4P: Is hard to create a soundtrack for a game like Hitman 2: Silent Assassin or Hitman: Contracts, because the gameplay is different from time to time and the player can choose what he or she wants to do. There is no linear approach like in a movie.JK: It is quite difficult to create a good game score and quite easy to create a generic game score.
I think this is one reason why there are so many predictable, bland scores in games. There are so many things that can go wrong with writing music, therefore it’s easier for a composer to come up with what’s expected instead of creating something cutting-edge or experimental.
With the Hitman titles, there are many challenges from a composer’s viewpoint. You have to be able to get inside the game and score it from a gamer’s perspective. This helps create a soundtrack that takes all the difficult gaming mechanics into consideration.
Download: Hitman 2 Silent Assassin: Samples (7,43 MB)
Download: Hitman Contracts: Soundsamples (4,03 MB)
4P: Does the publishers or developers give you complete freedom to create the music for the game? Or are there some restrictions?JK: There are some obvious guidelines, but these do not take away from creative freedom. Once I understand the game that is being created, I am not going to suggest a music style that doesn’t fit with the atmosphere of the game.
For the Hitman games I have been given a lot of creative control, especially with Hitman: Contracts and Hitman 1. For Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, the music followed the storyline very closely, so I employed instruments and musical elements from the different locations around the world. This gameplay style and story provided the Hitman 2: Silent Assassin score with a few more guidelines to follow than Hitman: Contracts and Hitman 1.
4P: What style of music did you choose for Hitman: Contracts? What were the main challenges by creating the music for this game?JK: Hitman: Contracts is the darkest score in the Hitman series. It’s hard to explain the score. It breathes a late nightclub ambience without being dominated by dance music. The challenge with this score was to add lots of melodies and make the score entertaining and interesting, while at the same time being provocative, fear inducing and unpredictable. I also had lots of strange percussion and beats. A couple of tracks feature live choir performances by the Hungarian Radio Choir.
 | Hitman Contracts O.S.T. Cover |
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4P: How long takes the development of the Hitman: Contracts music? JK: The writing took about 3-4 months. After that I implemented all the music into the game and wrote music for the US and European Hitman: Contracts TV and cinema commercials. The cinema promo opened for Kill Bill Vol. II in theatres across Europe. Then I mixed the
Hitman: Contracts Original Soundtrack CD which was recently released.
4P: How long is the score for Hitman: Contracts in relation to the complete game time?JK: I wrote about 90 minutes of original music for Hitman: Contracts. The music changes and interacts with the game player, depending on what you do, how you do it and when you do it.