We’re BACK!
Sep 3rd
As you can see, I have followed the advice of the good citizens of CS and gone with WordPress. A bit clunky in speed, but so much easier in features. Having said that, currently all the images in the old posts are still on Typepad’s server, so I’ll need to relink them, which might cause some strangeness (you’ll notice if you scroll down already that Earthscape’s cover is blown to hell in terms of size).
But, overall the process was painless thanks in no small part to the great Jeanette Brandon. She’s a killer web designer btw, so watch for her company site when it goes live. I’ll post it here of course.
Funky Rustic and the album still progress well, but a layoff at Heatwave has definitely caused a bit of a setback as well as a surge forward in efforts, as paradoxical as that sounds. So if you hear anything on the grapevine for gigs, definitely keep us in mind!
Finally, I’ve had the great chance to interview Damon Slye, the mastermind (with Paul Bowman and Jeff Tunnell) behind many of my favorite classic PC games. Check out the interview here on Gamaustra:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30137/Interview_Slye_And_The_Dynamix_of_Game_Development.php
Funky Rustic Launch
Jul 27th
Welcome to a new era. I have decided to go freelance and grass-roots start a production company while my engineering studies progress.
While this is definitely scary it is also exciting. If you have any projects you would like to collaborate on please contact me. This company does everything from VO, music, sfx and integration on games, as well as branding for marketing and consultation for acoustic construction.
Spread the word!
Time for change
Jul 9th
The time has come, my friends. I decided to change CS's layout a bit and as you can see I have managed to use another template. Unfortunately since we only pay a measly $90 a year I can't eliminate the title over the actual title banner. I need custom CSS functionality for that.
What say you, friends? Should I switch to WordPress.com?
Hello, stranger
Jul 2nd
Ahhh. PixelJoint, you never let us down. But something more fitting comes next. Happy 4th of July weekend to all my pals in the USA. Heatwave's business development manager, Shawn Ullman, said today at a meeting: "I'm not sure if you're aware, but we celebrate America down here in Texas."
The title is what I feel my readership should be saying as they read this. I know, it's been ages. And ages in a few months can mean lifetimes in terms of change. And quite a bit has changed indeed.
I'm going to adopt a trifle more serious tone and discuss a few things that I feel affect just about everyone these days. I think the most important one is…
New single released, “The Craftsman”
Apr 11th
For those of you that enjoyed the Unreal, Unreal Tournament or DX soundtracks, check out this new single!
Mar 31st
Check out the Earthscape Limited Edition CD. Only 50 copies available and they’re going fast!
http://www.alexanderbrandon.net/store.html
Game Music Websites
Feb 6th
Greetings, fans of game music.
When I started using a variety of handheld audio cassette recorders to tape arcade, PC and NES game music in the late 80s (see the post on Heroes: Jason Emery for just why I did this), little did I know just how much of an explosion and growth would take place in game soundtracks, let alone my own involvement with them.
These days, over 20 years later, there's some cool resources for game music fans.
First, there's Original Sound Version, started by a friend of mine Jayson Napolitano and his cohorts.
In true "back in my day" talk, I could follow game soundtracks overseas easily enough because you just couldn't get imports then, and the few games that came from Japan for the PC were mostly PC speaker related such as "Ancient Land of Ys", which most people associate with the simpler name "Ys". Sierra brought over a few good ones too such as Sorcerian (with music converted by Rob Atesalp, already interviewed on CS) and Thexder / Firehawk, who I believe encountered a brief revival of late.
OSV is what I like to read to keep up with the what seems like 8 soundtracks a day that get released based on overseas original and licensed scores.
They recently had a "year's best soundtrack" review, which contains good picks from across the map.
Next, check out Michael Schiano's site "Skitch Studios". The guy is, along with Jake Kaufman, a master of 8 bit sounding scores, though I don't think he's actually done one yet outside his personal tunes. He should though.
Finally, try NESGuide. This is a site that, if you've always at least wanted to see what the games were like that you missed on the NES (and frankly, you weren't missing much outside of the top 20-30 games anyway), there's a gameplay video. Music of course is prominently featured.
At some point as I've mentioned I need to figure out how to make my own personal collection of VGM available here, but in the meantime here's some chum for the sharks:
This piece, from the Amiga game was in fact NOT done by Rob Hubbard, but by David Hanlon, and is in fact one of the first examples of ambient soundtracks in those days. Absolutely brilliant.
Earthscape Released!
Feb 5th
At long last, Earthscape is a reality. Thanks to Daniel Cook for the art and Andrew Sega for the collaboration on the final track "Square Mile."
Check out the tunes here.
This took awhile to put together and I'm thoroughly happy with the results. I hope you will be also!
Platinum Life: Web Edition
Dec 21st
Greetings all,
Finally, what I've been working on at Heatwave can be revealed. Platinum Life: Web Edition and iSamJackson.
As we all know gaming continues to evolve. The most expansive growth of late has been social gaming. Zynga, at the top of the social gaming developer ladder, has garnered over forty million users for its game Mafia Wars. We simply plan to blow that game away. No sound in Mafia Wars, but plenty in this game. A hip hop themed game where you go from the streets to fame and fortune.
Also, I had the pleasure of directing Samuel L. Jackson for an iPhone themed soundboard called "ISamJackson".
Play 'em both, they'll be out soon!
