2016

J-Pop

D&D Battle Music

Atlas Plug - Truth Be Known

This was work from July 2014 I was hired to do for an Oculus Rift Tech Demo by Massive Square. The pieces are meant to be highly atmospheric, evoking a sense of wonder and magic.

www.massivesquare.com/work.html

Used with permission from Massive Square

Boss Battle - Borealis Original Soundtrack

Early MP3 and FLAC available for Patrons. ► https://www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator
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As Link's Awakening album is stuck in limbo, it's time to move on to new tracks. Even though FFVI is my favorite in the series, including the soundtrack, I think the battle theme for FFVII is superior, and in a league of its own. Nobuo Uematsu went all out and redesigned the battle theme to underscore the upgraded visuals, the cinematic camera, and the intense fighting energy. This is the kind of music I would have trouble composing myself. There's no clear melodic progression, the phrasing is unpredictable, yet put together everything still sounds so catchy and iconic. I am simply in awe at how Uematsu came up with this.

I am very wary of arranging SquareEnix music, because they already do great arrangements with a live orchestra (Distant Worlds). However, I chose to take a crack at this one because I don't like the orchestrations floating around. The Advent Children piano solo is great, but leaves me still wanting the full arrangement. The version in the FF Battle Theme medley is too simple and short and not even complete, and the version at the end of Crisis Core is too cliche, with the awesome piccolo solo replaced with boring strings. Come on!

For my arrangement, I let the music it play out in three unique loops. Here's my process behind them.

I. Enhanced (Orchestrated)
The first loop is a straightforward sounding arrangement of the original version. This was particularly difficult for me to achieve, because when I recreated it using the same instruments and articulation, everything sounded too muddy. The snappiness of the brass section is gone, the piccolo is drowned out, and the strings sound so synthesized. To fix that, I started fading instruments out and only had them come in during the recognizable parts. Also, I used a lot of solo instruments. I tried out this measured tremolo technique for the strings and the flutes to really get that intense energy feeling of a battle scene. It's definitely one of my favorite parts.

II. Expanded
After satisfying the purists, it's time to go crazy with some insane phrasing. I felt that since the battle theme appears in the beginning of the game and all throughout the entire story progression, I should include instruments that represent other areas of the game world. The original version felt very military and only fits well in the context of Midgar and Shinra soldiers. I added the more eastern Taikos, woodblocks, and african drums as a means of recalling areas such as Wutai, Cosmo Canyon and generally the overworld monsters. Then I mixed up the instrumentation and have different combinations of them play each phrase. This adds to the fast paced nature of the battles and the infinite variety of attacks/party members/magic/monsters that comprise each encounter. Again, the use of solo instruments (instead of ensemble) makes each note clearer and enhances the "attack" of the notes. The climax piccolo section I've redone to sound like perfect limit break music. I could go on much more on this section as it probably took me 80% of the entire time spent on this orchestration.

III. Extended (Cool down)
Just like I did with Tal Tal Heights, I added a third section as a breather before looping back. If a battle were to last long enough that you reach this part of the music, that would mean the battle is probably more difficult, or filled with annoying enemies. Here I ease up on the instruments to represent the fighters either recovering from their wounds or strategizing how best to defeat the enemy.

In conclusion, modern soundtracks have traded catchy music for boring orchestrated atmospheric ambiance. Why can't we have both? This arrangement is my argument for more iconic NON-background music.

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Let The Battles Begin! (Fighting) Orchestrated - from Final Fantasy VII

This is not a cover. This is Dave Grohl singing his own song on the Howard Stern Show.

Foo Fighters - Everlong (Acoustic)

Running in the 90 s

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Including the looped .ogg version you can use in the PC Steam version

I wasn't originally planning to arrange this, but on a whim I imagined who I would do it, and it sounded really good in my head, so here it is. The original track was a rock piece, and as there are already many great covers for it online, I went in a different direction and tried to make it cinematic and exciting. I analyzed a lot of FF orchestrations that Arnie Roth produced for the Distant Worlds concert, which are all great. I admire his ability to translate the music to a full orchestral palette that's different from the original track in terms of instrumentation, but still feels like it captures the same spirit.

For the opening rift originally played by an electric guitar, I instead used a solo cello playing with the hardest articulation possible for that scratchy frenzy sound. I also utilized a bunch of different drums together, giving it that intense energetic mood very reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean/Mad Max. Interestingly, brass instruments don't feature much in the song, which seems counter-intuitive as most action music nowadays all feature heavy doses of strings, brass, and percussion. Instead I use a bunch of woodwinds and the Celeste for the melody. This keeps the piece light and playful amidst the whole epicness of the track.

Arrangement and album art by Jeremiah Sun

Original Track by Nobuo Uematsu
You can buy FFVII on Steam and PSN

Final Fantasy VII Orchestrated - Fight On! (Boss Theme)

And now for something from an American game. I've always felt that in the warcraft games (not sure about WoW as I haven't played that), the in-game graphics and the beautiful CG cinematics clash in tone.  One is light-hearted and at times silly, while the other is dark and ominous. However, I felt the Warcraft II menu music to me captures the spirit of both the CG and the gameplay visuals perfectly. They should use this theme in every game.

The menu music overall sounds like it is an intro to something greater. This is perfect for the title screen, where the player is eager to jump into the gameplay. To develop the theme further, though, I used the Blackrock and Roll music from Warcraft III to flesh the piece out. I always thought the two would mesh well together with the latter's heroic melody supported by the former's battle rhythm. If the menu music describes the humans preparing for war, then Blackrock and Roll is them marching out into battle. I kept the arrangement relatively similar, and I added the bass drum to sell the savage ferocity of fighting the barbaric orcs. Finally, to round out the piece, I extended the melody with a more emotional motif, painting humanity's last stand against impending doom. I used a generous helping of horns and vocals to augment the majesty of the human race. Heroes will rise, and souls will be corrupted.

Arranged by Jeremiah Sun

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Warcraft II Menu composed by Glenn Stafford
Warcraft III Blackrock and Roll composed by Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Neal Acree & Russell Brower

Warcraft - The Humans Dignified (Mashup of WCII Menu and WCIII Blackrock and Roll)

Nightcore - There's No Sympathy For The Dead (Escape The Fate)

I'm not dead! I still make music!
This work is very piano centric, I wanted to make this into another electronic piece but just couldn't really get it to jive. So I found a really some nice piano sounds and loved the way the track sounded. I might end up making an electronic song out of this yet, but in the distant future.
Download: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/download/674465
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialSolkrieg/videos
Live Stream: https://gaming.youtube.com/c/OfficialSolkrieg/live
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Solkrieg
Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/Solkrieg
Original Composition: Hylian Hero
Original Artist: Koji Kondo

Civilization V - Irish Declaration of War

Civilization 5