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Top Score: SonicPicnic and Awesomenauts
The soundtrack for the game 'Awesomenauts' sounds like an alien radio station. The music was created by a group of composers who call themselves SonicPicnic....
Composer Ryan Ike got his career started at 'Gunpoint'
Composer Ryan Ike got his first big break in video-game composition by answering an open call for composers on Twitter for a game called 'Gunpoint'. He got the job -- and a BAFTA n...
Serious music for a casual game
Millions of people around the world play the 'casual' game Candy Crush Soda Saga, but composer Johan Holmstrom took the music very seriously, even recruiting the London Symphony Or...
A musicologist's look at 'Final Fantasy VI'
Ryan Thompson is a PhD candidate in musicology at the University of Minnesota, with a special interest in ludomusicology. What is that, you ask? Ludomusicology is a growing field i...
Tom Salta's bold choice for subtle music
The new game 'Spartan Strike' exists in an audio-dominant world. To make sure he could still capture a player's attention, composer Tom Salta decided to record quieter, more subtle...
Top Score says, 'Thank You, Pierce'
Top Score says "thank you" to production assistant Pierce Huxtable for one year of great work. Pierce's position was funded by a (non-renewable) grant from the National Endowment f...
What's old-school is new again for Michael Schiciano
Michael Schiciano joins Emily Reese on this week's Top Score to talk about old-school and modern approaches to composing. Thanks to the burgeoning mobile market, many composers use...
Do a Barrel Roll create innovative covers of game music
The orchestral-rock video game cover band Do a Barrel Roll stopped by Classical MPR to record a set and to chat with Emily Reese, host of Top Score. 'They played a set and stole my...
Sam Dillard is a one-man music-making machine
Completely self taught, Sam Dillard not only composes music, but he also performs and records his work. Recently hired by Kinect for its new Harry Potter trailer, Dillard joins Emi...
Chris Huelsbeck's career leaps to next stage
The enduring success of composer Chris Huelsbeck's early works has created a fan following in his native Germany and across the world. His work inspired a 2008 concert series, and ...
John Robert Matz composes for concert band and video games
Chicago-based composer John Robert Matz isn't strictly a video-game music creator. He also writes for concert band. On this week's Top Score, Matz talks about these different works...
Leslie Ann Jones is a Jedi of sound engineers
The director of music recording and scoring at Skywalker Sound, Leslie Ann Jones oversees all sound production in the facilities massive scoring stage. Jones has worked on films, t...
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