Mirror’s Edge Composer Magnus Birgersson (aka Solar Fields)

Mirror’s Edge is a revolutionary new take on the First Person Action Adventure category. The game delivers players straight into the shoes of Faith, a modern day heroine who traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles. With a never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, players are drawn into Faith’s dangerous world. Mirror’s Edge is developed by EA Digital Illusions (DICE) in Stockholm, Sweden.

EA recently announced the Mirror’s Edge Remix Album featuring the main theme music written and produced by Rami Yacoub and Arnthor Birgisson and performed by Lisa Miskovsky, along with several remixes by the likes of Junkie XL, Paul Van Dyk and Armand Van Helden. However M4G readers will also be interested to learn the in-game score – incorporating the theme – was composed by Magnus Birgersson aka "Solar Fields."

Sweden based electronic music composer Magnus Birgersson launched his Solar Fields artist project in 2001 with the album Reflective Frequencies. A natural born multi-instrumentalist with a passion for sound processing machines, Magnus has built a unique sound universe, with a constant shifting from high tech ambient flow into broken beats, powerful sequences, and fragmented loops. Poles apart from current trends in the genre; he explores the wide possibilities of ambient, atmospheric, deep, ecstatic, industrial yet organic, cultivating contrasts and subtlety. In addition to 6 commercially released albums, including the critically acclaimed Leaving Home and Extended. Magnus has also collaborated with several art galleries and museums on music and sound art installations.
 
M4G caught up with the composer Magnus Birgersson to find out how he got involved with Mirror’s Edge, the musical sounds we can expect to hear in-game and regarding his experience scoring his first video game.

Solar Fields performing in Moscow, Russia

M4G: First of all, please tell us about your music background and your musical career to date?
Magnus Birgersson: I have been composing electronic music since the mid 80’s. In the late 90’s I started Solar Fields and have been quite busy with that, including production of 5 albums and playing live shows around the world. My sixth Solar Fields album, Movements, is almost finished; it will be released later this year on Ultimae-Records.

M4G: How and when did you get involved in writing music for Mirror’s Edge?
Magnus Birgersson: It was around 3 years ago I got a phone call from Magnus Walterstad, Audio Director for Mirror’s Edge, asking if I was Magnus Birgersson, the man behind Solar Fields. He sent some concept art, I still didn’t know what the game was about or anything and Magnus asked me to audiolize the concept art to see if I ‘heard’ the same things he did while looking at the images. He said it was a perfect match and after some months I got invited to the DICE office in Stockholm and I got a short briefing on the project. In September 2007 I started to work full time on the music for Mirror’s Edge.

M4G: What was the music brief for the game’s score? What was the most inspiration for you during the writing process?
Magnus Birgersson: The music should reflect the environment, the story, the gameplay and Faith's mood, 'typical' Solar Fields sounding material but adapted to the game. For me it was just to start to compose. Mirror’s Edge as a project and the opportunity to be a part of the creative process from the very start gave me a huge kick of inspiration. Another big inspiration was trying to find a new theme that would fit each level and also work with the story.

M4G: What kinds of materials were you provided? Did you get to play the game?
Magnus Birgersson: I got the complete manuscript, concept art and play through videos. DICE provided me with a lot of detailed information about each level, the characters and the story. Since I wrote the music in my studio in Gothenburg I had to travel to Stockholm a couple of times to see how everything was coming together and make sure the music and the game worked as well as possible together. I’ve seen Mirror’s Edge in action from the very early stages up to the final version.

M4G: How much interaction did you have with the development team at DICE?
Magnus Birgersson: Me and Magnus were in touch almost every day during the music production and on my visits to DICE in Stockholm I met the level designers and we played through the levels and we talked about how the music should feel, we were testing the music with the game, trying out each level to feel if we should trigger calmer music, more intense music, or maybe complete silence.

M4G: Is this your first video game score? How did the process compare to working on other projects?
Magnus Birgersson: Yes, this is my first one, so I don’t have any other game production to compare it with. If I compare to writing music for my own albums it’s like night and day. I had to rethink my way of composing since I didn’t have the same linear structure to rely on compared to when I am composing for Solar Fields.

M4G: What kinds of music styles can we expect to hear in the game? Is it mostly ambient and electronica music?
Magnus Birgersson: It will be a broad mixture of electronic music, from beat-less ambiences to harder beats, and melodic passages, I think I cover a big spectrum music wise.

M4G: How much music did you write for the game and how long did the process take? Did you write different themes for the various locations?
Magnus Birgersson: I wrote around 150 minutes of music in total. The main scoring took 4-5 months, after that some polishing and edits to align with changes in the game. Each level has its own theme and feeling that reflects the mood of Faith and the gameplay.

M4G: Mirror’s Edge is a visually stunning next generation game. How much experimentation and creative freedom were you allowed musically? Did you get to add your own identity to the music?
Magnus Birgersson: I got 100 % creative freedom to do what I wanted, I’m very happy to say. Of course there was a structure I had to follow; like that we had different categories for each level, ambiences/puzzle/chases/combats. Other than that I had total freedom, I think I got that chance to add a lot of identity to the score.

M4G: How much collaboration was there between you and the various artists involved in producing the theme song and remixes?
Magnus Birgersson:  From Rami Yacoub, Arnthor Birgisson and Lisa Miskovsky I got the audio stems from ‘Still Alive’, the theme for Mirror’s Edge, so I could make some different version of it that was used in the game. My theme remixes can also be heard in some Mirror’s Edge trailers that is out on the web.

M4G: What do you think is the most unique aspect of the music for Mirror’s Edge? What makes this score stand out from your previous work?
Magnus Birgersson:  I think it is the blend and mixtures of feelings in the score, from darker passages to bright lights and how everything is blended together in the game engine. Each level is like a music album by itself with its own sound character and story.

M4G: What were some of the challenges involved?
Magnus Birgersson:  The time for production, it was a lot of music that had to be created during a short period of time. How to capture the feeling of Faith and the story and reflect that in the music was quite challenging. Another challenge was to get the music to play seamlessly in the game and get the music to interact with the player. The idea for the music was that there should be no gaps while playing, which meant I had to compose all parts for each level so they worked together even if there was a tempo change or a different chord structures. Since there is so many different sounding parts on each level that reflect Faith’s mood is was a big effort to get it to work smoothly together. Our goal was that the player shouldn’t hear the changes between the different parts, rather feel the musical changes. The result is fantastic but it was quite tricky to get it to work as we wanted.

M4G: Will there be an official soundtrack album release for the in-game score?
Magnus Birgersson: Yes there will be an official soundtrack made from the in-game music, no release date is set at this time for the album release.

M4G: What other projects are you currently writing music for?
Magnus Birgersson: At the moment I am not working on any game-related projects. Just been finishing up my sixth Solar Fields album and it has been taking all my time. But I am ready to jump on to any project now so feel free to contact me.

Solar Fields: www.solarfields.com
"Still Alive" The Remixes: www.mirrorsedgemusic.com
Mirror's Edge: www.mirrorsedge.com.