Interviewee(s):

I've scrambled over desert terrain, combed the catacombs beneath Rome, dived off of the CN Tower, tunneled my way out of prison, fought with Mr. T and Apollo Creed, kissed Mikey's mom and yes, I even ate my vegetables to bring the Dojo Disciples THE MAN… Neil Neil Voss. After hours of intensive research I was able to track down this incredibly talented composer. I have been anticipating this interview for a LONG time so you know that it's going to be special. We're just glad that we can share some of Neil's thoughts with you guys and gals.

In case you don't know, Neil composed the incredible soundtracks for Tetrisphere and The New Tetris for the N64. In the process of composing these soundscapes Neil established himself as THE premier N64 musician.

Nobody and we mean NOBODY can squeeze tunes out of an N64 cartridge like Neil can. Of course, Neil has a life outside of the N64 scene too.

The exclusive Inside the Game series of Nintendojo interviews are dedicated to unveiling the human interest behind game composition. There's no need to ring the doorbell. Clean your shoes on the Dojo doormat and step right in. Welcome to the mind of Neil Neil Voss...

Nintendojo: List five characteristics, events or things that best describe your existential be-ing. Why did you pick these five things?

Neil Voss: Only 5...? Umm. I'm eclectic, which means I need more than 5. I question everything. Well, I would rather ask someone else to describe my existential being in 5 items or less... I have a hard time categorizing myself and I'd hate to admit I am a Gen-X cliche'.

ND: In an earlier interview with IGN64.com you mentioned that you began composing on a Commodore 64 at the ripe old age of 12. You went on to mention a "demo scene" that you took part in. Can you describe this demo scene and explain why it was influential in starting several game developers' careers? Who came out of that scene?

Neil Voss: At the time, it was sort of an amalgam of people... An old issue of Wired magazine (when they used to write more about digital culture vs. venture execs) ran a somewhat informed story on it. People used to tag games they cracked (made available to copy, or deprotected) or imported (made playable translations of PAL or NTSC games) with gaudy multimedia idents called "intros" (and they still do). Sort of a digital graffiti. Those shot off into people creating the intros as demos, sans a broken (hacked) game. This scene proliferated in a lot of directions; across pretty much every platform.

The influence was simply in that these were people who were pushing the limits of what could be done with real-time technology. Logically a good way to go having developed these skills was into multimedia or game development, since the same techniques directly apply. Unfortunately some of the best people are also typically the most difficult, and a lot of their work goes unseen or unsung. Its safe to assume that in the fringes there is technology years ahead of the status quo... bleeding up to mainstream or semi-mainstream pretty infrequently.

I came out of this scene, as did a lot of the H2O guys. The company making "Max Payne" for the PC (Remedy Entertainment http://www.remedy.fi were PC demo scene people. There is a lot of crossover, but I think this occurs mostly in Europe (North AmNDa's scene was a lot more sparse, speculatively due to long travel distances between participants -- this was fairly "pre-internet" -- and the huge saturation of brain-numbing TV culture).

ND: Your relationship with H20 has been on again and off again. What have been the positive and negative aspects of your relationship with this Canadian-based development house?

Neil Voss: I am not really in contact with H2O directly since leaving. I still talk to some of the guys I worked with on Tetrisphere. The New Tetris was done through Blue Planet Software, so I worked more so directly for Blue Planet on it. I don't have any hard feelings towards H2O or anything -- it was just a sensible move for me to leave. I am not the type of person who performs well under direct command, and I become very difficult when anyone tries to challenge my decisions.

ND: Tetrisphere time. 1) Describe your role in the making of Tetrisphere? 2) Can you describe the process you went through when you tackled the cartridge format for the first time on the N64? 3) What were the major barriers of the format that you had to overcome? 3.5) Finally,what unique challenges were there in creating a launch title for a system?

Neil Voss: I did the whole soundtrack as well as helped design the playback system and tools. By this I mostly located the technology I thought would work best to deal with the system and helped figure out how to force it in.

To clarify I didn't program anything -- just added my perspective in design and testing the system. For a short stint I also pissed and moaned about the game's overall direction, which was in sort of a gray area in terms of style. This didn't wholly come through in the end, but I think in retrospect it may have helped the focus a little (aside from annoying people) As for the technology, I basically looked at what the system "should" be able to do and designed the soundtrack accordingly (from replayer choices to size limitations). The toughest part about doing this was the base N64 SDK was pretty inhibitive in terms of audio. SGIhad opted to design in a system for people to use that was a bit convoluted and slim in features. I can't overemphasize the importance of modularity and flexibility when it comes to something like this -- no 2 developers are going to do things best the same way -- so forcing everyone to subscribe to the exact same methods will only lead to a lot of titles with really crap results. It is a brilliant move for Nintendo to be going with Factor-5 for the Dolphin's audio. Having met them and looked at MOSysFX (now MUsyX) I think they finally have something that makes a lot of sense.The biggest hurdle in developing a launch title was that the platform evolved literally as we worked on the title. So there was a lot of "last month's additions don't work with the new SDK" stuff going on. I had butterflies in my stomach about the audio system even working in the long run, being that it was such a hack-in.

ND: There are rumors that your Tetrisphere music was being "content-constrained" from higher ups (Snowy Mushrooms?). Is thistrue? If so, why were the big wigs interfering?

Neil Voss: Well I wouldn't say it was extremely limited. Again I am not a compromising person when it comes to my work. Nintendo didn't get (understand) all of the electronic pieces as they were looking for a melody or hook... so tracks that were heavily just rhythmic or buildingchallenged their idea of what would work. In the end this really meant I left in a few older pieces I'd have preferred not to use and took out a few newer ones I would have preferred in. I don't know what you mean by the reference to the hidden track "Snowy Mushrooms" -- almost all the Gameboy hidden tracks were just meant to be a pun of video game music. I actually appreciate the overtly corny vibe of some video game soundtracks.

ND: In the IGN interview mentioned above you remarked -- "I would say soundtracks are in a range of at least 10-25% of the experience of a game, psychologically speaking." It's funny that you would say that because most of us here at the Dojo feel that 75% of the Tetrisphere and The New Tetris experience was the wicked audio environment that blanketed the games. Do you intentionally avoid making a "gutless" (quiet) soundtrack? After the response to Tetrispheres' tunes do you still maintain the 25% philosophy to video game music?

Neil Voss: That was a conservative estimate. I am a realist sometimes. It would be tough to convince a developer to shell out a quarter of a million bucks all on sound. People are locked to the notion that the visual is where it is all at. This is painfully obvious when you look at the ratio of graphics r+d over audio, and the way most hardware is marketed with a slant towards the number of dots it can draw (did anyone ever release a platform that would guarantee the developers wouldn't use those dots in incomprehensibly bad manners?). People seem to forget that music shapes and defines culture... people wear clothes and cut their hair mostly around the type of music they listen to ... which is an abstract of their mindset. It's very easy to turn off a lot of people with misplaced or poorly produced music. In the end it would be best not to say "10-25%" as much as "critical, like everything else". But at this point it looks like most companies are sinking closer to 5% into audio development. The biggest impact will be made by experiences which tie everything together in one package (even through to the marketing). Look at the Wipeout series here... one of the few I have seen where the concept is carried all the way through. I wouldn't say I intentionally avoid making a "quiet" soundtrack. By "gutless" I meant devoid of style or originality, and lacking connection to any sort of a culture. I just do my best to make the music interestingand vibey. I am working on other projects which have a more "background" motif, but I can guarantee the impact will be the same (if not more, because I am moving away from linear work). There is a Grammy award category for Videogame Soundtracks now. Granted it will most likely be dished out to a soundtrack contrived of licensed tracks off of existing albums, it shows that people are becoming more aware of the impact of both the electronic entertainment industry and the value of the audio material used within it.

ND: David Lee Roth once said that he would take mixes of Van Halen albums, run outside to a shitty blue Malibu and listen to the tracks through its horrible-one speaker system. The reasoning…if it sounded good in the Malibu it would sound great in hi-fi. I use a crappy 13" one speaker TV for my gaming and Tetrisphere sounds just as good on that TV as it does on my behemoth downstairs. Do you make a conscience effort to make your music sound good on ANY system? How would you accommodate both low and high-end set-ups? Also, have you been taking advice from David Lee Roth?? If so, is that a wig on his aging scalp or what?

Neil Voss: This is actually a pretty common practice in recording -- the whole "LCD" factor. There are new digital mixers which have DSP functions to emulate crappy speakers for recording reference (never mind paying a quick visit to a few thrift stores). I generally just check on my studio nearfields, which are very flat speakers. If the mix sounds decent on them, it will sound decent just about anywhere. As a point of reference I test things through my TV, which is a Sony -- notorious for great display and muddy, crap speakers. One of the hardest things to deal with is not having a final step out of the Nintendo/real-time system where the audio is processed for dynamics. This means that a sound like a bass, when the pitch moves up, may come out louder and muddier because of where it sits. You can do things like adjust the volume accordingly but it just doesn't make up for the multitude of circumstances possible. Hopefully this will be taken into account on future systems -- a sort of quick "master" processor on the way out David and I used to hang out in the late 80's, and I was actually one of the reasons he and the band fell through. I didn't learn any recording techniques from him, although he did show me how to live the rock& roll lifestyle -- which is something everyone should experience. Lately all he does is call and complain about the 90's "alterna-electronic crap" -- as he calls it. I think the hair is actually a graft from collections of groupie hair left on his pillows. Kind of an ultimate trophy-head.

ND: I used to play guitar and sing in a really loud, obnoxious Rock band. The main inspiration for my beer-ridden creations was to attractfine females. This attitude came from the live environment that most bands thrive in. Because you're primarily a recording artist how do you gauge audience reactions to your music? More importantly, do you even give two pebble-sized pieces of Antelope shit what people think about your music? Would you ever entertain the scenario of playing live because Neil my man, you could probably crush some cerebellums in a rave environment.

Neil Voss: I have thought of playing out... or getting together with others to do so. Part of my problem is I am such a ridiculous perfectionist thatwithout a surplus of time and the right people to work with, I am afraid to put much into it. Of course making video game soundtracks doesn'tgenerally attract a sea of fine females (unless you also host a game show). Ultimately I do-but-don't care what anyone thinks about my work. For one, it is commercial work so it isn't 100% "me" in there, and for two, everyone gets an opinion. I just have to be OK with it -- obviously the good compliments are a pat on the shoulder and the slams are a laugh and pointed finger, but in the end it is all pretty trivial.

ND: Your main instrument is the synthesizer and a computer. I think of rock school featuring Herbie Hancock when I hear the word "synth." Without bullshitting us with technical mumbo jumbo, what is it that a synthesizer does? Do you have a favorite model and brand of synth? I've seen synths that look like guitars, are you strictly a keyboard synth guy? In regards to your computer instrument, which software tools do you feel make your computer the best possible instrument it can be?

Neil Voss: To me a synthesizer is a magical, knobby, unstable electronics device that is capable of just about anything. But I am talking about theold skool stuff... I don't really touch modern synthesizers, and I only own about 2 out of 16 which have any sort of MIDI interface. Basically a synth is a keyboard driven device (or MIDI/voltage controlled device) which allows you to use any number of techniques to build sound from scratch...

Typically an analog synth has a few oscillators which generate basic waveforms, a set of filters (basically an EQ but with a different mentality), a set of volume controllers and oscillators which can contour and modulate the sound, and some odds and ends that allow for weird shit to happen like interaction between devices across abnormal planes (modulate the oscillators against each other, control the filter with an inbound signal, etc.)

Ironically I have an old Herbie Hancock album, and I own a good chunk of the rig of synthesizers he has surrounding him on the record sleeve. I don't really play favorites as just about anything can make a useful sound if you use things for what they are good for (not generally for what they were manufactured to do). Lately I bought an old Wurlitzer electric piano which I play more than anything else... it is a very expressive piece of junk. I don't have any synth-tar things although next time I tour with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis I'm going to have to get one.

The most exciting things for me on the computer of late are Gigasampler from Nemesys -- a program which allows you to use your PC as a pretty limitless sampler, playing with a lot of software synthesizers (especially the really screwed up public domain ones), and recently muddling with multimedia tools which allow me to test music and graphical interactions.

ND: You live in Florida correct? If all of the video game action is on the West Coast what made you head out to the hurricane peninsula? Did you have to be closer to the in-laws?

Neil Voss: In theory it shouldn't matter where I am located -- although I have lost project options because of it. I am really not a California type... I just spent a week in LA and it left me feeling kind of like I spent a week touring a big cliche' that is positioned to slide off the Earth. In any case I have considered relocation this year -- probably to New York or San Francisco, either depending on circumstances. I'd like to go to London but it'd be the most difficult to work out from a working-in-another-country perspective. In any case Florida has a lot to offer personally, and I don't really care if I am "where the action is". I'd like to go somewhere more urban so I can avoid driving, purchase interesting crap on the streets, and so that I am inundated with things to do instead of trying to invent them.

ND: One of your longest ambitions has been to create a totally interactive audioscape in a video game. A concept loosely like the audio work found in Factor Five's Rogue Squadron. In fact, you've mentioned this idea to me several times in previous conversations. What steps are you taking to realize this ambition? Are you currently working on a project that utilizes interactive music?

Well some other titles I am working on now deal exclusively with nonlinear music. It was supposed to happen for the New Tetris but there wasn't enough development time on it (you may notice that a lot of the tracks seems to have the same structure -- intro, part A, part B -- this is because quite a few werebuilt around fixed dynamics). I have considered not offering up services to create any sort of linear audio commercially any more, just because it really doesn't move anything forward.

I have a pretty deep concept together on a music-centric game... something like Parappa to the Nth degree with more of a replay/gameplay/nonlinear environment factor. I'd actually hate to call it "music-centric" even, as I don't have that sort of bias. More of a total dynamic experience. I am yet to approach anyone with this as I don't want to run into a control-and-compromise situation. Profit agendas do a lot of harm to ideas that don't already have a market model set up for them. I am also preparing to launch a new web project, a front for my work, which revolves around very dynamic music. You'll need Shockwave 7...

ND: You're a Supreme Being with the ability to alter only one constant in the universe. What would you change?

Neil Voss: Well since my perceptive of the universe is fairly limited -- planet Earth -- I would just have gravity invert for approximately 1/2 second, at random times throughout every human year. This would probably change the way everyone thinks about life, for better or worse. It'd be amusing anyway. I think Tesla was trying to do this when C.O.B.R.A. came in and stole the plans as research for their weather devices. Silly C.O.B.R.A.

ND: What is your all time favorite: band, album, ice cream, color, woman, movie, N64 game, person to work with, car, vacation spot, sports team, narcotic (besides sex) and finally who is the greatest Swimsuit model of all time (excluding Chris Farley)???

Neil Voss: Oh boy -- again I am extremely eclectic. Especially with bandsand music. Ice cream -- I prefer tacos. Color - I dig any good combination of colors... compliments with a high level of energy... colors that don't "match". N64 game I have put the most hours into -- Goldeneye, just because I could cap my friends. I thought Wetrix was about the most interesting concept, and I wish someone would make a version of Kirby's Dream Course in 3-Space. Person to work with -- I don't know... anyone who doesn't get on my nerves. Car -- I'd like to pick up an old late 60's Porsche if I could find one in good shape. I am not a car person, but if I am going to own one at least I could look like a spy. Vacation Spot -- so far New York and Tokyo have given me the biggest kick. Sports -- not my vibe... I'd watch if the football teams had weapons. Narcotic -- other experiences aside, I consume the most legal of amphetamines, Diet Coke, in sickening quantities (I am a living cancer experiment). Swimmy model -- I am genuinely not big on poster girls. I guess the French girl from Victoria's Secret couldget me to buy things I don't really need and develop an unhealthy level of expectation.

ND: I simply could not resist the work of Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions) as a guiding light in my short and Carlsberg shattered musical career. Although I never could play like Uli, I knew that his sound was IT. What sound or artist has been a gravitational pull for you? By the way, I don't mean influence. We all are ourselves.

Neil Voss: I don't have a problem with admitting to being influenced. Too many things to name though... its safe to say anything archetype and unusual that still has some sort of coherence gets me going. I'll listen to just about anything though, as long as I am not saturated with it. If it helps, lately I have been listening to a lot of Exotica (Les Baxter, Martin Denny, old "Hawaii" music and the like) and a lot of early synthesizer music (Jean Jacques Perry, Dick Hyman, Wendy Carlos, Claude Denjean and all the "Switched on..." stuff). The Exotica just because the very white-bread interpretations of exotic music formed some interesting abstracts, coupled with the vibe of early obsessions over trying to find the proverbial perfect recording technique (the logos alone are worth buying old albums for). The old electronics stuff just because it sounds like the new stuff without breakbeats, and also carries a similar fascination-with-some-new-technology kind of blundering excitement to it. The new music I listen to is pretty much anything coming out of Warp/Rephlex and a slew of other pretty credible electronic labels and imprints.

ND: Perry Farrel (sic) of Jane's Addiction once said that "rap is crapbecause you start that type of music by stealing from someone else." Isay that rock is the same idea though -- think about Sunhouse and Muddy Waters' riffs turning up in Zeppelin 2. How do you respond to Perry Farell's accusation that the genre of Electronica is retread from sample CDs and basically "stolen" music?

Neil Voss: Well Perry has also fried most of what used to be a human brain. That is a classic statement from someone who is hearing but not listening.It isn't about the rapper trying to claim credit for the music. The sampling in itself is an art of laying reference to influences and culture, and in finding elements that fit together. There is of course tasteful sampling where old work is rebuilt into something new or something tributary, and then there is very overt pinching. I can't say that I respect what people like Puff Daddy or Will Smith are doing... I mean, once a hit... always a hit. DeLa Soul always got my respect for clever, constructive sampling. In the end what really matters is that the work connects to people, regardless of how difficult, simple, clever, poorly produced or whatever it was.

Sample CDs are a quick way out... but at the same time with people going apeshit over laws behind sampling sometimes pinching a few noises to be clever becomes a nightmare. Anyway, I'd believePerry's cooler-than-thou ethos if he hadn't of dogged the Prodigy for not breaking their other obligations to tour with him. Or maybe he just buys the almost dead media hype that the "alternative" cash cow he is sitting on is threatened by the "anti-rock" electronic scene and is lashing back.

The bottom line is you can't move forward without building on what is already done. Some people will reinvent the wheel while others use it to land their spaceships. Either way the wheel is still used. Its not likethe ancient Chinese and Greeks are running around and suing everyone for stealing their tonal ratios and modes.

ND: Nintendo owns the rights to the Tetrisphere soundtrack. They'vemade a CD for every cheese ass MIDI soundtracked game they've made and yet the strongest audio effort (Tetrisphere) for the system has yet to be immortalized in a CD format. What the (*#@&$ is going on here? If I drove my car to the Zelda soundtrack I'd probably crash out of boredom but if I was tuning into Tetrisphere, look out Schumacher!! What is the hold up or hesitation on Nintendo's part?? Will a Tetrisphere CD be available in the near future?

Neil Voss: This is pretty much something that isn't in my hands. Actually in light of the fact that I don't have even a fraction of rights in either Tetrisphere or the New Tetris I would prefer not see a commercial CD release done. But any which way I really can't speak for Nintendo, and I don't have a lot of communication with them to have an answer on that one.

I'd really like to meet the in-house Nintendo music people, just to see what kind of ideas float around there, but they are a very tight company.

I can only guarantee that in future projects I will be doing what I can toassure that I maintain some sort of advantage in this, and if I ever get around to releasing a unique title the soundtrack will be a critical factor in who I deal with.

ND: What other ventures do you involve yourself with? I understand that you worked in graphic/web design as well?

Neil Voss: Yes I have been working on web projects commercially. These are two wires I tend not cross because the web projects basically are hardly related to the audio work. I have learned a lot about the Internet as a platform and how Internet businesses are working (or mostly not working). I am very seriously interested in the way the technology is going because of all the media I work within it is the one that will have the largest impact on literally everything. I am doing a lot of work in this realm and the web project I am about to launch should show this. Essentially it is possible for me to produce the same quality of audio as the N64 work with a very limited bandwidth under Shockwave. This also allows me to tie in interactive and responsive graphics. I have done audio for a few soon-to-launch web sites, which is all interactive music. In the long run I'll try and pull everything together inside one cohesive head.

ND: You're an extra on Baywatch. Except this is a Baywatch whereevery honey on the globe is patrolling the beach. Your role as anextra…receive mouth to mouth resuscitation. Who's your lifesaver Neil? (And don't wuss out with your girlfriend or wife as an answer or I'll insert a whip sound effect in your answer!)

Neil Voss: She'd expect this one... Angelina Jolie (actress from the film Hackers). Can I have my dignity back now?