Zircon (composer)

Last updated

Zircon
Birth nameAndrew Aversa
Born (1987-06-23) June 23, 1987 (age 36)
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • composer
  • professor
Instrument(s)Computer, piano
Years active2000s–present
LabelsZircon Studios, Materia Collective
Website zirconmusic.com

Andrew Aversa (born June 23, 1987), [1] known professionally as zircon, is an American electronic musician, composer, and audio technician primarily known for his work on video game soundtracks, including Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix , Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Special Edition , Soulcalibur V , Pump It Up , and Newgrounds . [2] He is an adjunct professor at Drexel University and a co-founder of Impact Soundworks, [3] a virtual instrument company.

Contents

Career

Aversa began arranging video game music, which he uploaded to OverClocked ReMix, in the early 2000s. [4]

Personal life

Aversa lives in Maryland with his wife, Jillian Aversa, who is a vocalist, songwriter, and performer on video game soundtracks. He is also an adjunct professor at Drexel University as well as a Drexel graduate. [5] He has made multiple appearances at conventions and festivals, such as MAGFest. [6]

Releases

Albums

  • Phasma Elementum (2004)
  • Impulse Prime (2005)
  • Antigravity (2007)
  • The World Circuit (2007)
  • Mass Media Constant (2009)
  • Fittest – Original Soundtrack (2009)
  • Vastlands (2009)
  • Return All Robots! Original Soundtrack (2010)
  • Unearthed (2012)
  • Globulous Original Soundtrack (2012)
  • Identity Sequence (2012)
  • Getaway (EP, 2014)
  • Demon Truck Original Soundtrack (2016) [7]
  • Tangledeep Original Soundtrack (2018)
  • The Classic Video Game ReMixes Volume 1 (2024)

Singles

  • "Augment" (2013)
  • "Across the Ocean" (2013)
  • "Neptune" (2015)
  • "Ice Lock" (2015)
  • "Beyond Vision" (2016)
  • "Just Hold On" (DJ Hlokzen Remix) (2017)
  • "Take the Metro" (2018)
  • "Spire" (2021) [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiptune</span> Style of synthesized electronic music

Chiptune is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The term is commonly used to refer to tracker format music using extremely basic and small samples that an old computer or console could produce, as well as music that combines PSG sounds with modern musical styles. It has been described as "an interpretation of many genres" since any existing song can be arranged in a chiptune style defined more by choice of instrument and timbre than specific style elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroki Kikuta</span> Japanese composer and game designer (born 1962)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Wise (composer)</span> English video game composer

David Wise is a British video game music composer and musician. He was a composer at Rare from 1985 to 2009, and was the company's sole musician up until 1994. He has gained a following for his work on various games, particularly Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country series. Wise is known for his atmospheric style of music, mixing natural environmental sounds with prominent melodic and percussive accompaniment.

The music of the video game Final Fantasy VI was composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version, a compilation of all the music in the game, was released in Japan by NTT Publishing in 1994 and re-released by Square Enix in 2004. The album was released by Square Co./NTT Publishing in North America in 1994 under the name Kefka's Domain. Selected tracks from the official soundtrack were later released as part of the Music From FFV and FFVI Video Games album that was included with the release of Final Fantasy Anthology, and two EPs were produced containing character theme tracks entitled Final Fantasy VI Stars Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. A special orchestral arrangement of selected tracks from the game, arranged by Shiro Sagisu and Tsuneyoshi Saito, and performed by the Milan Symphony Orchestra, was released under the title Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale by NTT Publishing in 1994 and 2004, and a collection of piano arrangements, arranged by Shirou Satou and performed by Reiko Nomura, was released under the title Piano Collections Final Fantasy VI by Square/NTT Publishing in 1994 and by NTT Publishing in 2001. Additionally, a single containing unused and remixed tracks from the game was released as Final Fantasy VI Special Tracks by NTT Publishing in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemon Demon</span> American pop rock band

Lemon Demon is a musical project and band created by American comedian and musician Neil Cicierega in 2003 in Boston, Massachusetts. Lemon Demon's studio work is performed solely by Cicierega, who is the project's sole official member. Live performances also include a backing band, with previous performances consisting of Alora Lanzillotta, Charles Sergio, Anthony Wry, Dave Kitsberg, and Greg Lanzillotta. As of 2024, Lemon Demon has released seven studio albums and five EPs.

Yuu Miyake is a Japanese composer and sound engineer who formerly worked at Bandai Namco Entertainment. His most known work surfaced with Katamari Damacy soundtracks, on which he served as a sound director. Other notable works include various tracks in the Tekken and Ridge Racer series.

Ari Pulkkinen is a Finnish video game composer, musician and sound designer. He is best known for his work on music for the Angry Birds series, mainly the song "Angry Birds Theme".

MAGFest is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to make the world a better place through video game art, music, and culture. They hold multiple events throughout the year, with their flagship event being an annual festival held in the Washington metropolitan area the National Harbor. The events feature concerts by chiptune artists and video game cover bands, educational panels and activities, free-to-play arcade cabinets, a bring your own computer (BYOC) LAN party, community jam spaces, and charity speedruns & auctions.

<i>Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix</i> 2008 video game

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a two dimensional fighting game released using the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade download services. A physical copy of the game was later released as part of Capcom Digital Collection. It is a remake of Super Street Fighter II Turbo featuring the original game and a high definition version using graphics drawn by UDON Entertainment, and arranged music by OverClocked ReMix members. The game was designed by Backbone Entertainment's David Sirlin to be the sixth definitive version of Street Fighter II, although it is in fact the seventh, being released after Hyper Street Fighter II.

Music of <i>Kingdom Hearts</i> Compilation album

The music of the Kingdom Hearts video game series was composed by Yoko Shimomura with orchestral music arranged by Kaoru Wada. The original soundtracks of the games have been released on three albums and a fourth compilation album. The soundtracks to the Kingdom Hearts games feature several musical pieces from both Square Enix and Disney works, including such pieces as "Mickey Mouse Club March" by Jimmie Dodd, "This Is Halloween" by Danny Elfman, and "One-Winged Angel" by Nobuo Uematsu. They also feature several vocal songs, the most notable being the four main theme songs: "Hikari", "Passion", "Chikai", and "Face My Fears." The two themes were written and performed by Japanese American pop star Hikaru Utada; in addition to Japanese, English versions of the first three songs were produced, titled "Simple and Clean", "Sanctuary", and "Don't Think Twice", respectively.

<i>Voices of the Lifestream</i> 2007 soundtrack album by OverClocked ReMix

Voices of the Lifestream is an unofficial tribute album released by OverClocked ReMix in honor of Nobuo Uematsu's score for the popular video game, Final Fantasy VII. The album was released on September 14, 2007, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII. Since its release, the collection has received praise from numerous video game sites and professional composers.

The Megas, sometimes performing as The Belmonts, are a Los Angeles based independent video game cover band. They are primarily known for their work based on the Capcom franchise, Mega Man, but from 2016 onwards have also covered Castlevania tracks. They differentiate themselves from other artists in the scene by adding lyrics and blending original material with the games' melodies. The band gained initial popularity through Newgrounds and MySpace in the late 2000s, as well as their live performances at MAGfest, Nerdapalooza, and the Video Games Live tour. Capcom has occasionally promoted the group, and used their material to market Mega Man Universe in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Cicierega</span> American musician, comedian and filmmaker (born 1986)

Neil Stephen Cicierega is an American filmmaker, YouTuber, animator, and musician. He is known as the creator of Potter Puppet Pals, "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny", and multiple music albums under the name Lemon Demon. He also released a series of mashup albums under his own name that have since gained a cult following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OverClocked ReMix</span> Video game music community, founded 1999

OverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix and OCR, is a non-commercial organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music through arranging and re-interpreting the songs, both with new technology and software and by various traditional means. The primary focus of OC ReMix is its website, ocremix.org, which freely hosts over 4,000 curated fan-made video game music arrangements, information on game music and composers, and resources for aspiring artists. In addition to the individual works, called "ReMixes", the site hosts over 70 albums of music, including both albums of arrangements centered on a particular video game, series, or theme, and albums of original compositions for video games. The OC ReMix community created the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix soundtrack for Capcom in 2008, and began publishing commercially licensed arrangement albums in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Baranowsky</span> American electronic music composer

Danny Baranowsky, also known as Danny B or by the company name dB Soundworks, is an American electronic music composer, composing music mainly for indie films and indie games. He founded dB Soundworks to sell and promote his music. He is most known for providing the music for games such as Canabalt, Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, and Crypt of the NecroDancer. Baranowsky has also contributed to the soundtrack of the 2016 Amplitude remake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverse Phase</span> Musical artist

Brendan Becker, known by his stage name Inverse Phase, is an American video game composer and chiptune musician, using Atari, Commodore, and Nintendo hardware. He also speaks and hosts workshops on video game music, chiptunes, and composing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danimal Cannon</span> American musician

Daniel Behrens, better known by his stage name Danimal Cannon, is an American video game composer and chiptune music performer. He is most known for combining guitar playing with Game Boy music. He is also known for his presentations on chipmusic, having hosted panels at Penny Arcade Expo, YouTube tutorials, a TEDx Talk, and a Game Boy masterclass workshop at Blip Festival 2012.

Grant Henry, better known by his stage name Stemage, is an American guitarist and composer. He is known for his video game and television soundtracks, including Cartoon Network's animated series Steven Universe. He is also known for his involvement in several video game cover projects, including Metroid Metal and Viking Guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jillian Aversa</span> American vocalist and composer

Jillian Aversa is an American vocalist and composer best known for her contributions to video game soundtracks, YouTube music videos, and as a soloist with the international concert tour Video Games Live. In addition to her performances of video game music, she is a composer of contemporary New Age/World music and has released several solo albums. Her music video performances have received news coverage in Polygon, Wired, Nerdist, and Game Informer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilbert Roget II</span> American composer

Wilbert Roget II is an American composer known for his work on video game music, particularly Mortal Kombat 11 (2019), Call of Duty: WWII (2017), Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, (2014) and Helldivers 2 (2024). His scores have won multiple awards and nominations from the Game Audio Network Guild and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.

References

  1. "Zircon".
  2. "zirconmusic". Newgrounds.com. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  3. "About". Impact Soundworks. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  4. "Game Music :: Interview with Andrew Aversa, aka zircon (March 2011)".
  5. "Andrew Aversa | Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design | Drexel University". Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  6. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : (1/4) "Making Music: From Hobby to Profession" MAGFest 9 Panel. YouTube .
  7. "Demon Truck Original Soundtrack, by zircon". zirconstudios.bandcamp.com. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  8. zircon – Spire , retrieved July 8, 2022