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Christopher Larkin (composer)
Australian composer of soundtracks From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Christopher James Larkin is an Australian composer for video games, film, and television, best known for his work on Hollow Knight (2017) and its upcoming sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025). Some of his other works include Pac-Man 256, Outfolded, TOHU, and Hacknet.
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Early life and education
Christopher James Larkin[1] was born in Adelaide, South Australia.[citation needed]
Larkin studied composition at Brighton Secondary School, then at the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide.[2][3]
Larkin began composing music at a young age and collaborated with filmmaking students while he attended the Elder Conservatorium.[citation needed]
In October 2015, he submitted his thesis for an MPhil in music composition, entitled "Orchestrating the wasteland: sample library engineering as an integral process of realising the music for Wastelander Panda".[1]
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Career
Larkin composed the score for the web series Wastelander Panda: Exile, released in 2014 as a second set of three 10-minute episodes.[4]
He knew Ari Gibson, the director of Team Cherry, prior to starting work on their game, Hollow Knight, which was released in 2017. He found out about the project when it was still a Kickstarter and decided to send in a demo for the project.[5][3] He then worked with Team Cherry to produce a full soundtrack for the game, and it was released in 2017 to critical acclaim. As of April 2024[update] he is continuing his collaboration with Team Cherry on Hollow Knight's upcoming sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong.[6]
In 2021 Larkin composed the music for the video game TOHU.[7][8]
He works as a professional composer and sound designer for visual media such as film, TV, and video games.
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Other activities
Larkin spoke at the High Score 2023 conference hosted by APRA AMCOS, alongside Yoko Shimomura.[9]
Compositional style
Larkin integrates elements of his classical training with a diverse range of musical styles. He draws inspiration from Romantic composers such as Debussy as well as visual-media composers such as James Newton, Joe Hisaishi, and Koji Kondo.[10]
His most notable work, the Hollow Knight soundtrack, is characterised as conveying "dark elegance and melancholy."[10] The soundtrack is largely orchestral and employs recurring leitmotifs throughout different tracks, each often corresponding to a location or character.[11]
For the adventure game TOHU, produced by Fireart Games,[7] Larkin used the digital audio workstation Cubase to create a musical score that reflects the game's whimsical story and visuals. His process involved observing the gameplay sent to him by the developers, and sonically interpreting those visual elements.[8]
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List of works
Larkin has composed music for the following productions:
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Awards
- 2015: Best Composition, South Australian Screen Awards[28]
- 2016: Best Sound Design, South Australian Screen Awards[29]
- 2017: Best Sound for Interactive Media, Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards[30]
- 2021: Best Score, South Australian Screen Awards 2021[31]
References
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