We here at Sick Drummer Magazine were very excited to hear that Darren Cesca was hired to drum on a track to be featured in 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – Apocalypse'. This to be Treyarch and Activision’s fourth and final DLC map pack for Call of Duty®: Black Ops 2, capping-off the year with two all-new Multiplayer Maps, two re-imagined fan-favorite Multiplayer classics, and an alternate-reality Dieselpunk Zombies experience that transports players to the undead-infested trenches of a World War I battlefield.
Darren Cesca is an incredible drummer from Connecticut, who graduated the Berklee College of Music and has played with many bands including: Arsis, Goratory, Incinerate, Vile, Pillory, Burn In Silence, and most recently Eschaton. Darren proudly endorses TRX Cymbals – DB Drum Shoes and tracked his parts for this project at his own Grind House Studios.
Full Drum Play-Through of "Archangel"
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When we asked Darren about his thoughts on the opportunity, he simply stated: "When I was initially hired for the job I figured it would be typical drumming. They asked me to [do what I do]. It's super exciting and I think the drum video captures that. I just want our music to reach as far as possible."
Here is what Darren had to say about what this might do for the exposure/growth of extreme drumming: "People love putting labels on things and with labels come stereotypes and assumptions. So in many cases people won’t give certain styles of music a chance. They won’t even listen to it because of what they think it’s all about without actually knowing. I understand that listening to extreme, brutal music isn’t for everyone but most people that I’ve shown my work to, regardless of preferred music listening style, can appreciate the musicianship and skill of what they’re hearing. I wanted to combine that musicianship and skill along with a powerful gaming experience to see how gamers reacted to it."
"The feedback has all been really positive. It’s great to hear from people that may know nothing of my past work but because I’m part of this game that they love so much, they’re into what I’ve done. This may get those video game fans to be more tolerant or even enjoy extreme music simply because they know it’s a part of a game they love. Who knows, we might get some permanent new fan crossover as well. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing as long as people enjoy it."
We asked how he was approached to take part in the project and what time frame he had to work on it. Cesca stated: "Sometime around May 2013 I received an email contact from Treyarch sound designer, Kevin Sherwood. He was someone that attended Berklee College of Music around the same time that I had and wanted to work with me at some point down the line. In this case it was to collaborate and write a song for the upcoming Activison/Treyarch release of a new Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 expansion."
"I’ve been a big fan of video game soundtracks for quite some time, (ever since the 80’s with 8-bit Nintendo) and would take any opportunity to get involved more in the industry. I wasn’t sure musically what direction the song would go in, but I was interested none the less. To my surprise I was given pretty much free reign with the drum composition for this piece. I wanted to write something technical and heavy but at the same time enhance the song and make it fun for the gamers to listen to."
"In July of 2013 I received the first half of the composition and began work immediately. I’ve been doing session work over the internet for years now, so my methods for writing, arranging and recording worked perfectly for what Kevin and Treyarch were looking for. The preproduction phase went quickly and everyone was pleased with how the writing was turning out. Unfortunately this was at a time when I was packing up my home and studio to move to a new house at the end of July."
"Around the last week of July I learned that there was a deadline of August 11th to have the drum files uploaded. At that point my drums as well as my studio were packed up already for the move which did make me a bit nervous. I rebuilt the studio, as well as my kit at the new location within a day, printed out the sheet music and got to work. On the weekend of August 3rd I mic’d up the kit, tracked the song, and sent the files off shortly there after. I made sure that this was a deadline that would not be missed."
From Treyarch's YouTube Channel – Sound Engineer Discussing The Collaberation
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Knowing how the industry works in regards to rights and royalties, we wanted to know if Darren was to receive any residual income, or compensation for his participation in the project. More times than not, unfortunately, the musicians are the ones who make the least amount of money on albums, tours etc… and this looks to be no different, even though it's a great opportunity for Darren and extreme drumming recognition!
Darren commented: "In this situation I was hired strictly as an independent contractor/musician. I name my hourly rate, send off an invoice, fill out a tax form and they pay me. Whenever working with a large company like Activision you essentially have to sign away any rights that you have to the music since they want to own it in every conceivable way possible. I figured that would be part of the deal, so it wasn’t a big deal to be honest. Everything has gone smoothly though."
Moving forward, we were interested in knowing if Darren would be pursuing other similar opportunities, and how one might try to achieve this. It's hard enough to be in a metal band making any amount of considerable pay, so opportunities like this struck us as a great way to make extra income doing what you love – if you get your foot in the door!
Darren tells us: "I will definitely be using this to try and open up the doors for more session work in the video game industry. I love extreme, technical drumming and if I can bring it into a different environment with a different audience I’m all for it. I’ve done quite a bit video game music arranging in the past just for personal projects. Recently I wrote an arrangement of Castlevania music along with Joshua Berry (Eschaton Guitarist) and have put the drum video out on my youtube channel. So please check that out to hear our take on old school game music with a modern twist – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMnX3jgXHuA
The game was officially released on August 27th and is available around the globe…
From Treyarch's YouTube Channel – The official online game trailer "Archangel"
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