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Jason Graves:
Interview
Soundtrack composer for Silent Hunter 5
Your U-boat is deep beneath the waves,
creaking from the pressure. Your men whisper course changes and sonar
bearings to you. Above, the screws of destroyers hunting for you. And in the
background, adding tension and suspense to your gaming moment, is the
sometimes solemn, often stirring score from award-winning composer Jason
Graves. The Silent Hunter series has featured quality soundtracks since the
second game in the series. In Silent Hunter 5, Jason's beautiful composition
adds depth and gravity to a game that is as serious as it is fun. Subsim
caught up with Jason on his way to the the conning tower.
Tell us a bit about your background. Where did you
study music theory? Who are some of your influences? Classical and
contemporary.
I went to school for music
composition but the emphasis was on modern 20th Century music. That, and
Bach chorales, so I was like both extremes and nothing in between. I really
started studying contemporary theory and harmony once I graduated from the
University of Southern California’s film scoring program. At the time,
“studying” was really more like spending hours listening to film scores and
classical pieces, sitting at the piano and trying to work out what the
harmonies were.
Krzysztof Penderecki, Pytor
Tchaikovsky and Richard Wagner are all huge classical heroes of mine. My
love of film music begin and ends with John Williams. I can’t say enough
about his creativity and the emotional impact he brings to everything he
composes. I’m also continuously inspired by the music of Bernard Herrmann
and Jerry Goldsmith.
You’re so… (scratches head, searching for a diplomatic
term…) well... young! What led you into composing for computer games?
 Ha,
I get that a lot! Honestly, I’m pretty sure that will never get old,
although I think people will stop telling me some day. I’m 36 and have been
composing professionally for fifteen years, the last eight years being in
videogames. Maybe 36 is “young” for games? I don’t know. My first game
was in 2002 and I was brought in to compose and conduct for a small live
orchestra. Ever since then I’ve been hooked - more than eighty games in
eight years! The videogame medium is definitely the best place to be for
composers, as far as creative freedom goes.
Could you tell us how you were brought in to score
Silent Hunter 5?
I had the pleasure of composing the score for Silent
Hunter 4 a few years ago. It was a really fun score to work on and I guess
Ubisoft Romania liked what I did, because they asked me to come back for the
next installment. As a composer, that’s a real treat.
What approach do you take when you are starting a
project like Silent Hunter 5, which is a serious, almost scholarly game with
a deeply historical heritage, as opposed to a game title like Dead Space?
The biggest thing I was focusing on for SH5 was the best
way to musically bridge from the score I did for SH4. At the beginning of a
project I always try to establish some sort of musical identity - something
that would separate this new score from projects I’ve composed in the past
(and previous releases of the same franchise). Obviously, this is a little
trickier when I’m writing a sequel to my own music, but it also makes it a
lot of fun.
In Silent Hunter 5, players command a German submarine.
I wanted the music to have a unique sound that mirrored that same idea. I
approached the score the way a classical German composer might have, using
operatic harmonies and choir to give the whole soundtrack a sense of drama
you hear in those kinds of classical pieces.
Do the developers provide you an outline for the
project? To what extent did Mihai Gheorghiu play in the overall direction of
the score?
Mihai was the one who implemented my music in SH4. He
said he and producer Alexandru Gris really enjoyed the soundtrack for SH4 (Alexandru
said he still listens to it in his car). When Mihai was assigned as the
Audio Director for SH5, he wanted to bring me back. They were both a joy to
work with. I know everyone always says stuff like that, but these guys
really were. They provided a lot of essential information into the gameplay
and were a wonderful sounding board for my ideas for the direction of the
score. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them in Romania, but we did
have very entertaining phone conversations.
They embraced all my musical suggestions and in the end
Mihai only had a few little tweaks on two pieces. I can honestly say that’s
as close to a best-case scenario as it gets for a composer.
Clearly you have a passion and a love for not only
music, but the composition of music to accompany the subject matter, whether
it’s a film, TV show, or a computer game. Have you listened to
Kevin Manthei’s work on Silent Hunter II?
Patrick Giraudi’s SH3 score? Could you
give us an overview of how much research on Silent Hunter games was involved
when you started work on the SH5 score? How you “revisit old themes and
creating new ones to continue the story” from previous Silent Hunter titles?
I haven’t heard Kevin’s music for SH2, but Ubi Romania
did send me Patrick’s score for SH3 as a reference when I was composing the
score for SH4. To be perfectly honest, I intentionally don’t research
previous game scores when I’m brought in on a new project in a franchise,
unless there’s a specific request from the developer to reference
something. It’s nice to feel unencumbered, musically speaking, at the
beginning of a new project.
I did bring back some key themes from my own score for
SH4, and had a lot of fun dressing them up two years later, using some newer
sounds and equipment to try and improve on the quality of the music.
What orchestra were you working with on Silent Hunter
5?
That would be the Jason Graves Music Philharmonic,
otherwise known as me sitting in the studio banging away on my keyboard!
There wasn’t a live budget for SH4 or SH5. When that’s the case, I do my
best with my computers and personal orchestra sounds. Hopefully the end
result sounds as if it were recorded with a live orchestra, especially once
it’s in the game and playing with the sound effects and dialog.
When you were composing the Main Theme for Silent
Hunter 5, what elements were you using to help the game connect with
players? What are the roles assigned to various parts of the score, such as
the lone trumpet? It sounds
reminiscent of the Godfather.
That’s a German trumpet playing all the solo stuff. Not
that I would expect anyone to get the inside music joke! But it does have a
darker tone than a traditional orchestral trumpet, and since I was going for
the whole “Germanic” music approach it was a nice additional to the palette.
Actually, “The Godfather” isn’t too far off, musically
speaking. It’s a more traditional Italian sound, but harmonically speaking
that’s not too far off from German, especially when you have a solo
trumpet. In general, I was letting the trumpet play the role of the heroic
captain leading his men into battle. As the theme builds, it’s gradually
backed by a large chorus, which represents the captain’s crew
On “Depth
Charges,” the pacing is deliberate, the tone is ominous, even a little
menacing. What do you picture when you write a track like this?
That’s a great one to pick out; one of my favorite
suspense pieces on the soundtrack. When I was working on it, I could
literally see the sailors looking all around them as the sonar pinged away
and they waited in suspense to see if anything blew up their submarine.
It’s a waiting game for sure, and I wanted to try and musically express the
idea of “waiting under duress.” Just say, “Captain, depth charges in the
water” out loud and then play this track. Hopefully the music will paint
the picture for you.
Have you viewed Das Boot? What is your take on the
work by Klaus Doldinger and how it supported the film? Another well-known
example of submarine score is Basil Poledouris’ Red October; it also
features a robust chorus.
 Those
are both excellent films AND scores that worked very well. It’s always
dangerous when you’re scoring something as well-trodden as a wargame,
especially something as specific as a realistic subsim set in World War II.
I’m always careful to stay away from anything that risks sounding too
stereotypical or cliché when it comes to music. While I have an enormous
appreciation of submarine movies and their scores, I intentionally avoided
listening to them when I was working on SH4 or SH5.
You have done scores for a wide range of video game
publishers (Ubisoft, EA, Bethesda), are you becoming the John Williams of
the gaming world?
Ha! If that were only 10% true I would be a very happy
person. There is an amazing amount of diversification in titles and music
styles in my job. That’s a great benefit of working in games. Williams
truly is a master craftsman. I hope one day to be half the composer he is
and work hard every day to try and make that happen.
You also have several Star Trek games to your credit.
Are you a Trekkie?
I’m absolutely a die-hard Trekkie, especially after
working on four titles over a few years’ time. The first two movies are
still my favorites, but I have to admit First Contact is also on my short
list.
 Kirk or Picard?
Kirk! Picard’s probably smarter from an intellectual
standpoint, but Kirk is all “act first, ask questions later” and always gets
the green female alien in the end. Kind of hard to argue with.
You won a pair of British Academy Video Games awards
for your work in Dead Space. What was that like? Are you a “red carpet”
composer now? J
I can only hope so. The BAFTA Awards were really
amazing. Definitely a career highlight for me, especially since Dead Space
was such a unique horror score. It was really gratifying to have all that
hard work validated on an international level.
What’s next for Jason Graves?
Somehow people have it in their heads that I’ve got a
knack for composing suspenseful, even downright scary music. My lips are
sealed as far as details go, but let’s just say it’s a good thing there’s
plenty more material to mine in that genre of music.
Thank you very much, Jason. I will be buying the game
Dead Space now, thanks for making my game backlog as little busier.
Happy to help! Just remember, I may be responsible for
you jumping out of your chair, but there’s no point trying to send me the
dry cleaning bill because you spilled your drink all over yourself. Or
threw your remote in the air and it broke. Or couldn’t sleep that night.
I’ve heard it all before and apologize in advance.
April 2, 2010
For more information and great audio samples, visit
Jason Graves Website
 Care
to add something or discuss Silent Hunter V? Los!
See also:
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