C R E A T I N G _ S O U N D _ a n d _ M U S I C _ f o r :

In 1996 I was hired to create the music and sound effects for a PC game called "Drachen Zor." It was being produced by SouthPeak Entertainment, which was at that time a division of SAS Institute in Cary, NC. This was a great gig, and promised to keep me busy for the better part of the year. I was to create nine three-minute pieces of music that represebted the different desolate and horrible environments where the game's battles were fought. These ranged from a haunted house to a desert, and back to the eerie mountains. This music is represented below in three segments of three songs each.

This was an intersting challenge musically, because the producers wanted "acoustic" sounding music, and I am first and foremost an electronic musician. I am a quite capable player though, of the piano, guitar, bass, and pretty much any musical instrument I pick up, so it ended up being great fun, and I'm proud of the results. I heard that SouthPeak were thrilled.

Music & Sound for Game Arenas 1, 2, 3

Music & Sound for Game Arenas 4, 5, 6

Music & Sound for Game Arenas 7, 8, 9

Another part of the project was sound design and music for the game's many video animations between battle sequences. These were the "Story Lines" and there was geat pressure to make these as close to "Hollywood" as possible. A sample animation is below, with my sound design and music. It should be noted that I was given a completely silent video, and I did not use any sample libraries or loops. I collected hundreds of sounds on DAT from around our house and in the city for these movies, and I wrote and played the music freehand while watching the action. In fact, I still have these sounds in my library and I use them, in a manipulated form, every now and then.

Lastly, I was to create over 800 separate "Battle Sounds" with descriptions like "Leather on Metal" and "Bone Crunching Blow to the Head." This was accomplished in a very short time, and once again, the Producers were very happy with my work. Some of these sounds can be heard in the above animation. Note: This animation was created by the Drachen Zor team. I created the audio only.

Music & Sound for "Drachen Zor" Movie Sequence

An interesting aside to the Drachen Zor story involves how I met the company who was doing the animation, 8th Wonder. My agent at the time made a cold-call on the company because he felt that my electronic music skills would fit well with the animations they had been producing. It turned out that they had been searching for almost a year for the theme music for their clown-like wizard logo character. They really wanted what they called "Circus-Techno" music, and had been through no less than eight musicians in the area and around the country! I told them I could do it in an afternoon.

They laughed and said that if I did it to their liking, they would keep me busy all year. So I did, and they did. Here is "Circus–Techno," completed in one afternoon. You can hear my agent at the beginning, and me at the end, saying the words "8th Wonder." The good folks at 8th Wonder simply couldn't believe it, and complimented me again and again on this one little piece of music that they had been fretting over for a year. It was easy and fun.

"Circus Tech" Final Master