Interview with award winning music composer Rod Abernethy

Recently I had the opportunity to ask the Composer for the new Wheelman soundtrack Rod Abernethy a few questions about his long and successful career in the music industry. He has created music for many game titles such as Alpha Protocol, Dead Space, and Transformers: Animated, As well as Black site: Area 51. He was also awarded best soundtrack of the year by the Game Audio Network Guild for “The Hobbit” soundtrack. Here are a few questions he answered for this exclusive interview.

Q & A

Roadkill: How did you get involved with writing music for the gaming industry?

Rod: My background was recording and producing music in the music industry. I was signed to a couple of major record labels and later worked in studios recording with some renowned music groups and in film/TV. One day I was approached by Southpeak Interactive to score their video game, “Dark Side Of The Moon” which was a blast and made me really curious about doing more games. Subsequently I decided to attend GDC (Game Developers Conference) and made some great contacts, and later landed some decent gigs that allowed me to build a good credits list.

Roadkill: Composers that create music for film sometimes have the movie there to look at as they write the music. How does it work with video games? Do you have something to look at visually to inspire your composition? Or do you just have a description about the part of the game you are composing music for?

Rod: It’s all of the above. Since I play a lot of games, I’m pretty tuned in to what I think works for games. Most of the time, they give me a script and a plotline, lots of images of the characters and the environment, and a list of the cues that they want. It’s great if I get into the process early on and I can be involved with where music is needed and how it will be implemented into gameplay. Sometimes I’m able to play the game as it’s being developed…that’s a great way to compose for a game.

Roadkill: Of all music composers of all time, who has inspired you most when it comes to your music?

Rod: Bernard Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith are tied for first place. And John Williams is a music god; he’s not of this earth.

Roadkill: Out of all your work in the gaming industry what is the coolest thing that has happened to you so far?

Rod: Great question, I can’t name just one. Winning the Soundtrack of the Year for The Hobbit at the Game Audio Network Guild awards was great kudos in my games career. Producing at Skywalker Ranch for Dead Space was a dream come true, there’s so much history in that place, it’s very inspiring. Another big highlight was meeting Japanese game composer Hitoshi Sakimoto at this year’s GDC.



Roadkill: You use music software when creating your music. What type of programs do you use to create your music?

Rod: Digital Performer has been my main sequencer for years. I also use Logic and Ableton Live, depending on the project. For mastering and tweaking, it’s Bias Peak. I use tons of software plug-ins and libraries including Waves Platinum, PSP, Ohm Force, East West Platinum Orchestra, Vienna Symphonic Library, and Project Sam Brass. Spectrasonics Omnisphere is really amazing. I also have a lot of my own personal sample libraries that I’ve collected over the years. No matter what software I use, I always try to inject the elements of live instruments into my scores - like live vocals, guitars, drums, bass and live orchestra.

Roadkill: If someone wanted to start out making digital music on their computer. What would you suggest they use to start?

Rod: Get advice from other musicians to start with and maybe start on Garageband, but if you’re on PC, get the equivalent for Windows. There are lots of mags that cater to the beginner as well as the professional like Computer Music and Electronic Musician. Try and find archived issues on the subject and soak up everything you can read about digital recording, mixing and composing with a computer.

Roadkill: What is your favorite part about what you do for a living?

Rod: My favorite part is having great friends that I’ve met in the video games business. Both clients and other composers; I’ve met some of the greatest people through games.

Roadkill: When you see the finished product of what you’ve been working on, do you sometimes wish you could still tweak it here or there?

Rod: Yes, the compositions are never finished, you just work on a piece until you run out of time and you have to press “send”. I’m always tweaking, always trying to make it better.

Roadkill: What is your favorite video game of all time?

Rod: There are so many, I can’t just name one. I guess I’ve spent more time with Orange Box-Half Life than any other game; I’ve been a huge fan of Half-Life since day one. Maybe Resident Evil 4? The God Of War series is great and it has incredible music, too. It’s funny, when I just want to mindlessly zone out, I still revert to playing R-Type on my SNES



Roadkill: Your latest project is Wheelman, what makes this project unique from past projects?

Rod: Midway UK was great to work with on Wheelman, and they let me run with my instincts on what I thought the game needed. I love flamenco guitar and it was perfect for the mood, but just solo Latin guitar wasn’t enough. I wanted to mix flamenco guitar and Latin percussion with electronica/techno and action orchestra. It was a really fun project, and I think it’s a bit unique with those styles blended together.


Roadkill: You have a long history in not only the gaming music industry but also the music industry as a whole. What is your favorite memory out of all you have experienced while working in the music industry?

Rod: Another good but hard question. I’ve had a wonderful career in music, so many great experiences and great friends. Hearing my first song on the radio was incredible, something right out of the movie “That Thing You Do”. Living in L.A. and recording with one of my favorite bands, Arrogance, for Warner Brothers was unreal, something I’d always wanted to do. I also spent four weeks recording with David Lord at his studio in Bath, England…it was mind-altering. In that same studio, David had produced and recorded “Security” with Peter Gabriel. He also produced some other top faves of mine including Tears For Fears, XTC and The Pretenders. One of my most memorable relationships in the music biz has been with Paul Rothchild who produced so many great artists, including The Doors. I learned so much from Paul, it was a great privilege to know him.

Roadkill: In the future if Wheelman becomes a movie. Will you compose the score for it?

Rod: There was talk of a Vin Diesel film, but I don’t know what’s in the future.
Of course I’d love to contribute; I’ve got a lot more ideas left for Wheelman.

Roadkill: When will the Wheelman score be available to buy and where?

Rod: We’re working on releasing a soundtrack that will also include tracks from the game composed by Jorge and Guillermo Badolato. Stayed tuned….

Roadkill: Do you have a website that people can check out if they want to purchase your music?

Rod: Check with the Rednote website: http://www.rednoteaudio.com Thanks for a great interview, and thanks to your readers for playing games and listening to game music!!

Roadkill: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview! We all look forward to listening to the new Wheelman soundtrack!

Interview by, Todd Harvey (Roadkill)

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Yep you heard it here first! BLAH..........

My day off!

I spent the day being lazy and I watched movies that weren't worth watching. So needless to say I wasted a whole day doing things that were absolutely worthless. However it was nice just relaxing for a change. I did do on thing constructive just for the heck of it. I created a T-shirt design for Betty And The Boy. That is it for doing anything worth while all day! I think I'm going to have to force my self to work out now. I feel completely lethargic and gross, so I need to get my blood circulating. You can see the T-shirt design here...

Easter Sunday!

Today was Easter Sunday and the family and I spent most of the day at church. We were helping out with a fundraiser for the Active student ministries. One of the youth pastors spent a day to drive all the way to Spokane to pick up Krispie Cream donuts so that we could sell them to the congregation to raise money for the Active summer camp. The proceeds will go to help pay for students who aren't able to afford to attend. This made for a long but fun day selling donuts. We had 3 services so it was a full day to say the least.



After church Stacey made these amazing pastries filled with strawberries and covered in strawberry frosting. She has been calling them homemade Pop Tarts, but that name doesn't give them justice. They are pastries that have to have fallen from heaven into our kitchen. In fact I need to hurry and finish this blog so I can go eat one! In fact I gotta go..........

Giving God Leftovers.....

I am trying to manage my time where God increases in my life and things like Xbox, Netflix, and other things become less of a distraction in that pursuit. I have a strong urge to start a neighbor hood bible study much like the skate night we were doing before from home. The reward in teaching each kid there was AWESOME! To see growth in them and the curiosity in their eye's were more then I could ask for. I see a need for it in our neighbor hood. There are so many kids that are out and about because their parents don't want them at home. I am considering this as the nice weather rolls in and the kids will be out in force. I miss our skate nights that we had and how those kids loved coming there not only to have fun, but mostly to hear the word of God.

With that said I don't want to get so bogged down that I or my family get burned out. However there are some things that can be cut out to make more time for God. So I will be praying on this to see what the Lord would want of us. If you all wouldn't mind praying about that for us as well, it would be much appreciated. I hope you all have an amazing Easter this year! If you want check out the live feed from my church tomorrow, there will be three of them. 8AM,10Am,and 12PM Mountain Time Zone. You can watch them at www.freshlifechurch.org or just watch it below via Ustream.....

Blog burst!

I have been told to blog more because I have been slacking the past few months. So here is number 3 in the last few days. As of late Stacey and I have been helping with the student ministry at church. We also are part of what is called Depth group which is an extention to the student ministry. Pretty much it is a book discussion group as well as a time that we all can talk and pray together. We are currently reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I highly reccomend this book to all Christians. You can pick it up here Crazy Love

The past couple of weeks I have been working to get donations for box lunches for our Friday service at church. The donations will help make up box lunches that will be sold during that service. The proceeds will go towards paying for the students way to the summer youth camp this year. I have to give a shout out to my buddy Brett for providing the bread for the lunches and my buddy Rick for providing the chips. You guys are awesome and I don't know what we'd do with out your contributions.

I am hoping that I'll be able to attend the summer camp because it sounds like it is going to be a blast! However this all depends on whether or not I can get the time off of work. Buisness is picking up and people are starting to take vacations and vacations can't overlap. So it all depends on when the camp will be scheduled and if I can get that week off. We shall see how it all plays out here soon.

Today was a good day, it started out rainy and turned to sunshine. It is about to end here soon being I am tired and ready for bed. I made an awesome dinner earlier! In fact Jake the self proclaimed vegetarian even liked the Pork ribs I made. You see he is only vegetarian when he doesn't want to finish his dinner. He finished it all and that says a lot! I am sure Stacey will use that as an excuse to make me cook from now on. I just say that I got really lucky this one time. In fact that is probably more true then not. I'm done blogging for now. I'll try to become more consitant for you all who read my blog.

11 Years!

Yesterday was the 11th year of marriage between my wife and I. I have always been driven to have a marriage that lasted up to and past 60 years, or death which ever comes first. 11 years goes by like a flash and I am so happy that the Lord has blessed me with such a beautiful family.

What Easter means to me.

To start this entry off I figured I’d share this awesome video with you before you begin to read on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsAgfA83m4U&feature=player_embedded

For most people Easter is all about the bunny, egg hunts and green plastic grass. Maybe the family will get together for a full day event with a dinner to top it off. Some may make this one of the days out of the year to actually make it to church, or maybe crack open a bible. Most however have forgotten or have been distracted from the real meaning behind Easter. What is Easter to you? How do you celebrate Easter with your family? Is it just another day out of the 365 in the year? Or is it something more?

I’m going to tell you what Easter means to me and how Easter should be an everyday celebration rather then one day set aside out of the year. The Easter story starts out with what is referred to as the Last Supper, and concludes at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can read one account here in Matthew 26, 27, 28. I encourage you to read it and really think about how drastically different Easter is today compared to what it really is supposed to be about.
Easter is not about a day of magical rabbits that hide colorful eggs in your yard. Easter is far greater of a day. In fact to say that it is about a furry magic bunny is insulting to say the least. What actually happened and what should be celebrated is the greatest day and event in all history! Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the history of the entire world there has never been such an awesome day! It was the day we were set free from all sin! You see Jesus Christ was born into this world to make things right. He came to pay a debt that had been placed over us due to the fall of Adam and Eve in The Garden Of Eden (Gen:3). From that day we all fell under the horrible thing called sin.

Jesus went willingly to his death for us. However many at that time or even now did not and do not realize that he was the messiah promised throughout all of Old Testament scripture. For them he was a criminal yet he did nothing wrong. They accused him of much but he was innocent and blameless. If they only would have listened to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 52 and 53. Or listened to Psalms 22 they would have known who he was. Those are just a few of the Old Testament prophecies that point directly to Christ as who the bible says he is. In fact the books in Isaiah were written close to 600 years before Christ was born. Psalms 22 over 800 years before he was born or crucifixion was invented. Yet Psalms 22 gives a detailed account of a crucifixion.

You see Jesus Christ came just as God had promised. Yet people continue to ignore that even when proof is staring them right in the face. Jesus went to the cross for us so that we would not be sent to an eternity of pain and suffering. He died that we may be set free. His sacrifice paid the way for our eternal well being. So that we could live side by side our creator and that we may be forever with the ones we love without tears, sickness, or death. How horrible it is to think we’d not take such a precious gift of love!

All the pain we feel, the regrets will be wiped away. That is if we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. Jesus went to the cross knowing the pain and suffering he was going to be put through. He was whipped and scourged to the point of death before he was forced to carry his cross though the city and up to the hill where he would face the most humiliating death anyone could endure. His shredded bloodied body was nailed to the cross and set upright for all who passed by to see. As he hung there bleeding to death people hurled insults his way. He not only suffered the pain of his wounds and the nails piercing his hands and feet. He also at the same time felt the crushing weight of world’s sin pushing down on him spiritually. If you think of all the sadness in your life crushing down on you it doesn’t even compare to what he must have felt. It was so bad that God had to look away from his son who hung there gasping for breath as his lungs collapsed in on themselves making each breath he took closer to his last. As Jesus died he prayed beautiful words that hold so much meaning. “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.” He prayed for them as he prayed for us in our sin. So that our heavenly father would forgive us because we are often blinded by sin.

As Jesus Christ took his last breath, those who accepted Christ as their savior took their first as a free people. For the first time in the history of the world we all were set free from sin. The chains the held us captive were broken. Jesus was buried in a tomb and resurrected on the third day. That third day is what we now call Easter. This is what Easter is and what the world tries to forget. It is all about Jesus dying for our sins and conquering death with his resurrection. For those of you who haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your savior. I ask you to reconsider and really think about what Jesus did for you and I on that cross.

Heavenly minded......

A life without destination is a life without direction, and life without direction lacks a sense of purpose.

I had to share the below quote because it is so true!

C.S. Lewis - Perhaps you’re afraid of becoming “so heavenly minded you’re of no earthly good.” Relax — you have nothing to worry about! On the contrary, many of us are so earthly minded we are of no heavenly or earthly good. C.S. Lewis observed, “if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves….the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.”