High Score 2019

Creating a World of Sound

This year’s High Score conference brings you international guests and some of Australia’s best to inspire you and hone your own sound. Now expanded to a two-day event, we give you a crash course on the depth and breadth of game composition styles on day one before letting you get your hands dirty on day two with composition workshops, networking, tech courses and the chance to get feedback on your own music by industry professionals.

We welcome Manami Matsumae (Mega Man series, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen, Shovel Knight) and Takahiro Izutani (Metal Gear Solid series and Bayonetta series) as keynote speakers to discuss their 30-year history as composers and how they’ve contributed key sonic characteristics to major game franchises. Joining them is Gameboy music and composer, Niamh Houston aka Chipzel from Northern Ireland (OctaHedron, Chipped of the Necrodancer, and Super Hexagon) to speak on her genre of chiptune.

After a series of talks and panels on day one, day two brings together our national and international experts for hands-on workshops focusing on the skills and tools need to Explore, Enable, Create, and Refine your work – you choose the sessions that suit you best.

Speakers

Manami Matsumae (JP)

Matsumae is best known for composing the legendary music for the original Mega Man (1987), including its iconic "Game Start" jingle. Following her departure from Capcom in 1991, she became a freelance video game music composer. The soundtracks she worked on afterwards include the Derby Stallion series, The Adventures of Lolo, Jade Cocoon 2, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen,Shovel Knight, and Mighty No. 9. In more recent years, Matsumae has returned to the Mega Man series via Inti Creates, serving as a regular guest arranger for its album releases and joining several other former Mega Man composers in creating the Robot Master themes for Mega Man 10 (2010).

Takahiro Izutani (JP)

Takahiro Izutani had been playing guitar in an instrumental rock band "Happy Family" since the late 90's. In 1998, Happy Family released an album from the record label in the United States Cuneiform Records. Since then, he has worked on a number of domestic productions for major artists as composer, arranger, and remixer.

Also formed an electronic/break beat band "Dugo" whose track "Dublin" was used in the TV series in the US "CSI : Miami Season 3" (CBS Bruckheimer Films) in 2006. And up to now, has become engaged in many different music productions of media content mainly in video game music (Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Bayonetta, Shinobi 3D, among others). Dugo released the first album "Lingua Franca" from Brave Wave Productions in 2017.

Alex Aniel (JP)

CEO, Business Development Coordinator – Brave Wave

Alex manages all aspects of business development and accounting, working on the Japanese side of things as well as our day-to-day operations. Having previously worked at 8-4 and LAND HO, Alex is well-versed with how the gaming industry works and is focusing on the growth of Brave Wave.

Jody Toomey (VIC)

Jody has a background in electronic music production going back almost 20 years. I’ve been applying these skills in game audio for the last two years on several projects. This has allowed me to apply the sonic palette concept to game design as a whole and develop new ways in which audio can be integrated in the design process.

This year I formed Strange Band Audio to deliver comprehensive audio services to the games industry.

Jeff van Dyck (QLD)

Jeff van Dyck (pronounced “dike”, also known as Jeff Dyck in his early years) is a two-time BAFTA award winning Composer and Audio Director, known for his emotive scores and immersive audio design in videogames over the last two decades. Jeff was awarded a BAFTA in 2001 for the soundtrack Shogun: Total War Warlord Edition, was nominated in 2005 for the soundtrack Rome: Total War and led his team to another BAFTA in 2015 for Alien:Isolation.

Jeff’s early work comprised a string of AAA game franchises including EA’s FIFA, NHL and Need for Speed series. He moved into more cinematic and orchestral style of composing through a long involvement with the critically acclaimed Total War franchise. More recently, Jeff’s work can be heard across a range of independent development, a move that has provided the freedom to work on a diverse range of creative projects.

Emi Evans (JP)

“Music wasn't what brought singer Emi Evans to Japan. But it's what made her stay—and what is making her famous. With her work on Dark Souls and Nier, the British-born singer is quickly creating a name for herself.” –Kotaku

Chance Thomas (US)

Chance has been entrusted with prestigious titles and high-value entertainment properties again and again in his career. DOTA 2, James Cameron's Avatar, Peter Jackson's King Kong, The Hobbit, Star Wars, Monopoly, Dungeons & Dragons, Heroes of Might & Magic, Left Behind, X-Men and many more.

He has a knack for unravelling the unique DNA of each IP, conveyed in music that is both original and unmistakeably expressive of each. That ability continues to win the trust of stake holders and the delight of fans worldwide.

Grant Kirkhope (UK)

Grant is a BAFTA nominated British composer who has created the soundtrack for video games that have sold in excess of 30 million copies. From “Mario + Plus Rabbids Kingdom Battle” to “Ghostbusters”, “GoldenEye” to “Banjo-Kazooie”, “Viva Piñata” to “Donkey Kong”, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” to “Civilization: Beyond Earth” and “Perfect Dark” to “Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse”. Grant is equally at home with live orchestra as well as electronic scores, having written music for both mediums throughout his 22-year career.

In 2017 Grant scored “Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle” for Ubisoft, and is the first Western composer to compose for the Nintendo legend!

James Landino (US)

James Landino is a leading force in the generation of video game music and game audio. For over ten years he has composed hundreds of works for interactive and live media.

From humble beginnings in Westbrook CT, James discovered a passion for video game music during his teens from playing rhythm games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania IIDX. He decided to pursue a professional career studying Electronic Production and Design at Berklee College of Music.

After graduation, James found himself a position at Harmonix Music Systems, where he contributed audio and game design to their rhythm games. He has contributed on titles such as: ROCK BAND 4, AMPLITUDE HD, DROPMIX, and more.

Amy Bastow (VIC)

At just 30 years of age, Amy Bastow’s talents as a Film and Television Composer are already making waves, both in Australia and internationally. She has already gained the attention of Hollywood film-maker James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar), co-composing the score for his 3D feature documentary, Deepsea Challenge, which opened in August 2014 and screened across the United States, Asia, in Australia and throughout Europe. Her work on the documentary earned her a nomination for ‘Best Original Score’ at the 2015 AFI/AACTA Awards (The Australian Academy Awards).

Amy has also written and produced music for iOS games, commercials, corporate videos and interactive media. Amy has received commissions from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Australian String Quartet, The Song Company, Warner Music and even composed a fanfare for The Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD, CVO (former Governor of New South Wales). Her music has been screened and performed in dozens of festivals and concerts across Europe, Asia, the United States, New Zealand and Australia.

Tim Shiel (VIC)

Tim Shiel is an electronic musician, games composer and radio broadcaster based in Melbourne, Australia.

Tim's work in gaming includes the score for the award-winning mobile game Duet. He also recently wrote the score for indie gaming documentary GameLoading: Rise of the Indies, a film which profiles the rapid growth and diversity of the global indie gaming community.

He has released a series of albums and EPs both under his own name and his previous alias Faux Pas, and has been a key member of Gotye's touring band since 2011, touring extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

A passionate and outspoken champion of forward-thinking music, Tim is known for his on-air roles at 3RRR, Double J and triple j, and is a former judge of the Australian Music Prize. He is currently the host of Something More on Double J and triple j, a weekly show devoted to brave and creative music from around the world.

Kavisha Kuruk (VIC)

After graduating from Monash Uni with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Finance), Kavisha worked for a tax firm and then as the Financial Controller at a magazine publishing company.

In 2014, her love of music drew her to White Sky where she quickly found herself working with some of her favourite bands. Having completed her CPA, Kavisha helped set up and run White Sky Tax in 2018. When she’s not at work, she’s usually at a gig or binge watching the latest TV shows.

Kenny McAlpine (UK/VIC)

I am currently working at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, part of the Faculty of Fine arts and Music at the University of Melbourne, as Enterprise Fellow in Interactive Composition.

As Enterprise Fellow, my role is to explore that point where cutting-edge research, innovative teaching and commercialisation meet, so as to create work with real social, cultural and economic impact and provide a platform for employability for my students.

Fundamentally I'm interested in music and technology, and how the latter changes the way we conceive, make, use and experience the former.

My work draws on music performance practice, sound production, mathematics and technology, as well history, historiography, social and cultural studies and museology. I have a strong interest in video game music and the role of technical constraint in the development of its aesthetic, and in the implementation and analysis of real-time adaptive music used in interactive contexts. I am also interested in the role of music technology as a tool to enable meaningful enactive visitor engagement with historic musical instruments, and have developed prototype hardware and software solutions to facilitate virtual interaction with heritage objects.

I'm a classical pianist, and can turn my hand to jazz organ. I've got a collection of vintage keyboards, ranging from a knackered single-manual harpsichord through to a modern two manual B3 and Leslie 122XB, which I've gigged on occasion. When I'm not making music, I can generally be found rolling around the hills on a mountain bike with a GoPro strapped to my head, huffing my way round a marathon course with a GoPro strapped to my chest, or trying to slow roast belly pork with a marmalade glaze. Normally without the GoPro.

Niamh Houston aka Chipzel (IE)

Niamh Houston (born 23 September 1991), better known by her stage name Chipzel, is a musician from Northern Ireland. She is best known for making chiptune music, particularly with a Game Boy. She is also a video game music composer, and is known for the soundtracks of games such as Super Hexagon, Spectra, and Interstellaria.

Alex Yabsley (VIC) / Melbourne Chiptune Academy

Alex Yabsley aka Dot.AY has long been in search of a musical form that can be highly experimental and creatively satisfying whilst being accessible and dance friendly. Through his time studying a Bachelor of Music Technology with Honours he came upon Chiptunes, a musical genre which involves the repurposing of video game hardware for creating music, he now believes Chiptunes are what he was born to make. His music juxtaposes hard fast noise with cute melodies all the time maintaining a high energy vibe, like a photon powered mech-warrior with pokemon tattoos. The key component of Dot.AYs work is based in live performance this has developed into regular live shows in Brisbane and playing live shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. He has also supported international acts such as Crystal Castles, Girl Talk and Dan Deacon performed in collaboration with Amanda Palmer and Played shows in New York and Tokyo.

The Melbourne Chiptune Academy is a group of local artists within Melbourne, Australia. Our aim is to grow the local chiptune community through regular meetups.

Gwen Guo (Singapore)

Firmly believing that curiosity and empathy are as essential to the craft as technical expertise, Gwen has always been at the very forefront of discovering better ways to marry her two most beloved art forms – games and audio. With a wealth of experience in the creation of both, Gwen can be easily heard rallying like-minded industry folks together.

Matt McLean (WA)

Composing, recording, mixing and mastering under the alias feeding | ear, Matt Mclean has been actively involved in the music industry for the last ten years.

His formal education is comprised of a Bachelor of Composition and Music Technology and a Advanced Diploma of Contemporary Music (Keyboard) from the prestigious Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts.

Further mentoring from Stuart James (PhD) led to a freelance position at Soundfield Studio, learning the art of engineering and expanding on his abilities as a composer and producer.

Combining his skill sets of composition and engineering has given Matt a unique edge in the industry. With a thorough understanding of both the technical and emotional requirements of composing work to a brief, Matt delivers high quality electronic infused scores, with complex, shifting timbres and evocative sound design.

His passion project Lilt, a live electronic/alt pop ensemble has received over a million online plays, had high rotation airplay on Triple J, and supported international and national acts of prestige (Morcheeba, Flume, Austra).

Matt's VGM work is managed by Fabian Malabello and The Otherworld Agency, who represent over twenty composers and sound designers working on indie games to AAA titles. Matt's work as both a composer and mix and mastering engineer has been recognised, recently winning two Australian Game Developer Awards for his work on Rumu and Florence. Florence has also won multiple awards of prestige, including a BAFTA (Mobile Game) 2019.

Matt has held Lecturing and Tutor positions in the fields of Audio and Songwriting at Murdoch University, WAAPA, and SAE Perth.

He also holds an audio technician touring role with internationally acclaimed act Tame Impala. (2018-current).

Angharad Yeo (NSW)

Angharad started at Good Game in 2012 as a work experience student, and tenaciously worked her way through the ranks into a Production Coordinator role, before beginning a full time hosting role in 2017. Despite her relatively short time in the gaming industry she has made a notable impact, and continues to work towards a well-represented and diverse industry.

2018 saw her first inclusion in the Women In Games list, and her first nomination for Journalist of the Year for the Women In Games Awards. She was also a finalist for Best New Journalist in the 2018 ACS IT Journalism Awards.

Over the past 12-months, the Good Game Spawn Point Presenter has flourished within the industry, making appearances on The Project, ABC News, triple j, ABC Radio, The Feed, and more.

She was also a guest at the 2018 TV Week Logies ans has broadened her horizons beyond broadcast media into written publications, including Gizmodo Australia – all while continuing to host Spawn Point.

Speaking to MCV Pacific, Angharad said, “I’m really stoked to be recognised amongst so many hard-working, talented, and influential women in the industry. Celebrating and holding up women is a crucial part of bettering games, and the experience of working in them, and I’m delighted that these awards set such a strong example.”

Christopher Larkin (SA)

Christopher Larkin has always had a love of creativity. After discovering improvisation at the piano, and music software on the computer in his early teens, he was able to begin exploring the medium of music making as an exciting creative process. He transferred to Brighton High School in year 12 to study Specialist Music, and straight after, began his compositional studies at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide. His composition tutors were Mr. John Polglase, Prof. Charles Bodman Rae, and Prof. Graeme Koehne. While his studies transported him to the world of classical and contemporary classical music, he maintained a strong connection to electronic music, progressive rock and videogame scores. During his time at the Elder Con, he connected with some aspiring young filmmakers at Flinder’s University Screen and Media course, with whom he wrote a number of short film scores, whilst learning the various ways of collaborating with filmmakers and understanding film as an expressive and artistic medium.

Whilst developing his film scoring technique at university, Christopher started receiving nominations and awards for his work, leading to further work in film, but also corporate videos, advertising, TV and eventually games.

Now a full time composer, Christopher has a number of achievements and collaborations under his belt, including the score and sound for indie game hit “Hollow Knight”, sound for “Pac-Man 256”, and recently the sweeping orchestral score for feature documentary “Barbecue”. He has also composed for popular children’s TV show “Figaro Pho” which was recently awarded Best Music for Children’s TV at the APRA/AGSC Screen Music Awards. Other awards include Best Composition at the South Australian Screen Awards, official selections at the Australian Game Developer Awards, PC Gamer’s Best Game Music of the Year, ASSG Awards, and Freeplay Awards.

One of Chris’ main goals is to maintain a classically-educated approach to music composition and sound design, whilst using his knowledge of current technology to produce a vast range of musical styles and soundscapes. He always strives to explore new ways of how music can reflect or embellish human emotion, mood, in the context of a story or world. He always enjoys the process of working closely with talented directors, designers, producers and musicians, and is always looking forward to new challenges.

Anne-Marie Webber (QLD)

Sound Designer with fourteen years of games industry experience and dozens of shipped titles across a wide range of gaming platforms.

Specialties: audio design, audio implementation, field and studio recording, mixing, video dubbing, script and asset management, voice over, console development, troubleshooting.

Chris Murphy (VIC)

Chris Murphy is an Evangelist for Epic Games and founder of Pub Games, an independent Australian game developer, with game development credits across PC, Vive, Oculus, PS4, iOS and Android. Chris has over 10 years of experience with Unreal Engine, a Bachelor of Computer Science and a Bachelor of Multimedia, culminating in a broad skillset across a range of game development disciplines. Chris’ role as Evangelist for Epic Games is to help independent game developers build successful games with Unreal Engine 4 through support, training and education.

Alexander Hunter (ACT)

Dr Alexander Hunter is currently Composition Convenor and Music Theory & Aural Skills Convenor at the Australian National University School of Music in Canberra.

Hunter studied composition, double bass, viola da gamba and ethnomusicology at Northern Illinois University, and received a PhD in composition from Edinburgh Napier University. In 2014 he relocated to Canberra to take up a lecturing position at the Australian National University School of Music. He has taught composition, music journalism, multimedia performance, theory and history, founded the ANU New Music Ensemble and Experimental Music Studio, and co-founded the ANU Laptop Ensemble (LENS).

His work as a composer is based on open works, which encourage a fluid relationship between composer, score and performer. As a composer Hunter has worked with the following performers/ensembles: Mabel Kwan (Chicago), the Quiet Music Ensemble (Cork), Pesedjet (members of Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente), the Chimera Ensemble (York), the Edinburgh Quartet (Edinburgh), Scottish Voices (Glasgow), ensemble a.pe.ri.od.ic (Chicago) and others.

Hunter’s current performance-led research is based on collaborative multimedia works, most recently with visual artists Mike Parr, Martyn Jolly (Head of ANU Photography and Media Arts), Ngaio Fitzpatrick (ANU Climate Change Institute), Andrew Quinn, John Carolan and Janet Meaney; and dancers Jack Riley and Liz Lea.

As a researcher his work has been focused on the music of the New York School; reductionist improvisers and other improvisers and improvisation ensembles; the writings of Rob Haskins and Jonathan D. Kramer; feminism, anarchism and leftist politics in composition and performance; open musical forms and notation; and cross-disciplinary models of tertiary arts education.

Fabian Malabello (VIC)

Fabian Malabello is an agent, a BAFTA-winning music supervisor, and the director of two companies in the video game industry: The Otherworld Agency, and Boss Battle Records. Fabian, via The Otherworld Agency (founded in 2015), represents over 40 composers and sound designers across the globe, and has provided audio services to companies such as Konami, Bandai-Namco, Honda, Acura, Chucklefish, and THQ Nordic, among dozens more. In 2018, MCV Pacific named Fabian as one of the 2017 MCV Pacific 30 Under Thirty class, an initiative to recognise the brightest young talent across the Australian and New Zealand video game industries.