SonikMatter Interview (part 4)
by Rick 'Brujo' Wishart with assistance from Brian 'Cowzar' Cowell
16. When it came to doing the sound effects for games, how did you approach this task and what inspired your creativity?
I created my own libraries of sound effects for each of the seven or eight game formats I worked on, since in those days only the Amiga could really use samples, and then only with whatever memory the programmer had left over. For these, in the absence of today's excellent commercial FX sample libraries, you either gleaned them from vinyl, audio cassette, film videos, or used lateral thinking. For instance, faced with the requirement of a large slab of stone being removed from a cave entrance, I created a very realistic one by scraping a small stone around the rim of a flowerpot, and then dropping it in pitch by a couple of octaves.
With the other game machines you got a few channels of square or pulse waves, plus hopefully some white noise, and from these primitive elements you had to extract the last drop of creativity. I worked at sound chip level, programming in assembly language, so that I could manipulate the chip registers every 1/50th of a second. Thus, chords could be created as very fast arpeggios to give the illusion of a bigger sound, while bass drums started with a tiny chiff of noise, followed by a decaying tone, and snare drums oscillated between noise and tone, again at 50 times per second. Sega's Megadrive was more fun, since this had the same Yamaha FM chip as the TX81Z, but I used similar techniques to manipulate the sounds, so that I could get sword clashes, gunshots, and even running water, by rapidly altering the parameters. And you tell the kids today...
17. What's your view on the development of the Atari and Amiga and the eventual demise of them both ? For example, these platforms often opened gateways to programming for aspiring teenagers (some of whom now program on today?s consoles ) whereas today systems like the PS2 and XBox don't offer that opportunity ?
The Atari's built-in MIDI ports made it the perfect computer for the musician, since programmers had access to them at a very basic level, and didn't have to run the gauntlet of a modern multi-tasking operating system. While today's computers can run multiple applications 'simultaneously', it's still done in exactly the same way as my sound chip programming - by rapidly swapping between tasks - but there are lots more of them to juggle, and therefore more possibilities for timing errors, especially when audio and MIDI are regarded as less important than the graphic bells and whistles. Both the Atari and the Amiga still have a small but dedicated following, although there are extremely few new applications appearing, and support is becoming more and more of a problem.
There are no doubt still plenty of opportunities for people to be employed as programmers, musicians, graphic designers and the like in today's game companies, but you're right - in the old days you could get far more hands-on experience to hone your talents while still living at home with your parents. Mind you, there's still a cult following for many of the older games machines and computers, and you can also find musicians who are now remixing elderly game soundtracks using modern synths - one of my 1980's CBM64 soundtracks was recently featured on an Audio remix CD!
18. Due to the power of modern consoles, video game production now requires such a huge team and development costs, but despite flashier graphics and sound is the gameplay improving as fast as the hardware? Is it possible for a lone programmer to publish a game these days ? What games in the last decade do you consider to be groundbreaking - either technically or in terms of gameplay?
Who knows? Although it's easier to get lost in today's imaginary worlds, due to their much greater realism and depth, I still hanker after the almost meditational techniques you needed to master the old classics like Space Invaders, Galaxians, Defender, and the rest. I very much doubt that the lone programmer is still in existence, except perhaps as some sort of 'creative team leader' - it simply isn't possible for one person to do all the work needed for a modern game within the available timescale, and budgets are so much bigger that it would be commercial folly to let a loner develop products at their own rate. However, I'm sadly out of touch with games, since I haven't even seen one since 1996, when I moved over to being a writer and musician. After fourteen years in the game industry I was played out, so to speak.
19. Do you think there will be a convergance between Hollywood Film Studio's and Games Producers/Publishers ?
I think this is already happening. Even in my day the games companies were quick to tie in games with the latest film releases (I once had to create a CBM64 game from scratch based on the original 'Back To The Future' film in just nine weeks - that's pressure!) Nowadays many games seem to be being programmed in tandem with the film's editing, with much greater fraternisation between the two camps, and this can only be good for realism in the final product. This is perhaps hardly surprising, since merchandising is now such an important part of a film's revenue, so the more products available at the time of its launch, the more likely it is to break even at the box office or go into profit.
20. Given your education and experience have you ever thought of, or been inspired to return to software programming and publishing audio related software eg. a 'soft-synth' ?
No, I suspect it's just as hard trying to earn a living creating softsynths as it was writing games, although at least nowadays you can take charge of your own publicity through the Internet, and not have to rely on others to do it well (or not as the case may be). Besides, I'm able to help those who do, by publicising their work in magazine reviews. Also, like many other users, I'm gratified that so many software authors are open to suggestions for improvements and new features, so that's an occasional outlet for my ideas.
21. What 10 albums in your collection would you consider to be the best?
Like most people, what I listen to depends on my mood, and since there are so many ways to define 'best', I'll simply select some of the albums that I've particularly enjoyed , and that have influenced me over the years. Here they are in no particular order.
Genesis - "Foxtrot": Sprawling compositions featuring unusual time signatures, classic Mellotron chord sequences, and vocals full of English eccentricity.
Japan - "Tin Drum": A unique combination of oriental influences, inventive synth sounds, liquid bass, often tribal rhythms, and of course the voice of David Sylvian.
Bjork - "Homogenic": An inspiring combination of clean Icelandic string octet with distorted loops and synths, and that unmistakable voice.
Future Sound Of London - "Lifeforms": I first heard this playing in a music shop, and just had to buy it for its unique soundscape treatments that take you somewhere you've never been before.
Tim Story - "Wheat and Rust": A self-taught pianist and synthesist whose finely crafted compositions have 'haunting elegance and meticulous compositional detail'. They take me to a still quiet place.
Nigel Shaw - "Requiem - Well Of Souls": Based on the classical form of Mass for the Dead, this is a haunting but uplifting album featuring whistles, flutes, keyboards, and voices, composed by a musician and flute-maker who lives in the middle of Dartmoor in the UK.
Kevin Kendle - "First Light": A reflective album of floating keyboard textures, bubbling synths, and soft melodies inspired by the stillness of the dawn in the UK countryside, full of early morning mists and tranquillity.
Orbital - "Snivilisation": Another collection of eccentric and thought-provoking tracks from the brothers Hartnoll, featuring hypnotic rhythms, vocal snippets, and unusual instruments.
Moby - "Play": Yet another unusual combination, this time of vocals old and new, along with lots of modern sounds, bound together with a freshness and extremely human approach to song making.
The Chemical Brothers - "Surrender": Yet more surreal soundscapes, this time with a harder edge, some infectious head-banging rhythms, and intriguing treatments.
22. What do you do outside of the music industry to keep yourself going Martin?
Since I spend the majority of my working days with a headful of technology, I like to unwind by emptying my head a little while walking my dog in the country, with meditation and Tai Chi, a form of moving meditation. I've been doing the latter for several years now, and it's made a huge difference to the amount of peace in my life.
Of course I enjoy contributing to the Sound On Sound forums, but I can't really say I have a favourite web site, since when you spend so many hours researching features and reviews it's not exactly relaxing to surf for pleasure as well - you end up with square eyes and a headache. However, I regularly visit hundreds of web sites, and admire the amount of time and dedication people put into so many of them.
For a complete break, my wife and I really love the rugged and mysterious coastline of Cornwall in the UK where we now live - it's full of stunning scenery, with rocky coves, windswept moors, tiny villages that seem almost lost in time, mysterious stone circles, and even the odd pirate's grave. This inspires my own instrumental music, which one review described as 'like a slowly turning kaleidoscope'. I've composed three solo albums to date, and am working on a fourth, all of which I market under my own Yew Tree Magic label. END