Dren McDonald
McDonald in 2021
Born
Richard Dren McDonald[1]

Long Beach, California, United States
Occupations
  • Composer
  • Arranger
  • Music producer
  • Musician
Years active1994-Present

Richard Dren McDonald is an American songwriter, arranger, music producer, and composer.

McDonald has composed music for video games such as Ravenwood Fair, Skulls of the Shogun, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Commander.[2] McDonald has also released albums with several different musical projects, including two as a member of Giant Ant Farm and two as a member of Grndntl Brnds, which were released on the label he founded, Vaccination Records.

Career

Early career

McDonald's discography began in 1994 with the release of Giant Ant Farm's Fortune on Vaccination Records.[3][4]

Giant Ant Farm photographed in downtown Los Angeles in 1994. Members photographed here are Dren McDonald, Diane Barkauskas, Hannes Giger, Sherri Solinger, Jerry Wheeler and Mike Flanagan.[5]

The album was reviewed in the Los Angeles Times, with critic Mike Boehm writing "[i]n contrast to the overt expressions of anger and dread you get in most punk songs about the declining state of things, McDonald offers symbolic and metaphoric dreamscapes"[3]

In 1995, McDonald made an appearance as a turntablist on John Cage's Europeras 3 & 4 with the Long Beach Opera on Mode Records.[6] In 1996, Giant Ant Farm's second album, an EP titled Dressed in Milk, was released.[6]

In 1996, McDonald also made an appearance on the compilation record, Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents (a tribute to the art collective The Residents), appearing with artists such as Primus, Cracker, Stan Ridgway, and Vaccination Records labelmates Charming Hostess, The Poxy Boggards, and The Residents themselves.[7][8][9]

McDonald served as a stage manager at the 1997 Making Waves music festival in San Francisco, which featured multiple performers from Vaccination Records.[10] McDonald also moderated a panel at the North by Northwest media conference and festival in 1998.[11]

Dren McDonald and Nina Rolle of Giant Ant Farm performing at the Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents record release party at The Stork Club, Oakland, CA in 1996.

McDonald's next releases came with the band Grndntl Brnds (pronounced Grand National Brands) with Communicating for Influence (2000) and The Great Dumbening (2002). The band debuted in 1998 and often changed the second half of their name for shows.[12] Besides McDonald, Grndntl Brnds included members of Fibulator, Little My, and Molecules.[13] The Great Dumbening would also be the last title released by Vaccination Records.[14]

McDonald also took over The Residents' Ralph America merchandise business and founded a new e-commerce business called Clamazon.[15] Clamazon sold albums and music packages and included internet radio stations and a database of music credits that helped users find related music.[15]

In the early 2000s, McDonald began to change his career and looked into working on video game music and sound.[2]

Video game industry career

McDonald has composed music for video games such as Ravenwood Fair, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Commander, Skulls of the Shogun, Dangerous Dave Deluxe, and the video game adaptation of Transformers: Age of Extinction.[2]

Dren McDonald conducting The String Arcade during a recording session in 2013 in Oakland, CA.

In 2014, McDonald created the musical sound design for Elevate,[2] Apple's pick for App of the Year in 2014.[16] That same year he also contributed to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Music Kits and released a fundraiser album of video game music arranged for string quartet, entitled The String Arcade.[17] The String Arcade release gave 100% of its sales and streaming revenue to Alameda Music Project (now known as Bay Area Music Project).[18] It won an award at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards in 2015 for Best Game Music Cover/Remix.[19][2]

Later that year, McDonald organized a Music in Schools fundraiser with Humble Bundle, putting together a large bundle of music and games that also went to support Alameda Music Project. The collection included The String Arcade along with releases from Jello Biafra (and three other titles from his label, Alternative Tentacles), unreleased cues from Sam Hulick's Mass Effect 3 soundtrack, soundtracks from Fez, Dear Esther, FTL, and Spelunky.[20]

In 2015, McDonald contributed soundtracks to Pontoco's Gathering Sky.[21][22] Many of the game’s reviews recognized McDonald's interactive score.[23][24][25] The score was recorded at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where McDonald would later teach as an adjunct professor; it was the first project recorded at SFCM's brand new Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) facilities.[21][24][26]

In 2016, McDonald won three awards at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards for his work on Gathering Sky, namely Best Audio for an Indie Game, Best Sound Design in a Casual/Social Game, and Best Game Audio Article, Publication, or Broadcast.[27]

That same year, McDonald appeared in the documentary Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound which included a compendium book.[28] He also wrote began a game project called Fire Child which remains unfinished, though a trailer for the game has been released.[29]

That year he also began work on another game with John Romero, Gunman Taco Truck, which was designed by Romero's stepson, Donovan.[30] The Gunman Taco Truck soundtrack used unusual recording techniques to help create the sound of a dystopian mariachi band, such as mechanical filters[31][32] while recording live musicians.[33][34]

Film scores

In 2019, McDonald scored the full-length documentary The Edge of Success, which was shown at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival.[35][36]

Academia

McDonald is an adjunct professor in the new Technology and Applied Composition program (TAC) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.[37][38]

McDonald has contributed to the academic publications The Game Audio Strategy Guide: A Practical Course[39] and The Beep Book: Documenting the History of Game Sound.[40]

Other projects

McDonald composed the jingle for Instagram’s Superzoom feature. In 2019, McDonald spoke on the subject of AR audio at AES,[41] In 2020, McDonald spoke at the D.E.W. conference about AR and audio/music.[42]

In 2022, McDonald scored and audio directed the VR animation, Mescaform Hill: The Missing Five produced by Oculus/Meta. The animated VR project was created with Quill and premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June 2022.[43]

McDonald also scored the VR animation Perennials, which was produced by Meta and premiered at the Venice Immersive section of the Venice Film Festival in September 2023.[44]

polyheDren

In 2020, McDonald began a music collaboration project, polyheDren,[45] with a series of musical guests as a fundraiser for Bay Area Music Project.[46][47] polyheDren’s first full length record was released in April 2022.[48] The album was produced, mixed and written by McDonald, with each song featuring a different music collaboration.[49] Collaborators include Josh Freese (NIN, Sting, Devo) and The Residents.

After working together on polyheDren, in January 2023, McDonald joined Josh Freese at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for a 50th Anniversary concert for The Residents, along with several other guest performers including Les Claypool (Primus), David J (Bauhaus), Ego Plum, Pamela Z, and The San Francisco Girls Chorus. The concert was organized by SFCM's Edwin Outwater.[50]

Guitar orchestra

In 2022, McDonald began releasing a suite of instrumental singles emulating the sound of a guitar orchestra, layering guitar parts to create this sound.[51][52][53] A full length album of these pieces, titled Pterous, was released in April 2023 through Appearing Records.[52]

Awards

  • 1997: San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay: Best Reason to Graft a 3rd Ear to Your Forehead – Vaccination Records[54]
  • 2011: Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) Awards: Distinguished Service Award[55]
  • 2015: Game Audio Network Guild (GANG): Best Remix/Cover Song – "Grasswalk" (Plants vs. Zombies), The String Arcade[56]
  • 2016: Game Audio Network Guild (GANG): Best Game Audio Article – Audio Journals: Gathering Sky (GamaSutra)[57]
  • 2016: Game Audio Network Guild (GANG): Best Sound Design in a Casual Game – Gathering Sky[57]
  • 2016: Game Audio Network Guild (GANG): Best Indie Game Audio – Gathering Sky[57]

Discography

Giant Ant Farm

  • Fortune (Vaccination Records, 1994, CD)[58]
  • Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents (Vaccination Records, 1996, CD – compilation)[58]
  • Dressed in Milk (Vaccination Records, 1996, CD)[58]

Grndntl Brnds

  • Communicating for Influence (Vaccination Records, 2000, CD)[58]
  • Rawk Party (Vaccination Records, 2000, CD – compilation)
  • The Great Dumbening (Vaccination Records, 2002, CD)[58]

polyheDren

  • Psychic (BAMP Records, 2022, CD/digital/LP/Atmos)[48]

Solo Works

  • Original Soundtrack – Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate's Hideout (Nerdtracks Recordings, 2015, CD/digital)[59]
  • Original Soundtrack – Gathering Sky (Nerdtracks Recordings, 2015, digital)[59]
  • Original Soundtrack – Gunman Taco Truck (Nerdtracks Recordings, 2017, CD/digital)[59]
  • J. (Appearing Records, 2022, digital)[60]
  • D. Part 1 (Appearing Records, 2022, digital)[60]
  • H. (Appearing Records, 2023, digital)[60]

Contributor

  • John Cage, Europeras 3 & 4 (Mode Records, 1995, CD)[6]
  • Moe!kestra!, Knormalities V. 2 Exclamatories! (DephineKnormal/Amanita, 2000, 7")[61]
  • Robot Arm, Giant (Motherf**kingjackson Recordings, 2002, CD)[62]
  • The Residents: Secret Show (Live In San Francisco), Double Vinyl Edition, 2024[63]

References

  1. ↑ "BEACHLIGHT MEDITATION". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Zientek, John (2015-11-02). "An Inside Look at How Video Game Music Is Composed". Gear Patrol.
  3. 1 2 Boehm, Mike (1995-04-13). "GAF, Soul Scream: Acts of Individualism". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  4. ↑ "Cage: Europeras 3 and 4 – Mode Records". Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  5. ↑ "Interview: Dren McDonald and Skulls of the Shogun". designingsound.org. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  6. 1 2 3 "Dren McDonald Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  7. ↑ "Various Artists - Eyesore: A Stab at the Residents Album Reviews, Songs & More", AllMusic, retrieved 2023-10-29
  8. ↑ "Penn Jillette – The Vogue". Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  9. ↑ Cerio, Steven (2010-05-30). "Interview with The Residents- Seconds #43 (1997)". StevenCerio.com. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  10. ↑ Prestianni, Sam (1997-07-02). "Barely a Ripple". SFWEEKLY. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  11. ↑ Steininger, Alex (October 1998). "In Music We Trust - NORTH BY NORTHWEST: Conferences and Music". www.inmusicwetrust.com. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  12. ↑ Hemm, Mae (1998-11-26). "Mae Hemm: Week of Nov.26th-Dec.2nd". SFGATE. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  13. ↑ Hemm, Mae (1999-02-05). "Mae Hemm: Week of Feb.5th-11th". SFGATE. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  14. ↑ "Vaccination Records". Archived from the original on 2003-03-25. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  15. 1 2 Hurwitt, Sam (2001-06-08). "All About the Clam". East Bay Express. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  16. ↑ Graham, Jefferson (2014-12-08). "Meet Apple's iPhone app of the year: Elevate". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  17. ↑ "The String Arcade — available today — beautifully combines video game music with string instruments". VentureBeat. 2014-02-11. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  18. ↑ Cowan, Danny (2014-01-28). "Classic game themes get classier in string quartet album The String Arcade". Engadget. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  19. ↑ Savery, Richard (2015-03-10). "13th Annual GANG Awards Winners". Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  20. ↑ "Humble "Music in Schools" Bundle - Raise Funds for Music Education".
  21. 1 2 "Gathering Sky". Pontoco. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  22. ↑ Hickey Jr., Patrick (2016-01-09). "Dren McDonald Talks "Dangerous Dave" and More". Review Fix. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  23. ↑ Chalk, Andy (2015-08-14). "Gathering Sky is a short, meditative game about birds in a distant world". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  24. 1 2 Hudson, Laura (2015-08-13). "Soar on the wind as a flock of birds in Gathering Sky". Boing Boing. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  25. ↑ Rochefort, Simone de (2015-09-08). "Gathering Sky Review: A Relaxing, Immersive Journey". Pixelkin. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  26. ↑ "San Francisco Conservatory of Music stretches bounds". www.yourclassical.org. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  27. ↑ "2016 G.A.N.G. Awards Winners". Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  28. ↑ Collins, Karen (October 2016). "Game Sound in the Mechanical Arcades: An Audio Archaeology". Game Studies. 16 (1). ISSN 1604-7982.
  29. ↑ "FIRE CHILD Blends Cartoon Style Animation with Creepiness". GameTyrant. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  30. ↑ "A 10-year-old designs Gunman Taco Truck with help from legendary gaming parents". VentureBeat. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  31. ↑ Savery, Richard (2015-09-29). "Dren McDonald on Gathering Sky and Gunman Taco Truck". Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  32. ↑ Levine, Mike (2017-06-13). "Of Mutants, Tacos, and Mariachi". Electronic Musician. Archived from the original on 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  33. ↑ Orr, Ed (2017-11-14). "Our Gunman Taco Truck Review". www.gamespace.com. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  34. ↑ "Gunman Taco Truck". TouchArcade. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  35. ↑ The Edge of Success, retrieved 2023-02-01
  36. ↑ "Fingerprints - Cleveland International Film Festival :: March 22 - April 1, 2023". www.clevelandfilm.org. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  37. ↑ "GAME215: Audio Direction | Course Web Pages (Old Site)". courses.soe.ucsc.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  38. ↑ "In San Francisco, Video Games Are Classical Music's New Frontier". KQED. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  39. ↑ Zdanowicz, Gina; Bambrick, Spencer (2019). The Game Audio Strategy Guide: A Practical Course (1st ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. pp. Acknowledgements. ISBN 9781138498341.
  40. ↑ Collins, Karen; Greening, Chris (2016). The Beep Book: Documenting the History of Game Sound. Ehtonal. ASIN B01J1YDNQ8.
  41. ↑ "AES New York 2019 » Game Audio & XR Track Event Details". www.aes.org. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  42. ↑ Modi, Naman (2020-01-28). "Dren McDonald". Digital Entertainment World. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  43. ↑ "Mescaform Hill: The Missing Five | 2022 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  44. ↑ Balaga, Marta (2023-09-05). "Zoe Roellin Gets Personal in Meta-Produced 'Perennials': 'This Story Is All About This Abandoned House and the Emotions Tied to It'". Variety. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  45. ↑ "Music Collaborations For Fundraising". polyhedren music. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  46. ↑ "stringarcadeproject". BAY AREA MUSIC PROJECT. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  47. ↑ Morris, Kurt (2022-11-15). "POLYHEDREN: Psychic: CD". Razorcake. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  48. 1 2 "PRESS PLAY: New Albums out April 29th!". WXPN. 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  49. ↑ "polyheDren and the spoken word avant funk rock fusion of "Sixteen Gold Candles" feat. The Residents & Josh Freese (Official Video) - AMERICAN PANCAKE". www.americanpancake.com. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  50. ↑ Heigl, Alex (2023-01-17). "SFCM Hosts Beloved SF Avant-Garde Rockers The Residents for Winter Term". SFCM. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  51. ↑ "Appearing Records". Appearing Records. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  52. 1 2 Times-Standard, The (2023-05-04). "Oakland musician delves into 'guitar orchestra'". Times-Standard. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  53. ↑ "Apr23 Full_Issue.pdf | Weekly Bulletin" (PDF).
  54. ↑ "Entertainment & Nightlife". Best of the Bay. 1997-07-30. Archived from the original on 2000-05-16. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  55. ↑ "2011 Awards". Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  56. ↑ Savery, Richard (2015-03-10). "13th Annual GANG Awards Winners". Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  57. 1 2 3 "2016 G.A.N.G. Awards Winners". Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  58. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dren McDonald Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  59. 1 2 3 Ken Gagne (2015-11-18), "IndieSider #34: Dangerous Dave with Dren McDonald", IndieSider, vol. #34, retrieved 2023-12-20
  60. 1 2 3 "Dren McDonald Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  61. ↑ "Rock Lottery Black Box Benefit". Bay Improviser. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  62. ↑ "Robot Arm – Giant". Discogs.
  63. ↑ "The Residents: Secret Show (Live In San Francisco), Double Vinyl Edition". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
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