Friends and collaborators for nearly 20 years, Dave Fraser and Neil Goldberg formed Heavy Melody Music and Sound Design in 2003. As composers, sound designers, and producers, they’ve worked with clients such as the NFL, Sony, Gillette, Atari, NBC, 2K Marin, and many others.
The duo met in 1989 while studying at Berklee College of Music. Post graduation, Dave became the touring keyboardist for Gary Richrath (REO Speedwagon), playing over 200 shows throughout North America, and Neil went on to play guitar on Epic Records artist, Annihilator’s “Set The World on Fire” album, and toured Europe.
In 1995, Dave and Neil reunited at Sonalysts Studios/Power Station New England. There, they set out on an intense creative run scoring, sound-designing, and working in post-production on projects for a diverse range of clients including, AOL, ESPN, Jose Cuervo, and the US Armed Forces. By 1997, they were composing music for a nationally syndicated cartoon series, “Van-pires”. In addition, Neil served as recording engineer on albums for Edgar Winters, T.M. Stevens and Jonatha Brook.
By 1998, the body of work they had amassed landed them in the heart of NYC. After 5 years of cutting their teeth in the commercial world, Neil and Dave refocused on producing audio for videogames. In September of 2003, they launched Heavy Melody. Composer/Sound Designer Ari Winters was brought on to round out the creative team. Ari, a multi-instrumentalist, has worked in the industry as a composer, sound designer, dialog director, and implementer. He holds both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University.
With a new studio facility and a solid creative team in place, Heavy Melody began working on AAA console and PC videogame titles. Heavy Melody’s team members have been credited on games for a growing list of companies such as Atari, K2 Networks, Obsidian Entertainment, Activision, 2K Marin, and Eden Games. They continue to produce commercial spot work and have expanded their client roster to include MTV, VH1, Sci-Fi Network, and NBC. Additionally, they’ve collaborated with performing artists, including vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen and Journey), Grandmaster Flash on his latest album, The Bridge, and partnered with the trans-media entity, Damage Vault, started by renowned composers Kevin Riepl and Otto Cate.
Today, most of Heavy Melody’s audio work is produced to meet tight deadlines. This requires the team to engage technology to its fullest and always keep up with emerging industry trends. In recent years, the need for a modern virtual instrument that could deliver world-class sound in a more inspiring and streamlined way became clear. The HM team soon founded Heavyocity and began the development of their first product, EVOLVE. EVOLVE was met with critical acclaim, and went on to receive industry wide accolades, including Electronic Musician Magazines Editor’s Choise award for “Best Sample Player (Software)”, and MusicTech Magazine’s Choice Award.
The Heavyocity team continues to produce critically acclaimed software in partnership with Native Instruments, GmBH.