Pax Prime 2012: Behind the Music of Blockbuster Video Games

PAX PRIME 2012: "BEHIND THE MUSIC OF BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO GAMES"

Featuring the award-winning composers of ASSASSIN'S CREED, BORDERLANDS, DEUS EX, DRAGON AGE, FALLOUT, HITMAN, MASS EFFECT, PRINCE OF PERSIA, SPLINTER CELL

Kraken Theatre, Seattle
Saturday, September 1st
10.30am - 11.30am

Ever wondered what it takes to score original music for AAA video games? Learn from four of the industry's most accomplished composers with diverse musical backgrounds as they share their experiences and discuss the craft of scoring music for some of the biggest franchises in interactive entertainment.

Featuring multiple award-winning composers Jesper Kyd (Darksiders II, Borderlands 2, Assassin's Creed I & II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood & Revelations, Hitman 1-4); Michael McCann (Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Splinter Cell: Double Agent); Inon Zur (Dragon Age I & II, Prince of Persia, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, RIFT); Sam Hulick (Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3).

Moderated by Emily Reese, Host & Producer of Minnesota Public Radio's "Top Score" podcast. Plus giveaways and a surprise guest!

The panel will be followed by a Meet & Greet / Signing session.

MORE INFORMATION

Interview with Composer Sam Hulick (Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad)

Composer Sam Hulick shares about his technological path to the world of video game music composition - from MASS EFFECT to RED ORCHESTRA 2 - HEROES OF STALINGRAD.

Interview conducted by Marius Masalar

MM - You grew up in something of an interesting environment. A custom-designed geodesic dome? Tell us a bit about how your younger years prepared you for your current path.

SAM HULICK - Yeah, my dad played in a lot of bands throughout his life and even produced an album, but he earned his living as a contractor doing construction. He designed and built the house where I spent about twelve years of my life. For a while, we had a normal living room, but eventually it was converted into a music studio complete with a mixing board, microphones, keyboards, guitars, the works (much to the disappointment of my mother who didn't get much peace and quiet). Definitely a music-centric household to say the least.

I started off in my early teens with a strong interest in computers, in a broad sense. I was really into video games, of course, on both console systems and computers, but I was interested in programming and learning how software works. I have fond memories from college of spending a lot of time in the computer labs, one of which was full of NeXT computers which ran an operating system that was essentially a very early version of Mac OS X. I guess it's kind of funny how things have come full circle and now I work pretty much exclusively on Mac OS X. I'm also a pretty big Linux geek, but that's another story.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW