Article about Video Game Music by Evoker
UGDB: When did you first start composing music and at what point did you decide that music will be what you wanted do for a living?
James Hannigan: If improvising at the piano or playing about with various instruments could be classed as composing, then I've been doing that for as long as I can remember. But I was in my teens when I first started to get the idea that I could possibly make a living out of music.
UGDB: Tell us how you’ve become the person you are today? Is it a manner of talent, or relationships with the right people, or is it just pure chance?
James Hannigan: Of course, I really hope talent and skill have something to do with working in any industry! But getting started probably involves a little bit of all the things you list. I’ve known talented people struggle and other less able composers flourish, so that suggests to me luck can play a part for some. Or perhaps some are better at marketing themselves than others. I think it’s human nature for people to work with those they've worked with before or simply get on with, so being amiable and reliable probably counts for a lot, as can being able to work to a brief, I imagine. But to answer the question, I suppose that the work you do is the culmination of everything you know, your thoughts, feelings and experiences in life, and how you put all these things to use!
UGDB: Can you guide us through the process of making a game soundtrack from start to finish?
James Hannigan: It varies considerably and can sometimes be quite haphazard because of the iterative and sometimes chaotic nature of development, and it depends how early on you get involved and who you are working with. Generally speaking though, you will probably meet producers and audio teams, talk about the game and its intentions, see some design documents and any other materials that are available at the time you get involved. These could take the form of storyboards for cut scenes, gameplay footage, concept art or simply the game as it currently stands. You then identify what the game needs stylistically and in terms of cues, in a way not unlike holding a spotting meeting for a film or television show. Then there are a few extra things to consider with games, such as the differences between formats and what that means for the delivery of music, and also the music system in place. Then you draw up a schedule, go away and start the process of composing and delivering music, which is gradually ‘implemented’ in the game as it evolves. If the music has a live dimension, such as recording an orchestra, at some point that recording will take place and you will substitute final versions for any mock-ups currently in use.
UGDB: Do you have a special formula to score a soundtrack? How much time do you need to score the soundtrack for a given title [Command and Conquer 4 to take a recent example]?
James Hannigan: I don’t have an overall formula because I like to do things differently when I can, and methods are always changing, especially as new technology emerges. But other people often have a formula they like composers to adopt, in the sense that they ask composers to get involved because they like a specific thing they do. So you find yourself adopting whatever method makes sense for a given project. Although, I suppose it’s true that when you are, say, working solely within orchestral parameters, there is a fairly accepted and efficient way of going about that, and you could call that a kind of formula. Things get a little more interesting, production-wise, when you have to create quirkier music or something more sound-based or electro-acoustic in essence. Or when, for instance, you need to blend so-called synth elements and textures with acoustic music.
The example you mention - Command and Conquer 4 - was I think interesting because it was quite diverse as a score, and there was the opportunity to adopt a conventional orchestral sound for some tracks but to be a bit more adventurous and quirky with others. That was true also of Red Alert 3, I feel.
UGDB: Where do you get your inspiration to do a given soundtrack? Do you have any lucky charms or strange voodoo magic that help you in the recording studio?
James Hannigan: I try to steer clear of voodoo , if I can help it! I try to get fired up about the subject matter first, as I find nothing helps more than actually wanting to create music for something rather than seeing it as a chore.
UGDB: Can you point out the most difficult to score soundtrack that you have done? What were the exact problems with it and how did you managed to resolve them?
James Hannigan: I think Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was difficult because when I started working on it I hadn’t really proven all that much that I could create a suitably magical, fantasy-based score of that kind. But you get the greatest satisfaction in life when you take on these challenges and you hope the process will develop you in some way.
UGDB: Have you ever declined an offer to score the music for a project? What was the weirdest offer you got?
James Hannigan: Just last year I had two enormous titles practically fall into my lap but I couldn’t do them as I was otherwise committed! That really is the most frustrating feeling for a composer, because you feel you should never ever take offers like that for granted. I’m yet to receive any markedly weird offers, although there was one time when a TV producer asked me to meet him in a London tube station so that he could sing me his idea for a song about a canine cartoon character he had in development. Standing there with this person barking at me like a dog in public was pretty weird I have to say!
UGDB: Do you have a favorite game or movie music composer and is there an OST that has made a lasting impression on you for some reason?
James Hannigan: There really are too many composers and works to mention. An early memory I have is of Beethoven’s Emperor concerto, which I listened to over and over as a child. I particularly like Russian composers such as Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich, but essentially I like any interesting and engaging music, regardless of its intent, commercial or otherwise, including some pop and experimental electronic music. On the film music front, I can remember being amazed by Bernard Herrmann’s score for Psycho quite early on, and another moment sticking in my mind is hearing Jerry Goldsmith’s music in Logan’s Run. I must have been about ten at the time I saw it on TV, and I remember being dazzled by all the electronic textures and how these would seamlessly give way to something like a 5/4 orchestral action cue at the drop of a hat. It was very kinetic, and I think that since those days I’ve had a tendency to equate music with movement and images, making music by itself somehow not enough. Like a lot of people, I also loved Star Wars as a kid. A romantic orchestral score for what was otherwise a very high-tech film I think was a masterstroke, and although many science fiction and fantasy films have since become linked with that type of score, the connection then wasn’t really as obvious as it now seems.
UGDB: Is there a gaming franchise that you always wanted to score, but one way or another you haven’t got the chance to do it?
James Hannigan: There are loads. If I’m really honest, it can sometimes be a bit of a mystery how people get involved in projects, and as I hinted at earlier, I guess a lot of it has to do with existing working relationships as well as the content composers create. Especially in games, where composers are not always headhunted because of their status or as a result of what they’ve done before. There have been a number of times when I've looked at something and have felt an aching sense of what I could have done for it if I was involved, but I imagine that’s a widely felt feeling among composers! Right now though, I’d like to get involved in more sci-fi related projects, as that’s a genre I love and I think those projects give you the scope to push the boat out a little when it comes to experimenting with music and sound.
UGDB: What do you think about the score of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Part of it was done by the acclaimed movie composer Hans Zimmer. Do you think that a movie composer is able to say the same things that a game composer can say with his music in the game?
James Hannigan: I liked it, but wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary to have a film composer on board to ensure you get a good score, but clearly having someone like Hans Zimmer on board is exciting for a number of reasons. Apart from being a good composer, his involvement draws more attention to the medium and helps validate game music for those who are yet to be convinced that it even matters. But these days, many in games also work in television and film as well, so the lines are always blurring. Putting aside music itself for a moment, just having the name value of Hans Zimmer must be quite helpful for a project, but I don’t think this means that all film composers would automatically add this sort of value - far from it. There are probably only a handful of composers on the planet whose name alone can do that, so I think music itself is still the main consideration, along with a composer’s understanding of the medium and its possibilities.
UGDB: Can you share some inside info with us? What hardware do you use to compose music and what’s your favorite software to work with?
James Hannigan: I’ve long used Cubase, but I tend to see technology as a means to an end. I quite like the idea of obscuring the technique you use to create music as well, whenever that‘s possible. For example, if you use a sequencer you probably don’t set out to make music that sounds obviously ‘sequenced’, and I think there’s a bit of an art to doing that. Most successful film composers I think get this, but not all games composers do yet. I remember, when I was at EA, we got a lot of demo tapes and CDs that were very textbook in their approach to music, with categories like jazz, techno and classical listed on the liner notes. And very often, it was obvious which tracks started life in a computer or a sequencer. The last thing you want to be thinking about when you hear a piece of music is ’MIDI’, I feel!
On the audio front I like Nuendo, Vegas and Pro Tools, but try to use older bits of kit as well as all the new plug-ins, ranging from the likes of the Waldorf Microve to the Roland JD800, which the likes of, to this day, I just find very musical and hard to imitate. But working with musicians I think is often the best way to inject musicality into anything, because you’re importing a little bit of the person, their performance and character when you do so. If the future of music is mostly just sitting in front of a workstation moving a mouse around and tweaking plug-in parameters, you can count me out of it!
For notation, I can't think of anything beating Sibelius.
UGDB: What is your favorite genre of video games? What’s your platform of choice? What are you playing currently?
James Hannigan: I like many genres of game, but have a preference for action-adventure titles, such as those in the Resident Evil or Metal Gear Solid series.
UGDB: Do you enjoy playing the games that you have scored or is it just business and after the project is finished and you jump straight to the next one?
James Hannigan: I really wish I had more time to play games in general, along with watching new movies, TV shows and everything else. But I always seem to be too swamped! Every now and again, I will sit down and play through a game from start to finish.
UGDB: What was the most difficult period in your career? Do you remember a time when you wanted to quit this job?
James Hannigan: Yes, I’ve been there a few times. For instance, once upon a time I was working with two big studios on three huge projects when their respective publishers pulled the plug on them the same week and they each went out of business. I went from having three incredible projects on the go and a stable income to nothing at all for eight months. That wasn’t very pleasant, and at that time I did find myself asking why I was bothering doing this sort of work!
UGDB: We don’t expect any announcements, but what are the projects you are working on right now? We see an unannounced project with EA Bright Light Studios is listed on your website and we are sure there are many others. If you are not able to talk about them, please just give us some hints.
James Hannigan: I can’t say what that is, or even hint at it, unfortunately! But thank you for asking!
James Hannigan: If improvising at the piano or playing about with various instruments could be classed as composing, then I've been doing that for as long as I can remember. But I was in my teens when I first started to get the idea that I could possibly make a living out of music.
UGDB: Tell us how you’ve become the person you are today? Is it a manner of talent, or relationships with the right people, or is it just pure chance?
James Hannigan: Of course, I really hope talent and skill have something to do with working in any industry! But getting started probably involves a little bit of all the things you list. I’ve known talented people struggle and other less able composers flourish, so that suggests to me luck can play a part for some. Or perhaps some are better at marketing themselves than others. I think it’s human nature for people to work with those they've worked with before or simply get on with, so being amiable and reliable probably counts for a lot, as can being able to work to a brief, I imagine. But to answer the question, I suppose that the work you do is the culmination of everything you know, your thoughts, feelings and experiences in life, and how you put all these things to use!
UGDB: Can you guide us through the process of making a game soundtrack from start to finish?
James Hannigan: It varies considerably and can sometimes be quite haphazard because of the iterative and sometimes chaotic nature of development, and it depends how early on you get involved and who you are working with. Generally speaking though, you will probably meet producers and audio teams, talk about the game and its intentions, see some design documents and any other materials that are available at the time you get involved. These could take the form of storyboards for cut scenes, gameplay footage, concept art or simply the game as it currently stands. You then identify what the game needs stylistically and in terms of cues, in a way not unlike holding a spotting meeting for a film or television show. Then there are a few extra things to consider with games, such as the differences between formats and what that means for the delivery of music, and also the music system in place. Then you draw up a schedule, go away and start the process of composing and delivering music, which is gradually ‘implemented’ in the game as it evolves. If the music has a live dimension, such as recording an orchestra, at some point that recording will take place and you will substitute final versions for any mock-ups currently in use.
UGDB: Do you have a special formula to score a soundtrack? How much time do you need to score the soundtrack for a given title [Command and Conquer 4 to take a recent example]?
James Hannigan: I don’t have an overall formula because I like to do things differently when I can, and methods are always changing, especially as new technology emerges. But other people often have a formula they like composers to adopt, in the sense that they ask composers to get involved because they like a specific thing they do. So you find yourself adopting whatever method makes sense for a given project. Although, I suppose it’s true that when you are, say, working solely within orchestral parameters, there is a fairly accepted and efficient way of going about that, and you could call that a kind of formula. Things get a little more interesting, production-wise, when you have to create quirkier music or something more sound-based or electro-acoustic in essence. Or when, for instance, you need to blend so-called synth elements and textures with acoustic music.
The example you mention - Command and Conquer 4 - was I think interesting because it was quite diverse as a score, and there was the opportunity to adopt a conventional orchestral sound for some tracks but to be a bit more adventurous and quirky with others. That was true also of Red Alert 3, I feel.
UGDB: Where do you get your inspiration to do a given soundtrack? Do you have any lucky charms or strange voodoo magic that help you in the recording studio?
James Hannigan: I try to steer clear of voodoo , if I can help it! I try to get fired up about the subject matter first, as I find nothing helps more than actually wanting to create music for something rather than seeing it as a chore.
UGDB: Can you point out the most difficult to score soundtrack that you have done? What were the exact problems with it and how did you managed to resolve them?
James Hannigan: I think Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was difficult because when I started working on it I hadn’t really proven all that much that I could create a suitably magical, fantasy-based score of that kind. But you get the greatest satisfaction in life when you take on these challenges and you hope the process will develop you in some way.
UGDB: Have you ever declined an offer to score the music for a project? What was the weirdest offer you got?
James Hannigan: Just last year I had two enormous titles practically fall into my lap but I couldn’t do them as I was otherwise committed! That really is the most frustrating feeling for a composer, because you feel you should never ever take offers like that for granted. I’m yet to receive any markedly weird offers, although there was one time when a TV producer asked me to meet him in a London tube station so that he could sing me his idea for a song about a canine cartoon character he had in development. Standing there with this person barking at me like a dog in public was pretty weird I have to say!
UGDB: Do you have a favorite game or movie music composer and is there an OST that has made a lasting impression on you for some reason?
James Hannigan: There really are too many composers and works to mention. An early memory I have is of Beethoven’s Emperor concerto, which I listened to over and over as a child. I particularly like Russian composers such as Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich, but essentially I like any interesting and engaging music, regardless of its intent, commercial or otherwise, including some pop and experimental electronic music. On the film music front, I can remember being amazed by Bernard Herrmann’s score for Psycho quite early on, and another moment sticking in my mind is hearing Jerry Goldsmith’s music in Logan’s Run. I must have been about ten at the time I saw it on TV, and I remember being dazzled by all the electronic textures and how these would seamlessly give way to something like a 5/4 orchestral action cue at the drop of a hat. It was very kinetic, and I think that since those days I’ve had a tendency to equate music with movement and images, making music by itself somehow not enough. Like a lot of people, I also loved Star Wars as a kid. A romantic orchestral score for what was otherwise a very high-tech film I think was a masterstroke, and although many science fiction and fantasy films have since become linked with that type of score, the connection then wasn’t really as obvious as it now seems.
UGDB: Is there a gaming franchise that you always wanted to score, but one way or another you haven’t got the chance to do it?
James Hannigan: There are loads. If I’m really honest, it can sometimes be a bit of a mystery how people get involved in projects, and as I hinted at earlier, I guess a lot of it has to do with existing working relationships as well as the content composers create. Especially in games, where composers are not always headhunted because of their status or as a result of what they’ve done before. There have been a number of times when I've looked at something and have felt an aching sense of what I could have done for it if I was involved, but I imagine that’s a widely felt feeling among composers! Right now though, I’d like to get involved in more sci-fi related projects, as that’s a genre I love and I think those projects give you the scope to push the boat out a little when it comes to experimenting with music and sound.
UGDB: What do you think about the score of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Part of it was done by the acclaimed movie composer Hans Zimmer. Do you think that a movie composer is able to say the same things that a game composer can say with his music in the game?
James Hannigan: I liked it, but wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary to have a film composer on board to ensure you get a good score, but clearly having someone like Hans Zimmer on board is exciting for a number of reasons. Apart from being a good composer, his involvement draws more attention to the medium and helps validate game music for those who are yet to be convinced that it even matters. But these days, many in games also work in television and film as well, so the lines are always blurring. Putting aside music itself for a moment, just having the name value of Hans Zimmer must be quite helpful for a project, but I don’t think this means that all film composers would automatically add this sort of value - far from it. There are probably only a handful of composers on the planet whose name alone can do that, so I think music itself is still the main consideration, along with a composer’s understanding of the medium and its possibilities.
UGDB: Can you share some inside info with us? What hardware do you use to compose music and what’s your favorite software to work with?
James Hannigan: I’ve long used Cubase, but I tend to see technology as a means to an end. I quite like the idea of obscuring the technique you use to create music as well, whenever that‘s possible. For example, if you use a sequencer you probably don’t set out to make music that sounds obviously ‘sequenced’, and I think there’s a bit of an art to doing that. Most successful film composers I think get this, but not all games composers do yet. I remember, when I was at EA, we got a lot of demo tapes and CDs that were very textbook in their approach to music, with categories like jazz, techno and classical listed on the liner notes. And very often, it was obvious which tracks started life in a computer or a sequencer. The last thing you want to be thinking about when you hear a piece of music is ’MIDI’, I feel!
On the audio front I like Nuendo, Vegas and Pro Tools, but try to use older bits of kit as well as all the new plug-ins, ranging from the likes of the Waldorf Microve to the Roland JD800, which the likes of, to this day, I just find very musical and hard to imitate. But working with musicians I think is often the best way to inject musicality into anything, because you’re importing a little bit of the person, their performance and character when you do so. If the future of music is mostly just sitting in front of a workstation moving a mouse around and tweaking plug-in parameters, you can count me out of it!
For notation, I can't think of anything beating Sibelius.
UGDB: What is your favorite genre of video games? What’s your platform of choice? What are you playing currently?
James Hannigan: I like many genres of game, but have a preference for action-adventure titles, such as those in the Resident Evil or Metal Gear Solid series.
UGDB: Do you enjoy playing the games that you have scored or is it just business and after the project is finished and you jump straight to the next one?
James Hannigan: I really wish I had more time to play games in general, along with watching new movies, TV shows and everything else. But I always seem to be too swamped! Every now and again, I will sit down and play through a game from start to finish.
UGDB: What was the most difficult period in your career? Do you remember a time when you wanted to quit this job?
James Hannigan: Yes, I’ve been there a few times. For instance, once upon a time I was working with two big studios on three huge projects when their respective publishers pulled the plug on them the same week and they each went out of business. I went from having three incredible projects on the go and a stable income to nothing at all for eight months. That wasn’t very pleasant, and at that time I did find myself asking why I was bothering doing this sort of work!
UGDB: We don’t expect any announcements, but what are the projects you are working on right now? We see an unannounced project with EA Bright Light Studios is listed on your website and we are sure there are many others. If you are not able to talk about them, please just give us some hints.
James Hannigan: I can’t say what that is, or even hint at it, unfortunately! But thank you for asking!
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James Hannigan
Additional information
James Hannigan works in a variety of entertainment industries, with game credits including various EA Sports titles, entries in the Harry Potter, Warhammer, Command and Conquer, Lord of the Rings and Theme Park series', and has composed music for television shows such as Primeval. In-house at Electronic Arts in the mid-1990s, James later based himself at the Pinewood Studios complex in West London, accumulating numerous credits and gaining five BAFTA nominations for music - along with a win with EA for Theme Park World/Sim Theme Park in 2000. Today, James's music can be heard in many multi-million selling titles and among his many credits are: Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Red Alert 3, Art Academy (Nintendo), Sim Theme Park/Theme Park World, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, Freelancer, Republic: The Revolution, Evil Genius, Warhammer, Space Hulk, Grand Prix 4, Mr Bean, Lost In Space (New Line Cinema; Sound Design), FIFA Soccer and many others.
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