Peter Connelly | |
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Background information | |
Genres | Orchestral, electronic, electro-acoustic |
Occupation(s) | Music composer, sound designer |
Instrument(s) | Keyboard, piano, guitar, cello |
Years active | 1995–present |
Labels | Eidos Interactive Square Enix Ubisoft Activision Electronic Arts |
Website | www |
Peter Connelly is a British video game composer and sound designer known for his work on the action-adventure Tomb Raider series. He has been part of several video game releases working mainly with Core Design, Eutechnyx and Ubisoft. [1]
In September 1998, Connelly joined Derby-based studio Core Design, a subsidiary of UK video game publisher Eidos Interactive. As part of Core Design, Connelly worked in sound design on Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft and later as a leading composer for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles . Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness , which Connelly co-wrote with Martin Iveson, featured the London Symphony Orchestra. [2]
Connelly has scored other commercial games at Core Design such as Herdy Gerdy , Smart Bomb , and Free Running . At Ubisoft Reflections, developers of the Driver series , Connelly worked as senior sound designer on Driver: San Francisco . After completion of Driver, Connelly was contracted as Audio Lead and Composer on both Watch Dogs and The Crew . Connelly is currently a contractor with Slightly Mad Studios, working as Senior Sound Designer. [3] Connelly also runs Peter Connelly Limited, a sound production studio. [4]
According to Tomb Raider Chronicles, Connelly has cited John Williams and Danny Elfman as “exceptional” soundtrack composers who have influenced his own work. [2] Another influence is Burt Bacharach. [5]
Connelly's experience with the London Symphony Orchestra while working on Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was a significant milestone in his career. The recording sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios in 2002. Working with the LSO was an unexpected dream come true for Connelly, especially given the time constraints for recording. The orchestra's ability to sight-read and precisely execute the music with minimal takes was highly impressive. Connelly described the live performance of the Angel of Darkness theme by the LSO as incomparable to any recording. [6]
Peter is currently engaged producing Tomb Raider: The Dark Angel Symphony. [9] This is a crowd-funded album of his body of Tomb Raider scores rearranged and produced as a brand-new album that was successfully funded on Kickstarter at the end of 2018 [10] (with an estimated shipping date of December 2019).
Working alongside Peter on The Dark Angel Symphony are, among others, Dr Richard Niles [11] (arranger, conductor); virtuoso cellist Tina Guo, [12] known for her work in Wonder Woman [12] and alongside Hans Zimmer on his live shows; and vocalist Julie Elven [13] whose previous work includes League of Legends [13] and Horizon: Zero Dawn . [13] The album's executive producer and communications lead is Ash Kapriélov, declared "Lara's Biggest Fan" in Retro Gamer (Issue 163) for his dedicated work for the Tomb Raider video game franchise.
Tomb Raider, known as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise is currently owned by CDE Entertainment; it was formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, then by Square Enix Europe after Square Enix's acquisition of Eidos in 2009 until Embracer Group purchased the intellectual property alongside Eidos in 2022. The franchise focuses on the fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins. Gameplay generally focuses on exploration, solving puzzles, navigating hostile environments filled with traps, and fighting enemies. Additional media has been developed for the franchise in the form of film adaptations, comics and novels.
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services. The LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset the LSO was organised on co-operative lines, with all players sharing the profits at the end of each season. This practice continued for the orchestra's first four decades.
Lara Croft is a character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise Tomb Raider. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around the world. Created by a team at British developer Core Design that included Toby Gard, the character first appeared in the video game Tomb Raider in 1996.
Hiroki Kikuta is a Japanese composer and game designer. His major works are Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Soukaigi, and Koudelka, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased MMORPG Chou Bukyo Taisen. He became interested in music at an early age, but earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University. He spent the next few years working first as a manga illustrator, then as a composer for anime series, before coming to work for Square in 1991.
James Hannigan is a BAFTA Award winning composer and producer. His credits include entries in the Harry Potter, Command & Conquer, Dead Space, RuneScape, Evil Genius,EA Sports and Theme Park video game series, among numerous others. He has also scored full-cast adaptations of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, the Audie Award winning Alien dramas (2016–2019), BBC Radio 4's adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens and Neverwhere.
Herdy Gerdy is an action-adventure platforming strategy puzzle video game for the PlayStation 2 console, released in 2002. It is developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. The game involves herding animals, navigating obstacles, and solving puzzles. The player has to collect a variety of herding tools, and there are alternate pathways to reach the end.
Toby Gard is an English video game character designer and consultant. He was part of the team that created fictional female British archaeologist Lara Croft. Lara Croft was awarded a Guinness World Record recognizing her as the "most successful human video game heroine".
Core Design Limited was a British video game developer based in Derby. Founded in May 1988 by former Gremlin Graphics employees, it originally bore the name Megabrite until rebranding as Core Design in October the same year. The company was acquired by umbrella company CentreGold in December 1994, which in turn was acquired by Eidos Interactive in April 1996. In May 2006, the Core Design personnel and assets were acquired by Rebellion Developments, and the company became Rebellion Derby, which was then shut down in March 2010.
Jeremy Soule is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television, and video games. He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen other works during his career, including The Elder Scrolls, Guild Wars, Icewind Dale, and the Harry Potter series.
Tomb Raider: Chronicles is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was first released for PlayStation, Windows, and Dreamcast in 2000, then on Mac OS the following year. It is the fifth installment in the Tomb Raider series. The narrative continues from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation with archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft presumed dead, and three friends recall adventures from her early career. Gameplay follows Lara through linear levels, solving puzzles and fighting enemies. Some levels incorporate additional gameplay elements such as stealth.
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was first released for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999, then on Dreamcast and Mac OS the following year. It is the fourth instalment in the Tomb Raider series. The narrative follows archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft as she races to imprison the Egyptian god Set after accidentally setting him free. Gameplay features Lara navigating levels split into multiple areas and room complexes, fighting enemies and solving puzzles to progress.
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is a 2003 action-adventure game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. A Mac OS X port was developed by Beenox and published by Aspyr the same year. It is the sixth instalment in the Tomb Raider series, acting as a direct sequel to Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles. The storyline follows Lara Croft as she attempts to clear herself of being the suspect of her former mentor Werner Von Croy's murder while investigating the activities of a black magic cult. The gameplay follows series tradition, with Lara navigating platforming environments while incorporating stealth and character growth elements.
Tomb Raider: Legend is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the seventh main entry in the Tomb Raider series and a reboot of the series that reimagined the origins and character of series protagonist Lara Croft. The game was released in 2006 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and mobile phones. A PlayStation 3 port was released in 2011 as part of The Tomb Raider Trilogy.
Tomb Raider is a 1996 action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive as the debut entry in the Tomb Raider media franchise. It was first released on the Sega Saturn, followed shortly by versions for MS-DOS and the PlayStation. Later releases came for Mac OS (1999), Pocket PC (2002), N-Gage (2003), iOS (2013) and Android (2015). The game follows archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft, who is hired by businesswoman Jacqueline Natla to find an artefact called the Scion of Atlantis. Gameplay features Lara navigating levels split into multiple areas and room complexes while fighting enemies and solving puzzles to progress. An expansion pack subtitled Unfinished Business was released in 1997, containing new standalone levels.
Tomb Raider: Anniversary is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and Buzz Monkey Software and published by Eidos Interactive in 2007 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, Wii and mobile phones. It was later ported to OS X in 2008 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. The eighth overall entry in the Tomb Raider series and second in the Legend trilogy, Anniversary is a remake of the first Tomb Raider game, originally released in 1996.
Russell Shaw is a BAFTA nominated British composer and sound designer. He is known for his work in many video games, particularly those designed by Peter Molyneux.
Sinfonia of London is a symphony orchestra based in London, England, conducted by John Wilson.
Nathan McCree is an English music composer and sound effects editor for multimedia projects including computer games, television, live events, and radio. He worked with Core Design between 1996 and 1998, for the first three Tomb Raider games, among others. He worked also with high-profile names such as the Spice Girls and Orange. In 2008, he became full-time Audio Director for Vatra Games where he worked until 2010. After this, he became Audio Director at City Interactive in Warsaw where he worked on Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 and Alien Rage. McCree then went freelance and set up his own studio in Brno, Czech Republic.
Tomb Raider II is a 1997 action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was first released on Windows and PlayStation. Later releases came for Mac OS (1998), iOS (2014) and Android (2015). It is the second entry in the Tomb Raider series, and follows archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft hunting the magical Dagger of Xian in competition with an Italian cult. Gameplay features Lara navigating levels split into multiple areas and room complexes while fighting enemies and solving puzzles to progress, with some areas allowing for or requiring the use of vehicles. An expansion pack subtitled The Golden Mask was released the following year, containing new levels focused on Lara's quest to find a golden mask in Alaska.
Yuji Takenouchi, also known as TECHNOuchi, is a Japanese composer, sound designer, and musician.