Difference between revisions of "Martin Galway"

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{{Infobox Composer
 
{{Infobox Composer
−
| Name        = Martin Galway
+
| Name        = Martin Galway
−
| Picture    = Martin Galway.jpg
+
| Picture    = Martin Galway.jpg
−
| Born        = 1966-01-03
+
| Born        = 1966-01-03
−
| BirthPlace  = Belfast, Northern Ireland
+
| BirthPlace  = Belfast, Northern Ireland
−
| Nationality = American
+
| Nationality = American
−
| Flag        = USA
+
| Flag        = USA
−
| Aliases    = M. Galway, M G
+
| Aliases    = M. Galway, M G
−
| Website    =  
+
| Website    =  
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
'''''Martin Galway''''' is an Irish-American composer, known for his Commodore 64 music.
+
'''''Martin Galway''''' is a British-American composer, known for his [[Commodore 64]] music.
  
−
Martin Galway was born on January 3rd, 1966 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the age of five his family moved to Manchester, England. Because his father was a music teacher, Galway was introduced to music at an early age. His father gave him lessons on the flute, violin, clarinet and piano, but he wasn't interested in them at the time, something he regrets. At 16, Galway became involved with his high school's computer lab, which was only a single room with a few home computers like the VIC20, Commodore PET, ZX81, and TRS-80.
+
Martin Galway was born on January 3rd, 1966 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the age of five his family moved to Manchester, England. Because his father was a music teacher, Galway was introduced to music at an early age. His father gave him lessons on the flute, violin, clarinet and piano, but he wasn't interested in them at the time, something he regrets. He grew up listening to rock'n'roll, gaining a strength with fiddly guitar solos, and to electronic music. As influences, he would cite [[Jean-Michel Jarre]], [[Tangerine Dream]], [[Depeche Mode]], [[Thomas Dolby]] (especially ''The Flat Earth''), and [[Cocteau Twins]], and for guitar, [[David Gilmour]], [[Ry Cooder]], [[Brian May]], and [[Arlo Guthrie]].
  
−
Only a year later, Galway was hired by a small company owned by the "Micro User" magazine company, and at 17, his very first professional music was published on a BBC Micro. From the money he made he was able to buy his own computer and teach himself how to program.
+
At age 16, Galway became involved with his high school's computer lab, which was only a single room with a few home computers like the [[Commodore VIC-20]], Commodore PET, Sinclair ZX81, and TRS-80. Only a year later, Galway was hired by [[Optima Software]] (owned by [[Database Publications]], who published "The Micro User" magazine), and at 17, his very first professional music was published on a [[BBC Micro]]. From the money he made he was able to buy his own computer and teach himself how to program.
  
−
While pitching one of his friend's computer games to Ocean software, Galway also tried selling his BBC music. Ocean, realizing that there wasn't a market for the BBC Micro, only wanted Commodore 64 music. Ocean lent Galway a Commodore 64 and the source code to their sound engine and he was able to figure out how to make music from it by playing around with their existing code. The results of this attempt was the music that was used in Kong Strikes Back.
+
While pitching one of his friend's computer games to [[Ocean Software]], Galway also tried selling his BBC music. Ocean, realizing that there wasn't a market for the BBC Micro, only wanted Commodore 64 music. Ocean lent Galway a Commodore 64, an assembler and the source code to someone else's driver to learn from at home. After he did, Galway began working as a freelance musician. In early 1985, he quit college and joined Ocean as a full-time game programmer. He was only secondarily a musician, since Ocean was not comfortable to hire a full-time musician. However, the multi-tasking didn't work well, so they made him a full-time musician after all. From that point on Galway wrote music for a large number of Commodore 64 games and is one of the most popular SID artists to date. His work with the SID chip and assembly music is one of the most complex and profound.
  
−
Galway began working as a programmer, but he was also expected to compose music. However, the multi-tasking didn't work well in Ocean, so they eventually made him a full time musician. From that point on Martin worked for Ocean software and wrote music for a large number of Commodore 64 games and is one of the most popular SID artists to date. His work with the SID chip and assembly music is one of the most complex and profound. He was also the first artist to include sampling into a Commodore 64 soundtrack.
+
After having to deal with the terrible working conditions and low pay of Ocean Software for too long, Galway quit and moved to Austin, Texas, USA to work for [[Origin Systems]]. He worked at Origin Systems composing music, and doing some minor design and programming work. When Origin Systems was acquired by Electronic Arts, he left with the main programming staff to form Digital Anvil.
  
−
Galway's favorite Commodore tracks that he created are the title music of Wizball, Arkanoid, and Rambo: First Blood, Part 2. His least favorites include "Set on Fire" for Green Beret, The Great Escape, and Top Gun.
+
==Music Development==
 +
===Commodore 64===
 +
For [[In-Game - Super Locomotive#Daley Thompson's Decathlon (C64)|his first C64 game]], Ocean gave Galway an unidentified "dreadful" driver. Afterwards, Galway developed his own driver. He always entered the music into the assembly source code. He felt hassled by bugs in the ADSR and the filter.
  
−
After having to deal with the terrible working conditions and low pay of Ocean Software for too long, Galway quit and moved to Austin, Texas, USA to work for Origin Systems. He worked at Origin Systems composing music, and doing some minor design and programming work. When Origin Systems was acquired by Electronic Arts, he left with the main programming staff to form Digital Anvil.
+
In [[Arkanoid (C64)|February 1987]], Galway became the first SID arranger to use 4 voices. He had discovered an American synthesizer package called ''Digi-Drums'' which played samples on a 4th voice. He admits he did not understand the actual sample data and just made up numbers (he kept calling "farts and burps"), possibly inspired by the ZX Spectrum. By [[Game Over (C64)|July 1987]], he added a bass drum sample and a snare drum sample from Rockmonitor II.
  
−
Some of Martin's influences include Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Depeche Mode, Thomas Dolby, Cocteau Twins. For guitar influences he likes Dave Gilmour, Ry Cooder, Brian May, and Arlo Guthrie. For Commodore authors he likes [[Rob Hubbard]] and [[Fred Gray]].
+
His favorites are [[Rob Hubbard]], especially [[One Man and His Droid (C64)]], the cool bouncy melodies of [[Fred Gray]], and among his own, [[Title - Wizball (C64)]], [[Arkanoid (C64)]], and [[Rambo: First Blood Part II (C64)]]. His least favorites include [[Title - Green Beret (C64)]], The Great Escape, and Top Gun.
−
 
 
−
==Music Development==
 
−
===C64===
 
−
Galway used [[Ocean Software]]'s sound driver. The driver may have been created by [[Jonathan Dunn]].
 
  
 
===NES===
 
===NES===
 
Galway's only NES game was Ultima: Warriors of Destiny, which he did for [[Origin Systems]]. Galway created the game's music the traditional way by programming a 6502 [[assembly]] sound driver for the NES' [[RP2A03]].
 
Galway's only NES game was Ultima: Warriors of Destiny, which he did for [[Origin Systems]]. Galway created the game's music the traditional way by programming a 6502 [[assembly]] sound driver for the NES' [[RP2A03]].
 +
 +
===ZX Spectrum===
 +
Galway used a driver called ''Plip Plop programming'' by [[Jonathan Smith]].
  
 
==Gameography==
 
==Gameography==
−
{| class="wikitable" |
+
{| class="wikitable"
 
! Released
 
! Released
 
! Title
 
! Title
Line 40: Line 41:
 
! Notes
 
! Notes
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 1985-??-??
+
| 1984-??-??
 +
| [[Daley Thompson's Decathlon (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
| Loading music
 +
|-
 +
| 1984-1?-??
 +
| [[Hunchback II (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1984-??-??
 
| [[Kong Strikes Back! (C64)]]
 
| [[Kong Strikes Back! (C64)]]
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - Kong Strikes Back! - C64 - Kong Strikes Back!.ogg}}
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - Kong Strikes Back! - C64 - Kong Strikes Back!.ogg}}
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 1985-??-??
+
| 1984-??-??
 +
| [[Swag (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1985-0?-??
 
| [[Hyper Sports (C64)]]
 
| [[Hyper Sports (C64)]]
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - Ocean Loaders - C64 - Ocean Loader 1.ogg}}
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - Ocean Loaders - C64 - Ocean Loader 1.ogg}}
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1985-0?-??
 +
| [[Roland's Ratrace (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1985-1?-??
 +
| [[Rambo: First Blood Part II (C64)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
Line 55: Line 81:
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 1986-??-??
+
| 1985-??-??
 
| [[The NeverEnding Story (C64)]]
 
| [[The NeverEnding Story (C64)]]
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - NeverEnding Story - C64 - The NeverEnding Story.ogg}}
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - NeverEnding Story - C64 - The NeverEnding Story.ogg}}
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1985-12-??
 +
| [[Yie Ar Kung-Fu (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-0?-??
 +
| [[Green Beret (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-0?-??
 +
| [[Helikopter Jagd (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-0?-??
 +
| [[Match Day (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-0?-??
 +
| [[Miami Vice (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-0?-??
 +
| [[Parallax (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-0?-??
 +
| [[Ping Pong (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-??-??
 +
| [[Cobra (ZXS)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
Line 63: Line 129:
 
| [[Highlander (C64)]]
 
| [[Highlander (C64)]]
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - Highlander - C64 - A Kind of Magic.ogg}}
 
| {{Song-Box|01 - Highlander - C64 - A Kind of Magic.ogg}}
 +
| Arranger of [[Roger Taylor]], also composer of [[Ocean Loader 2]]
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-??-??
 +
| [[Mikie (C64)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 1987-??-??
+
| 1986-??-??
 +
| [[Short Circuit (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-??-??
 +
| [[Terra Cresta (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-??-??
 +
| [[Terra Cresta (ZXS)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-??-??
 +
| [[Yie Ar Kung-Fu II (C64)]]
 +
| {{Song-Box|02 - Yie Ar Kung-Fu II - C64 - Main Menu.ogg}}
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1987-0?-??
 
| [[Arkanoid (C64)]]
 
| [[Arkanoid (C64)]]
−
| {{Song-Box|02 - Arkanoid - C64 - Theme (alternative drums).ogg}}
+
| {{Song-Box|01 - Arkanoid - C64 - Theme.ogg}}
 +
| Composer, also arranger of [[Hisayoshi Ogura]]
 +
|-
 +
| 1987-0?-??
 +
| [[Game Over (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1987-0?-??
 +
| [[Slap Fight (C64)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1987-0?-??
 +
| [[Wizball (C64)]]
 +
| {{Song-Box|01 - Wizball - C64 - Title.ogg}}
 +
| Also [[Ocean Loader 1]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-??-??
 
| 1987-??-??
Line 86: Line 192:
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-??-??
 
| 1987-??-??
−
| [[Wizball (C64)]]
+
| [[Double Take (C64)]]
−
| {{Song-Box|01 - Wizball - C64 - Title.ogg}}
+
| {{Song-Box|02 - Ocean Loaders - C64 - Ocean Loader 2.ogg}}
 +
| Reused [[Ocean Loader 2]]
 +
|-
 +
| 1988-0?-??
 +
| [[Rastan (C64)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1988-??-??
 +
| [[MicroProse Soccer (C64)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
Line 102: Line 218:
 
| 1989-02-??
 
| 1989-02-??
 
| [[Times of Lore (AMI)]]
 
| [[Times of Lore (AMI)]]
−
| Arranged
+
|  
 
| Arranged by [[Nigel Pritchard]]
 
| Arranged by [[Nigel Pritchard]]
 
|-
 
|-
Line 157: Line 273:
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
−
* [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,4639/ mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,4639] - Moby Games.
+
* [https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,4639/ mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,4639] - MobyGames.
 +
* [http://www.sidmusic.org/sid/mgalway.html sidmusic.org/sid/mgalway.html] - Interviews from Commodore Zone in the late 1990s and Happy-Computer 11/86.
 +
* [http://zakalwe.fi/~shd/texts/imr/c85galwa.htm zakalwe.fi/~shd/texts/imr/c85galwa.htm] - Interview from circa May 3, 1996.
 +
* [http://www.c64.com/interviews/galway.html c64.com/interviews/galway.html] - Interview from circa 1998.
 +
* [https://www.remix64.com/interviews/interview-martin-galway.html remix64.com/interviews/interview-martin-galway.html] - Interview from March 28, 2001.
 +
* [https://www.lemon64.com/interviews/martin_galway.php lemon64.com/interviews/martin_galway.php] - Interview from July 9, 2003.
 +
* [https://archive.org/details/Sinclair_ZX_Spectrum_and_Commodore_64_Book-2012/page/n133 archive.org/details/Sinclair_ZX_Spectrum_and_Commodore_64_Book-2012/page/n133] - Interview from 2012.
  
  

Revision as of 03:00, 14 June 2020

Martin Galway
Martin Galway.jpg
Born 1966-01-03
Birth Place Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality American   USA.svg
Aliases M. Galway, M G

Martin Galway is a British-American composer, known for his Commodore 64 music.

Martin Galway was born on January 3rd, 1966 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the age of five his family moved to Manchester, England. Because his father was a music teacher, Galway was introduced to music at an early age. His father gave him lessons on the flute, violin, clarinet and piano, but he wasn't interested in them at the time, something he regrets. He grew up listening to rock'n'roll, gaining a strength with fiddly guitar solos, and to electronic music. As influences, he would cite Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Depeche Mode, Thomas Dolby (especially The Flat Earth), and Cocteau Twins, and for guitar, David Gilmour, Ry Cooder, Brian May, and Arlo Guthrie.

At age 16, Galway became involved with his high school's computer lab, which was only a single room with a few home computers like the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore PET, Sinclair ZX81, and TRS-80. Only a year later, Galway was hired by Optima Software (owned by Database Publications, who published "The Micro User" magazine), and at 17, his very first professional music was published on a BBC Micro. From the money he made he was able to buy his own computer and teach himself how to program.

While pitching one of his friend's computer games to Ocean Software, Galway also tried selling his BBC music. Ocean, realizing that there wasn't a market for the BBC Micro, only wanted Commodore 64 music. Ocean lent Galway a Commodore 64, an assembler and the source code to someone else's driver to learn from at home. After he did, Galway began working as a freelance musician. In early 1985, he quit college and joined Ocean as a full-time game programmer. He was only secondarily a musician, since Ocean was not comfortable to hire a full-time musician. However, the multi-tasking didn't work well, so they made him a full-time musician after all. From that point on Galway wrote music for a large number of Commodore 64 games and is one of the most popular SID artists to date. His work with the SID chip and assembly music is one of the most complex and profound.

After having to deal with the terrible working conditions and low pay of Ocean Software for too long, Galway quit and moved to Austin, Texas, USA to work for Origin Systems. He worked at Origin Systems composing music, and doing some minor design and programming work. When Origin Systems was acquired by Electronic Arts, he left with the main programming staff to form Digital Anvil.

Music Development

Commodore 64

For his first C64 game, Ocean gave Galway an unidentified "dreadful" driver. Afterwards, Galway developed his own driver. He always entered the music into the assembly source code. He felt hassled by bugs in the ADSR and the filter.

In February 1987, Galway became the first SID arranger to use 4 voices. He had discovered an American synthesizer package called Digi-Drums which played samples on a 4th voice. He admits he did not understand the actual sample data and just made up numbers (he kept calling "farts and burps"), possibly inspired by the ZX Spectrum. By July 1987, he added a bass drum sample and a snare drum sample from Rockmonitor II.

His favorites are Rob Hubbard, especially One Man and His Droid (C64), the cool bouncy melodies of Fred Gray, and among his own, Title - Wizball (C64), Arkanoid (C64), and Rambo: First Blood Part II (C64). His least favorites include Title - Green Beret (C64), The Great Escape, and Top Gun.

NES

Galway's only NES game was Ultima: Warriors of Destiny, which he did for Origin Systems. Galway created the game's music the traditional way by programming a 6502 assembly sound driver for the NES' RP2A03.

ZX Spectrum

Galway used a driver called Plip Plop programming by Jonathan Smith.

Gameography

Released Title Sample Notes
1984-??-?? Daley Thompson's Decathlon (C64) Loading music
1984-1?-?? Hunchback II (C64)
1984-??-?? Kong Strikes Back! (C64)
1984-??-?? Swag (C64)
1985-0?-?? Hyper Sports (C64)
1985-0?-?? Roland's Ratrace (C64)
1985-1?-?? Rambo: First Blood Part II (C64)
1985-??-?? Comic Bakery (C64)
1985-??-?? The NeverEnding Story (C64)
1985-12-?? Yie Ar Kung-Fu (C64)
1986-0?-?? Green Beret (C64)
1986-0?-?? Helikopter Jagd (C64)
1986-0?-?? Match Day (C64)
1986-0?-?? Miami Vice (C64)
1986-0?-?? Parallax (C64)
1986-0?-?? Ping Pong (C64)
1986-??-?? Cobra (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Highlander (C64)
Arranger of Roger Taylor, also composer of Ocean Loader 2
1986-??-?? Mikie (C64)
1986-??-?? Short Circuit (C64)
1986-??-?? Terra Cresta (C64)
1986-??-?? Terra Cresta (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Yie Ar Kung-Fu II (C64)
1987-0?-?? Arkanoid (C64)
Composer, also arranger of Hisayoshi Ogura
1987-0?-?? Game Over (C64)
1987-0?-?? Slap Fight (C64)
1987-0?-?? Wizball (C64)
Also Ocean Loader 1
1987-??-?? Athena (C64)
1987-??-?? Athena (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Boot Camp (C64)
1987-??-?? Double Take (C64)
Reused Ocean Loader 2
1988-0?-?? Rastan (C64)
1988-??-?? MicroProse Soccer (C64)
1988-12-?? Times of Lore (C64)
1989-01-?? Times of Lore (AST)
Arranged by Nigel Pritchard
1989-02-?? Times of Lore (AMI) Arranged by Nigel Pritchard
1989-02-?? Times of Lore (DOS)
Arranged by Herman Miller
1989-06-?? Times of Lore (ZXS) Arranged by Nigel Pritchard.
1989-07-?? Times of Lore (CPC) Arranged by Nigel Pritchard.
1989-??-?? Insects In Space (C64)
1990-12-07 Times of Lore (NES)
Arranged by Katsuhiro Hayashi.
1992-04-16 Ultima VII: The Black Gate (DOS)
Audio Director and includes Prince Thrakhath's Theme.
1993-01-?? Ultima: Warriors of Destiny (NES)
1993-11-19 Ultima: Runes of Virtue II (GB)
1994-06-17 Ultima: Runes of Virtue II (SNES)

Picture Gallery

  • Wearing a Q-Sound shirt. Unknown source.

Links

Retrieved from "https://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=Martin_Galway&oldid=119876"