Jonne Valtonen
Encyclopedia
Jonne Valtonen is an award-winning Finnish composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...

 and orchestrator. He is renowned for his contributions in the field of demoscene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...

 and video game music.

Life and early career

Jonne Valtonen was born on March 23, 1976 in Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and was raised in Kaarina
Kaarina
Kaarina is a small city and municipality of Finland.It is located in the Finland Proper region and is a neighbouring town of Turku, which is the capital of Finland Proper, therefore Kaarina is a part of the Greater Turku region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of...

 along with his brother. He began learning to play classical piano at the age of nine.

Valtonen’s first music compositions were done on his home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...

, a Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

. During his teen years, he became involved in the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 demoscene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...

 where he was able to pursue his passion for electronic music production. He has won several awards in this field: Between 1991 and 1996 Valtonen created music for one of the most widely popular groups in the demoscene at the time, the Future Crew
Future Crew
Future Crew is a now-defunct Finnish demogroup who created PC demos and software, active mostly between 1992 and 1994.-History:The group was founded in 1986 by PSI as a Commodore 64 group, before moving to the PC demoscene in 1988; other members included, over time, Trug, Wildfire, Pixel, ICE,...

. Eventually he became their lead composer under the pseudonym Purple Motion. Some of his best known compositions were "UnreaL II (Second Reality
Second Reality
Unreal ][ - The 2nd Reality , is a demo created by Future Crew for the Assembly '93 demoparty. In the PC demo competition, Second Reality placed first with its demonstration of 2D and 3D rendering. The demo was released to the public in October 1993. It is considered to be one of the best demos...

)", "Satellite One", and "Starshine".

Educational background

Jonne Valtonen graduated from classical composition at the Pirkanmaa Polytechnic in Finland in 2009. He has received training in composition under the guidance of Hannu Pohjannoro, Oliver Kohlenberg, and Juhani Nuorvala. He has also studied under Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg is a Finnish composer and pianist. He is currently the composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic.-Education:...

, Jukka Tiensuu, Kirmo Lintinen and Michael Nyman in various composition masterclasses.

Working for the entertainment industry

In 1996 Jonne Valtonen began doing commission work for major game developers in Finland, namely Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment is a Finnish computer game developer founded in 1995 and based in Espoo, Finland. The company is best known for its Max Payne and Alan Wake series of video games.-History:...

, Housemarque
Housemarque
Housemarque is a Finnish video game company founded in 1995. With Remedy Entertainment, it is the oldest game company still operating in Finland. They were a fusion of two smaller companies, Terramarque and Bloodhouse. The rise of the PC game market prompted these two companies with a background in...

 and Bugbear Entertainment
Bugbear Entertainment
Bugbear Entertainment Ltd. is a Finnish video game company. It was established in March, 2000 and employed 40 employees as in 2007. The company solely focuses on various kinds of racing games.- Released games :- Upcoming games :...

. During the same time, he served as the musical director for the TeatteriSusi theatre, where he composed music for several plays including Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...

, The Miser
The Miser
L'Avare is a 1668 five-act satirical comedy by French playwright Molière. Its title is usually translated as The Miser when the play is performed in English....

and Don Quijote.

In 1998, Jonne Valtonen co-founded his company Valtone Oy, specialising in music productions for the entertainment industry. Continuing on this path, he also contributed two titles, in 2000 and 2002, for the Merregnon
Merregnon
Merregnon is a soundtrack CD project for which video game music composers contribute new titles. By writing orchestral music the artists tell a story taking place in a newly created fantasy-universe....

trilogy, an international soundtrack project featuring orchestral music by veteran video game composers from all over the world, such as Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck is a video game music composer from Germany.He has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Star Wars: Rebel Strike for Nintendo GameCube. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana...

 and Yuzo Koshiro
Yuzo Koshiro
is a Japanese video game music composer and audio programmer. He is regarded as one of the most influential innovators in chiptune music and video game sound design...

.
In 2002, Valtonen's talent was recognized again when he was presented with the Best Soundtrack Award at the International Fest of Cinema & Technology for the movie House by the Sea, directed by Janne Ketola.
In 2004 Jonne Valtonen released his first professionally mastered audio CD, titled Musicdisk
Musicdisk (album)
Musicdisk is a compact disc album released by Jonne Valtonen, a.k.a "Purple Motion" of Future Crew, in 2004.-Track listing:# In Certain Frequency# Covering All The Bases# Excerpts from the Oceanic Suite# Yesterdays Like Tomorrows Like Todays...

featuring tracks from his demoscene past.

At the beginning of 2008, Jonne Valtonen took the position of the music lead for all live orchestra projects at Merregnon
Merregnon
Merregnon is a soundtrack CD project for which video game music composers contribute new titles. By writing orchestral music the artists tell a story taking place in a newly created fantasy-universe....

 Studios
, a company managed by Thomas Böcker
Thomas Böcker
Thomas Böcker is an award winning German producer notable for his innovative works on numerous orchestral concerts, game scores, and album releases...

 and involved in productions of video game music concerts around the world, and several live recordings for publishers/developers such as THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...

 USA
, SEGA
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

 Japan
and Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...

Japan.

Orchestra arrangements

Drawing on his strong background in live orchestra work and his studies, Jonne Valtonen has been arranging and orchestrating music for video game concerts since 2005. He has earned worldwide recognition as the main arranger of the annual video game music concerts of the German
WDR Radio Orchestra, namely Symphonic Shades (2008), Symphonic Fantasies (2009), Symphonic Legends (2010) and Symphonic Odysseys (2011).

In addition to the
WDR Radio Orchestra, his arrangements have been performed by orchestras and choirs around the world, as well as at concert halls including Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

, Gewandhaus
Gewandhaus
Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, Germany. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. The first Gewandhaus was built in 1781 by architect Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe. The second opened on 11 December 1884, and was destroyed in the...

 Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, Max Fisher Music Center Detroit, Esplanade
Esplanade
An esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns...

 Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 Philharmonic Hall and Konserthuset Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

. His portfolio includes major franchises such as Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...

, Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...

, Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy
is a 3D platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in most regions in November 2007, and is the third 3D original platformer in the Mario series, after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The game follows the protagonist, Mario, on a...

, The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls is a role-playing video game series developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.-History:...

, Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
is a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...

, Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...

, The Legend of Zelda and Castlevania
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...

. In 2007 he arranged and orchestrated music for SEGA Japan‘s arcade game series World Club Champion Football which was recorded with a live orchestra and choir in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

.

Trivia

Jonne Valtonen chose his demoscene pseudonym
Purple Motion as a tribute to the British rock group Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...

.

Valtonen has become very interested in the human voice. He sings in a mixed choir (Näsin Ääni, Tampere
Tampere
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

). He also started learning to play the harp.

Game music arrangements (excerpt)

  • 2005 Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
    Symphonic Game Music Concert
    The Symphonic Game Music Concerts are a series of award-winning, annual German video game music concerts initiated in 2003, notable for being the longest running and the first of their kind outside of Japan...

  • 2006 Super Mario Bros. (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2006 The Legend of Zelda (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2006 Turrican 3 (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2006 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
    Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
    Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure game developed and published by Konami in 1997. It is the 14th installment of the Castlevania series, the first installment released for the PlayStation, and a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.Symphony of the...

    (Wood Carving Partita) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2007 Commodore 64 (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2007 Commodore Amiga (Suite) for PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
  • 2007 Secret of Mana
    Secret of Mana
    Secret of Mana is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and was ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...

    (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2007 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
    Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
    is an award-winning stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima. Snake Eater was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2, and was released on November 17, 2004 in North America; December 16, 2004 in Japan; March 4, 2005 in Europe; and on...

    (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2007 World Club Champion Football 2006-2007 (live orchestra soundtrack) for SEGA Japan
  • 2007 World Club Champion Football 2006-2007 (Suite) for the Symphonic Game Music Concert
  • 2007 Wonderland Adventures for Midnight Synergy
  • 2008 Grand Monster Slam
    Grand Monster Slam
    Grand Monster Slam is a computer game for the Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST and PC. It is heavily based on the 1985 arcade game Penguin Wars. In Amiga Power's first All Time Top One Hundred in the inaugural 'Issue 0', it was declared to be the 100th best Amiga game of all time...

    (Opening Fanfare) for the WDR concert That’s Sound, that’s Rhythm
  • 2008 Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Record UC0081 (video game music arrangements) for Bandai Namco
  • 2008 Symphonic Shades — Hülsbeck in concert (WDR concert dedicated to Chris Hülsbeck)
  • 2009 Super Mario Galaxy
    Super Mario Galaxy
    is a 3D platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in most regions in November 2007, and is the third 3D original platformer in the Mario series, after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The game follows the protagonist, Mario, on a...

     — A Musical Adventure (school concert tour featuring music from Super Mario Galaxy)
  • 2009 Symphonic Fantasies — music from Square Enix (WDR concert dedicated to the music of Square Enix)
  • 2010 Symphonic Legends — music from Nintendo
    Nintendo
    is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

    (WDR concert dedicated to the music of Nintendo)
  • 2011 LEGENDS — music from Nintendo (concert of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
    Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
    The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm.The orchestra was founded in 1902 as the Stockholm Concert Society . The orchestra became a permanent ensemble in 1914. Since 1926, it has been based in the Stockholm Concert Hall...

    dedicated to the music of Nintendo)
  • 2011 Symphonic Odysseys — Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu
    Nobuo Uematsu
    is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...

    (WDR concert dedicated to Nobuo Uematsu)
  • 2012 Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo — music from Square Enix (concert performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
    The claims to be the oldest classical orchestra in Japan, having been founded in Nagoya in 1911. It moved to Tokyo in 1938 and has some 166 members as of 2005....

    )

Contemporary works (excerpt)

  • 2000 House by the Sea (movie)
  • 2003 Unelma Mäntästä (short film)
  • 2004 Aukeus! (contemporary music)
  • 2005 Mimesis (viola solo)
  • 2005 Virtapiirileikki (contemporary music)
  • 2006 Production Values (trumpet miniconcerto)
  • 2007 Pianosonata I
  • 2007 Piece for chamber orchestra and soprano
  • 2007 Tales from the kitch — series (solo piano)
  • 2008 Tango Nellille (WDR commission work, concert premiere on March 6, 2010)
  • 2009 Fanfare overture (WDR commission work, concert premiere on September 12, 2009)
  • 2009 .wav for string orchestra
  • 2010 End credits for an orchestra (concert premiere on July 10, 2010 with the WDR Radio Orchestra)
  • 2010 Fanfare for the Common 8-bit Hero (WDR commission work, concert premiere on July 10, 2010)

Theater music (excerpt)

  • 1998 Dracula
  • 1998 The Miser
  • 1999 Don Quijote
  • 2000 Saituri
  • 2001 Tartuffe
    Tartuffe
    Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...

  • 2004 Circus Sergei
  • 2005 Mieletön raamatun historia
  • 2006 B. Virtanen
    B. Virtanen
    B. Virtanen is a Finnish comic strip written by Ilkka Heilä.The strip is about the family and work life of a typical Finnish man named B. Virtanen...

  • 2006 Hattifattenerrs Island

Game soundtracks (excerpt)

  • 1996 Alien Incident
    Alien Incident
    Alien Incident is a 1996 point-and-click graphic adventure game. It was developed by Finnish game developer Housemarque and published by GameTek for the MS-DOS platform.-Plot:...

  • 1996 Death Rally
    Death Rally
    Death Rally is a top-down perspective racing video game developed by Remedy, published by Apogee and distributed by GT Interactive. It was released on September 6, 1996...

  • 1999 Drop Mania
    Drop Mania
    Drop Mania is a falling-block puzzle video game, developed by Ninai Games and published by Suomen Kotijäätelö Oy in 1999 for Windows. It was sold in Finnish ice cream vans.-Gameplay:...

  • 1999 Thrust, Twist + Turn
  • 2000 Puzzle Station
  • 2000 Project S-11
    Project S-11
    Project S-11 is a game developed by Paragon 5 and Sunsoft for the Game Boy Color. It was released in North America on January 3, 2001.-Gameplay:...

  • 2001 Rally Trophy
    Rally Trophy
    Rally Trophy is a historic PC rally simulation, created by Bugbear Entertainment and JoWood Productions. The cars modelled are Mini Cooper 1275S, Saab 96 V4, Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA, Fiat 600 Abarth, Opel Kadett, Lancia Fulvia, Ford Cortina, Ford Escort MK1 RS2000, Volvo Amazon, Alpine A110 and...

  • 2001 Rampage Puzzle Attack
    Rampage Puzzle Attack
    Rampage Puzzle Attack is a puzzle game for Game Boy Advance, developed by Finnish development house Ninai Games and published by Midway Games.The game is based on the Rampage characters...

  • 2002 Geopod
  • 2002 Wonderland series
  • 2003 Stuntcar Extreme
  • 2003 Typer Shark Deluxe
  • 2003 Floboarding
  • 2003 Wordshark
  • 2004 Fathammer Classics Pack
  • 2004 Geopod XE
  • 2004 Insaniquarium Deluxe
  • 2004 Stuntcar Extreme Advanced
  • 2005 Toy Golf
  • 2005 Fathammer Bowling
  • 2005 Rainbow Jek
  • 2005 Super Drop Mania
    Drop Mania
    Drop Mania is a falling-block puzzle video game, developed by Ninai Games and published by Suomen Kotijäätelö Oy in 1999 for Windows. It was sold in Finnish ice cream vans.-Gameplay:...

  • 2005 Tank Squad
  • 2005 The Chronicles of Narnia
    The Chronicles of Narnia
    The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...

  • 2007 Wonderland Adventures
  • 2008 Golf: Tee It Up!
  • 2009 Stair Dismount 2

Discography

  • 2000 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 1 (two compositions, synSONIQ Records)
  • 2004 Musicdisk (first solo album)
  • 2004 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 2 (two compositions, English and Japanese edition, Soulfood Distribution and Dex Entertainment)
  • 2007 Number Nine (Turrican 3 Piano Suite arrangement, synSONIQ Records)
  • 2008 Symphonic Shades (live concert arrangement and orchestration, synSONIQ Records)
  • 2008 Musica e WCCF secondo movimento (live orchestra and choir arrangement and orchestration, Wave Master)
  • 2010 Symphonic Fantasies (live concert arrangement and orchestration Decca Records
    Decca Records
    Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

    /Square Enix)
  • 2010 Benyamin Nuss plays Uematsu (piano arrangements, Deutsche Grammophon
    Deutsche Grammophon
    Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...

    )

Awards

  • 1992 Assembly: 1st place, Unreal Soundtrack
  • 1993 Assembly: 1st place, Second Reality Soundtrack
  • 1993 Assembly: 1st place, Sundance
  • 1993 Aggressive Party: 1st place, Shadowrun
  • 2000 Assembly: 1st place, Credits
  • 2002 IFCT Award: Best Original Soundtrack, House by the Sea
  • 2006 Isofestival: 2nd place, Mimesis for Viola
  • 2007 Adagio Composition Contest: Honorable mention, Elegiac (for string orchestra)

External links

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