Matthew Carl Earl

Matthew Carl Earl
Background information
Born	(1993-02-01) February 1, 1993 Roseville, California, United States
Genres	Video games metal
Occupation(s)	Composer, sound designer, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Piano, drums, guitar, flute, ukulele, mandolin, penny whistle, recorder, bagpipes
Years active	2011–present
Associated acts	Xanthochroid
Website	https://www.matthewcarlearl.com

Matthew Carl Earl (born February 1, 1993) is an American video game composer, multi-instrumentalist, and sound designer, best known for his work on Arena of Valor. He is the lead composer at Hexany Audio^[1] and a member of the metal band Xanthochroid.^[2]

Early life and influences

Earl was born and raised in Roseville, California. He began learning the piano at six years old and the drums at twelve years old. He also began playing video games on the Nintendo 64. During middle school, he began playing the guitar and was a member of his school's jazz band. In high school, he was influenced by metal bands Nile and Decapitated. He became a member of his school's drum line and chorus and began composing pieces for the chorus. While attending Dana Hills High School, he undertook a three-year apprenticeship at a local music production studio. He also began playing the flute, penny whistle, ukulele, mandolin, recorder, and bagpipes. At 17 years old, he began teaching the variety of instruments at a local music studio.

After leaving high school in 2010, Earl studied classical composition at Saddleback College and became a member of the band Xanthochroid.

He cites Neal Acree as one of his biggest musical influences, in addition to John Williams, John Powell, Giacomo Puccini, Henry Purcell, John Rutter, and Eric Whitacre; and metal bands, including Moonsorrow and Dimmu Borgir.^[3] He also cites World of Warcraft as inspiring him to focus on music composition and sound design for video games, rather than film and television.^[4]

Career

Upon leaving college, Earl began composing for trailers, films, and video games, before transitioning into fantasy games, indie titles, and sound design.^[5][6] He also joined the metal band Xanthochroid, whose albums include Incultus, Blessed He with Boils, Of Erthe and Axen Act I, and Of Erthe and Axen Act II.^[7]

In 2014, Earl joined Hexany Audio. In 2016, he became their lead composer and co-owner along with Richard Ludlow.^[8][9] He has served as composer and sound designer on multiple video games since, including Zula,^[10] Winterflame: The Other Side, King's Quest, the Assassin's Creed Syndicate trailer spot, Into the Stars, The Arcslinger, and Moonlight Blade: Moonlight Over the Sea. In 2017, he composed the score for the highly anticipated North American release of Arena of Valor.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Filmography

Awards and nominations

In 2017, Hexany Audio won the Game Audio Network Guild Award for Best Music in a Casual/Social Game: Strike of Kings / Realm of Valor / (aka Arena of Valor).^[19]

In 2017, Earl was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award for Original Score in a Video Game for his work on Moonlight Blade: Moonlight Over the Sea.^[20][21] That same year, he was nominated for a Best Music for the China Game Developers Award for Kingdom Craft.^[22]

References

External links

• Matthew Carl Earl Official Site
• Hexany Audio Official Site
• Xanthochroid Official Site
• Matthew Carl Earl on SoundCloud