Vecchia intervista a Michael Z. Land

Q: When did you start working at LucasArts?
A: April 1990

Q: How did you get your job?
A: A newspaper ad.� It was actually placed there by a headhunter who wasn't really authorized; the Lucas people hadn't asked her to fill the position.�� But she managed to get me an interview anyway, and the match was so good, with both music and computers, that they went for it.

Q: Who are your heroes?
A: Beethoven, first and foremost.� Over time I've become more and more appreciative of how gigantic his accomplishment is.� As I've become more skilled, the music of other composers has seemed more attainable. But Beethoven is like a mountain in the distance...no matter how much ground you cover, it's always just as far away.� I've also been a big fan of Hendrix and the Grateful Dead.� I find Hendrix more mellow and sophisticated material to be just visionary.� As for The Dead, they have a musical rootedness that is very physical and foundational to me.

Q: What was the first game you worked on at LucasArts?
A: The Secret of Monkey Island.� It was a great way to get started in the industry.

Q: What exactly is the iMUSE system?
A: It started out as essentially a souped-up MIDI sequencer, and has evolved into more a methodology than anything else.� We currently use iMUSE for streamed music only.� It's a way to organize all the different music cues, and see how they relate to each other by using a graphic layout.� It also allows the composer to specify transitions and other types of musical responses at a pretty detailed level.

Q: What is the process of composing the music for a LucasArts game from start to finish?
A: It varies from game to game, but generally the composer will start by reading design documents early on, and meeting with the project leader to get a feel for the style and mood of the title.� Based on this information, the composer will propose a musical style to the project leader, and they might go back and forth a bit until they settle on something they both like.� Then the composer will listen to a bunch of material in that style, and then start coming up with ideas for musical themes.� Then the real work begins.� The composer goes through the game in great detail, coming up with a list of all the music cues that will be needed.� He then begins composing MIDI sketches for those cues, a process which can take several months. Initially he will deliver placeholders to see how the material is working in the game, making any changes as needed.� Eventually, he will do final production on the pieces, which involves bringing in live players into our on-site studio to reace MIDI parts.� This is followed by mixing and mastering (to make sure the music sits well in the sonic space defined by the voice and sound effects).� The whole package is delivered in a single giant music bundle containing all the music files, as well as an iMUSE script file which defines all the interactive control.� Then we fix the bugs, and we're done.

Q: What is a typical day like for you at LucasArts?
A: It varies greatly.� When I'm composing, I usually spend an hour or two doing email and dealing with department issues.� Then I put out the "do not disturb" sign and spend the rest of the day on music. When I'm between composition products, I spend most of the day dealing with department issues, doing email, and working on some department project such as a database or some technical issue.

Q: Do the producers/writers of the game tell you distinctly what they want, or do they give you and idea and let you go with it?
A: The amount of direct input from project leaders is totally a matter of personal style.� Some of them give us total freedom and let us come up with everything ourselves, giving only minor suggestions.� Others are very specific about what they want, and keep at us until they get it.

Q: Clint Bajakian once said that he likes pushing the sound and music of games to higher and higher levels of quality with each product. How has the production of music in these games evolved since you first started working at LucasArts?
A: It's evolved a huge amount.� When I first started, there was no digital sound.� Everything was MIDI and depended on the synth in the user's machine for playback (which in some cases was a mere PC internal speaker which could only play one note at a time).� Over time we started using more and more digital sound, at higher and higher resolution.� Now, we are doing work that truly deserves the term "soundtrack".� Everything is digital, generally 16-bit 22K.� The music is produced in a studio with live players, all the voice is recorded by professional actors, there are sound effects for everything and then some, and rich ambient sound gives you a sense of place.� And finally, all the elements are carefully mixed and mastered to work in harmony with each other.

Q: I know that in many games, music credit is given to you, Peter McConnell, and Clint Bajakian. How do you divide up the work? Are you each given a certain part of the game to write music for?
A: We used to collaborate on game scores in a very intricate way. Sometimes we'd divide up sections of the game, but more often we'd all be working on everything in a collaborative way, where everything was all mixed up (sometimes one of us would do the initial sketch of a piece, and another of us would finish it, etc.).� That got pretty confusing, and eventually we decided that it should be "one game, one composer", which is how it is now.

Q: Do you ever find it difficult to write so many different songs for just one game?
A: It's not the amount of music that can be difficult, but rather the tight schedules.� It's relatively easy to come up with ideas, but a fair amount of work to develop those ideas into pieces that work well in the game.

Q: What piece of music are you most proud of?
A: I'd have to say that The Dig is probably closest to my heart in terms of musical style.� It's a bit brooding and ponderous, but then again, so am I.� It's also the most integrated score I've done in terms of how all the themes and melodies fit together, and evolve over the course of the game.� In terms of just plain fun though, I'd pick the opening theme for Monkey Island.

Q: What was the hardest project to write music for?
A: The hardest was TIE Fighter.� We were trying to stay true to the sophisticated vision of John Williams' Star Wars music, but also to give it a bit of a rock and roll edge.� That was a tough challenge.

Q: What was it like working with Ron Gilbert?
A: Working with Ron was great.� He really had a thorough understanding of all the elements in his games, and how they all contributed to just the right personality and attitude.� That understanding of how gameplay and attitude intersect is Ron's greatest talent, in my opinion.

Q: What is it like working with Larry Ahern and Jonathan Ackley?
A: It was a lot of fun.� They had tons of really creative ideas, and it was really enjoyable to add a musical element to them.� They also have an excellent sense of long term structure, so the forward momentum of the game was always clear, which helped the composition process a lot.

Q: Are the people at LucasArts really as friendly and outgoing as they seem?
A: Nope.� (Just kidding.� They all really are.)

Q: The music you composed for The Curse of Monkey Island is fantastic. Many fans want to know if you were the one who wrote the main theme to Monkey Island.
A: Yes, that was me.

Q: What part of The Curse of Monkey Island was the most fun to work on?
A: The most fun for me was bringing all kinds of great live players into the studio to record instrumental overdubs.� After working in MIDI for so long, it was a real eye opener.� They brought the music alive in ways that synths just can't do.

Q: Are you aware that there is a petition on the Internet to get a soundtrack released of The Curse of Monkey Island? What do you think about that?
A: I think it's pretty cool.� It feels really good to know that my music is getting a positive response.

Q: Are you composing the music for the new LucasArts game, Grim Fandango?
A: Nope, that will be Peter McConnell's project.� He's got some great ideas brewing.

Q: What kind of music do you like listening to when you're relaxing?
A: Classical (especially Beethoven), Renaissance Choral Music, and rock.

Q: What is your favorite LucasArts game and why?
A: I'd say Monkey Island 2, because it was our first game with wall to wall music, and full iMUSE interactivity (ok, so I'm biased).

Q: Do you have any long-term future plans?
A: I want to keep refining my skill as a composer and instrumentalist (piano, violin, cello).� Music is a very deep art, and I want to get as far into it as my potential will allow.� Someday, I hope to release a CD of my own music, done not for games or videos, but just on its own.

Q: What advice would you give to people who want to compose music for computer games?
A: Practice and study music hard, and work on developing your compositional voice, since ultimately your skill and talent will be what makes the difference.

Q: First of all, I'd like to thank you for granting us another interview.� It's a real treat to get to know more about the music side of LucasArts.
A: My pleasure.� And I must say from scanning the questions below, I'm really impressed with the quality and insight of your questions.� It's a real pleasure to be interviewed in such a knowlegable way.

Q: What's going on now in our favorite gaming company?
A: A lot of the focus in the sound department right now is on Grim Fandango.� It's a really expansive game, with some great moods and settings.� We've got several sound designers working really hard to make the soundtrack as rich and expressive as possible.� And Peter McConnell has been bringing in live musicians for his music score, and it's sounding really great.

Q: In our last interview, you were discussing the iMUSE system. Who came up with the original concept of iMUSE and when?� And how long did it take you to develop the first prototype of iMUSE?
A: Back in 1990, when I was working on Monkey Island with Ron Gilbert, there were a number of ways in which we wanted to synchronize the sound and music with the picture, but we just couldn't do it because of limitations in the sound playback engine.� So right after Monkey Island, I started brainstorming on some ideas for a more sophisticated sound engine.� I soon realized that it was a pretty big challenge, and brought in Peter McConnell, an old friend and colleague, to help. Together, we fleshed out the basics of the design, and spent about eight months programming furiously to get it implemented.� Around that time we brought in Clint Bajakian to collaborate with us on the score to LeChuck's Revenge, and in fact it was Clint who had the pleasure of taking iMUSE for its first test runs doing real interactive music, while Peter and I frantically finished up the programming.� We were very pleased and maybe a little relieved that it actually worked, and shortly thereafter we were able to join Clint in composing the score to LeChuck's Revenge.

Q: iMUSE, as I understand, is one of the only things by LEC that is patented.� Why did you feel it was necessary to patent this technology?
A: I think that at the time, everyone felt we had developed a new and very useful technology.� How you get from that feeling to a decision to file a patent is more of a business and legal question, and I like to leave those kinds of questions to businessmen and lawyers.

Q: Just out of curiosity, who came up with the acronym for iMUSE?
A: That was Peter McConnell.� He has a knack for that sort of thing.� Around here, we refer to him as "The Namemeister".

Q: It is well known that digital music has changed the genre of game music.� How does digital iMUSE compare to MIDI iMUSE? Are there limitations with digital music you didn't have with MIDI?
A: Yes there are, but they don't really bother me.� There are only two significant features that we were able to do in MIDI, and can't in digital.� One is the ability to do interactive tempo changes.� As far as I know, that feature was only used once, by Peter, in the grog drinking contest in LeChuck's Revenge.�� The other is the ability to enable and disable individual instrument parts.� That feature was much more heavily used over the years, but there's a way to do something similar with digital music where you switch between entirely different mixes, so I don't feel we've lost that much interactivity, and we sure have gained a lot of musical quality.

Q: Of course, the great thing about digital music is the ability to use live players to enhance the quality of music.� Was there any kind of hesitation from LucasArts about hiring live players for CMI because of financial reasons?
A: No, on the contrary.� We've gotten a great deal of support from company management regarding the use of live players.� Everyone seems to recognize that they add so much life to a soundtrack.� We even have our own recording studio here on site.� Of course we need to keep an eye on our budgets, and make sure we're getting plenty of bang for our buck, but that's true of all the components that go into a game.

Q: How much of the CMI soundtrack was performed by real players and how much was synthesized?� I'm assuming that the instruments like orchestra strings were synthesized.�
A: There was actually a pretty substantial amount of live playing woven throughout the score, combined of course with high quality instrument samples played on really good samplers.� All of the full orchestral writing was done entirely with samples, because that provided the best blend for the orchestral sound (I spent a lot of time developing the sample set for the orchestra).� In the non-orchestral pieces I used live instruments pretty liberally: guitar, bass, drums, a truckload of percussion, steel drums, accordion, marimba, penny flutes, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, and bassoon.� All of the players were absolutely top quality, and it was a great pleasure working with them. Wherever you hear those instruments in a non-orchestral piece, they're likely to be live (although in some pieces I left the sampled versions in place because there wasn't time or need to replace them).� I'd say that a majority of the pieces in the game have at least some live tracks, with a fair number being predominantly live.� Considering the number of pieces, that's a lot of live playing.

Q: I assume that sheet music arrangements had to be made for the live players for some of the music in CMI.� Were there any sheet music arrangements made for the earlier games like Monkey Island or LeChuck's Revenge?� Has LucasArts ever considered making sheet music available to the public?� Personally, I would LOVE to have my favorite Michael Land works in sheet music form!
A: I actually have printed parts for the original main theme from Secret of Monkey Island.� I printed them out from the MIDI sequence a few years ago when someone asked about performing the piece live using a percussion ensemble.� I don't know about making it generally available, but possibly on a case by case basis...

Q: Did you ever allow or encourage the live players in CMI to improvise, or was it all mapped out from the beginning?
A: There was a lot of guided improvisation, where I had a rough structure and general mood in mind, and asked the player to improvise within that framework.� It worked especially well for the more ambient music.

Q: Every Monkey Island fan knows that the developers of CMI wanted to have a large musical number during ending credit sequence called Plank of Love.� We've seen the lyrics written for the number, but was any composing actually done?� And if so, is there any chance it will ever be heard?
A: Unfortunately that was one of the things we didn't have time to do, but I would have really enjoyed it.� In fact, I was trying to persuade Jonathan Ackley to sing it himself, and I think I almost had him convinced.

Q: You mentioned before that you initially had to compose MIDI sketches for cues for CMI.� How do these MIDI sketches sound when compared to the digital music?
A: The MIDI sketches sounded pretty cool when I first wrote them, because I had really good synths to work on.� But once I got the live players going, the MIDI started to sound kind of flat and lifeless. The actual sound of the MIDI hadn't changed, but my perceptions of it had.

Q: With MIDI becoming more reliable in terms of playback quality, do you think there is any possibility LucasArts will ever go back to MIDI one day?
A: MIDI is far less demanding in terms of disk space and/or CPU, and so there are still situations where it's the right approach (and probably will be for some time).� But I don't think we would ever choose to deliver MIDI as a first choice if digital music is an option, because digital music encompasses everything you can do with MIDI and so much more.

Q: When making the MIDI music for games, was the music "programmed" in, was it performed on a MIDI keyboard and recorded into the computer, or was it a combination of both?
A: We always performed it on a keyboard, since that resulted in a more human, musically natural feel, which is what we've always been after.

Q: Though several game publishers were providing MT-32 support, only LucasArts and Sierra On-Line took advantage of the MT-32 capability to play user-defined sounds. Did you create the additional MT-32 sounds (i.e.� "Jacob's Ladder", "ReggaeBass") used in some of these early games?� Why were so few additional sounds used?
A: I created "ReggaeBass" and Peter created "Jacob's Ladder".� I think the reason we used so few originally programmed sounds is that the MT-32 had so many great sounds to begin with.� And of course there's always the schedule pressure, which makes you find cool ways to use what you already have (when what you have is pretty good) rather than fishing around for new options.

Q: Did you originally sequence the score for The Secret of Monkey Island and LeChuck's Revenge for the MT-32?
A: Yes, pretty much everything from both games was done first on MT-32, with one exception.� I did the rework of the main theme for LeChuck's Revenge using the Adlib driver on the PC.� I guess I just wanted to optimize that first tune of the game for FM, since FM was so predominant at the time.

Q: Here's a technical question: Unlike other MT-32 supported games, LucasArts' games contained ever changing patch dumps, often during the same track or theme.� Was there a reason for doing this rather than using a single patch dump at the start of the game?
A: Yes, the reason had to do with iMUSE.� One of the things iMUSE did was standardize the way common information was maintained for several different sound cards, trying to capitalize on commonalities so as to minimize the amount of work needed to create the different versions of each tune for the different cards.� As a result, we sort of "dumbed down" the MT-32's higher level abilities, and handled them in driver software like we did with the other cards.� To implement this, we needed to talk to the MT-32 using the more low-level language of system exclusive messages, not just for patch dumps, but for various other changing parameters as well.

Q: What is the best way for you to compose music?� Do you sit at a piano and play until you find something you like, or do you compose the music in your head first?
A: It's an interesting question.� I actually go back and forth a lot while working on any given piece.� What works best for me when coming up with initial ideas is to sit at a piano or synthesizer and play until I find something I like.� I do this in my head sometimes, but I've found that the initial ideas I come up with that way don't resonate with me as much as when I'm making real sound, so I end up not using that approach as much.� Once I have a basic idea, I go back and forth a lot moment to moment.� When I work in my head, I don't have to worry about where to put my fingers, so I can get a better sense of overall shapes and flows.� When I'm on the keyboard, I hear real sound, which helps me stay grounded and in touch with the specifics.� Eventually, I always end up at the keyboard to really nail down the final version.�

Q: Also, do you consciously connect different scenes with "leitmotifs" to signify similarities? (examples in CMI like the Voodoo Cannonball theme (Voodoo Lady theme) and the Barbery Coast (Monkey Island theme) spring to mind )
A: I do that a lot, but not always consciously.� When you work on a project for many months, you're swimming in a musical world of themes that represent various people, places or emotions.� These themes get so internalized that after a while there's almost no such thing as a new idea, just new variations of what's already in your head.� You become a filter letting out different parts of your internal musical world, rather than composing on a clean slate.� Sometimes the connections are totally intentional (like the Barbery Coast), and other times it's a similarity of feeling that results in similar music.� I must say it can get pretty strange sometimes, like in CMI when the LeChuck theme starts creeping into the main theme just before his sudden entrance.� That wasn't totally conscious at first.

Q: How does writing music for a game compare to writing music for, say, TV or film?� Is it harder since you have to work with separate MIDIs and other audio files in an orchestrated sequence instead of scoring it all together?
A: I've never composed for TV or film, so I may not be qualified to talk about those media.� But in comparing the music I've written for video cutscenes with that of interactive gameplay, I can definitively say that scoring the interactive parts is much, much harder.� The two main challenges are the unpredictability of time durations and the vast number of potential connection points between pieces.� And of course there's the challenge of writing a looped piece of music that doesn't drive you nuts after a couple of times through the loop.� So with those ground rules, you need to put together a complex network of more than a hundred pieces of music (composed of thousands of individual tracks) that flow in and out of each other in ways that feel natural, comfortable and coherent, while enhancing the overall plot and interactively defining the mood of the moment.� If the computers didn't crash constantly and the schedules weren't so unforgiving, it would still be pretty difficult.

Q: You mentioned before that the tight schedules are stressful for you.� Just how tight are the deadlines for the music in games?
A: To be perfectly honest, it's not that the schedules are really that tight; it's that we're so ambitious about trying to do as much as we can in the time we have.� We get quite a few months to score a game, which is pretty reasonable, and by some standards even luxurious.� But if you look at the task as I described it in the last question, it's a tall order to fill, even with a few months of time.� It may be that we're crazy, but we try to push the quality as high as we possibly can, and that always seems to lead to a real crunch near the end of the production cycle.� Just the nature of the job, I guess.

Q: Have you done any non-game compositions?� And if so, where can we find them?
A: I've been doing some non-game music at home for a few years, kind of on and off (it's really hard to compose at home when you're composing 80 hours a week at work).� It's still at a very early stage; I'm mostly just coming up with initial ideas and rough directions.� I wish I could tell you the style, but there really isn't a style out there that it fits into.� The best I can do is to say it's sort of a cross between classical chamber music and acid rock.� I plan to keep working at it and eventually get it to the point where I can release a CD.�

Q: Do you think there's ANY chance that a CMI soundtrack will available in the future?
A: I wish it were my decision, but since it isn't, I'll have to pass on this one.

Q: If you had to pick your favorite song from CMI, what would it be?
A: Gee, that's a tough one...I guess the town music in Puerto Pollo.� The thing I like about it is that it's light and airy and easy to listen to, but also has an aspect that's deep and maybe a little nostalgic.

Q: Here's a similar question: If you could pick a single piece of music out of all the games you've composed that you're most proud of, what would it be?
A: I've been very lucky in that I've had the opportunity to write lots of tunes for LucasArts' games that I really like.� But I guess I've always been especially proud of the Monkey Island main theme, so if I had to pick just one, I guess that would be it.� On the other hand, I've always thought of the whole score to The Dig, including the soundtrack CD, more as one giant piece rather than separate tunes.� So if you look at it that way and take it as a whole, that's what I'm most proud of.

Q: The one thing that all LucasArts fans can agree on about The Dig is that it contains some of the best music ever found in a computer game.� Was it your idea to use samples from Wagner in The Dig?
A: Yes.� Back when I was in college I did an electronic music piece where I took samples of orchestral Beethoven and played them backwards and forwards and spliced them together to make a musical collage.� I really liked the effect, and always wanted to do something like it again. During the early stages of The Dig, Brian Moriarty, who was project leader at the time, mentioned that he wanted a Wagnerian approach to the score.� I remembered that piece from college and realized that doing something similar with Wagner could be very effective.

Q: Is there any other game music you admire as a musician? Speaking of other game music, will Clint Bajakian ever go back to composing?� It seems like his recent projects have all been in sound effects.
A: I think the music that Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian come up with is really great (and yes, Clint will be doing more composing in the future).� I love the fact that I work with two musical collegues that I admire so much.� They're two of my favorite musicians, in any medium.� And I also really admire the music of The Fat Man and Team Fat, especially their rockin' live instrument stuff.� They bring a lot of fun and spirit to the game music world.

Q: What do you do for recreation other than music?
A: Actually, I really like working outdoors in my yard, anything from pruning plants to moving rocks.� It can be very zen.

Q: Do you ever surf the net to check on your fans?
A: I've done a little of that lately (I just recently became net literate).� People have written some very nice things about my music, and I feel really thankful and appreciative.�� But I'm not at all used to it; most of the time I feel like it's about someone else's music.

Q: How do you feel about people arranging and recording your music as MIDIs for distribution on the net?
A: I take it as a real compliment and I appreciate the interest very much, especially since it's coming from other musicians.

Q: Can you tell us anything about your current and/or future projects?
A: I probably shouldn't, but thanks for asking.

Q: Do you think you would ever want to "move on" to other things and leave LucasArts behind?� Please say no.� Our favorite game company wouldn't be the same without our favorite music composer!
A: Thanks so much for the thought.� And to answer your question, I think LucasArts makes the best games in the industry, and doing music for them is a great opportunity and privilege that I hope I always have.