Jack Wall is the acclaimed composer and music producer for a number of gaming titles including LucasArts' Wrath Unleashed, BioWare's upcoming Jade Empire, and UbiSoft's Myst III: Exile, nominated by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences for Excellence in Original Musical Composition. The Myst III: Exile soundtrack, currently out of print, remains one of the most popular western game soundtracks today. M4G caught up with the award-winning composer/producer to discuss his epic soundtrack for the latest instalment in the multi-million Myst series, Myst IV: Revelation.
M4G: What sort of educational background did you have on your way to becoming a game composer?
Jack Wall: I have a BS in Civil Engineering believe it or not. I guess that was my mom's influence. She really wanted me to have a "fallback" or "real" education, right? Well, I spent a year working for an engineering consulting firm before I finally cracked and then went off to pursue the dream. I think it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life from there, but I knew it would be something in music. I had a band during that period. We all moved to Boston because I thought I wanted to go to Berklee to study music production. When I arrived there I really hated the whole vibe of the place. I guess I was sick of going to school and I wanted to just do it! So I started working in a studio called Synchro Sound on Newbury Street. It was just the greatest. I was learning from some great engineers. I assisted Flood on the first Nine Inch Nails record (specifically "Head like a Hole" and "Terrible Lie") and began engineering and producing bands all around Boston. Loved that time. That taught me that being self-taught was the way to go. For years, I was pretty upset that I had wasted so much time in engineering school. But later I realized that experience really prepared me for a career of being on my own, constantly learning things that interested me. Eventually, I think I really caught up. I've studied privately - orchestration, conducting and many other disciplines of what I do. Paper means nothing to me - it's just all about preparation for doing things that interest me at this point.
M4G: Who and/or what were some major influences for you prior to pursuing a career in music composition?
Jack Wall: I was an engineer geek - knowing all the gear and working with the best engineers and producers all over the world. Kevin Killen, John Leventhal, Flood, Larry Klein, John Cale and many others. These guys were responsible for some of my all-time favorite records - Peter Gabriel's "So" album, U2, Shawn Colvin's first record, Joni Mitchell, etc. That was a great period for me. Just being in the same room with these guys was heaven and a great education. It was always about the music. We lived, ate and slept it the entire time. John Cale ultimately pushed me over the edge to composition. He was a great teacher and I'm sure he didn't even know it at the time!
M4G: Do you think that your background as an engineer and producer has made you a more valuable commodity to game designers/developers than others?
Jack Wall: Some have told me this. In fact, I had one producer tell me that he hired me specifically because I had this knowledge and track record. I guess if you're planning to spend an extra $60-100k on recording orchestras, etc., it pays to have a proven entity handling that for you. It's second nature to me now and I'm continually grateful having these experiences.
M4G: You have said many times that you have much creative freedom when it comes to composing for games; is this more so in a technological capacity or in illustrating the subject matter of games?
Jack Wall: Well I think that it's mostly because you're not tied to a specific visual. Music in games almost becomes foreground music while many times in film its really background music until you get to the credits. That said, I really love doing the cinematics in games - that's where I have the chance to drive the story by tying in themes from the in-game portion of the score. But I also enjoy doing in-game music because there really is tremendous freedom there.
M4G: Therefore, if and when you are "limited" during game production, it is usually due to design conflicts or technology of the medium?
Jack Wall: In the past I would have definitely said that the technology was the biggest limiting factor. Now, I think it has more to do with gameplay itself. I mean every medium has its constraints. That's the fun of it - how creative can I get within a specific set of limitations? It's fun if you let it be.
M4G: For which do you have a preference: linear or non-linear (interactive) composition for games?
Jack Wall: Ok, I have to step in here and share some of my most recent experiences with you. I think the term "interactive" is kind of a misnomer when it comes to music in games. I think it's much more about implementing the music in the best way possible for a specific game rather than just saying "interactive, interactive, interactive!" Every game is really different and if you don't take the time as a composer to figure out the role of the music to the style of gameplay for which you're writing, you don't get the most out of the music.
What I mean is, the last thing I want as a gamer is for the music to change every time I do something in the game. That's often jarring and extremely distracting to me. I understand the desire to do it, but I swear - the tighter the relationship between the player's actions and the change of music, the more I am reminded that music is playing and the less effective the music becomes. Music's role has more to do with subliminally helping to tell the story or drive the action or communicate a feeling. There are times when music needs to be tight to the action, but then again, there are times when it just needs to be there to tell the story. So my preference is to work with teams that understand all this and support me to create the right implementation for the music. It's really part of the whole picture. I don't think you can separate them. I guess what I'm saying is that it's not so much about the process of how I create the music, but how the music will effect the gameplay. I love the challenge of making the music make the game better.
M4G: What is your typical process for composition? Do you first develop basic themes, try to assimilate the essence of the subject, or do you just hear the music in your head when you see the concept art?
Jack Wall: Well, since this area of entertainment is maturing to a large degree, I find that more and more, producers and designers are really looking at music much more closely when they design the game in the first place. That is tremendously helpful when it comes time to compose, because we're more on the same page. Years ago I remember producers just saying "uh… we need some music. When can we get it?" Now, I hear things like "We need a theme for this character, that character, etc." "This theme should relate to the main theme." "This area is designed for 3 hours of gameplay, so we need x minutes of ambient music here with 3 pieces of battle music." Overall, it's much more specific. I like that sort of direction. I can more easily meet expectations when I know that we're all on the same page.
It always seems to start out from there in a crawl, walk, run sort of way. I'll send some stuff as a start to test the waters and their reaction to it. I'll take whatever feedback and then do more, get more feedback and continue on like that. Once I get a sense that I'm on the right track, then I just go to town and pretty much knock it out. So it's a very collaborative process. In that way, I have a great relationship with the developers at Bioware on my current project, Jade Empire, with that method. It's just a great way to work.
M4G: From where did you draw inspiration for your Myst IV compositions?
Jack Wall: I was interested in new sounds for Myst IV and didn't want to copy anyone, including much of my work on Myst III. I hired some great multi-instrumentalists such as Judd Miller who plays the EVI (electronic valve instrument). Judd would come over and I would have some melodies written out for him to play. Now Judd is really a musical instrument designer, so most people have never heard the instruments he plays. We would just experiment until we found a sound that had the right tonality and mystery to it for the piece he would be playing. Then, he'd say, "hey, let me try this other sound underneath." And it went on like that. Then there was Susan Rawcliffe who basically makes her own clay wind instruments. Wow, just some great stuff there. I hired 3 different percussionists - all of whom have collected some really crazy gadgets. The sounds are just amazing. It was all very creative. I enjoyed immense freedom on this score. It seemed the more creative I got, the more the team loved it! It just turned out to be a great formula for Myst IV. But every game is different that way.
M4G: Since the Myst games are fairly static (visually speaking)-and Myst IV being the most dynamic of them all, how much music were you required to compose for the latest installment in the series? The process of composing for scenes that you cannot see until much later must be difficult...
Jack Wall: Initially the music design called for 69 minutes, but it ended up being 104! With a massive production effort taking so much time to complete, in retrospect, it's easy to see how that can happen. Also, if I knew at the beginning that I had 104 minutes of music to do for the game, you may have found me over in a dark corner of my studio curled up in a ball sucking my thumb for a few weeks. It's just daunting at first, but you take baby steps, and over time you get into it and before long you're really cookin'. We have so much time to do these scores in games that I tend to go in short spurts. I'll get 30 minutes done in a matter of a week or 2, but the whole score production might go on for a year or more.
M4G: Is there a specific aural mélange of ethnicities that you tried to create when composing for the Myst IV environment?
Jack Wall: Yes, I went for an Eastern European tonal center. Of course, that was just a thought and the entire score crosses over into African, electronic and past elements of the Myst universe.
M4G: In what language is the choir singing in the Myst IV track entitled, Haven Song?
Jack Wall: The actual title of that song is "Welcome." It's in Polish. I just liked the sound of it and thought it fit the Myst series just fine. It sounded unfamiliar yet beautiful and exotic to my ear. I wrote the words in English and then when I got together with the band in Warsaw to record it, we spent a few hours translating it to Polish so it would work syllabically within the melody of the song. That was fun.
M4G: Did you use more synths or orchestral elements in the compositions for Myst IV?
Jack Wall: Mostly orchestral, but there were a lot of instrumentalists as well. Maybe about a third for each I'd say, but almost all of it was performed by real musicians.
M4G: Is there a particular game genre that you would be interesting in scoring for in the future?
Jack Wall: I'm interested in all genres of games that require original composition. I've done most of them and I think I'll just continue like that and gravitate toward the projects that interest me at a given time. I'm a little fickle that way. My tastes change and I like to chase a challenge!
M4G: Thanks for your time. M4G is looking forward to the album release of this score!
Jack Wall: Thanks - Should be out end of January, 05. Fingers crossed!
For more information visit:
www.jackwall.net