Who is Steve Burke? (2)

What has been your greatest joy?
I got a real buzz hearing the orchestra in Prague playing the Kameo music. I’d have appreciated it even more if I wasn’t so stressed about getting all the music recorded in the time we had at the studio. Hearing a big orchestra perform music you’ve written is rather exciting.

If you have to name only one thing that you hope players will appreciate in Kameo, what would it be?
The attention to detail in the game. It’s really inspiring to work on, and I couldn’t ask for a more stunning game to write music to. The levels really do seem like living, breathing worlds where there is always something amazing to see. I personally love the day to night transitions, and the mood these create. Breathtaking!

Was there a piece of music in Kameo that you are particularly pleased to include?
I was particularly proud of the alternate Kameo theme song, which went something like, “She’s a five foot fairy and her legs are hairy, - Kameo, - Kameo; because where she’s from shaving's not necessary, - Kameo, - Kameo…” etc. Strangely the designers didn’t think it worked in the context of the game. Such a shame. I wasn’t sure if it was the lyrics or my singing. There was also the Troll Song that probably won’t make it into the final game as it was perhaps a little rude (thanks to Steve Horsburgh the programmer and part-time lyricist for that). I’ll sneak it out one day.

How did you go about recording the musicians? Are you pleased with their performances?
Quite a sizeable portion of the music was recorded in Prague with an orchestra and choir. They did a great job. We had four days to record 70 minutes of music, and they had never seen the music before I turned up at the recording sessions. There are several other tracks in the game that some very talented singers here at Rare sang on, so I’m extremely grateful to them for putting up with me in the studio. They get all flummoxed when I make up words on the spot and get them to sing them. Thanks Aisling, Eveline, and the guys!

Was there anyone especially well-known who played on the soundtrack?
Well, Andy the audio programmer on Kameo has been threatening to play triangle on one of the tunes for a while now.

As I’m writing this, there’s still a way to go before we sign off on the music to the game. So, there is a possibility of a well known performer being involved. Nothing as of yet though.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into a career doing what you do?
It’s a great career to get in to. My advice is to be as versatile as possible in the styles of music you can write. Get a showreel CD together and make it sound unique, don’t just stick a bunch of drum and bass tracks on it, really go out of your way to stand out from the crowd. Also, make sure you know about sound recording, sound effects creation, and mixing. These are all skills that are really useful when working in an in-house music department. On any given day you could be writing music for an orchestra, recording voice over artists, and working with programmers to implement sounds in the game.

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