Jack Wall in the DMR... soon !

MrMouski · **Joined:** Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:36 pm **Posts:** 271

Hello everyone,

We are currently in contact with Jack Wall (music composer of Myst III - Exile and Myst IV - Revelations) regarding an interview.
This would take place in March. Date is still to be determined.
This post will be updated soon with the actual date of the interview.

If you'd like to ask him a question, please write it down here. We'll select some.

Jamie Marchant · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:40 am

Wow, first Rand and next Jack Wall, you guys are Amazing! I would ask what inspires him?

sideshow118 · **Joined:** Thu May 25, 2006 1:00 am **Posts:** 538

Jack Wall! :shock:

So many questions...

Each soundtrack you work on has thematic qualities inspired by the game. The soundtrack for Jade Empire, for instance, has a distictively Asia flavor. What musical inspirations did you draw from the Myst games? What emotions and moods were you hoping to elicit and how did they influence your choice of instuments and/or choral arrangements?

TheScar(.fr) · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:29 pm

.shorah

I would have two questions, but I do not know if Mr. Wall is directly concerned with them:

- Was it you who chose the name of the music files in the installation folder of the game "Myst III: Exile"?

- In fact, I noticed that listening to these files in alphabetical order produced an atmosphere that I describe as "relaxing"... Was it intentional?

-- TCB The Scar --

Malfhok · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:24 pm

If there was a Myst movie, would you want to compose for it? And if you couldn't compose for a Myst movie, who would you like to see do it?

Ahlisendar · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:24 pm

Questions for Jack Wall:
1. Have you ever visited the shores of Zimbabwe?
2. Have you listened to the Uru or Myst 5 soundtracks/what did you think of them?

Musica2 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:03 am

Hi Mouski,

Please ask Jack Wall how Peter Gabriel came to perform songs in Revelation and whether they collaborated on the music

Thanks,

Musica2

zeke3651 · **Joined:** Sat Dec 31, 2011 1:46 am **Posts:** 411

1.How did you get hired by Presto Studios to do the music for Myst III?
2.How did Peter Gabriel get involved with Myst IV and how did you guys meet and what made you want to do to do the Music for Myst IV?
3.What is your favorite style of music to compose in and why?
4.How do you match the style of music that you are composing for like for a game?
5.One mistake many first time musicians make first and you would recommend to avoid?
6.Is there one piece of music you enjoy so much that you end up playing it at home everytime?
7.How did you get involved into music and what inspired you to do music for a living?
8..Is music your passion and do you have another passion that you would love to do outside of music?

AlanD · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 2:47 pm

Mr. Wall.

Had you heard of or played Myst or Riven before taking on the challenges of Exile? If not, did you do so after you'd been engaged?

Did you listen to Robyn Millers's work on the first two games, or avoid listening to it?

If you have listened to Robyn's work, what did you think of it?

Jamie Marchant · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:49 pm

I have a music request, could you guys please play the Myst III intro theme, thanks

AlanD · **Posted:** Sun Feb 24, 2013 1:14 am

I hear similarities to Karl Jenkins' Adiemus in both soundtracks. Was it a conscious influence? Were/are you a fan of the Soft Machine?

There are several places where I can hear echoes of Myst or Riven, for instance the Amateria theme. Is that my imagination or was it deliberate?

Request? Revelation Main Theme for me, if there's time

Emor D'ni Lap · **Joined:** Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:15 am **Posts:** 580

- Comparing Exile and Revelation, what were the differences in working methods due to the different studios involved?

- Were you shown finished game areas, or parts of them, before you began writing the tracks for them? Rough, partially-completed work? Or just concept sketches? Or were you only given written or verbal descriptions?

- How specific were your instructions for the music commissioned from you? Or were you left to your own devices to decide what music would be appropriate?

- During the first two years of development for Revelation, did you work with the Dreamforge group before UbiSoft internalized the project? If so, were changes to your work necessary after the transition?

- Did you submit rough samples to the project directors before the orchestral versions were recorded? If so, how were those created, and how much feedback did you get prior to final recordings?

- Were there some cases where you used compositions you'd already written but not produced, or previous ideas that you thought would now apply well to the game areas for these Myst projects? Or was everything custom-written specifically for each game area or task?

- If in some cases you had to write for graphic work you had not seen, were there any occasions when you saw the completed product and then felt the piece you'd composed turned out to be less appropriate than you'd hoped for? Are there any parts of the projects that you wanted to go back and do differently if given the time and money?

- My request: Anything Jack Wall has written for himself, outside of the commercial sphere.

Thanks, Mouski and DMR!

(edited for Cappella's suggestion; & added a question)

Capella · **Joined:** Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:00 pm **Posts:** 81

Hey Emor, Wall did work for the presto and Ubisoft games, so you might want to change Cyan to "the studio" in your questions.

Emor D'ni Lap · **Joined:** Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:15 am **Posts:** 580

Right you are!
(I was writing on autopilot, thinking more from Wall's POV than from the historical perspective)
Edited as per your suggestion - thanks!

Lordly · **Joined:** Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:10 am **Posts:** 46

Muttley wrote:

Did you listen to Robyn Millers's work on the first two games, or avoid listening to it?

If you have listened to Robyn's work, what did you think of it?

After those questions, Did Robyn ask you to do the music for Exile and then Revelations or was it produced entirely out of Cyans hands? I didn't get the opportunity to ask when he (Robyn) was in the cavern a little while back.

Jack Wall in the DMR... soon !

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