March 2017 – DYNAMEDION

In the next part of our composer interview series, our composer Jochen Flach reveals how he judges and reflects on his own composition among other things.

It’s not always easy to handle customer criticism. Obviously you want to accomplish the client’s desire and to back his own project can be a balancing act sometimes. Today Jochen tells us his personal thoughts about some important facts of a composers business. Let’s see if he has got some helpful tips and tricks for you to support you in your own musical business.

Jochen Flach

(Hitman Absolution, ANNO 2205, Risen 3)

“In the beginning it was exhausting and stressful to make the fourth or fifth rework of one track, but it’s merely a matter of time when you start to take the things more relaxed.”

TO BE CREATIVE ON POINT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. EVERYBODY KNOWS THE SITUATION WHEN YOU ARE SITTING IN FRONT OF A WHITE SHEET OF PAPER TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT BEGINNING AND THE RIGHT IDEA. HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED YOURSELF IN SUCH A SITUATION AND HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO FIND THE BEGINNING?

“I know this situation, sitting in front of a glaring blank page, waiting to be filled. I try to plunge into the right mood with the help of movies or images of the same genre. If nothing helps: I take a break and do some sports to clear my mind.”

IF YOU GOT THE CHANCE TO GIVE YOUR 15 YEARS YOUNGER SELF AN ADVICE – WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

“Be tenacious, trust your strengths, go to more concerts and take care of your network.”

HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO FIND THE RIGHT WORKFLOW? DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS OR METHODS THAT HELP YOU TO GET INTO THE SPIRIT OF A THEME?

“Funnily enough that always works without any problems. I can plunge into a new world very well. I don’t have any methods or rituals.”

HOW CAN SAMPLE LIBRARIES SUPPORT YOU IN YOUR DAILY WORK? SURE, THEY ARE HELPFUL FOR TIME CRITICAL PROJECTS, BUT ARE THERE ANY OTHER BENEFITS?

“As I compose only on my PC, sample libraries are my main tool – so I can’t work without them. The work of many composers has changed as well as the customer’s claims. If a composition has been commissioned usually a composer can’t deliver scoresheets. The customer’s expectation is a great sounding mock-up. Therefore my work depends on realistic sounding and easy to handle sample libraries. Meanwhile there are phrase based libraries on the market which can support your working process and your idea generation.”

HOW DO YOU RATE THE QUALITY OF SAMPLE LIBRARIES IN COMPARISON TO LIVE RECORDINGS?

“That is always very different. As much as there are excellent sounding libraries on the market you can also find the opposite. A composer always tries to let his/her music sound as realistic as much as possible. The quality of a live recording is the aim of every sample production. Of course there are situations when a desired sound is not easy to record live. I mean for example epic, modern orchestra soundings which have been really in demand since Hans Zimmer. In this case live recordings are mixed with sample libraries to sound bigger and more epic.”

WHAT DOES YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH A NEW LIBRARY LOOK LIKE? WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU AND WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR YOU WHILE TESTING THE NEW PRODUCT?

“I definitely focus on the sound, but no less important is the usability of a library. You shouldn’t have to read a manual before you start to work with it. Of course the price plays a role, but for me that’s not too decisive, as long as it is not too excessive.”

HOW DO YOU JUDGE YOUR OWN COMPOSITION? WHICH FACTORS PLAY A ROLE?

“My compositions have to make the grade of my own expectations. And they have to be competitive in the media landscape. Equally I have to be clear on the musical aspiration. But this is always very subjective. The best way is to let your customer decide, but also the evaluation of and reflection upon the composition includes some important factors. Here are some questions I ponder: ‘Did I manage to create the intended emotions?’, ‘Is there enough variety in the composition?’, ‘Does the track fit into the main context?'”

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU RECOGNIZE THAT YOU FOLLOW THE WRONG DIRECTION WHILE COMPOSING? HOW DO YOU REACT?

“Yes, this happens. I have learned to stop the what I am working on and save it in a special folder for a later use. And then I just start from scratch.”

HOW DO YOU HANDLE CUSTOMER’S CRITIC IF HE/SHE HAS GOT ANOTHER VIEW ON THE RESULT AS YOU HAVE?

“Meanwhile I can handle criticism very well although it is a process of development. In the beginning it was exhausting and stressful to make the fourth or fifth rework of one track, but it’s merely a matter of time when you start to take the things more relaxed. With years of experience you usually don’t have to do so many reworks as well. If you still have to edit your track again and again the reason is mostly a lack of communication. Find out the customer’s expectations.”

•
Jochen Flach

Hope you enjoyed reading the interview. Stay tuned for some more interviews with our award-winning composers, get to know them and profit from their experience. We try our best to support you in all concerns.

See you soon, your Dynamedion-Team

Services

Like many others we are looking forward to the release of the upcoming Action RPG Vikings – Wolves of Midgard and want to show you some insights into our work beforehand.

Renowned German publisher Kalypso Media together with game developer Games Farm announced their upcoming Action-RPG: Vikings – Wolves of Midgard with game music by Dynamedion.

From March 24^th, 2017 players can look forward to the new action game that takes you to the Shores of Midgard, a world based upon the mythology and history of the Vikings, but with a fantasy twist. Our hero – either a ruthless shieldmaiden or a ferocious Viking warrior – has to fight against hordes of terrifying undead monstrosities. In addition you have to look after the reconstruction of the home village.

Composing several tracks for a brutal fantasy world has been a lot of fun and it was a new challenge for us at the same time. Why? Read on as our composer Matthias Wolf who wrote the soundtrack (togehter with Jochen Flach, Armin Haas, Dominik Morgenroth, Nicolai Patricio and Alex Pfeffer) and the main theme reveals some insights:

WHAT WAS SPECIAL WHILE COMPOSING GAME MUSIC FOR VIKINGS: WOLVES OF MIDGARD?

“It was important that the music reflects the rough and cold Nordic setting. It was not our aspiration to compose orchestral and exchangeable music, thus we created game music with typical Nordic instruments. The music of the game is rather dark and sparse. The only track that breaks out is the main theme. The requirement was to combine these Nordic styles with a catchy hook and orchestral elements. It’s a track that has a recognition value and it should be striking to the listeners. The in-game music has a very acoustic touch and subtly supports the player in his/her action.”

IS THERE ONE TRACK YOU ESPECIALLY LIKE?

“Well, actually all tracks are very appropriate in their own way. I think it would be interesting to tell a bit more about the production of the main theme as we put a lot of work into it:

For the main theme I wanted to include a raucous male choir that sings the hook line rather fervently – as a typical Viking choir. For this purpose, we have developed a Nordic phantasy language and wrote specific lyrics on the melody, which was sang by Roman Krotil (Lead Vocals) and me. So both of us sang a lot of different voices in different tonal colors and by overlaying these recorded tracks we could imitate a choir (which actually only consists of two persons). As there is a female main character in the game, we included the voice of our vocal artist Conny Kollet. Her powerful and ethnic voice gave a really nice boost to the final chorus.

In addition, we put a lot of emphasis on the originality and authenticity. To create an original main theme I’ve played and recorded some flutes, a viol, shakers and other percussive elements. A main theme is always a very special task, as it reflects an acoustic watermark for the whole game and it is trend-setting for all other tracks.”

WERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES TO MASTER?

“Yes, in the game there are different settings we had to compose music for but the central theme “Vikings” shouldn’t be disregarded at any time. One of the biggest difficulties was to musically distinguish these settings. We had to carefully consider how far we could implement this challenge in a compositional way. We solved this over the instrumentation by featuring specific, striking instruments which stand for the different setting. So the player can directly recognise by the instruments and the type of its deployment in which area or level he/she is located.”

ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE RESULT?

“Yes, the composers did a great job! Through the very special central theme – the soundtrack becomes versatile and multifarious. So it definitely pays off to listen to the tracks and dive into the world of Vikings.”

•
Matthias Wolf

Enjoy watching the trailer with music and vocals by Dynamedion:

Month: March 2017

COMPOSER INTERVIEW WITH JOCHEN FLACH