So do YOU have a question for Alexander Brandon?

[ShadowGPW]

Hello people,

Let's ask someone of the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 development team some questions!

I have arranged an interview with Alexander Brandon, you know.. one of the guys that made the music for Jazz Jackrabbit 2, JJ2 HH98, JJ2 TSF and Jazz Jackrabbit 3D.

Ofcourse, as a tradition.. I want input from you.

What do you want to ask Alexander Brandon?

[cooba]

Your Kickstarter was a success. Are you perhaps willing to take commissions?

[Hare]

A few of the tracks show an inspiration from other songs that were out at the time.

Labrat sounding like this clip from Cruel Summer by Bananarama http://youtu.be/9ePIZugahFc?t=18s

Or Dreampipes sounding like Good Vibrations by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch http://youtu.be/OnmFn7bvIrA

When creating the music for Jazz Jackrabbit, did Alexander Brandon draw inspiration from other artists often? Any particular artists that he found the most inspiring? It is fun to kind to listen for these things and pick them out. Are there any other homages I should I keep an ear out for when listening to the JJ soundtrack?

[Haze]

"Hi Alex, big fan of your work, loved Just Fun!

I know people on here have asked about the gear that you've used back during the days of JJ2. When looking back on it, what was your favorite piece of gear at the time and why? And of course what is your fave to use these days?

Keep being awesome!"

[DrJones]

Not a question, more a thanks.

Alex, thank you so much, once again, for sharing not only your love for music with me back then, but also providing the entire JJ2 soundtrack which included songs that did not end up in the final game.

After I placed it on Lori Central, the amount of times it was downloaded was incredible. over the years, I found the songs on many sites, still carrying the LC tag I put into each file.

[Jelly Jam]

what led to creating soundtracks for the JJ series in the first place? :)

[Violet CLM]

Here's a much older interview with Brandon, for the curious.

[Metsys]

When you pick up a new project, what do you generally start working on first after you've discussed the project with the director? Do you start with the the melodic ideas first, do you start with sound design, or is there something else that you do to prepare yourself for composing the soundtrack?

--

Being in the video game industry for so long, how do you feel interactive/dynamic/adaptive music has come along over the past decade in video games? Has there been any big advancements in interactive music or has the tech pretty much remained the same? And I'm sure you've thought about this, but what would be your dream solution to adaptive music in a game? When consulting with video game developers, what is your preferred/practical solution to adaptive music?

--

What video game composers do you currently admire most? Any up-and-comers you want to give a shout out to?

--

Could you explain the business of an indie video game composer? I imagine that AAA games pay enough to own the music outright, but what about indie games where the dev doesn't have a whole lot of money and the composer gets to sell their soundtracks on Bandcamp? What is the typical business agreement with an indie developer and the composer? Is it a small-ish fee upfront and the composer owns the music? Is it royalty based on game sales? How does the status of the game developer change the terms of the licensing agreement?

--

Could you share experiences of projects you had to turn down? :)

--

What is the biggest mistake you see video game composers make?

[ShadowGPW]

Haze!
DrJones!

Someone pulled out a can of oldies here!

[Love & Thunder]

What's your favourite song that you've composed?

[Primpy]

Can I ask how did you arrange an interview with him?
No questions to ask.

[ShadowGPW]

By asking Primpy, life is simple ain't it?

[Primpy]

By asking Primpy, life is simple ain't it?

If you arranged an interview with him, it has to be.

[ShadowGPW]

Haha i've done this before with Cliffy (Design), Nick (Art) and Arjan (Coder) primpy :)

[Primpy]

Haha i've done this before with Cliffy (Design), Nick (Art) and Arjan (Coder) primpy :)

Oh, wow. I missed lots of stuff, I guess.

[ShadowGPW]

For a 18 year old community (if we count in Jeh's Warehouse as the start) and you are only 14.. It's not that strange if you missed out on happenings, this community has alot of history.

But that doesn't matter, now it's your chance to ask one of the guys that build this game!

[Primpy]

For a 18 year old community (if we count in Jeh's Warehouse as the start) and you are only 14.. It's not that strange if you missed out on happenings, this community has alot of history.

But that doesn't matter, now it's your chance to ask one of the guys that build this game!

But I don't really know what to ask. Maybe what's his favorite Jazz soundtrack?Or if he was disappointed when Jazz3 was canceled? I don't know.

[ShadowGPW]

looks like a perfectly fine question to me :-)

[Primpy]

looks like a perfectly fine question to me :-)

I thought these questions were already asked. :P

[Jelly Jam]

Haha i've done this before with Cliffy (Design), Nick (Art) and Arjan (Coder) primpy :)
Lol, i saw the interview with Nick a long time ago. but I never knew there was an interveiw with Cliff or Arjan. Is there any place where i can see these?

[ShadowGPW]

Cliffy? Sure, it's on the internet archive. I might copy/paste this for J2O atleast.
http://web.archive.org/web/20130415212856/http://clanbase.ggl.com/news.php?nid=278915
Also our log when CliffyB visited the IRC chat (I still need to clean this up)
http://www.jazz2online.com/articles/170/cliffyb-at-irc/

Nick Stadler interview from 2010.
http://www.jazz2online.com/news/679/interview-with-jazz-jackrabbit-artist-nick-stadler/

Arjan's interview is lost forever I think. This was around 2002, the 2nd meeting I had with Arjan was with GamesFM. This file is also... lost.

[EDIT]
Holy shit, it's still there..
http://www.jazz2online.com/jcf/showthread.php?t=3355&highlight=Arjan

Time for a translation.

[DoubleGJ]

"Hello Alex! Any tips you would give to someone aspiring to write music for video games?"

[F!re]

Wow I can't believe my password still works :D

question:

The distinguishing, typical Jazz Jackrabbit soundtrack(s) are forever carved deeply into our minds with awesome memories for life. how could we ever forget the epic basslines and sweet trackersynth of the menumusic and every level like tubelectric f.e. Was this 'Jazzlike soundtrack' developed during the process of creating JJ?
Did you have a certain sound in your mind which you wanted to create (during the developement of the original Jazz Jackrabbit 1 game) or was it created after seeing levels and characters?

Why is there a Duke Nukem Theme in the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 data? Grabbag.it Was it a cameo or inside joke? Or just cancelled content?

How did you feel after the Jazz Jackrabbit 3 Alpha was made, but the project later on whas cancelled. Did you feel like you have been spending hours of your work for nothing? Can you give us more details on why the game was cancelled? I love the Hopteego Village theme btw.

Did you listen to the music of Jazz Jackrabbit for Game Boy Advance? What did you think of the game and especially the music? Did it match your sound of the previous Jazz games?

[ShadowGPW]

It seems I dug up a F!re.

Why is there a Duke Nukem Theme in the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 data? Grabbag.it Was it a cameo or inside joke? Or just cancelled content?
You are referring to TSF Content, TSF had user generated levels on disc. One level used Grabbag ;)

[F!re]

It seems I dug up a F!re.

Why is there a Duke Nukem Theme in the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 data? Grabbag.it Was it a cameo or inside joke? Or just cancelled content?
You are referring to TSF Content, TSF had user generated levels on disc. One level used Grabbag ;)

Ow ok thank you for the info I didn't know that it was from a user made level ;-)

[DrJones]

Haze!
DrJones!

Someone pulled out a can of oldies here!

You did!

[Hare]

I actually had to check the date on this thread when you guys showed up. (y)

[Metsys]

A few of the tracks show an inspiration from other songs that were out at the time.

This is something that has always horrified me as a composer, even now that I've kind of chilled out about it and don't worry excessively over trying to be original in every way. It's still something that always frightens me about composing. But oddly that doesn't frighten me at all when it comes to visual art. I'm not sure why that's the case.

[DoubleGJ]

This is something that has always horrified me as a composer, even now that I've kind of chilled out about it and don't worry excessively over trying to be original in every way. It's still something that always frightens me about composing. But oddly that doesn't frighten me at all when it comes to visual art. I'm not sure why that's the case.
don't worry too much about it, practically all good artists "borrow" ideas :+

[Primpy]

A nice question would be "If you could work again with Cliff, Arjan, Nick and the others, would you do it?"

[Metsys]

Yeah, ask him if he's going to be doing anything for Boss Key (Cliff and Arjan's new studio). :)

[Love & Thunder]

don't worry too much about it, practically all good artists "borrow" ideas :+Robert Allen was very guilty of this.

[Haze]

I actually had to check the date on this thread when you guys showed up. (y)
... wait a minute, it ain't 2001 any more?

[Love & Thunder]

Haze, you and DrJones should probably do some repairs on your time machines; you overshot by quite a lot.

Additional question suggestion: "What's your favourite genre to compose in?"

[Jelly Jam]

Non-music related: Do you have some favorite games or movies?

[Primpy]

Q: What was the purpose of some of the unused soundtracks such as Atlantic, Dreamland and other unnamaed ones?

[Mercurio]

Can you somehow make the music for the new Unreal Tournament?? :(

[Treylina]

Are module trackers a good way for people to get their feet wet into creating music?

[ShadowGPW]

Can you somehow make the music for the new Unreal Tournament?? :(

UT4 = Alexander Brandon ;)

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/12/original-unreal-tournament-composers-on-board-for-reboot

[Slaz]

What was your inspiration for JJ2's credits/ordering song 'Pull Back The Bass'?

[ShadowGPW]

Gonna submit them in a few days. So if you still have a question, ask it :)

[Primpy]

Q: Do you think you did a better job with the JJ2 music than Robert A. Allen and Joshua Jensen did with JJ1?

[n0]

Which game was the most fun to make music for? Please say Tyrian.

[Primpy]

Q: Why was removed from the final version the soundtrack known as "unused Medivo" from the second Colonius level?

[Another Jazz 2 fan]

Arjan's interview is lost forever I think. This was around 2002, the 2nd meeting I had with Arjan was with GamesFM. This file is also... lost.

[EDIT]
Holy shit, it's still there..
http://www.jazz2online.com/jcf/showthread.php?t=3355&highlight=Arjan

Time for a translation.

So... is that Arjan interview ever going to be translated? ;-)

EDIT: And did the Alexander Brandon interview ever go up? I got to see him and hear him answer questions at Magfest earlier this year, he's a really cool down-to-earth guy, and an incredible talent!

[Slaz]

EDIT: And did the Alexander Brandon interview ever go up? I got to see him and hear him answer questions at Magfest earlier this year, he's a really cool down-to-earth guy, and an incredible talent!
That one is here: http://www.jazz2online.com/news/1526/j2os-interview-with-alexander-brandon/

It's great that you got to meet him in person though, sure beats asking questions on the internet. :)

[Another Jazz 2 fan]

That one is here: http://www.jazz2online.com/news/1526/j2os-interview-with-alexander-brandon/

It's great that you got to meet him in person though, sure beats asking questions on the internet. :)

Awesome, thanks for the link! It's a great interview.

I got to tell him that I first really paid attention to game music with Tyrian, and that as a kid I used to waste far more time in the "Jukebox" mode of Tyrian listening to all the music than I did actually playing the game. I could tell that he was really touched, but humble. :-) I also asked what his favorite composition was, and he said it was Deus Ex... which regretfully I must admit I've never played, but I may need to check out the soundtrack. ;-)

Also, everyone needs to get his album "Just Fun", it's really quite excellent!