When the war rages and the fight becomes brutal, the soundtrack to Transformers Universe comes into its own. British composer James Hannigan is the man behind our music and he’s been telling Forbes online just what it is like to create the track behind the action.

In this exclusive interview, James reveals how he has brought a far grittier tone to the traditional musical feel of Transformers.

And having worked on gaming soundtracks for the likes of Harry Potter, Dead Space 3 and Lord of the Rings, he’s a man with all the right experience when it comes to leading the fight on the musical battlefield.

He’s also a big fan of Transformers and tells of his excitement at using a 72-piece orchestra to record some of the music for the game in a bid to create a compelling soundtrack.

But there’s still a place for virtual instruments and James believes MIDI sequenced music and sample libraries play their part when producing the thematic and climatic sounds to go alongside the action on the screen

It’s been a busy summer for James too. Not content with holding the baton for Transformers Universe, he has created a one-day festival called Games Connect taking place in London on September 9. It celebrates the best in computer gaming sounds and music.

You can view the full article about James’ career and his work on Transformers Universe on the Forbes website. In it he also explains how he got started creating gaming soundtracks despite wanting to compose for TV and film.

He also outlines the difficulty in creating music for an ongoing MMO rather than a single game title, while ensuring it’s not too intrusive or distracting from the gameplay experience.

If you fancy a career composing for games, this is one man – and one interview – to take a note of.