Composer Q&A! Meet Muchkin and Sean, CDA's musical masters...
Happy Thursday, detectives!
How is everyone doing? We hope you're all safe and well and happy. ❤
2021 seems to be going by very fast already, doesn't it? While the quicker the months fly by, the quicker we get to see you all having a (hopefully) joyous ol' time with Chinatown Detective Agency, we can't help but feel the need to ask the universe to calm down just a little bit. After all, we have a game to make!
Now, we've spoken A LOT about the art direction, characters, and the real-world research mechanics over the past year, but one thing you may not have heard too much about is our incredible soundtrack from our favourite composers Dmitrii Muchkin and Sean Kolton (Sean creates the more contemplative and ambient tracks used during gameplay, while Muchkin is working on the upbeat and dynamic tracks that you'll hear in the main menu and transition scenes). Today we aim to remedy that with a long chat with both musical maestro's about their previous work, their inspirations, and how they started on the musical path. Enjoy!
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[h3]Tell us a bit about yourself and some of the projects you’ve worked on?[/h3]
Muchkin: I’m Muchkin, I’ve been making electronic music for about 10 years, but started creating soundtracks for games only about a year ago. Before that I was a game journalist, but then realised I don’t want to write texts anymore, I want to make a living creating music.
Honestly, Chinatown Detective Agency is the most ambitious project I’ve worked on so far. All of my other commissions were considerably smaller. For example, a tiny hacker simulator Decker, a VR shooter Pirates of the Asteroid Belt, a space western shmup Outstation (currently put on ice by the dev) and a cute “spaceship crawler” Goldspace (not released yet).
Sean: I’m a composer and sound designer who lives on the west coast of BC Canada. Music has been a part of my life since I was a child when I first picked up the guitar. I’ve been working professionally in the game industry for over 18 years. Some recent games I have worked on are Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries and Mechwarrior Online. You can find more about me at www.seankolton.com.
[h3]How did you first get into music composition?[/h3]
Muchkin: The story is simple: I’ve heard Prodigy — Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix) somewhere around 2008, was blown away by the sheer energy, got into drum and bass dancing, soon realised I wanted to make music just like that.
In about 2009 I downloaded FL Studio, started pushing buttons to see what they do. Several years later it got me to where I am today: a freelance composer and music producer, desperately trying to earn my living by making tracks.
Sean: Initially, I was studying to become a session musician, and as I pursued that I realized I wanted to create music instead of playing someone else’s. Around the same time, I had an epiphany that maybe I should combine my love of games with my love of music! So, from that moment forward I dedicated my life to pursuing those passions. Along the way I have also worked on many titles doing sound design as well.
[h3]What/who is the primary influence for your work on Chinatown Detective Agency?[/h3]
Sean: NIN Ghosts and the Lost Highway Soundtrack.
Muchkin: I know you’re probably asking about musical influences, but really it’s Mark and Ricardo first. Mark creates very detailed briefs for each track he needs. With multiple references and an extensive description: what feeling should the music create, which instruments he would like to include.
And Ricardo’s art helps with quality control. When working on a track, I would often play it while looking at his backgrounds to see if I’m still on point with the vibe and feeling of the game.
Musical influences are basically determined by Mark. It’s mostly Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor, but I guess some Vangelis is in there too since the Blade Runner OST is what comes to mind when I think “cyberpunk music”. And maybe a little bit of Noisia and Feed Me just because I love them so much and they’re always in my heart.
[h3]Can you share with us a few tracks you’ve composed for the game?[/h3]
Muchkin: The first one, Damaged Jukebox, you can hear in the Kickstarter trailer: it’s what I perceive as a hip-hop beat in a cyberpunk setting. The second one, which I called Tidal Wave, is a slow emotional piece that is supposed to create a feeling of redemption and drama. And the third one, The Process, should illustrate the thinking process of a detective. You can hear it in the opening cinematic of the demo.
In the official OST these tracks have different names, and they may have different functions in the game as the development progresses. But that’s just how game development works: you can never know everything upfront.
Sean: Sure, I have posted them at the top of my samples page: http://www.seankolton.com/samples
I also created the music for the game's original reveal trailer:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]What is your process for starting a brand new composition for the game?[/h3]
Muchkin: The first and the most important step is to carefully read the brief and listen to the references. As I said, Mark creates very detailed documents, and it helps a lot.
Then I try to imagine what the track should sound like. This part is tricky: sometimes full melodies with different instruments would pop up in my head, other times I barely get one phrase with one instrument. But even that can be enough to start.
After I replicate what I just heard in my mind, I begin putting it in context: adding synths, SFX, drums. When I get the track to 20 seconds or so I send it to Mark as a proof of concept. Depending on what he says, I continue working on it further or change some things.
Sean: For CDA I had a good starting point as the team knew what they wanted and had many references to share. Generally, songs will start from either a simple melodic line or a sound patch that captures the right vibe. Once I have one of those two or both, the process tends to move pretty quick and I will compose a ton of bits and ideas. When things are really clicking the song is mapped out in my head and its just a matter of translating that to my keyboard.
[h3]How much direction do you get from the development team when creating new compositions?[/h3]
Muchkin: Not much, apart from the initial briefs. I would send demo versions of the track to Mark once in a couple days while I’m working on it. He gives feedback, of course, but mostly about the structure of the composition, because he has ideas about where and when it’s going to play.
Rarely he wants some instruments or small parts of the melodies changed. I don’t remember him ever asking to correct the vibe, which is great, because it means I get it. Creating the right atmosphere is the most important part in cyberpunk music, I think.
Sean: I had a lot of good direction. Mark had a clear vision on what kind of music he wanted me to compose from the onset, so it made my job very easy. The team had created a playlist of reference tracks for me to preview.
[h3]What is your favourite cyberpunk-style composition?[/h3]
Muchkin: It has to be Noisia — Collider. Just because of the sound design, energy and relentlessness. Close runner-up is Figures of Eighty — Diamonds & Tigers. So heavy and atmospheric.
[h3]What attracted you to the Chinatown Detective Agency project?[/h3]
Muchkin: I love cyberpunk, I love detective stories, and I’ve always wanted to write music for an adventure game. It’s basically a dream project.
Sean: A few things. First the enthusiasm for the project and how important the soundtrack was to the game. Next was the art direction. I loved the aesthetics of the game and when I was sent some screenshots I immediately could get into the feel of the world. Lastly, when Mark mentioned Carmen Sandiego that really clicked with me on a personal level. I had watched the original cartoon series back in the day and just around the time I starting working on the music for CDA, my kids had been watching those originals. So, I was very familiar with the concept of the cartoon series!
[h3]What’s your favourite video game (aside from Chinatown Detective Agency)?[/h3]
Muchkin: Wow that’s a tough one. I am mostly into FPS, open-world RPGs and immersive sims. I’d call Half-Life 2 my favourite, but Dishonored and The Elder Scrolls series would be close too.
Sean: That is a tough one to narrow down! I have to give a few. One of my favourite games of all time is the original XCOM from the mid-90s. Also, from that era the original Unreal and Half Life are big titles for me. I love RPG games like the Diablo series, Dungeon Siege and Grim Dawn. Others would be: Fallout series, Limbo, Dark Souls, Doom 2016 reboot and the Wolfenstein reboot.
[h3]What are the tools, physical and software, that you use for composing and recording?[/h3]
Muchkin: FL Studio and a small Korg MIDI keyboard. Plus a bunch of VST plugins, of course.
Sean: I use a Windows 10 based system with an AVID HD Omni interface. The music for CDA was originally composed and mixed in Pro Tools, however since then I have moved on to Studio One Pro for all my composition and mixing work. I still use Pro Tools for some sound design tasks.
Some of my favourite soft synths are: Spitfire Phobos, The Roland VST Collection, Sonic Academy’s ANA, Omnisphere. UVI vintage collection and U-he Zebra.
For orchestral samples: Spitfire Audio collections.
For mixing plugins: Acustica Audio, Fabfilter, Brainworx, Liquidsonics, Eventide and Sound Toys.
I also use a Kemper profiling amp to record my guitars and basses.
[h3]How different is it to compose music for a video game versus other mediums (movies, traditional music for listening, etc.)?[/h3]
Muchkin: I haven’t personally made music for movies, but I know that in that medium you often have to time things perfectly with the footage. I imagine it’s a hard thing to do: not only you have to create a musical composition that sounds good and helps the story and visuals, but you also have to make it so it builds up to certain points in time.
Games are mostly not a fixed experience, so you don’t have to time things that much. Although sometimes the tracks have to loop into themselves, and that presents structural challenges too. Music should have variety. In “regular” music to create variety you can use the same instruments, say, in the beginning of the track and in the end, because by the time the listener gets to the end, they’ve probably forgotten what was at the start. But the looping track should play over and over again and still sound fresh. So you have to create new melodies and change instruments way more often.
The other difference is this. When I’m not making soundtracks, I make dance music. In that medium, the track is the experience itself, so it has to be engaging, bright and fun all the way through. But when creating music for a game, music should be adding to the experience. It shouldn’t be drawing attention too much, because it can distract the player from things like plot, graphics, animations or whatever else.
Of course, there are exceptions. For example, in Doom (2016) or Doom Eternal soundtrack has to be very violent and engaging, because the game demands it. Also, in rhythm games like Beat Saber music is the central part of the experience, so it should be upbeat and loud all the time.
Sean: I could write an essay on this, especially when you get into the topic of dynamic interactive music and those systems. Luckily for the readers of this I do not have time 😊. When you score to picture you generally are locked into the scene you are working on. Meaning it could be a 30 sec scene that needs the music to work within the constraints of the length of scene as well as highlighting certain parts or story arcs. That specific piece of music will play once for the most part and move on. It’s a focused event.
Games however have the players spending hours playing some levels over and over. Therefore, the music will be listened to numerous times. The music hopefully will sustain this level of repeatability so the player does not hit mute. Obviously, its not this black and white with the differences, but this kind of outlines potentially different approaches. In the end its all about capturing the right vibe for the project you are working on.
[h3]What kind of equipment do you recommend to consumers for better appreciation of audio in games and in general?[/h3]
Muchkin: Generally, I’d recommend a nice pair of headphones. For an average consumer, something like Razer Kraken X should suffice. If you have some good in-ear headphones, they would work too, but try not to use them for more than couple hours at a time: they’re dangerous for your hearing.
Basically, if you’re not planning to work with audio much, get either a pair of over-ear headphones over 40$ or a 2.1 audio system for about 100$ or more. Look for the ones with good reviews.
Sean: A really good pair of headphones!
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If you fancy checking out some of Sean and Muchkin's work on the Chinatown Detective Agency soundtrack, then head on over to Soundcloud and have a listen:
https://soundcloud.com/genintco/sets/chinatown-detective-agency
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Thank you so much for joining us once again to meet the team!
Now, if you want to check out the game that inspires the music, you can! Chinatown Detective Agency: Day One is the FREE, lengthy prologue to the main game, and gives you a healthy slice of detective, point-and-click action, so please do give it a go using the link below:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1401920/Chinatown_Detective_Agency_Day_One/
If you have any more questions for the team, or just want to chat with the loveliest community, please join us on Discord! https://discord.gg/pBfRbGJ
To stay up-to-date on everything Chinatown Detective Agency, please do follow General Interactive on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/genintco
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Traditional shophouses in Tanjong Pagar, part of Singapore's central business district
Hong Kong of the (not-too-distant) future.
A night view of the Kallang area of central Singapore. The National Stadium takes centre stage in the foreground.
