I'm actually not eligible to participate for obvious reasons but that's not going to prevent me from putting my own spin on this!

Piano: James Landino

Check out Square Enix's Lightning Returns music event here:
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/LightningReturnsFFXIII/whats_new/sound_campaign/

p.s. despite what you may or may not have read on the internet, no, I'm not affiliated with Square Enix. This is an unofficial remix I'm doing on the side because I'm a fan.

FF Lightning Returns: The Savior - Falk Remix

Featuring https://soundcloud.com/ingridgerdesmusic

Originally Composed/Arranged by Tomoya Ohtani & Sung by Jaret Reddick for Sonic Unleashed

Vocals: Ingrid Gerdes
Drums: Blaize Collard https://soundcloud.com/blaizecollard
Bass, Guitars: Falk Au Yeong
Additional Guitars: Ethan Lee https://soundcloud.com/ethan-lee-music
Production, Orchestration, Arrangement, Programming, Mixing, Mastering: Falk Au Yeong

Drums Recording Engineer: Norihide Shiota https://soundcloud.com/nori-shiota
Assistant: James Landino https://soundcloud.com/jameslandino

After having drifted off from the franchise around the time of Sonic Adventure 2, a video of Rooftop Run almost a decade later reignited my love for Sonic and the franchise's music. Unleashed/Colors/Generations were some of my favorite games of this past generation hands down which was a far cry of the horrid trash that came out around 2006.

So chin up little guy, regardless how bad things are now, one day you'll rise again.

This track was originally a short-edit of Dark Gaia/Endless Possibility for the Sonic Generations Unleashed Project mod's release trailer. It's now restored to its full song form.


Endless Possibility (Rockestrate My World Arrangement)

FS-471 Wwise Interactive Music implementation assignment.
update: Video of implementation here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjtXrKpW7G4&hd=1
remix version: http://soundcloud.com/falk-2/be-wild

Credits:
Sean Folk - Piano
Nikhil Hogan - Acoustic Guitar
Ethan Lee - Guitar Solo (SECRETS LOL)

THE BAND!!!
Guitars - Fake Falk
Bass - Fake Falk
Drums - Fake Falk (yeah you get the idea)

When thinking of what game to score for my Wwise interactive music assignment, I had the bright idea a few months ago to try to do a Sonic the Hedgehog level. Firstly, because it was a no brainer, but secondly - Japanese games have had a cultural precedent of barely touching interactive scoring compared to western titles. On the flip-side, this allows the composer to do what he does best, which is create memorable melodies and hooks you can hum along to that aren't limited by the 'loose' requirements that interactive scoring demands.

While the goal of 'interactivity' and 'memorability' seem to pull in opposite directions, Sonic levels are (for better or worse) on rails, and more importantly at points they funnel you through one-way sections, meaning that I could apply a basic song form concept, assigning each part of a song to each part of a level, making sure the sections can loop around seamlessly, and then writing appropriate transitionary sections that can be jumped to from the end of each phrase within a section.

I chose Spagonia as my level, and there are many tie-ins of the composition to the level. For instance, while the violin lead parts were a feature of the original track, I maintained that as a means of tying the track to the European vibe of the level.

Since musical sync to the level is the essence of this project, one of the transition segments is the clock tower climb and subsequent grind (which conveniently enough is one-way) and is characterized by the breakdown section and guitar solo.

There's also a whole bunch of little musical cameos that connoisseurs of fans of Sonic music throughout the past 20 years -should- be able to pick up on (I hope!) be it from the 16-bit games, Sonic Adventure, hell even Sonic X anime.

This is only Stage 1 of the assignment. There's a shit ton of other stuff I still need to do before the project is deemed complete, and no, I'm not talking about implementing it in Wwise. Stay tuned!



Be Cool

FS-471 Wwise Interactive Music implementation assignment, Part 2
update: Video of implementation here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjtXrKpW7G4&hd=1
rock version: http://soundcloud.com/falk-2/be-cool

Credits:
Sean Folk - Piano
Nikhil Hogan - Acoustic Guitar
Ethan Lee - Guitar Solo (SECRETS LOL)

THE BAND!!!
Guitars - Fake Falk
Bass - Fake Falk
Drums - Fake Falk (yeah you get the idea)

Part 2 of the assignment. So the secret is, aside from having parts sync to points in the level, there are 3 genres corresponding to how well Sonic is doing. This is when Sonic is tearing up the level, wherease a 3rd iteration, "Be Groovy" will correspond to when Sonic screws up/gets hit/etc.

I've spent since literally the start of the year coming up with the concept of tying interactivity to how well Sonic is performing. Imagine to my amazement when the Sonic Generations demo came out, and the exact same thing was being done by Sonic Team (listen to Modern Green hill playthroughs - when Sonic boosts, the drums go double-time)

I think I was pretty elated and disappointed at the same time. Elated in the sense that great minds think alike, and disappointed that what I'd intended to be an original concept has been 'done already', even though the game releases today. Oh well. Live and Learn.

Be Wild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmf5EsGfFWs

First stage of this awesome fangame. It's out and you can play it now*; we're making a 2012 special edition with an original score for SAGE 2012.

I went with a Sonic CD vibe for this one, with emphasis on clouds and rain.

http://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7437

Rivulets - For Hilltop Heights Act 1

Tracks written as part of the soundtrack to Spark the Electric Jester

http://store.steampowered.com/app/601810/Spark_the_Electric_Jester/

https://materiacollective.bandcamp.com/album/spark-the-electric-jester-original-game-soundtrack

Spark the Electric Jester - Ending Roll

Spark the Electric Jester - MiniBoss 3

Spark the Electric Jester - Ultimate Final Boss

Spark the Electric Jester - vs FARK

Spark the Electric Jester - Megaraph Fleet (Stage 15)

Spark the Electric Jester - Main Theme Of Spark TEJ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDXldDOlllM

Music for the second Zone of this awesome fangame. It's out and you can play it now*; we're making a 2012 special edition with an original score for SAGE 2012.

This is the first Tails stage, and the "Green _______" trope zone. The music is homage to Richard Jacques and his amazing work with 3D Blast Saturn which I feel helped define the game more than the original Genesis soundtrack. I definitely had a lot of fun working on this one.

*http://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7437

In Your Eyes - For Star Shores Act 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irslIm22Y2Q

This is part remix, part mashup. Old school DJMAX/bemani fans should recognize quite a bit in this as well. :V

Youtube link above has surprise @ 1m30s mark

Topical Tropical - For Star Shores Act 3

On the Hero's Trail - For Star Shores Act 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Z9whouusI

Act 2 of the first Zone of this awesome fangame. It's out and you can play it now*; we're making a 2012 special edition with an original score for SAGE 2012.

In many ways Rivulets (Hilltop Heights Act 1 music) is iconic of Before the Sequel as a whole - It's the first piece of music (other than the title screen) that people will hear, and it sets the mood of the game as 'something wildly different from the typical Sonic experience' (as opposed to starting with a Green ____ trope for example).

For Act 2, I decided to retain a lot of familiarity with Act 1's music. I think this should help that feeling of 'a new adventure' to fully sink in, while at the same time building up the intensity level.

p.s. This track has arguably the most recognizable Sonic music cameo so far out of all the stuff I've done for BTS. :V

* http://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7437

Downpour - For Hilltop Heights Act 2

1) Okay, so I should stick at least reasonably close to the Sonic CD title screen formula
2) Going reasonably well
3) Added some horns
4) Suddenly Grandia
5) fffffffffffffffffffffffffff :(

Before the Sequel - Title Screen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92s47PQNw8Y

Act 3 of the first Zone of this awesome fangame. It's out and you can play it now*; we're making a 2012 special edition with an original score for SAGE 2012.

If Rivulets (Act 1 music) was characteristic of Before the Sequel as a whole, and Downpour (Act 2 music) built on it, this track would be a step towards building expectations for the OST in general. I wanted to, early on, expose players to the full range of genres that could be represented in the soundtrack and dissuade any preconceptions on what a 'retro'-style game had to sound like. Sonic CD was 1992 and its two OSTs fit so well with the game despite it being 224p 16-bit fare.

This was an interesting track to work with. I discovered halfway through working with Act 2's music that the rap I was working with actually mentioned "Rainbows" and "Prisms"- a fact that I didn't know when I was just using its chorus "Feel the Beat" section for Act 1. It worked alongside the orchestral-ish rendition perfectly for Act 3's lighter mood. Kinda funny how things turn out.. ;p Despite the rain being gone, I still get a very chilly vibe from the overall zone coloration (nevermind that it's really Hilltop Zone tiles in the foreground). Hopefully the music conveys that well.

I also threw in Green Hill again like I did with Act 2, except as a feature rather than a hidden easter egg. Musical quotes from Sonic music is going to be another staple for this OST, as it really is my homage to the franchise in general.

* http://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7437

Prismatic - For Hilltop Heights Act 3

Rolling Out - For Hilltop Heights Boss Act

Wub Wub Wub Wub

One of my early college video game audio assignments was a modtracker project*. I've always wanted to revisit it outside a modtracker setting just to see what I could do with it, but it didn't seem fair to just take an earlier work and plug it into BTS, especially for one of the last few bosses in the game. This track is perhaps a re-envisioning and re-composition on the same base concepts - b2 aeolian scale, a triplet/swing breakdown section, pads vs in-your-face hooks. The one biggest difference I guess would be the inclusion of a much more prominent melody. 

Also in terms of production, my original attempt at this sounded way too much like a commercial hardcore track. In the spirit of this being part of an OST for a retro game, I re-thought my instrumentation and synths to be a little more... 'chiptune'y, with the goal of 'if Saturn-era music tried to be as badass as possible, what would it sound like?'. The transition from that to real guitars/bass and then a more modern (albeit unconventional, at 200bpm) dub breakdown section highlights that contrast, I hope.

*http://soundcloud.com/falk-2/superspeed

World's Largest Unicycle - For Titanic Tower Boss Act

Writing the music for Tails' first boss was quite thought provocative. There were quite a few things to consider.

The first is the fact that unlike Sonic, Tails is completely new at this. It's the first real hint of serious adversity in his new adventure. 

The second is that, like the next Tails boss, (which is a pure Rotatatron homage; we're keeping the track from Colors for that boss, even - the entire zone is a series of homages) this boss involves some rotating mechanics. Lake and I decided really early on that dance music would work really well as a 'leitmotif' for the unique badnik that Tails repeatedly faces off for his bosses, the way Sonic's battles with Eggman all borrow from speed-heavy genres. I needed to build up an expectation for Tails' boss music in general.

With that in mind, this short-ish piece is actually two themes. The first is House-ish, rotary, simplistic, all elements which represent the boss. The second half is a retro, Saturn-ish trailblazing theme, with a somewhat awkward trumpet taking the lead. New at this, it's still unsteady and unsure, but it's going to try its best regardless. This section represents Tails, as he sets off on his new adventure pursuing Sonic.

p.s. M.O.A.B. = My Own Adventure Begins

M.O.A.B. - For Star Shores Boss Act

Circumstance - Opening

Unstoppable - For Bonus Fight

That classic metro feel. Except not quite 'classic'.

Tea With Ellie - For Cyan City Act 1

Special Stages - Sonic 2 Special Stage

Okay, so the track title is somewhat misleading. This is based more on the Generations "Mission 5" remix/rearrangement which includes both the Title Screen and You're My Hero.

Special Stages - Sonic 3D Blast Main Theme

So yeah. First off, I guess I owe quite a few people an apology. The soundtrack is taking way longer than it should have due to situations out of our control. While -that- may not have been directly my fault, what -was- my fault was being overly optimistic in how much time we could tackle our goals with the soundtrack in.

Sonic BTS and ATS have been a little bit of an anomaly in fan gaming (and the game industry in general) just by how much resources are put into the soundtrack compared to the rest of the game. For all of us working on it, it's portfolio work - something to be able to show off, for posterity, etc. We all knew that it was pretty disproportionate going in - One guy doing an entire fan-game, then 4 or 7 people working on the soundtrack? Not to mention we're applying a whole slew of different modern genres to what's essentially a 16-bit retro throwback of a game.

LakeFeperd has every right to be upset with how far this has been pushed back. Although there's been a lot of hype around ATS and its soundtrack both individually and in tandem, I'd have to admit in a moment of sheer humility that he'd probably have been able to release the game as-is, with all the temporary music like in the SAGE demo, and it'd have been an absolute blast (and it is; I've played it, obviously).

Having his work (which has been pretty much done for months now) held back by us bozos is pretty much something I have to apologize for. Don't get me wrong; this kind of delay obviously wouldn't happen if this had been a commercial undertaking (e.g. we weren't doing this in our free time while finishing college/moving/getting married/dying/whatever) and I'd been able to schedule things a lot more generously, but that being said I guess what I -did- do wrong was, like I said, underestimate the time to pull everything that we'd planned off properly and set up false expectations for not only LakeFeperd, fans looking forward to the game, but myself and the rest of the team.

I do feel that sticking by our guns and seeing this through would be the best course of action. We're in the final lap now, and as much as I am scared of throwing deadlines out now, I daresay we'll be completely wrapped up within the next two weeks, plus a few days for polish/testing and the fangame would be released.

Soapbox aside, here's Storm Station 1. You might recognize the lick at the start - it was part of Arcane Altitude 2, and is my little throwback to the final zone of the previous game.



No Longer Alone - For Storm Station Act 1

The older version was done over the course of about 8 months so there's a huge discrepency in sound/production quality across the set. A couple of weeks ago I decided to give them another pass and get live soloists so they sound way more consistent. This revisit is what eventually made it into the mod release.

Could probably have made it sound even closer to the originals, but eh, diminishing returns, plus I really, REALLY, need to finish ATS soundtrack. Like. ASAP. To you dudes who have been waiting extra patiently for that, I got sidetracked by a couple of career-related offers I absolutely can't turn down (Working with/for people you've very likely heard game music by) but yeah, last stretch on home ground for ATS.

Enjoy.

Soloists:
Violin - Ting-Ru Lai
Flute - Rachel Dziezynski - rdziezynski.wix.com/main
T.Sax - Chris Burgess - http://soundcloud.com/cburgess1


Sonic Unleashed WHITE SPACE MEDLEY

Memories - For Horizon Heights Act 3

Original Song by DJ Max-E Productions 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M5hwUFptDc
https://soundcloud.com/djmaxeofficial

Guitar Solo - Andre Vasconcelos

Neon Paradise (ATS Version) - For Parhelion Peak Act 2



Original Song by DJ Max-E Productions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-nsw0jYNK0
@soundcloud.com/djmaxeofficial

Guitar Solo - Andre Vasconcelos


Combat Night (ATS Version) - For Parhelion Peak Act 1

Fusion in more ways than one. It's actually a fusion of Neon Paradise and Combat Night!

The climb up Parhelion Peak is (almost) over. Take a moment to feel the breeze. And then realize it's a bad idea because the breeze is chilling.

Featuring Andre Vasconcelos (E.Gt) and Evan Waaramaa (Keys) of Crosswalk Anarchy

Scorching Subzero - For Parhelion Peak Act 3

Pomp and Circumstance

ft. Andre Vasconcelos on guitars. And me on the pogo stick.

If you hopped on during ATS and missed out on BTS this is what people are referring to: 
https://soundcloud.com/falk-2/worlds-largest-unicycle

World's Largest Pogo Stick - For Redhot Ride Boss Act

Intro music.

ATS Intro: "A Matter of Pomp"
BTS Intro: "Circumstance"

Remix/Mashup: Pomp and Circumstance

I'M A GENIUS THANKS FOR PLAYING

Special thanks to Andre and KgZ.

A Matter of Pomp

Falk is a home-grown musician with a skillset just about as diverse as his interests. Hailing from Malaysia, he jumped with both feet into audio for games right out of college and spent a few years as Audio Lead at a rhythm game publisher. After having travelled to Boston to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Falk has been involved in countless fan productions and remixes, original compositions, arrangements, and orchestrations.

Falk, through his affiliation with the Video Game Orchestra, has had the privilege to work in the presence of industry veterans such as Hitoshi Sakimoto of Basiscape, Masashi Hamauzu, and Go Shiina of Namco Bandai, amongst others, in the capacity of recording and mix engineer for their various projects in ensembles varying from simple instrumental overdubs to full orchestral/choir recordings.

Falk

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