We were recently able to sit down with Matt Uelmen, a composer for the upcoming
game Torchlight, to talk about his
influences and how Torchlight has taken shape with music. We've also released
three exclusive screenshots of the game, coming later this year, that show some
of the dark caverns and areas that the game's known for!
Here's a look the
Matt Uelmen Interview about Composing fo Torchlight:
1. Tell us about your musical background – how long have you been a musician,
what instruments did you play, and what led you to composing?
One of my siblings was taking piano
lessons in the house more or less from birth, I started around 5 or 6. I picked
up the guitar at 13. I've always enjoyed studying music.
2. Music and games: were you
always a gamer? When did you know that composing for video games was the perfect
job for you?
I loved the coin-op classics from the
golden age like asteroids, pac-man, elevator action, dig-dug, pole position
etc. I also enjoyed many apple II games and was lucky enough to have a neighbor
with most of the atari 2600 library. I think I finally felt like I really
belonged in the business when I wrote the track which became the opening
interior in "Diablo" sometime in spring 1996.
3. What was your first gig like
composing for games? Tell us how that initial experience went, and what you
learned from it.
My first experience working on games
was working on a Sega Genesis title - "Justice League: Task Force" - with most
of the core team that would make "Diablo" a year later. It was a tremendous
experience in many ways - we built a team, cultivated a great relationship with
Blizzard (which was working on the SNES version of the title), and, personally,
I took a regular beating from the producer, which was very good for toughening
me up at 22.
4. Who are your biggest influences
or idols in the music world?
I'm using some Scriabin in the current
tracks for the game and when I have the luxury of putting more time into a
track, I like to try to explore the area between tonal and atonal approaches.
In my high school years, I would probably name something like the second disc of
Prince's 1999 as being in the 'idol' category. The way he could spin so many
variations on the same chord and do it on seven different instruments was and is
amazing.
5. What came first, the score or
the story? How does the game you’re working on affect the music you write, or
vice versa?
The pacing and context of the gameplay
itself is almost all of what inspires the score.
6. What is special about
Torchlight to you, from a composer’s perspective, and how has that influenced
the music?
Well, it is hard to think of that in
the past tense, since I still need to write the first interior and town music!
Torchlight has had fun, tight gameplay since last winter, when it was just the
Destroyer, skeletons and maybe 3 other monster types. That enough makes it
special - there should be plenty of games for the PC which are easily
accessible, with intuitive controls and fast action, not buggy and really more
about the gameplay than an overblown cinematic or movie tie-in. Oddly enough,
despite something like a half billion PCs or more potentially being on the
planet in coming years, there aren't.
7. What games are you playing at
the moment that you love? And similarly, what are you listening to lately that
you’d recommend?
I really enjoyed the new Total War
game, and finished a few single player campaigns. Because my work usually
involves audio, I actually don't get a chance to listen to too much of it as a
recreational thing. Like many other people, I just try to sneak in youtube
tracks which I like in between work. So many legendary live performances are up
there, and you could spend months catching up.
