High 5 Games got talents! In today’s blog, we feature one of our music talents, who has created great music for many of our slot games. Get to know Matthew T. and see which slot game has the music that he is most proud of!

1. How long have you been a part of High 5 Games?
I’ve worked for High 5 games for a total of five years; one year as an independent contractor and four as a full time employee.

2. Name the game you are most proud of working on for High 5 Casino and tell us why it’s your favorite and what inspired you.
I’m most proud of the entire sound package for the game Empress of the Nile. The scope of the main and bonus game music is epic. In the pick bonus, I composed an intimate Middle Eastern song with a traditional rhythm; that called on my world music background. I even had a friend build me an instrument called a Marching Machine to imitate the sound of troops marching. It was a creative challenge throughout and I think, ultimately, the entire sound package works to create a game playing experience that’s fun on a number of levels.

3. How long does it take our Sound Department to create and complete the sound package for a game? Can you tell us what goes into it?
We, in the sound department, have roughly a month to complete a sound package from the time we’re delivered the art. Sometimes we have more time for development and other times less. If we have more lead time to work before the art is delivered to us, we’re given a game title and description and a single composer gets started on the music that will accompany game play, but doesn’t need to be synced to specific animations. Similarly, we can work on the sound of the reel spins that are also not reliant on animation synchrony. When we receive the animations for the symbols and transitions, we work on the sound design and music for those. Once the entire package is completed by the composer, it goes to a second stage of mixing and mastering. That last process puts the polish on the game in terms of making sure that the 75 plus individual musical elements created by the composer all sounding great in relation to each other and in the context of game-play.

 4. What instruments do you play and when did you start learning?
I’m a percussionist, and have been since I was 8 years old, so in a sense, anything you strike to create music, I play! I can play enough piano and guitar and bass for the purposes of composing, but I’ll stick to percussion when it comes to performing for an audience.

 5. Who/What inspired you to become a musician?
My parents, who were musicians themselves, inspired me to start playing instruments. My dad was a drummer and my mom is a pianist. However, I was inspired to be a professional musician when I realized that it wasn’t a matter of becoming a musician — I already was; as many other pursuits as I tried, I still kept coming back to performing music. With that realization, though, it was just a matter of committing to the work necessary to be the best musician I could be.

6. If you weren’t a musician, what other profession would you have chosen?
If not a musician, a writer and professor of literature. I did that for a number of years and found I really enjoyed opening up that world of literature and writing to students who were eager to learn.

7. If you could perform with a famous musician, dead or alive, who would it be?
That’s also a hard question. You’re killing me! Off the top of my head, I’d have to say Frank Zappa. His music is complex and demanding and yet irreverent. It would be a challenge to play with him, that’s for sure, but I know I’d learn a lot.

8. If you could be a High 5 Casino game character who would you like to be? Why?
I’d be the drummer from the game “Jazz”…because it’s actually me, literally! Ha! I was asked to play for the video shoot. Okay, that’s cheating. Let me pick for real. It’d be fun to be the Mowgli character in Tales of the Jungle. Living in the jungle wearing nothing but a loin cloth, hanging with animal friends and swinging from vines in the trees? That sounds idyllic to me.

Which High 5 Games slot music do you like the best? Comment in the conversation bubble located on the top right of the blog post to let us know!