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Fusion Genesis Soundtrack on YouTube | Fusion Genesis Soundtrack on SoundCloud
Downloadable Fusion Genesis Soundtrack (120MB Zip file, MP3's)
ScoreNotes: Hi Steve! Please tell us the details behind your score for the Xbox LIVE Arcade game, Fusion Genesis, and what fans of your music can expect from the material.
Steve Burke: Hi there. I wrote 85 mins of music for the game. It was all MIDI based, and being a video game score most of the tracks were composed in such a way that they could be looped. With some clever jiggery-pokery from the programmers, the music seamlessly changes based on the actions the player takes. What really attracted me to working on this game was the amount of music I could compose. The first Xbox LIVE Arcade game I scored a few years back when working at Rare Ltd. was called Jetpac Refuelled. We were struggling to fit in five minutes of music back then because of memory limitations. Now the production value of this type of downloadable game is close to the size and scope of the boxed games you buy in the stores. For anybody who hasn't played Xbox LIVE Arcade games before, these are games that you play on the Xbox 360 and download without having to go and physically buy the disc.
Fusion Genesis has just been announced at New York Comic Con 2011, and will be available soon. I'm told it'll be Winter 2011, but the release date hasn't been confirmed just yet. The reason for so much music is the single-player mission can last up to 14 hours of gameplay, while the multi-player can have 40+ hours of gameplay.
There are just over forty cues written for the game. The combat tracks are shorter, around 1.5 - 2mins each, and the ambient exploring tracks up to 4mins each. The Lead Designer of the game, Chris Tilston, wanted a thematic score plus additional sci-fi ambient tracks. In our initial discussions of style and approach we talked about music we admired from movies and games. The music to Star Wars was a reference, not the main themes, but the orchestration in the quirky incidental cues. Once I started writing the first couple of cues, Chris felt we had nailed the style and from then on left me alone to write what I thought was appropriate.
The Music Brief was concise and simple. A list of cues, be it combat, action themes, ambient exploratory, their durations and a sentence or two describing the style. This could be as simple as "Action, using Pirate theme, percussive, fast for climactic battle sequence, duration around 1.5mins", and off I'd go and write the music. To show how all the music fitted together, Chris gave me a Flow Chart, with the interactivity and branching clearly mapped out. I kept the team updated with new tracks, and asked for their input and comments early on.
ScoreNotes: How pivotal is the final mix for a score like this and what was that process like?
Steve Burke: Because we didn't have the budget for a live orchestra and choir on this game, I felt the final mix of the MIDI score should be as professional as we could make it. I'm happy to write the music, but when it comes to mixing and mastering it's always worth the time and effort to have a world class mixing engineer work their magic on the EQ, compression, and mastering. In this case I used a studio in Bangkok called HitSo, where Tim Beale spent nearly a week mastering the score for me. I got an additional budget for this from Starfire Studios. When I was at Rare all the mixing was sorted through Rare, Microsoft, or the recording engineers in Prague with the orchestral sessions. Now I'm working as a freelance composer I've got to plan this myself, and it's been a learning experience on this project.
ScoreNotes: Can you give us some background on Starfire Studios as well as some insight as to whether or not you’ll be their “in-house” composer going forward?
Steve Burke: Starfire Studios was set up by four ex-Rare veterans - Chris Tilston, Mark Edmonds, Philip Dunne and Ross Bury who worked on games such as Goldeneye, Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark and Kameo. I've known and worked with them before when I was at Rare, and Fusion Genesis is their first game from the new studio. It's produced by Microsoft Studios, and Ken Lobb (Creative Director at Microsoft Studios) was instrumental in getting this game made. If there are any fans of the original Nintendo 64 Goldeneye, there's a Klobb reference in Fusion Genesis, as a tip of the hat to Ken.
Absolutely, I'd love to work with the team again. I've spoken with the guys and they want me to write the music for the next project. We've all gone through a similar training working at Rare, working on big budget AAA games and the pressure you can be put under in those scenarios.
ScoreNotes: It sounds as though the production team was compact and nimble in the development of Fusion Genesis. How did this impact the development of the score and what was it like working with game designer, Chris Tilston?
Steve Burke: The core team of four people was occasionally expanded when needed. For example, they brought in a team of people from Microsoft Studios to create sound effects and record voice overs, supervised by Kristofor Mellroth. They also had producers in the Xbox division of Microsoft in Seattle. It was Chris Tilston who dealt with the music needs and implementation. Chris has worked on many games before, so he knew the drill when it came to requesting music. We spread the workload out on this game, and it took about three months to write the music. What was great, and I hope this happens on future games, is that I was brought in very early on in development. I finished the majority of the music by January 2011, nearly a year before the game is to be released.
ScoreNotes: What type of soundtrack release can we expect for your score and what do you think the timing will be?
Steve Burke: Well, we decided it'd be great to give the soundtrack away as a free download. There's a Soundtrack Preview medley that I've put together which is in two parts, lasting 20mins. This touches on the main themes, and gets the general gist of the score across. Also, the complete soundtrack to Fusion Genesis is 39 Tracks, lasting 1hr 22mins. All this is available to listen to on YouTube, Soundcloud, and as a downloadable album in MP3 format for people to put on whatever music device they have. I've hosted the MP3's on my website, http://www.SteveBurkeMusic.com
If people like the music, then hopefully they can check out Starfire Studios and their first game Fusion Genesis.
Track 1 | Track 2
ScoreNotes: In general, what would you say is your own creative process is for composing a score? Do you go about it by traditional means or do you have more of a hybrid methodology for it?
Steve Burke: It's a little different to working with a live orchestra, which I love to do. Sometimes the limitations of MIDI samples can affect the way you write. My method of writing usually involves sketching out a theme with piano, and later going back and orchestrating it. This seems to help the flow of ideas, and is the quickest way for me.
ScoreNotes: Do you still have an interest in composing for film, and if so, are there any potential opportunities on the horizon?
Steve Burke: Yes, I still want to write music for film and television. If any opportunities lead to me writing music for a movie or television series, I'll be sure to come back here to Scorenotes and let you know how it went.
The score for this game isn't particularly cinematic, it's mostly to create the right ambience and kick it up a notch when the fighting takes place. A better example of a more 'Hollywood' sound would be over on my website, with these live orchestra and choir recordings: Orchestral Scores 1 and Orchestral Scores 2.
ScoreNotes: What do you think is the most difficult barrier for a composer to transition from games to movies?
Steve Burke: Ah, I'd have to score a movie before I could answer with credibility on that one. But having been around lots of game composers and sharing experiences, there seems to be a bigger trend towards movie composers wanting to score video games. They're often welcomed with open arms by big game developers who have the budgets for this. It's not always the best decision, sometimes it is purely driven by marketing people. Other times it can really benefit the credibility of a game, and a guaranteed high production value of the music.
Part of the reason for game composers finding it difficult to transition to movies is they often don't have the contacts, or established a track record of reliably scoring smaller movies and working their way up the ladder. I know things are changing, and now some of the top video game composers have representation with the Hollywood talent agencies, and actively looking to hook them up with the right movie project.
ScoreNotes: Getting back to Fusion Genesis - what would you say was the most rewarding aspect of working on this project?
Steve Burke: That will be when I can turn on my Xbox 360, download the game and hear the music in context. The music is only part of the experience in playing the game, and I just hope it adds to the excitement when you're shooting those pirate baddies in space.
CONTACT FOR STEVE BURKE:
Website: www.SteveBurkeMusic.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SteveBurkeMusic
Facebook: www.facebook.com/help/?page=903#!/pages/Steve-Burke/186881078024166
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/SteveBurke
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