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Q&A with Jared Emerson-Johnson, Friday!

posted by nikasaur on - last edited - Viewed by 4.4K users

Hear ye hear ye, Jared is coming to the forums to answer some of your music and sound related questions! Pop in to hear the answers on Friday the 2nd from 10am to 11am PST (he chose this specifically so Europeans can be awake for it, what a guy!)

Let me tell you- Jared is a superhero. He sets the tone of the world with ease, he knocks out sound effects with a single blow, he makes what we do sound AMAZING. It's a fact that Telltale sometimes hires super-human automatons, and investigations as to Jared's actual humanity are pending. Some people are just too talented.

(Fun fact: he's also super-skilled at Beatles Rock Band.)

We're open for questioning, so load 'em up and keep him busy.

182 Comments - Linear Discussion: Classic Style
  • I wonder, what synthesizers did you use for "New Location Unlocked"? It's not mentioned in the CD's credits.

    What software do you use for mixing in general?

    Can we see some "Making-Of"-videos from the music production?

    It's too bad that so many music is overcompressed nowadays. I'd like to thank you and the entire producer team that you kept sufficient dynamics in your music intact. Keep it that way! Thank you very much.

  • How did you start working with Telltale? How'd they reach you?

    Can you shortly narrate one of your experiences about composing game musics? (It must be a special one.) (:

    I totally loved both S&M seasons' OSTs. Will Devil's Playhouse's soundtrack be entertaining as others'?

    Thanks for your time...

  • Great, I love Jared!

    On voice acting:
    Do you have a hand in directing(/casting) the voice actors as well? You did the voice for DeSinge in Monkey, what was that experience like for you? Will you be doing any more voices in the future?

    On music:
    Where do you get your inspiration? Was it a case of Chuck Jordan telling you about the 70s sci-fi theme and giving you a couple of movies for inspiration? Are there any movies/games/musicians in particular that serve as an influence this season?

    Also, the same question I asked Ryan in his Q&A: If you could decide what game Telltale will make next, what would it be? It doesn't matter if it would result in a fun game or if it would even be possible to create a game out of that subject, just base your choice on the music you like to create.

    I'm not really musically gifted, so I'm afraid I can't really ask any in-depth questions. All I can say is that I love your work, and I own both Sam & Max soundtracks (and I hope more will be released!). Oh, and I would love an MP3 of the music from the trailer.:D

  • Regarding the soundtrack releases for S&M:
    How much additional work do you have to put into the music to turn it into a "listenable" format for the soundtrack CDs? Do you already do preparations for a CD-release during the music production?

    Oh, and here's hoping for a Season 3 soundtrack release! (Actually I'm hoping for a W&G release as well, as I really LOVED the music you did for those, but that's probably out of reach)

  • Hello Jared. What is the story behind that happy tune Chippy plays? Will Bluster Blaster be back this season??

  • My question is about sound effects.
    I was wondering, when you make the sound of, say, a door, do you actually record a door, or do you record something completely different? If so, what are some weird things that became completely different sound effects?

    Also, I'm curious about the order in which things are done. Music, voices, sound effects, I'm guessing they all come into the game at different times, don't they? Do you had sounds to the already animated cutscenes basing it off of what's going on (say, someone taps his forehead, so you had a sound for that) or is there some kind a specific storyboard that allows you to work with the sounds earlier than that?
    And applying effects to the voices (like the muffling you didn't get to put in the game for the bear heads in season one), when does that happen?

    Also, Chuck said we broke you. Sorry about that. Did you get better? More seriously, how insane are you to work that much?

    I think you're awesome and I love your music, although I don't know enough about music to ask questions about that...

  • You are totally awesome and I love your music. This really isn't much of a question. Just throwing it out there.

    ...I don't really know much to ask anything about music (and I'm a string bassist!) yeah.

  • Who's your favorite video game composer?

    How long does it take for you to make one whole soundtrack?

    How long is your normal day at work and what do you generally do in one day?

    Thanks for making so many great songs. Desinge was really fun to listen and he was one of my favorite characters so I hope you continue voice acting in Telltale games.

  • @MalkyTop said: You are totally awesome and I love your music. This really isn't much of a question. Just throwing it out there.

    !! you took the words right out of my mouth. but its totally still true, the whole jazz feel of sam and max, the way the theme sounds like a crime comedy from the 50s, i just close my eyes and see myself in frank sinatraesque bachelor pad. when did you start doing music professionally? did you play any instruments as a kid? how has designing music changed for you over the years? (equipment, styles, etc)

  • Thanks for keeping us Europeans in mind with the timing :)

    Apart from our usual dose of hard jazz and the sci-fi sound that we've already heard in the trailer (I really dig that wee theramin thingy over the main hook in the trailer) what other genres can we expect to hear creeping in this season?*

    When you're writing say a big musical number or music to fit a cutscene do you have to time it around the animations or do the animaters work around the music?

    Simon or Garfunkel?

    Thanks for your time, i'm very excited to hear what's in store for us this season and I really mean that

    *There was a vicious rumour of an auto-tuned sexy RnB song sung by Max flying about. Started by me

    Ps. sheet music and chord charts please sheet music and chord charts please sheet music and chord charts please sheet music and chord charts please sheet music and chord charts please sheet music and chord charts please kthxbai :)

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