MI6 talked music with Ian Stocker this week, about squeezing all the big sounds of a Bond adventure into a handheld console in great style for "Everything or Nothing"...

Interview - Ian Stocker
21st December 2003

MI6 talked music with Ian Stocker this week, about squeezing all the big sounds of a Bond adventure into a handheld console in great style for "Everything or Nothing"...


Above: Game Boy Advance
 

Sounding Off....

How were you approached by Electronic Arts to modify the score for "Everything or Nothing"?
It was actually the developer, Griptonite who approached me about working on this project.

Griptonite and I have a standing relationship and have collaborated on several titles to date.

How eager are you to be involved in a project that is related to such a famous series?
It is definitely exciting to be part of it, being a long-time fan of the Bond franchise. But aren't we all, deep down?

What are the main differences with composing music on a limited playback platform such as the GBA?
It's really a matter of taking a limited framework, and using illusory tactics to make it seem like those limitations are breaking down. So you try to make a few voices sound like more, and play to the system's strengths. Because a lot of players don't use headphones, you have to keep the essential sounds of music and sound effects where they are audible - on the GBA's built-in speaker - though I still use some deep bass and stereo effects, as a cool extra for headphone users.

Although it seems limiting to have so few voices to work with or so little sample memory, it actually helps give the soundtrack a unified, more directed sound overall.

When updating the score for the game, how did you relate to any pieces written by previous Bond composers? Do you admire John Barry's famous work on the Bond series?
When I signed up for this gig, I bought "The Essential James Bond" which has most of Barry's themes for the early Bond movies.

The sound has changed a lot in the Pierce Brosnan era, with a shift from purely orchestral to more electronic. I did my best to include both sounds, for example the Siberia theme is very traditional, and the Train Yard theme is much more modern.

Nintendo Game Boy Advance
UK - MI6 Price: £24.99
USA - MI6 Price: $29.99

 
Above: GBA cover art

What equipment did you use to compose the music? How are you balancing the mix of composed music to what you have produced?
I do pretty much everything on the computer. All the sound effects and instrument samples are recorded/edited in Sound Forge and Buzz, and all my composing is done in a variety of trackers. This year I moved from a MIDI-based GBA audio solution to a MOD-based one, so I really haven't touched MIDI in some time.

I converted some songs from the console game scores, such as the Nanotech Facility, title theme, and credits theme, but most of the songs are original and "in the style of" Bond, using motifs and chords familiar to the Bond genre.


Above: Mya Harrison plays Agent Mya Starling
MI6 Mya Starling Profile
 

How was the Mya Harrison song altered for use on the GBA?
It would have been prohibitive to simply cut and paste the original song recording into a GBA cart, so I used a few techniques to make it work.

The instrumental portion of the song is sequenced from scratch, using some samples taken directly from individual tracks in the mix (which EA was gracious enough to provide me with). For the vocal track, I converted the audio to a format that provided a good balance of quality and memory usage, then sliced it up into several small pieces and removed any repeated sections.

The sequencer then calls from a pool of vocals while the song is playing, "stitching" them together. To match the credits roll time and for some space considerations, one verse from the song was removed, but other than that I think it sounds very much like the original.

How many platforms titles have you worked on? Are they all for handheld systems?
By the end of 2003 I will have completed 9 games, that's since I started doing this in February of 2002. All handheld!

Do you think your involvement with "Everything or Nothing" will lead onto scoring further Bond video games? If approached to update a score for another Bond hand held game in the future, do you think it will be more difficult to come up with new original ideas?
Well, I wouldn't try to integrate the Bond theme into every song in the game. At a certain point the player's just going to get tired of hearing the same passage, no matter how creatively you weave it into the score. But new Bond games and movies come with their own new themes, in this case Mya's "Everything or Nothing" song. As long as I had fair amount of creative license (as I did with EON), I would be happy to score another Bond game.

00-Seven Questions

How were you involved in the Bond series?
I did the audio for 007: Everything or Nothing GBA

What was your first ever Bond experience?
GoldenEye.

What did you think of the last film, "Die Another Day"?
I have yet to see it!

What is your favourite Bond film?
Dr. No.

Who is your favourite Bond?
Sean Connery

Which Bond girl should come back?
Famke Janssen.

What is your favourite Bond moment from the series?
"It's a Smith and Wesson. And you've had your six." - Dr. No.


 

MI6 Biography

Name: Ian Stocker

Portfolio
"Everything or Nothing" - GBA Composer

Many thanks to Ian Stocker
Images courtesy EA and Amazon Associates.

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