Kevin Riepl
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Kevin Riepl is an American composer for
video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
, films and television shows. He is best known for his work on the ''
Unreal Unreal may refer to: Books and TV * ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings * ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime Computing and games * ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'' series of games, '' Gears of War'' and '' Aliens: Colonial Marines''.


Biography

Riepl was born in
Cliffwood Beach Cliffwood is an unincorporated community located within Aberdeen Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07721. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population f ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. His interest in music started at the age of six, when he began to play piano and guitar under the instruction of his uncle. In the fourth grade he began studies on the trumpet and piano and that continued throughout his high school years in which he was a member of a variety of bands and orchestras. After high school, he began private independent studies in composition and orchestration at the Village East Conservatory of Music. Following the years at the conservatory and few scoring projects, he attended
Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School ca ...
in New York City for further education in composition and orchestration. Riepl began his career working as an assistant and co-writing partner for
Kevin Manthei Kevin Manthei (born 1970 in Maplewood, Minnesota) is an American composer for film, television, and video games. Biography Manthei grew up in Minnesota. He played the piano in his youth and played the trumpet in high school. He graduated from th ...
in the early 2000s. At the time,
Cliff Bleszinski Cliff Bleszinski (; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work in the development of the ''Unreal'' and '' Gears of War'' series. After working at Epic Games from 1992 to 2012, he ...
, former design director at
Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...
, who was then looking for a different musical sound for the ''
Unreal Unreal may refer to: Books and TV * ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings * ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime Computing and games * ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'' franchise, played his
demo reel A showreel (also known as a demo reel, sizzle reel, or work reel) is a short video showcasing a person's previous work used by many kinds of people involved in filmmaking and other media, including actors, animators, lighting designers, editors, a ...
. This led him to work on ''
Unreal Tournament 2003 ''Unreal Tournament 2003'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes, and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The game is part of the ''Unreal'' franchise, and is a sequel to 1999's ...
'', ''
Unreal Tournament 2004 ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. Part of the ''Unreal'' franchise, it is the third game in the '' Unreal Tournament'' series and the sequel to '' Unreal Tournam ...
'' and '' Unreal Championship 2''. In February 2005, Riepl became attached to '' Gears of War''. Initially, he was asked to write the main themes for the game, but after submitting the pieces he had written, Epic liked what he created and signed him on to create the entire score. In March 2007, Riepl recorded the score for the massively multiplayer first-person shooter computer game '' Huxley'', developed by
Webzen Games Webzen is a South Korean developer and publisher of video games. The company, together with its subsidiaries, also engages in software licensing and related services all over the world. History Webzen merged with NHN Games, which was dissolved wi ...
. In October 2010, Riepl suffered a sudden heart failure and was hospitalized. He had a pump installed in his heart until a donor heart could replace it, and underwent the heart transplant in July 2011. Shortly afterwards, a rare tumor was found on his adrenal gland, which was affecting his blood pressure. He has since made a good recovery. In addition to his work on the video game industry, Riepl has composed for films and television series, including his recent scores for horror films such as ''
Silent Night "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...
'', '' Contracted'' and the ''
Cabin Fever Cabin fever is the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time. A person may be referred to as stir-crazy, derived from ...
'' films ('' Patient Zero'' and the 2016 film remake).


Credits

Kevin Riepl has composed music for the following media:


Video games


Films


Television


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riepl, Kevin Living people American male composers 21st-century American composers Musicians from New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people) American television composers 21st-century American male musicians