Hello! My name is Harry, and I wanted to thank you all for your interest in asking me questions about Spiral Knights and music in general. Since you took the time to ask, I wanted to take the time to answer. I hope you continue to enjoy Spiral Knights as much as I will enjoy making new music and sounds!

The-Trial asks: Do you like the fact that people love your music and want to remix them? What was your favourites?

Still new to me that there’s those out there who appreciate my approach to music, but I’m very grateful. I grew up playing final fantasy and chrono trigger tunes on the piano, daydreaming a life where there would be those doing the same to my music. And they might, if I ever composed a song that wasn’t so needlessly complicated that it could be played on a piano!

Dukeplatypus asks: What's with the music in that Dr. Who game?

Sounds, art, puzzles; lots of things go with the music! If you have specific feedback, I’m always interested in hearing what’s working and what can be improved.

Fallconn asks: What is your middle name?

I have two, which one did you mean?

Sky-Scythe asks: Have you ever amazed yourself with your work?

There are times I find myself singing or whistling a song and I’m like, dang what is this from, I know this - and it’s minutes later that I say, what the heck did I actually compose it? When I met Ian, he asked a similar question, and I told him that sometimes I listen to one of my songs and I am extremely surprised that I composed it. It may be quite possible that I have a rare temporary-possession syndrome while composing, but the truth is there’s just so many melodies bouncing around in my head that some are bound to bounce right out. So more surprised than amazed.

Juances asks: Who's your favourite coworker? Who's the worst? Why?

Me, myself and I. As much as I’d love to work in-house at the awesome OOOs office, I’d end up yelling at everyone all the time to be quiet, I’m trying to work! They’re all a great bunch of people though, even invited me to play laser tag!

Excalipoor asks: What do you think is the most important factor in creating video game music?

If I had to choose one factor it would be to love video games. If I didn’t, who knows what kind of music I’d be involved with, if at all.

Mustelid asks: The filenames for the music, as they appear in the resource folder, sometimes have suffixes for "action" and "ambient'. Was Spiral Knights originally going to have a dynamic soundtrack? If so, what factor(s) caused this idea to be dropped?

Sneaking on filenames, how sneaky! Spiral Knights was originally going to have dynamic music for all levels – and you can hear how that plays out in some places such as dark city and generic clockwork levels. The intensity of the music shifts from action to ambient-ish (I always overcompose these), weighting to play the ambient more often . At some point near release, we decided to really ramp up the amount of music in the game by having theme-specific music, which I think worked out really well. I put my energies into adding a lot of new music for that, but to then double it, for example having a shock-action paired with a shock-ambient would have been too much to compose in too little time. Maybe I will one day? Better to compose new than to compose old, though.

Flaame asks: The various songs in Spiral Knights are very reminiscent of chiptune themes which I love. Were you inspired by any particular Retro, 8-bit or even 16-bit theme? Are you a chiptune artist yourself?

Glad you like the chiptunes! Of course I’m inspired by retro, that’s what I grew up with, though I can’t pinpoint an exact song as inpsiration. When Nick first approached me with working on Spiral Knights, he mentioned his desire to create a game that he’d have loved to play growing up, something that appeals to the kid-gamer in him, but also something that leverages the technology advances from the original NES and would be enjoyable today. The approach to music is exactly the same. It pulls a lot from the “sound” of an earlier era, coupled in with more modern, easier-on-the-ears instruments.

It took a lot of experimentation though. You’d cringe hearing some of the original prototype tracks I prepared, as I put the entire emphasis on chiptunes. Chiptunes are actually quite awful to listen to! Nick’s feedback and dedication to ironing out the kinks with me was integral to finding the sound of Spiral Knights, where chiptunes are used as an exotic spice to lightly season a slow-roasted music track.

Rangerwillx: What is your favourite piece of music you've made?

All right, so it was a joint-composition, but one of my favourites still.
http://www.harrymack.com/blog-14.html

Gfjmember asks: Have you ever imagined lyrics for any of the songs on SK?

Anything is possible, if you can imagine it! I can’t imagine lyrics for Spiral Knights. Unless the lyrics are the same as Katamari Damacy! Nope.

Doctorspacebar asks: I'd like to ask, did the rest of OOO tell you what Boss 2 is going to be for

No, just Nick.

Honestly, the file you’re listening to is an experiment piece not fit for public consumption. It’s an unfinished song that will never get put in game as is, so consider it a collector’s piece that only the coolest of cool know about.

Ysser asks: My big question is, how do you set out to write tracks? Is it anything like, "Hey, so I'm scoring a Poison themed strata. Let's figure out some venomous sounding intervals and samples" or is it much more complex than that?

I like to find out everything first about what I’m composing for. Helpful things include concept art, descriptions of the area, getting to play it, knowing what mood we want the players to feel. It’s hard to compose without all of this information! I’ll take it all in and doodle on the piano until I get one measure of something that sounds like it’s appropriate, then I take it to the computer to assign instruments and begin scoring.

Iron-Blast asks: Which soundpiece that you've created in Spiral Knights is your favorite?

My favourite is also the one that gave me the most trouble, and is likely people’s least favourite, which is the Undead music. I have a soft-spot for zombies, so this was an important piece for me. But what a ridiculous mix of tonality and atonality! It took ages to get something so dissonant to sound musical. I knew I didn’t want to have a straight-up horror song, because zombies have feelings too, you know? They can love (to eat brains), they can hurt (you a lot), and if you prick them, do they not bleed? Listen again to that song, I think it has a story to tell (but not about how I can never complete a grimalkin level and have to run through it as fast as possible without stopping to kill anything and still end up ressing 10 times).

Tantarian graciously posits: What's with all these generic "how do you music" questions.

Words, dates, forum avatars; lots of things go with these questions! As for how do I music, I ask that same question myself whenever I sit at the piano.

Traevelliath asks: How do you make laser sound effects?

Laser effects can be created by attaching a mic to the end of a slinky, pitch-bending a basic sawtooth waveform, or shooting a laser pistol in a controlled environment.

Autofire asks: What is your inspiration for your songs.

Mostly answered in a previous question but I’d like to add, the wonderful team that made Spiral Knights made a wonderful game called Spiral Knights, and I’m inspired to contribute as wonderful as possible music to this game, called Spiral Knights.

Incineron asks: My fav music is Treasure Vault. Its so awesome C: Whats the inspiration for it.

Glad you like it! It’s actually an accident. When I was asked by Nick to create it, I wasn’t aware that coins were split between party members. It sounds like a frantic race among friends to grab the most loot, right? I wonder how I would have made it if I knew it was a lovely jaunt through a mostly-safe zone; a stroll in the sun with friends and mostly friendly long-tongued pet lizards. Probably wouldn’t sound half as cool.

Canozo asks: What would happen if an unstoppable force hit an immovable object?

I think I have a sound for that! Bwongggg. Or maybe, THWMBMMM! What is the sound of one unstoppable force clapping?

Eltia asks: Who are some game music composers who inspired you?

Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Koji Kondo, composers of Final Fantasty, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Mario, and lots more.
Memorable melodies to memorable games, it’s what got me in this business.

Snowdusk asks: Which is your favourite musical instrument(s)? (either used in your composition or the ones you play)

My wife plays the cello, so that’s been a major influence in the way I’ve composed. Seriously, cellos make some of the best sounds on earth. As for myself, I’ve played the piano for as long as I remember, but I seldom add them to my music. I just sat here for a couple minutes trying to internalize why that might be, until I remembered that there’s a fair amount of piano-ish instruments in the title/main theme! Whew.

Shoebigbox asks: Coolest project you have ever worked on?

I’m actually a big fan of Corpse Craft, an excellent game made by some excellent people in OOO. Check it out! http://www.corpsecraft.com/

Xylka-Mkii asks one question: How do you compose a song?

I start with the bass. That’s the foundation from which the music will grow. Four, eight measures later, I go back and fill a simple one-instrument melody line accompaniment. Now with two notes, that’s starting to flesh out a chord progression. Add a counterpoint, which is a sub-melody that goes along with the melody, integral in order to make sure the music isn’t boring. Hit control-c, hit control-v 35 times in a row, presto!

Saphykun asks: Considering that some new music tracks have been added to Spiral Knights after the soundtrack came out (ex. OCH, mission interface, Swarm music, IMF, etc.), will a second SK soundtrack be released containing the new songs?

I’d love that to happen! It takes time though, because I need to remix out new versions for the songs, as you’ll notice the ones in game are composed as an infinite loop. For a CD, they need endings. I learned that lesson the first time, so I’ve already composed super-secret endings for most of the new songs, but a remix is still necessary for the soundtrack to have an even, consistent volume and flow. I hope that was an evasive enough answer for you.

Fluffyfoxxie asks: Some of the monster family themes are really cool, but it can be rare to run into a non-elemental themed stage, so they often don't get heard! Is there a possibility of making elemental variations of these themes instead of replacing all elemental stages with the elemental themes?

So you’re looking for a beast track to get remixed into a fire-beast track, a poison-beast track, an ice-beast track, etc, and a construct track to get a fire- construct track, a poison- construct track, a ---- I’d love that to happen! I think I could get that done in a couple years, but I’d need to work overtime.

Fallconn cheats and asks another: Y U NO PLAY TECHNO MUSIC!!!!!!!!!! ):<

There’s a techno drumkit in the shock music! “Analog kick” is definitely assigned to the downbeats. Does that count?

Kilmefirst asks: Dubstep obviously has a very strong influence on your choices as a composer. Care to shed some light as to why?

Growing up, connecting my baud modem to the new-fangled internet was my favourite sound, because it meant I was about to play Doom or Ultima Online. That’s why all my songs are dubstep now.

Malokenos asks: Were you at all inspired by David Wise? Some tracks have a very similar feel to many of his works.

I had to google who that is. Wizards and Warriors? YES. Battletoads? YES. Marble Madness? Triple YES. So, at least five Yesses.

Shennynerd asks: How does one break into "video game music"? Like, specifically video games.

It’s really, really hard, unfortunately, to get into anything video-gamey, especially design. I think your best bet, which sort of worked for me, is to start with testing. Go out to lunch with the audio team, try to ask to test audio-related bugs, stuff like that. At the very least you’ll get an understanding of the internal workings of a game company. Be social and friendly and meet people at game meetings like the IGDA, or conventions, and most importantly, friends of friends of friends of friends.

You should really think about what you want from life and if it’s a game job. Consider all the options and realize it’s not a carefree life of playing games all day without a worry. Take a look at this article, and while it may be a bit jaded, there’s a lot of truth in what he has to say.
http://www.bruceongames.com/2009/11/12/you-dont-want-to-work-in-the-vide...

Tersakaff asks: What kind of music do you enjoy listening to in your free time?

I really don’t mean to be snobby or whatever, but it’s classical. Well, not as much classical which has a huge amount of boring stuff, but baroque (like Bach) and romantic (like Beethoven). I strive to compose as thoughtfully and gracefully as the giants of these ages, though I will never come nearly as close. I’m cool with that! I just want to give a shout-out to my boy Bach, studying his scores in university was likely the most important thing I’ve done that’s influenced how I compose and approach composing music now. The same will be said by many, many, in the countless generations to come.

Zaderules asks: If you were an actual Spiral Knight for a day, would you do the clockworks first? or play some Lockdown?

I’m really bad at Lockdown, so I’d likely hang out at Haven all day asking if anyone needs a wandering minstrel to catalogue their awesome Lockdown exploits (of valor!).

Tromby asks: What software do you use to produce music? (also why is it better?)

I use Sonar (cakewalk) for scoring. I think I’m crazy though. I input the notes one-by-one into the score through a mouse. Like, here I am with almost twenty years of playing the piano, and I won’t play my songs. What I like is the ability to have 20 different instruments each doing a different thing here and there, and I can’t get that precision with premade loops. The consequence is this is an extremely time-consuming process. Imagine painting a giant mural but refusing to use anything other than colored pencils. Anyway, Sonar has been the best at score-management that I’ve seen so I use that, voiced by a variety of VSTs and filters.

Alijdis asks: Have you ever played spiral knights?

You’re asking if I play the game I made over two hours of music and hundreds of sounds for? The answer is yes. I enjoy playing with my wife and son, though we still can’t beat Crimson Hammer on Tier 3…

My favourite moment was walking by someone in Haven who was talking to a friend about how he was sitting idle for hours just listening to the awesome music. I’m sure he was just waiting for his mist to come back though!

The-Rawrcake asks: How often should I change my pillow?

Not a problem, happy to help! http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+often+should+I+change+my+pillow%3F

Flamaxe asks: what is your favorite Weapon and armor!

I’ll say, my least favourite weapon is the Faust. I got that one for my son before understanding the curse mechanic, and he kept killing himself with the charge effect and got sad and afraid to ever use it. He’s got a fireburst brandish now and all is well.

Thunderbog asks: Have ye created any music outside of Spiral Knights, like in real life or in other games?

Yup! Lots and lots. Like anything, practice is key. As a game composer I have to be prepared to compose for almost any genre, so I challenge myself to compose in things I’d never think to compose, and some genres I don’t like to compose in until I’ve learned to like that too. I don’t want to be in a position to say, sorry I don’t do that type of music. It may not be my strong suit (rpg orchestral!), but I want to be comfortable creating great pieces in every genre, even polka.

Obsidious asks: Here's an odd an question. Do you know about Overlocked Remix internet community? If so, what do you think of their work and the composers? Are there any tracks from SK you'd be interested in hearing remixed?

I think it’d be great to hear remixes! I’ve heard a couple and each has surprised me about some different ways to approach the music. I can learn a lot, and appreciate people’s criticisms and reimagining of my work.

Sirhoris asks: when shud i buy a coco bean?

Ah, I love riddles! Is it your hand? Mountain? Time? No don’t tell me. The answer is in you. Here’s one, when is a jar not a jar? When it’s adoor! Is that how it goes?

Helmbrand, one-man Guild Master of Kirche Archon asks: Could you create individual tracks for each boss? For example for Lord Vanaduke (I was thinking of an infernal choir, for example).

I really thought about it! I even tried a few test cases to see how it would sound. An approach would be to take the boss music and change the instruments, or add and change things here and there. But in the end it’s the same song, just different, with the benefit of a bit of variety, and the detriment of losing cohesion throughout the gameplay. Creating a completely different song could work, but each song would have to go through the scrutiny: is this song as cool and epic as the original? What if it’s not? Why change something that’s working well to something that might not be up to snuff?

It’s definitely something to consider, and I do go back and forth on it. For now I like the familiarity of it all. You hear the music, you know it’s a boss, and the music works.

Vykhram asks: Will there be new soundtracks to 'break the monotony' from the ones currently used in battles?

I hope to continue creating new tracks as often as possible, especially alongside new content. Battle tracks in particular have been discussed, and you can already hear some new takes on battles such as the creepy-attack in the Crimson Hammer.

Lius-Nine asks: The new music in Lichenous Lairs: did you suggest it or it was a request?

Nick suggested that since the same slime music is being used for both Slime-levels and the Royal Jelly Palace, we could use a different track to help make the RJP unique. The first time I heard the slime music in game, it was for the RJP and I think a lot of players had that same experience. I came to associate the music for that place in particular, so instead of creating new music for the RJP, I suggested we make a new theme for generic-slime levels. Something that shows the creepy, dangerous side to the loveable monsters.

Malospelos asks: Could you make a SK soundtrack where you could sing something?

I do enjoy singing and have been in many choirs and musical productions in school. There is some background choirs in a few SK tracks, but if you’re talking about a theme song where someone sings with lyrics, I don’t think that’s something that would work for this game. I’d really love to hear if someone made some lyrics to one of the songs though!

Mz-Cookiieh asks: Do you like practical jokes?

I briefly considered changing the local sound files on my son’s machine so that the ghost kittens would mewl out his name, but I realized I couldn’t afford the therapist bills.

Malasombra asks: Why do you work for SK?

Honestly, SK has been the most rewarding game to work on. When I first had the idea to create music for games, I swore I’d only create music of the rpg orchestral type like the games I grew up with. Until Spiral Knights, I hadn’t had much of a chance to do so! I’m very thankful to be working on this project I think a lot of that passion comes across in the music.

Stvn-Mchknight asks: Are you familiar with this piece? http://www.tapartoche.com/morceaux/partitions/4233.gif

That tune was the first video game song I took to trying to plunk out on the piano at the tender age of 8 (gosh I’m old now). I was frustrated by how difficult it got, but it encouraged me to try harder and learn the piano faster. So, thanks to that song!

Thepatriarch asks: Are you also a snipe like some GMs or are you just a person (Note from the translator: d'awww)

Not a snipe, but if you listen very carefully, you’ll notice I’m a Stranger!

http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Strangers

Thanks again everyone, I'm proud to be part of a truly excellent game. Thanks so much to Nick for getting me involved, Daniel and Tom for being so supportive and inviting to me, Cory and Ian for their exhaustive efforts managing the sound implementation (little known fact, if you like a sound in the game, you should really be thanking one of these guys for their excellent sound request descriptions and massaging of sound assets into the game environment), and the rest of the Spiral Knights team for their tireless effort coding, arting, maintaining, chaperoning, translating, and designing a magnificent gem of a game.