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\n\t\t\tJared Hiller \/ Adam Lempel<\/p>\n\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jared Hiller has been an integral part of a vibrant and diverse art community in Brooklyn for the past 15 years. Acting as a performer, curator and technician in primary and supportive roles, he has facilitated creative visions across the mediums of music, film, dance, visual art and design, interactive media and installation art. He earned his M.M. with a specialization in film scoring from NYU (2010) and was part of the indie video game art collective Babycastles<\/a> as a curator and technician, displaying works in new and creative ways at galleries in New York and Paris. He also co-formed the music ensemble Operator Music Band<\/a> and designs and builds electronic musical instruments through his own studio label, L0\/rez Effects<\/a>. His most recent work, Entertainment System<\/a>, is a 10 part mixtape series exploring themes and styles in video game music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Could you tell us about your musical background and how you approach music today?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t really have a traditional music education. I took guitar lessons throughout my childhood and early teens which gave me enough background to be able to write songs, but my music reading and writing was remedial. During undergrad, I took an elective on the history of opera and I was so compelled by the combination of music and drama, I decided I was going to change my major from Music Business to Music Composition and began seriously looking into how to read and write scores. I advanced my skills enough to be accepted into a grad program at NYU for music composition for film and multimedia. After that I was mostly writing and performing in \u201crock\u201d bands and scoring when opportunities presented themselves. I always leaned heavily on the tech side of music and performance and spent years designing and building pedals and synthesizers and looking at the foundational ideas of sound production. Recently, I\u2019ve been leaning heavily into electronic and dance music, trying to write from a place focused on sounds, textures and rhythm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n What led you to collaborate with the Babycastles Collective in NYC, and how did your journey into video game music start?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time I discovered Babycastles<\/a>, I had completed my grad program and was looking for more opportunities for alternative types of performance and interactive media. I had always been a scholar of video games and video game culture. It had the same combination of music and drama that I found so alluring in opera or dance or film, but the interactive element and the subject matter really spoke to what I was trying to experience at the time. Around 2010-2012, there was a lot of the discussion around video games related to \u201care they art\u201d. Babycastles seemed to skirt that question by simply presenting games as connection opportunities, spaces where people didn\u2019t need to ask heady questions and just enjoy the medium with like minded people. They also managed to not take themselves too seriously, never leaning too academic. After attending my first event at the Silent Barn space, I got involved in installation and curating from 2010-2014, assisting in producing events at smaller art spaces in New York as well as the Ga\u00eet\u00e9 Lyrique<\/a> in Paris and the Museum of Art and Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Babycastle – Keita Takahashi<\/p>\n\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do you view the evolution of video game soundtracks over time 1970-Fornite-AI? What changes or milestones stand out to you?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like every medium, video games and video game music will be heavily reliant on the available technology and how it evolves and is then implemented. Games seemed to run parallel with the advancement of electronic music and synthesis. Early games relied heavily on analogue oscillators and eventually moved to analogue chipsets that would be a part of the console hardware and both expand and limit the pallet of sounds that could be implemented. CD technology was the next big step which allowed full pre-recorded tracks to be synced up with gameplay. This era also allowed the seeping of electronic and dance music into games that would start a symbiosis that developed further from the 90\u2019s onward. A recent example of this is the fantastic soundtrack to the indie game Neon White by “electronic punk” duo Machine Girl, which is such a perfect aesthetic melding. Without any limitations on audio technology, there are more opportunities for experimental sound design and collaboration with composers and sound artists. This also brings in a level of commerciality that hasn’t really been seen since the formation of CD technology integration, which allows new artists to find syncs, licensing, and an audience through game soundtracks but also an infusion of popular music, which while offering a level of accessibility to users, can often take away from the artistry of composing specifically for games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Who are some of the most influential composers in the video game music scene? What makes Japan such a prolific hub for game music, and why?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like any medium, video game music is highly segmented, but there are your standout composers that will transcend into popular culture. Nobuo Uematsu<\/a> (Final Fantasy<\/a>) and Koji Kondo<\/a> (Mario) are probably the most well known composers; both currently in their 60\u2019s and active in the industry since the late 80\u2019s. Japan is an interesting location for game music, not only because the industry was centralized there for almost two decades, but because of its ability to absorb and recontextualize outside cultural influences. One example that always intrigues me is the way Drum and Bass and Jungle found their way into video game music in the late 90\u2019s through DJ\u2019s from the US (particularly Detroit, Chicago and NY) performing in Tokyo clubs like Yellow. An entire generation of video game music was birthed out of this organic collaboration of culture and ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Are there any game soundtracks that you’re particularly obsessed with? What about them inspires your own compositions?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of my favorite soundtracks are from the early 2000\u2019s. I was in my 20\u2019s and just discovering a lot of meaningful art and beginning to identify genres and tropes that were leading me to further contextualize what I found interesting and profound. Killer7<\/a> (2005) with music by Masafumi Takada<\/a> was pretty impactful, both in its bold stylistic choices and in its varied moods and textures. There was also the work of Tetsuya Mizuguchi<\/a>, specifically Rez<\/a> (2001) and Lumines<\/a> (2004). He was more of a technologist than a designer or composer and the way he looked at interactive media, the feedback given by the confluence of sound and design, was groundbreaking. I try to think of my own work as a tapestry of texture and moods. Most of my music comes with a visual element, whether implicit or explicit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to world-building and character design, how do sound and music contribute to a deeper sense of immersion for players?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I never found music itself as a pure interesting artform. Music in context always seemed much more rich for exploring. Video games and interactive media spaces allow music and sound to be folded into the experience in fascinating and inspiring ways that can reach directly to the sensory nature of art itself. Games can also use auditory cues and motifs to flesh out characters and spaces. Just as with opera, a game character can often be associated with a motif, a melody, sound or tonal signifier. Games are so effective at tying these media elements together because the user interacts with them so directly and personally. Creating a direct correlation between an input, a visual and an auditory cue goes so far to enhance the interactivity of any piece of art as it stimulates multiple senses viscerally and intellectually. The absence, enhancement or development of audio and music in a game adds subtext to the narrative that almost can’t be directly contextualized by players at first. It mimics the multi-sensory experience of being alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n What tools and software do you primarily use to create music for video games?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Technology has developed far enough that video game music is created primarily using the same DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) used in any professional audio setting, so the composer is not limited by the available sound processing technology of the consoles of the past. Implementation of audio into 3D spaces requires advanced programming to acclimate for distance or the reverbative character of the space the player is in, but this is also all relative to the experience being created. Regardless, the methods can be quite familiar to anyone who has used Garageband, Ableton<\/a>, Pro Tools or any DAW. The same philosophy and tools (adding reverb, altering volumes) are used across game design, but implemented in more deliberate ways to enhance the spatial or interactive elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n How can soundtracks serve as a storytelling device in games? How do they communicate narrative or special information, and create a sense of interaction with the player?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Soundtracks interplay with story elements in games very similarly to how they act with film. In the simplest sense, they can be used as juxtaposition or enforcement of themes and moods. Games have the unique ability to approach narrative as direct control, which can be used in surprising ways to defy expectation. The manipulation of the formal, the familiar, the ability to surprise and confound is always in the hands of the composer, but never so malleable and intriguing when combined with the interactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jared Hiller’s Playlist: Entertainment System<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/villa-albertine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Copy-of-TItles-1.jpg\")
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