Interview With Graeme Norgate

By Drifting

How did you get started with composing video game music?

TWhen I had first had a Spectrum, it was around the time I was learning to play keyboards. I wanted a way to combine my two favourite things, playing games and music. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get into the games composing in the Amiga days (I'm looking at you Hewson and Pysgnosis) I got into Rare after replying to an advert in Edge.

Previously I'd been working on demo tracks geared towards video games and I guess that focus paid off.

What has been your favorite game to work on?

Timesplitters 1. It was the craziest in terms of lack of time and work to produce, but it was my first game since leaving Rare, I had a lot to prove and the sheer range of locations made the music so much more fun to write.

How did Free Radical Design get started?

Having worked with the other 4 founder members on Goldeneye and Perfect Dark back at Rare, we all worked well together and felt the time was right to try something on our own.

What was your most difficult song to compose and why?

he one that took the longest and most research was the Mobsters Nightclub for Timesplitters2. I didn't know anything about bigband music at all, so I listened to a lot, studied what instrumentation was used etc.

Luckily with that project, I knew what songs I had to write from an early stage, and it was before the world of monthly milestone deliverables where you plan exactly what is going to get down and when. So I took a long time before I was ready to tackle it. You could say I was putting it off until the last minute!

I'm happy with the result, although I'd love to have used real players for it.

Any details you can tell us about upcoming projects?

Well, we're all very excited about Timesplitters 4, but for details, keep checking Free Radical's website.

Many TimeSplitters fans claim to hear music from the game in commercials, TV shows, etc. Have tracks from the games ever been used in other media?

Not to my knowledge. Timesplitters 2 was used in Shaun of the Dead, and you can hear the music from the Timesplitters 2 Streets level and the Scrapyard. As for other claims, I expect they're coincidences.

What programs/equipment do you use to create music?

Cubase for sequencing, and up to Timesplitters Future Perfect, I used an Akai S6000 sampler, Novation Supernova 2, Access Virus Rack XL and a Korg Trinity Keyboard. Pretty old school by today's standards.

What would be your greatest TimeSplitters moment (as far as playing the games)?

I'm totally hopeless when it comes to playing first person shooters, so I usually stick to the challenges. My favourite in TS2 was breaking all the windows in Notre Dame, but that was mostly because I really liked the tune for it.

Any closing comments?

Thanks to all the people who write, and keep playing and listening to our stuff.