WIP Update #32 - Worlds

Hey Everyone!

This week I've got 4 pieces of music to show you from the other project I've been working on the last month or so. It's music from an upcoming game project and it's more along the lines of Cinematic Soundscapes. 

Each piece below is from one realm in the game world and the general feel of the music for the project overall is supposed to be ambient and dreamy, so the music (aside from the first piece I'm showing you), reflects that.

0:00 - Gateway
This is the place you spawn in when you first start the game. It's the one place where nothing in the game will attack you, so you're supposed to feel safe here. The main themes were the feelings of home, warmth, calm, and comfort. I wrote a guitar piece similar to some of the "village" themes I grew up on in some of the RPG games I played. I think it came out really well, but it's too busy and not ambient enough so we aren't using this in the game.

2:16 - Geode Core
This realm is filled with lava and gasses, with red crystals above and a dark gray basalt floor. You're supposed to feel as if dark spirits that may have once been contained within are beginning to awaken. This is also the most dark and aggressive of the levels from a thematic standpoint so I tried to reflect that with the instrument choice and using a lot more bass than in the other pieces. There were originally some aggressive drums layered in but we decided it was too busy and I took them out.

4:31 - Frozen Pass
This is a cold, windy crossroads that used to be warm, vibrant, and full of life. Now devoid of life, nature has reclaimed man's architecture. This piece needed to reflect the feelings of being cold, lost, and lonely. I used a lot of "cold" feeling instruments, a lot of reverb, and a fair amount of space to evoke the loneliness feeling. The choirs here also reference there being a human presence here once, long ago.

6:58 - Hanging Forest
This is an ancient forest where harsh winds and blasts of magical energy have ravaged the landscape and would have destroyed it completely were it not for the strong, deep roots of the trees. The main themes of this piece are strength and leadership, so I chose to represent that in a driving staccato string section. There's still some adjustments to be made here because I feel like it's still a bit too forward and not ambient enough for the general feel of the game but the themes within are pretty spot on.

In total there are about 10 realms and a few other bits and bobs I'm writing for this project. I might be able to show you more at a later date, but for now that's gonna be it!

I don't get to write often for the cinematic stuff because the Cinematic Soundscapes doesn't have a big audience compared to the EDM stuff. But I do know the people that like it, like it a lot. So it's been really fun and refreshing to have a reason to start writing this stuff again.

As I mentioned in my previous update, the EP project is done so I'm waiting on them to   share it with you. But once I get the go ahead, I'll be posting 5 brand new finished tracks :)

Also, votes are in on the Poll for the next song and we're writing a Motivational/Overcoming a Challenge DnB song. I'm going to be streaming the entire process on Twitch towards the end of Feb/beginning of March so keep your eyes out!

As always, thanks for your support - have an awesome weekend!

- Andrew