Jeehun Hwang

Jeehun admits this was something of a gamble, since at the time he didn't have any equipment to his name (he wound up selling his only possession, a car he'd bought with his first six months' earnings, to buy a new Korg X2 keyboard workstation so he could commence the task) and he'd also never composed for orchestra. "I had never even composed music that didn't have lyrics!" he says. "But I just did what I thought would work, all on the X2's internal sequencer. Mech Warrior 2 is set in the future and is basically about clans fighting each other with hi‑tech robotic weapons. I was creating lots of tribal sounding music, but also flavoured with out‑of‑this‑world futuristic sounds. After I'd written a few songs I took them in and there was this big meeting with everyone, including the head of the company, where first they played all the music the other guy had done and then they played my music. To my surprise I got a standing ovation!"

Knowing a good thing when they heard it, Activision set Jeehun up with a computer and a small budget for equipment. Using Opcode's Studio Vision sequencing software, the X2 and a new Roland JV1080 with the Orchestral and World expansion cards, he scored the entire game.

Knowing a good thing when they heard it, Activision set Jeehun up with a computer and a small budget for equipment. Using Opcode's Studio Vision sequencing software, the X2 and a new Roland JV1080 with the Orchestral and World expansion cards, he scored the entire game.

Knowing a good thing when they heard it, Activision set Jeehun up with a computer and a small budget for equipment. Using Opcode's Studio Vision sequencing software, the X2 and a new Roland JV1080 with the Orchestral and World expansion cards, he scored the entire game.

Knowing a good thing when they heard it, Activision set Jeehun up with a computer and a small budget for equipment. Using Opcode's Studio Vision sequencing software, the X2 and a new Roland JV1080 with the Orchestral and World expansion cards, he scored the entire game.

Jeehun's pick of the sample CDs. "I have the Advance Orchestra five‑CD set, Peter Seidezlick's Orchestra, and World Orchestra. I use a lot of choirs, so I have the Choir Colors and the Orchestral Colors. When I need electronic sounds I'll sometimes seek out weird sounds from CD‑ROMs, load them into the K2500 and tweak them a little bit. For sound effects I use the Hollywood Edge library from the post‑production house Sound Deluxe, which is a 30‑CD set of all kinds of sounds they've created for different projects."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

Gear

Kurzweil K2500 (two) "I use one K2500 as my controller keyboard and I have an additional rackmount K2500. I use those to control my sound library of real orchestral sounds." Akai S2000 Roland JV1080 "I use this with the orchestra expansion card for some of the orchestral sounds that are mostly in the background — in other words those that don't require so much authenticity. It allows me to layer up sounds without having to use up any of the memory I need for my better CD‑ROM orchestral samples." Studio Electronics ATC1 "This one I use when there's a need for analogue sounds. You can switch from one type of sound to another depending on what cartridge you put in." Roland Juno 106 "I used the Juno 106 for Mercenaries and a bunch of other titles that needed more industrial types of sounds." Tech 21 SansAmp PSA1 "This is great for recording guitar sounds. It has a whole bunch of different guitar distortions and effects and plugs straight into the board — you don't have to go through a separate amplifier, but it creates the sound just as well." Alesis ADAT XT "Occasionally when I have all the samplers filled up and I don't have any more memory I dump them on to different tracks on the ADAT and record them that way." Tascam DA30 DAT recorder JVC Pro Series Digital S video deck "I use this half‑inch deck to sync up films and timecode." Apple Power Mac 4400 running MOTU's Digital Performer "I've been trying various different sequencers to see which one I like the best and, although they all have their pros and cons, I find that Digital Performer works really well for what I'm doing." Digidesign Pro Tools "I don't use Pro Tools that much. Sometimes I will if I need to sync up different dialogue and sound effects to the music, but mostly I do the final mix onto DAT and if necessary I'll load that back into Pro Tools to burn CDs."

The second photo shows Jeehun Hwang's studio and features the caption: "Jeehun's studio equipment. From left to right: Mackie 8‑buss mixer; Denon cassette and CD players, Rocktron Hush II noise reduction system, Alesis Midiverb II; Audix monitors, JVC professional video system, a pair of dbx 160A compressor/limiters, Alesis ADAT XT, Tascam DA30 Mk II DAT recorder; Zip and CD‑ROM drives, Apple Power Mac 4400, Kurzweil K2500; MOTU MIDI Timepiece, Roland JV1080 and Studio Electronics ATC1 rackmount synths."

The second photo shows Jeehun Hwang's studio and features the caption: "Jeehun's studio equipment. From left to right: Mackie 8‑buss mixer; Denon cassette and CD players, Rocktron Hush II noise reduction system, Alesis Midiverb II; Audix monitors, JVC professional video system, a pair of dbx 160A compressor/limiters, Alesis ADAT XT, Tascam DA30 Mk II DAT recorder; Zip and CD‑ROM drives, Apple Power Mac 4400, Kurzweil K2500; MOTU MIDI Timepiece, Roland JV1080 and Studio Electronics ATC1 rackmount synths."

The second photo shows Jeehun Hwang's studio and features the caption: "Jeehun's studio equipment. From left to right: Mackie 8‑buss mixer; Denon cassette and CD players, Rocktron Hush II noise reduction system, Alesis Midiverb II; Audix monitors, JVC professional video system, a pair of dbx 160A compressor/limiters, Alesis ADAT XT, Tascam DA30 Mk II DAT recorder; Zip and CD‑ROM drives, Apple Power Mac 4400, Kurzweil K2500; MOTU MIDI Timepiece, Roland JV1080 and Studio Electronics ATC1 rackmount synths."

The second photo shows Jeehun Hwang's studio and features the caption: "Jeehun's studio equipment. From left to right: Mackie 8‑buss mixer; Denon cassette and CD players, Rocktron Hush II noise reduction system, Alesis Midiverb II; Audix monitors, JVC professional video system, a pair of dbx 160A compressor/limiters, Alesis ADAT XT, Tascam DA30 Mk II DAT recorder; Zip and CD‑ROM drives, Apple Power Mac 4400, Kurzweil K2500; MOTU MIDI Timepiece, Roland JV1080 and Studio Electronics ATC1 rackmount synths."