Alexander Brandon

Alexander Brandon

Born	1974-09-29
Birth Place	Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Nationality	American
Aliases	Siren Chromatic Dragon Sandman Straylight Productions
Website	alexanderbrandon.net

Alexander Brandon is an American composer and is a pioneer in the video game music industry.

Brandon was born on September 29, 1974 in Cleveland Ohio. He got interested in music from his mother being a singer. A friend later showed him Metroid and he was fascinated by the music, which is why he went into game music. He has been writing music since 1987 when his family computer was upgraded with an Ad Lib Music Synthesizer Card. After doing everything he could with it, he switched over to making MOD music on the Amiga. In 1994, he got a job working for Epic MegaGames and has been composing for the video game industry ever since.

Brandon remains an influential member of the game audio community. He has released several ambiance albums in his AtmosphereS series. In 2004, his book "Audio For Games: Planning, Process, and Production," was published. Brandon also writes Game Developer magazine's audio column, and holds a seat on the board of directors of the Game Audio Network Guild.

Audio Development

DOS

On Tyrian, Brandon composed using Visual Composer, someone at Epic sent his files to Andras Molnar, and Molnar sent back rearrangements in his Loudness format.

Nintendo 64

For the Vigilante 8 music, it was composed on an N64 cartridge by Software Creations. The music was written on a piano roll. The instrument samples were from a Korg Trinity.

Windows 32

On Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Brandon used unknown trackers to compose new songs and remix some of Robert Allen's original files from Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS). In Jungle Fevah, he thanks "Nando" (probably Nando Eweg) for better samples. For use in the game, someone at Epic converted their files using modj2b.

Gameography

Released	Title	Notes
1995-??-??	Extreme Pinball (DOS)
1995-??-??	Tyrian (DOS)	Arranged by Andras Molnar.
1998-??-??	Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (MAC)
1998-0?-??	Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (W32)	With Robert Allen and Sean Hiler.
1998-05-22	Unreal (W32)
1999-03-01	Vigilante 8 (N64)
1999-11-30	Unreal Tournament (W32)
1999-??-??	Dark Vengeance (W32)
1999-??-??	Jazz Jackrabbit 2: The Secret Files (W32)	With Robert Allen and Sean Hiler.
2000-02-02	Vigilante 8: Second Offense (N64)
2000-10-21	Unreal Tournament (PS2)
2002-03-16	Deus Ex (PS2)
2002-06-22	Deus Ex (W32)
2003-11-15	Battlestar Galactica (PS2)
2003-12-02	Deus Ex: Invisible War (W32)
2003-12-08	Activision Anthology (GBA)
2005-03-21	NARC (XBOX)
2005-12-12	Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (PS2)
2006-04-24	Rampage: Total Destruction (PS2)
2006-11-14	Happy Feet (PS2)
2007-10-09	Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (W32)
2010-12-07	Bejeweled 3 (W32)
2013-02-11	Aliens: Colonial Marines (W64)	Funky Rustic: Additional Sound Design
2013-02-12	Aliens: Colonial Marines (X360)	Funky Rustic: Additional Sound Design