Spice Co-presents Live Discussion on Producing Music for Video Games for Chicago Ableton User Group

Assistant Professor of Music Production & Recording Technology Graham Spice, M.S., was invited to deliver a game audio production workshop to the Chicago Ableton User Group on Tuesday, March 23. The presentation, “What is Interactive Music?” was also presented with Elliot Callighan from Unlock Audio in Chicago. The free event was livestreamed on Facebook Live and was an introduction to the mechanics and business of producing music for video games. Both Spice and Callighan are Ableton-certified trainers.

Hosted by Ableton-certified trainer Orville Kline, the virtual edition of the Ableton User Group Chicago is centered around techniques for career paths of using Ableton Live to produce music and audio for video games. Ableton-certified trainer Spice discussed methods of composing interactive music with live while Elliot Callighan of Unlock Audio shared his career path with game audio.

Spice joined the faculty at Shenandoah University in 2018. He brings years of experience as both a music technologist and a musician. As a producer and engineer, Spice has worked with world-class artists like Keith Urban, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Béla Fleck, Victor Wooten, Jeff Coffin, Jimmy Herring, Scotty Moore, John Medeski, Jack Dangers, Lettuce, Marvin Stamm and Trey Anastasio along with legendary engineers like Denny Purcell and Richard Dodd. Visit grahamspice.com and www.ableton.com/en/certified-training/graham-spice to learn more about Spice.

Callighan enlisted in the Army National Guard to pursue music and audio. This path led to degrees in music composition and sound design, a commission as a military officer, and his work being featured in campaigns for United Airlines, Instagram, “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” GMC, The Godrej Group, Chevrolet Motors, the Goodman Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet as well as many independent films and games. Callighan always focuses on creating distinct personality and aesthetic in all audio while maintaining that memorable “hummable” factor in his music. He brings this sensibility to his work in games, film, trailer and commercial projects. He has served as soundpost co-chair for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Overture Council and teaches as adjunct faculty in the film and game programs at DePaul University. Visit www.unlockaudio.com to learn more.