TVGB: Some of the composers that TVGB has spoken with have mentioned that they’ve started to be brought in earlier on projects. Back in the day they would receive the game and compose around it and now they want to make sure the score works with the game. Do you experience that with H.A.W.X. and how much does it help to be brought in earlier on the game?

TS: I think being brought in early is a good thing, but sometimes being brought in too early is not a good thing. The reason is is because often games undergo a lot of changes and unless they are completely set in everything, sometimes doing the music before that can cause problems and waste a lot of time. It’s really a matter of bringing the composer in early enough to have a bit of mutual teamwork. Sometimes the music can actually inspire the developers and designers, so it is nice to bring a composer in before everything is finalized. Am I answering that one properly?

TVGB: Definitely.

TS: So on to how H.A.W.X. was done. So with this game I was brought in at the summer of 2008 and I think we had about 3 months to do it, which is a pretty comfortable amount of time. They didn’t have everything done for me to see, they just had a little bit. Because of the nature of a game like H.A.W.X. a lot of the style wasn’t going to change since you’re basically in the air. I needed to understand the locations and they gave me enough information to create the full spectrum of intensity and emotions and styles. I didn’t have too much to go in terms of gameplay, but I did have some pretty extensive documents that described the story and told me the locations.

TVGB: For a game like H.A.W.X. how much variety did you get in music style? How much do you get in general? A lot of the time the focus on music in games is to get the adrenaline pumping. Do you get to step out of that?

TS: I did expect that the tendency would be to keep going with all this adrenaline pumping music, but I also know the danger of that is that you get fatigued and there is no break. I wanted to make sure that I gave them the widest spectrum possible … something for tension or setting the mood when you arrive in a new area. I think the score is very well balanced in that regard. It even covers different emotions whether it be sad or heroic or even mixed regrets.

TVGB: So you got this variety here. Is that something you see in most games you compose for or do you get painted into a corner often?

TS: Very often I’m asked for only a limited range in terms of musical style. Sometimes the audio director will come to me and give me a well thought out document for the music that covers every emotion you can imagine. I think that’s the exception. Regardless, when I’m brought onto a project I take a lot of time to research it and if I see an opportunity to expand that spectrum of emotions I’ll suggest it. The original GRAW is a good example of that.

TVGB: What style of music do you prefer to when you’re composing for a game and what style do you think lends itself best to games?

TS: Each and every game is going to present its own opportunity to present its own kind of music. Of course I enjoyed live orchestra. It’s always fun to get that many people in a room. Just the energy alone is really inspiring and exciting to watch. I will not automatically assume that we would have that on every project. For example Red Steel did not have any live orchestra, but it did give me the opportunity to do some other unique things like working with Japanese musicians or working with some incredible traditional Japanese singers. Things that were really unique. Every project I work on I try to look for every opportunity to infuse it with as much real human performance as possible, but sometimes due to budget limitations it has to be done artificially.

TVGB: What is the biggest challenge for you when composing music for a game?

TS: I guess like anything else that I do the biggest challenge is to find something that is memorable, that will work well when looping, and in games in particular some times it’s very difficult to understand the game completely, especially in the earlier stages. Sometimes there really isn’t a lot to work with, sometimes you’re working in a vacuum. In that case you’re kind of guessing and wondering if it is appropriate for the game. Film composing doesn’t have that problem because you look at the screen and make the music and know instantly if it will work or not. With videogame music I’m constantly figuring out ways to test it out and see if it is actually going to work. You can’t predict everything in a game and as freelance composer who isn’t working in the game company it becomes a challenge to be immersed enough to understand it intimately.

TVGB: Going forward, what are you working on? Is there a dream game?

TS: Honestly, I am working on one of my dream games, but due to all the legal restrictions and NDAs I can’t tell you what they are. One is a style of game I haven’t done before and that is what excites me the most. Red Steel is an example of that, and that was one of the most enjoyable projects I had to work on.