Alexander Brandon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Farcaller (talk | contribs) at 15:46, 15 September 2017 (The website is dead). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Alexander Brandon
Alexander Brandon in Georgetown, Texas in 2011
Alexander Brandon in Georgetown, Texas in 2011
Background information
Birth nameAlexander Brandon
Also known asSiren, Chromatic Dragon, Sandman
Born (1974-09-29) September 29, 1974 (age 49)
OriginCleveland, Ohio, U.S.
GenresElectronica, synthpop, pop rock
Occupation(s)Composer, musician, [övoice actor]], voice director, sound designer, audio director
Instrument(s)Keyboards, PC, guitar
Years active1987–present
LabelsFunky Rustic Records

Alexander Brandon (also known as Siren in the demoscene and tracker community, born September 24, 1974) is a US musician, former member of Straylight Productions, who composed music mostly for games produced by Epic Games, or games based on Epic technology, including Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, Tyrian, Jazz Jackrabbit 2 and the cancelled game Jazz Jackrabbit 3D.[1] Brandon is also a voice actor, having been cast most recently for the parts of Ancano and Amaund Motierre in the Role Playing Game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda Game Studios.

Brandon started composing music at the age of 14 when he got an Ad Lib music synthesizer card for Christmas.[2] He worked in several MOD music groups over his composing years in the late 90's, including the Kosmic Free Music Foundation. During that time he also composed for several musicdisks such as Return to Stage 9.

Brandon has built several audio departments, starting with Ion Storm Austin in mid-2000. This was followed with an audio director position at Midway Home Entertainment in San Diego until 2007 when he started the audio department at Obsidian Entertainment.[1] In February 2009 he built the audio department at Heatwave Interactive, also providing business development and overall media management. In April 2010 Alex launched Funky Rustic, an independent audio production studio, working out of Georgetown, Texas.

Past nicknames

During his tracker career, Alex has used several nicknames:[3]

  • 1995: first tracks released under the name "Chromatic Dragon"
  • end of 1995: name changed to "Siren"
  • middle of 1996, during KFMF membership: name temporarily changed to "Sandman"
  • end of 1996: name changed back to "Siren"

Note that there were several (two or three) tracker musicians around the world, who have used the nickname "Sandman" independently of Alex.

Influences

Alexander Brandon's influences include Peter Gabriel, Dream Theater, Frost*, Andrew Sega, Steve Vai, and Ozric Tentacles, among others.[4]

Discography

The AtmosphereS albums generally contain ambient music, one of Brandon's major composing styles. Era's End showcases several other styles including pop and rock.

Video game credits

Books

  • Brandon, Alexander (2004). Audio for Games: Planning, Process, and Production. New Riders. ISBN 978-0-7357-1413-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

References

  1. ^ a b Bezeau, François (November 1, 2007). "Alexander Brandon Interview: Going Solo". Game Music Online. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  2. ^ PixelK1tty (May 16, 2012). "Epic Composer Interview: Alexander Brandon". Epic Games Community. Epic Games. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Interview with Alex Brandon". Archived from the original on January 13, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009. My nickname was actually first Chromatic Dragon.. then Siren, then Sandman, then back to Siren. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Alexander Brandon at Fandalism
  5. ^ "VGM Rush – Unreal II". Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  6. ^ Karmali, Luke (May 12, 2014). "Original Unreal Tournament composers on board for reboot". IGN. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  7. ^ Papadopoulos, John (August 12, 2015). "Voidrunner – Unreal Engine 4-powered Surreal Flight Game – Gets Kickstarter Campaign". The Dark Side of Gaming. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  8. ^ "Alexander Brandon, the composer of Deus Ex and Unreal, is working with Retro Studios". May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2017.

External links

Interviews

Template:Video game music

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Brandon&oldid=800773292"