Tim Follin

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Tim Follin

Background information
Born 1970
Origin Flag of England St Helens, Merseyside, England
Genre(s) Electronic
New Age
Orchestral
Rock
Occupation(s) Composer
Arranger
Music driver designer
Instrument(s) Piano/Keyboard, Guitar, Violin
Years active 1985-2006 (video game music)
Label(s) C64Audio.com
(formerly High Technology Publishing)
Associated acts Geoff Follin
Website Dr. Follin's Home Surgery

Timothy J. Follin (born 1970)[1] is a video game music composer who has written tracks for a variety of titles and home gaming systems, including the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, NES, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Dreamcast and PlayStation.

Follin's early 8- and 16-bit pieces were notable for their ambitious and imaginative use of samples, or clever manipulation of limited sound hardware - particularly with his work on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, on which he managed to play up to six channels of audio from one simple, tiny, 'clickable' piezo electronic speaker.

His finest moment to date is widely regarded as his soundtrack to Software Creations' Commodore Amiga and Commodore 64 conversions of Ghouls 'n Ghosts. Other notable soundtracks by Follin include Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (Dreamcast), Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge (Super Nintendo), and home computer ports of Bionic Commando (C64, Amiga).

Contents

[edit] Video game career

[edit] Work history

As a child, Follin had no significant music training.[2] Leaving Liverpool's Sandown Music College after one year of studies,[2][3] Follin's career began at the age of 15 working at Insight Studios,[4] eventually scoring titles such as Agent X, Chronos and Bubble Bobble for the Commodore 64. Follin ended up in video games due to his older brother Mike learning how to program for the ZX Spectrum and obtaining professional work at Insight,[2][3] with one of Tim's first Insight works being the soundtrack to The Sentinel.[3] Mike gave Tim a brief tutorial on creating music on the Spectrum via machine code. After innovating phasing sounds,[5] Follin was able to further experiment and come up with an arrangement of Stravinsky's "The Firebird", used for the game Star Firebirds.[6] Follin was particularly enthused by game magazine reviews touting the quality of music for the games he scored.[3] Hired by Richard Kay, Tim followed brother Mike in moving to Software Creations[2] in 1987, his first full-time job, where he spent a significant portion of his career.

Follin wrote the music for Black Lamp in one night after a bout of writer's block.[3]

Within the level 1 music of Ghouls 'n Ghosts for the Amiga is a voice sample played backwards saying "secret authority," considered nothing more than a joke by Follin.[7] Alongside Ghouls 'n Ghosts, two other Amiga soundtracks, Sly Spy and Puzznic, were presented in the Amiga music format "Follin Player II."[8]

In a 1990 interview, Follin expressed "a bit of desolution" over the prospect of no longer composing for the Commodore 64, stating "I don't see myself staying with this machine," perhaps sensing the transition occuring in the European gaming marketplace as the third generation of video and computer game platforms reached its end.[1] Follin's final Commodore 64 release came with 1991's Gauntlet III.

Citing a declining work environment,[4] Follin departed Software Creations in 1993 (with his final title there being Rock N' Roll Racing),[6] joining Malibu Interactive for 18 months. While working for Malibu, Follin provided the soundtrack for Time Trax on the Sega Mega Drive and (along with brother Geoff) Prime for the Sega CD, doing "virtually nothing and getting paid"[7] for the following year before winding up out of work. Another title composed alongside brother Geoff, Firearm, went unpublished. Follin would spend the remainder of his video game career as a freelancer. Following Malibu Interactive's collapse, Follin then worked with groups that made unsuccessful game pitches to Psygnosis and the BBC.[7] Follin provided part of the soundtrack for Batman & Robin, developed by Probe.

Follin joined the development team of Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future as the title's lead composer around mid-1998,[2] leaving Attila Heger no longer responsible for providing the entirety of the soundtrack. (Heger was made primarily responsible for scoring the game's cutscenes.)[9] Follin had been offered the composer position by Sega UK producer Dave Nolte, who was a fan of Follin's Commodore 64 work.[2] The soundtrack received very favorable reviews from Edge, DC-UK and Official Dreamcast Magazine.[10]

The 2003 multiplatform release Starsky & Hutch was given a funk-style score by Follin, who said at the time, "This is the project I had hoped I would get one day. I've always loved Starsky & Hutch and it's [sic] original title music."[11] While with Software Creations, Follin had previously arranged the Starsky & Hutch television series' theme as the title music to the 1991 NES release Treasure Master.

[edit] Thoughts on video game music

Follin's methodology of music was that music is "basically an unconscious experience" that does not and should not "engage your intellect." Rather, Follin had "always written music to be part of something else," intending for the video game (or other media the music is composed for) to provide the image or scene of context.[7]

Within his personal experience, Follin always found the hardest part of creating music to be the concept phase, whereas the easiest part was the execution of the solidified concepts.[2]

Follin felt the idea of computer music was "a silly one to begin with," as soundchips from the earliest platforms (e.g. ZX Spectrum) were only meant to produce sound effects.[12] As early as 1994, Follin expressed his desire to move away from scoring video games and transition to films, stating that he preferred never to work with chip-generated music again along with his hopes that the games industry would not move backwards from the emerging standard of CD audio.[12] Whether dealing with the audio limitations of older consoles or a game's narrow style guidelines when composing for modern soundtracks, Follin regarded the challenge of creating music within constraints to be an interesting part of working in video game music.[5]

As a video game composer, Follin believed the necessities of being proficient in many genres and creating music on demand often confused the general public, who are used to acts that produce one style of music. He observed that "musicians generally aren't rewarded for being heterogeneous."[13]

During his game music career, Follin never had the mood or interest to join any demoscene groups.[1] Though Follin knew few fellow video game composers, he highly respected Richard Jacques for the amount of work put into his music.[13]

[edit] Influences

Follin cited progressive rock[6][2] as well as many musicians (including Quincy Jones, Jethro Tull,[7] Led Zeppelin and John Martyn[3]) as having had some casual or subconscious influence on his music, and has also enjoyed music by Deep Purple and Guns 'n Roses.[1] However, he ultimately did not feel that any specific artist or style had been a primary inspiration during his career.[3] Follin acknowledged that in one instance he went for a more contemporary style when scoring the award-winning soundtrack[2] to Bionic Commando, actively choosing to mimic other people's music for fear of potentially losing his job.[3]

The soundtrack to Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future may have been influenced by the works of American minimalist composer John Adams, whom Follin explicitly acknowledged as a current influence during the time he was completing the soundtrack, citing Adams' work as "the only minimalist stuff I've heard which struck a chord with me."[2]

Follin did not have much time to listen to the work of his musical contemporaries while in the video games industry, a situation he implied as having been a benefit to his career. Follin speculated that in actively listening to those works, he likely ran the risk of encountering ideas he had not thought of and subsequently becoming discouraged and/or prone to copycatting.[2]

[edit] Personal view of work

Particularly in the earlier days of his career, Follin often composed game soundtracks while the games themselves were still in the writing stages, meaning that there was usually no frame of reference or genre objective in mind. Follin himself humourously felt these situations created many instances where the soundtrack was unsuited to the game, though at the time neither he nor any game developers had any issues. Given another chance, Follin said he would have given more effort toward making his earlier soundtracks better suited to the games, feeling that his failure to do so (despite the compositional quality) likely cost him future work. Back then, Follin instead focused on exploring the various consoles' audio limitations.[5][6] The technical limitations of the most primitive video game system soundchips made Follin's primary goals as a composer to create original sounds as well as not allow the resulting music to sound poor, leaving the compositions themselves as a secondary concern.[12]

Follin also never had the interest to join a demoscene group, though near the end of his time working with Commodore platforms, he claimed he enjoyed himself when he made music.[1] Outside of Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Follin later described his Commodore 64 work as nonsense that he wasn't particularly happy with.[3]

Follin noted Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the Commodore 64 as his favorite work,[2][6] though, unlike many of Follin's early projects, the game was a known entity. Software Creations programmer Ste Ruddy, who created the music driver for the game (with design input from Follin)[14][15] recalled Follin describing a wide array of imagery for the title theme.[14] For the Ghouls 'n Ghosts soundtrack, Follin retained parts of Tamayo Kawamoto's original arcade soundtrack within most tracks, only to transition into his own ideas for other portions of each track.[6] Similar circumstances resulted in Follin's soundtrack for Bionic Commando.[1]

Follin has found it difficult to listen to works he created, feeling them outdated by the time they were completed.[15] Follin disliked working with the Atari ST[3] and the ZX Spectrum's AY chip, feeling the NES had more character. While not feeling very successful composing music for the Amiga, Follin enjoyed working on soundtracks for the SNES and Commodore 64. He described writing for the C64's SID chip as "playing an instrument in its own right,"[7] appreciating the analog sound it produced, despite having only three channels to work with.[2][3] Follin also recalled the SNES's Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge being fun due to the inclusion of cheesy '70s guitar synths and brass synths.[6]

Despite composing several soundtracks beyond the fifth generation of video game consoles using samples, Follin disliked sampled music, ironic given that he did not consider himself adept at any live instruments. Instead, Follin strove to make his music sound as close to live instrumentation as possible.[7] His most notable work using sampled instruments was the soundtrack to Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, an experience he enjoyed, but at the same time felt frustrated with on account of "a lack of equipment and resources – such as a string orchestra and choir!"[4] Follin finds orchestral music inherently more human-sounding and listenable.[13]

[edit] Fandom

Several contemporaries of Follin's have cited him as an inspiration or top composer including Richard Jacques,[16] Jesper Kyd,[17] Fred "El Mobo" Motte,[18] Markus Schneider,[19] Matt "Gasman" Westcott,[5] Ramiro "Extremer" Vaca,[20] graphic artist Haydn Dalton,[21] and programmer Dean Belfield.[22]

Regarding fan communities dedicated to arranging video game music, including his own, Follin remarked, "It's really good. A lot of the stuff, you just think 'Well, that's much better than what I would have done...could do now.'"[6] Follin is consistently mentioned as a favorite composer among European musicians within the Commodore arrangement scene.

Alongside the music of fellow video game music composer Rob Hubbard, Follin's musical work in games was spotlighted in listening stations of the worldwide Game On exhibition, organized by the Barbican Art Gallery.[23]

[edit] End of video game career

Around August 2005, Follin announced on his website "with much delight" that he had chosen to stop composing music for video games citing its irregular work not providing a substantial income, light-heartedly adding that the situation caused him "distress and illness." The tenuous nature of game development caused several instances of Follin being hired and subsequently having the project shelved. Follin noted that Starksy & Hutch had been in development for around three years before eventually being released.[6]

His brothers Geoff Follin and Mike Follin also worked in the video game industry as musician and programmer respectively, with both having moved on to other careers. Much like his brothers, Follin has changed careers, choosing to pursue films, television advertising as well as graphic design. Follin never considered himself a gamer compared to more of a musician or developer.[6] Follin's website offers a brief overview of his video game music career.

[edit] Video game soundtracks

Game Year Platform Notes
Lemmings 2006 PlayStation Portable final video game soundtrack after announcing retirement
Ford Racing 3 2005 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, Nintendo DS co-composers: Muddy Funkers, Paul Stroud
Future Tactics: The Uprising 2004 PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Windows
Ford Racing 2 2003 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Macintosh, Windows co-composer: Bjørn Lynne
Starsky & Hutch 2003 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, GameCube sound, additional storyline; co-composers: Dave Sullivan, Matthew Costello
Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future 2000
(2002: PS2)		 Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 co-composer: Attilla Heger (cutscenes)
Bust-A-Move 4 1999 Game Boy Color arranger, co-arranger: Andy Brock
Batman & Robin 1998 PlayStation film score arrangements (no compositions)
WWF War Zone 1998 Game Boy
Firearm (cancelled) 1995 PC co-composer: Geoff Follin
Prime 1995 Sega CD co-composer: Geoff Follin
Batman Forever 1995 Sega Genesis, SNES co-composer: Geoff Follin (SNES)
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball 1994 SNES arranger; co-composers/co-arrangers: Geoff Follin, Chris Jojo, Paul Tonge, Matthew Cannon
Moto-X (completed, unreleased)[24] 1994 SNES co-composer: Geoff Follin
Time Trax 1993 Sega Mega Drive music driver designer
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends 1993 SNES arranger; co-composer/co-arranger: Geoff Follin
Rock N' Roll Racing 1993 SNES music driver designer, arranger; co-composer/co-arranger: Geoff Follin
Equinox 1993 SNES co-composer: Geoff Follin
Plok 1993 SNES co-composer: Geoff Follin
Super Off Road 1992 SNES co-composer: Geoff Follin
Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge 1992 SNES, Sega Genesis co-composer: Geoff Follin
The Incredible Crash Dummies 1992 Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Master System co-composer: Geoff Follin, music conversion: Matt Furniss (GG, SMS)
Gauntlet III 1991 Commodore 64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum co-composer: Geoff Follin (C64, Spectrum)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Taito version) 1991 NES
Treasure Master 1991 NES
The New Zealand Story (known in America as Kiwi Kraze) 1991 NES co-composer: Geoff Follin
Silver Surfer 1990 NES co-composer: Geoff Follin
Solstice 1990 NES
Qix 1989 Commodore 64, Amiga
Magic Johnson's Fast Break 1989 Commodore 64, NES
Ghouls 'n Ghosts 1989 Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST arranger
Chester Field 1989 Commodore 64
Missle Ground Zero 1989 ZX Spectrum
Bionic Commando 1988 Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST? arranger
Target: Renegade 1988 NES arranger
Sky Shark 1988 Commodore 64, NES arranger
Peter Pack Rat 1988 Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum arranger
Bodyslam 1988 Commodore 64
Black Lamp 1988 Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
L.E.D. Storm 1988 Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum arranger
Psycho Pigs UXB 1988 Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum co-composer: Geoff Follin (C64)
Aigina's Prophecy 1988 Commodore 64
Star Paws 1988 ZX Spectrum
Raw Recruit 1988 Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Renegade 1987 Amiga, Atari ST arranger
Scumball 1987 Commodore 64
Agent X II 1987 Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Bubble Bobble 1987 Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST arranger
Chronos 1987 ZX Spectrum
Agent X 1986 ZX Spectrum
Vectron 1986 ZX Spectrum
Subterranean Stryker 1985 ZX Spectrum
Future Games 1985 ZX Spectrum
Star Firebirds 1985 ZX Spectrum arranger
The Sentinel 1985 ZX Spectrum

[edit] Media production career

Follin has written, directed, produced and composed for two short films: Body Counting and The Sun Circle. Body Counting won the Best Short Film under £5,000 award at the Salford Film Festival in November 2004.[25]

In 2007, Follin started up his media production company, Eyecatcher Films (originally conceived as Right Eye Films, as evidenced in the title sequence of Body Counting). Eyecatcher Films has developed several commercials and television show title sequences, with Follin handling all music composition.[26]

Follin currently works freelance offering services for commercial producing and directing, visual effects and animated graphics, and music composition. The latter opens up possibilities for a return to video game music.

[edit] Personal life

Follin has expressed interest in the works of Carl Jung regarding the meaning of dreams.[7] He has expressed that he does not use recreational drugs, perhaps counter to inferences made by fans of his music.[7]

Follin has little interest in television, but was a fan of the Channel 4 series Father Ted.[3]

Follin considers writing therapeutic.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Aydin, Metin L.. "Interview of the Month" (diskmag), Lethal News #6, Bonzai, 1990. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. (English) Archived from the original on 1998-08-19. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Beck, Justin (Hard Hat Mack) (2000). Interview with Tim Follin on March 4, 2000 (http). 6581 SID. Archived from the original on 2001-05-07. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mackenzie, Jason (Kenz) and Pilkington, Warren (Waz) (1998). Another groovy CZone exclusive interview from Kenz and Waz. (http). Commodore Zone. Archived from the original on 2004-12-17. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  4. ^ a b c Cifaldi, Frank (2005). Playing Catch-Up: Tim Follin (http). Gamasutra. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  5. ^ a b c d Sharples, Matt; Dan Stowell (writer, producer). "Chiptunes: Programme 1: ZX Spectrum Music" (radio program), Flat Four Radio, Flat Four Radio, 2005-06-01. Retrieved on 2007-09-26. Archived from the original on 2005-06-01. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gerry McLaughlin (Presenter), Damian Bowker (Producer), Neill Jones (Editor). Re:Loaded (video) [television]. Manchester, England: Channel M. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Forsyth, Tim (1998). Interview 1 (http). The Follin Drome (reprinted). Archived from the original on 2002-11-18. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  8. ^ Follin Player II - ExoticA (http). ExoticA (2007-06-24). Retrieved on 2008-02-08. “A music format used by the Follin brothers.”
  9. ^ Demidov, Andrew (Андрей Демидов / Moduvator) (2005). Interview with Attila Heger (http). Dark Sea. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  10. ^ Follin, Tim (2001). Demos (http). Tim Follin's Burial Site. Archived from the original on 2001-04-05. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
  11. ^ Empire Interactive (2002). "Empire composes itself for future releases" (PDF). Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  12. ^ a b c Edge. "Making tracks: The noble art of game music", Edge #15, Future Publishing, December 1994, pp. 56–61. Retrieved on 2008-05-07. 
  13. ^ a b c Aldis, Neil (2003). Starsky & Hutch Interview: Veteran Game Composer Tim Follin (http). Music 4 Games. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  14. ^ a b Gasking, Frank. An interview with...Steve Ruddy (http). Games That Weren't. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  15. ^ a b Follin, Tim (2005). Wine Cellar (http). Dr. Follin's Home Surgery. Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
  16. ^ Fulljames, Stephen (2001). Richard Jacques Interview (http). ComputerAndVideoGames.com [previously Game-Online.com]. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  17. ^ Taylor, Paul (2005). Interview with BAFTA award-winning Danish composer Jesper Kyd (http). Music 4 Games. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  18. ^ Carless, Simon (h0l) (1997). Fred Motte Interview (http). Game Geek Peeks (reprinted). Archived from the original on 2001-07-11. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  19. ^ Carr, Neil (2001). An Interview with Markus Schneider (http). Remix64. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  20. ^ Klein, Markus (LMan) (2001). An Interview with Ramiro Vaca (http). Remix64. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  21. ^ Gasking, Frank. An interview with...Haydn Dalton (http). Games That Weren't. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  22. ^ McCowan, Darren (2001). ZX Specticle Interviews: Dean Belfield (http). ZX Specticle. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  23. ^ Standen, Dave (2006). Video Gaming Celebrated In Game On At The Science Museum (http). 24 Hour Museum. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
  24. ^ Gasking, Frank (2007). GTW Review - Moto-X (SNES) (http). Games That Weren't. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  25. ^ Follin, Tim (2005). TV Room (http). Dr. Follin's Home Surgery. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
  26. ^ Follin, Tim (2007). Eyecatcher Films: QuickTime site (http). Dr. Follin's Home Surgery. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.

[edit] External links

[edit] Compositions by platform

[edit] Interviews

Languages