After the recent Game ON! event at Carnegie Hall I had the opportunity and privilege to have a discussion with Christopher Tin at the after party at Nintendo World at Rockefeller Center. In case you were not aware Christopher Tin is a composer for film, video games and advertising with music from huge franchises like Civilization and blockbuster films like X2: X-Men United.

I first asked Christopher his thoughts on the Game ON! panel and if this was the first of its kind for him? He told me that it was not his first, but it was his most diverse. The panel did have a very diverse cast from Grandmaster Flash (1970’s DJ and father of hip-hop) to Alex Rigopulos (co-founder and CEO of Harmonix). I agreed whole heartedly.

I then asked Christopher about his world premier video and asked for a bit of detail? We had the opportunity to view the world premiere of the theme song for Civilization IV entitled “Baba Yetu”. This is just one track from the upcoming debut album, Calling All Dawns, a 12 movement song cycle that fuses world and classical music.

I admit to him that watching the video was awe-inspiring! The video took us through different ages of humanity and really moved and impressed me, since it used all in-game footage from the game. I also admitted to him that I was unaware that Civilization music had such a huge following.

I asked Christopher what he is playing now? He admitted that it was an old school classic Ultima III that he downloaded. We both laughed at the fact that games of our younger years are so small in comparison and so easily downloadable, but it is the gameplay of those titles that still draws us in. Christopher and I both agree that music in video games helps draw gamers in. Christopher then said he is looking forward to the new Rock Band Beatles game as well.

So I followed up with which console he would be getting it for and he said… PS2! Admitting he needs to upgrade to a next gen console, we both laughed and I invited him to play online as soon as he does.

I have to say Christopher is a really cool dude. Watching his video during Game ON! on that huge screen in Carnegie Hall was awe-inspiring and in my opinion was the highlight of the program by far.

We look forward to reviewing Chris’ new CD “Calling All Dawns” and look forward to getting his video for “Baba Yetu” shortly so we can share it with everyone.