We recently got a chance to talk with Jack Wall and asked him how different it was for him scoring Call of Duty Black Ops 2 compared to his previous work. He also reflected on his time with the Mass Effect series, and asked him if he would be interested in returning.
GamerHub.TV: Besides scoring a soundtrack, how much behind the scenes work (sound effects) goes into a soundtrack?
Jack Wall: Treyarch has 8 guys that work in their sound department. The job is huge.
GamerHub.TV: Before we talk about your latest work, would you mind talking about your previous work?
Jack Wall: Not at all!
GamerHub.TV: What was one of the biggest challenges you faced when you were scoring the Mass Effect soundtracks?
It was sci-fi, which I hadn’t done before. I do think to grow as a composer you have to try your hand at every opportunity. Mass Effect was a universe that I really wanted to dig into. I loved the references they used for it, the storyline, the atmosphere. In the end, I learned that emotion is the key to writing any score for any genre or story. That was an important growth spurt for me personally.
GamerHub.TV: The leap from Mass Effect 1 to 2 is astounding. The story is magnificent, the characters and worlds you travel to are memorable. What tied it all together for me was the score you instilled.
Jack Wall: Well thanks! The musical direction came from Casey Hudson, who I think wanted to develop the trilogy in ways that you felt musically, as well as through story and environment. While Mass Effect introduced this really broad universe, Mass Effect 2 brought everything a bit closer. It was more about developing the characters and forwarding the story.
GamerHub.TV: Where did the inspiration come from when you started to score the end of Mass effect 2?
Jack Wall: I’d have to give Casey some credit for coming up with the idea to write an epic piece of music early in the production. He came to me around May or June (game launched the following January) and said, “I’d like you to write the music now for the suicide mission that happens at the end of the game.” A couple of months prior to this, I heard in my head an ostinato pattern that was in 7. I was on a plane at the time and had a tiny Korg nanoKEY controller with me so I recorded the idea into my laptop. It was one of the first pieces I wrote for the game. I brought that particular snippet back and orchestrated and arranged it as a “theme and variations” type of composition based on that pattern. It just worked so well as an epic piece of music. Later on at the very end of the production – around late October/early November – I cut that piece into the end footage. With some creative editing it ended up working perfectly to the scene. I was really pleased with that one!
