October 10, 2007

Sounding Like a Winner: BioShock’s Composer Talks to GameZone
By Louis Bedigian

“There is a very sad and beautiful theme that comes in from time to time to remind the player that they are witnessing the aftermath of a deep human tragedy.”

Garry Schyman’s love of music did not have a common start. Eager to get his brother to play an instrument, Garry’s parents rented a piano. But it wasn’t his brother who fell in love with its beautiful sound and vast composition ability – it was Garry. He demanded to take lessons and, as he told me, “was hooked,” and later studied music composition at USC.

For years he worked in the traditional areas of the entertainment industry. “I was a film and television composer almost exclusively until about three years ago,” he says, noting that he also scored three video games for Phillips Interactive in the mid ‘90s. “It was a fluke that I was offered Destroy All Humans!, but that game launched my video games career.”

A fluke? Maybe. Fate? More likely. “My agent had sent my resume over to THQ and an executive there saw my resume on the fax machine. She turned out to be my girlfriend’s roommate from college and she strongly urged the music exec there to listen to my demo. She heard something that sounded right for DAH! and forwarded on to the developer in Brisbane, Australia. One thing led to another and I was eventually hired as the composer. The game and its score were very well received and I kept getting offers to score projects.”

Garry Schyman’s most prominent score appears in one of the frontrunners for Game of the Year: BioShock. He recently took a few moments to discuss his work on this killer FPS.

BioShock's intense music was the first thing that stood out during E3 06 demonstration, so good work on getting our attention. Now let me ask you: when in your composing timeframe was the under water theme (when you're first under water) conceived, and were you aware at the time of writing it that it would be used that early in the game?

Garry Schyman: I believe you’re referring to the music you hear as you ride the Bathysphere down to Rapture. If that’s the case I was asked to write something once they had created that particular scripted event which was somewhere in the middle of the process. And yes I was aware where it was to be used. They sent me a movie capture of the scene and I was originally asked to make it really scary as you ride down. So I wrote this very dark and eerie music and sent it to them.

However, they had second thoughts about that approach and asked me to write something less scary and more evocative. The final music took me only a day to compose and they immediately loved it. I love it too and am glad they changed their minds about the approach. Though the really scary cue was quite cool.

Some say it's a horror game, some call it a thriller, others just say it's good, mind-boggling action. How were you told to classify BioShock in your compositions, and how did that influence the choices made while writing?

GS: The game was described to me as very scary and frightening. At the same time it is an intelligent game with a deep and very interesting story line and I think the score plays that as well. So the music is both intellectual, at times, with intricate flowing string melodies and dark, dissonant and eerie at other times. Finally, there is a very sad and beautiful theme that comes in from time to time to remind the player that they are witnessing the aftermath of a deep human tragedy.

Based on the little music I heard at E3 (I have not been able to play the finished version yet), I think of the score as being a massive, attention-grabbing piece that's deeply haunting. How would you describe it?

GS: Actually the E3 demo had very little of my music in it so it would not be a good way to evaluate the score. As I said before the music had to fill the multifarious needs of this complex world and it was achieved by using various styles at the appropriate moments in the gameplay.

What equipment did you use? How was the score written and recorded?

GS: I work on two Mac G5’s which have a lot of samples loaded on them. I record into Digital Performer and did my mockups for the audio director that way. Once approved the cue was either finished or more likely had to be orchestrated for the live players that were added to the score at the very end of the process. I recorded a string orchestra and numerous solo instruments at Capitol Studios in Hollywood with absolutely wonderful players that included the concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I then took the live tracks and mixed them with my pre-records on Protools with my engineer Dan Blessinger.

Does BioShock fit in with the kind of entertainment you typically work with – darker, adult-oriented content?

GS: Not necessarily. I’ve scored movies for children and comedies as well as the darker side of music. I have to say I love variety so the ideal situation is when I get to score back-to-back projects that are very different in nature. I love to write melodies and even got to write a couple of beautiful themes for BioShock. Not to mention the piano music which was in the style of the late romantic classical composers. That was an unusual opportunity that came about because one of the in-game characters is a composer who writes a critical piece of music that becomes central to a scripted event.

What are your primary concerns when writing music?

GS: Which note comes next! Haha. Sorry, but sometimes it comes down to that. Once I came up with the approach I took for the game I just tried to keep each piece of music appropriate to the game and to it’s specific core where it was to be used.

Additionally, I gave the audio director, Emily Ridgway, separate stems of the music (without lead instruments) to create a sort of library from which she could choose when she just needed some eerie ambience for a part of the game. My main concern, I suppose, is that the music I am writing helps the game work and beyond that I want the music to be special and sound like a real and interesting piece of music when played outside the game if at all possible.

What was the key in bringing BioShock's music to life? Were there any unusual
instruments or some other uncommon element involved?

GS: Yes, I used string instruments in particular because they have this watery flowing quality to them. Sometimes they were used to create an eerie dissonance and at other time to flow in fast moving passages. They also were perfect for the sad and beautiful elements of the score. Additionally, I employed key string soloists including Martin Chalifour who is a virtuoso violinists and an amazing studio cellist name Armin Ksajikian.

Do you make notes while writing or use a recorder the whole time or...?

GS: I both write the music out and create mockups of each piece of music so that the audio director can hear each piece and be completely on board with me as I write. I don’t want the designers surprised when they hear the final score. I want them on board and happy as I go. When they hear the final score with the live instruments included it just becomes a bonus and everyone is delighted at that point. But you need to keep them on board the whole time as far as I am concerned. They know the game best and they know what is working and what isn’t.

Do you follow reviews and fan comments? If someone says, "You know, I really liked [enter part of BioShock here]," would you be more likely then to write music that fits with that style?

GS: No, I can’t say I am that influenced by reviews and comments like that. I do read the reviews and they have been very kind to my score on BioShock. I really haven’t seen any reviews or comments that specifically suggested a better way to write music. So I guess I have either fulfilled their expectation or they don’t know what would have been better!

When working on BioShock, was that only project you were composing for? Or do you like to multi-task?

GS: I had a couple of very small projects come up during the seven months I was working on BioShock. As I am a fairly fast composer I was usually caught up and often waiting for the next assignment on BioShock. The developer had pushed back their schedule many months because of the technical challenges that had come up. So often I was waiting on them. So I did a couple of little projects in-between work on BioShock. BioShock was by far the major part of my work though during those months however.

Have there been any game scores that really impressed you?

GS: I’ve played World Of Warcraft and I think that the score for that game is just perfect for it. God Of War 1 and 2 both have really fine scores as well.

As a consumer, if a crappy movie or crappy game had a really great soundtrack, would you stick it out just for the music? Or do other elements have to come into play for it to be worthwhile?

GS: Well, I guess I would “stick it out” just to hear the great music. But that’s not why I go to see most movies or play games. Somehow it seems that great games and great movies usually also get the great scores. Maybe I’m wrong about that and since I am a fan of Jerry Goldsmith and he did score a few stinkers. I am sure that there are exceptions to that rule. But the really great scores are usually associated with great films, games and television shows.

Garry’s next project will have him destroying all humans.

Where will game, movie, and TV audio go next? Do you foresee any changes?

GS: Well, I can’t competently speak about audio per se but technology affects games more than TV and movies. For games, improvements in computing power and plain old fashion competition means that games will continue to grow and get more interesting. My guess is that in the end it won’t change the music as much as one might think. The reason is that good music is not dependant on technology. Really good music is written by really good composers who know how to craft the notes into something special. So we will continue to find better and more interesting ways to be interactive perhaps but in the end if you can write a great theme or melody and an interesting harmony to match it you will be at a big advantage.

What are your next projects? Do you have any other games coming up?

GS: Just finished Destroy All Humans 3! which was loads of fun and am considering other projects at the moment. Unfortunately the game industry is very secretive so I can’t give you any names.

Aww, not even one?

Thank you for your time.

For more info, visit www.garryschyman.com

To download a 12-song sampler of the BioShock score, visit: http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/BioShock_Score.zip

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