eGamer Interviews Garry Schyman — The Man With Musical Creativity

I got the opportunity to speak to Garry Schyman, even though it was a brief few moments, we thought we would share it with you guys. A quick rundown for those that do not know who he is; he is the composer behind some of the greatest scores I have come across, but more recently he is the man behind the fantabulous Bioshock 2. Speaking to him with my limited knowledge on musical scores, we got the following results.

1) What got you into composing music and at what age did you start?

Though I had played piano from an early age I didn’t started composing until my first year of college.   I loved it and decided to major in music composition at USC.

2) What inspires you while doing your work? Seeing as music is an art form and a lot of artists derive their inspiration from different sources be it a object/person/song/feeling?

I draw my inspiration from the project I am working on.  I try to inhabit it and make it my own.  I look at it as I listen to the creative folks I work with and then I just start writing.  A lot of creativity comes from just diving in, deeply concentrating and working very hard on something.  It begins its own inspiration.

On a practical note there is nothing so inspiring as a deadline!

3) Did you have any formal schooling in this field or is just something that comes naturally to you?

As mentioned earlier I went to USC graduated with a degree in music composition.  After that I studied for three years with an amazing composer and teacher George Tremblay.    Mostly I studied a rather complex form of music called serial composition or 12-tone with him – but he really matured my style and approach to composing.

4) What has been the project you enjoyed the most to date? And why?

I have enjoyed many of the projects I have worked on.  If I had to pick one, in retrospect, I guess I would say BioShock – perhaps because of all of the awards and appreciation I got afterwards.  But even while composing the score I found that what I was doing was very interesting and rewarding.

5) What are the challenges you constantly face as a composer and more so in the games industry?

It’s always a challenge coming up with something very fresh and different.  I have been asked to write very different music.  Often tasked to write something unlike any score ever heard before and that’s a pretty daunting challenge.  Not that I don’t like being challenged but it is a lot of work and it’s very easy to fail if you’re not careful.

6) BioShock 2 and Dante’s Inferno are games which people are going to be playing for a long time. What are the challenges you faced in avoiding repetition and making the scores interesting over a long period?

I would say that the music needs to be interesting – always interesting and with as little repetition as possible.  Of course all music has to have some repetition or it will make no sense to the listener.  So it’s a balancing act.  I rely on my gut or intuition and if I had to say one thing that a good composer needs (once they have the proper training), it is a good intuition as to what works musically.  If you have a lot of technique and a strong intuition then you’re golden.