- Jesper Kyd
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Jesper Kyd Birth name Jesper Jakobson Kyd Also known as JK, JJK, Jonesy Born February 3, 1972 Origin 
Hørsholm, DenmarkGenres Electronica, ambient, symphonic techno, orchestral, choral, IDM Occupations Musician, composer Instruments Personal computer, Keyboards, Synthesizer Years active circa.1986–present Labels Sumthing Else
La-La Land RecordsAssociated acts Silents DK, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Choir Website http://www.jesperkyd.com/ Jesper Jakobson Kyd (born February 3, 1972) is a Danish video game and film score composer.
Kyd combines sounds of dark ambient, electronic and symphonic music and has won many awards. He is also notable for his early work in the Amiga demoscene, where he composed a large amount of music in his teenage years, in particular a ten year long set of gatherings known as "The Party". Today, he is best known for composing music for the Hitman series, the Assassin's Creed series, and, together with Rom Di Prisco, the soundtrack for Unreal Tournament 3.
Contents
Early years
Kyd started playing piano at an early age. Later, he took several years of training in classical guitar, note reading, choir singing and classical composition for piano. However, he is mostly self-taught.[1][2]
Kyd was always more interested in the compositional aspects of music and received a Commodore 64 when he was 14, enabling him to compose music for the demoscene.[3] Several years later he obtained an Amiga, allowing him to compose music with samples in it.[4] He, along with his good friend and collaborator, Mikael Balle, became a member of the demo group Silents DK, and after some time started collaborating with a group of coders known as Crionics,[5] which would arguably later prove vital for his professional career. They eventually made the legendary Amiga demoscene production Hardwired.[6][7]
He also created and scored the first wild demo, Global Trash 2, together with Mikael Balle.
Establishing his career
At this point Jesper Kyd decided to quit the demo scene and focus on a professional career as a game musician. He and his demoscene friends who had collaborated on the Hardwired demo created the computer game developer Zyrinx and started working on a game called Sub-Terrania for the Sega Genesis. The game was successful and the music of the game received particular acclaim, many stating it was "Some of the best ever" for this particular system.[citation needed]
With the commercial success of the game, Jesper Kyd and the rest of the team relocated to Boston. Kyd composed music for two additional Zyrinx titles, Red Zone and Scorcher as well as the music for two externally developed games, Amok and The Adventures of Batman and Robin before their game publisher Scavenger went bankrupt, forcing the Zyrinx team to dissolve as well.
Going freelance
After the demise of Zyrinx, many of its former members returned to Denmark to start IO Interactive. Jesper Kyd decided to move to New York City and set up his own sound studio in Manhattan called "Nano studios". Because of his extensive connections in the industry,[citation needed] Kyd found success as a freelance computer game musician. He also had been planning to score upcoming games from IO Interactive from the beginning.
Breakthrough to present
Jesper Kyd's real fame came, according to him, with the release of Bioware's MDK2: Armageddon, Shiny's Messiah and IO's Hitman: Codename 47 being released around the same time, all being fairly well known games, with Hitman ending up as one of the most popular of the time.[8] The soundtrack to Codename 47 was based on urban soundscapes and ethnic instrumentation. It immediately took the focus of many magazines around the world. Mp3.com declared that "The theme song to the original Hitman is arguably one of the best pieces of video game theme music so far this decade".[9]
His next huge step was recording the soundtrack of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. The soundtrack was recorded with 110 musicians of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Choir. “The music of most big budget action movies won’t move you like the music of Hitman 2,” said IGN.[9]
His next soundtrack contained heroic and densely atmospheric music for the epic action/adventure Freedom Fighters. He recorded the score with the Hungarian Radio choir. It further established him as one of the leading, innovative A-list composers in interactive entertainment. It was described by Film Score Monthly Magazine as "Vangelis on steroids". Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards nominated him for Best Use of Soundtrack, meanwhile, Game Audio Network Guild Awards nominated him for "Best Original Vocal Song – Choral" (for Main Title and March of the Empire). Leading video game web site GameSpot awarded Freedom Fighters "Best Music of the Year".
His unique fusion of modern electronica and brooding symphonic and choral grooves featured in Hitman: Contracts garnered international critical acclaim as one of the truly groundbreaking original soundtracks. It was awarded Best Original Music by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at the 2005 BAFTA Games Awards and won Best Cinematic / Cut-Scene Audio at the 2005 G.A.N.G. Awards. "Many have tried to turn a video game soundtrack into a musical experience. But few have succeeded in creating a coherent, satisfying listening experience as well as Jesper Kyd," noted EQ Magazine.[9]
Kyd's other works include the modern anime video game soundtrack for Robotech: Invasion, the cinematics for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory[10] directed by Andy Davis (The in-game music was composed by electronica artist Amon Tobin), and the soundtrack of Hitman: Blood Money, which features a bombastic live orchestral and choral score recorded with 150 musicians of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Hungarian Radio Choir, with additional electronic music. His latest works include the fantasy MMORPG The Chronicles Of Spellborn, and the sci-fi epic Unreal Tournament 3. He is also scoring next generation titles for Ubisoft and Eidos Interactive.
Kyd currently lives in Los Angeles, where he is working on his own debut album, Deftronic, which is described as a cinematic electronic music album. The album is being produced by Jesper himself and co-produced by Jeff Blenkinsopp, who worked with Pink Floyd, The Who, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Vangelis, among others. According to Game-ost.com, the album will be released on December 12, 2012.[11]
Works
As noted above Kyd has composed music for many different forms of visual and non-visual media, below is a run-down of his works. See the Navbox at the bottom of the page also. He feels that the gap between grand movie score and incidental game score is now closing and he is trying to show that game music can be as epic as any good movie score.[12]
Games
- 2012 - Heroes and Generals
- 2011 - Forza Motorsport 4
- 2011 - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (with Lorne Balfe)
- 2010 - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood[13]
- 2009 - Assassin's Creed II
- 2009 - Borderlands
- 2008 - The Chronicles of Spellborn
- 2008 - The Club (main theme)
- 2007 - Assassin's Creed
- 2007 - Unreal Tournament 3 (with Rom Di Prisco)
- 2007 - Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
- 2006 - Hitman: Blood Money
- 2006 - Gears of War (concept music)
- 2005 - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (cinematics)
- 2004 - Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 (songs .59 -remix-, Istanbul café, and Red Room)[14]
- 2004 - Robotech: Invasion
- 2004 - Hitman: Contracts
- 2004 - McFarlane's Evil Prophecy
- 2003 - Freedom Fighters
- 2003 - Brute Force
- 2002 - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
- 2002 - Minority Report: The Video Game
- 2001 - Shattered Galaxy
- 2001 - The Nations: Alien Nations 2
- 2000 - Hitman: Codename 47
- 2000 - Messiah
- 2000 - MDK2
- 2000 - Soldier (unreleased)
- 1999 - Time Tremors
- 1996 - Scorcher
- 1996 - Amok
- 1995 - Adventures of Batman and Robin
- 1994 - Red Zone
- 1993 - Sub-Terrania
- 1993 - AWS Pro Moves Soccer
- 1989 - USS John Young
Movies
- 2008 - Staunton Hill
- 2008 - Year Zero
- 2007 - La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928, new score)
- 2006 - Sweet Insanity
- 2003 - Night All Day
- 2002 - Pure
- 2002 - Death of a Saleswoman
Short films
- 2006 - Virus
- 2006 - Impulse
- 2003 - Cycle
- 2002 - Pure
- 2002 - Paper Plane Man
- 2002 - Day Pass
- 2001 - Going with Neill
- 2001 - The Lion Tamer
- 2000 - Organizm
TV series
- 2009 - The Resistance
Trailers
- Assassin's Creed TV launch trailer
- Assassin's Creed cello TV trailer
- Assassin's Creed E3 trailer
- Gears of War E3 trailer
- V For Vendetta (Warner Bros. Pictures)
- Hitman: Blood Money TV trailers
- Hitman: Contracts TV trailers
- Hitman 2: Silent Assassin TV trailers
Awards and nominations
- 2009 Spike Video Game Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
- 2009 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score Winner
- 2008 BAFTA - Best Original Music Nomination (British Academy Award)
- 2008 Hollywood Music Awards - Best Original Score Nomination
- 2008 Golden Joystick Awards - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
- 2008 ELAN Awards - Best Video Game Score Winner
- 2007 GameSpot - Best Video Game Score Nomination
- 2007 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations, including Music of the Year
- 2006 MTV Video Music Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination
- 2006 IGN Best Original Score Winner
- 2006 Golden Joystick Awards - Best Game Soundtrack Nomination
- 2006 4 G.A.N.G. Nominations Including Music of the Year
- 2005 BAFTA - Winner Best Original Music Award (British Academy Award)
- 2005 G.A.N.G. Winner Best Music for Cinamatic/Cut Scene
- 2005 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Freedom Fighters Soundtrack CD
- 2004 Billboard Awards Best Music Nomination 2004
- 2004 IGN - Best Soundtrack Nomination
- 2004 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations
- 2004 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman Contracts Soundtrack CD
- 2003 GameSpot - Best Soundtrack of the Year Winner
- 2003 Game Reactor - Best Original Soundtrack Winner
- 2003 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman 2 Soundtrack CD
- 2002 Games Agent - Best Original Soundtrack Winner
- 2002 GameSpot - Best Original Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
- 2002 X-Sages - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
- 2002 IGN - Best Sound Nomination
- 2002 Action Vault - Outstanding Achievement In Music
- 2002 Bolt Games - Bolt Games Music Award
Quotes
“ When writing music for films, you have to pay close attention to what happens on the screen 100% of the time and so it's difficult to fit lots of crazy ideas into a film score. For games I like to add lots of subconscious elements in order to further develop the game’s atmosphere. My job as a game composer is to immerse the player in the world and enhance the vision of the director and producers. ” - On the difference between scoring for movies and games.[15]
“ When working with US companies I sometimes have to be careful not to go crazy with over-using electronics and dance beats. European and Canadian developers seem to respect and enjoy these type of influences more. ” - On the difference between working with European and American developers.[15]
Audio
Below are some examples of Kyd's musical versatility.
part of an action track from Assassin's Creed where Kyd mixes orchestral, electronic and other techniques to create a unique atmosphere.
on this track Kyd uses a Saltarello arrangement with a dark ambient overtone.
References
- ^ Official Jesper Kyd forum
- ^ Jesper Kyd interview with Spelmusik
- ^ The Silents
- ^ Jesper Kyd at Amiga Music Preservation
- ^ Crionics
- ^ YouTube - Crionics^Silents - Hardwired (main)
- ^ Hardwired by Crionics & The Silents
- ^ Music 4 Games - The Future of Rock n' Roll & Interactive Entertainment. Est. 1999
- ^ a b c Jesper Kyd Online
- ^ Jesper Kyd Talks to GameZone About His Work on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - PC News
- ^ Deftronic at Game-ost.com
- ^ Music 4 Games - The Future of Rock n' Roll & Interactive Entertainment. Est. 1999
- ^ Evoker (14 September 2010). "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Interview". UGDB.com. http://ugdb.com/article/view/interview-assassin-s-creed-brotherhood-ps3. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
- ^ songs by Jesper Kyd - bemanistyle.com
- ^ a b Spelmusik.net » Intervjuer » Interview with Jesper Kyd
External links
- Official website
- Official MySpace
- Jesper Kyd discography at MusicBrainz
- MobyGames rap sheet
- Artist profile at OverClocked ReMix
- An insight into Kyd's demoscene days with a video from 1991 he did the music for
- A more in depth look at his career including his demoscene days
Interviews
- Interview at Nerd Reactor
- Interview at Tracksounds
- Interview at SoundtrackNet
- Interview at Go! Game Music
- Interview at BSOSpirit
- Interview at SpelMusik
- Interview & Module Downloads at Amiga Music Preservation
- Interview at DVD.Reviewer for Jesper Kyd's work on Staunton Hill
- Interview at GameStar.ru
Jesper Kyd Game work Messiah · MDK2 · Hitman: Codename 47 · The Nations · Minority Report · Hitman 2: Silent Assassin · Brute Force · Freedom Fighters · Hitman: Contracts · Robotech: Invasion · Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory · Hitman: Blood Money · Kane & Lynch: Dead Men · Unreal Tournament 3 · Assassin's Creed · Assassin's Creed II · The Club · The Chronicles of Spellborn · Borderlands · Assassin's Creed II · Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Film workNight All Day · Daypass · Cycle · La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc · Death of a Saleswoman · Impulse · Sweet Insanity
Categories:- 1972 births
- Living people
- Ambient musicians
- BAFTA winners (people)
- Danish composers
- Danish electronic musicians
- Danish film score composers
- Demosceners
- Electronica musicians
- Intelligent dance music musicians
- Television composers
- Tracker musicians
- Video game composers
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