Welcome to this, the first in Matrix Online Stratics' series of interviews with Matrix Online systems developers and artists. We had the opportunity to ask some questions of MxO's Music Designer, Nathan Grigg. He was kind enough to provide us with some intriguing answers to our questions about his musical and professional background, the challenges in scoring an MMO and more.

MxOS: How did you become involved in creating the music for The Matrix Online?

NG: I’m the primary composer and music director at Monolith. I compose, arrange, produce, implement, and provide creative music direction for all of Monolith’s projects. I started working at Monolith early in 2001, when Aliens VS. Predator 2 was in production. At the time the company was in need of someone on the inside who could drive the evolution of our music engines, create music specifications, and implement as well as compose. Since then I’ve created scores for No One Lives Forever 2 and Tron 2.0. Every project the company takes on is radically different from the last, so there’s never a dull moment.

MxOS: Tell us a little about your background in music. For instance, what instruments do you play? Do you have a formal music education? What are your influences?

NG: I’ve been scoring games for about 11 years, starting with 16-bit consoles in the early 90’s and expanding to PC titles a few years later. My music background involves a smattering of piano lessons from ages 6 through 17 and a focus in composition and music technology in college, but I had my own musical agenda very early on in life, so a lot of the skills I rely on feel self-taught. My parents bought me a toy organ when I was 3 years old and I became completely obsessed with the thing. My sense of pitch, harmony, rhythm--everything had an opportunity to develop while I was still learning to talk, so I’ve always been a fast-learning listener. I started memorizing my ideas at the piano just a few years later, so by the time I started taking lessons, the biggest challenge was pulling myself away from my own compositions to play other people’s music. I still have a hard time with this, actually, so that’s probably why I make a living fighting with computers rather than taking requests at a piano bar (although I’m still not sure which career path is more glamorous). I have also immersed myself in electronic music and video games since the age of Pong, so when I got out of college, game scoring just seemed a natural fit for me.

MxOS: Describe for our readers some of the challenges in composing music for an MMORPG such as MxO. How do you keep it from sounding repetitive? How do you make the music work in such a dynamic environment?

NG: I think the biggest challenge of scoring an MMORPG is confronting the fact that you can’t directly cover every specific scenario that happens in a vast, evolving game world such as this. Instead, content tends to be assembled from a feature list and we rely on a more formulaic approach to implementing it in the game. This is very different from the finite world of the FPS, which can be approached in a much more customized, in-the-moment manner. In The Matrix Online, we’ll never have the luxury of going into each mission for example, and scoring it. there are simply too many of them, so we look at ways of classifying missions and locations in the game—i.e. is this a Zion or a Machine mission? Is this club interior grungy or more upscale?—and fill in the blanks from there.

Repetition is always an issue in game scoring. To a certain extent, you can attack the issue with technology: our music engine allows us to create seamless transitions between themes. We can set themes to cue in on musical boundaries like measures and beats, and can even randomize between arrangement variations if we wish, so we have a lot of options at our disposal on the technology side. Despite all of this, however, it’s important to understand that the most impact a composer can have on the repetition issue is through the music itself. My motto for game scoring--and really music in general--has always been “Don’t tell the whole story.” Music that generates a compelling world to explore and allows the listener to participate is going to endure more repetition. Music that spoon-feeds all the answers will burn out sooner. Leaving just a few doors open—some ambiguity in the rhythm or harmony for example--can make all the difference in the world.

MxOS: We know that mission and story content in the game will be updated frequently. Will there be a perpetual stream of new music to accompany this content as well?

NG: That is the plan. Obviously, post-launch content such as cinematics will need to be scored as the story unfolds, but we have plans for expanding and diversifying the in-game music as well. A lot of great ideas are being discussed in the forums as well as in internal meetings. Stay tuned.

MxOS: Thanks Nathan! We appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions, and we look forward to hearing what you have in store for us in the world of The Matrix Online!