Last week, the Gamer Headlines interviewed Dinosaur Bytes’s Lead Developer of Clive and the Stones of the Ancient Bunnies to discuss the game and level design. Although we’ve received explicit details and insights on this 3D platformer, we didn’t exchange words with the credited music composer; Wyshwood Studio, this small company has been composing and recording music for years, while establishing clients like Nigel Lavender, Just Over A Year, Pennyless and more. Yet, Wyshwood Studio has kindly shared the inside story with the public about the development process for the original soundtrack in Corsair’s Cove (one of the many levels in Clive). Here’s the audio:
As typically expected when game developers make a music request, they often develop a list of references like Dinosaur Bytes referencing “Clanker’s Cavern” from Banjo-Kazooie. Shown below, That musical piece originally composed and arranged by Grant Kirkhope is transformed into a new composition (shown above) with a unique style and instrumentation by Wyshwood Studio. Still, the company pays respect for the music artist.
“The standard of Grant Kirkhope’s music for Banjo Kazooie is legendary, so for Wyshwood to come anywhere near is a tall order by any means. I took the style and instrumentation in but then channeled my own interpretation, which you can hear above. Back in the day there were huge restrictions on memory and MIDI instrumentation, so what Grant achieved was incredible for the time. Now I have no such restrictions, but want to infer some to allow for invention against adversity.”
Besides praising Mr. Kirkhope, Wyshwood Studio has also mentioned the tools to create the masterpiece. The equipment set that has not changed since the 90’s includes the following items:
- Upgraded Roland XP50 with orchestral expansion packs
- Alesis MMT8 to capture performance and MIDI data
- FL Studio for mastering the results
- Tascam DP24 to record the performance into audio
Meanwhile, the process initiates by consuming minutes or hours from “playing until something by way of a hook rises out of the maelstrom of tinkering”. Then, the composer will work out some chords to compliment the tune before the interesting counter melody emerges. Afterwards, the music will undergo several instrument testing and level balancing, a sort of mix within the keyboard itself. Once established, a final version of the demo is presented for the developer to hear. From there, the music becomes a collaborative piece and a fragment to a wider project.
“Often it’s then a collaborative process and discussion as to whether I have heard the brief correctly. Sometimes the importance of the music is more than given credit, especially when the developer decides that particular game level is going to be much larger than anticipated. That is precisely what happened with the cave level of Corsair’s Cove. Initially an interior level to compliment the Cove, it turned into the focus of the adventure. Rather than an incidental piece, the tune has now a much larger part of the game. Back to the drawing board, and broadening out the scope, you now have the music as it stands for the pre-alpha ‘collectathon’.”
Unfortuantely, Wyshwood Studio and Dinosaur Bytes have not scheduled a release date for Clive and the Stones of the Ancient Bunnies, but interested spectators should know that the creators aim to release this action game on the Windows and Linux PC, along with a WiiU version. Yet, folks learn more about the music composer from this original source or visit the official website.
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