Remedy Entertainment's Control presents an interesting world for its players to step into. The careful construction of the game's atmosphere was shaped by a number of elements – Petri Alanko's original soundtrack being one of the chief elements. TheGamer was able to pick the Finnish composer's brain about the experience of creating an OST for a video game such as Control.
On the creative process, Petri mentions that "the first thing that comes to mind is 'it is easier when you have a solid plan you're executing.' I'm not saying anything is never easy, but you can't compare movie/tv composing to game composing, they're night and day. Your success is enormously dependent on the art and story people. If they are extrovert storytellers and easily approachable, your initial job is halfway done." This is apparent in Petri's work, as experimental elements are used throughout to reflect the emphasis of psychological and even telekinetic themes within Control's story.
Petri spoke highly of Remedy's ability to present complete stories to him. He believes strongly in the significance of the very first moments with an idea. "Your most important tool is the first impression the story makes. It creates the first themes and the overall sound ringing – give some room to it, don't suspect it, let it breathe and live. The more thoroughly you understand this, the easier your job is."
Additionally, Petri is adamant about nurturing those first moments with an idea, stating that he often takes long periods of time to think everything through completely. "Okay, so I don't just sit and think, instead I'm putting a lot of effort into recording raw sounds and so on, just to connect myself into the sonic entity or the compositional and sound core of the project. This needs to be emphasized: you're not only composing, you're creating a part of a brand, you're building an audio entity of a commercial product. It needs to be watertight and must have longevity – also, remember the functionality: if music's good, it'll work as is, without the game itself."
All-in-all, the importance of collaboration through the process is something Petri believes in. Reiterating his immense respect for the minds behind the games he has worked on, he stresses that "the main thing behind the whole complex monstrosity of a game soundtrack is, however, the people around you. They're the ones that fill in the gaps – it's not all in the paper, in the manuscript, in the cinematics. They're the ones that have spent a good while with the characters and the events in their minds, so they also have an access to 'their histories' as well; THAT is the main thing you should be composing to."
Be sure the check out the full interview with Petri if you missed it!