We recently connected with Nicolás Urricelqui and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nicolás thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I wouldn’t change one thing!
Everyone’s journey is unique, and that uniqueness is what makes us stand out as artists. Where I come from, with all its obstacles and limitations, is exactly what shaped my personality and identity as a musician. It gave me the voice I now use to express myself creatively. So, let me introduce myself and share a little more about how that journey unfolded.
My first contact with music happened early in life. I took violin and later percussion lessons because they were required in school. I also remember playing around with a little toy piano gifted to me by my godfather just having fun and trying to come up with melodies. Later, a friend introduced me to the guitar. I took lessons and jammed occasionally, but over time, the passion faded.
Then, at 14, something shifted. I discovered electronic music, and everything changed. I became completely immersed in learning how to produce within this genre. I experimented with EDM, trance, house, and finally melodic techno. I dove deep into synthesis and sound design, and over time began releasing music under different aliases on international labels. The most meaningful of those projects was under the name MUNSE, which earned support and was played by top artists in the scene, like Anyma (Tale of Us). One of the most surreal moments of my life was seeing my music being played by producers of the scene for thousands of people around the world. During this same period, I began studying piano to complement my productions and compositions. I got pulled into the world of classical music and started learning harmony through my favorite composers. I eventually met my biggest inspiration and mentor, Daniel Elia, my piano teacher. He was one of the most important and inspiring people I’ve ever met, and he taught me a lot about music and life. Those influences naturally began to show up in my work. As my curiosity grew, I felt a strong pull toward incorporating orchestral instruments into my music, which eventually led me to dive deeper into orchestral composition, film scoring, and game music. Nowadays, I’m finishing my studies at Berklee College with a double major in Film Scoring and Game and Interactive Media.
I believe the art of composition is of endless complexity, and there isn’t one straightforward way to understand it. Although there are thousands of manuals with “rules” and guidelines, every composer eventually finds their own, personal way of understanding such a complex art form. We make sense of it in very different, personal ways, and create our own rules and guidelines. All of this makes us different, and special.
Maybe it would have been nice to start piano and composition at a younger age, but I wouldn’t have had that earlier exposure to music technology that I gained from producing electronic music. Or maybe I would have studied at a different piano school and never met Daniel. Every detail of my journey, everything that happened purely by chance, somehow feels like it was meant to be.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Nicolás Urricelqui, and I’m a composer for film and interactive media.

What I do involves many different aspects. One part is understanding the story, how events unfold, how they’re connected, and the relationships between the characters. Once I have a clear sense of that, I need to figure out what the audience should feel, and then write music that supports and enhances that emotion.

On the other side are all the technical aspects required to deliver high-quality audio: producing the music within my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), syncing it to picture, designing and discovering unique sonorities, recording and collaborating with musicians, mixing and the list goes on. But all of it matters for only one reason: the story.

When working with videogames the process is very similar, but I don’t sync anything to the picture. Instead, I craft interactive systems that respond to the player’s inputs. Where he is within the game, if he is winning or losing, how much life he has left, factors like this can determine what element of a piece is played, if the piece will transition to a different section or if the system will change to a different track.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

For sure! The moment I decided to come to Boston and study at Berklee was a huge turning point for me! I had just finished my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Argentina and was focusing on my electronic project. But I decided to risk everything and devote myself entirely to the art of film/game composition and orchestration. I had to leave family and friends behind and settle in Boston to pursue my double major in Film Scoring and Game and Interactive Media.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to have the preconception that “rules” and music theory were absolutely essential when it came to composition, almost as if they needed to precede any musical idea. When I started my degree at Berklee, I carried this belief with me, convinced that the theories and rules laid out in composition textbooks were a must in order to compose orchestral music. While music theory is incredibly valuable, I soon realized that the most important thing over any theory or technical knowledge is learning to listen to my own ideas and trust them. Music theory and technical knowledge come after that!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nicolasurricelqui.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolas_urricelqui
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicol%C3%A1s-urricelqui-07945633a/

Image Credits

Rafael Arvelo Castillo.
Mike Ritter.