My live orchestral score for Cappelli Miles' live-action/animated commercial for Acorn Dentistry. Very obviously composed to evoke the rich, joyous vibes of Disney soundtracks and to match the traditional hand-drawn animation. Recorded by the Cape Town Philharmonic at Milestone Studios, with additional guitar and choral samples by me. See the piece being recorded here:  https://youtu.be/o7ipHJiRP5Y

"A Magical Place" - Acorn Dentistry, 30s (live orchestra TV spot)

One of 8 15s orchestral cues I composed for Cappelli Miles' "Over the Moon" campaign for The Mattress Company. The 8 cues all followed the same musical framework, with different sections or instruments highlighting different moods. This, my favourite, evokes a child's wonder at the stars.

"Over the Moon" - The Mattress Company (orchestra, 15s TV spot 3)

Another of my "Over the Moon" cues. This was the only substantially different one, where the client requested the orchestral music slowed down significantly with a solo violin (recorded by Leos Strings) soaring over the top.

"Over the Moon" - The Mattress Company (orchestra & live violin, 15s TV spot 6)

An unhappy piano piece. Mockup with Spitfire Audio LABS' Soft Piano.

Forgetting (Dave Dexter)

A wonderful live recording of my setting of the Robert Frost poem. This piece was composed for Lux in 2020 and premiered by them in their "Traditions Renewed" concert in Jan 2023.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (performed by Lux Choir 1/7/23) - Dave Dexter

Frontier-folk-western-stomp-acoustic-guitar-thing trailer music (and pretty much one of the gameplay themes) to TerraTech.

TerraTech Trailer Theme

Stripped down guitar-only music for those moments in TerraTech where you're not smashing your rivals into chunks.

TerraTech Exploration Music

TerraTech's christmas update music, featuring jingly things and many acoustic fiddles.

TerraTech Christmas Music

My most played track! NOW I MAY EAT

One of the variants on the background music that plays when enemies and danger get too near. Based on the trailer theme with a few extra bits.

TerraTech Danger Music  (acoustic, western, frontier-folk)

Another collapsed game; Lifeless was a zombie MMO that offered the chance to record some pretty cool dark acoustic/folk rock.

Lifeless (acoustic, dark folk, alt rock)

A guitar/bouzouki arrangement of John Williams' Star Wars music - force theme, imperial march and main titles/overture - mixed in with The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun". Enjoy me playing all this live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05JfqDCvtfA

The idea came from my long-overdue working out of the force theme chords and realising that it shares a whole bunch with House of the Rising Sun. I arranged a minor version of the main theme that would work over it (as well as a cheeky slipping in of the original melody when the piece returns to E major) and pretty much accidentally figured the imperial march section backed onto the force theme. That bouzouki part is horrible to play; the transition to the F is far more difficult than it should be. There's also a wonderful bluesy transition from C to E at 1:12 which I lifted entirely from a LSO orchestral arrangement.

GO FALCONS

Force of the Rising Suns (A guitar/bouzouki tribute to John Williams, Star Wars and The Animals)

Bouzouki, slide and classical guitar safe zone theme for the Nova Guard faction from zombie MMO Lifeless.

Lifeless - Nova Guard Theme

Bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy and electric guitar safe zone theme for the Spartan Phalanx faction from zombie MMO Lifeless.

Lifeless - Spartan Phalanx Theme

The folksy menu/main theme for zombie MMO Lifeless, which combines the themes for the game's two factions

Lifeless - Menu Theme

Practising composing a short, old-school action cue favouring staccato horns and trumpets

Grapeshot (Horn and trumpet action cue)

The orchestrated version of the previous trumpet/horn recording, prior to scoring for recording.

The Valency of Valiance (heroic fantasy fanfare, orchestral mockup)

The recording session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek4OZ3eG2t8

One of my earlier orchestral pieces that I adapted into a cue featuring as many of my preferred styles as I could put together without getting too much; an uplifting brass-led theme, mysterious woodwind interlude and than a crashing, dark and dramatic tutti.

The purpose was to check that how I write, and how I orchestrate, would work in the real world and prove my ability to take a project from mockup to score, parts and performance myself. And also because I've been wanting to hear my music played by an orchestra for years.

Elaborate Revenge Strategies (heroic, fantasy, adventure)

Whimsical gypsy-jazz arrangement of the main theme. Also featuring my first ever recording with a cello (that I didn't play someone else to play, that is).

Hangry Bunnies From Mars (Original Soundtrack)

Lapins Furieux de la Planetè Rouge (Gypsy jazz menu theme, extended)

Intro music playing as the game sets you up for action.

Disintrogration (Intro theme)

The relatively staid score for Wave 1, in which the player is barely challenged and the music restrains itself. Doesn't mean there was no room for demented circus music, though. Because there was.

A Collocation Of Conies (Wave 1 theme)

The first music I wrote for the game, establishing the general feel and main themes. This is for the 2nd wave of gameplay.

A Hare To The Left (Wave 2 theme)

More orchestral recording. A less bombastic affair than my previous session, "Sails and Waypoints" focuses on woodwind and string melodies, with brass and percussion more supporting than fanfaring.

Sails and Waypoints (melodic, thematic)

A melancholy strings-only piece that takes great advantage of slow tempo and cluster chords.

Recorded at Smecky Studios with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, November 14th, 2018. Cond. Richard Hein.

  Composed, orchestrated and mixed by Dave Dexter.
 Mastered by Nimrod Sound.

The Long Trick's Over (romance/bittersweet for string orchestra)

The piece that I'll always think of as my first "real" orchestral writing. Deeply textured orchestration moving through several dramatic themes.

Recorded at Smecky Studios with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, November 14th, 2018. Cond. Richard Hein.

  Composed, orchestrated and mixed by Dave Dexter.
 Mastered by Nimrod Sound.

Icebreaker (thematic, adventure)

A compilation of my favourite parts, or those most representative, from my Prague session. For the impatient and busy.

Prague Supercut (live orchestral compilation)

As part of ORA Singer's "Christmas Gift", I was incredibly lucky to have this piece rehearsed and then recorded live with the choir and musical director/conductor Suzi Digby OBE. 

"I Sing Of A Maiden" is a 15th century traditional text, generally considered an early carol written to be sung. My setting was broadly styled as appropriate to that era and as a carol; for the most part homophonic, following the strictures of four-part harmony as best I could, some careful dissonances, and that strange mix of uplifting and bittersweet peculiar to this tonality of choral composing.

ORA and founder/director Suzi are an incredible pairing and it was a privilege to be present as they rehearsed, let alone involved at all.

I Sing Of A Maiden (SATB Carol - Dave Dexter/ORA Singers)

The second of my pieces for the Wentworth's: The Musical campaign. The reference this time was Stephen Sondheim's orchestral style, again with oversight as MD to compose an orchestral track and arrange the supplied copy for our two singers. In addition to the sample-based orchestral work, I composed choral score which can be heard towards the end of the spot. There's also a recording of me singing the melody as a guide, which only lawsuits would compel me to make public.

"Wentworth's: The Musical" radio ad (spot B - orchestral)

My orchestral track without main vocals, allowing the orchestration and the virtual choir created by the singers to shine.

"Wentworth's: The Musical" (spot B - orchestral) instrumental

I was commissioned to produce two tracks for Bi-Mart, a retail chain in the American Northwest. Rather than creating entirely new music, my task was to arrange new and updated versions of one of their established themes. Working from the supplied track, I built up and re-recorded the music from scratch with a more acoustic, folk-country rock feel, playing all instruments.

Bi-Mart ad jingle, 30s (TV and radio spots)

A fast and loose dive into the world of fauxbourdon, a form of medieval choral harmonisation. In this case, the upper voice establishes melody, the middle voices follows in parallel 4ths and the lower voice harmonises the upper voice in 6ths. But with a string quartet, so there's an added cello to add beef and lots of points where I broke rank and did something else. 

Recorded by Leos Strings @ Brookespeare Music

Relics (fauxbourdon for string quartet)

“Hiraeth” is a Welsh word for homesickness - not only for a home you’ve left, but a home you cannot return to or never existed at all. Having moved house shortly before I began composing the work, and being prone to crippling nostalgia for places not just months but decades in my past, this concept of extreme homesickness immediately caught my attention. Thus Hiraeth became a tone poem for my old homes and haunts, trees and rivers - places I’ve walked and never will again.

 

Compositionally, Hiraeth is centred round a five-note theme first established (0.45) after the work’s ominous, divided low strings opening. At first played without harmonic support, bass and cello divisi are introduced before the theme’s darker four-note variant is introduced (1.12), both joining for the piece’s crescendo (4.38). A second, more romantic and mournful theme acts as a counter to the bitter triumph of the first, played initially by violas and cellos (1.52) and returned to later with double bass, cello and finally unison violin octaves (3.46). The piece closes as it opens, ending with a flourishing if slightly dissonant swell.

 

A highly tonal piece, the orchestration is appropriately traditional - themes often played in unison across octaves between either cellos and violas, or violins I & II, with the other sections providing harmonic support. To achieve the wide, lush sound I love in string music, these supporting sections are generally divided; tremolo is often used for texture in quieter moments, and themes are passed between sections to be explored and evolved.

Mastered album audio, uploaded privately for review.

Hiraeth - Dave Dexter

Dave Dexter is a composer, orchestrator and multi-instrumentalist, specialising in classical, choral and orchestral writing for live players.

His string quartet piece "St Clement's Isle" was recently played on Classic FM on Jessica Curry's "High Score" show, and his works "Descendentem Sicut Columbam" and "Leaving the House" on BBC Radio York & 3 respectively. His choral setting of "I Sing Of A Maiden" was chosen for recording by ORA Singers and Suzi Digby in 2019 as part of their Christmas Gift scheme.

It's always risky to find an epoch one feels best represents music as a whole and state "This. This is what I want to do", but Dave certainly prefers the more traditional approach to scoring and composing. He'll work with samples if he has to, but the best moments come from hearing great musicians planting a glorious flag in the earth of a piece and making it their own. His music ranges from the beautiful and intimate, the achingly sad, the whimsical and the thunderously exciting; if not watched like a hawk he'll probably attempt to combine all four.

Dave is writing in the third person but is totally a cool guy and not arrogant in the slightest.

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