One of 2012’s biggest gaming hits is, unquestionably, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Treyarch’s long-awaited follow-up to its slam-bang first-person shooter. This one has a lot going for it, including its feature-laden multiplayer and its terrific single player campaign, which takes you into the past and the future as you battle the vile Raul Menendez.
But one key component to this game is the music, which features an introductory song by Nine Inch Nails frontman/Social Network composer Trent Reznor, as well as a full-on score by Jack Wall, who previously worked on such games as Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Jade Empire. (He also helped create the Video Games Live tour as we know it today.)
We recently had a chance to sit down with Jack and ask him questions about his excellent Black Ops II score (which you can buy on iTunes, by the way), as well as what’s next for him.
How much work goes into putting together a music soundtrack for a game this epic? Clearly you’ve done it before with Mass Effect and Splinter Cell.
Jack: It’s fairly all-consuming. As you may have seen, there are 49 tracks on the iTunes soundtrack release. That would easily fill two CDs. Almost 2 ½ hours of music. With 14 levels in the game, I worked steadily all summer to get it done. But it was really fun. (smiles)
What kind of approach did you take with Black Ops II? Were you going for that “time to save the world” sort of tone, or maybe something a bit more dramatic?
Jack: Of course there is that. But, I was also looking for the quieter, more pensive or emotional moments in the game. The single player campaign was really important for Treyarch to develop. They felt that was a frontier they wanted to improve or expand on and the music was needed to help tell the story. You can hear some of that approach in the stealthy section of Pakistan in the track called “Anthem” or Raul Menendez’ theme, “Niño Precioso”. Those are really different for Call of Duty and I’m quite proud of those moments inthe game.
Was there anything you wanted to do with the soundtrack that you didn’t have time to include, or do you think you set out what you wanted to accomplish?
Jack: Wow, I’m amazed I’m going to say this, but no! I had so much support from both Activision and Treyarch. It really couldn’t have gone better. From my perspective, I’m very proud of my team and I’m really happy with my collaborations with Brian Tuey at Treyarch and Tim Riley at Activision.
Any standout pieces in the soundtrack you want to talk about? Maybe something revolving around the main bad guy in the game, Raul Menendez?
Jack: Yes, that’s one of my favorites. Raul Menendez was supposed to be the ultimate villain. He is, but the way that Dave Anthony and David Goyer wrote him, he had multiple facets. He had motivation for his badness. Niño Precioso is a Nicaraguan lullaby I found after I read the script. There was a scene where Menendez is sitting on a bed with his sister who was ill or injured. I imagined that he cared deeply for her and was taking care of her and maybe, just maybe he was actually singing a lullaby that their mother used to sing to the both of them. So I researched Nicaraguan lullabies and found this one. I re-arranged it for the score and used it as Raul’s theme.
Toward the end of the production, about 3 days before we left for our second trip to record at Abbey Road, I decided I had time to create a Michel Legrand-style orchestral piece for Niño Precioso and that is the 2nd to last track on the soundtrack. I’m a big fan of his movie themes (Summer of ’42, Brian’s Song) and thought that style would be a unique and very cinematic credit roll song. I brought in a wonderful Venezuelan singer named Rudy Cardenas to sing it. I’m really proud of that one.
What was it like recording at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios? It must be a surreal feeling.
Jack: That’s it – you nailed it! It is very surreal. One of the last days we were recording there I came in and walked down the hall. I suddenly realized that I was used to being there and that it was sort of another day at the office. I snapped out of that really quick and pinched myself and then all was ok. You don’t ever want that appreciative feeling to go away! I’ve been there a few times and it never really stops being surreal. It’s a wonderfully haunted place.
Will the soundtrack be available for separate download from the game? Is some special edition of the soundtrack in the works?
Jack: The soundtrack came out on iTunes and Amazon on November 13th with the game. It’s a digital-only release.
Finally, what’s next for you? Or can you say yet?
Jack: I’m just finishing up Lost Planet 3 for Spark Unlimited/Capcom. It’s a great mix of “Alien Country” and a very raw orchestral and electronic score. I think it will be a really fun game. The story is great, the acting, the sound… look for it in 2013.
I’m also music directing my wife’s (Cindy Shapiro) show: Psyche: A Modern Rock Opera in the late spring of 2013 in Los Angeles.
Thanks to Jack for taking the time to talk to us! If you want to order the Black Ops II soundtrack for your music collection, head over to this link. (And don’t be surprised if you make one of them your ringtone. Yep, folks, it’s that good.)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II is available now for PC, Xbox 360, Wii U and PlayStation 3.
