David Javelosa
From Sega Retro
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David Javelosa |
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Place of birth: San Jose, California, United States |
Employment history: |
Role(s): Audio Director[1], Sound Programmer[3], Composer |
Education: San Jose State University (1972-1976; BA Electronic Music)[3], California Institute of the Arts (1989-1991; MFA Composition - Computer Music)[3] |
David "Dave" Javelosa is an American musician and former Sega of America audio director and sound programmer.[1] He first began working with Sega as a contractual consultant in 1990[2], and would eventually be directly hired in 1992[1], where he would serve as Senior Music Designer for a number of the company's first-party titles[3] (including those in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise). His responsibilities covered all aspects of music and audio production, supervision, creative support, and technology for platforms ranging from the Mega Drive, Game Gear, Saturn, and Dreamcast, among others.[2] He also composed music for the Sega Channel, as well as the first revision of the North American Sega CD BIOS.[4][5]
After departing Sega in 1994[1] and leaving his consultant position two years later[2], he remained active in the game industry as a freelance composer and audio director, and eventually became a Professor of Interactive Media at Santa Monica College in September 2001 - a position he remains in to this day.[1] He also runs the independent music label Hyperspace Communications, which specializes in releasing vintage electronic music on vinyl record.[6]
Contents
Career
David Javelosa studied at both San Jose State University and the California Institute of the Arts, the latter of which saw him studying alongside Morton Subotnick, David Rosenboom, and other notable composers. During his youth, he was an active musician, establishing the New Wave band Los Microwaves[7], as well as acting as a new media artist for electronic music technology and performance art.
Sega of America
![](/images/thumb/1/1e/BootROM_MCD_US_1.00.png/300px-BootROM_MCD_US_1.00.png)
Javelosa first began working with Sega as a contractual consultant in 1990[2], and would eventually be directly hired in 1992[1], where he would serve as Senior Music Designer for a number of the company's first-party titles[3] Alongside his work managing the music production of Sega's Western game output (including those developed both in-house and externally[2]), Javelosa produced the music for software like the Sega Channel and the first revision of the Sega CD's BIOS.[4][5] During this time, he also found himself acting as a liaison between Sega of America and its two biggest co-branches, Sega of Japan and Sega Europe.[2]
Shortly before departing Sega of America in 1994, Javelosa worked with Developer Technical Support's Kenneth Chao to produce an internal demonstration Mega Drive cartridge which would serve as an audio resume of the musician's output from his three years with Sega. Known as the DJ Demo Reel, it is a modified version of the GEMS Module Test Program with its modules containing a showcase of Javelosa's GEMS work, and features unreleased music composed for games like Baby Boom[8], Iron Hammer[8], and Sonic the Hedgehog 2[9][8], among others.[10] After leaving his formal employment position with the company later that year, he would remain working as a contractual consultant for Sega until 1996.[2]
Javelosa retained his DJ Demo Reel cartridge following his time with Sega, and later reused its contents for teaching material once he began his teaching career. During one of his 2019 courses at Santa Monica College, a student recognized the importance of said material[10] and eventually persuaded him to upload a recording of the cartridge's ROM to YouTube that May.[8] This, along with Javelosa's active presence in the video's comment section, revealed new information related to a number of Sega of America's more notable projects.
Later career
Javelosa began educating in the early 1990s, teaching at venues such as San Francisco State University Multimedia Studies Center and University of California, Los Angeles's Entertainment Studies Program, among others.[11] He has also authored a number of articles on electronic music and art, and published an interactive book/CD-ROM in 1997 titled Sound and Music for Multimedia.[11]
Javelosa currently serves as a full time Professor of Interactive Media in the Design Technology Department at Santa Monica College’s Academy of Entertainment and Technology[1], where he also founded a dedicated game development program in the Fall of 2004.[11] Javelosa also runs the independent music label Hyperspace Communications, which specializes in releasing vintage electronic music on vinyl record.[6]
Production history
- M-1 Abrams Battle Tank (Mega Drive; 1991) — Composer
- 688 Attack Sub (Mega Drive; 1991) — Composed by
- Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (Mega Drive; 1991) — Music and Effects[12] (as Dave Javelosa)
- Mario Lemieux Hockey (Mega Drive; 1991) — Music/Sound[13]
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Mega Drive; 1993) — Sound[14]
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Game Gear; 1993) — Sound Programmers[15]
- Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Mega Drive; 1993) — Special Thanks[16]
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Master System; 1994) — Sound Programmers[15]
- Streets of Rage 3 (Mega Drive; 1994) — Special Thanks to[17]
- Ecco: The Tides of Time (Mega Drive; 1994) — Music[18]
- Jurassic Park (Mega-CD; 1993) — Sound Manager[19]
- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (Mega Drive; 1995) — Additional Music and Sound Effects (as Dave Javelosa)
- Pocahontas (Mega Drive; 1996) — Production Support[20]
- Baby Boom (Mega Drive; unreleased) — Composer
- DJ Demo Reel (Mega Drive; unreleased) — Composer
- Iron Hammer (Mega Drive; unreleased) — Composer
Interviews
- Interview: David Javelosa (2008-07-02) by Sega-16
- Interview: David Javelosa (2023-11-12) by Alexander Rojas
- Interview: David Javelosa (2023-12-09) by Alexander Rojas
Photographs
- Main article: Photos of David Javelosa
External links
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-javelosa-a6a1171/details/experience/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 http://javelosa.com/DJ/consulting.htm (Wayback Machine: 2022-08-16 18:34)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-javelosa-a6a1171/
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://javelosa.com/DJ/production.htm (Wayback Machine: 2022-12-25 00:07)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKLKquCbzJ4 (Ghostarchive)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://www.facebook.com/HyperspaceCommunications/
- ↑ http://javelosa.com/DJ/Los_microwaves.htm (Wayback Machine: 2023-05-28 20:23)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJLkkOxRP8Y (Ghostarchive)
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)/Development#Music
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 https://sonicretro.org/2019/05/15/david-javelosa-sonic-and-sega-music-demo-tracks-surface-online/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-03-26 08:15)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 http://javelosa.com/DJ/edupub.htm (Wayback Machine: 2022-08-16 18:31)
- ↑ File:Spider-Man vs the Kingpin MD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Mario Lemieux Hockey MD US Manual.pdf, page 16
- ↑ File:Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine MD credits.pdf
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 File:Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine SMS credits.pdf
- ↑ File:SonicSpinball MD US manual.pdf, page 21
- ↑ File:Streets of Rage 3 MD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Ecco The Tides Of Time MD US Manual.pdf, page 30
- ↑ File:Jurassic Park MCD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Pocahontas MD credits.pdf