This project features fixed tracks from my adaptive underscore for the 'The Path to Carcosa' campaign from 'Arkham Horror : The Card Game', based on the works of Robert W. Chambers.

I really wanted to strike a balance between haunting and horrifying with this soundtrack, utilising piano and cello as focal instruments and incorporating off-kilter jazz-influenced harmonies with dark ambient soundscapes to set the tone for the surreal exploration of madness.

The full menu system to function with these tracks can be found using the below link, featuring adaptivity within the tracks based on events occurring in-game. Alternatively, feel free to add these tracks to your own Arkham Horror playlists for some more thematic, immersive music to underscore your gaming sessions.

Art: Yellow Sign IV by Ghostexit (www.deviantart.com/ghostexist/gallery)

Black Stars Rise

Adam is a composer for video games, multi-instrumentalist, and mixing engineer based in Liverpool, UK. Adam gained his MA in Music and Audiovisual Media (Distinction) and BA in Music and Technology (First Class Honours) from University of Liverpool. He specialises in adaptive music for sci-fi/fantasy games and has experience in both game-engine implementation and digital orchestration.

From learning classic video game pieces on piano at an early age, to studying music both theoretically and practically throughout school and sixth form, Adam developed deep passions for video game music, progressive rock and ambient music while expanding his creative skillset. These passions lead him to study on both the BA Music and Technology (First Class Honours), and MA Music and Audiovisual Media courses at the University of Liverpool, enriching his compositional, performative, and mixing skills.

Through these courses, work with his rock band ‘King Liar’, and independent composing, Adam additionally gained greater technical expertise over digital audio workstations (Logic Pro X and ProTools), game-music software (FMOD Studio, Unity, Unreal Engine) and studio-based physical recording, giving him experience in the full workflow from composition to game-engine implementation. He has previously finished two larger games music portfolios for his studies, focussing on sci-fi/fantasy scores, and is currently working on his final master’s portfolio.

Black Stars Rise

Adam Ainsley