Gabbin’ with Gamercide – Hyperduck Music Studios (Follow-up)

[Gamercide]

Gabbin’ with Gamercide

An interview with Chris Geehan & Dan Byrne-McCullough – Hyperduck Music Studios

About a year ago we did an interview with the guys from Hyperduck Music Studios.  In our first follow up, we see what the guys have been up to, what’s new, and dig for some big announcements.  That said, let’s get started and see what we can find out.

Q – Alright guys, for the uninitiated, give us a quick introduction to who HyperDuck Studios is and how you guys got started. (Don’t worry; I’ll add the shameless plug for you.)

Chris: Sure thing Shawn. Hello! We are HyperDuck Music Studios! We’re a two duck/man team that composes records and produces music and sound effects for computer games and their soundtracks. We are Chris Geehan & Dan Byrne-McCullough, both from Ireland, and we’re just finishing up our BMus Honours Degree in Music in England at the moment! On how we got started, well it was due to a game called Iji, which I had been asked by Dan Remar to do him a favour and make the music behind it. I never thought much of it until we actually had to do it, and that’s when the gloves came out. We grabbed a copy of Cubase SX and Dan & I worked at it from our student house in 2007/2008. Iji got an amazing response, being credited as one of the best freeware games of all time, at least this was a strong opinion in the ‘game maker’ software community; game maker being a program that is primarily used for making waffles, but can also make games.

Anyway, that settled it for us, we thought that if we could get that reaction to a game we made music for, without much knowledge of how to make it sound great, how big a reaction could we get if we learnt how to make it sound, well.. amazing. We’ll keep trying to get to ‘amazing’ but the support from that fans of Iji since has pretty much driven us up to this point, were we’re working on two Microsoft Dream Build Play titles, so it’s all stations go at the moment!

Q – Since we last talked back in September ‘09, what have you guys been working on?

Dan: We’ve been finishing up the music and sound effects for A.R.E.S (formerly Trashman), produced by extend studios (http://blog.x10studio.com/) which has just recently been entered for and won First Prize at Microsoft’s Dream Build Play 2010 competition.  We’ve also been heavily at work on Dust: An Elysian Tail, which is proving to be really interesting; we’re really excited to see the final release.  Other work has included looking for future projects – we have just completed our degrees this week, and so are likely to be putting a lot more into our music making from now on!

Q – First Dust and now A.R.E.S.  I think I can speak on behalf of everyone at Gamercide when I say congratulations on your SECOND win in the Dream.Build.Play competition.  How does it feel to have a game you guys worked on, win 2 years in a row?

Dan: Thanks, and it feels great!  We are really very lucky to be working with these immensely talented people.  For our music to be a part of these creations is a real boost for us.  We’re really excited at the prospect of these titles being released to the public – it’ll be a real milestone for us I think, especially in terms of exposure.  With any luck we may end up on future dbp projects, but the main focus at the moment is getting all the material for Dust finished.

Q – Any update on when we can expect releases for Dust or A.R.E.S?  Not just the XBLA versions, but PC versions as well.

Chris: A.r.e.s. is going into testing phases soon for the PC release, I think it might be being released on Steam, I can’t confirm that though. It’ll be through a digital distributor anyway. The XBLA version I am estimating a 2011 release or a late 2010 release, but more likely the preceding date. The x10 team are working their brains out to get the PC version finished and ready for testing, then will work out all the kinks, if any, and you should see it coming to your PC this summer. Dust is finally back on our plates after the University exams, so we’re getting stuck into that with full force, since Dean has been so understanding and patient while we complete University, and helpful along the way is really an under-statement for this guy. He is a gem.

We will be working again with Dean as of next week and any updates on Dust will be coming from the man himself, so you know as much as we do at the moment. We’re quite eager to have a sneak peek at all the tweaking and work he’s been doing, if you follow him on twitter (@noogytweet) you can see what he is up to in Dust now and then, needless to say he’s all about getting it out as soon he can, but not at the risk of ANY quality loss. So essentially, it will be very much worth the wait.

Q – Is there any possibility of maybe a PS3 or Wii release for anything you’re currently working on?

Chris: We’re not currently on any projects that will see the PS3 just yet. We are in talks with a few game developers who are working on projects for the PSN, but would love to be involved on a Wii game project, something with the sparkly attitude of Super Mario Galaxy, but really anything. We’re pretty happy to be working with developers who are passionate about their craft as much as we are, that’s not just what gets the job done, but it’s what gets the job done well.

Most of the projects we’re on at the moment are on the PC, however by the end of the year, there should be a few more XBOX360 titles to show, or at least one. I can’t say more about it yet, since I am not certain yet, but yes, we’ll keep you posted on that.

Q – When you decide to work on a game, is there a specific process you go through to determine the feel of the music for it or do the developers give you some ideas to work with initially?

Dan: It varies from project to project.  The developer may have a really specific idea for what they want, for instance, Dean Dodrill is a keen collector of video game music, and so was able to send us loads of reference material. We can then analyze these pieces and produce a totally new compositional idea, while incorporating more of our personal style into it.  Sometimes we have game images to work from, which is really useful as you get a feel for the style of the game, and the colouring etc. If there is a particular storyline then that may dictate the pace and style of the piece.  Personally, if I have little reference material I usually brainstorm ideas about what might be appropriate, and try to figure out the instruments that convey the right sound for the piece.  Also Chris and myself are constantly bouncing ideas off each other, which is one of the big features of our music – It’s a collective thing, and we’re able to get more ideas made that way.

Q – I’ve been following the development blog of Monolith since you announced you would be doing the music for it back in late February.  Are there any developments or progress on that project that you can share with us right now?

Chris: I know that Timbo Jay, the animator and artist behind Monolith, just came back from being MIA for two months there last week. He has been very busy with other stuff, but his focus is solely to getting back on the Monolith train. We sat and discussed what direction Zach and Timbo felt Monolith could benefit from going in, musically, and in general I guess. It was a productive chat over quite a period of time, which helped build up a better image of what they want the game to be, and what they want it to sound like. Zach has a great business mind, and I felt I didn’t need to hold back anything on that end when talking to him. Timbo Jay is an incredible piece of work, and his artwork and animating brought me to the idea in the first place, he’s also a really nice guy, they’re both just brilliant. It’s been on hold with us until we finish Uni but come May 18th, the ball will begin rolling again, and within this ball, two ducks shall be waddling. Oh yes.

So expect Monolith stuff over the summer I would say. Expect a lot of interesting stuff over the summer!

Q – I literally listen to your Demo Reel and YouTube pages all day long at my day job, any updates we can look forward to on those pages?

Chris: So nice to hear that really makes us feel good about what we do even more. Well actually we just started uploading OSTs to Dropbox.com so you can get the Zero Gear OST from this link (Zero Gear OST). We plan on putting a lot more up later this year and since Katakijin should be released soon (finally!) we will definitely put that up as well. Expect progressive synth ninja iji-esqeu epic music. If you don’t use DropBox.com that’s ok, but if you want to sign up to it, it’s free and quite cool, essentially free space to share stuff you like online. And if you use this link to join https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTQ1NjA5MDQ5 then HyperDuck Music Studios get more space, more space means more soundtracks in the future. You know it’s right.

Aside from the DropBox.com stuff, I would also expect the A.R.E.S OST soon. we just finished mixing and mastering it recently, and I really think it’s the best sounding OST we’ve done to date, in that style. Zero Gear I thought sounded great, but was not a big a challenge as A.R.E.S in terms of making the guitars mix with everything else. Though Zero Gear helped a lot. After that, A.R.E.S was not as daunting, even with the 80+ odd sound effects we had to make. We actually used a friend Kevin Carville (at hotmail dot com) to help make the sound effects. He’s a long time friend of mine, and Dans, but I’ve known him since we were 5, so that’s 19 years. He’s a solid composer and a good sound designer. I’d recommend him for any game project. Keep an eye out for Frantic Panda Studio Works; no doubt I will rant about him on the hyperduck.co.uk newsfeed very soon.  In fact I am working with him on the Mon & Bot OST, so expect that later this year. We start working on it at the end of May, or continue working on it. We have a lot of material for it already in the pipeline.

Q – Over the last while a TON of Triple-A titles have been released, what are you currently playing or looking forward to playing?

Chris: Company of Heroes. Dan & I, and Kev, cannot stop playing it. Over and over. I’m getting sick of it to be honest. Dan’s internet connection is crappy over in England so we can’t enjoy FPSers together like MW2 and Bad Company 2. Aside from Company of Heroes, I guess I’ve been dipping into Supreme Commander 2 & L4D2 now and again as well, I am really quite skint I cannot buy new games, otherwise I would. I have ME2 on the shelf and Dan bought me Bayonetta for my birthday in Jan, I just asked him to hold it off until the exams are done so I can enjoy it. We’re both excited about KOTOR, but that’s not until Christmas, so I don’t know what I will play to hold me off until then. Hopefully Mass Effect 2 shall do the trick? Played a bit of it and thought “oh my god, I love this” so I stopped playing and decided not to touch it until after my exams. I know how to spot an ‘exam failer’ when I see one. This is an exam failer for me; it’ll suck my attention span dry. So damn good.

Dan: I’ve spent some time checking out other indie games; recently we each bought the Humble Indie Bundle, which was a really cool idea full of great games to pass the time!  Other indie games like Altitude and Bob Came in Pieces are lots of fun for casual gaming.  Like Chris mentioned, we didn’t want to sacrifice our results to gaming addictions just yet, but there are plenty of good looking games on the horizon.  I’d like to play Final Fantasy XIII and Red Dead Redemption sometime soon, they look great.

Q – If you could work with any of the current game designers in the industry, who would it be?

Dan: Anyone who is making good games will do for me, there are loads of really talented groups producing video games right now, the folks at Media Molecule seem to have made something really cool in Little Big Planet – something I would love to spend some time playing.  Every game has different challenges somewhere down the line so whatever keeps us on our toes and creating music is good to me.

Chris: Seconded. I’d also like the opportunity to work with a company that would look for music with the orchestrated calibre and unique quirkiness that came with the Super Mario Galaxy OSTs. Really brilliant tracks all the way through those games. I can’t pick a bad one out of them, honestly. Amazing. And of course awesome games.

Q – Any progress on the “mango feeding” or “ninja monkey astronaut” dreams?  (Please see the first interview for more info on these dreams J)  Still have a little over 9 years to go, so no real rush I suppose.

Chris: Those dreams have mutated into other things now, as long as we’re involved in music I can’t see the mangos, cigars, and astronaut suits roll in at some stage. Probably shortly after our funerals. Timing pfft.

Q – Last one, give us a bad duck joke . . .

Chris: There’s no such thing, as a bad duck joke. You know this.

Dan: *Quacks*

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Chris and Dan for taking time out of their unbelievably busy schedules to do this follow-up with us.  If you want to know more about them head over to their website at:  http://www.hyperduck.co.uk/ and be sure to check out their Youtube page at:  http://www.youtube.com/user/HyperDuckMusic You can also check them out on Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/hyperduck

The guys have also given us an awesome sneak preview of the soundtrack for A.R.E.S.  Take a listen below and let them know how awesome it is in the comments and in the forum.

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