Video Game Music with Rosewater’s Mark Benis – Game & Gadget Podcast #40 - Game & Gadget Podcast | Lyssna här

I am joined by Mark Benis, who has composed the musical soundtrack for the point and click adventure game Rosewater, set in the wild west and released in 2024. Mark has also worked on the soundtrack for Lamplight City with others credits for titles including Wolfenstein: Youngblood.

In this podcast, we discuss his joy of retro chip-tune music of retro gaming platforms including the Nintendo Game Boy, which has inspired his journey creativity to now write musical soundtracks for modern gaming titles.

Topics include:

Mark Benis’ opportunity to become a game composer
Childhood love of Pokémon Red/Blue music led to a lifelong curiosity about chip music
The beauty of 8-bit music to orchestral and back again
Using Wwyse and FMOD as audio middleware to replace line-by-line coding
Mark’s early days and the audio equipment he used
The financial barrier of the many professional audio sample libraries
No woodwinds in the game Lamplight City inspiring creativity by limitation
How hardware MIDI modules (Roland MT-32, Sound Canvas etc) have been replaced with software music audio libraries
Mark’s go to piano performances to loosen his fingers and inspire his thoughts
Mark’s computer and desk setup for music composition
What is Rosewater and the musical brief you were given
Avoiding the typical wild west country style music
How much of the original work made it into the game soundtrack?
How much of the artwork and game direction did Mark see before composing the tracks?
Timing introductions to the music, or arranging the music to the intro?
Hearing the voice acting dialogue for the first time reactions
Mixing virtual instruments with live music players
Choral music creation for the game Lamplight City recorded in a church with a real choir
Mark’s future projects
Collaborating on musical projects and avoiding arguments

Featured music within the podcast, kindly provided with permission by Mark Benis…

7-43 to Rosewater
Once Upon a Time in Western Vespuccia
Night Walk
The Showdown
So Long, Partner
Flor Silvestre by Christiane Ramirez

You can download the full Rosewater Soundtrack on Mark Benis’ Bandcamp page.

The full transcript can also be downloaded…

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Read the full post: Video Game Music with Rosewater’s Mark Benis – Game & Gadget Podcast #40, created by James Woodcock.

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