prototype, Tron: Evolution, and Mass Effect 2 in recent years. In addition, they have separately worked on franchises such as Quake, God of War, James Bond, MAG, Section 8, and Darksiders. In this interview, Sascha and Cris discuss their respective backgrounds and how they collaborate. They highlight landmark scores in their careers — both collaborations and solo works — before going into more detail about their latest work, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.
Interview Credits Interview Subject: Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris VelascoInterviewer: Chris GreeningEditor: Chris GreeningCoordination: Greg O’Connor-Read Interview Content Chris: Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco, many thanks for speaking to us today. About the Author. Sound Byte: Meet the Composers - Mass Effect 3. The music of Mass Effect 3, which is the latest title in the BioWare-developed role-playing game trilogy that started in 2007, is a collaborative effort between several music veterans. We spoke to Sam Hulick, Cris Velasco, and Sascha Dikiciyan about the ins and outs of the game's music. GameSpot: When and how did the three of you start your careers in the music-making industry? Sascha Dikiciyan: For me, it goes way back to 1997. I had basically just finished my studies when I decided to produce an audio CD for the then-popular PC shooter Quake. I sold over 2,000 units out of my apartment.
Within a few months, id Software got a hold of that CD and Quake II was officially my first video game gig in summer of 1997. Cris Velasco: My first real gig was scoring the game Battlestar Galactica for Vivendi Universal. Sam Hulick: I started officially around 2003, shortly after I won the G.A.N.G. GS: How did you get involved in Mass Effect 3?
Hulick: I have too many to list! Filed under: Mass Effect 3. Interview: Sascha Dikiciyan - XBIGY Games Blog :: The latest in gaming news, features, reviews and previews. Video Game Composer Sascha Dikiciyan - The Amazon Interview. As a follow-up to Amazon.com/games buyer Kathy Dongo's recently published interview with Cris Velasco, today we also bring you her companion interview with video game composer and musician Sascha Dikiciyan. In addition to his collaboration with Velasco on games including Dark Messiah, Splinter Cell 4, Beowulf, Haze and Hellgate: London, Sascha has worked on a variety of other games, most notably Quake II, Quake III Arena and James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies. He is also recognized as an innovative and successful music producer in the recording industry.
Enjoy… Amazon.com/games: Growing up in Germany, what were your musical influences? Sascha Dikiciyan: Back into the 80s, bands like New Order, Devo, Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk shaped my interest in electronic music. Amazon.com/games: When did you get into video games and which ones did you play? Sascha Dikiciyan: I got into games really early on. Sascha Dikiciyan: Actually that isn't quite the way it happened. Sascha Dikiciyan: Good question. Scoring for TRON: Evolution TRON has seen many reincarnations over the years: a book, comics, and several video games are based on the arcade-game-style science fiction movie released back in 1982. A few days ago, the TRON machine started again to unveil the action-adventure video game Tron: Evolution. Video game composer and music producer Sascha Dikiciyan was in charge of scoring the game.
Being a long-time Steinberg user, Sascha told us more about his first night with Cubase, production techniques and, of course, the project that made him feel like “a kid in a candy store.” Could you give us a short insight into your main activities and production areas? I have been composing music for video games since about 1997. How did you get started in the music business? Sascha Dikiciyan Studio of Sascha Dikiciyan Your main production area is video game composing.
What are the major differences between scoring for films and scoring for games? You recently worked on the TRON: Evolution video game. . — Sascha Dikiciyan ". . . Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Composers Interview. Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan are no strangers to the world of videogame music. Individually and together the two have composed music for Spy Hunter: Nowhere To Run, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Battlezone, Hellgate: London, Unreal Tournament, and Quake II, amongst other titles.
In mid-March of this year they became attached to the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic project after a lengthy demo process. "Sylvain Brunet, the audio director for this title, called us personally to ask if we'd be interested in presenting demos," the duo say in tandem. "We had just recently finished some work for him on Splinter Cell: Double Agent so he was familiar with our style and the way we work together. " By the time Cris and Sascha were hired the game had already been in development for some time (actually it was about five months away from the official ship date).
IGN Music: Since Brunet approached you to demo for the project, what was it about it that made you want to get involved? Interview: Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco (Mass Effect Arrival) Interview: Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco (Mass Effect Arrival) Recorded April 8, 2011 Published April 15, 2011 Two composers...two interviewers...The SoundCast reaches critical mass! Composing-duo Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco talk with Christopher and Marius about some of the their recent projects including: TRON EVOLUTION, MORTAL KOMBAT, and MASS EFFECT ARRIVAL. Episode Highlights 00:37 — Introduction 02:45 — Collaboration and proximity 07:33 — Tron Evolution 18:30 — The new Mortal Kombat 27:40 — Mass Effect Arrival 41:05 - Inconspicuous Tweets and Conclusion Music Clips (Select music clips contained in this podcast)
Sascha Dikiciyan. All week long, we're peering ahead to what the future holds for the PC gaming industry. Not just the hardware and software in our rigs, but how and where we use them, and how they impact the games we play. Here's part four of our five-part series; stay tuned all week for more from the future of PC gaming. We dream of futuristic graphics cards with chrome Hot Rod piping and names as cool as The Pixelator. In reality, future graphics cards won't be human-sized or be styled after 1950s automobiles, but they will be faster than what we're running today. The SoundCast - Interview: Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco (Mass Effect Arrival) Exclusive Interview: Composers Jesper Kyd, Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan Talk Borderlands 2 | BioGamer Girl.
2K Games and Gearbox Software released Borderlands 2 in North America on September 18, 2012. Borderlands 2 featured all-new characters, skill trees, environments, missions, enemies, weapons and equipment. Everything you loved from the original is now back with even more personality! BioGamer Girl recently set down with the composers of Borderlands 2 to learn more about this epic new sequel. Read on to learn more. AMANDA DYAR: You're clearly one of the best composers in any industry, and we were lucky enough to talk with you about the amazing work you did on Darksiders II earlier this year. With the numerous games you've worked on over the years, do you find that you can take anything from one experience to the next, and also more specifically, will we hear any of your songs returning from the original Borderlands for Borderlands 2?
JESPER KYD: Yes, I think it’s natural that you take a lot from one experience to the next. SASCHA DIKICIYANS: I think it’s hard to be good at everything. Sascha Dikiciyan - Prototype Wiki - Everything about Prototype, Prototype 2 and the Prototype Universe. Sascha "Buzzfunk" Dikiciyan along with Cris Velasco, composed the music for Radical Entertainment's 2009 hit game Prototype.
Background Edit Early life Edit Dikiciyan was born in Stuttgart, Germany and growing up in Berlin, he began learning the piano at an early age, but switched to drums when he was twelve. Following high school, Dikiciyan returned to his piano studies. Works Dikiciyan’s interest in video games began in the early 80's, compelling him to independently produce and release "Methods of Destruction," the first-ever audio add-on for the original Quake in 1996.
Following the production of "Quake III: Arena Noise" Dikiciyan realized the demand for the type of sounds he creates. In the summer of 2001, Dikiciyan began producing dance music under the name “Toksin” in tandem with his responsibilities as a video game composer. Game Credits Trivia External Links. Interview: "Mass Effect 3" Composers On Bringing The Music Back To Its Roots And More. Say what you want about Mass Effect 3 (unless it's that you should be able to check a box and turn your gay crew mates straight, in which case screw you)—but we haven't heard anyone argue that the game's music is anything but fantastic. We caught up with three of the game's composers to chat about their inspirations, their triumphs, and bringing the series' music back to its Mass Effect 1 roots. Sam Hulick's been creating tracks for the series since the beginning, while Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco started their Mass Effect work with the second's game's DLC, "Kasumi: Stolen Memory.
" All three contributed to making Mass Effect 3's score the wonderful electronic soundscape that it is. Here's what they had to say: (And yes, we really did hear someone say that there should be an option to turn gay characters straight in Mass Effect 3. Idiots.) Complex: Several composers worked on the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack. Hulick's been working on the series since the beginning. Interview with Sascha Dikiciyan & Cris Velasco (September 2011) Despite coming from contrasting backgrounds, underground DJ Sascha Dikiciyan and classically-trained orchestrator Cris Velasco have formed a high-profile collaboration in recent years.
Their hybridised sounds have featured in high-profile games such as Borderlands, Prototype, Tron: Evolution, and Mass Effect 2 in recent years. In addition, they have separately worked on franchises such as Quake, God of War, James Bond, MAG, Section 8, and Darksiders. In this interview, Sascha and Cris discuss their respective backgrounds and how they collaborate. They highlight landmark scores in their careers — both collaborations and solo works — before going into more detail about their latest work, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.
Interview Credits Interview Subject: Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris VelascoInterviewer: Chris GreeningEditor: Chris GreeningCoordination: Greg O'Connor-Read Interview Content Chris: Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco, many thanks for speaking to us today. Sonic Mayhem. Sonic Mayhem's style is primarily a very driving and forceful form of aggro-industrial, with an emphasis on repeated musical phrases (though this is less pronounced in their non-soundtrack work). Currently Sascha collaborates with Cris Velasco who is responsible for orchestral moods in their music. Sascha is also known under the name "Toksin", producing dance remixes for the likes of BT, Pitty Sing, Celldweller and many others. Discography[edit] External links[edit] References[edit]
BackTrack: Composing Mass Effect – Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco Interview | Side Mission. Our final interview is a two-for-one deal as we speak with the team-up of Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco. The pair originally wrote music for Mass Effect 2 episodes Kasumi’s Stolen Memory and Arrival and were called back to score many of Mass Effect 3’s pivotal scenes, including Rannoch and Sanctuary. We speak with them about what it’s like to work as a team, and get into a deep discussion on ambient music. Sascha Dikiciyan: Hi, I’m Sascha Dikiciyan. I’m the other half of the composing team.
Cris Velasco: I’m Cris Velasco. SD: And we did Space Marine last year which was cool, and here we are, Mass Effect 3. GT: Talk about how you ended up working on Mass Effect. SD: Yeah, we did the first DLC [Mass Effect 2: Kasumi] and that was pretty much a success. CV: Yeah, big opportunity. GT: What’s your take on the Mass Effect sound and what did you guys want to bring to the table? CV: Yeah, it was a hybrid between 1 and 2, but we brought our own style to it. GT: You guys work as a team. Sascha Dikiciyan interview - The Audio Spotlight. Find Sascha @ Official website Twitter Facebook SoundCloud YouTube Tell us a little about yourself and what you do for a living?
Well, my name is Sascha Dikiciyan, but most people will know me under the Sonic Mayhem name. I have been writing music for Video games for about 15 years now. My first job was to write music for now iconic Quake 2 (1997), which of course started my career. Since then, I’ve scored over 25 games, incl. the 2012 blockbusters Mass Effect 3 and Borderlands 2. What is your niche or speciality, that makes you stand out from rest of the audio professionals? I think my agent once introduced me to someone from Ubisoft like this: This is Sascha.
Can you give us a brief summary of the equipment you use regularly? My main setup is made out of RME hardware with a few PC’s running Steinberg’s Cubase. What are your go-to plug-ins and software? I use a billion plugins. When do you find you are most creative? Late at night. Are there any particular secrets to your creativity? Yes.