Ignorance by Danko/Fairlight

“The fact that a simple three channel Commodore C64 song won over several modern and advanced PC multi channel songs is reassuring. SID is still going strong!” – Groovemeister

Once again I find myself composing music on ancient hardware. This time the target was a music competition at the Edison 2012 hacker party in Stockholm. All formats competed against each other (i.e. Amiga modules, C64 SID, PC FastTracker etc, Gameboy and other chip tune platforms).

The track is called Ignorance and it won the oldschool music competition held 7th of July at Edison 2012 in Stockholm.

I used a version of Jens-Christian Huus’ New Player (20.G4) and Editor (3.04), running on an original Commodore C64 computer equipped with the 8580 SID sound chip.

Enjoy!

Link to my SID track as an MP3
Link tocompetition results at the Edison webpage
Link to Edison 2012 at CSDB
Link to the Edisonwebpage

Het
Pedal Tra(m)ppisten – Belgien Runt på Cykel

“2006 genomförde RateBeer-redaktören, belgoölexperten, ölfrämjandemedlemmen, ja helt
enkelt ölgurun Tomas Danko en resa som torde vara ölets heliga graal-äventyr.\”- Christer Leivo

Six years ago I decided to bicycle around all of Belgium over a five week period visiting a lot of breweries and beer pubs. I kept a diary during the >1000 kilometer trip and the end result will hopefully turn into a book one day. You can read a nine page article excerpt in the first issue of 2012 of the Maltesen beer magazine, with focus on my visits to the six Trappist monasteries that brew beer. The magazine is in Swedish and distributed in hard copy and prescription only although members of Svenska Ölfrämjandet can download the magazine in PDF-format.

Link to Maltesen
Direct link to issue 2012-1 and the article in PDF-format
Link to PDF archive of the magazine

2012 BAFTA – Audio Achievement

“Arguably, the most impressive aspect of the game is the audio. From soldiers yelling in the background to far off gunfire, everything sounds crisp and perfect. About 10 minutes into my first match, standing next to a building, a tank leveled the wall. I jumped in my chair: the sounds were terrifying and my heart raced. DICE has absolutely nailed the sound of war.” – Sarcasticgamer.com

Battlefield 3 received three awards at the 2012 British Academy of Film & Television Awards. We on the audio team at DICE won our second BAFTA for Audio Achievement over two consecutive years. I was credited in the game as VO Producer and created all the dialogue in the game.

Battlefield 3 received the following awards

Audio Achievement
Online Multiplayer
GAME Award of 2011 (The only award to be voted for by the public)

Link to BAFTA 2012 Winners
Link to BAFTA GAME Award of 2011
Link to Audio Achievement Winner Video
Link to Online Multiplayer Winner Video
Link to GAME Award Winner Video

Game Audio Network Guild Awards 2012

“The talented audio folks in this industry have literally been rewriting the history books in terms of quality and historic significance.” – Tommy Tallarico, G.A.N.G. Founder, CEO and Chairman

We at the DICE Audio team won three 2012 G.A.N.G. Awards for Battlefield 3. The awards were announced during the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco. I am credited as VO Producer in the game.

Battlefield 3 received the following awards

Audio of the Year
Sound Design of the Year
Best Audio Mix

Link to Game Audio Network Guild Website

One Quarter by Fairlight

“You guys should get a real life. Making such HQ-Prods in such a short period of time really scares me.” – Axis/Oxyron

After having made a SID tune for the Commodore 64 demo We Are New by Fairlight a year ago I found myself having promised Fairlight to make them a second tune for their next demo. This time I made a C64 cover of Breath of Life by Erasure because that song seemed to want to fit nicely within the three voices that the 6581 SID (i.e. sound chip in the C64 computer) can produce.

The demo is called Fairlight – One Quarter and it won the C64 demo competition held 11th of February at Datastorm 2012 in Gothenburg.

I used a version of Jens-Christian Huus’ New Player (20.G4) and Editor (3.04), running on the VICE C64 emulator on PC.

Enjoy!

Link to full demo at YouTube
Link to my SID track as an MP3
Link to One Quarter demo at CSDB
Link to the Datastorm webpage

G.A.N.G. Awards 2012 Best Dialogue Nominee, that’s me

“The winners will be announced at the 10th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards ceremony on March 8 in San Francisco during the 2012 Game Developers Conference.” – gamepolitics.com

We at the DICE audio team are nominated five times at the 2012 G.A.N.G. Awards with Battlefield 3. Since I’m the VO Producer taking care of all things dialogue, the Best Dialogue nomination recognises my individual effort.

Battlefield 3 received the following nominations

Audio of the Year
Sound Design of the Year
Best Cinematic/Cut-Scene Audio
Best Dialogue
Best Audio Mix

Link to G.A.N.G. Award Nominees Announcement
Link to Game Audio Network Guild Website

15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

“Each year the Interactive Achievement Awards sees the top minds and personas of our industry coming together to not only celebrate, but recognize one another for the achievements of the year.” – Martin Rae, President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

DICE Audio won the Sound Design award at the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas for Battlefield 3. I am credited as VO Producer in the game. All in all, Battlefield 3 received six nominations.

Battlefield 3 received the following nominations

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity
Action Game of the Year
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

Link to Article at enterbf3.com
Link to List of all Winners at craveonline.com
Link to 15th Annual IAA Finalists List at interactive.com
Link to The Academy Interactive Arts & Sciences

1200-1700 on January 14th 2012 at Bridgens Hus, Uppsala

“Hembrygd öl i belgisk stil, belgiska tilltugg och överraskningar. Bjud på dina hembrygder eller prova andras. Tävla i folkets val och låt ditt öl bedömas av duktiga domare.”- SHBF

I have been given the honor to be one of the beer judges at the sixth incarnation of Belgoträffen held annually by SHBF (Swedish Home Brewing Association). This is my third assignment as beer judge in the last four months, but someone has to get it done so why not me.

Link to Belgoträffen
Link to SHBF

Brew Wharf vs Danko – A Belgian Saison

“Intressant att läsa om de fat som lämnades varmt och som jäste ner till 1003.”- Rick Lindqvist

You can read a three page article on brewing my own beer at Brew Wharf in London as well as a half page article on Belgian christmas beer that I wrote for the fourth issue of 2011 of the Maltesen beer magazine. The magazine is in Swedish and distributed in hard copy and prescription only although members of Svenska Ölfrämjandet can download the magazine in PDF-format.

Link to Maltesen
Direct link to issue 2011-4 and the article in PDF-format
Link to PDF archive of the magazine

Look at the stars and you’ll see that it’s real

“Starchild started as a happy hardcore act on Fluid Records in 1994 together with Antiloop, Earthbound and others.”- Discogs.com

In the mid 90s I had somewhat of an underground hit with a Happy Hardcore Rave track called Starchild. Some people still consider it an anthem within the genre, and it was rotating on national Swedish radio for over a year. It was the fastest song on rotation that year, at a whopping 173 BPM. The EP Starship One was released a few years later, and Starchild II became number one in the charts at the Vitaminic music site. Blue Sky Day is a remix by Starchild for a Canadian rave club and was never released in public until now.

There is a misconception that Dune made Starchild, this is incorrect and caused by a German fan site mistakingly naming the Starchild mp3 as a Dune track.

Starchild and Starship One including all the remixes as well as bonus tracks and previously unreleased material can now be purchased on iTunes. Enjoy!

Link to Starchild at iTunes

“Ich bin Der Danko, und ich bin schön”

“Der Danko ist echt geil.” – Örg, Frankfurt

Several years ago I did a peculiar project where I got drunk on cheap beer (!), wrote lyrics until I found myself laugh out loud and then I hit record and captured three takes of vocals and that was that. Throughout the years these songs were very popular and topping the charts on some Internet radio stations as well as being played on a regular basis in clubs around Europe. The song Plasticpop has been remixed over 25 times by other musicians and DJs.

Der Danko, Plasticpop and Mein Apparat (64) are now available for sale on iTunes. Enjoy!

Link to Der Danko at iTunes

“Spontan öl är ingen plötsligt öl” at SMÖF Beer Festival in Söderbärke, Dalarna

“Med över 1800 olika Belgiska öl provade och en sex veckor lång cykeltur runt Belgien till bryggerier och Trappistkloster under bältet är det ingen underdrift att kalla Tomas Danko för belgofil. Som skribent i Svenska Ölfrämjandets tidning Maltesen, hembryggare samt hållande av många ölprovningar genom åren på Belgiska ölbarer hävdar han närvaro lokalt i Sverige. I detta seminarie berättar Danko brett och vitt om spontanjäst öl, så kallad lambic. Denna nästintill utdöda men högt uppskattade metod att brygga öl beskrivs här och dess anrika historia samt allmänt förekommande varianter på lambic tas också upp.”- SMÖF

The good people of SMÖF have asked me to hold two seminars on the topic of lambic (i.e. spontaneously fermented beer from Pajottenland in Belgium) on Saturday 29th of October at 1400 and 1700. I will also be part of the jury of beer judges for the festival beer competition.

Link to Seminar Information
Link to Festival Programme
Link to SMÖF Söderbärke Beer Festival

29 sept – 1 okt & 6 – 8 okt 2011 at Nackastrandsmässan, Stockholm

“This is one of the most important beer festivals in the world, and is only rivalled by the likes of the London Beer Festival and Oktoberfest in Munich.”- A Sweden Attraction

I have been given the honor to be one of the beer judges at the biggest beer festival in Sweden, and one of the three biggest in the world. This is a highly prestigious competition with a high level of integrity and International profile, and it’s celebrating it’s twentieth anniversary this year. It is a tough task but someone has to do it.

Link to Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival
Link to Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival on Facebook

September 24th at Alviks Medborgarhus 1000 – 1800

“Med ett förflutet i 8-bitarsvärlden på åttiotalet samt tjugotre års erfarenhet i spelbranschen […] fortsätter Danko skapa ljud till datorspel på DICE i Stockholm med titlar såsom Mirror’s Edge, Medal of Honor, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 och Battlefield 3.”- Retrogathering

I have been asked to hold a brief speech about my background and career as well as sharing various anecdotes from my more recent projects. There will also be a section where the panel, including myself, will answer questions from the audience.

The actual discussion panel will be held at the adjacent Nockebysalen 1330 – 1500.

Link to Retrogathering discussion panel information
Link to Retrogathering

Brew Wharf vs Danko – a real ale made by yours truly

“A hazy gold coloured beer with a big white head and lasting thick lace. Funky lemony yeasty notes in the nose. Superb tart hoppy funky lemon notes in the mouth. A bit of gooseberry. The acidity in the mouth works perfectly. A very good interesting beer.” – Mark Edwards

I created the recipe and brewed 820 liter of this beer at the brewpub Brew Wharf in London earlier this year. It is now available at the pub throughout July 2011. The pump clip pictured to the left was also designed by myself, and is probably the first C64-style beer label ever made.

The beer itself is a modern take on the Belgian saison style using new world aroma hops, 6.4% ABV.

Link to Brew Wharf vs Danko entry at ratebeer
Link to the brewpub Brew Wharf in London
Link to CSDB

GameSpy Award – Best Audio of E3 2011

“It may not be real war, but it sure sounds like it.” – GameSpy.com

The audio team at DICE won the GameSpy award for best sound at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo with Battlefield 3. I am credited as VO Producer in the game.

In addition, our game collected a staggering 80 nominations and won an amazing 40 of them. In total, Battlefield 3 has won over 130 awards.

Link to GameSpy E3 Awards
Link to GameSpy article The Interrogation Room: Battlefield 3

2011 BAFTA – Use Of Audio

“Playing this game with a good pair of headphones (or a proper hi-fi, if you’ve got one) makes you realise how little attention a lot of developers pay to the way their games sound. There are a few notable exceptions, of course, but DICE in particular have made an effort to really nail it with their last few releases, and Bad Company 2 is their best-sounding game yet.” – Sean Bell, Dark Zero Videogame Magazine

The audio team at DICE won the award for use of audio at the 2011 British Academy of Film & Television Awards with Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I was credited in the game, working on some of the VO mainly for Multi Player but also for the Single Player campaign.

The statue is very heavy to hold, also physically speaking. Our Audio Director Extraordinaire, Stefan Strandberg, is pictured to the right of the BAFTA statue.

Link to BAFTA
Link to winning award film clip at YouTube
Link to backstage interview with my colleagues Stefan Strandberg and Olof Strömqvist

Wake Up This Is Battlefield

“Battlefield 3 ships Fall 2011 — includes jets, prone, and 64 player multiplayer!” – Battlefield Blog

I am fully aware that it’s been somewhat of a nuisance that I haven’t been able to talk to people about what I do at work for the last year or more. As of Friday the 4th of February we finally released a teaser along with some information regarding the title.

Yes, I work on Battlefield 3.

Link to Battlefield 3 in-game trailer #3 at YouTube
Link to Battlefield 3 in-game trailer #2 at YouTube
Link to Battlefield 3 in-game trailer #1 at YouTube
Link to Battlefield 3 teaser at YouTube
Link to the Battlefield Blog for more information on BF3
Link to Game Informer March Cover

Get Game Informer magazine released on Monday the 7th of February for a world’s first and exclusive peak into Battlefield 3 including screen shots and many pages of information.

2010 Sound Design Of The Year

“The quality bar from 2010 was so high across the board, it was impossible to predict specific wins. With over 350 submissions this year, just making it to the final nomination process is something all the teams and publishers can be proud of” – Paul Lipson, G.A.N.G. President

The audio team at DICE won the two Sound Design Of The Year and Best Use Of Multi-Channel Surround In A Game 2010 G.A.N.G. Awards with Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I was credited in the game, working on some of the VO in both Multi Player as well as the Single Player campaign.

It’s just my ordinary luck that G.A.N.G. decided my name is actually Thomas Danke, and not Tomas Danko.

Link to article at Thirteen1
Link to article at Gamasutra
Link to Game Audio Network Guild Website

It’s all About the Panda

“And ofcourse having Danko back in the c64-scene is definitely the comeback of the year for me, you rock!” – Axis/Oxyron

Had someone asked me a year ago about making music on the good old Commodore 64 8-bit computer again, I would have responded that it will never happen. It seems I did not know what I was talking about (this happens a lot).

Peer pressure at work led to one thing and the other, resulting in me composing a SID track for the first time in… I don’t even remember. It was featured in a C64 demo by the almighty and legendary hacker group Fairlight, called “We Are New”.

I used an undocumented version of Jens-Christian Huus’ New Player and Editor, running on the VICE C64 emulator on PC. Since little did match the old documentation, I had to guess and enter parameters until got a sound. Any kind of sound. This is why I decided to keep it simple, and old school. Old school is always good.

I can promise you one thing, Axis. I will produce and release a minimum of one new SID track during 2011.

Enjoy!

Link to live footage from the competition

People cheering when my name shows up, during live footage from the actual demo competition at X2010 (we came 2nd place).

Link to full demo at YouTube
Link to my SID track as an MP3
Link to We Are New demo at CSDB