Theme of "Legend" from Skies Of Arcadia
Original Composer/Credits - Yutaka Minobe & Wavemaster Inc.
Gravity Glitch Arrangement & Instrument Programming - Matthew Nancollas

So we finally got to try out Eastwest's Hollywood/Symphonic Orchestra.  As this was our first ever attempt at an orchestral arrangement, we opted to choose working with an existing piece to practice with that wasn't overly complicated musically.

This short piece is from a Sega/Overworks title called Skies of Arcadia (aka Eternal Arcadia) and is played when Fina shares the legend of the Ancient Civilisations with Vyse and the crew.  The piece also shares a melodic motif found in the main theme from the game that is played on the solo cello.

All instruments are from Hollywood Orchestra with the exception of the solo cello (Symphonic Orchestra) and the piano (EWQL Piano's Steinway D).

Theme of "Legend" from Skies Of Arcadia

Theme of "My Room" from Phantasy Star Universe
Original Composer/Credits - Hideaki Kobayashi & Wavemaster Inc.
Gravity Glitch Arrangement, Score Transcription & Instrument Programming - Matthew Nancollas

Hideaki Kobayashi has been an enormous influence in the direction of the Gravity Glitch project, therefore we agreed that covering some of his work would be a great way to honour his inspiration.

This beautiful piece is from Sega's hugely successful role playing game of 2006: Phantasy Star Universe.  The music is played whenever you return to your living quarters in the game and it shares a melodic motif also found in the Clyez City & Guardians themes.

This piece uses effective antiphonal phrasing between woodwind and string melody lines throughout.  A similar principal can be heard with the harmonic accompaniment between the different layers of strings (sometimes through doubling and the use of divisi parts) and the underlying piano and harp that help to maintain the overall pulse.

All instruments in this recording are from Eastwest Hollywood Orchestra with the exception of the harp & solo violin (Symphonic Orchestra) and the piano (EWQL Piano's Bosendorfer).

We would additionally like to dedicate this arrangement to all of our Phantasy Star friends, the fans of the series, and of course Sega for adding yet another masterpiece to its catalogue.  You will be delighted to know that we are already contemplating further arrangements from the Phantasy Star series, including some of the "less orchestral" works to demonstrate our diversity with the Gravity Glitch project.

We openly welcome any feedback and suggestions you may have.

Theme of "My Room" from Phantasy Star Universe

Myriad Desolation
Composition, Performance & Recording - Matthew Nancollas

"Myriad is many: desolation is one"

The objective of this piece was not to tell a story as such, but to explore a set of emotions and to attempt to convey them effectively to the listener.  Much of the composition was based on improvisation around a set group of chords and particular melodic movements.  A set time signature or tempo was not used in order to maintain as much organic flow as possible.

The use of long sustained notes helps with the perpetualness, whereas silence & natural diminuendo allows time for the listener to reflect upon each phrase.  The flute accompaniment helps to symbolise a sole entity drifting through this rich, yet sparse soundscape.

Though it was tempting to add more colour and texture to the piece, we wanted to see how much we could accomplish with so little.

We used the Steinway from Eastwest Piano's and the Xiao from the Eastwest Silk library.  

We hope you enjoyed this composition and openly welcome any feedback you may have.

Myriad Desolation

Gravity Glitch is an independent music production project set out to explore the musical fabric of existence.

Founded in March 2015 by multi instrumentalist and composer Matthew Nancollas, the aim was simple: to push the boundaries of what we have been accustomed to for a long time and redefine the term "genre".

This profile is to demonstrate the various styles and capabilities behind Gravity Glitch ranging from original material to arrangements and remixes of existing music.

Gravity Glitch

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