Years after the first two Mass Effect games took shape, composer Jack Wall looks back on the quiet labor that built their sound, recalling how working alongside Sam Hulick, Richard Jacques, and David Kates taught him what a shared room can achieve. He describes his own gift as less about writing the notes than about keeping the music and the story pointed in the same direction. In a moment when many in creative fields wonder what machines might take from them, he holds a plain conviction: the work of making art belongs to people, and AI is not an artist.
Mass Effect Composer Jack Wall Calls Collaboration 'Rewarding' and Says AI 'Is Not an Artist'
"AI is not an artist."
Mark
Why does a composer talking about collaboration matter for a game that's nearly two decades old?
Mimi
Because Mass Effect's score wasn't one voice. Wall worked with Sam Hulick, Richard Jacques, and David Kates, and he says that taught him how valuable working with other composers is.
Luke
Worth noting that this is Wall's own account. We have his words, not the other composers' perspectives.
Mark
He calls himself a decent composer but says his strength is storytelling. What does he mean?
Mimi
He sees his role as making sure production and music serve the story, and guiding a team there. Direction as much as composition.
Mark
And the 30,000-foot comment?
Mimi
Collaboration lets you step back and see how the pieces fit. He says you can do it alone, but it's easier and more fluid with others.
Luke
That's a personal working preference, not a claim about how all scores should be made.
Mark
Then there's the AI line.
Mimi
He said plainly that AI is not an artist, in the context of it replacing people in games.
Luke
The excerpt gives us that one sentence. We don't have his full reasoning or any specific project he was responding to, so I'd be careful reading more into it.
O Pulso
- Jack Wall reflects on Mass Effect's score, a project built by a team rather than one composer's hand.
- He credits collaboration with teaching him a value he had not fully grasped before, pushing him to see the bigger picture.
- Wall names his real strength as guiding the story, steering music and production so every sound serves the narrative.
- He rejects AI as a replacement for game artists, declaring flatly that AI is not an artist.
Years after the first two Mass Effect games took shape, composer Jack Wall looks back on the quiet labor that built their sound, recalling how working alongside Sam Hulick, Richard Jacques, and David Kates taught him what a shared room can achieve. He describes his own gift as less about writing the notes than about keeping the music and the story pointed in the same direction. In a moment when many in creative fields wonder what machines might take from them, he holds a plain conviction: the work of making art belongs to people, and AI is not an artist.
Jack Wall, who composed the music for the first two Mass Effect games, has been looking back on what it was like to build the series' score alongside other composers. In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, he described the project as a rewarding collaboration that taught him something he hadn't fully grasped before. The score was a team effort, shared with Sam Hulick, Richard Jacques, and David Kates.
Wall was candid about his own strengths. He called himself a decent enough composer, but said his real talent lies in storytelling: making sure the music and production serve the story and guiding a team toward that goal. He described music as an unseen character that tells the story through sound and helps players feel immersed. Working with others, he said, lets you rise to a 30,000-foot view and see how everything fits together, arriving at answers in what he called a 1 + 1 = 3 way. There was a practical upside too: having music finished sooner means it can be played with in the game and refined.
Asked about artificial intelligence as a replacement in video games, Wall gave a short, unequivocal answer: AI is not an artist.
Jack Wall, who composed the music for the first two Mass Effect games, has been looking back on what it was like to build the series' score alongside other composers. In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, he described the project as a rewarding collaboration, one that taught him something he says he hadn't fully grasped before.
The interview also touched on BioWare's closure, which Wall reacted to. The score for the original sci-fi RPG was a team effort: Wall worked with Sam Hulick, Richard Jacques, and David Kates. Wall said Mass Effect was the game that helped him understand the value and importance of working with other composers, and how much fun it can be.
He was candid about where he sees his own strengths. He called himself a decent enough composer, but said his real talent lies in storytelling: making sure the production and the music serve the story, and guiding a team toward that goal. In his telling, the job is as much about direction as it is about writing notes.
Wall also explained why he thinks collaboration paid off over the long run, despite his own abilities. Sometimes, he said, it is easier to work with other composers to meet the aim of making music an unseen character in the game, one that tells the story through sound and helps players feel more immersed.
He offered an image for how that works in practice. With others in the room, he said, you can suddenly float up to the 30,000-foot level and see how everything is supposed to fit together. You can do that alone, he allowed, but it is easier and more fluid with a team, and you arrive at an answer in what he called a 1 + 1 = 3 way.
There was a practical upside too. Wall said he likes the instant gratification of having the music finished sooner, so that it can be played with in the game and refined.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Wall gave his position on artificial intelligence being used as a replacement in video games. His answer was short and unequivocal: AI is not an artist.
The interview also covered how orchestral and synth music shaped the first two Mass Effect games. For readers following game music and the debate over AI in creative work, Wall's comments offer a working composer's view from one of the genre's best-known scores.
Citações Notáveis
This was the game that helped me understand the value, importance, and just how much fun and rewarding collaborating with other composers can be.— Jack Wall
AI is not an artist.— Jack Wall
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