We had the pleasure to conduct an interview with Ben Houge, Sierra's in-house composer.
His latest work is the very unusual soundtrack for the highly anticipated Arcanum - Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura.
If you want to find out, why he has chosen to write the score for string-quartet instead for full orchestra, read along.

Links: Arcanum Soundtrack:

http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/242/arcanum.html
 http://sierrastudios.com/games/arcanum/media/media-soundtrack.html.
http://www.benhouge.com

And you can also look forward, for tomorrow we will bring you a previously unreleased track from the Arcanum sessions…

RPGDot: Please introduce yourself. How did you get into the composition industry? What projects did you work on so far?

Ben Houge: Hi, I'm Ben Houge, and I've been an in-house composer and sound designer at Sierra On-Line since June 1996.  I've been composing music in some form since sixth grade, and I wrote lots of pop songs while growing up. When I got my first real synthesizer in 1990, my passion for electronic music was cemented.  I decided to study music in college, and that was where I discovered the vast world of classical music.  I moved to Seattle from Minnesota in 1996 after completing my music composition degree at St. Olaf College, and I've been working for Sierra since then.

RPGDot: And what do your recent projects include? Do you do non-computer-game music as well or are you doing music for Sierra only (have seen your name there mainly)?

Ben Houge: Arcanum's my biggest soundtrack project so far. I also contributed music to "Leisure Suit" Larry 7 and wrote about half of the music in King's Quest: Mask of Eternity.  I've worked on lots of promotional trailers and clips (including the Sierra Studios logo, which has been on most Sierra Studios games since Half-Life), and I've contributed sound effects to several other Sierra games, including Half-Life: Opposing Force.

Outside of computer games, I write a lot of choral music; it's been interesting to note how this other arena influenced my music for Arcanum, which is now in turn informing my choral music.  I also still write occasional pop songs.

RPGDot: What is your favourite project so far and why?

Ben Houge: Arcanum has probably been the most fulfilling computer game score I've written so far.  The music was very satisfying for me and ended up being very personal as well.  The string quartet we hired was top notch (they're all members of the Seattle Symphony), and it was a real joy to work with them.  It was thrilling to hear my music come to life in their hands!  The recording process was also a lot of fun; we recorded the score at Studio X in downtown Seattle, which is a wonderful facility. Lots of film scores have been recorded there, as have tracks by artists such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and the Spice Girls.

RPGDot: Speaking of Arcanum: The music with mostly string-only music is very uncommon for a computer game: Why did you choose to do this and what specific differences were there, since you could not use the typical dramaturgic instruments like e.g. horns?

Ben Houge: I chose to write for string quartet, because I thought that, in a sort of abstract way, it underlined the central conflict of the game: magic vs. technology. I used the string quartet to stand for the era of the Industrial Revolution that Arcanum is undergoing, but I wanted the structure and phrasing of the pieces to evoke early music and Renaissance polyphony with its spiritual/mystical associations.  It's kind of a built-in anachronism.

Strings tend not to tire the ear as much as other instruments, so they are able to sustain an entire soundtrack by themselves.  They're also capable of great delicacy, and work well to unobtrusively support the game without bringing undue attention to themselves. Strings can produce a wide range of sonic colors, which I tried to exploit in various ways to keep the pieces interesting: pizzicato (plucking the strings), sul ponticello (playing near the bridge for a glassy effect), harmonics (which have a high, hollow sound), etc.

RPGDot: Is there an Arcanum track which was special to do and why?

Ben Houge: My favorite piece is the main Arcanum theme; I feel like it evokes some important ideas from the game.  I used long, evolving phrases to suggest the epic nature of the game (and Arcanum truly is huge).  The theme is purposefully non-heroic, since the player can chose a path of good or evil, with an element of tragedy.  I also feel like it's a particularly appropriate theme for an RPG, which is a little more contemplative, unlike an adventure game that you might need to get pumped up to play.

I also like the wilderness theme a lot; I love those sonorities and the silences (I found that getting the pauses just right was as challenging as writing the notes).  I like "The Demise of the Zephyr," which underscores the game's opening movie; the blimp was a fun image to accompany with music.  The Tarant music was interesting to write, because it's bitonal, or at least bimodal. And I like the lyrical nature of "Tulla," a track in which each instrument gets its chance to take the lead.

6. What are your influences and what are your favourite artists (both modern & classical)?

Ben Houge: One CD that was a key inspiration for Arcanum is the Kronos Quartet's album Early Music, which combines early music and a string quartet quite effectively. In the course of working on the game, I listened to a lot of early music (by composers such as Perotin, William Byrd, and Josquin des Pres) and a lot of string quartets (by composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, and Debussy).

I'm a great admirer of contemporary classical composers such as John Adams, Aaron Jay Kernis, John Corigliano, and Paul Lansky.  I like African music by artists like King Sunny Ade and Obo Addy. I love well-crafted pop music, including that of Serge Gainsbourg, Aimee Mann, and Thomas Dolby.  In the realm of film music, I admire James Newton Howard and Thomas Newman.  I'm voracious in my listening, and I enjoy anything that can teach me something new.

RPGDot: What would you like to do in the future? A specific movie soundtrack or a special game? A full orchestral score or cut-down to a few instruments (like in Arcanum)? Any new project(s) you are working on already?

Ben Houge: I'd love to do another small ensemble score; I love the delicacy and intimacy of a chamber group, and I think it's a fresh, underutilized sound in computer game scores.  I also think a smaller ensemble can be uniquely appropriate to the smaller scale of one person and a computer, as opposed to a theater full of people at a cinema.  Computer game scores are free of a lot of the associations and expectations people have with film music, so it can be a great place to try new things.  I'm also very interested in the unique capabilities of the medium for variable and interactive music.

Since finishing work on Arcanum (and a little bit during and before), I've been working on a project called Jonny Drama, which has just been announced.  It's an incredibly fun project based on a great, original idea, and the team is fantastic to work with.  The music is in a fun, jazzy, retro, spy style, completely different from Arcanum! We're using Microsoft's DirectMusic technology, and I'm focusing on making a very dynamic and interactive soundtrack.

RPGDot: Do you play games also? What is your favourite game, what games did you play lately?

Ben Houge: Recently, I've enjoyed playing No One Lives Forever.  I thought Guy Whitmore did a great job on that score.  My all-time favorite game is probably Mario Kart 64, though; I'll take anyone on!

RPGDot: Thanks for the interview :)

Ben Houge: My distinct pleasure!