The right music can make or break a game.

Paul chats to the composers behind the latest Assassin’s Creed to find out how they make it work.

The Assassins Creed scores pride themselves in their ability to merge traditional instrumentation with modern technology.

Tilton:That was a request from the outset to do a blend of electronic with live instruments.

That was the initial idea.

Thats what makes it so fun.

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What are your respective backgrounds as composers?

I heard his music in theMedal Of Honorgames, so I started out as an assistant of his.

In fact, it was because of him that I was able to take over doingFringe.

That was a huge opportunity and was probably the biggest project that I had worked on at that time.

And when did you guys initially start work on Assassins Creed Unity?

Tilton:It was at the beginning of this year.

How much interaction did you have with one another during the composing process?

Schachner:Surprisingly, none really.

I mainly focused on the systemic combat, co-op and multiplayer missions.

They wanted us to do our own thing.

So my focus was really on the single player story.

Sarah did a lot of pieces that are not just co-op story missions but also just the general world.

Thats what draws me in to playing games, let alone scoring them as well.

How much freedom do you have on a project like this?

The series has its own distinctive sound thats fairly well established.

Are you generally left to do your own thing or is it a more collaborative process than that?

Schachner:It depends on the game studio.

Ubisoft Montreal is great to work with because there is a fair amount of freedom in the process.

The actual implementation of the music into the game still bewilders me.

But yeah, it is kind of a little bit like working with unfinished visual effects.

And at this point no one has any hair or something, or no faces stuff like that.

Thats helped a little bit too.

In recent years theres been a noticeable change in terms of video game score emulating blockbuster films.

The likes of Mass Effect spring to mind, but there are many others.

What are your thoughts on this?

Not to mention how common its become for blockbuster film composers to score games.

I think were finally starting to see that, especially with the explosion of indie games and whatnot.

I dont thinkMass Effectcould have existed in the early 2000s.

Its great and were only seeing this because the industry is being supported like that.

Thats crazy and thats awesome that thats happening.

How do you see the composing landscape evolving in the next ten years?

This applies to composers.

Those two things will make you a better composer.

I think working onFringemade me a much better composer.

It forces you to really focus and learn about story.

Video game music shapes a players journey so that they become the character.

Humans by nature will always respond strongest emotionally to melody and ambiance.

I hope so at least.

Sarah Schachner, Chris Tilton, thank you very much.