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Brian L. Schmidt

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This article is about the pinball and video game composer. For other people with this name, see Brian Schmidt (disambiguation).

Brian Schmidt
Schmidt in Studio
Schmidt in Studio
Background information
Genresvideo game
Occupations
  • Composer
  • audio director
  • sound designer
  • music technologist

Brian L. Schmidt is a music composer for various video games and pinball machines.

Biography

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Schmidt received dual undergraduate degrees, a B.M. in Music and a BSc in computer science from Northwestern University in 1985, where he created the first dual degree program between the School of Music and the Technological Institute there.[1] Following that in 1987, he received his master's degree entitled "Computer Applications in Music" also from Northwestern University. Portions of his thesis were published in the Computer Music Journal in 1987.[2] Early in his career, he worked in Chicago writing commercial jingles.[3]

Schmidt began in the video game music and sound industry in 1987 as a composer/sound designer and programmer for Williams Electronic Games in Chicago writing music and creating sound effects for pinball machines and coin-operated video games. At Williams, he was the lead composer and sound designer for games such as Black Knight 2000,[4] Space Station, Swords of Fury, Banzai Run as well as the video game, NARC and also contributed to Fire and Big Guns.[5] In 1989, his theme from the video game, NARC, was recorded and released by the Pixies.[6]

In 1989, Schmidt left Williams to become one of the video game industry's first independent composers, sound designers and audio technologists under the company name of Schmidt Entertainment Technologies. While a consultant, he worked on over 120 console and arcade games.[7] Schmidt is also the creator of the BSMT2000 audio DSP,[8] which is used in various pinball games and video arcade machines and the QSound "Q1" 3D game sound chip used by CAPCOM.[citation needed]

In 1998 Schmidt was recruited by Microsoft to become Program Manager for DirectSound and DirectMusic. From 1999–2008, Schmidt was the program manager of the Xbox Audio and Voice Technologies division at Microsoft and was responsible for much of the audio architecture for the Xbox and Xbox 360.[9] He created the start up sound for the original Xbox console, using 'old-school' techniques to create an 8-second sound using only 25 kilobytes of memory.[10] Schmidt is also credited with bringing real-time Digital Surround to video gaming with the inclusion of Dolby Digital Live on Xbox.[11] Schmidt left Microsoft in February 2008, and formed Brian Schmidt Studios, L.L.C., an independent consulting firm. He is also the creator of GameSoundCon, a conference and seminar on composing video game music and video game sound design for the professional audio community.[12]

Schmidt was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) in 2008 for his contributions to the game audio industry.[13] He also received the 2009 G.A.N.G. recognition award at the 2010 Game Developers Conference for his work founding GameSoundCon.[14] In 2017, he was inducted into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame.[15] His work has received the Sega Seal of Quality award for "Best Sound" [16] and the Game Audio Network Guild's "Best new audio technology" awards. Game music by Schmidt is featured in the CD Box set, Legends of Game Music.[citation needed]

Schmidt is the Founder and Creative Director of EarGames, an independent video game development company specializing in audio games; videogames that rely on sound for gameplay. EarGames' initial release, Ear Monsters, was released in June 2013.[17]

Schmidt's works

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Pinball

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Williams

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Data East Pinball

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Sega Pinball

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Stern Pinball

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  • Game of Thrones Pinball (Music)
  • The Walking Dead Pinball (SFX)

Video games

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Arcade

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Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

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Electronic Arts
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Other developers
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Super Nintendo Entertainment System

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References

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  1. ^ Hogan, Michele; Sawyer, Lina (2007). "Brian and Emily Muly Schmidt: Traversing disciplines". www.mccormick.northwestern.edu. Archived from the original on February 6, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  2. ^ Schmidt, Brian L. (1987). "A Natural Language System for Music". Computer Music Journal. 11 (2): 25–34. doi:10.2307/3680317. hdl:2027/spo.bbp2372.1986.027. ISSN 0148-9267. JSTOR 3680317.
  3. ^ "Brian Schmidt interview". The Audio Spotlight. September 18, 2012. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  4. ^ Schmidt, Brian (November 4, 2014). "Interactive Audio in Black Knight 2000: The Importance of Integration". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Internet Pinball Machine Database". www.ipdb.org. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  6. ^ "Theme From Narc". www.pixiesmusic.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  7. ^ "Podcasts- Brian Schmidt: Pinball Wizard". GameSound. January 16, 2012. Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  8. ^ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Data East 'Batman'". www.ipdb.org. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  9. ^ Brandon, Alexander (October 10, 2008). "Next-Gen Audio Square-Off: PlayStation 3 vs. Xbox 360". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  10. ^ Schmidt, Brian (November 17, 2011). "Designing the Boot Sound for the Original Xbox". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on August 28, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  11. ^ Takahashi, Dean (November 14, 2011). "The making of the Xbox: How Microsoft unleashed a video game revolution (part 1)". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  12. ^ Hughes, Sam (October 2, 2015). "Interview with Composer & Founder of GameSoundCon, Brian Schmidt". The Sound Architect. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  13. ^ Schmidt, Brian (February 28, 2008). "6th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards Winners". The Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  14. ^ Lucy Newman. "GDC 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves wins GANG's Audio of the Year award". Gamertell. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
  15. ^ "Pinball Expo - Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  16. ^ "Sega Seal of Quality Awards". June 14, 2019.
  17. ^ Schmidt, Brian (June 17, 2013). "Making Ear Monsters: Developing a 3D Audio Game". Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
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