Interview with Todd Masten

We've heard a bit about various ideas you have for Vanguard's sound and music. However, in your words how would you describe Vanguard's approach to '3rd generation' sound?

We’ve taken a strong cinematic approach with the music and audio, with the goal of making the game feel more like an epic movie or adventure. Areas in the game have meaningful music identifiers so you are capable of understanding where you are without the need of any visual aid. You may even be able to identify the origins of old city ruins as being ‘elven’ or ‘dwarven’, as it is likely to contain similar musical elements. There is a great example of this pertaining to the capitol city on one of the major landmasses in conjunction with the area where the ruins of the old city still stand on the far side of the continent. I am hoping things like this can bring a stronger sense of cohesion and immersion to the world.

Another important element of ‘next level’ audio is our integration of the ISACT system into our audio engine. Together with the assistance of Microsoft and Creative Labs we’ve created and integrated a suite of tools that provide unprecedented audio delivery and compression tools. We are able to control every nuance of every sound and adjust the parameters in real time as the game plays. This means that the ambience around you will evolve as you move through the landscape. It also means that every sound in the world is dynamic. When you whack a turtle on the head for example, the engine looks at what weapon is in your hand, the surface you are striking, how hard you are hitting the surface, the reaction of the surface to the impact, then plays a variation of each of the sounds in real time. There are subtle pitch, amplitude, and sample randomizations for every action in the game. What this basically means is you aren’t going to hear the exact same ‘whack’ every time you hit a turtle on the head. The ISACT approach extends into the musical realm as well where music adapts to the situation at hand in each given area.

What is it like working so closely with the development team as a composer? Any advantages or disadvantages as opposed to working as an outside entity?

I can not stress enough what a huge advantage this has been having me on site. With a world this big it would have been impossible for me to stay up to date on everything if I did not have the ability to interface directly with everyone on the team. I have access to elements ranging from concept art to preliminary design documents that have been great tools for inspiration. I’ve been able to absorb and inject personalities from various members of the team into the regions they are working on. This has been extremely beneficial in providing cohesion between the visuals, game play, and audio.

Can you tell us a bit about your personal studio setup?

I compose entirely in the digital domain. I’ve spent the past few years slowly eliminating all of the outboard gear from my studio, and now everything is virtual. I rely on several software packages to get my work done. Chief among those are Cubase SX, Gigastudio, and Pro Tools. I currently have eight 250GB external hard drives providing about 1.8 terabytes of sample data. Sample libraries that I can not live without are the Vienna Symphonic Library, and several of the East West Quantum Leap packages like Symphonic Choirs. Ra, and Stormdrum. There have been some amazing advances in sample player technology over the past few years, and the realism these instruments now provide is amazing. I monitor back through RME or Pro Tools hardware on Mackie HR824s.

What would you say comprises a typical day for you working on Vanguard?

It really depends on what ‘mode’ I am in. Currently it has been ‘composing main themes for Vanguard’ mode, and it has been a fairly hectic pace. I set my schedule very ambitiously and force myself to adhere to it. For the past two months it has been:
9am – wakey wakey, turn home PCs on, stumble into kitchen and make coffee.
9am – 10am – check email, read audio and vanguard forums.
10am – 1pm – music composition. I tend to be creative in the morning so I take advantage of it.
1pm – 2pm – starbucks. I usually take notes on the current piece I am working on, or start sketching out ideas for the next piece. I also get my reading done as well. I am currently reading, ‘Handbook of Conducting’ by Hermann Scherchen. Translated from German so it is rife with grammar mistakes; a real page turner!
2pm – 7pm – I usually head to the Sigil office to get non-music items dealt with. Lately this has been integrating ISACT sound packages for crafting and adventuring. I also take time to interface with members of the team, and let people know I am still alive.
7pm – 2am – more composing. I generally try to get whatever piece I am working on completed. I also print out the tracks individually and archive the day’s work. Then I check my email and sign off.

What about the music are you focusing on to keep the worlds sound as diverse as the locations and people?

I’ve assigned instrument pools based on a hierarchical system. Large continental land areas have a definitive instrumental style that I pull from. For instance, Thestra is considered ‘Euoropean’, thus I primarily use instruments that are indigenous to those areas. Then within the continent I’ve assigned instrumental styles to the various races. Dwarven styles might incorporate more brass and staccato strings, while elves might use harp, voice, and legato strings. I’ve attempted this process with every area of the game in the hopes of providing a wide variety of styles, and a means of easily identifying with races and cultures.

You’ve gone on record saying that Vanguard will be using the .wma format for its music. Besides Sigils relationship with Microsoft why did you choose that format instead of the more universal MP3 format?

There are inherent benefits to using WMA. Since this is a Microsoft technology, I have access to the latest compression and delivery tools. In some of the tests we’ve run, we were able to achieve a better compression and quality rate with WMA so the end result takes up less space, and sounds better. WMA also supports multi-channel surround sound compression which I am just starting to experiment with, and will attempt to integrate at some point. It certainly would be awesome to hear the horns of New Targonor blasting away from all sides as you enter the city. No promises yet on this, it is still being tested and discussed.

In the past spell visual effects have improved as the caster gains levels. Will audio effects do anything similar in Vanguard?

This will come about as a direct result of higher level spell use, rather than caster level. If a sorcerer uses ‘fireball’ at level 1 and then gets ‘greater fireball’ at level 25 there will definitely be differences in the spell both visually and aurally. If the sorcerer chooses to use the lower level spell, I believe you will get the lower sound as there is a direct correlation between particle effects and sound effects. Spell sounds have not been fully implemented yet, so things could still change.

Do you have any new clips we might be able to share with the rest of our readers?

How about a peaceful, serene location; a place of remembrance.