JUNE 2024
Mason Lieberman is an award-winning composer, audio director, and producer known for his contributions to the gaming and anime zeitgeist. He prides himself on being a problem-solver whose biggest passion is always to connect people through music.
Beginning his professional journey as a freelance composer, he got his start composing on anime series like Rooster Teeth's RWBY and Beyblade Burst Evolution, amongst many others. His music has enhanced the heroics of franchises like Spider-Man, Mobile Suit Gundam, Ultraman, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, while lending epic gravitas to titles like PUBG Mobile, Apex Legends Mobile, Teamfight Tactics, EVO, Omega Strikers, Eden, Game for Peace, Devil Engine, Soundfall, Bread & Fred, Renaine, and many others.
As a cellist, guitarist, and vocalist, Mason has had the great pleasure of working with a wide variety of film and gaming franchises, with personal favorites including Pokémon, Stars Wars: Visions, The Rising of the Shield Hero, Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. franchise, Riot Games' League of Legends, Guild Wars 2, AMC's The Walking Dead, Made in Abyss, Arknights, Tower of God, Warhammer: Vermintide, the Grammy-nominated Stray Gods, Sega’s Sin Chronicle, Hell's Kitchen, and God Eater.
He is currently in-house as a senior composer and game audio supervisor for Tencent, the largest video-game company in the world. In this position, he has the indescribable honor of working with many of the best audio professionals in the industry on a daily basis.
Hello Mason…
MASA: I hear your musical nature revealed itself at a very early age! Can you tell us how you built your skills over the years, and then how that led to your first break into the industry?
MASON: Well, I began playing cello at five, and it's all been downhill ever since! In all seriousness, I owe a tremendous debt to my parents for allowing me to pursue music in the first place, to the many teachers who pushed me to realize this could be a path forward for me, and to my college music friends for challenging me to be better. I owe my first major works as a composer to Jeff Williams, who during my undergrad was the lead composer for the Rooster Teeth series RWBY. He initially hired me as a cellist, and then as an assistant, and finally as a composer on his team. Without him and RWBY, I have no idea where I'd be.
MASA: What drew you to composing for video games specifically?
MASON: Video games are (for me) one of the most enjoyable musical mediums out there. Interactive music design means that every game score is a Rubik's cube waiting to be solved; there are so many ways you can tie together a given soundtrack, and those unique techniques have really come to define the way video game music is experienced. To me, working on such a creatively-flexible medium is a dream come true.
MASA: Would love to hear about your role at Tencent...
MASON: I am a senior composer and audio supervisor for Tencent! The exact responsibilities depend on which title I'm working on within our stable, but I am somewhere between a composer, an audio director, or a music director for most titles I deal with. Some of the titles I contribute to through this role include PUBG Mobile, Game for Peace, Teamfight Tactics: Golden Spatula, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Apex Legends Mobile, and more!
MASA: And how about your experiences on the aforementioned, multiple MASA-nominated anime series, RWBY?
MASON: I learned a ton on RWBY. It was my first truly professional linear scoring experience, and it had a hell of a production cycle; songs were being written every week, in addition to the scores. The show already had a huge reputation for score before I was involved, so it really meant a lot to be entrusted with even a small part of that responsibility as a first job.
MASA: Looking back on your career, do you have a project that you are most proud of, and why?
MASON: Hard to say-- every project is special for a different reason. Most of the time, I don't remember the music as much as I do the people whom I had the honor of making it with. If I had to pick one, I supposed the charity projects (and especially the Cowboy Bebop charity vinyl) hold an especially meaningful spot in my life. They came at a really impactful point in my journey, and allowed me a chance to work with some of my all-time favorite musicians (artists like Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, Jun Senoue, Guthrie Govan, Austin Wintory, and more). I don't think I'd be who I am today if I hadn't gotten to be a part of those projects.
MASA: Can you name some of the composers, games or shows that have inspired you over the years?
MASON: Oh man. An endless list. Manaka Kataoka, Adam Gubman, Jason Walsh, Manami Matsumae, Yoko Shimomura, Austin Wintory, Tee Lopes, Prokofiev, Dave Grohl, Reign of Kindo, Jeff & Casey Williams, Darren Korb, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Kevin Penkin, Lance Treviño, Ludvig Forssell, Shoji Meguro, John Williams, Koji Kondo, Shota Nakama, Yasunori Nishiki, Wilbert Roget, James Landino, Masahiro Aoki, Takahiro Obata, Yuki Kajiura--- I'll probably go on forever if I don't cut this off eventually.
MASA: What are some of the most exciting trends you see emerging in video game music composition?
MASON: I think we're seeing more and more appreciation for the power of song in gaming over time. A really well-composed song can make such a connection for players, becoming something of a needle-drop time capsule that can bring people right back to the moment they first fell in love with their favorite game. Vocals are often the fastest way to reach the heart, and game music is full of spectacular vocalists whose work has really pushed the envelope for quality.
MASA: When you start working on a new game score, what's the first thing you do to get a feel for the game's world? Is it diving into concept art, chatting with the developers, or something else entirely?
MASON: It's always a conversation, followed by playing whatever build might exist. Games exist to be played, so the music's first priority is always to enhance a player's sense of immersion and agency. I talk with the creative director to get a better grasp on the goals of the game thematically, physically, and emotionally, dig into whatever art we've got, play the build (if one exists), and then start ideating. I love to write a bit before I begin designing explicit in-game assets, because sometimes it can really help to shape the world a bit by coming in with inspirational material.
MASA: What video game soundtrack do you think is criminally underrated??
MASON: Underrated? Oof. Maybe Manaka Kataoka's Tears of the Kingdom, which I think is one of the finest examples of intellectual scoring in all of gaming. Deeply inspired by the works of Ravel, I think it's telling how at no point does the score ever talk down to its listeners. It trusts us to understand what it's laying down. For something a little less known, I think I'd probably have to point to John Robert Matz's Tchia. John's one of the most melodically-minded composers in the industry, and someone whose work constantly blows me away. He's a genius, and his sense of world-building is iconic.
MASA: And lastly, what will you be looking for when judging? What makes a piece of work worthy of a Music+Sound Award?
MASON: A sense of identity! I love it when a score really knows what it wants to be, and has no fear of standing out. For me, I'll be looking for sonic cohesion, inspired ideas, and music that has something to say. Good luck, everyone!
MASA: Thank you, Mason, for this facinating insight into your world. It is an honour to have you on 2024’s Music+Sound Awards jury.
Take a look at Mason’s site HERE
And Tencent’s HERE
