Neumann USM69i
Neumann U89i
Neumann U87AiSonar: Call of Duty: Black Ops
Being projected as one of the biggest selling pieces of media in history
is a pretty big deal, especially considering the state of the economy.
On November 9th 2010, Call of Duty: Black Ops was released and is being
labelled as just that; and SONAR X1 was the engine behind the scenes
for the score. Even more exciting for one man, Sean Murray
(Composer/Producer), is the fact that Activision has simultaneously released his soundtrack on a worldwide basis through an arm of Universal Music Distribution to coincide with the release of the game.
Sean Murray, who dove deep into his intellectual music vocabulary to
write the score to the game, is no stranger to professional music
composition. While most kids at the age of 8 years old are hanging out
with their imaginary friends, Sean was hanging out on the sets of some
of the most iconic movies ever made with his father Don Murray who has
co-starred with timeless talents such as Marilyn Monroe (Bus Stop
1956), Henry Fonda and Steve McQueen. It was in situations like this
that gave Sean the wisdom at an early age to realize exactly what he
wanted to do in life; compose and create music for media. By the ripe
old age of 16 years old he was getting on-the-job training by scoring
movies for Brooks Institute of Film, and by 1987 his early vision paid
off when he landed his first real job composing and scoring for the
film Scorpion.
Since then, Sean has continued his musical journey (in many different
genres) by scoring over 40 feature films, writing music for such
prominent TV shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and now putting
himself in a well-deserved world-class arena of video game composers
with his release of Call of Duty: Black Ops which was created
completely in SONAR X1. Previous to Black Ops and SONAR X1, Sean has
utilized SONAR and other cutting edge tools of Cakewalk to sculpt the
sonic beds for other video game releases such as True Crime L.A., True
Crime New York City, and the previous block buster Call of Duty; World
at War. "I have a seamless relationship with SONAR that truly enhances
my creative spirit" stated Sean on a recent phone interview. I look at
this DAW [Digital Audio Workstation] as more of a creation partner than a
software suite; one that I can rely on to help develop whats going on
in my head when Im writing for a large-scale project such as Call of
Duty.
Sean Murray is the type of guy you root for, a guy who has worked so
hard and accomplished so much, yet is still humanly grounded by an
old-school trait of civility that only comes from a careers-worth of
experience and detailed knowledge. He even speaks in a modest and
appreciative tone as if he was still on a set with his dad as an 8 year
old when he talks about recently witnessing a blasting rendition of his
music at the Activision E3 show in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. It was quite a surreal experience to work that hard on a project, and
then hear an orchestra playing my music back to me in front of thousands
in an arena of that size; not to mention sharing back stage with the
likes of Eminem, Rihanna and Usher, commented Sean about the event.
CAKEWALK Artist Relations: Can you quickly describe the technical process of how this score was facilitated?
Sean Murray: I record and orchestrate all of my music In SONAR.
That means all MIDI, synths and live instruments guitar, bass, solo
strings, live drums etc. When the cue is finished and mixed, I then
determine which instruments will be orchestrated for live orchestra.
Then the live orchestra is mixed back in with all of the other elements.
CAKEWALK AR: Where do you draw the energy to create music for
such a large scale project like Call of Duty: Black Ops? (And what I
mean by this is that the project is so large scale with different
elements of music ? how do you turn out so much music for a project like
this without it starting to sound the same?)
SM: Black Ops has so many varied landscapes and moods that it's
hard to stay static musically. I wrote three hours of material, with
only handful of recurring themes. The excitement and intensity of the
game play as well as the powerful performances from actors like Gary
Oldman and Ed Harris kept me motivated and driven.
CAKEWALK AR: Specifically what are a few SONAR-specific features that helped you create music for Black Ops?
SM: Track folders are essential for me when I am composing cues
with over a hundred audio and MIDI tracks. I group all of my different
orchestral sections, strings, brass, woodwinds, synth, percussion and
orchestral percussion separately into neat packages. Also, the clip
based effects are essential for my style. For example, I sometimes run
whole orchestral sections through the Z3TA+ synthesizer for amazing LFO
and filter effects.
CAKEWALK AR: What technical elements inspire you to write music for video games?
SM: My mission is to fulfil the vision of the director or
producer that I am working for. So given that, I view myself as a
musical actor. The director gives me a motivation while the imagery and
setting are my emotional guides. SONAR helps me do virtually everything
I can imagine.
The common threads of passion, knowledge and raw talent are inevitably
the driving forces that continue Sean Murray on his path of musical
excellence. We at Cakewalk are honoured and excited that he utilizes
Cakewalk and SONAR X1 to separate himself from the rest, and we wish him
and his family all the best and much continued success.
For more information contact Production Room on 0113 246 7985 or email info@production-room.com