Gene Rozenberg
Boston AES Meeting
March 2012
On Wed. March 21, the Boston Section of the Audio Engineering Society in collaboration with the Boston Post Mortem Game Developer Group held an event entitled: "Audio Design for Video Games" featuring guest speaker Gene M. Rozenberg at the Skellig in Waltham, MA.
After almost three years from the time it was finished, he was able to talk about his experience regarding the creation of the music and audio for "Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure", the only non-sports game to come out of EA Tiburon who is recognized largely for their Madden NFL series. The concept started around 1997 and was eventually pitched approximately 10 years later. With limited budgets and marketing, the game was completed for Nintendo DS format.
"Working on this game was incredibly stressful but it was one of the most amazing projects I have worked on", stated Rozenburg. He faced quick turnarounds and limited memory for fully orchestrated arrangements as well as the added difficulty of the multiple languages needed to publish in other countries other than the U.S.
He played examples of musical segments from the game. The resulting Audio generated incredibly positive feedback from the reviewer and fan community and was an exercise in unorthodox thinking and it was a truly unique experience. A music CD release was attempted, but ultimately it was to be given away as a free download.
Rosenburg gave an overview of what they did right; they didn't say no and took a risk. He also addressed what went wrong; agreeing that there were too many limitations and he took on the project against "better judgement". It could have been a bit "crazier" (more complex) but he was worried that it would not have been allowed.
Gene M. Rozenberg is a professional composer and audio designer with over 15 years of industry experience. He enjoys all aspects of audio design and music composition for the game industry and at the time of this event, was employed by 38 Studios, LLC. as a Senior Composer/Audio Designer.
