Q: Please, tell us a little about when you started your company and how did it evolve.
A: Chris Worth Productions has been writing and supplying music for all types of media since 1991. Back then, the company was made up of myself and 4 other composers. We have worked on all types of productions all over the world such as games, multimedia, TV, video, radio and film productions. In 2002, the online royalty free music library went live, (www.chrisworthproductions.com), which allows customers to preview and purchase hundreds of tracks and loops to use instantly. The company now has 9 composers, (including myself), and has customers in 25 countries.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your activity in the field of multimedia sound production?
A:The company has been involved in many multimedia projects throughout the world. We've provided custom music and library music for websites, games and presentations.

Q: What were your main musical influences ?
A: My father was a professional jazz pianist so I grew up with that music. Jazz is the music I relax to, from greats such as Dave Brubeck and Bud Powell to the modern jazz fusion of today with the likes of Dave Weckl and Yellowjackets. I also like 'intelligent' electronic music from bands like Royksopp because they use the same sort of sounds and equipment as I do.
However, my music teacher was a great influence to me as he taught every style possible. A good knowledge of every type of music from classical to the very latest trance music was gained from him.
The combined experience of all our composers means we have a great deal of influences which is reflected in the many styles we provide.

Q: Music and sound FX for games sometimes have a secondary role, however most of the great classics of the past
as well as the best selling title of today have very high quality sound productions.
How important is the mood created by music and sound fx in the gameplay? Is it really secondary?
A: A good music soundtrack is very important for all types of projects - especially games. In the majority of cases, I believe that a good soundtrack actually compliments and lifts the game to higher level. It is also true that a good soundtrack will not be very obvious. A bad soundtrack will stick out a mile and will degrade the whole game.
Sometimes the music becomes as famous as the game itself - take the theme from Tetris for example, and sometimes the music can be the best thing in a game, (the 'Istanbul' section of Driv3r for instance).
Most importantly though, it has to be used in the right context. A piece of music may be one of the best piece of music ever written but if used in the wrong place or scene it will be far less effective.

Q: What game soundtracks inspired you the most on the compositional side?
A: I think the music to Hitman 2: Silent Assassin by Jesper Kyd is particularly good; really understated but captures the mood perfectly - especially the choral sections.
I also think that compilation soundtracks of commercial tracks have their merit if chosen well but most seem a selection of favourite tracks from the production team that don't fit the context too well. Original music is always better.

Q: Where do you normally take inspiration before starting to compose a new track?
A: If I'm writing music for a particular game or project it's always good to see rough edits and beta versions so I get a good idea of the visual style of the game. If visuals are not yet ready, I'll discuss the clients requirements in great detail. Things like length and number of tracks, mood, tempo and instrumentation are all very important. This means I can make a piece of music fit perfectly.
If I'm writing music for the library I will usually be inspired by new sounds simply by sitting down and improvising to see if any ideas are sparked off by playing around with different sounds. Just like game developers are always wanting new graphics and animations, we keep up with all the latest developments in sounds and music software as they can be very inspiring.

Q: How important is to know different styles of music?
A: It is essential to know different styles of music. In a game, you might have to go from a battle scene to a dream sequence then to a banging rock track whilst you drive on the next section. It is also very important to have a good knowledge in the music of different cultures. Many games nowadays have big movie-style production values which means that one section might be in France, the next might be in Mexico, then over to China, India and back to Italy. It's good to reflect this in the music.

Q: How do you create the right atmosphere for a game? What are the key elements to build a convincing soundtrack?
A: The main factor is 'will it fit right with the atmosphere that the visuals are trying to create'? Having visuals or even static graphics helps us see what the developer is using and the additional feedback from them helps us see how the music for a particular section should blend with others. Another important item to consider is how prominent the music should be. If it is intended as background music, there is no point doing complex melodies. It needs to be more minimal in this case.
If it is intended for a title screen or a cut scene it usually needs to be bigger and bolder so careful use of music and visuals is essential in any situation to be able to create a great soundtrack.

Q: How much time does it normally takes to create the audio for a multimedia product? And how many people are required?
A: This varies a great deal. If a project needs minimal, electronic and atmospheric background music the turnaround is pretty quick - maybe a few days. However, if someone requires many short pieces with full orchestrations it can take a very long time. We get feedback from the client at all stages during the composition process so it all depends on how quickly they give us feedback as to how long it takes to finish the project.
In most cases, one of the composers can carry out the work on their own but other musicians will be used as and when necessary. For example, I play keyboards and synths so if I need a soaring rock guitar section or a saxophone section - I'll get one of the other composers involved too. Depending on what is happening at the time we can get together and record all together but this takes more time. We usually send projects to each other over the internet so that we can all work in our individual setups and add what is required before sending it back. For example, if I needed a very short, simple guitar section I would get the guitarist to add it on at their studio and send it back for me to mix here, but if more intensive work and instruction is required, we'll get together.
The number of musicians involved is usually dependent on the budget.

Q: Let's talk a little about gear. What is your current equipment and what software are you currently using?
A: All 9 of us has their own individual studio set up, all centred around a main PC, (I use a Pentium 4, 3.2Ghz with hyperthreading, 2GB RAM). Being a keyboard player, I personally use several hardware synths, lots of sampled sounds and 'soft synths' which include the Spectrasonics range and several Steinberg instruments. All sounds are digitally mixed either outside of the computer by a dedicated digital mixer or within Cubase SX 2, (just about to upgrade to SX3). After the track has been mixed down to a stereo master, I use Wavelab to tweak the recording and save in various file formats such as WAV, AIF, MP3, OGG etc, or it goes to DAT or CD - whatever the customer prefers.
Our other composers use a variety of acoustic and digital instruments.

Q: Do you use a Mac or a PC?
A: 8 of us use PCs, 1 uses a Mac.

Q: Do you work with "analog" instruments (electric bass, acoustic / electric guitars etc...) ? If yes how do you record them?
A: We do record analog instruments frequently as we have composers who specialise in guitar and saxophone. We also record percussion instruments so we can catch a more 'human' feel to rhythm tracks. There are two methods we use. One is where we record the signal directly into a computer through a high quality sound card and then mix and add effects in the computer. The other method is to record analog instruments by putting them through a mixing desk first and recording straight to DAT or CD. Either method has it's advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on what we need to record, how we need to record it and how much time we have!

Q: Producing audio for multimedia sometimes requires specific attention to the final file size. Do you have
any tips for the final MP3 compression?
A: Whichever file format you are going to end up with, always start with the raw uncompressed audio, (never compress and already compressed file). In many cases this will mean having a standard WAV or AIF file at 16bit 44.1khz, (this is CD quality). Then you must use a good quality encoder, either LAME or Fraunhoffer and use it on the highest quality encoding setting, (this is usually the slowest setting but will ensure you end up with the best results). Chris Worth Productions always uses a constant bit rate setting as it is easy to work out how big the file will be compared of the raw WAV. For example, a 256bit MP3 will be 20% the size of the raw WAV and a 128bit MP3 will be 10% of the raw, uncompressed WAV. Some people like to use variable bit compression rates but we have found problems with certain software editors that do not like the different sample rates throughout the same piece and sometimes give false running times for tracks.
Quite a few game developers have been asking us for OGG files recently as they seem to give slightly better quality and slightly smaller file sizes than MP3 files do at the same compression rates.

Q: There are so many audio tools out there that it could be difficult for a beginner to start with the right ones What is the most basic set of tools that a game developer should have to start experimenting with sound production on his/her own. What would you recommend to someone who wants to seriously start a sound production activity?
A: Whether you are recording digital instruments or analog instruments, most set-ups these days are centred around a computer. If you are using external synths and recording MIDI data, the computer doesn't need to be of high specification and you can get good midi sequencing software off the internet. If you are wanting to record audio into the computer then you need a fast computer. Audio eats CPU power and the more tracks you record, the more strain you will put on the system so get a fast processor. Lots of RAM will help too, as will fast hard drives to help stream that audio quickly. You also need to get the audio into the computer so make sure you have good quality cables and a very good quality sound card to reduce any possibility of noise being introduced when recording. There are many software packages that will do everything for you. Many of the professional packages have 'lite' versions which will provide everything you need. Cubasis VST and Cubase SE for example are good entry points into the Cubase family for a fraction of the cost. A good pair of speakers is required to monitor your masterpiece, and a good working environment is necessary to complete the picture - don't have lots of hard surfaces around for the sound to bounce off.

Q: Sound FX are very important multimedia productions. Do you use pre-made libraries or do you create your own sound fx?
A: We don't create sound fx any more so if we need any we refer to a sound fx library.

Q: Before the advent of digital many sound fx for movies and cartoons were created with lots of inventive and common objects that almost everyone can find at home. Is this practice still valid today? Did it happen to you to create a sound from scratch like in the old days?
A: We used to record and sample quite a lot of instruments and sound fx ourselves, but quick internet connections mean we can download the best quality sound effects cheaply and quickly from the web - just like people buy our library music. There are libraries that carry tens of thousands of sound fx so it is very rare not to find the fx you need. We can record when we need to though. The last thing we did was recording hammers and anvils being hit to create an 'industrial' effect.

Q: Is there any sound production for games in your future projects? If so, could you unveil something?
A: We're currently working with Addictive 247, the company behind the successful 'Coin World'. The sequel to this is called 'Coin Planets' and is due out October 2004. Click here for details: http://www.addictive247.co.uk/coinplanetspreview.htm. Having had such great feedback from the music we provided for the first game in the series, Addictive 247 wanted Chris Worth Productions to continue and provide music for the sequel. As it's name suggests, the game has a sci-fi based theme so hopefully we'll be able to provide some 'out-of-this-world' music for them!

Q: If someone wanted to have you write music for their game, how would you suggest they go about it?
A: The first thing to do is to contact us as soon as possible with as much detail as you can give. What type of game is it? What style of music and instrumentation do you want? How much music do you think you need? What is the budget.......and most importantly, When is the deadline?
All this information will help us build up a schedule and estimate for you. Once you've approved it, we get to work and do short, low quality demos so you can provide feedback during the writing process. This means you get to say what you like and don't like whilst we alter it before doing the final recording. It saves time for everyone. We then provide the music in whatever format you asked for.