“Samara the Mystic Asari Justicar” by Axl99

So through the wonder of modern social networking, I’ve had the recent pleasure of becoming acquainted with a super talented artist by the name of Jessie “AXL99″ Lam. Jessie’s a fan of Mass Effect 2, and has done some rather fine work based on the series. She contacted me recently and asked who my favorite character was. It’s hard to say, because I really love them all, but I suppose since Samara was the first character theme I wrote for the game, I tend to be a little partial to her. Shortly after, Ms. Lam produced the  previous image, which you can click on for the full image as well as many other awesome works of hers.

From someone who had fairly top-secret access to concept art and other various non-public files during the development of Mass Effect 2, I can honestly say that I’m blown away by Jessie’s ability.  Her work is right up there with all the official art I’ve seen.  BioWare, if you’re paying attention, please keep Jessie on your radar, I think she’d be an asset to your team!

For more info on AXL99’s work, please visit her sites:

http://axl99.cghub.com/ * http://axl99.net/ * http://axl99.deviantart.com/

Or, you can follow her on twitter here

]]> http://www.biggiantcircles.com/misc/awesome-fan-art/feed/ 0 http://www.biggiantcircles.com/misc/zircon-trax/ http://www.biggiantcircles.com/misc/zircon-trax/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:23:34 +0000 admin http://www.biggiantcircles.com/?p=438

Do you need cutting-edge, music right away for your project?  Check out http://zircontrax.com! Created by acclaimed Philly-based composer and producer Andrew “zircon” Aversa, ZT is a collection of powerful, evocative music in a wide variety of styles written by a powerhouse line-up of composers, whose collective credits include ABC, NBC, Fox, HGTV, DIY, Food Network, Comedy Central, Animal Planet, LucasArts, BioWare, Capcom, Midway, and many more.  To quote the site directly:

“In short, we cut no corners. We do not compromise our music in any way. You will not find dozens of volumes of CDs full of stale, canned music made with 10-year old musical equipment. You will not find incredible “deals” allowing you to buy out 100 tracks for $50. You will not find garage band recordings labeled as “indie”. What you will find is an outstanding collection of unique instrumental and vocal tracks offered at highly competitive rates.”

You’ll find some of my music on there, and also some outstanding tracks by some other highly talented and skilled folks.  Music can make all the difference, so check out their catalog now and let it do so for your project.  Whether it’s a movie, tv show, podcast, webseries, website, promotion, video game, commercial, or whatever else, ZT has something to make it better!

Recently I was the extremely lucky and fortunate winner of a pair of BM5A MKII monitors from the good folks at Dynaudio Acoustics.  Most people I know in the music business are familiar with Dynaudio studio monitors and they are very highly esteemed in the professional side of the industry, and for good reason.  Aside from being a pretty stylish addition to my studio, I am continually amazed by the pristine clarity and accuracy in which they pump my work back into my ears.

There’s plenty of places to read all about the specs and technical info  in greater detail, so I’ll leave that part to google and just focus more on my literal thoughts about this product.  I’ve been a musician most of my life and composed/produced music professionally for the past 5 years.  I worked as an software/keyboard/recording associate at a music retail store for two years.  We had a room full of monitors that ranged from $100/pair to about $2000/pair.  And you could do A/B comparisons on any of them.   In all truth, the BM5A’s were the most accurate.

It’s fair to say that I’m a bit more of a composer than an engineer, but solid production is a prerequisite to success in the music field these days,  and I truly believe that the quality of my mixes has gone way up since the MKII’s retired my former monitors.  I’m so thrilled by the positive impact that these have had on my music that if hypothetically I had to return these gifts or else pay the full retail price, I’d do the latter.  They’re well worth it.  There’s a saying in the music production business that goes “You’re only as good as the weakest component in your signal chain.”  Thanks to Dynaudio, I know my weakest link is not my speakers.   These guys have my highest recommendation.  Thanks again, Dynaudio! You rock!

Recently OC ReMix has been conducting interviews with various game composers and ReMixers.  This is the first time they’ve interviewed an entire team.  As Jack Wall said once, it’s a pretty “epic” interview, put together by the staff AND community forum members of OCR, and it’s very in-depth.  A great read for anyone curious about the process behind writing music for video games.  The good folks at BioWare were even kind enough to plug it on the Mass Effect website, as well as Facebook and Twitter.  There’s a couple ReMixes from Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 to go with it, so head on over today to read up and download the tracks! Or, click “Read More” to stream them on Youtube!

For all the game developers that have found their way here, WALL of SOUND inc (http://wallofsoundinc.com) is a full-service music company providing the highest quality musical experiences for the video game industry. Led by industry legend Jack Wall, the company is a creative collective of individuals working together to produce, mix, master and implement music on any and all gaming platforms.  (Click READ MORE to continue)

Wall of Sound is the team responsible for the music in Mass Effect 2 among other games.  The team currently consists of Jack Wall, David Kates, Sam Hulick, Brian DiDomenico, myself, and Cindy Shapiro.  There’s a lot of solid industry experience spread across a wide field of knowledge.  From scoring, producing, remixing, mastering, orchestrating, editing, and implementing music in video games, all the bases are covered.  It’s a one-stop package for all that a developer needs to ensure that only the highest quality music not only makes it into their game, but works the way that it should.  Stop by our site, learn about our team, learn what we can offer you, and contact us about your project needs!

-My first GDC!

-Getting to actually meet the rest of the Mass Effect music team in person.

-Seeing many of the good folks I’ve admired for years and rubbing shoulders with them.

-Meeting many of the other great folks in G.A.N.G. (Game Audio Network Guild).

-Meeting some of the other minds behind the audio for Mass Effect 2.

-Finally getting some face-to-face with my Deus Ex ReMix co-collaborator (and original composer) Alex Brandon

-Attending the Valve party

-Attending the God of War 3 pre-release party

-Attending the GANG Awards

To summarize, I was a little star-struck in a sense.  GDC is full of people who I have looked up to for a long time, and it’s also full of plenty other doe-eyed admirers like myself.  The most flattering and humbling part of it was having people come up to ME and say “Hey, I love the work you’ve done!”  Truly an amazing feeling.  I met a ton of awesome people from all kinds of varying aspects of game development, and I was truly impressed by just how great everyone there was.  I don’t think I met a single person who seemed like they didn’t have time to chat with me, but rather in I think every case, they seemed just as happy to talk to me as I was to talk with them!  I’ll definitely be back next year.

Hey friends and fans, some pretty cool news that I’ve been meaning to share for the past few days:  The good folks at Image Line software, the makers of FL Studio have appointed me the honor of being considered a “Power User” when they found out about my use of their software for my work in Mass Effect 2.   I’m very honored and flattered by this, though truthfully I feel a little… out of place, haha.  Most of their other Power Users are successful producers, DJ’s, or performers who largely deal in electronic/pop music.  But it’s all good, I’m proud of my work on Mass Effect, and it looks like Image Line is as well, enough so that they figured it was worth giving me this cool badge, so to speak.

Regarding FL Studio, I’ve used it for some 6 – 7 years at this point as the primary host/sequencer program for probably over 95% of the music I’ve made.  Like any software it has it’s strengths and weaknesses, but it’s definitely played a key role in all the commercial music I’ve written, whether for video games, film, or television.  So thanks again, Image Line.  Keep up the hard work with your software!

For more information, visit my Power User page here - http://flstudio.image-line.com/documents/jimmyhinson.html

TIMELINE:

May 25 -Mass Effect movie announced.

May21 – Wall of Sound Interview with OC ReMix. BioWare endorses it.

Apr 10 – Mass Effect sales reach over 6.6 million copies

Feb 22 - Mass Effect 2 OST reviewed at Original Sound Version

Feb 01 - Mass Effect 2 OST reaches #11 in Top Soundtrack Albums on iTunes

Jan 31 - Jack Wall interviewed by Daily Best Articles

Jan 29 - Mass Effect 2 sales hit over 2 million copies 3 days after game’s release

Jan 28 - Mass Effect 2 attains top rankings with over 40 perfect scores

Jan 26 – Mass Effect 2 released in North America

Jan 19 – Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack released on Amazon, iTunes, etc.

Jan 11 - Gamespy announces composers

Jan 11 – EA announces composers for Mass Effect 2

The past several months have been some of the most exciting months of my life.  I have so much to be grateful for, and I’ve been really humbled by it all.  When I was formally brought on board to be a part of the Mass Effect 2 composer’s team, I felt a huge mixture of excitement and anxiety.  Those were serious shoes to step into, and initially, I think the anxiety occupied a bigger chunk of my emotions than the excitement.  As time went on though, the thrill and excitement gradually overtook that anxiety and converted what remained into humility.

Honestly, I think of my involvement with this magnificent game as the result of a kind of butterfly effect that notably began some 10 years ago when friend and colleague David Lloyd created OverClocked ReMix.  Without OC ReMix, I may have never found that outlet to share my love for the music that has accompanied me through the countless hours I’ve spent playing video games throughout my life.  The dominoes continues to fall as I met more and more people, and made more and more friends through the site.  I was later fortunate to be offered the opportunity to donate my time as a submission evaluator on the site.  I was given the opportunity to hear many fantastic pieces of music from many great or aspiring artists.  Eventually I made my way to see Video Games Live, where I met Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico.  I found employment at Guitar Center and met some great people there like Jeremy Cole, and I  I was able to build up my arsenal of high-quality plugins.  I wish I could name everyone, but the list goes on and on and on, and I’m thankful for each of you who would be on it in any extent.

I can say, working with Jack was a real pleasure.  Not only is he a super talented dude, he’s also a very stand-up guy, and to me, that says a lot, especially considering his numerous achievements and recognitions in the industry.  I’m truly honored to count him a friend.  Brian DiDomenico, David Kates, and Sam Hulick are also amazing people, and I have nothing but respect and appreciation for them.  I learned a great deal from them as well, and I continue to be inspired by their music and talents.  To you, the fans who have bothered to read all this, I’m deeply grateful for your love and support.  Like most other musicians (I hope), I’m only here to try to add something that will give you joy on some level through my words and music.  I hope I can continue to entertain and enlighten you throughout my career, but in the meanwhile, I hope you will pick up the Official Soundtrack and perhaps even the game. BioWare really knocked this one out of the park, and I’m only glad I was able to be a part of it.

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Songs for the Cure ‘10 from Josh Whelchel on Vimeo.

Hello friends and fans!  As some of you may remember, last year I participated in a cancer drive headed by friend and fellow composer Josh Whelchel in the form of writing music for the “Songs for the Cure ‘09″ album.  My participation is what gave birth to the track “Far Beyond Eyes” which you can hear over in the music player on the right of this page.  and assisted Josh, along with the many other talented musicians who also contributed their work to the album.  Collectively, the album raised over $5000 to help fund the American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer.

This year, I’m doing it again.  Josh like many others has lost someone dear to him to cancer, and this year he has raised the bar by asking all of you to help us raise $10,000 by April 23rd, 2010.  The way it works, is a $10 donation will earn you a digital download of the CD, in mp3 and lossless FLAC format.  Dontations of $25 or more will receive a physical CD in addition to the digital download.  Dontations are tax-deductable, of course, but more importantly, they’re going to a great cause!  Please visit the website for more information, including where and how to donate.  Thanks so much for your love and support of not only me and my music, but those who are struggling with the fight against cancer.  I extend my own love and utmost appreciation to all of you.

http://www.cancerdrive.org/

Songs for the Cure ‘10 from Josh Whelchel on Vimeo.

So 2009 turned out to be a pretty awesome year for your friendly Big Giant Circles.  I wish I’d done a better job of logging it all, but since I have a new site anyway, I figured this would be a good time/place to share with you all some of the particularly awesome experiences I had   So in not-perfect order, here you go!  (Click READ MORE to continue)

1. Attended Magfest 7, rubbing shoulders with folks like Grant Kirkhope, Tommy Tallarico, and many other awesome folks in the game/music industry
2. 4 ReMixes posted on OverClocked ReMix
   
3. Led the OCR Fundraiser month to raise over $5000 for the site, marking the 1st year the site was fully funded by fans
4. Contributed to Josh Whelchel’s “Songs for the Cure” album, which raised over $5000 to assist in the fight against cancer
5. “Songs for the Cure ‘09″ graciously covered by Jeremy Cole on Guitar Center’s GAIN website
6. Attended Video Games Live’s 100th show in Richmond, VA
7. Music featured on FOX Sports
8. Received some cool coverage from Capcom’s Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix soundtrack
9. Interview and first ever composer/remixer collaboration with Alex Brandon in Deus Ex – Siren Synapse
10. Torley amplifies the awesome with a stellar remastered version
11. Exciting news TBA very soon!

All in all, I feel unbelievably lucky and blessed to have had so many great experiences this past year.  It definitely set a high precedent for 2010, and I’m eager to see what the future holds for this year!  All I can say to you, my friends who are taking the time to read this, is thank you so much for your love, friendship, and support.  I’m truly blessed indeed!  I suppose my only real goal for 2010 is to continue to improve my own abilities so I can continue to uplift, inspire, or simply entertain you through my music.  In the meanwhile, I also promise to not wait an entire year to update you on groovy BGC-related news, so stay tuned!

All the very best,

-Jimmy

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