Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra
| Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Blake Robinson |
| Born | London, UK |
| Genres | Soundtrack, Orchestral, Classical, video game music |
| Occupation(s) | Music software developer, Composer |
| Years active | 2001–Present |
| Website |
www |
The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra, also known simply as The Synthetic Orchestra, is the pseudonym for a British video game music composer and orchestrator Blake Robinson, who has developed a substantial following on YouTube, primarily for his orchestrations, recreations and remixes of popular video game music.[1]
Career
YouTube
Blake frequently releases orchestrations of popular video game music on YouTube. His channel features titles from a large variety of genres and various eras of gaming history from Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the Sega Master System to Alan Wake on the Xbox 360.[1]
Games development
Blake began a career in video games development as a tools programmer and web developer for Electronic Arts. As music became a bigger interest in his life, he turned his focus to making a career of it, leaving EA and becoming a freelance music software developer and composer. Whilst he is no longer a full-time games developer, Blake still spends his free time designing and developing independent video games.[2]
Composing
Blake is a keen user of Image-Line's FL Studio and is listed as a power-user on their website. He frequently posts tutorials and walk-through videos on his primary and secondary YouTube channels and is known to go into great depth about the processes and tools he uses to create his music.[3] Blake has also extended his influence outside of YouTube, releasing several albums of original music composed by himself.[4] Blake is also a member of the independent record label, Joypad Records,[5] where he releases a collection of his video game music orchestrations.
Sample development
Blake's primary career is audio software development. He is currently part of the Spitfire Audio development team, a collection of composers and engineers that create sample libraries for the Kontakt sampler by Native Instruments.[2][6][7]
In popular culture
The Stanley Parable appeared during the third season of House of Cards, where President Frank Underwood is being shown the game by a novelist and video game reviewer who is writing his biography, with the puzzling nature of the game used as a metaphor for the current politics in the show's fiction. Robinson's music from the soundtrack accompanied the scene.[8][9]
Discography
- The Synthetic Orchestra : Originals Volume 1 (2012)
- Super Metroid : Ridley's Theme Orchestra (2012)
- The BIOSHOCK Song : Instrumental Version (2012)
- Pixel Hero and the creation of Dr Mindframe (2012)
- Pirates of New Horizons (2012)
- Chrono Trigger : The Last Day of the World Orchestra (2012)
- Dexter For Orchestra EP (2012)
- Uncharted : Drake's Theme Orchestra (2012)
- Final Fantasy IV : Main Theme Orchestra (2012)
- Video Game Orchestrations Vol 1 (2012)
- An unhealthy obsession (2012)
- NumNumNumNum Touch my Body (2013)
- The Synthetic Orchestra : Originals Volume 2 (2013)
- Super Metroid Symphony (2013)
- Video Game Orchestrations Vol 2 (2013)
- NUKEM: Duke 3D Remixes (2013)[10]
- Banjo-Kazooie Symphony (2013)[11]
- Chrono Trigger Symphony : Volume 1 (2013)[12]
- Chrono Trigger Symphony : Volume 2 (2013)
- Bits of Music from The Stanley Parable (2013)[13]
- Chrono Trigger Symphony : Volume 3 (2014)
- Mystery Match : The Soundtrack (2014)
- Crafty Candy : The Soundtrack (2015)
- Portal Knights (2016)[14]
Video game credits
- Crafty Candy: Composer
- Mystery Match: Composer
- Terraria: Console Trailer Composer
- The Stanley Parable: Composer
- Pirates of New Horizons: Composer
- Portal Knights: Composer
Awards
- In 2014 Robinson was announced as an IGF finalist in the category of "Excellence in Audio" for The Stanley Parable.[15]
- Robinson was the lead composer for the multi-BAFTA nominated The Stanley Parable.[16]
References
- 1 2 Gallagher, Danny (2012-09-06). "This "Synthetic Orchestra" Recreates Some of Gaming's Greatest Tunes | Side Mission". GameTrailers. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- 1 2 "Interview with Blake Robinson". Nintendo Nation.net. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ↑ "Blake Robinson (Synthetic Orchestra) « Power Users List". Image-line.com. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ↑ "Synthetic Orchestra: "Originals Volume 1" (Review)". Original Sound Version. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ↑ "Store". Joypad Records. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ↑ "Blog « Spitfire Audio LLP". Spitfireaudio.com. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ↑ "Albion II" (PDF). Spitfire-webassets. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ↑ Rivera, Joshua (March 4, 2015). "How House of Cards broke new ground for video games in pop culture". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- ↑ Phillips, Tom (March 2, 2015). "Watch indie games star in House of Cards season three". Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- ↑ "VGMDB NUKEM: Duke 3D Remixes". vgmdb.net. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
- ↑ "Nintendo Life Banjo-Kazooie Symphony review". nintendolife.com. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
- ↑ "BandCamp - Music - The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra". bandcamp.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
- ↑ "The Portal Knights Soundtrack". bandcamp.com. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ↑ "IGF Finalists 2014". igf.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
- ↑ http://awards.bafta.org/award/2014/games. Missing or empty
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