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"If I could have the music from Hatsworth's boss fight against Lance Banson (Sky Pirate Magazine's Handsomest Most Eligible Bachelor of the Year) playing on loop for every boss fight in any videogame ever, I would do it." 9.0 - IGN

"All of this silliness is funked out with great music during the battles which is evilly catchy and corresponds well to the moves, headphones are a must have."

- Console Obsession

"...the audio is "just about as good as it gets" and everything here adds to the game's overall atmosphere ... there's the wonderful score ... the sound effects are also spot on. - DS-x2

"...an excellent balance of both music and sound effects ... crisp and distinguished. - NintendoDS Advanced

"Great music - 8/10" - Gamespot"

"The musical score is epic, somber, and moody, a perfect accompaniment to the epic tale being told. - Planet GameCube

"The game's audio is very solid ... the background music is well done and fits the game perfectly." - PGNx Media.

G.A.N.G. Awards 2003: Best Handheld Audio

"Awesome soundtrack that goes great with the action. 9/10." - IGN

"...probably the first GBA game to have a full-length song, complete with vocals, during its credits sequence. 8/10" - Gamespot

"... some games have shown us that the GBAs sound hardware can put out "surprisingly high quality sound effects and music. Everything or Nothing is one of those games." - Worth Playing

"Particularly Impressive for a Gameboy Advance game ... 8/10" - PGNX Media

"... one of the clearest GBA titles I’ve played. Excellent compositions, but I must also give credit to the sound guys for making the sound quality as high as possible." - GameZone

"... What also can't be denied is the quality of the music ... its closeness to the console versions' score is amazing, and the victory fanfare's enough to send shivers up your spine if you're wearing headphones." - 1UP.com

"Outstanding use of the GBA hardware for a fantastic soundtrack. Crank up those headphones. 9/10" - IGN

About Me

My profession is contract game audio. You probably already guessed this. My specialty and passion is classic video game sounds, the sort of thing I grew up with playing NES and SNES. Platforms like the GBA and DS have given me the opportunity to work within similar limitations of this golden age of game audio, which is a huge privilege.

My dream project would be a survival horror game.

My idol is Hip Tanaka.

When I'm not doing music and sound, I program in C#. My most ambitious pet project is the NesTracker, though I've also made a bunch of tools that automate my build processes for work. My favorite custom tool lets me compose DS music using my all time favorite music making tool, Impulse Tracker.

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Main | Henry Hatsworth Impressions »

Creativity and Isolation

DateFriday, April 10, 2009 at 08:23AM

Among game audio professionals, independent contracting seems like the innest religion this season. At least four of my friends in the business have moved, for various reasons, from in-house to contracting.

I've thought about posting some articles here related to surviving independently. For now, I will start with the single most important bit of wisdom I've found online or in books. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, talks about overcoming the anxiety of producing consistently brilliant work:

I can't put it as well as she does, so view it next time you have 20 minutes to spare. I wish I could have watched this years ago. I hope it's useful to you as well.

AuthorIan Stocker | Comment2 Comments |
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Reader Comments (2)

Fantastic talk, thanks for posting it. I too wish I had heard this years ago. I've been in a state lately where I feel like I'm completely incapable of creating the sort of sounds I was making two years ago, and it's been a great source of frustration for me. I've been in a sort of creative black hole since last year. Maybe, if I attempt to view it through this window, things will improve. I don't know. But it's certainly worth a shot, and it's liberating to shake loose some of the responsibility of it.
April 17, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMark Kilborn
Hey Ian,

Popping in after a while and noticed you made some changes to your blog. Looks good! Anyway, some of what she said in her talk made sense in light of my own philosophy (linked to above in my blog).

Specifically:

The "self" is actually a conglomeration of relationships of varying significance, and tapping into the creative daemon is akin to shifting one's attention from one set of relationships to another, thus altering their significance and therefore your self, enabling you to perform tasks differently than before.
April 21, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterErgo Ratio

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