A musical Journey

Earlier this year I had a lengthy e-mail exchange with Austin Wintory - the lead musical director on 'Journey', a unique game experience from independent developer thatgamecompany.

Austin was kind enough to take time out of his busy recording schedule to reflect on his time writing and recording the music for journey.

Read the interview below -
 
It's been a while since the release of the game, how do you feel about it now? Is there anything you'd do differently, and what are you particularly proud of?

I suppose the surrealness of the whole thing has only increased with time. At the time of release I was mainly just incredibly excited about sharing it with the world, after three years of laboring over it. Then the response was so vastly beyond anything I ever expected, that it quickly started to not feel real. And now, with a couple of months having passed, and I've moved on to working on new (and exciting!) things, it kind of seems like a hazy dream.

And yes, there are definitely things I'd do differently but ultimately it is what it is. I hope I never look at a finished work and think "Yes, that's perfect. I wouldn't change a thing," because ultimately that can only mean you didn't grow from it. And that's a terrifying thought.

I read somewhere that Journey was one of your favourite things you've had the pleasure of working on? Why is that so?

Well for one the game is so unique amongst other games. The chance to work on something telling a story in this way is a dream for me. But, perhaps most important, are the musicians with whom I got to work and also the collaborators at both Sony and thatgamecompany. They were a dream team. Tina Guo, my cellist on Journey, is a composer's ultimate weapon. She plays with such fire and yet also such delicacy. My other soloists were the same: Amy Tatum, Sara Andon, Rodney Wirtz, Charissa Barger and Noah Gladstone. And the orchestra in Macedonia (conducted by Oleg Kontradenko) played so beautifully. 

And I really couldn't properly articulate my admiration of thatgamecompany and all those who worked on Journey. Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago, Robin Hunicke ... truly great collaborators with such amazing ideas.

What did you try and do differently with the sound design and composition on Journey, to make it stand out from the crowd?

I don't think I tried to make it stand out. I think Journey itself was destined to stand out because of the collective brilliance of thatgamecompany, so my goal was to be the guy who didn't ruin it! I could tell from day one how special the game was, so I truly just wanted to make sure that the music was remotely on par with their game. But I didn't try to be reactionary or different somehow. I just tried to be honest to the experience they were making and that led to whatever it is in the game now.

The music in journey was one of the unexpected stars of the game - how do you go about ensuring the highest quality, do you have any different recording techniques to achieve the high standard? From a tech point of view, were you hit with any challenges you had to overcome? And also from a production or writing point of view, was there anything that you struggled with?

I produced the music (in tandem with the music team at Sony, led by Keith Leary, Monty Mudd and Ted Kocher) the same way I produce pretty much all of my music: we recorded the ensemble at the end (in this case, Macedonia, in November of 2011) and the soloists in a series of individual sessions at my studio so I could work with them one-on-one. All the electronic sounds were programmed by me as part of the composing process. 

The only struggles, which I hesitate to call them since they were still so enjoyable, was really nailing the music at the end (known on the album as "Apotheosis"). I wrote many different versions before arriving at that. The tone and pacing of that area was changing a lot and it took seemingly forever to really know what the best sound would be. And in the end, I'm happy with what resulted though I'm sure there are things I could differently or better with it.

Is there anything different about music composition in games, as opposed to films or television, or for theatrical use? What are those differences?

The biggest fundamental difference is the fact that all those others are linear and games are not. I really love that about games. Non-linear composing, forcing yourself to think outside the comforts of linear time, is really stimulating because it's a huge challenge. 

As a medium, do you think video games will continue to grow? Why is sound design and composition an important part of the video game creation process? 

I sincerely hope they will continue to grow!! I feel like we're just barely scratching the surface of their potential! And I don't think sound/music are any more important to games as they are to any other form of storytelling. They're tools that allow an audience access to ideas and emotions that are unique to sound/music. But as with film or TV or theater they can be over-used or mis-used. By and large I think games have had a tendency to overly depend on music, though that certainly has created some great music so it's hard to complain about it!

Where do you see yourself moving forward, after the success of Journey, you probably have offers flooding in? Are there any experimental projects you'd like to work with?

I always have my own experimental projects that I'm cooking up. Some that I'll probably be revealing soon. But in the meantime I've just signed on for a new game called The Banner Saga, funded via kickstarter, that I'm really thrilled with. And also a few other things I can't really talk about yet. Plus new, exciting films and concert works! It's actually been an insanely busy summer! 

I'm interested in the procedure of recording, and then post-production, what is the general procedure of sound recording for video games?

I can only really speak to music, but in that regard it's not really much different than any other form of production. You write it, then record it in the manner most suited to the musical ideas you have (such as, in the case of Journey, recording the soloists independently from the orchestra, allowing us to mix them independently). The big area where games then depart from other media is that you have to prepare the audio for implementation into a music engine (such Fmod or WWise, or in the case of Journey, Sony's proprietary program called Scream). This usually involves writing a lot of script to tell the game how/when to use the music, and can get very detailed. We pushed the limits of what Scream could do on Journey, and I could never have done any of it without the enormous contributions of Sony's team in San Diego (Keith Leary, Monty Mudd and Ted Kocher in particular).

How did you get involved in the industry? What in particular did you like about being involved with games, as opposed to other mediums?

I always wanted to compose music since discovering the film scores of Jerry Goldsmith when I was 10. I started composing for my school orchestra as a teenager, then went on to a classical education at NYU and USC. To me, music is the most important common denominator. By that I mean, I don't have an agenda to write lots of game scores, or film scores, or symphonies or operas or whatever else ... I just love composing, and in fact my real love is finding new places in which to compose. Theater work. Installation pieces. The new and exciting world of mobile/iOS apps. It's all very very exciting! That said, both games and films are very near and dear to my heart so I hope to always be doing both, no matter what other shenanigans I'm up to. 

What tips would you offer for computer game design or music graduates, or people wishing to get involved with music recording for video games? How can people get involved in this industry if they wish?

 I think just using the tools you have is the best advice I could offer. If you're in a school studying music, find student game designers and work with them on their games. Or vice versa: if you're a designer, seek out a composer in the music school. Twitter and facebook are also amazing resources for making the community a small, intimate place. Ultimately, people will find their place and pursue their passions if they make the choice to genuinely commit. Often people say "I want to score games!" then do very little to pursue it. The games won't come to you. You must go to them, and if you're infectiously passionate and excited, it will resonate with designers. 

How did you make sure that the music in Journey delivered the emotional experience you had in mind? What were some of your inspirations?

I certainly have those composers whose music I cherish: Jerry Goldsmith, Ligeti, Britten, Corigliano. But I didn't make an effort to bring those inspirations to Journey. What inspired me most was thatgamecompany and the game itself. Because I worked on it for so long,  I could just soak in it and what they made was so stimulating that I couldn't help but have my imagination lit up by it. It was a blessing like none of I've ever experienced.

Austin has recorded music for over 30 feature films - see his full portfolio at www.austinwintory.com or follow him on twitter @awintory

You can find Austin's music on iTunes, Amazon, etc. He recently launched a BandCamp page, 25% of the sales of which will automatically go to non-profit Education Through Music (www.etmla.org):

visit his site here - http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com