You don’t want anything to stick out yet everything should be heard. Mixing live orchestra with important electronic elements is not easy. Back when we started, the ‘hybrid’ sound wasn’t really a genre just yet, so plenty of things were done by trial and error. Could you elaborate on how you went about creating tracks for projects like these through a joint effort? How do you achieve almost factory-like efficiency without losing attention to detail? I can honestly say that I would not be half as successful in my career without this unique collaboration.Ĭhris: Through scores like Dark Messiah and Prototype, you developed a unique approach to music production. I think our body of work can speak for itself today.Ĭris Velasco: Working together with Sascha has given us both some amazing opportunities as well. Cris was under the same management (Four Bars Intertainment) so we met up and understood each other musically, immediately. So an opportunity came up to pitch for a game that needed a hybrid of both, orchestra and electronic. I had some experience writing for orchestra but I knew plenty of people that could do it better and I would much rather focus on electronics and melody anyways. Sascha Dikiciyan: Fast forward to 2004, having worked on titles like Quake II, Quake III Arena and more, I was ready to look for the next level. Not only do I get to write the kind of music that inspires me, but I also get to record with amazing orchestras and choirs around the world.Ĭhris: What led you to form an unlikely collaboration? But a few months later I heard the score to Outcast by my (now) good friend Lennie Moore and I realized that games could offer me the creative outlet that I was looking for now I am able to really fulfill my dream as a composer. At that point, I hadn’t really heard anything in games that led me to believe that this was a viable path. When I was done with school, I wanted to write the kind of epic orchestral scores that I fell in love with from the movies. However, I never really considered writing music for games as a career until I graduated from the music composition program at UCLA. Together with my other passion, video games, it was obvious to put them both together.Ĭris Velasco: I’ve been an avid gamer since Space Invaders hit Atari in 1980. These bands were playing on the radio back then and it made me curious about electronic music. Of course the biggest impression on me was when I heard the likes of Depeche Mode, New Order, Devo etc. Growing up in Germany, you get to appreciate a lot of classical music too. Our entire house was always filled with music. I studied the piano early on and was playing the drums at about 12. Sascha Dikiciyan: Well yes, I come from the European underground scene. Could you tell us more about your backgrounds? You both come from quite different backgrounds - Sascha as an underground DJ, Cris as a classically-trained orchestrator. Interview Subject: Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris VelascoĬoordination: Greg O’Connor-Read Interview ContentĬhris: Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco, many thanks for speaking to us today. Through the interview, they reveal how their overlapping passions and unique focuses allow them to produce a true and successful collaboration. They highlight landmark scores in their careers - both collaborations and solo works - before going into more detail about their latest work, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. In this interview, Sascha and Cris discuss their respective backgrounds and how they collaborate. In addition, they have separately worked on franchises such as Quake, God of War, James Bond, MAG, Section 8, and Darksiders. Their hybridised sounds have featured in high-profile games such as Borderlands, Prototype, Tron: Evolution, and Mass Effect 2 in recent years. Sascha Dikiciyan & Cris Velasco Interview: A Spectacular Collaborationĭespite coming from contrasting backgrounds, underground DJ Sascha Dikiciyan and classically-trained orchestrator Cris Velasco have formed a high-profile collaboration in recent years.
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