On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Music: Jeff Tymoschuk Talks Penny Arcade Adventures
By Louis Bedigian

“It made for some interesting days, being overly dramatic and ridiculous in the day with On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.”

Penny Arcade, the world’s greatest comic strip, has touched the hearts of millions. It was there to comfort us when E3 went to Santa Monica for a year of hotel-hopping “fun.” It was there to poke fun at Mass Effect when its massive customization features left some feeling baffled. And it’s always there to mock and parody the latest releases, from the niche (LocoRoco) to the mainstream (Guitar Hero) to the hardcore (BioShock).

This year Penny Arcade will touch our hearts in an entirely new way: via their first video game – Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

Jeff Tymoschuk, the composer best known for contributing music to The Simpsons: Hit and Run, James Bond: Nightfire, and James Bond: Everything or Nothing, has been tasked with writing the music for Precipice of Darkness. GameZone recently spoke to Mr. Tymoschuk to find out just what it takes to make the sound of Penny Arcade come to life.

Penny Arcade is one of the most unique properties around, starting as a comic that mocked our favorite video games. When you heard it was becoming a video game, what are some of the things that went through your head in regards to how it should sound?

Jeff Tymoschuk: My familiarity with the Penny Arcade before getting the gig was pretty limited, but once I found out that I’d be pitching for it I spent a good chunk of time going through the archived strips and reading as much as I could about it. Right away, I found the strip to be really funny, and more than anything else I was curious about what sort of approach the game was going to be taking.

I knew from my conversations with Adam Gejdos (the audio director at Hothead Games) that they were setting it in the 1920s, and were looking for something a little off-center, so my first demos had a bit of a vaudeville jazz feel to them, but with sort of a Muppet Show/Mos Eisley Cantina band take on it. Because the music could’ve gone in so many different directions, I decided to take some of the parameters that I was given and just have a good time with the tunes, rather than over-analyzing how appropriate the music would be for the gameplay. There would be plenty of time for that later! Stylistically, the music in the game ended up being quite a bit different than the demos, but it was a good place to start.

Now that you've created those sounds, tell us how they came together and explain how they match the look and feel of the Penny Arcade universe.

JT: Very early on, Adam gave me a CD with a bunch of music on it that had elements that he liked, there was some Tom Waits, some old Bernard Herrmann scores, some 1920s jazz, and a bunch of other cool stuff. The overall arcing directive that I was given was “H.P. Lovecraft with a sense of humor,” which was great – it was equally descriptive and vague.

From there, I took a few cracks at trying to figure out how this world was going to sound, which was a little tricky. The other games that I’ve scored have all had their own inherent musical language: the James Bond games had to sound like James Bond, Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice had to be in a similar vein to what Richard Jacques had done on the first game, and The Simpsons: Hit and Run had to sound like The Simpsons, but this was all new, which was really challenging and exciting.

The visuals in the game helped quite a bit with coming up with the feel, although it was more in a non-specific way. I tried to write music that looked like that it belonged in the world of New Arcadia, which was usually easier to define based on what didn’t belong. So there was a fair bit of trial and error in the beginning, but once I got on track and we had a style that we liked, it all came together pretty quickly.

Can you give us an idea of what the music will sound like?

JT: It all really stemmed from the “H.P. Lovecraft with a sense of humor” line. I really wanted to avoid doing “comedy” music as much as possible. I thought that if I was throwing in slide whistles and going “Wocka, wocka, wocka!!” with the music it would undermine the funny stuff in the game, and come across as cheesy and condescending. Instead I wrote music that was mostly serious, but slightly off-kilter, using odd meters or melodies and instruments that were a little non-traditional. To me it seemed funnier if it was written as if the musicians weren’t aware that the situations were comical, so I was picturing a lot of furrowed brows and dour expressions from my imaginary orchestra. Of course, there were a few situations where getting a little wackier was totally appropriate!

There was a big influence from some of the classic horror film scores, composers like Bernard Herrmann and Max Steiner, as well as Django Reinhardt, The Mills Brothers, and a few more contemporary ones like Tom Waits and, surprisingly, Mr. Bungle and Queen.

What sounds/instruments/etc., did you use?

JT: The music is mostly orchestral, with occasional smatterings of big band horns, some junkyard percussion, jazz guitar, vibes, pipe organ and piano. I also picked up a banjo-ukelele at the start of the project, and that’s probably going to show up in the second episode.

How was the score recorded?

JT: It was all recorded in my studio with sampled orchestra, supplemented by me playing all the live instruments myself. When I started the project, I was in the process of expanding my studio with a bunch of new gear and sample libraries, so it was a really great chance for me to really take it out on the highway, so to speak. My main studio workhorses are Digital Performer and Gigastudio, and I started using Kontakt at the beginning of the project, which worked really well.

The bulk of the score was written between April and August 2007, with a couple of additional things being done here and there over the following few months.

Will Gabe and Tycho (and/or any other characters) have their own music themes?

JT: Not per se. There are a number of themes that show up from time to time, but they’re more location-based or situation-based than tied to any specific characters.

I understand that Precipice of Darkness is going to be a point-and-click adventure. Did the genre influence what you wrote?

JT: Not really. The music was based more on the style of the visuals and the specific gameplay moments rather than the overall genre of gameplay.

Interactivity is one of the new trends in music. Have you ever written music this way? Will there be any interactive music in Precipice of Darkness?

JT: I’ve had a couple of projects where the music was written linearly and edited to be somewhat interactive, but I’m really looking forward to working on more projects in the future that incorporate interactivity into the composition phase. The Penny Arcade music isn’t interactive this time around, but I’m not sure, that might change in the future installments.

I've heard there were some unique challenges involved in creating your score. What were they?

JT: The biggest challenge was that I’d just finished working on the score for Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice, on which I’d spent six months writing big Hollywood throw-a-brick-on-the-gas-pedal, cops ‘n robbers music, and the day after I finished that I hopped right into the Penny Arcade game’s Hobo Alley. It was a little bit of a left turn out of Tron, and it took me a little bit to get my bearings.

While working on the Penny Arcade game, I also ended up scoring a documentary called Mr. Big, which was about undercover police stings that led to false confessions and wrongful imprisonments. It made for some interesting days, being overly dramatic and ridiculous in the day with On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, and then having to remember how to be subtle in the evening on the film. Ahh, the joys of being a freelance composer!

How were Mike 'Gabe' Krahulik and Jerry 'Tycho' Holkins involved with the game, specifically with the music? Did they (or the developer/publisher) have any thoughts, advice or requests for the score?

JT: Jerry was involved early on with setting the overall direction of the music with Adam, and with the final approval of the stuff that I wrote. For the most part, Adam and Hothead gave me free rein with the music, which was fantastic. There were a few times that I’d be working on something and it’d be getting a little more weird than I intended, and I’d be thinking to myself “I don’t know, this might be getting a little too out there,” but everyone was digging it, and so I kept going. Once I got past the initial stage of finding the right musical tone, it was a remarkably easy project to work on, and there were very few notes from Hothead, which was unexpected and lovely.

You're credited as having composed additional music for The Simpsons Hit and Run game, along with Allan Levy and the main composer, Marc Baril. What was your role for the game – what music did you contribute?

JT: I wrote three pieces for the game, the Kang & Kodos Halloween music, Professor Frink’s theme, and Dr Nick Riviera’s music. I had been working at Radical Entertainment as a contracted sound designer, and Marc was familiar with my James Bond work at EA, so when he needed some additional music done, he asked me, and I was very happy to have the chance to do it. And it ended up indirectly leading to the Penny Arcade game: Adam worked at Radical as well, and when he was looking for composers for Penny Arcade, Marc was kind enough to suggest me.

I would imagine that sound design is vastly different from writing music. Tell us about that and the different game projects you've worked on (Hulk, etc.).

JT: Obviously, there are a lot of differences between sound design and music, but in a lot of ways they’re similar too. A lot of the same tools and techniques are used, and some of the same principles apply. I think that being an occasional sound designer made me a better composer, and being a composer made me a better occasional sound designer. If nothing else, I’m able to write with a little better understanding of what the sound design will be adding to a cutscene or gameplay, and I try to leave some sonic space for sound to do its work.

My first game project was James Bond: Nightfire for EA, in which I scored about half the game, basically all the driving missions. After that it was The Simpsons, then a little additional music for James Bond: Everything or Nothing, again for EA. This past year I worked with Richard Jacques Studios and scored Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice from BigBigStudio/SCEE, which came out in North America in January on the PSP, and then it was right onto On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. I also did sound design on the cutscenes for Hulk at Radical Entertainment in 2003, and some dialogue editing for Company of Heroes for Relic/THQ in 2006.

Do you have any other game projects coming up?

JT: Well, I’m going to be starting on Episode Two of the Penny Arcade game this week, and I’m really looking forward to getting back into it and expanding on what was done in the first episode. After that I’ve got a couple of projects coming, both game and film, that I can’t talk about, but I’m happy to say that it’s going to be a full year. I’ll be posting semi-regular updates on my website, www.greenwiremusic.com, so when I have new projects, that’s the best place to find out about them.

Anything else you’d like to share regarding Penny Arcade or any other projects?

JT: It’s been really cool to see the reactions from different people when they find out I’m working on this game, it’s always one of two things. Either they’ve never heard of Penny Arcade at all, or they get all wide-eyed and excited. Seeing that kind of fan reaction first-hand is really inspiring, and I’m really excited for other people to get a chance to play the game.

Working on this game has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience for me, and I’m excited to get cracking on the second episode. I’m also curious to see where the music goes this time. In many ways it really has a will of its own!

Thank you for your time.

GameZone's three days of Penny Arcade Adventures coverage continues tomorrow when we'll unveil some exclusive excerpts from Jeff's soundtrack. Stay Tuned!

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