Sibelius driving latest computer games

Jonathan Williams is a conductor and musicologist who teaches orchestration at Oxford University. He is also the Orchestral Director of NIMROD, one of the most sought-after audio production companies in the games industry and the team responsible for creating some of the most groundbreaking and original video game soundtracks.

He is also a massive SIBELIUS 4 fan and is pioneering the use of world class musicians for games soundtracks, a creative process for which SIBELIUS is absolutely key.

Jonathan Williams

Nimrod’s achievements are impressive: the soundtracks for such games as the BAFTA-nominated Driver 2, Driv3r, Stuntman, Ground Control 2: Operation Exodus, Race Driver 2 and Vietcong: Fist Alpha/Purple Haze - and for the top-selling game of 2005 so far, Gran Turismo 4 - were all provided by the Nimrod team. And recently, with Jonny on board, Nimrod is becoming renowned for creating big cinematic orchestral scores as well. He co-composed, orchestrated and conducted the music for the best-selling Getaway 2: Black Monday and Act of War: Direct Action, and this summer Jonny has been at the famous Abbey Road studios recording the music for Sony’s forthcoming blockbuster based on Sky’s hit series starring Kiefer Sutherland, 24: The Game. Since then the Nimrod team has been busy creating the soundtracks for Atari’s Driver 4: Parallel Lines and for two of the games to be released on the much-anticipated next-generation consoles – Test Drive Unlimited for the Xbox360 and Heavenly Sword for the PlayStation3.

Key to the high standard of Nimrod's soundtracks is the use of world-class musicians. Nimrod is one of only a handful of companies worldwide that uses ‘real’ musicians for games soundtracks – in fact, they have formed their own orchestra, the Nimrod Studio Orchestra, which is being used by games companies from all over the world. It’s no exaggeration to say that the NSO is made of up of some of London’s finest players. Without knowing it you might have seen these players on stage with the LSO or heard them on such film soundtracks as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Gangs of New York, Mission Impossible, James Bond and Batman! The orchestra is managed by superstar double bass player Stacey Watton and its leader is the brilliant Andrew Havoran, first violin of the internationally-acclaimed Brodsky Quartet (famous for its collaborations with Elvis Costello and Björk).

Just as important to the high standard of Jonny’s scores is Sibelius software. The new SIBELIUS 4 package allows him to sync up movie files to the on-screen musical score transforming the way he is able to interact with sound and picture when composing. As he puts it: “There aren’t many programs I’m fond of using hour after hour, but from the moment I hear the start-up music I know that my time making music with Sibelius4 is going to be rewarding and enjoyable. My favourite features are the video, dynamic parts, Kontakt Gold and the fast Midi conversion because I know just how much time Sibelius is saving me. From sketching initial drafts and writing complex sound-to-picture music to producing demos and printing professional-looking performing material, Sibelius is involved in every stage of creating a soundtrack at Nimrod. Put quite simply: I couldn’t do what I do without Sibelius…”

Jonny started teaching orchestration at Oxford University in 1992. He has studied in Hollywood with Steven Smalley, orchestrator for Alan Silvestri, Jerry Goldsmith and Danny Elfman and his work as a respected musicologist has involved hugely varied projects from acting as a music advisor for the Brad Pitt movie Troy to writing a volume for the new collected edition of the operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau. You might be wondering how - and why - an Oxford academic (whose doctorate was in French Baroque opera!) becomes involved in computer game music. “Well, because it’s great fun and very rewarding. Much of my experience in music - whether as a teacher at GSMD or Oxford, or as a conductor or musicologist - has been motivated by enjoying sharing my passion for music. And here’s a perfect opportunity to bring symphonic music to a captive audience. There’s no doubt that music for games is an accessible, exciting and relevant way into orchestral music for young people. And with every Sibelius upgrade my job gets easier and more satisfying - as Sibelius gets better so does the music...”


Find out more about Nimrod at http://www.nimrodproductions.com

Notes to editors

• Sibelius is the world’s market leader in music notation software.
• Sibelius was founded in 1993 by Ben and Jonathan Finn to sell music notation software for the Acorn computer. The Sibelius notation software was released for Windows and Mac in 1998/99.
• Since then the Sibelius Group has developed 20 additional music products for the professional, educational and home user, ranging from Internet publishing to guitar software.
• Sibelius has customers in over 100 countries.
• Sibelius is used in 60% of schools in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
• Sibelius is endorsed by the Royal Academy of Music and is used by all the major music academies and colleges: the Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the Juilliard School, Berklee School of Music, the Sibelius Academy in Finland, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm
• The world’s leading music publishers including Music Sales, Hal Leonard and Yamaha use Sibelius
• Sibelius was recently awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation.
• Sibelius is headquartered in London, UK, with a US subsidiary, Sibelius USA Inc., in California and an Australian subsidiary, Sibelius Australia Pty Ltd, in Adelaide.