Timothy Clarke
Timothy Steven Clarke has been a composer and sound designer for computer games since 1992, and has contributed to literally dozens of best-selling titles throughout his nearly ten years in the industry.
Classically trained as a composer and performer, Timothy draws upon a wealth of experience in orchestral, electronic, pop, rock, rhythm & blues, and jazz music in approaching each game score. His longtime obsession with music production has earned him a reputation in the industry as one of the true 'mix masters' of game music. Previously content to work 'behind the scenes', Timothy has recently garnered some notoriety for his hard-hitting, evocative industrial/electronic/metal score to the hit game "Tribes 2".
In addition to composing scores for games, Timothy is currently promoting himself as an artist and is working on music for an upcoming CD release. Tim is a member of BMI and GANG (Game Audio Network Guild.)
Hello. Thanks very much for taking the time out to have a chat with Camel Audio.
You're welcome. Thank YOU for making such great and affordable software instruments and effects!
Could you introduce yourself.
My name is Timothy Steven Clarke, and I'm a professional musician, composer, arranger, and sound designer. I've worked professionally in the computer game industry since 1992 - initially as a composer and later adding sound design and even voice acting to my list of skills. I'm also a trumpet soloist in both classical, jazz and commercial genres, and will be releasing my first solo CD of original eclectic jazz music later this year. I guess the short answer would be during the day I produce audio for multimedia, and at night I play gigs with orchestras and jazz groups!
How did you get into writing music for games?
Through my trumpet playing, oddly enough. I was playing a blues gig and the bass player happened to be an audio director for a local game company. I found out they were looking for someone to help edit hours of dialogue for their first CD-ROM game (this was 1992!) so I submitted a resume and cassette tape of my music. I ended up working for that company (Dynamix) for 2 1/2 years, and then went freelance in late 1994. I've been going strong ever since, and have worked on over 60 games, in just about every capacity. I'm now looking for opportunities to branch out into film, television, DVDs, etc.
What projects have you used Camel Audio software on?
Since I bought CamelPhat and CamelSpace, almost everything I've worked on has benefited in some way from these awesome plugins. Most recently, I used both (as well as Cameleon 5000) on a 46-minute score for the children's DVD African Safari, and a piece of music for the popular XBOX 360 Live Arcade game Marble Blast Ultra. I'm planning on using both plugins to remix a couple of tracks from my upcoming solo CD too.
What do you like most about Cameleon 5000?
Beyond the fact that it sounds amazing and comes with thousands of totally useful presets, it's a very unique instrument - it really is an INSTRUMENT, with all of the expressive capability you get with an acoustic instrument like trumpet or cello. I've probably tried hundreds of virtual instruments but only purchased a handful...Cameleon 5000 was one of those handful of 'must-have' synths!
What do you like most about CamelSpace and CamelPhat?
I've been waiting a long time to find effects plugins that have the depth of architecture and personality of my favourite hardware effects, but offer the ease-of-use and painless tempo sync available with virtual instruments. CamelSpace and CamelPhat give me all that in spades...plus they just make every track sound better!
What are your plans for the next year?
This is the year that I'm going to put more effort into developing my own music and putting myself out there as an artist. I've worked behind the scenes a long time, making the music and sounds that help companies release successful products. I just want to start to put my own music out there, in addition to continuing to collaborate with other people and companies on their projects.
