Interview

Chip Music, Experimental, Game Music, Indie Music, Music Production

One Musician To Another: Rich Vreeland Interview

May 23, 2012 | Brad Dyck | Comments Off on One Musician To Another: Rich Vreeland Interview Share this

Rich Vreeland (aka Disasterpeace) is well known for creating delicate, joyous dreamscapes allowing the listener to let his disintegrating pulse waves wash over them like a tender storm. He is now thrust into the spotlight once again after providing FEZ with its magnificent, critically acclaimed soundtrack, which can be found at disasterpeace.com. He has also recently appeared in both the Indie Game Music Bundle 2 (podcast interview here) as well as the Indie Royale Lightning Pack bundle (the latter of which sees all proceeds going to charity). Rich was kind enough to answer a few questions about his latest release and give us a glimpse into his creative process.

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Film, Television

One Musician To Another: Darren Fung Interview

May 18, 2012 | Brad Dyck | 1 Comment Share this

Editor’s Note: we at OSV would like to welcome Brad Dyck to our team of writers! Brad is himself a composer (website here) and has expressed interest in interviewing other composers, and presenting those interviews to the public, all with the goal of mutual edification. In his first interview, Brad interviews fellow Canadian Darren Fung. Darren has the mouth of a sailor and plenty of insight. Enjoy! – Pat

Having already achieved considerable success in the Canadian composing scene, Darren Fung has set his sights on Hollywood. While one gets the feeling that he has only begun to tap his potential, he has accomplished everything that most Canadian composers could hope for. As we discuss in our conversation below, he was responsible for the latest version of the Hockey Night in Canada theme song (now known as “The Hockey Theme”), as well as the memorable Bell 2010 Winter Olympics commercial. He has also recorded with such orchestras as the Symphony Nova Scotia and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra before moving to L.A. where he continues to write for numerous film and TV projects. Even though he has been quite busy himself, he has still been able to help young, developing composers reach their own goals.

Darren was kind enough to take time out of his schedule to talk with me from his L.A. home. Check it out after the jump!

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Game Music

Sonic Generations: Jun Senoue Answers Your Questions!

May 8, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

A few months ago, we asked our readers if they had any questions for Jun Senoue and the other members of the SEGA audio team that worked on Sonic Generations. It may have taken a bit of time to get the conversation flowing, but we make good on our promises! We don’t disappoint!

After the jump, Jun Senoue has answers to two of our readers’ questions. One answer is short and sweet; the other one is quite lengthy. Check it out! (more…)
Game Music

Danny B’s Top 5 Video Game Music Picks

April 8, 2012 | Brenna Wilkes | 3 Comments Share this

Anthony Carboni of Revision3 Games recently had the pleasure of sitting down and interviewing Danny Baranowsky in there studio and picking his brain a bit. Don’t know who Danny Baranowsky, or “Danny B” is? Maybe you’ve heard of the games he has composed music for, such as Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, and Canabalt. Perhaps you have a better idea now.

Anthony poked and prodded Danny B. into submission in order to divulge what his personal top 5 video game music tracks of all time, and the results might surprise you. They might also give you a better appreciation for some tunes you either may not be familiar with or might not have given the time of day beforehand.

So do you agree or disagree with Danny’s B.’s list?

Be sure to check out Baranowsky’s Bandcamp for a full list of his works and other tasty tidbits and musical samplings.
Chip Music, Game Music

I AM ONLY A MAN: Gaijin Games’ Chris Osborn Talks Bit.Trip, Chiptunes

May 26, 2010 | Joshua Kopstein | 1 Comment Share this

In Bit.Trip Runner, the latest addition to their ongoing series of retro-inspired rhythm games, Chris Osborn and and the rest of the crew at Gaijin Games have taken one of gaming’s most heavily-trafficked memes — jumping — and put it under a super-stylized microscope to focus on what gamers value most: Fun. There are no complicated rules to learn besides ‘jump over things, slide under other things.’ You don’t even need to move left or right. And yet, Runner, like its predecessors, manages to create an intoxicating sense of simple satisfaction that few modern games can lay claim to.

I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Chris for technology culture magazine MOTHERBOARD. Click through to join us as we hone in on the magic behind Bit.Trip, and the future of the chiptune & lo-fi retro movements that have inspired it.

Link: Interview – Gaijin Games & The Retro Rhythm Revival
Game Music

A Conversation With the ‘Splodin’ Josh Mosley

August 25, 2009 | Gideon Dabi | 2 Comments Share this

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of having a lengthy conversation with ‘Splosion Man composer, Joshua Mosley (just a week after having his wisdom teeth removed, ouch), and learned about the genesis of the music for a character that “….has no sense of right and wrong,” says Mosley. We covered a wide array of topics from ‘Splosion Man to favorite game music – even to the dreaded “Games As Art” debate! (And, yes, you silly gooses, we talked about DONUTS and how everybody loves them…) Wait….Mosley doesn’t own an XBOX?!

By now, I’m sure most all of your little hearts have ‘sploded with joy watching our favorite new hero, ‘Splosion Man, stick his arms out like an airplane and ‘splode evil scientists into pieces of deli meat. As I said in my review, I feel the music in Twisted Pixel’s ‘Splosion Man has much to do with the game’s deserved ridiculously high review scores and overall success.

‘Splode on…. (more…)