The bloody sci-fi survival horror game DEAD SPACE from Electronic Arts has been terrifying  gamers for several weeks now, and even more frightening than it’s ghoulish graphics is it’s original symphonic soundtrack. Composed by the renown composer Jason Graves with the help of The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, Graves creates an intense, eerie soundscape for this first person shooter game that adds the perfect atmosphere to this nightmarish game. The Dead Space CD features 15 tracks of bombastic orchestrations offering a wide dynamic range from eerie, screeching strings to thunderous, frenetic percussions. A must have for lovers of dark and dissonant music, or for fans of the EA game itself.

Jason Graves is renowned for his cinematic and prolific orchestral music on action/adventure video game titles such as Blacksite: Area 51, the Blazing Angels franchise and the Star Trek franchise. Graves studied under film composers Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, Christopher Young and orchestrator Will Schaefer while earning a degree from the University of Southern California's prestigious film scoring program. He has scored more than 150 commercials, 90 television shows, movie trailers, and feature films, conducting orchestras at Capitol Records, Paramount Pictures, Skywalker Sound, Seattle and Salt Lake City.  His music has been awarded three Telly's, an Addy, nine Silver Reels, a Gold Case Award, and a Cable A.C.E. Award.  Jason also won 2nd Prize in Turner Classic Movies’ 2005 Young Film Composer Competition, of which there were more than 500 entries. His video game awards include two G.A.N.G. "Best Original Theme" nominations for Star Trek: Legacy and Blazing Angels 2, G.A.N.G. "Music of the Year" nomination for King Arthur and winner of G.A.N.G. "Soundtrack of the Year" award for The Hobbit. I recently had the pleasure of asking the award winning composer a few questions about his work with The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. Below are Jason’s responses to my inquiries regarding his work on Dead Space.

ZOTH: You have quite an impressive list of credits under your belt, Jason. How does writing for a Horror Video Game like DEAD SPACE differ from writing for something like a TV promo? Is there a special thought process that goes on when you undertake a project of this magnitude?
JASON: Video games in general have a lot more freedom involved, especially considering a TV show may have fifteen minutes of music and a game can require ten times that.  The sheer number of minutes needed for today’s games provide a much larger canvas for composers.  Add the horror genre on top of that and you’ve got almost unlimited possibilities from a music standpoint.  I think that’s one of the reasons Dead Space ended up with an original sounding score.

It’s always hard for me to step away from a situation and think, “Wow, this is a really big project.”  I’m usually so deep into the music that I don’t come up for air until I’m finished composing.  I worked on Dead Space for about two years, but when it comes down to it I was focusing on each individual cue a day at a time, which is probably a good thing.  I tried not to stop and think about how much music there was left to compose - probably a good thing for both the final score and my personal sanity!




Z: DEAD SPACE features The Skywalker Symphonic Orchestra. Did you have any limits to your arrangements, since you’re writing for an Orchestra?
J: The only request from EA was “make it really scary,” which was both very liberating and also very intimidating.  The kinds of sounds and textures I wanted for the Dead Space score were limited only by my imagination - as cheesy as that sounds, it was really true.  The whole process was an incredible test of concentration and focus to plan the sessions, especially given that there were no “rules” as far as composing for the orchestra.

Z: I noticed quite a lot of percussive attacks throughout the featured tracks. Where there any sounds that were created that utilized an unorthodox approach to playing the instruments (ex: Pizzicato vs. bowed, clicking mallets together, Garbage Cans vs. Anvils, etc.)?
J: “Unorthodox” would be a great way to describe both of the Dead Space recording sessions.  The entire approach behind the score was to make the music as unfamiliar and “non-musical” as possible.  The general idea being the unknown has more potential to put you on the edge of your seat, musically speaking.  So I researched, compiled and dreamt up hours of different, crazy, spooky effects for the musicians to perform. I even had thin dowels for the string players to hit things with (instead of using the backs of their very expensive bows).  They were tapping their instruments, the music stands, the chairs - anything we could find.  I even got a great sample of all the strings dropping their dowels at the same time (I dropped my baton to show them exactly when to do it).

A lot of the percussive attacks in the score are combinations of those wonderfully crazy string hits and custom percussion hits I performed and recorded myself (I’m a classically-trained percussionist).  There are many different kinds of anvils, metal plates, steel rods, and yes, garbage cans!  I also got some great snap pizzicatos from the string section, which is a great percussive sound that layers well with other hits.



Z: The entire CD is breathtaking, Jason. My favorite is “The Leviathan”. Is there one particular track that you’re most proud of, and why?
J: Thanks! It’s funny you mention that track - it’s one of my favorite as well.  There was some specific direction from EA for a hint of a melodic theme in “The Leviathan,” since it was a big boss track.  There isn’t a lot of melody in Dead Space - most of the score intentionally leans towards atmospheric sound design.  So when I have the chance to be a little more “musical,” even within the dissonant world of Dead Space, I really enjoy it.

It was also a lot of fun composing the music for the opening cinematic, which is called “Welcome To The U.S.G. Ishimura” on the soundtrack.  I was able to incorporate the few melodies in the game into one singular statement, while also underscoring the introduction and action for the beginning of the game.  It was a lot of fun to position the epic, grandiose opening music in contrast to the darker, more dissonant music at the end.  It’s also a really great emotional journey, which is what I think music is all about anyway.

Z: Finally, what are some of your favorite Horror Movie scores? Are there any film scores that have served as an inspiration to you?
J: For Dead Space specifically, there really weren’t any film scores that had the kind of sound I was looking for.  I found some 20th century concert works that were a lot more experimental in nature - those ended up being a big influence on the final score.  Some of those pieces can be heard in films like “The Shining” and “The Exorcist,” but there are classical pieces of music that were later incorporated into films.

As far as horror scores in general, I really love Jerry Goldsmith’s work for films like “Poltergeist” and “Alien.”  Also, I think Marco Beltrami really made a name for himself scoring the “Scream” franchise, and for good reason.  Like myself, he studied with Goldsmith - his music has such an immediate influence on the films he scores.  Some others he’s done include “Hellboy” and “The Faculty.”  I think Steve Jablonsky’s take on horror music is very modern - I especially like his “Texas Chainsaw” scores.  And I would hate to forget Christopher Young, whom I also had the pleasure of studying with.  He cut his teeth in horror twenty years ago and did everything from “Hellraiser” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” to “The Grudge” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.”  My entire experience with Chris has been a huge inspiration to me.

I have a fairly voracious appetite when it comes to music, whether it’s classical, film scores, jazz or pop.  I listen to as much music as I can, given all the time I spend composing.  The more I listen, the more I’m compelled to improve my own craft - my musical inspirations are the driving force that make me strive to be a better composer.

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