An Interview With Composer James Elsey

WRITTEN BY EMILY

Whether it be orchestral ambience, or the high-intensity beats of a final boss, our favourite games wouldn’t be the same without music. But what goes into creating the soundtracks we know and love? I interviewed James Elsey who, after four years of studying Creative Sound Design at The Academy of Contemporary Music, used his passion for music to become a composer for video games and more.

Hi James! Tell us a little bit about you!
Thanks so much for having me! I’m a Composer for Media, based in London. I tend to focus on Video Games and have been fortunate to work on a wide variety of projects, including Evil Dead: The Game, Beatstar, Chrome Valley Customs, and Beyond Hanwell. On top of that, I work with a number of different Production Music Libraries, Content Creators, Film Directors, and I’m also a Tutor at Thinkspace Education, on their Composing for Video Games and Media courses.

So, how did your musical journey start? As a child, did you always know that music in some form was the direction you wanted to go down?
At a young age my parents encouraged me to learn an instrument at school. I had a short and unsuccessful stint with the Violin, before moving over to the Clarinet and reaching Grade 3. I’m very grateful for the skills I learnt here such as the basics of reading music, but it wasn't until discovering Rock and Metal as a teenager that I truly discovered my passion for Music. I picked up the Guitar and Drums and from this point became completely obsessed; starting various bands and wanting to be an active contributor and songwriter across different projects.

You studied at The Academy of Contemporary Music - how was that experience? 
I actually started at ACM on the Drums Diploma/Higher Diploma Courses, with my intention to become a professional drummer. Whilst there I quickly broadened my musical horizons, discovering a love for a wide variety of genres including Electronic and Orchestral Music. I quickly started incorporating these elements into my Rock/Metal bands as a songwriter and found that my music had a cinematic quality. Before I knew it, I’d swapped over to the Creative Sound Design Degree and blown my student loan on my first Mac with Logic Pro to start composing and learning a new professional discipline. My 4 years at ACM were a real journey of musical discovery and vital in me figuring out how I was going to make a career out of Music. Then I was able to connect the dots and combine this with my love of Video Games

For those that may not know, what does your role as a composer actually involve? 
Most Composers working in Media are freelancers and that’s very much the case in Video Games. This means you need to be incredibly proactive in promoting yourself, meeting game developers to find work and even take care of your own finances and the admin side. There’s no one, typical week as a Composer; but I can usually expect to be working on my next deadline or milestone, on whatever project I’m working on from my home Studio. Plus I’ll be active on Linkedin/Social Media and looking at what local events I can attend, or even Conferences and Exhibitions on a national and international scale and keeping a scheduled Calendar through the year.

So, how does musical composition work for video games?
It can vary wildly from project to project and also depends on the stage of development you start working. Most of the time you are going to be selected as a Composer, because the Developer wants a style they know you can deliver. So you should already be on the same wavelength in terms of the genre and music required. The most important initial material is a game design document of some kind; outlining the themes, narrative, gameplay loop and mechanics. There may also be a strict script to follow, if the game is dialogue-heavy. I like to have a Music Design document which details all of the musical cues required with an idea of the length, purpose (combat, exploration etc) and file type (loop or a musical stinger). If the Developer doesn’t already have this, I’ll insist on arranging a meeting and “spotting session” to go through all the music required for the music budget we have agreed.
From here, when I start composing, I’ll hopefully have a combination of concept art, early in-game assets (character models, enemies, level environments),
or what's called a whitebox gameplay video - which is an early demonstration of the structure of a level consisting of basic geometrical shapes before they are replaced by the final assets. Sometimes I might have to compose with no video footage at all and really have to imagine the scene I’m composing for!

Music can really make or break the feel of a scene. Let’s say we need to compose a piece that gives an intense/unnerving feel. How would you begin to compose a piece like this?
I’ve built a bit of a niche now as a Horror Composer, so my music often has a feeling of unease and musical intensity. The great thing about horror music is you are allowed to break all of the rules! All of the things that give music structure such as the musical harmony and key, or the time signature can be messed with to convey the opposite of what typically sounds safe to a listener. If I’m using a particular instrument, I might consider how that instrument can be performed in a non-conventional way that feels unsafe or unusual to our expectations. On a recent project; I took my 8-string guitar and bowed the lowest String with a violin bow to give a creepy distorted, scraping, textured sound. It’s a lot of fun to figure out all these little techniques that are going to scare the player and really immerse them into the world of a game.

You’ve composed for a lot of different areas - from videos, to short films, and even adverts! Is there a different approach you have to take to each media form?
Video Games are an especially unique medium given their interactive nature requires an adaptive music score that can react to different situations and needs to try and avoid repetition to keep things interesting. This means the music is almost like pieces of a puzzle that can be combined together in different ways to hit all of the emotional beats and support the different gameplay mechanics. Composing for a film or advert is always a linear approach and that means composing with a close to finished film of some kind to follow. As mentioned sometimes in Games you might be working purely from imagination, so the approach certainly does differ across different disciplines.

You’ve done a few pieces of work now with Gameumentary - including the Spiritfarer documentary. What is the process for composing music for documentaries?
When starting a documentary project, I always start with the theme for the opening credits. I really want this piece to capture the magic of the score for the franchise or game in discussion. That can be a lot of pressure when dealing with some of these amazing titles with equally amazing scores. In the case of Spiritfarer I knew it had to be an orchestral-focused sound with lots of woodwinds, but I also incorporated some acoustic guitar. Spiritfarer is a beautiful game filled with magic and wonder, but it’s also got a very heartfelt and strong emotional message about death and dealing with loss. I tried to make the melody feel enchanting and empowering, whilst hinting at those tougher themes. The rest of the score has to support almost constant dialogue, so you have to ensure the music doesn’t distract and find those little spaces where it can take the lead in between.

For you, what is it about composing for games that you enjoy/find most rewarding? 
I think it’s a combination of being able to combine two of my biggest passions in Music and Video Games, with the challenge that comes from making a good interactive Score. There’s nothing better than seeing a really effective use of adaptive music to immerse a player into the world of a game; whether you are trying to scare them with a jump scare musical stinger or have the music soar into the next phase of a climactic boss battle. Figuring out how to effectively put together all those chunks of music and puzzle pieces into a final score is really rewarding.

For any budding composers out there, are there any pieces of software/hardware you’d recommend to those who want to have a go?
Once you’ve got all the basics covered (a computer, headphones/monitors and a digital audio workstation or DAW such as Logic), you’ll need to start expanding your sound palette of instruments and sounds. I started with Logic’s stock instruments to develop my skills, and quickly found I needed more professional sounds. Komplete by Native Instruments is a great starting point to give you access to a range of orchestral, acoustic and synthesised instruments. There’s even subscription services these days that didn’t exist when I started, which give you access to companies' entire sound libraries for a monthly fee. Once you are heading towards a professional career it’s really all about finding unique sounds that help you develop your own niche and style. Be that virtual software instruments, or physical hardware and instruments you can record.

In a time where music is no longer as accessible in schools or otherwise, what would you say to those who want to get into music - in some form - but can’t find a way?
It’s a tough one because music as a hobby always requires some kind of financial investment; the cost of an instrument, music lessons, or higher education, which can be hard for parents in the current financial climate. The benefits of the digital world we live in means music is incredibly accessible online. Spotify and streaming platforms allow music to be more discoverable than ever, so you can always be looking for and listening to new artists and composers for inspiration. Similarly there’s all kinds of free tutorials and educational material available on YouTube and other sites to develop your musical skills when you have an instrument. The Game Audio community is also incredibly open and willing to nurture new talent looking for a way in. I do my best to answer all emails I receive, or meet with people at events who reach out before. I’d always recommend contacting people and making connections. If your email is polite and personalised (don’t copy/paste the same message to hundreds of people), the majority of professionals will make the effort to respond when they find the time.