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ScoreNotes: What was it like for you to jump into a unique and popular science-fiction franchise like, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty?
Neal Acree: I've been involved in the sci-fi genre in many forms, from series like Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe (and the subsequent DVD movies) to the SyFy channel film Project V.I.P.E.R. but I wouldn't say much of that prepared me for StarCraft II.  While some of the music in the game pays homage to the science fiction epics of the past that we all know and love, the vast majority transcended the genre as we know it.  Musically, StarCraft II covers a lot of ground stylistically but there is a common thread that ties everything together and that is the characters.

ScoreNotes: I find that each musical experience, be it from a game or film, should reveal a distinct personality about itself through its score.  StarCraft II makes this impression quite well and establishes itself right from the outset.  Can you discuss some of the unique thematic attributes that this score delivers (e.g., the old-west influences, choral aspects, etc.)?
Neal Acree: In many ways StarCraft II takes it's lead from the original StarCraft score but the musical landscape has been broadened as much as the scope of the game has.  Having composers Glen Stafford and Derek Duke reprise their roles from the original helped the Terran and Zerg music maintain it's original flavor while maturing and evolving as 12 years can tend to do both for a composer and the technology at their fingertips. 

Blizzard's audio director Russell Brower wrote a spectacular 7 plus minute main theme that brilliantly managed to reinvent the game thematically but stay true to the original and in the process propel the scope of the game into the stratosphere.  Many of the game's recurring themes are established in his piece and many of the original game's themes are updated in a spectacular way.  Don't tell him, but I sincerely believe that Russell is the best composer working in the industry.  He constantly pushes the envelope of the genre and is a big part of the reason video game scores are as popular as film scores.

There is certainly a bit of an "cowboys in space" vibe element to parts of the StarCraft II story and naturally this comes through in the music.  The Terran race has always been represented musically by western and rock elements.  Choir played many roles in the game, from underscoring the mysterious collective spirituality of the Protoss to the eerily ominous rise of  the Queen of Blades.  It underscored the camaraderie of the Terran, the epic evil of the Zerg onslaught and the majestically emotional ending of the game. 

I also had the great fortune of   working with Laurie Ann Haus, an extremely gifted singer who sang on the Escape From Mar Sara, The Prophecy, The Betrayal, The Showdown cinematics.  Her vocals on the game's finale (The Showdown) and on Kerrigan's giving in to her impending doom in The Betrayal make me tear up every time I hear it.

ScoreNotes: Given the collaborative nature of this score, how did the composing team ensure a consistency was maintained during the production process?  The end-result really feels like a seamless and unified "voice."
Neal Acree: A lot of the credit there belongs to the directors of the cinematics (Nick Carpenter and Jeff Chamberlain) who had a very specific vision for the music from the start.  The in game music was driven by Glen Stafford, Derek Duke and Russell Brower's re-envisioning of the original game's music.

The fact that we all recorded the music with the same musicians, with the same orchestra and choir, has a lot to do with the consistency of sound.  We all wrote music that emphasized our strengths as composers and we we all had the big picture in our heads 100% of the time.  I did my best to incorporate Russell's themes wherever possible.  The writers, producers, artists and developers gave us a very detailed roadmap of the story we were telling and we simply became their musical voices.  We helped tell their story like any good film composer would.  StarCraft II is, like all of the best sci-fi epics, a story, and we as composers are storytellers in our own way.

ScoreNotes: What would you say are the positives and negatives of the team-oriented approach that is now being used more frequently by the game industry for its music? 
Neal Acree: Well, the main benefit of team composing in any industry has in my opinion always been the need produce a lot of music in a short period of time without compromising it's quality, especially when there are multiple projects involved simultaneously.  Often when there are multiple revisions required, a single cue can take weeks or even months to get approved.  In television, the schedules can be so rapid fire that a composer sometimes has to come up with upwards of 30 minutes of fully orchestrated, recorded and mixed music per week.  You either have to be superhuman or have a little help, whether or not it's advertised.  That having been said, I've done everything myself (composing, orchestrating, mixing) on all but one of the films I've done on my own.  It has been a great experience to work alongside other composers though.  For as solitary as our existences tend to be, collaboration can be very rewarding.

 A secondary benefit would be the ability to draw from multiple strengths and styles of different composers to create a well balanced musical landscape.  For as diverse as we all tend to be, we all have certain styles that we are better at than others.

Negatives?  Hard to say.  I imagine it can sometimes be difficult for multiple egos and styles to meld into one unified voice but for as many times as I've been in group composing situations, I've never actually seen that happen.  I've been lucky to work with some pretty cool and easy going people, especially in the game industry.  As much as I respect Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams for having done it all on their own, sometimes it's just not possible on the scale that some games can be. 

ScoreNotes: It seems like the music of today's video games serve as a great introduction of soundtracks to the younger generation.  Can you talk about the positivity around introducing a "mainstream" type of audience to outstanding orchestral music?
Neal Acree: Well, for me, orchestral music is the highest form music can ever take.  There's a reason why the orchestra has stayed so consistent in it's makeup for hundreds of years.  We're dealing with physics and musical principals that were laid out by the music of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven and perhaps even the laws of the universe itself.  Not to say that I consider myself or most composers of recent years to be worthy of mentioning in that sentence, but anyone that has ever attempted to write for orchestra has embraced the perfection of the orchestral ensemble and the idea of bringing this idea to a new generation is very cool.  I think orchestral music in whatever form it may take, will endure beyond our lifetime but we obviously have a responsibility as composers to make the art form accessible to the younger generation.

ScoreNotes: At what point do you think video games scores might overtake film music as the primary option of choice for soundtrack enthusiasts?
Neal Acree: An excellent but difficult question as the genres are so similar yet so different.  In a perfect world, video game scores on the whole will rise to a level of quality that can't be ignored and will ultimately be seen as being on par with film scores.  The game industry has rivaled and often surpassed the financial viability of the film industry but the critical respect that film commands remains elusive.  I think that with composers like Russell Brower and Garry Schyman constantly pushing the envelope of what we know as "video game music", that respect isn't far off.  Still, the experience of being immersed in a film may always endure.  I wouldn't dare speculate on the future of any genre, but I believe without a doubt that video game scores will rise to a level that even film scores can't because like concert music, they are often not bound by the limitations of picture.  I suppose though that you were speaking more in terms of soundtracks.  In that respect, many video game soundtracks are practically on the same level. in terms the attention they get amongst collectors.

ScoreNotes: Musically speaking, and casting the medium aside, what types of stories most appeal to your sensibilities as a composer?
Neal Acree: I am, and have always been a dramatist.  Stories that evoke emotion appeal to me the most.  More often than not if a film doesn't make me feel something, whether through music, acting, or storytelling, I will be very disappointed with the experience.  I have always thrived on being a part of moving the audience in the same way I have been moved by the films I love.  Video games and television now tell stories that rival the experience of watching a movie which solidifies my belief that we are all just telling stories, regardless of the medium.

ScoreNotes: Getting back to Starcraft II, what were some of the cues you recorded for it and how pleased are you with the overall outcome of the soundtrack?
Neal Acree: I scored the cinematics known as The Betrayal, The Prophecy, the first part of Heir Apparent, Card To Play and The Showdown (the game's finale).  On the soundtrack, Heir Apparent and The Betrayal are featured on the track "I, Mengsk" along with a new arrangement of Glen Stafford's aria from the original StarCraft and some music by Derek Duke.

StarCraft II is easily the best soundtrack I've been involved with thus far.  As diverse of an album as it is, it's a wonderfully unified effort and the sound quality and the level the musicians brought the music to makes it (in my humble opinion) the best game soundtrack ever released (and I'm not even referring to my tracks).  I have a feeling we might have actually outdone it with the upcoming World of Warcraft: Cataclysm soundtrack but you'll just have to wait and see.

ScoreNotes: Speaking of the soundtrack -- how enthused was the composing team to see it do so well on iTunes during its debut week?  Does seeing an enthusiastic response serve as a nice reward for all the hard work everyone put into it?
Neal Acree: I can only really speak for myself on this though I'm sure everyone else was very happy to see the music well received.  The most important thing we all strived for, was to stay true to the original because the fans have lived with it and loved it for 12 years now.  Blizzard has the most loyal fans in the game industry and they deserved the best we had in each of us.  Everyone involved on the development team rose to such a level that we as composers wanted to knock it as far out of the park as possible.  The fact that the game was so well received was a huge relief for me personally as I poured more of my soul into it than I had into anything before it and felt at the end of it like I had not only evolved as a composer, but I had become a different person.  I know it sounds dramatic but sometimes these projects come along that change your life.  Such has been the case with everything I've done with Blizzard and increasingly so with every project.