[photo by the LA Times]
You are more than likely familiar with composer Garry Schyman as his game scores have been tied to hit titles such as Destroy All Humans, the Bioshock series, Resistance: Retribution, and Dante’s Inferno. I recently had a chance to chat with him about his career as a composer and his background. This is the first part of our discussion. Come back tomorrow for more insight into his work on recent releases Bioshock 2 and Dante’s Inferno.
Gametunes: You graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in composition, was it always your intention to write music for media?
Garry Schyman: It was very much my intention to write for film and television. I was drawn to composing orchestral music and media composition seemed like a practical and interesting job. I was nineteen when I made that decision and to me it seemed like it made sense. As a matter of fact, I think I was the first student to present two student film scores at my senior recital, among other works. There was actually some discussion amongst the faculty whether that would be permitted.
At the time [media composition] was in no way as popular a profession as it is now. Back then it didn’t get much press; it was a little niche, a creative opportunity for a small group of composers of whom almost all were based in LA, a few in London, and possibly New York.
GT: How did you first enter the industry after you graduated?
GS: I had a friend whose father was, at the time, a very successful television actor by the name of Dennis Weaver. Dennis was the star of different television shows and his son, Robby Weaver, attended high school with me. We were good friends and continue to remain friends.
Dennis was working on a show and a guy named Mike Post was doing the score with his partner Pete Carpenter and I received an invitation to attend the session. A couple things happened. They had a ghost composer that was working for them who I visited and he turned me on to a gig for Lutheran television. Back then Lutheran television had its own television series on Sunday mornings. Through that contact I began scoring that show. I also met Mike Post and Pete Carpenter and began working for them as a ghost writer as they had been getting more and more busy with four or five shows going every week. So I started working for them which was a great experience because I constantly wrote for orchestra every week; I was cranking out tons of music for shows like The Greatest American Hero, Magnum P.I., and the A-Team.
GT: So you worked on a lot of TV and film, when was your first opportunity to work in the video game industry?
GS: Well again, my friend Robbie Weaver, believe it or not. He became an executive for Philips Interactive and they had their own device, the CDi, with their own gaming company. He hired me to score three titles for them, the first of which was called Voyeur. It was among the first games to have an orchestral score as the CD interactive permitted stereo files to be used which was a radical new potential for games.
When he left Philips and they got out of the game industry I didn’t continue working. My focus was film and TV and at the time games were a little sideshow. They were poorly funded and consisted mostly of little MIDI scores so it wasn’t interesting to me nor was I being offered opportunities.
Then in 2004 my agent at the time sent my resume to THQ and they heard a cue from my reel that they liked for a game titled Destroy All Humans. They hired me as the composer. It was a very interesting score as they were looking for something in the style of Bernard Hermann’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, plus they had an orchestral budget, and I said, “that would be fantastic; I’d love to do that.”
GT: From then on you’ve worked almost exclusively with video games. What impressed you about the industry at this point that caused you to continue scoring games as opposed to your previous experience?
GS: The industry had matured dramatically and the games were fantastic. Having the potential to use stereo orchestral scores and the kinds of music they were seeking was very appealing.
GT: What was appealing about it?
GS: For one thing, they were looking for very strong scores. Television, in the last four or five years, has gone toward a very ambient type of music which has made composing for that medium uninteresting. Video games, on the other hand, want really strong, intense kinds of traditional scores. So it was really interesting from that standpoint, certainly as much as anything in the best films.
You were also working with really nice people whose egos were in check and were nice, generous, and easy to work with. I haven’t met any difficult personalities yet in the game industry.
GT: Many of your recent scores rely on an early 20th century art music style. Are you drawn to that stylistic period? Who are your favorite composers?
GS: Yes, I definitely am. At the moment my favorite composer is Gustav Mahler. I’ve been listening to his music a lot and am currently reading a great biography of his life. For me he’s one of the greatest composer’s of all time.
I certainly love 20th century music from Stravinsky to Prokofiev, Bartok, Lutislawski, and Shostakovich. I enjoy listening to their music and the quasi-tonal nature of early 20th century music. That is the kind of music I listen to for enjoyment and what I listen to more of than just about anything else except Mahler.
GT: Is that the style you prefer to compose in?
GS: I don’t know if prefer is the right word. I really enjoy writing in different styles and would find it tedious to repeat the same score over and over. I do happen to love that early 20th century sound and that’s one of the cool things about Bioshock and even Dante’s Inferno, I was able to use that style and expand on it in my own way and it’s what makes those games unique in that sense.
GT: When you compose are you a staff paper and pencil kind of guy or do you work with a computer workstation?
GS: I use Digital Performer, have all the latest samples, and am very computer savvy with a setup in my home. I have everything here in my studio and I have a lot of the latest technology. When I first started you weren’t able to mock things up like you are now. I used to even play stuff for directors in my home on the piano. Which some people still do by the way, like John Williams. But nowadays the people you work with expect mockups and then, assuming there’s an orchestral budget, they know that you are going to replace a lot of it with the real thing. They want to be sold; they want to be sure that what you’re doing is achieving their purposes.
GT: I understand you have composed a viola concerto that has recently been published. Do you regularly do art music composition on the side?
GS: Not a lot. I wrote that viola concert and a company had an interest in publishing it so that just happened. Frankly, I don’t have a lot of time to do that. I’m writing so much music and it’s such satisfying music from a creative standpoint that I don’t feel a need to express myself in any other way. But that work came to me and poured out of me and I had to write it. I’m glad I did and I hope it gets performed as I really do think it’s a cool piece.
GT: What is it that you enjoy most about your work as a composer?
GS: I think there are two or three moments when it is the best. It’s a very heady feeling to come up with a piece of music and go, “Wow, this is good.” No one has heard it but you in your studio and you’re saying, “this is really cool.” It’s very exciting to assemble notes and come up with something interesting. The next is when you record the music, especially if you have an orchestra. I love the recording process: going to the studio, conducting the orchestra, and mixing the music. And I love when people enjoy the music, which is really exciting. It’s also nice when the check arrives!
GT: At times do you find it difficult to create the music you are looking for?
GS: I generally find the hardest part is starting a new project and coming up with the basic concept or approach. That was true with Bioshock. It took a number of attempts before finding the right approach. 2K Games wanted something really different, and they meant it, so I kept coming up with new ideas.
Make sure to stop by tomorrow and read part two of the interview where we discuss Schyman’s work on Dante’s Inferno and Bioshock 2.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Very interesting interview, thanks! Bioshock score is fantastic, really stand on its own.
You’re welcome for the interview! Have you listened to any of his other works?
I’ve listened to Destroy All Humans. It has good 60-70s sci-fi atmosphere. Very nice! Currently I plan to listen to Dante’s Inferno.
By the way, it would be interesting to see what happened if the guys from Irrational Games would developed System Shock 3 and Garry became composer for it.
I also have the Dante’s Inferno soundtrack waiting to be listened too. I’ve heard a little and it’s pretty intense. Have you played the game?
The score in BioShock and BioShock 2 was incredible. I have to thank Gametunes for actually letting me know the score for the first game was available for free. I’m still disappointed at the lack of a downloadable/purchasable score for its sequel, however.
You’re very welcome for the link! I’m also waiting for a score to the sequel. All my sources point to it happening so I’m just riding it out at this point.
I’m listening to the soundtrack now. It is very nice. I remembered liking the Destroy All Humans music.