Garry Schyman

Miscellaneous, Music Production

PAX East’s “Maestros of Video Games” Panel

March 8, 2014 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on PAX East’s “Maestros of Video Games” Panel Share this

If you happen to be one of the lucky people able to swipe a badge for PAX East next month in Boston, you probably know it’s a big deal to spend your time wisely at such a huge event. Why not take in a panel dedicated to music composers and their craft?

“Maestros of Video Games” panel will feature a bunch of notable game composers from across several well known titles and genres such as Garry Schyman (Bioshock Infitnite, Dante’s Inferno, Destroy All Humans), Cris Valesco (Mass Effect 3, Borderlands, God of War series), Peter McConnell (Broken Age, Psychonauts, Sly Cooper series) and several more and they share their experiences in the industry and their works on some of the biggest franchises in gaming.

The panel will be on Saturday, April 12th at 12:30pm in the Condor Theatre. Be sure to check it out!
Game Music

Meet Garry Schyman And More at Anaheim Comic Con This Weekend!

April 29, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Meet Garry Schyman And More at Anaheim Comic Con This Weekend! Share this

After Garry Schyman took the Composer of the Year award in our OSVOSTOTY 2011 Awards this year, you should all be pretty familiar with the fact that we’re huge fans of his work. As it turns out, Schyman will be attending the Anaheim Comic Con this weekend along with composers Inon Zur, Greg Edmonson, Sean Murray, and Kevin Sherwood.

Just what are they doing there, and why are we bothering to tell you? Well, the five composers will be speaking on a panel about game music on May 1, 2011 at noon, and will be on-site during most of the convention which runs April 29 – May 1 to meet fans and sign autographs. It’s not often that you’re going to find this many game composers in one place, so start pulling those CDs out of your collection and go get a nice, fresh Sharpie!

Will you be heading to the Anaheim Comic Con this year? Are you as surprised as I am to see a panel dedicated to game music there?

Hit the jump for the full press release. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Red Dead Redemption Plays Serious Target Practice with 9th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards

March 6, 2011 | Gideon Dabi | 1 Comment Share this

This week at the Game Developers’ Conference, the 9th Annual Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Awards was held and the new guys blasted the scene. Rockstar’s Western triumph, Red Dead Redemption snagged multiple awards including Audio of the Year as well as Music of the Year. Although I was pleased to see such a competent soundtrack win so many accolades, with a list that included both Dante’s Inferno and Bioshock 2 I can’t help but wonder if Garry Schyman became a victim of his own prolific success getting split votes. In any event, I suppose there could be worse things in life than pumping out two nominees in a single year.

Congratulations to Bill Elm and Woody Jackson on their win and on a fine soundtrack – particularly the care taken to create a seamless in-game experience.

For a full list of nominees and winners click the jump!
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Featured, Game Music

OSV Composer of the Year Award 2010: Garry Schyman

January 28, 2011 | Gideon Dabi | 3 Comments Share this

What an amazing year 2010 was for the world of game music! It may very well have been the best yet. I speak for everyone here at OSV when I say that picking our favorite scores was among the most agonizing decisions we had made in recent memory. Though picking out the best score is an incredibly difficult experiment in subjective reasoning, picking out the best composer of the year proved to be slightly more concrete as evidenced by an uncharacteristic unanimous approval.

Many composers this year had runaway scores that were simply spectacular and came, seemingly, out of nowhere [I’m looking at you, Alanko (Alan Wake), SoulEye (VVVVVV), and Scott Morgan (Darksiders) – just to name a few!]. Mainstays like the great Russell Brower pumped out two glorious scores in StarCraft II and the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion. But, as is often the case, one horse seems to catch his stride with a bit more gusto and, when the dust settles, shows itself to be the winner. (more…)
Game Music

Editorial: Context Is Everything

August 10, 2010 | Gideon Dabi | 6 Comments Share this Editorial: Context Is Everything

One of the most heated subjects of debate among the writers here at Original Sound Version is whether or not it is essential for one to experience a soundtrack in its original context in order to properly review, enjoy, appreciate, or analyze it critically.

As musicians, music lovers, writers, and music critics, it is imperative that we give this music the opportunity to speak the way the composer intended. With amazingly few exceptions, scores are written for their subjects after – at the very least – the basic concept is fleshed out. In the case of film, most of the time, the movie has finished being edited before the composer lends his hand. If this is the genesis of scores, it must be accepted that these composers are writing this particular piece and this particular score based on something. It is safe to assume that without this inspiration as the impetus to the score, the work would not have been written – at least, it would not have been written the way it was (There have been instances where a piece was originally written for another project and then wonderfully added to the current work [i.e. “Regurgitation Pumping Station,” “Rain Rain Windy Windy,” and “Jelly” from Kyle Gabler’s World of Goo soundtrack], but this is less common).

How, then, can we possibly ignore the very basis of these scores? By definition, they are designed to accompany, enrich, and flesh out the drama in the games and films we love. Listening to an original score for a game without seeing/playing it is like ignoring the lyrics to a song. (more…)
Game Music

Comic Con 2010: The Video Games Live “Bonus Round,” Including World Premieres

July 29, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

While we already told you all about our time at Distant Worlds during Comic Con, there were, in fact, two concerts for fans to attend. The Video Games Live performance took place on Saturday night at the San Diego Civic Center, just one block away from a massive Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube concert. Quite the clash in concert goers that evening, for sure.

So what is this “Bonus Round” business all about? As Tommy Tallarico explained during the show, this was Video Games Live’s third stop in San Diego during Comic Con, and this show in particular not only had a huge number of composers and industry guests in attendance, but also saw many of these guests come on stage to either introduce, perform, or conduct their music. There were also two world premieres at the show, making it even more special.

Hit the jump to find out what was played and what we thought. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Garry Schyman Evolved: Front Mission Evolved Interview

July 13, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

We’ve had our eyes on Front Mission Evolved ever since we learned that Garry Schyman was scoring the game. While some people may be writing the title off as a Hollywood-ized distraction from the series’ traditional strategy roots in Japan, our time with the game at E3 showed that it while it is certainly is an action game, it still requires a degree of strategy, and I personally enjoyed what I saw a whole lot. I’m definitely excited about the music, and even more by the prospect of a Front Mission soundtrack box as well.

Moving on to the topic at hand, it seems like it was just yesterday that we interviewed Garry Schyman. We covered Dante’s Inferno and BioShock 2 quite extensively, and as it turns out, Front Mission Evolved was tucked right in with these titles as far as the composition timeline goes. We also discuss the history of the franchise, its popularity in Japan, and how he feels about the score and the project overall.

Join us for our interview after the jump. (more…)