Video Games Composer
News and Updates
Older news deleted...and it's clearly no longer news
Setup a new bandcamp page, new and exclusive tracks will now be posted there.
Links are slowly getting fixed..... plus I've added some more Timesplitters 1 tracks that weren't currently on this page
October 2009
Added Mantel 102 Radio Station as never heard in the video game Haze.
This was an idea for Haze which got put on the ever increasing "to do" list.
Instead, the radio station was relegated to one location, so unless you stood for an hour on the deck of the first
level, it's unlikely you've heard this. More info lower down on this page.
It's 40 meg, an hour long, has some hip hop, chat, silly jingles and made up adverts
September 2009
Check out my remix of their track "Take me to your Lover" released under my Virez pseudonym
Grab it here: iTunes Play Amazon
August 2009
I recently found a plugin for winamp that plays music from gameboy roms, so for any completests out there
I've uploaded the Game Boy soundtrack for Killer Instinct...don't get too excited though
June 2009
May 2009
Free Radical Bought by Crytek
Beyonce - Single Ladies vrs Ultraviolence - Air Break
February 2008
Thanks to Mithrendil for his time and effort, please have a look
About Me
Fuckin' Hardloor - 1995
Killer Cuts 1994
Nintendo 64 Greatest Hits - 1996
Perfect Dark - 2000
Goteki - Corrupted Files - 2003
Goteki - Revolution - 2005
Seize - Constant Fight - Ltd Edition
Code 64 - Masqueade
Inertia - Repeat and Follow
Early
Born in Chingford, East London, 1971, Chingford's claim to fames seems to extend to
Samantha Fox, Blazin' Squad and David Beckham.
An unremarkable childhood mostly spent playing computer games and playing keyboards when
I really should have been convincing girls it was a great idea to let me see them naked
So, that kind of proves, music is my life and always will be, I've always loved music since a
child and when I got my first home computer,
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum, I knew that music and computers was what I wanted to
spend most of my time with
From getting that computer along with a Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga,
making music with them was what I wanted to do
Bands
As far back as I can remember, i've always wanted to be a composer.....
Inbetween playing computer games as my main way of spending time between sleeping and eating, I always thought I'd get the big break, end up on Top of the Pops,
and the rest would be cigar shaped swimming pools, champagne and every sordid whim of mine eagerly taken care of.
Having said that, if you were to hear what was produced during this period,
I'd be lucky to get free entry to the municipal swimming pool, a can of tizer and being put into care,
but you have to have dreams.
Between 1991 and 1995, I was messing about in the following
FWNT - 1991 to 1992
Graeme Norgate - Synths, drum programming
Kieran Othen - Guitars, Synths, Vocals
Peter Marshall - Guitars, Synths
Richard Parr - Bass, Engineering
Simon Broadley - Bass
Kevin Clarke - Drums
The Catch - 1991 - 1992
Graeme Norgate - Synths, drum programming
Kieran Othen - Vocals, Guitars, Synths
Helen Smith - Vocals
Peter Marshall - Guitars, Synths
Richard Parr - Bass, Engineering
Simon Broadley - Bass
Kevin Clarke - Drums
DYDX - 1992 to 1994
Graeme Norgate - Synths, Samples, Drum Programming
Kieran Othen - Vocals, Synths, Samples, Drum Programming
Peter Marshall - Guitars, Synths
Richard Parr - Engineering
Autogeddon - 1993 - 1996
Andrew N Trail - Vocals, Synths, Programming
Graeme Norgate - Synths, Samples, Drum Programming
Kevin Clarke - Drums
Richard Parr - Live Engineering
Alicandria ? - Guitars
I may have more info on these projects, maybe even downloads, DYDX and Autogeddon were quite good in my opinion
Work
In 1994 I landed a job writing music for video games at
Rare Ltd
and worked on the following games
In 1999 I started at Free Radical Design
In 2009 Crytek took over Free Radical to become Crytek UK
and I'm still there today. So far I've done
Remixes
No direct download links here, you'll have to find them via Spotify, Amazon, iTunes etc etc
Code 64 - Rebirth - Genome Remix by Virez on the digital download EP Masquerade
Inertia - Repeat and Follow - Virez Remix on their Repeat and Follow EP
Goteki - We Go Chrome (Timesplitters RMX Goteki v Graeme Norgate) on the album
Corrupted Files
Goteki - Take me to your Lover under the Vi Rez name on the Santa Muerte Session 4 EP
Illumina - No Disintergrations (Club Remix)
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Goldeneye - 1997
Aztec Complex Original Jungle Piece Suspense Tunes
Aztec Suspense Early Midi Versions
Original Jungle Piece
Second Sight - 2004
01. Isolation Cutscenes
Childcare End
Early Versions of Level
Tunes are name "Midi Versions", LEVELS: Blastcorps
- Angel and Tempest City Blastcorps
-Shuttle Gully Blastcorps
- Gibbons Gate Blastcorps
- Argent Towers and Blackridge Works Blastcorps
- Cromlech Court I felt the first version
was a bit too downbeat - even though Blastcorps
- Magma Peak and Mars Blastcorps
-Carrick Point and Ebony Coast Blastcorps
- Sleek Streets Blastcorps
- Orion Plaza I
only wish (1) I could play it live and (2) pubs still had
pianos Blastcorps
- Jade Plateu Blastcorps
- Outland Farm and Ironstone Mine Blastcorps
- Simian Acres, Diamond Sands and Beeton Tracks Blastcorps
- Echo Marches , J-Bomb, Havoc District and Lizard Island Nearly
Gameover
This tune went through so
many add-ons and extensions, and
this is to my knowledge the final version that made it. Nearly
Gameover Original
Title Theme - Midi Version Blastcorps
- Twilight Foundry and Kipling Plant Blastcorps
- Salvage Wharf Misc Tracks Name
Enter Screen Midi version Blastcorps
- Level Preview Fly Through Blastcorps
- Bad News (this this is the Title Theme Nrg tune
This was the first piece I wrote for Blastcorps, This
was supposed to be a mixture between Jean Michel Jarre
and what I'd expect to hear when seeing footage of factories and assembly lines
etc
Not sure what people thought of it, but it was played to Shigeru
Miyamoto in my room way back when and he was tapping his foot politely to it so it's
probably not that bad Blastcorps
- Fanfare Finish Game Blastcorps
- Planet Select Screen
Party like it's 1994
Killer Instinct Gameboy Conversion - 1995
I recently found a plugin for winamp that plays music from gameboy roms, so for any completests out there
Fulgore a new low, this really sucks
Perfect Dark - 1999 ish
Area 51 Escape
Donkey Kong Land - Gameboy - 1994
A warning for those who've never heard of a gameboy, the sound chip was pretty primitive,
I'm sure the level titles from the game had more imaginative titles that are presented here
Sky
and all this from somebody the Rare bosses felt could only do "dark".
Haze - 2008
Haze Radio Station
Where to start......
There was an idea that you'd be able to listen to the Mantel 102 Radio station within your HUD.
So the next idea was to have propaganda mines dotted around the game, broadcasting this station,
Time ran out and then some on the project development,
Let me tell you, it was a long ass list
Orchestrating something as big as the radio station, mean't we had to move on it and get it recorded,
So, in the end, we did it, but time ran out to implement it, so unless you stood on the deck of the land carrier (the first level), you'd never
hear it.
Seems a shame
So, grab it now, while you can
This is the English version, bizarrely, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian versions were also recorded.
What we have hear is interviews, DJs, film reviews, adverts, jingles, and a generous amount of Hip Hop supplied by the
Trailblazers
Included in this piece, we have, music by Christian Marcussen, indents by Jeremy Corbett, script by Rob Yescombe,
Here are a couple of Commodore 64 game remixes I've made.
They're getting on a bit now. Flash was done in 2000 and Human Race in 2001
If you've managed to get here completely by mistake, let me quickly explain what this is about
The Commodore 64 is a much loved home computer of the 80s, it still has a thriving scene of coders, artists
and musicians to this day
There were a handful of musicians who really harnessed the power of this chip and wrote some really memorable tunes
The chip had 3 sound channels, which means you can play 3 notes simultaneously.
With clever trickery some of these
composers managed more by adding a channel which played back lo-fi samples,
And so, below is an example of what a lot of people are doing in their spare time, remixing those tunes with
modern day instruments
Here's one from my good friend Mr. Peter Marshall
Personally I think he's done a remarkable job at recreating those C64 sounds,
You can listen to the original versions too :
Flash Gordon - Flash is Back Remix
Thrust - Phat Stomper Remix
Human Race Level 1 - Summer Remix
Some Tracks are Best Forgotten aka Lost, Warts and All
The following really should be laid to rest, but what the hell, if you really want to be completest
Choral
How How (remix)
Inner Earth
One minute race
more to follow if you can face it
Single Player Death
Multi Player Death
Egyptian Temple
Elevator
Disused Military Depot
Switch On
Runway
Runway Ending
Surface 1
Surface 2
Surface Ending
Converted Missile Train
Subterranean Caverns
Caverns Suspense
Egyptian Crypt Suspense
Jungle Suspense
Military Depot Suspense
Runway Suspense
Surface 2 Suspense
Train Suspense
Military Depot
Train
02. Experimentation
03. Fieldwork
04. Escape
05. Madness
06. Rescue
07. Reliance
08. Entrapped
09. Street Life
10. Teamwork
11. Breakout
12. Conspiracy
13. Infiltration
14. Childcare
15. Confrontation
16. Redemption
Confrontation End
Conspiracy End
Conspiracy Start
Escape End
Experimentation End
Gain Healing
Gain Projection
Isolation Start
Redemption End
Street Life Start
Teamwork Start
Jayne's Pocket Watch (full version)
Blastcorps - 1994 (Nintendo N64)
For the first year
and a half of development of this game we had no Nintendo 64 hardware,
so some of the music was written on my midi setup at the time.
I had no idea what the N64
was capable and had to just hope that I'd be
able to recreate
these tunes once the equipment finally arrived.
they were written exclusively on a Yamaha SY77,
and an old but loved Akai S3000, with a whopping 10 megs of sample
memory
Ending
1
Ending
2
Midi
Version
Nearly
Gameover
Ending
1
Ending
2-
Midi
Version
Ending
Nearly
Gameover
Ending
1
Ending
2
Midi
Version
Nearly
Gameover
Ending
1
Ending
2
Midi
Version
Original
Midi Version
the premise of the game was world destruction,
but you , know, you've got to keep the energy up
Nearly
Gameover
Ending
1
Ending
2
Nearly
Gameover
Ending
1
Midi
Version
Ending
1
Midi
Version
Ending
One of the bonus levels
to the game was set on a pool table,
stands to reason really doesn't it when you're driving a bulldozer
around.
Anyway, here's the original version I knocked up for it.
That would then be my party piece, rather than my slightly less
impressive party trick
of drinking cider until I'm about to fall over and running around the
room with
a lampshade on my head
Ending
1
Nearly
Gameover
Ending
1
Ending
2
Midi
Version
Nearly
Gameover
Ending
1
Ending
2
Midi
Version
Still one of my favourite
pieces, inspired by Brian Eno's
"Deep Blue Day".
Ending
1
Ending
2
I first got the idea to revamp it when one coder had the game running
on the title tune, and another coder
had the Simian Acres level running at the same time. Somehow the 2
tracks mixed together quite nicely,
so I took the drums from Simian Acres, added it to the Title Tune. Then
later on added a few more sections,
lastly adding the guitars from Angel City, waste not want not and all
that.
Ending
1
Ending
2
I wrote this near the
begining, all grandiose and industrial,
quite different to what ended up as the final version
Just a shorterned version
of Angel City - what a cheap skate!
Just a shorterned version
of Carrick Point - what an another
cheap skate!
it's quite short as I was still in the Killer Instinct
frame of mind where the tracks were about 1.5 minutes
I've uploaded the Game Boy soundtrack for Killer Instinct...don't get too excited though
dataDyne Central
and it's the sort of stuff that gave computer music it's bad rep for so many year.
as in.."oh, you do music for computer games, you mean all those bleeps and blops"
Well here are those bleeps and blops.
but I'm confident we'll all cope and won't lose too much sleep over my filenaming
Airship
Building Site
Construction Site
Skyscraper
Boss
Last Boss
Mountain
If the above tunes are dark, then slap my arse and call me Susan
As you only play a Mantel Trooper for a 3rd of the game, that would limit it's use
so even, when playing for the Promised Hand, you'd get to hear it
so the radio station it went onto the long list of features that would have been nice given time list.
if it were to have a chance of being completed
actors including Martin T Sherman, Aleks Krotoski (of Bits fame),
Calrla Prada, Edward Yescombe, Lucy Middleweek, Nigel Whitmey,
Rupert Degas, production, engineering and direction by yours truly.
I'd like to have done more, but never got the time due to work/life commitments
In most cases the music was the best thing about the games of which 99% have aged badly
or by playing a really fast arpeggio
on one channel so it sounded like a chord.
Flash Gordon
Human Race
This was made as a tutorial aid for Pete to lean how to use
Reason
and also how to create sounds using analog synthesis
so much so, that some people have complained it's sampled the original too much !
Thrust
Flash Gordon - Original Commodore 64 Version
Thrust - Original Commodore 64 Version
Human Race - Original Commodore 64 Version
about these sort of things you might as here some of the guff I did
a long, long time ago in a bedroom far, far away....
Well, 1992, feels like a long time ago to me
Converted as a Gameboy tune for Donkey Kong Land 1 on the gameboy.
No Idea why it was called Choral. It's pretty ropey, out of time and half finished
Future Music had a remix competition for this track.
I hadn't heard the original, but it was at the time I was doing the Killer Instinct 1 cd remixes,
so i was in the right frame of mind for it a bit more handbag house guff. Done on a Friday afternoon xmas 94.
It's not what you'd call a relaxing listening, it's a bit frantic.
This was an rough idea I played around with and eventually updated and
used in TimeSplitters 1 as Spaceship level
Jeepers Creepers! What was I like.
Written as a test piece for my interview at Rare, all I can say is, they must have been desperate!
This is one of my "everything but the kitchen sink" tracks
Written on a SY77 with some BBC sound effect record samples thrown in for good measure
erm....enjoy.
grey242 =-= at =-= gmail =-= dot =-= com
I always try and reply to stuff but please take it personally if I don't get back to you, I try and answer at least 3 mails a day.
Last Updated - some time in the past
