Volume 24 Issue 3 - November 2018

What’s your musical background?
Like many youngsters I started on piano, but also like many youngsters
I found I didn’t have the patience for it. I wanted to be a rock
drummer, so my mom and I compromised and I began taking classical
percussion lessons when I was around ten. I continued playing
percussion throughout high school and fortunately still ended up
playing lots of rock drums, which was a great balance.
While taking a year of general courses at the University of Regina
I came across a poster for a U of R percussion ensemble concert and
I said to myself, “Hey, I used to do that.”’ So I checked it out, and it
reawakened a love of music that had been dormant for a few years.
That fall I started my undergrad in percussion performance, and
then moved to Toronto 11 years ago to do an Artist’s Diploma at the
Glenn Gould School. I’m very fortunate to have been a member of the
National Ballet of Canada Orchestra since 2010.
Was this your first major composition?
Essentially the only other compositions I have done are a tune from
my recital from my brief stint in the U of T jazz program and some
processed marimba background music for a Nuit Blanche project.
That’s pretty much it. I do have many other musical interests though.
For the past four years I have been really into Brazilian percussion,
and I’m always working on my drum set playing. I’m also trying to
expand my composing experience and am currently digging deeper
into theory and counterpoint.
Tell us about the process for composing for a game. Were there
style guidelines? Were there precise timings to adhere to? How long
did it take? What was the most challenging part?
The game development and the composition process took place
pretty much simultaneously. I was sent a list of levels and bosses
that would require music. [Editor’s note: In video gaming, a boss is a
significant computer-controlled enemy. A fight with a boss character
is referred to as a boss battle and Cuphead has been praised for its
numerous clever and challenging boss battles.]
My typical process was to just to write and we would match the
tunes up with the appropriate bosses later in the process. Often, once
it was decided which tune would go with which boss, I would then
tweak the music to be more appropriate for the situation (i.e. adding
train-like effects to the train boss, etc).
Considering how long it took me to write the music, if I had waited
until the game was finished to start, it still wouldn’t be out!
The approach to the music of Cuphead is very different than the
music of most games. There are no real precise timings to line things
up with and the music is not reactive or dynamic as would be more
typical for games. It was more important for us to capture a “vibe’” as
opposed to following the action, so I ended up just writing standard
three-to-four-minute jazz tunes. Typically a player won’t even reach
the end of the tune on a given stage since the tunes are long enough
that the player has either died and had to restart, or would have
already completed the level.
Thursday, November 15 at 8pm
ENSEMBLE
MADE IN CANADA
Featuring Mosaïque, a special collection
of Canadian compositions
Quebec’s
new
music
superstar
Tuesday, November 27 at 8pm
LOUISE BESSETTE, pianist
Pre concert talk at 7:15pm
Cuphead title
screen
27 Front Street East, Toronto
Tickets: 416-366-7723 | www.stlc.com
thewholenote.com November 2018 | 9