I got hooked up with Bangolia for the March Music Madness event and all I know is that it was the singular 
coolest contact made. Chris Peterson, President and Executive Producer at Bangolia has been amazingly helpful and is putting together a series of videos for Gamers Daily News to showcase as the center piece of March Music Madness.
His list of credits includes Executive Producing the audio for titles by Obsidian, Atari, Blue Fang Games, the K2 Network, Eden Games and more. He has spoken at South By Southwest Interactive, at New York and New Jersey chapter meetings of the IGDA, has been a musician since the age of six and is the treasurer of the Association of Music Producers (AMP). While working in television production, he was a producer on such shows as E! Entertainment’s “Wild On” travel series and the inDemand Network’s “Howard Stern On Demand” show.
Bangolia is one of those places where the lines of industries blur. As members of the Association of Music Producers (AMP), International Game Developers Association (IGDA), Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) and Interactive Entertainment Sound Developers (IESD) they are a nexus point where games and music come together and represent exactly what GDN was hoping to accomplish with this month’s music-focus.
In video games we often find an eclectic mix of instruments and arrangements juxtaposed in order to evoke emotion. Certain instruments bring forth certain memories or feelings. They set the stage and the atmosphere is not complete without good music. A synthesizer can give a feeling of the future in a science-fiction piece, while a concerto can take us back in time. A flute, mandolin and drums can call to mind images of elves, dwarves and ogres if used properly.
Who doesn’t think of the action and adventure of the Indiana Jones series with just the first few notes of the Raiders theme song? Who doesn’t think of light sabers and the epic struggle between good and evil with the opening blare of the Star Wars Main theme? Music can invoke the mind’s eye to see massive Middle Earth battles, dog fighting spaceships, struggles for survival, races against time, an intimate scene between lovers and more.
Sure it’s not realistic since the world is generally more full of noise than it is music. But an epic soundtrack to a game can make your heart race with excitement or anticipation. It can alert you to danger or rise to a crescendo during the climax of a legendary battle. Plus everyone knows deep down inside that they want their own ’walking music,’ (mine would be a mix of Raiders with some Duel of the Fates thrown in and some rock undertones or perhaps some zippy jazz like Tank! from Cowboy Bebop).
So what do Alice in Chains, the Seattle Seahawks and the Grammy Awards all have to do with gaming? They all came together when Grammy-Award Winning Bangolia composer Mateo Messina conducted a live orchestra at the halftime show of a Seahawks game with Alice in Chains playing right along with him.
What song did they play? Well you’ll have to watch the video and find out. Plus you’ll get some insight into the video game music industry thanks to the interview. How cool is that?
(YouTube is struggling with the content, copyrights and processing of the video. We estimate that it will be ready within the hour.)
Mateo Messina composed for the 2007 hit film Juno as well as over a dozen other films in the last decade. He won the Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for the Juno soundtrack.
Here’s the really cool thing about Bangolia...their whole business is based on music for games. According to the Bangolia Website:
Since games are now mainstream entertainment, we don’t believe they should only feature “game music.” They should pull from every source of music available, and that’s where we come in. Our producers have been matching the right music to projects for 20 years – from games, to TV shows, A-list feature films and TV commercials.
Chris Peterson, Bangolia’s President, founded the company on a single principle: bring the best worldwide audio resources to the gaming world, from one source. From Academy Award winning sound designers to platinum selling artists to amazing street and subway performers, Bangolia will bring the broadest spectrum of talent to your project.
There is no distinction between games and mainstream entertainment anymore – today Games Are Mainstream Entertainment, of the highest order.
And that is why Gamers Daily News is holding this month of Video Games Music. Stay tuned later this month for further videos and coverage from Bangolia where Games Are Mainstream Entertainment.
