Alastair Lindsay

Having been introduced to computers and video games at a very early age with a Binatone TV Game System, Sinclair ZX80 and a BBC Micro it was clear that my future career was going to involve computers. From an early age I was always interested in music and tried my hand at learning to play the guitar and keyboard. This took a leap forward when I bought the Music 500 system for my BBC Micro and began to program music and start to learn about synthesis. Wanting to study a creative subject rather than computer science I decided to enroll at Art College, where I studied for four years. Always playing in bands and writing music while I was studying. Also, music and sound was a part of most of my projects as it was a big passion. Working to briefs, creative and technical was an everyday process so these skills were easily transferred from the design industry to the video games industry. Combining the art college and music skills secured me a full-time position at the video games company Imagitec Design Inc. in 1993. With a number of projects to work on straight away the first to be release was Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar, which picked up an award for the 'Best In-game Music' at the 1994 CES. I then joined Psygnosis at their Camden Studio in 1996, where I was the sole audio person looking after all aspects of audio for a number of PS1 and PC titles. After the amalgamation of the Camden Studio and Team Soho into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe - London Studio in 2003, the audio team grew and the studio facilities were upgraded to take on a larger number of projects and tasks. I was responsible for the dialogue recording and management of a number of games including the Getaway series. This included the asset management of all the localized languages. In 2006 I was instrumental in design and testing of SCEE's interactive music system, which is very powerful yet flexible in the authoring and implementation of interactive music. This system is used in most SCEE internal titles, including Killzone2 and Eye Pet. After a number of years as Senior Composer/Sound Designer I was promoted to the position of Music Manager in 2007, where I look after all composed music for internal and many external SCEE titles, taking the music from initial brief to final release, both game and soundtrack. Tasks include sourcing of composers and artists, liaising with the game teams on a creative and budget level, managing composers and artists schedules, assets and game implementation. Finishing my time at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe I headed up the Audio team, which includes Music Production, Music Licensing, Sound Design and Audio Programming. I am responsible for final delivery of project audio, including budgets, resourcing, both internal end external, and ultimately leading the Audio team to success. I have a deep understanding of interactive audio from a number of different genres, social to cinematic games, from the initial design stage through production and implementation. I am passionate in taking an initial concept or idea into a final release product, going through the whole managing and production processes.