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We got an opportunity to talk with Kane Minkus, Managing Partner at SomaTone Interactive Audio, about their specialized team of individuals whom put the sound into many of the games we play. Casual games from Peggle, Azada, Chocolatier, Diner Dash and literally dozens more to console titles like Assault Heroes 2, Luxor and American Idol. SomaTone has their beautiful music in the MMO game market as well with World of Warcraft, Pirates of the Burning Sea and many more.

They construct the wonderful music that sets the stage for many game genres and add dynamics to an otherwise plain world of beeps and bleeps. Kane Minkus had plenty to say about the game industry, casual games and where we’ll see audio going in the future. His answers will make you stop and listen to the music…

Since the invention of the 16-bit console game, we’ve had huge leaps in graphic capabilities. Today, Sony and Microsoft over-hype their graphic intensive systems, how important is the audio component to video games?

Audio is an incredibly important aspect to any multimedia or interactive experience. Let’s take an extreme example – next time you are playing a game, turn the volume off completely and notice the difference of your experience of this game – is it better or worse? Are you more engaged or less?

Now, usually it is not a question really of whether audio should be there or not be there in games, but the real dividing line comes when a judgment call has to be made about whether or not to invest in a great team to produce great audio. The difference between top notch audio and just ok audio will have the same net affect on the users experience.

To test that theory, next time you are playing a game, put on high school marching band music while you are playing and notice the difference in experience you have. In fact, changing the audio track to a picture changes the experience to something so dramatically different that this technique is used in therapy. If you want to change the experience of some event that has happened to you in the past, in your minds eye, replay the whole event and run a different soundtrack behind it (in your head) and instantly the experience will change. This is how powerful audio is in determining the experience of something.

Are there any genre’s of games that benefit more from high quality audio? RPG’s for instance?

Well, every game benefits from an appropriate and high quality soundtrack, and the genre and quality of writing will determine the value of the audio. For example, a fun casual game, for example a time management game, should in no way be given a dramatic RPG soundtrack.

Unless of course, that was the intended experience the producer wants. And that’s the great part about audio – you can tell so much story with the music in the instrument choices, dynamics and melodic/harmonic choices. Each game should have a well crafted soundtrack. Even the sound effects (SFX) can give you a much better experience based upon the way they create the realism of an animated object – choices in material, dynamics and progression through a SFX can tell so much about what the animation is on the screen.

What genre of game has your team really loved to work on?

Genre is not so important to us as much as games that are willing to take risks with the audio and really tell a story. So much can be done with audio to differentiate one game from the next that we love working on games where we have more creative freedom to go a little out of the expected ordinary approach. More and more games are doing this.

Do gamers actually buy sound tracks for video games as a secondary purchase?

LOL – it is funny that you ask that! We have sold a couple soundtracks separately and in online games recently. I would have to say at the moment, they seam to not be buying the soundtracks that much. Occasionally, a really definitive soundtrack connects with an audience and sells like hotcakes, but on average, I can not say it is something users buy. This is a shame from our perspective, as some of the music for games is absolutely extraordinary works of art on their own.

For example we released three soundtracks this year that were recorded with the Berlin Film Orchestra, an incredible orchestra that records all the film music coming out of Berlin.

Many publishers are pushing collectors edition style bundles, do you see these shipping with more audio soundtracks in the future?

In tie in with your last question, although people are not specifically buying soundtracks, they have become a great marketing tool and additional way to easily add value to a bundle or download. Since the work is already done, providing it for the user to have as an extra nice bonus is becoming popular. And I would guess we will see more of this in the future. It is really a per game decision based upon the listen-ability of the score separate from the game – like does it really stand up on its own as a work of art – or is the score primarily there to support the game play.

Somatone’s portfolio includes many popular casual games like Peggle, Talismania, Mystery Case Files, the Diner Dash series, Wedding Dash and so many others. Is the desire for quality sound tracks growing in the casual game space?

Absolutely. I think our company is a direct expression of how in demand high quality audio is for Casual Games. We first started at the beginning of Casual Games and, of course, then it was hard to convince people that it was worth the investment. Now, it is obvious. And with our recent recordings with the orchestra, I believe it is a strong statement from the publishers and our company that the market and attention from the customers to production quality is strong enough to warrant that investment.

Ultimately, no one would be spending that kind of money if we didn’t believe there was a return on the investment. So I believe it is very clear now that high quality audio in Casual Games is essential to compete in the market place.

You’ve worked on console games, DS games, PC games, XBLA games, mobile games and many others, which have you found the most joy working with?

I can’t say any particular platform is more enjoyable then others. Our team thrives on the challenge of making each game a superb “piece of art.” So, a really clever DS game can be as much fun as recording the military or orchestra for a console game. There are different challenges with each – limitations and technical particulars also – and we like to have to shift our thinking in terms of markets (as DS tends to not cater to the same customer as console products all the time), but no platform is always particularly better to us then others.

You’ve worked with Big Fish Games, Konami, Mattel, Mumbo Jumbo, Popcap, Playfirst, Vivendi, Ubisoft and so many others. Any memorable experiences with any of them? Any one of them that really put a challenge to your team?

Each company has a really distinctive culture and each company comes to the table with certain strengths. I could tell you about memorable experiences with all of them! Specifically, our work with Konami on the American Idol games was very challenging.

There level of accuracy on the music reproductions was actually shocking to us when we did the first game with them. We are already extremely anal about quality of production and accuracy when doing pop music reproductions, and each time we would hand in a song or review, we would get two pages of notes back on it. But the experience certainly upped our level of impeccability with production.

When do you begin working on sound tracks for a video game? From day one, or does the developer hand over a near final copy for you to start your audio?

Each game is different and depends on how the developer would like to include us in the process. The best ones come early (and often!) and include us from the start. We can creatively concept with them early and discuss technology options. Then we usually wait until the game has been more fleshed out to start production. Many times, games change before the end (levels are dropped, cut scenes are added, etc), so the longer we can wait the better.

How do developers react when you lay a soundtrack behind their game? Do you get good feedback from them?

LOL – well normally yes!! We do a great deal of creative design with our clients and pitch concepts, so by the time we craft an original score, we normally get a huge smile that their game now has an original score that is all theirs!

How long does it take you to design a full soundtrack for a game like Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst?

That took about 3 months in total. It was about 2 months in writing, and a month in production. There is the arranging, recording, editing, mixing and mastering that takes up that production month.

How do you go about designing the “theme” behind the soundtrack for a game title? What draws inspiration?

Well this is an interesting question – it is sort of like asking where do creative ideas come from. I can tell you how I do that, but I would guess it is different for each composer. I like to see the art (actually without the game play first), and hear the story from the producer. I immediately start noticing how I would feel if I was literally standing in the world as the character – a process called “shifting” – when you take your consciousness and pretend it is in another person to hallucinate what their experience might be like. I notice what emotions I would be feeling and the start thinking about how I would evoke that emotion through music – with instruments, tempos and melodies/harmonies.

These are the first three layers that pop up to me and they are such interconnected tools to create an emotional response to music, that they all come as a package to me. I would cal this the initial “creative impact.” Then I get a bit more strategic and heady about it (where as initially – I spend more time listening to body cues). I start referencing other material that has been done before in this style to get some specific ideas, then I am off and running. Of course, the Main Theme needs to tell the story of the whole game – or the bigger picture. So this is all taken into consideration during creation as well.

What inspired SomaTone to design video game sound tracks? Any particular games that gave you the desire?

We gravitated towards games mainly because of our rapport with the people in the industry. My partner, Nick Thomas and I, were in the record and film industry before. We were asked a few times to work on games and noticed that we really got along with the people in that industry better and there was more room for creative risks. This immediately drew us to work more in games.

SomaTone does music product, do you work in other areas such as sound effects, voice overs and such?

Absolutely, we are almost always hired to produce the music, Sound Effects (SFX) and Voice Over (VO) for a project. We have a full staff of sound designers and VO directors. Lately localization has been growing and we expect to see more localization of voices as 2009 goes on.

What type of tools do you require to make your audio experiences? Do you work on PC or Apple?

We work on both PC and Apples at our studios. There are rich tools on both and also the games require us to be able to test on both platforms. The actual software we use to create our audio is a LONG list, and a better discussion for next interview!

As consoles become more competitive and intense entertainment experiences, where do you see video game audio heading? Are we all going to need 7.1 surround sound systems to immerse ourselves?

Perhaps, there are those who would like to see it go there. I actually think at some point we might get to a full 3D experience that people actually like – meaning we have touched a bit on it with glasses and helmets – but it has not caught on yet. When we get to this experience I believe audio will stay up with the need to evolve. However, for different platforms, I think there will be different levels of evolution.

For example, DS would likely never be in 7.1! What we focus on, more then the technology, is where games are evolving within the consciousness of the society. Meaning, I would love to see less war games, and more complex thought provoking gaming. Stimulating game play and games that are both fun and develop skills or abilities of people. Guitar Hero is a great example of a game that is both really fun and develops ones experience to consider performing, or playing a guitar.

Naturally, you will not become a great guitarist by playing the game more, but more kids might become performers or musicians because of the exposure to it. I think games like that are awesome and a real triumph for that form of entertainment. I recognize that after all it is just entertainment, but why cant we learn, grow and evolve while we are being entertained?

To new game developers and independent developers, do you have any suggestions on the importance of the audio experience when they’re developing titles? Any experiences you’d like to pass on?

Work with highly experienced professionals when it comes to audio. Audio is your highest ROI as it is one of the lowest costs to developing your game while it gives you so much richness for your user experience. Treat it like you would art, because it is going to be revealing the mind behind the production – when done well, the whole product occurs like a higher quality product – therefore selling better.

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We’d like to say thanks to the folks at SomaTone Interactive Audio for answering our questions and shedding some light on the audio-side of the gaming industry.

With what we have learned from talking with Kane Minkus, we’ll be paying much closer attention to the audible experiences in our gaming environments. From casual gaming, to hardcore action adventure and RPG, the music tells a story, do you know what it’s saying?