Exclusive: Bit.Trip and Homefront composer SPEAKS

There was a long time when no one knew who the composer for the critically acclaimed Bit.Trip series was. That pained me. I desperately wanted to know who the man or woman was who deftly fused dubstep with classical piano, chip tune, and multiple other styles of music to create one of my favorite game soundtracks ever. When I finally found out that the man behind the music was Matt Harwood, and that he had worked on the symphonic soundtrack for Homefront, as well as the indie classic Alien Hominid, I was pretty freaked out. Things only got more fun from there.

In this interview, Mr. Harwood lays out how a successful game composer and sound designer should approach their craft, while revealing secrets to creating the music for the award winning Bit.Trip titles, the differences and similarities between scoring a rhythm action game and a cinematic FPS, what Guitar Hero and Call of Duty have in in common, and much more. 

If you’ve ever wanted to compose music for a videogame, or want a closer look at how the under-appreciated craft of game music and sound creation affects the way you play, this interview is for you.