Ben McCullough Interview
steve

07 Mar 2006 | 2 Comments

Broken Sword Rus has conducted an interview with Ben McCullough, and they have kindly given us the English translation to post here. Enjoy!


1. Do you like to work with Revolution?

Yeah, it's fun working with Revolution. I've known Charles for several years now and we have a good working relationship. It's got to that point where he knows the kind of stuff I do and he can use previous work I've done for him as frames of reference when discussing what he wants, which makes things easier. The rest of the team working on BS4 are great too. I'm working quite closely with the section designers in determining exactly what music is needed, where and when. It's a great team full of great people - so yeah, working with them is really my pleasure. In an industry with more than its fair share of arrogance and inflated egos, it's good to be able to work with friendly, down to earth folk.

2. How for a long time you have started to work?

We began discussions about styles last year, then batted about some concept pieces for a few of the main themes. But it's only in the last few weeks that I've started to write music that's actually destined for the game. It'll continue over the next couple of months, then my involvement in the game tails off, once all the music's written and in place in-game. The timescale is a real luxury on this game actually. Normally it's a rush to get everything done at the last minute, writing the music in the space of a few weeks and cramming it into the game. Not this time though - we've been careful to plan things out and make sure there's time to get things right.

3. What will general background of music be in game - gloomy or not?

I'm guessing by 'general background' that you mean the style of the music? Well, it changes in mood depending on the situation and the setting that's at hand at any one time. There's a general style dictated by the way the game's story turns out - you have to write music that supports the mood of the narrative. I mean if I wrote some Mahleresque thing to accompany a cartoon like the Simpsons, then it really wouldn't work. So the style comes from the narrative - and the setting. Is it gloomy though...? I don't know. I don't know if I find any music gloomy really - you can usually get something uplifting out of most music.

4. Revolution talked to you about what should be music in game?

We had discussions about what would work stylistically, talking very broadly. After we'd agreed a style, and as I mentioned earlier, I drafted some concept pieces for the main themes for the different characters and locations. These were tweaked and then agreed upon. Then I played through the game working closely with the section designers to determine exactly what events should have cues associated with them, much as a director and composer would spot a film for music cues.

5. What inspires you on a writing of music to game?

The game itself. The story, the characters, the locations. I draw a lot of inspiration from the concept art as I have to get working long before the art is viewable in-game.

6. Can you tell, what will be length of a soundtrack on end of work?

Well, it's early days, but I would estimate about 130 minutes of music. A good deal of this will be subtle variations of the different themes, so it's not quite the Herculean task that say, writing a 130 minute stand alone concert work would be.

7. Will the music emphasize actions of the heroes as it did in Broken Sword I and II?

Very much so. The music did this in BS3 as well, though I don't think a lot of people noticed! I think we should have shouted more loudly about what we were doing. For example in BS3, when you're clambering around on the cliff face, after the plane section, listen to how the music changes when you shimmy or sidestep out into a dangerous area. You get subtle changes in the music to reflect what kind of activity you're involved in. But it is very subtle. But that's the way I think it should be. What I'd rather happen on any game I work on, is for the player not to finish the game thinking "Oh boy that music rocked!", but to finish thinking "Oh boy, that game was awesome. ... There was music?". The point is that music is not the focus of a game. A game is a gestalt entity and music has to support the game, not dominate it.

8. Than music The Angel of Death from The Sleeping dragon will differ?

One way they'll differ is in reaction to one really legitimate criticism of the music in BS3. This was that depending on how long you spent doing different bits of the game, you could potentially go for a very long time without hearing any music. We knew about this while the game was being developed, but we didn't have time to do anything about it - we had to work like crazy to get it all done as things were. But this time we've planned out the music up front, and even though there's not going to be much of a difference in terms of the number of minutes of music in the two games, the player should feel like BS4 is much more thoroughly 'scored'. In BS3, you heard most of the music once. One time only! This was such a waste. In BS4, cues will be re-used several times.

9. Whether you can give to us any finished slice of a soundtrack if there is such opportunity? =)

Sorry, not yet! It's all under wraps for now.