Peter McConnell

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Peter N. McConnell (born 1960), also known as Peter Mc, is an American video game composer and musician, best known for his work at LucasArts and for composing the soundtracks for every Sly Cooper game since the second installment.

Video Peter McConnell

Biography

McConnell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Peter studied music as an undergraduate at Harvard University in the 1980s under Timothy Vincent Clarke, Curt Cacioppo and Ivan Tcherepnin. In Harvard McConnell befriended the future LucasArts composer Michael Land, who composed many of the company's titles, and worked with him at the audio company Lexicon. While beginning his career in the Sound Department at LucasArts, Land needed someone who would both compose and implement music into his second project Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge and McConnell stepped in. McConnell and Land co-invented iMUSE, LucasArts' patented interactive music system.

During his time at LucasArts, McConnell composed many soundtracks for games such as those in the Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and Star Wars series. Notable titles from this time include Grim Fandango, scored with unique Mexican influenced jazz, klezmer and traditional film score style, and Full Throttle, featuring rock soundtrack which McConnell scored with rock group The Gone Jackals. While composing music for these two games, McConnell worked closely with Tim Schafer, who later hired him to compose scores for the titles Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, and Costume Quest for his company Double Fine Productions.

McConnell left LucasArts in 2000, but contributed to Escape from Monkey Island and special edition of The Secret of Monkey Island. Since then, McConnell has composed scores for Psychonauts, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (about which McConnell says that he was influenced by Henry Mancini works), and Kinectimals.

McConnell is one of the founding members of G.A.N.G., the Game Audio Network Guild [1]. He is also known live-action music performer, playing the electric violin.

In 2013, McConnell returned to the Sly Cooper franchise to score the fourth game, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, which was released in February of that year. Also, for the first time ever, McConnell's entire score was released on iTunes to accompany the release of the game.

Recently, McConnell has worked on the Double Fine titles Broken Age and the remastered version of Grim Fandango, both of which include performances by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. McConnell has also been announced to return to score the upcoming Psychonauts 2, set to be released in 2018.

Maps Peter McConnell

Gameography

• Grim Fandango Remastered (2015), Double Fine
• Broken Age (2015), Double Fine
• Costume Quest 2 (2014), Double Fine
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War (2014), Ubisoft Montpelier
• Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (2014), PopCap Games
• Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (2013), Blizzard Entertainment
• Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time (2013), PopCap Games
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013), Sanzaru Games/Sony
• Kinect Disneyland Adventures (2011), Frontier Developments
• Kinectimals (2010), Microsoft
• Costume Quest (2010), Double Fine
• Brütal Legend (2009), Double Fine
• Tornado Outbreak (2009), Konami
• Calling All Cars! (2007), Sony
• Psychonauts (2005), Double Fine
• Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (2005), Sucker Punch/Sony
• The Bard's Tale (2004), Vivendi Universal Games, Inc.
• Sly 2: Band of Thieves (2004), Sucker Punch/Sony
• Star Wars: Battlefront (2004), LucasArts
• Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (2001), LucasArts
• Escape from Monkey Island (2000), LucasArts
• Star Wars: Force Commander (2000), LucasArts
• Star Wars Episode I: Racer (1999), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance (1999), LucasArts
• Grim Fandango (1998), LucasArts
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (1998), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing Collector Series (1998), LucasArts
• Herc's Adventures (1997), LucasArts
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (1997), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter: Balance of Power (1997), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (1997), LucasArts
• Star Wars: Yoda Stories (1997), LucasArts
• Afterlife (1996), LucasArts
• Shadows of the Empire (1996), Nintendo Co., Ltd.
• The Dig (1995), LucasArts
• Full Throttle (1995), LucasArts
• Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire (1995), LucasArts
• Star Wars: TIE Fighter (Collector's CD-ROM) (1995), LucasArts
• Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing (Collector's CD-ROM) (1994), LucasArts
• Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (1993), LucasArts
• Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993), LucasArts
• Star Wars: Rebel Assault (1993), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing (1993), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing: B-Wing (1993), LucasArts
• Star Wars: X-Wing: Imperial Pursuit (1993), LucasArts
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992), LucasArts
• Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991), LucasArts

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Written works

• McConnell, Peter (September 1999). "Dance of the Dead: The Adventures of a Composer Creating the Game Music for Grim Fandango". Electronic Musician. New York: NewBay Media, LLC. 15 (9): 30-32, 35-36, 38-40, 42. ISSN 0884-4720. 

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References

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Further reading

• Cifaldi, Frank (May 2013). "Farewell Lucasarts". Game Developer. San Francisco: UBM LLC. 20 (5). ISSN 1073-922X. 
• Taddie, Michel (June 2012). "Skywalker Symphony Orchestra Triumphs at Game Audio Network Guild Awards". International Musician. San Francisco: American Federation of Musicians of the U.S. and Canada. 110 (6): 8. ISSN 0020-8051. 
• Jackson, Blair (January 2012). "SFP: Sound for Picture - Music Centerstage In Game Releases". Mix. Berkeley, Calif.: New Bay Media. 36 (1): 30-32, 89. ISSN 0164-9957. 
• Shamoon, Evan (November 2004). "Double Fine; Back in the limelight with a new publisher, new digs, and a multi-platform strategy, Tim Schafer's Psychonauts looks to change the face of gaming one neurosis at a time". XBN. New York: Ziff-Davis Media Inc. (20): 78. ISSN 1538-9723. 
• Gaughn, Michael (Feb-Mar 2000). "George's world". Stereo Review's Sound & Vision. New York: Source Interlink Companies. 65 (2): 90-96. ISSN 1522-810X. 
• Tach, Dave (January 27, 2015). "Digital Archeology: How Double Fine, Disney, Lucasarts and Sony Resurrected Grim Fandango". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-27. 
• McConnell, Peter (January 17, 2015). "The Score: Grim Fandango composer Peter McConnell". Gamereactor (Interview). Interview with Gamereactor Staff. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015. 
• García, Albert (January 28, 2015). "Grim Fandango no estaba tan muerto". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. 
• McConnell, Peter (February 28, 2013). "Peter McConnell On 'Sly Cooper', 'Grim Fandango', And The Future of Games". Uproxx (Interview). Interview with Dan Seitz. Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. 
• "Así suena el tema de Hearthstone al estilo MIDI retro - PC". Spain: MeriStation. January 15, 2015. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015. 
• McConnell, Peter. "Interview". GSoundtracks (Interview). Interview with GSoundtracks staff. Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved January 28, 2015. 
• McConnell, Peter (March 15, 2014). "Interview with Composer, Peter MCConnell". The Sound Architect (Interview). Interview with Sam Hughes. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved Jan 28, 2015. 
• McConnell, Peter (April 20, 2014). "Interview with award-winning video game composer Peter McConnell". Examiner.com (Interview). Interview with David Leavitt. 

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External links

• Official website
• Interview at The International House of Mojo
• Artist profile at OverClocked ReMix
• "An interview with Peter McConnell" Goaste.cx: Elliott, Luke
• Interview with Peter Smith at Classical Music Journal Blog

Source of the article : Wikipedia