I am joined by Mark Benis, who has composed the musical soundtrack for the point and click adventure game Rosewater, set in the wild west and released in 2024. Mark has also worked on the soundtrack for Lamplight City with others credits for titles including Wolfenstein: Youngblood.
In this podcast, we discuss his joy of retro chip-tune music of retro gaming platforms including the Nintendo Game Boy, which has inspired his journey creativity to now write musical soundtracks for modern gaming titles.
Topics include:
- Mark Benis’ opportunity to become a game composer
- Childhood love of Pokémon Red/Blue music led to a lifelong curiosity about chip music
- The beauty of 8-bit music to orchestral and back again
- Using Wwyse and FMOD as audio middleware to replace line-by-line coding
- Mark’s early days and the audio equipment he used
- The financial barrier of the many professional audio sample libraries
- No woodwinds in the game Lamplight City inspiring creativity by limitation
- How hardware MIDI modules (Roland MT-32, Sound Canvas etc) have been replaced with software music audio libraries
- Mark’s go to piano performances to loosen his fingers and inspire his thoughts
- Mark’s computer and desk setup for music composition
- What is Rosewater and the musical brief you were given
- Avoiding the typical wild west country style music
- How much of the original work made it into the game soundtrack?
- How much of the artwork and game direction did Mark see before composing the tracks?
- Timing introductions to the music, or arranging the music to the intro?
- Hearing the voice acting dialogue for the first time reactions
- Mixing virtual instruments with live music players
- Choral music creation for the game Lamplight City recorded in a church with a real choir
- Mark’s future projects
- Collaborating on musical projects and avoiding arguments
Featured music within the podcast, kindly provided with permission by Mark Benis…
- 7-43 to Rosewater
- Once Upon a Time in Western Vespuccia
- Night Walk
- The Showdown
- So Long, Partner
- Flor Silvestre by Christiane Ramirez
You can download the full Rosewater Soundtrack on Mark Benis’ Bandcamp page.
The full transcript can also be downloaded…
🌍 WEBSITE:
– PIXEL REFRESH – LOVE OF RETRO GAMING & MODERN TECH
🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW:
– Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | Deezer | Pocket Casts | RSS | Spotify | YouTube Music | YouTube | More…
❔ SUBMIT QUESTIONS FOR THE SHOW:
– Submit a question with a chance to feature on the Game & Gadget Podcast
🛈 FIND OUT MORE:
– What is the Game & Gadget Podcast?
🫶 SUPPORT THE SHOW…
– ☕ Ko-fi – Buy James a ‘thank you’ coffee
– 💰 Patreon – Become a supporting member on Patreon
✉️ EMAIL SUBSCRIBE TO PIXEL REFRESH:
– Latest Articles and Reviews via sent to you via Email
🎥 PIX
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com