I recently recieved the following email and since I get these question often I thought I’d share the answers in a public post.

From:
Chad Smith

Message:
Mr. Hodges,

I’m not sure if “fan” is the right word, but I’ve certainly been an
appreciater (if that’s a word) of your work for quite a few years now.
I’m sure you probably have better things to do than shoot the breeze
with some random e-mailer, but there have been a few questions that
I’ve found myself asking every since the first time I played Doom64.
After having gladly shelled out money for your FLAC soundtrack (great
idea, by the way) I couldn’t help but take the opportunity to finally
ask these burning questions, if you would humble me with a response
(or not – I know you’re a busy guy).

I am always happy to answer que...

The inspiration for Dragonvale’s score was to reinforce the peaceful and idyllic setting of the dragon parks. To do this I needed to create a style that would be pleasant to hear and emotionally lift the player into the right mood for the game. I wanted to avoid going for an “epic” score because I was trying to make sure the audience would feel more intimately connected to their parks. Once I determined what mood and scope the pieces should be I needed to come up with an instrument arrangement that would allow me to capture that expression and emotion. When the dust had settled I chose a handful of instrument to comprise the score…the Celtic harp, flute, recorder, oboe, clarinet, tambourine, triangle and nylon (classical) guitar...