Khatie_
05-05-2004, 09:18 AM
Recently, Genevieve sent Jack your questions which she gathered up from these forums. Jack has been kind enough to reply to them and asked me to post them here for you. I chose the spoilers forum in case there are those who want to know nothing at all about the game itself... even the atmosphere.
Enjoy, and THANK YOU so much to Mr. Wall for taking the time to reply to us! http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-happy.gif
FAN QUESTION: For Jack - Do you need to see the visuals for the Age before you have an inspiration for the music to correspond to it or is just hearing about the Age enough to get the creative flow going? What other games have you played and admired the soundtrack? (I read Zardoz's post and was reminded of the Zork: Nemesis soundtrack by Mark Morgan)
JACK WALL: Well, I guess the more the better, really. But, honestly, I'm used to working with fairly little because as you're probably aware, game production can take years. In the past year or so, publishers and developers have been spending a good bit of time on implementation tools which give me a great idea of what the game will look like. For Myst IV, I'm actually able to play the game and listen to how the music is working in real time!! I'm right in the middle of that right now (sorry for the delay in getting back to you!) Man does this game look amazing...
FQ: Mr. Wall, how long does it usually take you to write a game score, and will you be using a similar style for music you used in exile, or will it be totally different?
JW: Well, I can write between 1:30 and 5 minutes of music in a day depending on how it flows, the pressure to get it done and general difficulty and complexity of the pieces (oh, and not to mention if I'm having a good day or not!! http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif) Add to that the huge amount of time I spend contemplating the story, the gameplay, and all the little subtleties that can't be conveyed any other way except through music. Then there's the implementation time which can run from a few weeks to a few months of leisurely getting it right. I've been working on this in one way or another from last August and I'll probably finish up in mid-July.
As to your second question, I believe that Myst affords me some creative license because each game is so different - different Ages, different story, different time. For Myst IV, I'm employing some Eastern European influences (don't think I'm giving too much away there!) as well as some other elements that I don't think you would normally expect from the last score I did for the Myst series. The score will be more interactive in some areas and more seamless between the orchestral live recorded elements and the rest. Lots of variety as well. Big kudos to Ubisoft for supporting this trip and trusting that I'm really interested in making something special for Revelation!!
FQ: Jack (who by my count cannot possibly be one of the "five" participating in this thread, but having seen six team members post so far, I figure it's worth a try,) is there much deliberate thematic similarity between your compositions for Revelation and Exile? Have you in any way attempted to tie the two scores together, or does the score relate solely to Revelation?
JW: There is some really subtle meter things going on - but that's about it. But, I'm still referring to Atrus' Theme and also the basic motives from Myst and Riven for some other characters, but other than that, this one is pretty original. My goal is to find ways of keeping the whole series in line thematically, but to create wholly original works for each Age. In Revelation, the heart of the score is centered around a certain group of people that appears in a key area in the game. It's pretty cool, I have to say!!
FQ: Also for Jack, regarding Exile specifically, did you write the lyrics as well as the music from the Exile (specifically the Main Theme)? If so, were you given any linguistic guidelines? Any chance of us getting any more translations sometime in the future for the bits of the soundtrack that haven't been? Also, according the notes in the lyrics describe "Narani, a D'ni Dialect"-- how is it a dialect? (I'm really, really obsessive, eh? )
JW: Yes, I wrote all the lyrics for Exile (please don't hurt me... http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif). And yes, the language was Narani as the key Age in Exile was Narayan. Of course, I based it on the sounds and structure of D'ni which I studied in some conversations with RAWA. We both agreed that D'ni wasn't appropriate for Exile.
As far as translations, I have them all somewhere. Can you be more specific about which pieces? If you can tell me which ones you're referring to, I can probably dig them up for you!
FQ: This one for Mr Jack Wall, if he's around anywhere? *peers around the thread a bit more* Hmmm...well, I just wanted to ask him how he got into writing music for computer games.
JW: Back in 1998, my girlfriend (now wife) was good friends and colleagues with a guy named Ron Martinez who was just forming a game company called Postlinear Entertainment. Ron gave both of us a shot at composing the music to a big title called Flying Saucer. I left engineering and producing records in New York City to move to LA to compose full time. Honestly, I think writing for games is one of the best jobs composing for any medium.
FQ: I just want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to whoever's idea it was to bring back Jack Wall to do the Revelation soundtrack. The Exile soundtrack is my favorite of all the Myst soundtracks, and in fact I think it is one of my favorite cd's overall. I am so happy that Jack will be back!
JW: Thank you, thank you thank you!! It's really a privilege to work on this game with such a fantastic team. I truly predict you will all be completely blown away by what they've done to this game. It's jaw-dropping stuff!!
Fan Statement: I don't have the Exile Soundtrack CD, but I agree that the music from the game is excellent, and that having Jack Wall making the Revelation soundtrack is wonderful.
Kha'tie: I couldn't agree more... http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-happy.gif
Enjoy, and THANK YOU so much to Mr. Wall for taking the time to reply to us! http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-happy.gif
FAN QUESTION: For Jack - Do you need to see the visuals for the Age before you have an inspiration for the music to correspond to it or is just hearing about the Age enough to get the creative flow going? What other games have you played and admired the soundtrack? (I read Zardoz's post and was reminded of the Zork: Nemesis soundtrack by Mark Morgan)
JACK WALL: Well, I guess the more the better, really. But, honestly, I'm used to working with fairly little because as you're probably aware, game production can take years. In the past year or so, publishers and developers have been spending a good bit of time on implementation tools which give me a great idea of what the game will look like. For Myst IV, I'm actually able to play the game and listen to how the music is working in real time!! I'm right in the middle of that right now (sorry for the delay in getting back to you!) Man does this game look amazing...
FQ: Mr. Wall, how long does it usually take you to write a game score, and will you be using a similar style for music you used in exile, or will it be totally different?
JW: Well, I can write between 1:30 and 5 minutes of music in a day depending on how it flows, the pressure to get it done and general difficulty and complexity of the pieces (oh, and not to mention if I'm having a good day or not!! http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif) Add to that the huge amount of time I spend contemplating the story, the gameplay, and all the little subtleties that can't be conveyed any other way except through music. Then there's the implementation time which can run from a few weeks to a few months of leisurely getting it right. I've been working on this in one way or another from last August and I'll probably finish up in mid-July.
As to your second question, I believe that Myst affords me some creative license because each game is so different - different Ages, different story, different time. For Myst IV, I'm employing some Eastern European influences (don't think I'm giving too much away there!) as well as some other elements that I don't think you would normally expect from the last score I did for the Myst series. The score will be more interactive in some areas and more seamless between the orchestral live recorded elements and the rest. Lots of variety as well. Big kudos to Ubisoft for supporting this trip and trusting that I'm really interested in making something special for Revelation!!
FQ: Jack (who by my count cannot possibly be one of the "five" participating in this thread, but having seen six team members post so far, I figure it's worth a try,) is there much deliberate thematic similarity between your compositions for Revelation and Exile? Have you in any way attempted to tie the two scores together, or does the score relate solely to Revelation?
JW: There is some really subtle meter things going on - but that's about it. But, I'm still referring to Atrus' Theme and also the basic motives from Myst and Riven for some other characters, but other than that, this one is pretty original. My goal is to find ways of keeping the whole series in line thematically, but to create wholly original works for each Age. In Revelation, the heart of the score is centered around a certain group of people that appears in a key area in the game. It's pretty cool, I have to say!!
FQ: Also for Jack, regarding Exile specifically, did you write the lyrics as well as the music from the Exile (specifically the Main Theme)? If so, were you given any linguistic guidelines? Any chance of us getting any more translations sometime in the future for the bits of the soundtrack that haven't been? Also, according the notes in the lyrics describe "Narani, a D'ni Dialect"-- how is it a dialect? (I'm really, really obsessive, eh? )
JW: Yes, I wrote all the lyrics for Exile (please don't hurt me... http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif). And yes, the language was Narani as the key Age in Exile was Narayan. Of course, I based it on the sounds and structure of D'ni which I studied in some conversations with RAWA. We both agreed that D'ni wasn't appropriate for Exile.
As far as translations, I have them all somewhere. Can you be more specific about which pieces? If you can tell me which ones you're referring to, I can probably dig them up for you!
FQ: This one for Mr Jack Wall, if he's around anywhere? *peers around the thread a bit more* Hmmm...well, I just wanted to ask him how he got into writing music for computer games.
JW: Back in 1998, my girlfriend (now wife) was good friends and colleagues with a guy named Ron Martinez who was just forming a game company called Postlinear Entertainment. Ron gave both of us a shot at composing the music to a big title called Flying Saucer. I left engineering and producing records in New York City to move to LA to compose full time. Honestly, I think writing for games is one of the best jobs composing for any medium.
FQ: I just want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to whoever's idea it was to bring back Jack Wall to do the Revelation soundtrack. The Exile soundtrack is my favorite of all the Myst soundtracks, and in fact I think it is one of my favorite cd's overall. I am so happy that Jack will be back!
JW: Thank you, thank you thank you!! It's really a privilege to work on this game with such a fantastic team. I truly predict you will all be completely blown away by what they've done to this game. It's jaw-dropping stuff!!
Fan Statement: I don't have the Exile Soundtrack CD, but I agree that the music from the game is excellent, and that having Jack Wall making the Revelation soundtrack is wonderful.
Kha'tie: I couldn't agree more... http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-happy.gif