04/20/09

HUGE melody carries United Way

The United Way has called upon the music of HUGEsound composer Chance Thomas to underscore their message. The United Way is one of the world's largest non-profit organizations, chartered to identify and resolve pressing issues facing communities worldwide.

03/16/09

Chance Thomas to speak at GDC

HUGEsound composer and former Electronic Arts Audio Director Chance Thomas has been invited to speak at the annual Game Developer's Conference March 23-27. This year's conference is being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. In addition to speaking at the conference, Chance also serves on GDC's Audio Advisory Board, assisting in the selection and planning of the audio portion of the conference.

03/14/09

Another great MORIA music review

Popular game music site Music4Games has published their music review of the Mines of Moria soundtrack. The site describes the score as "magical", "engaging", "well-composed" with "beautiful choral writing". The review calls out the tracks, "The Hollin Gate", "A Journey in the Dark" and "Mines of Mithril" for particular mention. Read the full soundtrack review - HERE.

03/02/09

RPG FAN reviews Moria, Angmar and QFG5

RPG Fan has posted a new retrospective on Chance Thomas, publishing three music reviews of classic Thomas scores, incuding the brand new Mines of Moria, the original Shadows of Angmar score, and Thomas' first game soundtrack, Quest for Glory V. Here's a sample comment: "Chance Thomas is one hip cat. Having composed music for film, television, and video games over the last two decades... RPGFan reviews his entire RPG-related discography in one fell swoop." Read the full story and reviews - HERE.

02/27/09

America's Most Wanted gets HUGEsound

Viewers of the television program "America's Most Wanted" recently heard Chance Thomas' original composition "Maritime Adventures" on the show.

02/17/09

Music of the Year nod for Moria score

The videogame industry's audio guild has honored the Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria score with an official nomination for MUSIC OF THE YEAR. Also called out by the guild for special recognition is the track Khazad Dum, nominated for Best Choral Song. See the full list of nominees - HERE.

02/02/09

Moria music detailed in in-depth review

A surprisingly indepth review of Chance Thomas' music work for the Mines of Moria - including a track by track analysis and critique - has been posted. In this broad and generous review you will find rare detail called out regarding the orchestration of specific tracks, thematic development and variation, live versus synthesized production, and specific implementation patterns of where (and when) you will find the music scattered throughout the game world. Uncommon and refreshing to find such depth and breadth in a game music story! Here's a sample comment: "The wandering violins are back, but this time they accompany a lush full orchestral pronouncement of the Theme. However, said theme always ends a minor step up from where you think it ought to, illustrating how all is not well in the Dwarf Kingdom. Heavy low brass are more prominent..." Read the full review - HERE.

01/02/09

EA strikes casual gold

Electronic Arts has announced over 2 million units sold of their new Hasbro games, led by Littlest Pet Shop and Nerf N-Strike. Chance Thomas directed a terrific audio team featuring Victor Crews, Jeff Meacham and Richie Nieto on both titles, and also contributed to the scores. Read the full article - HERE.

01/12/09

Mines of Moria soundtrack gets HUGE review

The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Collector's Edition Soundtrack gets its first full review today on OSV. And we're pleased to announce that it's very favorable. To wit: "The Mines of Moria music... is strong enough to rival the film score. In some ways this music is superior to the film score." Wow. Can't wait to read what they say next...! Read the full review- HERE.

10/28/08

N-Strike sends hail of virtual darts to retail

Electronic Arts has released Nerf N-Strike for the Wii gaming system. Game Zone says, "Inspired by the globally popular franchise from Hasbro, [Nerf N-Strike] features non-stop NERF-style pandemonium where players are faced with a series of challenging missions that put blasting strategies and skills to the ultimate test." Chance Thomas led the talented team of audio artists creating the sound for the game, including audio designers Victor Crews, Richie Nieto and Jeff Meacham.

10/14/08

HUGE release for EA's Littlest Pet Shop

That shriek of delight retailers are hearing is the response of young girls around the world discovering their Littlest Pets' come to life on three new DS games, plus versions for Wii and PC. Released by Electronic Arts today in partnership with Hasbro, Littlest Pet Shop is making a big splash worldwide. Chance Thomas was audio director on the project, also arranging and produced the main theme.

09/26/08

Chance Thomas presents to DC area music students

Music students at Magruder High School near Washington DC were treated today to an audio-visual presentation from accomplished game composer Chance Thomas. Thomas presented examples from several of his video game scores, including King Kong, Quest for Glory V and Lord of the Rings Online.

08/21/08

Dungeon Lords 2 gets HUGE sound

D.W. Bradley's latest epic, Dungeon Lords 2, is getting a boost in the audio department. HUGEsound is providing sound effects and voices for the game, a follow-up to Heuristic Park's cult classic.

07/16/08

Chance Thomas speaks to Berklee College of Music

Chance Thomas spoke today to the Film Scoring and Video Game Music students and faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The presentation featured examples of some of Thomas' scoring innovations including a discussion of Global Music Sets, a demonstration of the HUGEmusic STAX system and other valuable tips and tricks picked up over a dozen years of creating music for interactive media.

05/23/08

Chance Thomas Scores Mines of Moria

Turbine, Inc., the world's premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities, has contracted HUGEsound composer Chance Thomas to create new music for its upcoming release, The Lord of the Rings Online (TM): Mines of Moria (TM). Thomas is creating all new live orchestral and choral themes and score for the game, based on the rich literary settings of Moria and Lothlorien.

05/14/08

Chicago Spire Score Takes Top Aurora Award

Composer Chance Thomas took top honors at the International Aurora Award competition, winning Platinum Best of Show for his original music score for the Chicago Spire Art Film. Thomas' piece, "INSPIRE", is built around a gentle piano motif, children's chorus, clarinet, flute, solo violin and a crescendo with full orchestra and choir. Chance played and recorded the piano at his HUGEsound studio near Yosemite, Calfornia. The LA East Session Choir (comprised of singers from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and International Children's Chorus were both recorded at LA East in Salt Lake City, UT. The 75 piece live orchestra was recorded at Bastyr Chapel in Seattle, WA and mixed by Reed Ruddy of Studio X.

The composition underscores a brilliantly conceived and artistically executed art film visualization of the Chicago Spire, a 2000 foot tall skyscraper designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The film, which also took awards for Best Director and Best Visual Effects, was directed by Sheena Duggal of Sony Pictures, produced by Jacquie Barnbrook of Imageworks, with Paul Currie of Lightstream Pictures as Senior Producer, and Garrett Kelleher as Executive Producer. Liz Rueger of Independent Artists Representatives represented Thomas in the deal. Congratulations to everyone!

02/21/08

Chance Thomas honored with Distinguished Service Award

Chance Thomas was honored Thursday night at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards with the Guild's "Distinguished Service Award". The GANG Awards, celebrating excellence and innovation in game music, sound and implementation, were held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The award recognizes Chance's twelve years of actively promoting high standards for game music, recognition for outstanding achievement, years of work within GANG to build the organization and serve its members, and making a positive contribution to the game audio community at large.

02/20/08

HUGE presence at GDC

Chance Thomas had a high profile at this year's Game Developers Conference. In addition to serving on the Audio Advisory Board for the conference, Chance was asked to speak at four conference sessions. During Audio Boot Camp, he spoke on the opportunites and challenges associated with "Creating Original Music for Licensed Games". On the conference's first full day, he joined industry veterans Torrie Dorell (VP of Marketing, Sony Online Entertainment), Tim Larkin (Audio Director, Cyan Worlds), Blake Lewin (VP of Media and Entertainment, Turner Broadcasting Systems) and Steve Ogden (Art Director, Firaxis Games) in presenting a multi-disciplined perspective on game sound. On Thursday, Chance led a panel of experts in the field of audio design and production for Massively Multiplayer Online games. Chance's guests included Creative Director Geoff Scott of Turbine Entertainment (Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online), Audio Director Michael Henry of Cryptic Studios (Champions Online, City of Heroes) and Creative Services Director Russell Brower of Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft).

02/13/08

EA gets HUGE boost for Nerf and Pet Shop titles

Electronic Arts has announced the development of two new game titles, N-Stike and Littlest Pet Shop, set for release this coming holiday season. Chance Thomas is audio director on both projects.

01/23/08

LOTRO music snags GANG Award nomination

The music from Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar has been named a FINALIST in this year's Game Audio Network Guild Awards.

VIEW ARCHIVED NEWS - HERE