"Sierra has come up with some beautiful scores that accompany their games. Foremost in mind, are the arrangements of "The Beast Within" (the opera was terrific) and the intro music to "Phantasmagoria". I was spellbound. At what point are the composers included so that they can weave their magic?"

Submitted by: Kim Schell

Answered by: Mark Seibert (composer/producer, Sierra On-Line)

"Early as possible. As soon as the design starts to define the general mood of the game. In the case of Phantasmagoria, I started writing the opening and closing themes around the time we had our first demo rooms up and running (About 16 months before the game shipped). This helped a lot in further defining the mood and feel of the game."

"Do they preview the game to come up with their ideas?"

"Sometimes. It depends on how much experience the composer has and how much thought has been put into the design. Sometimes the designer has a good idea as to what they want. In the case of Phantasmagoria, I wanted to go with a kind of modern gothic feel... (Whatever that means... *grin*) Hence the Latin choir and orchestra blended with a "Rock" kind of trio. In the case of King's Quest: Mask of Eternity, I hired a composer. I gave him a few clips of ideas along with a few sample CD's I got in my studio to give him a place to start. With the instructions to think 12th century with eastern influence, our composer Kevin Manthei wrote and is writing the main material for the new game."

"Are they responsible for more than just the music? Do they participate in the sound effects as well?"

"Our in-house sound/music guy for KQ: Mask (Ben Houge) is responsible for both Sound Effects and additional music. At this point I think Ben has probably written more of the Mask music than Kevin. Kevin's material has been used to set the style and main feel for each level. Ben has been able to take the ideas and run with them. For the Sound Effects, Ben has been working closely with the animators and artists on a daily basis to get sounds to work well with the action."

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