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Chance Thomas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chance Thomas
BornOctober 7, 1961
San Gabriel, California
Occupation(s)Composer, author, entrepreneur
Websitewww.chancethomas.com

Chance Thomas is an American composer, author, and entrepreneur. As a composer, he creates original music for animation, video games, movies, television, and virtual reality. His music has received critical acclaim and commercial success, including an Oscar, an Emmy, and billions of dollars in sales worldwide.[1][2]

Chance is best known for scoring video games like DOTA 2, The Lord of the Rings Online and James Cameron’s Avatar.[3] He also scored Columbia Pictures’ The ChubbChubbs!, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, and the TV film Lost Treasure Hunt, which was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards.[4]

Chance is the author of the university textbook Composing Music for Games: The Art, Technology and Business of Video Game Scoring. The book was released in 2016 by CRC Press, a Taylor and Francis Publishing imprint.[5] As an entrepreneur, Chance founded "HUGEST" sound in 1998 and sold it in 2016 to a large and diversified entertainment conglomerate, R Legacy Entertainment. He now serves as VP of Music and Creative Development for HUGEsound Post Production.[6]

His projects have won major awards, including an Oscar, Emmy, IGN, Telly, Aurora and several G.A.N.G. awards. He is considered the father of game music Grammy eligibility and was honored in 2013 with the Game Audio Network Guild's Recognition Award.[7]

Early life

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Throughout high school, Thomas formed and played in progressive rock bands until he was called to serve a mission in northern Italy for the LDS Church. When he returned home in 1982, he met his bride-to-be, Pamela, at a single's ward family home evening.[8] Thomas worked at UPS, putting his music on hold while pursuing a business degree at Central Oklahoma State University. While in rehab due to a torn shoulder, a friend informed him of a job as an entertainer at a pizza restaurant. Thomas got the job, which paid more than UPS.[8] After two and a half years in Oklahoma, he received a transfer scholarship to finish his business degree at Brigham Young University in Utah. Shortly after his transfer, he switched his scholarship to the music school and eventually graduated with a bachelor's degree in music.[8]

Career

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Chance Thomas began his professional career as a performer, singing and playing piano as well as keyboard at ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains and on cruise ships in the Caribbean.[9] In 1991, he opened a small music production company and studio in Salt Lake City, Utah, called byChance Productions and began creating music for ad agencies and corporate clients. He made several orchestral scores for public service announcements produced by non-profits like The Salvation Army, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and The United Way.[10]

He emerged into the video game industry in 1996. At the time, Sierra Online was looking for a full-time composer, and Chance moved back to California to take the job. This opportunity allowed him to write music for Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire, creating one of the first orchestral video game scores in history.[11] In the late 1990s, Chance led a successful movement which brought game music into the Grammy Awards. The Quest for Glory soundtrack was a factor in the Academy creating three new categories — Best Score, Best Song and Best Soundtrack for Film, Television and Other Visual Media.[8]

Chance was also an innovator in video games. He led the design and implementation of one of the world's first successful adaptive music systems based on digital audio streams (1997).[12] He also pioneered new techniques for composing game music, including ambient set matrices (1996) and interactive scoring maps (2001).[5] When Sierra Online closed the doors of its California studio in 1998, Chance opened HUGEsound, located just outside Yosemite National Park. Projects scored during that time included the Oscar-winning film, The ChubbChubbs!, and games like Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Lord of the Rings Online.

In 2007, Chance relocated HUGEsound to Utah and continued to compose for high-profile game titles like Avatar: the Game, Heroes of Might and Magic, and DOTA 2.

Lord Of The Rings Online

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Chance Thomas' Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) scores are among his most acclaimed and documented work so far. He based the instrumental palettes, vocal ranges, stylistic tendencies and emotional conjuring of many pieces on direct references/inferences scattered throughout the text.[13] On June 16, 2017, Thomas released The Lord of the Rings Online: 10th Anniversary Commemorative Soundtrack through HUGEsound Records. The album contains tracks from 2007 to 2017.

HUGEsound

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In 1998, Chance launched HUGEsound in Oakhurst, California as a full-service audio development company to service clients in film and gaming. HUGEsound provided sound design, foley, original music scoring and song production for The ChubbChubbs!, among other projects, for nearly 20 years. In September 2016, Chance sold HUGEsound to R Legacy Entertainment, a privately held umbrella corporation containing a diversified portfolio of entertainment companies in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake City.[6]

In February 2017, HUGEsound Post Production was opened as a 16,000 square foot recording and production facility. It offered a variety of post-production services in picture, music, and sound.[6]

Volunteer work

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Chance has served in volunteer capacities for community councils, universities, churches, food banks and industry organizations throughout his career. In 1994, he launched the annual Wasatch Front Frozen Turkey Hunt for the Utah Food Bank. In 1998, he helped organize the Music and Sound award review committees for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and led those committees for 2 years.[14] In 2002, he helped found the Game Audio Network Guild and served on its board of directors for 15 years.[15] In 2007, he joined the Advisory Board for the Game Developers Conference (GDC).[16] He has served on Advisory Boards for the Musicians Institute, Brigham Young University and Full Sail University.

Public speaking

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Chance speaks regularly at universities, colleges and professional conferences on the art, craft, tech, and business of music scoring.[17][18] He has spoken at the University of Southern California, University of Michigan, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Oklahoma City University, Berklee College of Music, Full Sail University, Musicians Institute, VRDC, FMX Animation Conference, GameSoundCon and the Game Developers Conference, among many others.[19] Chance won the Ace of Spades Award from GDC in 2010, given to the speaker with the highest rated talk of the entire conference.[20]

Composing Music for Games

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In 2016 CRC Press released Chance's textbook, Composing Music for Games: The Art, Technology and Business of Video Game Scoring. The text is a guidebook for launching and maintaining a career as a video game composer. The book includes sections about scoring principles, specific styles for video game music, and several project assignments and simulations.[5]

Discography

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The lists below show some of Thomas' most notable work in various scoring categories:

Video games

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Year Title Company
1996 The Realm Sierra
1998 Quest For Glory V: Dragon Fire Sierra
1998 Police Quest: SWAT 2 Sierra
2002 Earth & Beyond[21] EA Games
2002 The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers EA Games
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Trailer) Sierra
2002 Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos (Trailer) Blizzard
2003 The Hobbit Sierra
2003 The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring Vivendi Universal Games
2003 Unreal II: The Awakening Legend Entertainment
2005 Peter Jackson's King Kong Ubisoft
2006 Paraworld (Trailer) SEK
2006 Left Behind: Eternal Forces Left Behind Games
2006 X-Men: The Official Game Activision
2006 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Activision
2006 Dungeons & Dragons Online Turbine
2007 The Lord Of The Rings Online: Shadows Of Angmar Warner Bros.
2008 Left Behind: Tribulation Forces Left Behind Games
2008 The Lord Of The Rings Online: Mines Of Moria Warner Bros.
2008 Nerf-N-Strike EA Games
2008 Littlest Pet Shop (Series) EA Games
2009 Nerf-N-Strike Elite EA Games
2009 Champions Online Atari
2009 James Cameron's Avatar Ubisoft
2010 Left Behind 3: Rise of the Antichrist Left Behind Games
2010 Monopoly Streets EA Games
2011 Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars LucasArts
2011 Combat Of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D Ubisoft
2012 Cytus Rayark Games
2012 The Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan Warner Brothers Interactive
2012 Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark Warner Brothers Interactive
2014 Dota 2 TI4 Battle Pass Valve
2014 Valiant Hearts: The Great War Ubisoft
2014 Might & Magic Duel Of Champions: Forgotten Wars Ubisoft
2015 FIVE: Guardians of David Kingdom Games LLC
2017 Faeria Abrakam Entertainment
2017 The Lord of the Rings Online: Mordor Standing Stone Games
2018 DOTA 2 TI8 Battle Pass Valve
2019 Warhammer: Chaosbane Bigben Interactive
2021 Roguebook Nacon
2023 The Settlers: New Allies Ubisoft

Television

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Year Title Company
2003 The Bachelorette ABC
2006 Hometown Heroes PBS
2009 Pawn Stars History Channel
Lifetime
2010 Swamp Men National Geographic Wild
2013 Nathan For You Hulu
2014 Lost Treasure Hunt American Public Television

Film

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Year Title Company
1993 Rigoletto Feature Films For Families
2002 The ChubbChubbs! Columbia Pictures
2007 Inspire: The Chicago Spire Art Film Imageworks
2013 The Life Of Christ LDS Films
2016 Driven In Detroit LDS Films
2013 The Reason Behind Christmas LDS Films
2017 Tales of a Time Traveler Evans and Sutherland

Virtual reality

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Year Title Company
2017 Curse Of The Serpent's Eye The VOID

References

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  1. ^ "Chance Thomas Entry Into Hollywood Scores Oscar Winning Performance - GameZone". GameZone. 2012-05-04. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  2. ^ "Utah composer Chance Thomas scores big with soundtracks, ads for the LDS Church". Deseret News. 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  3. ^ Chance, Thomas (August 21, 2018). "Chance Thomas Discography". Moby Games.
  4. ^ "American Public Television Show Earns Prestigious Daytime Emmy® Nominations | American Public Television". aptonline.org. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  5. ^ a b c Thomas, Chance. "Composing Music for Games". www.routledgetextbooks.com. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  6. ^ a b c "HUGEsound Records". www.hugesoundrecords.com. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  7. ^ "Interview With Chance Thomas, Game Composer". Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  8. ^ a b c d Iwasaki, Scott (2009-11-22). "Utah composer Chance Thomas scores big with soundtracks, ads for the LDS Church". DeseretNews.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  9. ^ "As Chance Would Have It: Thomas Makes Award-winning Music in California Mountain Retreat". LDS Magazine. 18 January 2005. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  10. ^ https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-oklahoman/20130122/282724814296753. Retrieved 2018-08-22 – via PressReader. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ "Composer Interview: Chance Thomas (Lord of the Rings Online, Avatar) - Designing Music NOW". Designing Music NOW. 2017-10-02. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  12. ^ Young, David M. (August 21, 2018). "ADAPTIVE GAME MUSIC: THE EVOLUTION AND FUTURE OF DYNAMIC MUSIC SYSTEMS IN VIDEO GAMES". Electronic Theses and Dissertations Ohiolink.
  13. ^ "Ten Years Making Middle-earth Music: Our Interview With LotRO Composer Chance Thomas - MMO Bomb". MMO Bomb. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  14. ^ "Music Scoring, CHANCE THOMAS Bio". www.chancethomas.com. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  15. ^ IGN Staff (2008-02-29). "Game Audio Network Guild Announces Award Winners for 6th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards". IGN. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  16. ^ "GDC | Advisory Board". www.gdconf.com. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  17. ^ "Interview with Composer, Chance Thomas – The Sound Architect". The Sound Architect. 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  18. ^ "Music Scoring, CHANCE THOMAS News". www.chancethomas.com. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  19. ^ "Music Scoring, CHANCE THOMAS Speaking". www.chancethomas.com. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  20. ^ "HUGEstudios". hugesound.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  21. ^ Marks, Aaron (25 June 2003). "Interview With Chance Thomas, Game Composer". Gamasutra. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
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