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Jesper Kyd

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Jesper Kyd
Kyd in 2013
Background information
Birth nameJesper Kyd Jakobson
Also known asJK, JJK, Jonesy
Born (1972-02-03) February 3, 1972 (age 52)
Hørsholm, Denmark
Genres
Occupations
  • Composer
  • sound designer
Instruments
  • Piano
  • personal computer
  • keyboards
  • synthesizer
Years active1986–present
Labels
Websitejesperkyd.com

Jesper Kyd Jakobson (born February 3, 1972) is a Danish composer and sound designer, who has worked on various video games, television, and film projects. He has composed soundtracks for the Hitman series, Assassin's Creed series, Borderlands series, Darksiders II and State of Decay, among many others. His scores use orchestra, choir, acoustic manipulations and electronic soundscapes.[1]

Biography

Early years

Kyd started playing the piano at an early age. Later, he took several years of training in classical guitar, note reading, choir singing and classical composition for piano. However, he is mostly self-taught.[2][3] Kyd started using computers for composing on a Commodore 64 at age 14,[4] and later an Amiga.[5] He and Mikael Balle became members of the demogroup Silents DK, and later started collaborating with a group of coders known as Crionics.[6] They eventually made the Amiga demoscene production Hardwired.[7][8] Kyd also created and scored the first wild demo, Global Trash 2, together with Mikael Balle.

Kyd then left the demoscene and started to work as a game musician. He and others created the computer game developer Zyrinx and a game called Sub-Terrania for the Sega Genesis. The team then relocated to Boston. Kyd composed music for two additional Zyrinx titles, Red Zone and Scorcher and the music for two externally developed games, Amok and The Adventures of Batman and Robin. Zyrinx dissolved when their game publisher Scavenger went bankrupt.

Freelance

Many former Zyrinx members returned to Denmark to start IO Interactive, but Kyd moved to New York City and set up his own sound studio in Manhattan called "Nano studios". He then worked as a freelance video game musician.

He worked on Bioware's MDK2, Shiny's Messiah and IO's Hitman: Codename 47.[9] The soundtrack to Codename 47 was based on urban soundscapes and ethnic instrumentation.[10] He then recorded the soundtrack of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin with 110 musicians of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Hungarian Radio Choir.[11]

He recorded the score for the action/adventure Freedom Fighters with the Hungarian Radio choir. It was described by Film Score Monthly Magazine as "Vangelis on steroids". Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards nominated him for Best Use of Soundtrack, and Game Audio Network Guild Awards nominated him for "Best Original Vocal Song – Choral" (for Main Title and March of the Empire). Leading video game web site GameSpot awarded Freedom Fighters "Best Music of the Year".

He used modern electronica and symphonic and choral music in Hitman: Contracts. It was awarded Best Original Music by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at the 2005 BAFTA Games Awards and won Best Cinematic/Cut-Scene Audio at the 2005 G.A.N.G. Awards.[12] Kyd then provided the music for Ubisoft’s Assassin's Creed, created by developer Patrice Desilets. He produced a cinematic score for Altair’s Middle-Eastern story. He then produced the music for Assassin's Creed II, recorded in Los Angeles.

Kyd wrote the soundtrack for the action/adventure Darksiders II, notable for being his first entirely non-digital score.[13]

Kyd lives in Burbank, California and is represented by The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc.

Works

Games

Films

Short films

  • 2000 – Organizm
  • 2001 – The Lion Tamer
  • 2001 – Going with Neill
  • 2002 – Day Pass
  • 2002 – Paper Plane Man
  • 2002 – Pure
  • 2003 – Cycle
  • 2006 – Impulse
  • 2006 – Virus
  • 2010 – The Auctioneers
  • 2011 – Somnolence

TV series

Awards and nominations

  • 2002 Bolt Games – Bolt Games Music Award
  • 2002 Action Vault – Outstanding Achievement In Music
  • 2002 IGN – Best Sound Nomination
  • 2002 X-Sages – Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
  • 2002 GameSpot – Best Original Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
  • 2002 Games Agent – Best Original Soundtrack Winner
  • 2003 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD – Hitman 2 Soundtrack CD
  • 2003 Game Reactor – Best Original Soundtrack Winner
  • 2003 GameSpot – Best Soundtrack of the Year Winner
  • 2004 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD – Hitman Contracts Soundtrack CD
  • 2004 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations
  • 2004 IGN – Best Soundtrack Nomination
  • 2004 Billboard Awards Best Music Nomination 2004
  • 2005 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD – Freedom Fighters Soundtrack CD
  • 2005 G.A.N.G. Winner Best Music for Cinematic/Cut Scene
  • 2005 BAFTA – Winner Best Original Music Award (British Academy Award)
  • 2006 4 G.A.N.G. Nominations Including Music of the Year
  • 2006 Golden Joystick Awards – Best Game Soundtrack Nomination
  • 2006 IGN Best Original Score Winner
  • 2006 MTV Video Music Awards – Best Video Game Score Nomination
  • 2007 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations, including Music of the Year
  • 2007 GameSpot – Best Video Game Score Nomination
  • 2008 ELAN Awards – Best Video Game Score Winner
  • 2008 Golden Joystick Awards – Soundtrack of the Year Nomination
  • 2008 Hollywood Music Awards – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2008 BAFTA – Best Original Music Nomination (British Academy Award)
  • 2009 Machinima Awards – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2009 G4TV X-Play Awards – Best Original Soundtrack Nomination
  • 2009 Spike Video Game Awards – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2009 Gamespy Editors' Choice Awards – Best Original Music Winner
  • 2009 Hollywood Music in Media Awards – Best Original Score (VG) Winner
  • 2009 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2009 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards – Best Original Score Winner
  • 2009 IGN Best of the Year Awards – Best Soundtrack Winner (PlayStation 3)
  • 2010 Game Audio Network Guild Awards – Music of the Year Winner
  • 2010 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences – Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination
  • 2010 International Film Music Critics Association – Best Original Video Game Score Nomination
  • 2010 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2010 Gold Spirit Awards: Best Video Game Score Winner
  • 2010 Hollywood Music in Media Awards – Best Original Score (VG) Nomination
  • 2011 Soundtrack Geek Awards – Best Video Game Score Nomination
  • 2011 Game Audio Network Guild Awards – Music of the Year Nomination
  • 2011 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences – Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination
  • 2011 Gold Spirit Awards – Best Video Game Score Nomination
  • 2011 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards – Best Music Nomination
  • 2011 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards – Best Music Winner
  • 2012 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2012 Canadian Video Game Awards – Best Original Music Nomination
  • 2012 Hollywood Music in Media Awards – Best Original Score (VG) Nomination
  • 2012 G4TV X-Play Awards – Best Soundtrack Nomination
  • 2012 GameZone GOTY Awards – Best Original Soundtrack Nomination
  • 2012 Machinema Awards – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2012 Global Music Awards – Best Original Score Winner
  • 2012 Telegraph Video Game Awards – Best Original Score Nomination
  • 2012 PC Gamer Best Music Of The Year – Honorable Mention
  • 2012 MTV Multiplayer Best Music of 2012 – Honorable Mention
  • 2012 GameSpot Best Soundtracks of 2012
  • 2012 MSNBC Ingame Awards – Best Video Game Music Nomination
  • 2012 Games Radar Platinum Chalice Awards – Best Soundtrack
  • 2012 The Current (MPR) – Best Video game score of 2012 Winner

References

  1. ^ "Jesper Kyd | About". jesperkyd.com. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  2. ^ Official Jesper Kyd forum
  3. ^ Jesper Kyd interview with Spelmusik
  4. ^ The Silents
  5. ^ Jesper Kyd at Amiga Music Preservation
  6. ^ Crionics
  7. ^ YouTube - Crionics^Silents - Hardwired (main)
  8. ^ Hardwired by Crionics & The Silents
  9. ^ Music 4 Games - The Future of Rock n' Roll & Interactive Entertainment. Est. 1999
  10. ^ Jesper Kyd Online
  11. ^ http://www.denofgeek.com/games/jesper-kyd/32321/jesper-kyd-interview-assassins-creed-hitman-and-more
  12. ^ 3rd Annual GANG Awards - 2004 Released Games
  13. ^ "10 questions for Jesper Kyd – the composer behind Assassin's Creed, Hitman & Darksiders 2". Official Playstation Magazine. November 8, 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  14. ^ songs by Jesper Kyd - bemanistyle.com
  15. ^ Evoker (14 September 2010). "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Interview". UGDB.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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