# Composer interview - Gareth Coker (ARK, Ori and the Blind Forest, Halo, etc...)



## Peter Wayne (Sep 14, 2020)

Composer interview with Gareth Coker is now up on my Youtube channel and website.

On this episode we talk about orchestration, Ori key changes, licensing your music, hiring an agent, synths, working in LA, plugins, plus many other interesting topics. Please enjoy the episode and be sure to subscribe for more interviews!

Feedback is always appreciated as I will be doing more of these interviews in the future. Thanks!


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## doctoremmet (Sep 14, 2020)

Whoa! You really manage to get in touch with some of my favourite composers and musicians. I appreciate your videos very much. Keep it up! And thanks.


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## Peter Wayne (Sep 14, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Whoa! You really manage to get in touch with some of my favourite composers and musicians. I appreciate your videos very much. Keep it up! And thanks.


Thanks so much! I got a huge list of composers I want to interview in the future too . Let me know if there is anyone you want me to interview and I'll see what I can do. Some composers are harder to reach than others. But I'll do my best.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 14, 2020)

Well... there is one...
@charlieclouser


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## davidson (Sep 14, 2020)

Thanks for doing these, and thanks to the composers too. I love Gareth's work in the Ori series. He's a great communicator too. Doesn't it always seem that the best composers are also great talkers?


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## doctoremmet (Sep 14, 2020)

davidson said:


> Thanks for doing these, and thanks to the composers too. I love Gareth's work in the Ori series. He's a great communicator too. Doesn't it always seem that the best composers are also great talkers?


Yes, it sure does...


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## Peter Wayne (Sep 14, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Well... there is one...
> @charlieclouser


Thanks! I'll reach out and see if I can setup an interview. To be honest I'm not familiar with horror movies in general. But as with all guests, I make sure to do enough research beforehand so I ask relevant questions about their work. Certainly a lot of interesting topics that I can already think about with horror music that's for sure!


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## Peter Wayne (Sep 14, 2020)

davidson said:


> Thanks for doing these, and thanks to the composers too. I love Gareth's work in the Ori series. He's a great communicator too. Doesn't it always seem that the best composers are also great talkers?


Yeah Gareth's work on Ori is amazing. I agree, great communicators generally get further in their careers. I think it's because they are easier to work with and are better at building long lasting relationships. I believe communication can be a learned skill. It just takes more practice if you are not naturally gifted in that area. Toastmasters was something I was considering a few years ago and is something I still want to do in the future. Communication helps in so many areas of life I think it's worth putting in the work.


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## davetbass (Sep 15, 2020)

Great interview thanks! tons of useful info and I think his story about the orchestra balancing his work for him was something you might not hear in an official course. As far as feedback on your episodes, I think your questions are great and cover things most people would want to learn, look forward to more, cheers!


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## doctoremmet (Sep 15, 2020)

Peter Wayne said:


> Thanks! I'll reach out and see if I can setup an interview. To be honest I'm not familiar with horror movies in general. But as with all guests, I make sure to do enough research beforehand so I ask relevant questions about their work. Certainly a lot of interesting topics that I can already think about with horror music that's for sure!


Don’t forget his work with Nine Inch Nails!  Charlie is a hero of mine and I feel lucky I have been able to engage in some cool and interesting dialogue with him here on the forum. Turns out he is also a very nice guy, who offers his help and advice to hobbyists like myself. For your research; Christian Henson did a fun interview with him for his channel (Nerding for the weekend) and Spitfire’s channel has a Creative Cribs episode.


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## Peter Wayne (Sep 15, 2020)

davetbass said:


> Great interview thanks! tons of useful info and I think his story about the orchestra balancing his work for him was something you might not hear in an official course. As far as feedback on your episodes, I think your questions are great and cover things most people would want to learn, look forward to more, cheers!


Thanks so much! Yeah I was surprised to hear that the orchestra helps balance things for you. I guess they are so used to playing with each other they know how to blend well together, and how loud each part should really be. Now that's something you don't get from samples! LOL.


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## Peter Wayne (Sep 15, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Don’t forget his work with Nine Inch Nails!  Charlie is a hero of mine and I feel lucky I have been able to engage in some cool and interesting dialogue with him here on the forum. Turns out he is also a very nice guy, who offers his help and advice to hobbyists like myself. For your research; Christian Henson did a fun interview with him for his channel (Nerding for the weekend) and Spitfire’s channel has a Creative Cribs episode.


Yes of course I wouldn't forget Nine Inch Nails. Although the aim of the interviews is more about composing for film/tv/games, but it might be interesting to ask some things about the transition into film, etc. Thanks for the interview mentions. They would certainly be part of my research if he agreed to an interview. I generally watch at least 2 other relevant (composer related) interviews while I'm thinking about questions. IMO there is no point going deep on a subject if it's already been thoroughly covered in another interview.


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## Henu (Sep 21, 2020)

So I finally had time to watch it without any expectations and boy was it worth the time. 

I really liked the whole attitude of Mr. Coker a lot, he seems to be extremely professional and really passionate on music, with feet still firmly on the ground. No bullshit, no horrible self-promotion, just a dude doing what he loves and making sure things get done with maximum efficiency while doing it. We need more garethcokers around.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 21, 2020)

Couldn’t agree more. And to the OP: you are an excellent interviewer.


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## Peter Wayne (Sep 21, 2020)

Henu said:


> So I finally had time to watch it without any expectations and boy was it worth the time.
> 
> I really liked the whole attitude of Mr. Coker a lot, he seems to be extremely professional and really passionate on music, with feet still firmly on the ground. No bullshit, no horrible self-promotion, just a dude doing what he loves and making sure things get done with maximum efficiency while doing it. We need more garethcokers around.


Totally agree! I really enjoyed talking with Gareth. So much so that we ran much longer than I anticipated. I generally aim for around 45 minutes and if we get close to an hour, I try and wrap things up asap. But honestly I felt Gareth's passion for music and willingness to share, so I was able get a my last couple of questions in. He was giving so much awesome advise I was more than happy to just let him talk!



doctoremmet said:


> Couldn’t agree more. And to the OP: you are an excellent interviewer.


Thanks so much! Really appreciate it.


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## b_elliott (Oct 3, 2020)

Peter you are a skilled interviewer. I just finished your interview with Wilbert Roget. You managed to get a lot of very useful "how do you approach scoring" data which did not come out of the PLAP interview I first saw. 
I plan to watch the other 4 interviews since this was gold. Thank you!


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## Peter Wayne (Oct 4, 2020)

b_elliott said:


> Peter you are a skilled interviewer. I just finished your interview with Wilbert Roget. You managed to get a lot of very useful "how do you approach scoring" data which did not come out of the PLAP interview I first saw.
> I plan to watch the other 4 interviews since this was gold. Thank you!


Thanks so much for your kind words. Yeah I try and dive deep into topics that are useful for composers and not ask too many of the same questions. The whole point of my interviews is to learn directly from composers, not just find out a bunch random information (which is often the case of other interviews across the board). 

I just wish I had a lot more time to get these interviews out quicker! The last few weeks have been very hectic to say the least!


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## Akarin (Oct 4, 2020)

Peter Wayne said:


> Thanks so much! I got a huge list of composers I want to interview in the future too . Let me know if there is anyone you want me to interview and I'll see what I can do. Some composers are harder to reach than others. But I'll do my best.



Abel Korzeniowsky!


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## Jack Mills (Oct 5, 2020)

Before Gareth composed Ark he composed for another dinosaur game called Primal Carnage. I think my favorite tracks he did for that game is the scientist's light and heavy tracks (light > passive. heavy > in a fight)


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## b_elliott (Oct 8, 2020)

I believe I am now on my third listen through the G. Coker interview as it is intensively packed with scoring insights. 

In this interview Coker mentioned "Shadows of Mouldwood" as a composition he was proud of creating.
As a challenge I took one of his songs from the Ori series and did something I've never attempted: I transcribed it. I got its melody and rhythms transcribed then went to town doing an arrangement using his concept for Mouldwood (scoring individual lines for each string player). Mine is still a work in progress but a wonderful composer with a knack for inspiring creativity. 

Coker's version:


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## Paul Jelfs (Oct 8, 2020)

Its a brilliant Sound track ! As is the Blind Forest. 

Great Channel Peter  Have you had Grant Kirkhope on for an interview ?  

Will make sure I sub and check out your channel after this.


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## Traz (Oct 8, 2020)

Peter Wayne said:


> Thanks so much! I got a huge list of composers I want to interview in the future too . Let me know if there is anyone you want me to interview and I'll see what I can do. Some composers are harder to reach than others. But I'll do my best.


Any chance of doing one with Michael McCann(Deus Ex, Splinter Cell)???


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## Peter Wayne (Oct 11, 2020)

Paul Jelfs said:


> Its a brilliant Sound track ! As is the Blind Forest.
> 
> Great Channel Peter  Have you had Grant Kirkhope on for an interview ?
> 
> Will make sure I sub and check out your channel after this.





Traz said:


> Any chance of doing one with Michael McCann(Deus Ex, Splinter Cell)???


Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Both composers are on my very long list . I do aim to get these interviews out much quicker, I've just been pushed for time over the last month!


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