Jason Graves is an American video game composer, who created the scores for the Dead Space series, and F.E.A.R. 3 He is one of the brightest, and upcoming music writers in the video game industry, as he knows how to create music that enhance the games experience. Graves' latest score is the Tomb Raider reboot developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix that is set to release on March 5th. We had the chance to talk to him about his latest score, and the challenges composing Lara Craft for today’s audience.
This game is a reboot, so we’re literally starting from scratch with a young, inexperienced Lara on her first expedition. I wanted to compose a theme that spoke to that. It needed to be quiet, vulnerable and simple. I sent the first draft of my new theme to Crystal Dynamics performed very simply on a solo piano. That same version of the theme was used in the announcement trailer a few months later. What’s wonderful about starting a theme in such a simple and quiet way is that there is so much more space to allow it to grow as Lara’s character grows
GamerHub.TV: How many different themes did you write?
There are four major themes and a few other secondary motifs throughout the score. The four major themes are for Lara, Roth, the Scavengers and the Island itself. One of these four themes is usually playing at any given time in the score, and all of them share a common ancestry in the same four simple notes.
GamerHub.TV: Is Tomb Raider the most music you have written for a game?
There were more than three and a half hours of music in Tomb Raider. If memory serves, the most music I’ve written for any project previously was around two hours. So I guess that’s a quantifiable yes! There were more than an hour’s worth of scored cinematics alone, so you can see how the total time would quickly and easily escalate.
GamerHub.TV: How do you structure a score to fit around a potential trilogy?
It really all comes down to the story. I honestly can’t concern myself with what may or may not happen down the road. Fortunately, Crystal has done a wonderful job introducing us to a new Lara, which made my job as the composer significantly easier. I’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds!
