Here's a fun one I worked on over the last couple of days. Some of the melodies in this piece, interestingly enough, were developed when I was coming up with ideas for a whole different suite (which I haven't released yet), but I ended up liking them so much I felt like they needed to be in their own piece. I played around a bit with the rhythm and ended up feeling like there was almost a playful Halloweenish quality to the sound, so I leaned into that. The idea for the title came from Berlioz's "Dream of Witches' Sabbath," particularly because there are a couple (small) elements in this piece that were inspired by it. Because of the idea of witches being a central element, I made heavy use of triplets (which is often associated with magic, "the power of three," etc.), and certain twinkling percussive instruments, such as the celeste, vibraphone, and glockenspiel.

I wanted the piece to be constantly moving, to perhaps illustrate the liveliness of the festival in question; bustling crowds, entertainment events, maybe a broomstick race, a cauldron-concoction competition; constant activity. So the music has a fairly constant rhythm and quickness to it, as well as not settling on any particular key for too long before a key-change swoops in.

Also, one part of this song (4:30) was actually featured in an earlier suite I composed last year -- "Suite for Adventure." I always intended to revisit that particular sequence (and it just so happens to be the particular melody that was loosely inspired by a section of the aforementioned Berlioz piece) because I felt it had a very fun "witch-y" quality to it.

Hope you enjoy!

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PIECE:
- EastWest Hollywood Woodwinds (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Brass (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Harp (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Pianos Bosendorfer(ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Percussion (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Choirs (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Symphonic Choirs (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Strings (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Symphonic Strings Harpsichord (ComposerCloud)
- Spitfire Abbey Road One: Legendary Low Strings
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Twelve Horn Ensemble
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Horns of the Deep

ORCHESTRATED (w/ Post-Production) IN:
Cubase Elements 10

Witches' Festival | Original Suite Composed by Joe Harrison

Over a week beyond the Fourth of July, but oh well — This is a piece I've been working on for the last week or so, and as you can probably see by the title, and the subtitle, the music has a very specific meaning, at least for me.

I think probably most of us can agree that the United States of America is not quite at its finest, though most will certainly disagree on the reasons why that is the case. The increasing social and political tension is enough to make me feel less than cheerful, as, I have a feeling, is the case for just about every other American, as well as those observing us.

Many will, perhaps, wish to turn back the clock to some previous generation in the history of this Nation, when things were happier, and we were more united. But for myself, I do not believe the United States has ever experienced a so-called "golden age." At least not on a Nationwide, Citizen-wide scale. Sure, you can say that *some* American citizens experienced a "golden age" at one point or another, but more often than not, that "golden age" came at some sort of expense, sometimes violent and horrific, for others.

I don't want to make the mistake of believing that we can please *all* people — it's just not possible, I don't think. But I still have hope that perhaps we can work towards a future that is, at least, much better than what we've had, for *all* of us. Despite some of the dismal outlooks over the last year alone, I continue to have a hope, however naive it may seem, that we still have time to prove that this "American Experiment" can work.

And so this piece of music is a celebration of that potential, which I believe still exists. It is a celebration that, instead of looking backward, looks *forward*.

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PIECE:
- EastWest Hollywood Woodwinds (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Brass (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Harp (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Pianos Bechstein(ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Percussion (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Choirs (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Strings (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Acoustic Guitar (ComposerCloud)
- Spitfire Audio LABS: Soft Piano
- Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Legendary Low Strings
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Twelve Horn Ensemble
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Horns of the Deep

ORCHESTRATED (w/ Post-Production) IN:
Cubase Elements 10

To Her Future - Original Music by Joe Harrison

This is a suite I composed over the Halloween season; a few days late in getting it released, but better late than never!

I have very detailed notes on the story that this suite is telling, but it's too long to fit here, and also still not quite finished being written, but I wanted to go ahead and share some of the basic concepts of the story.

A man purchases an old mansion and moves in, but quickly realizes he's not alone. He eventually meets the ghost of a woman in a white dress, and after initially being terrified of each other, an unlikely relationship begins to develop. But their bond is threatened in multiple ways, not least of all because the woman in white is not the only ghost haunting the long dark halls of the mansion. Her abusive warden crossed the threshold with her many decades ago, continuing his tyrannical obsession and over-protection of her in this afterlife. The warden eventually finds out that his ward and this living intruder in his home have formed a relationship, and he begins terrorizing them both. This story of forbidden love climaxes with a final showdown, where the two lovers are able to find a way to defeat the evil spirit of the warden. Now freed from his abuse, the woman in white remains in the house with the man for the remainder of his life, until he himself expires in his old age, and they are able to be truly united in the hereafter.

Movements:
I. Main Title / The Veil House (0:00)
II. Settlement / The Portrait / Nightfall (4:54)
III. The Visitor / Woman In White / Introductions (7:49)
IV. "He is Coming" (10:18)
V. Till Death Do Us Part (11:32)
VI. Where The Veil Is Thin (12:26)
VII. The Final Confrontation (14:48)
VIII. Finale / The End (19:10)

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PIECE:
- EastWest Hollywood Woodwinds (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Brass (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Harp (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Pianos Bechstein(ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Percussion (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Choirs (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Strings (ComposerCloud)
- Spitfire Audio LABS: Soft Piano
- Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Legendary Low Strings
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Twelve Horn Ensemble
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Horns of the Deep

ORCHESTRATED (w/ Post-Production) IN:
Cubase Elements 10

The Veil House

The Veil House — A Gothic Horror-Romance Suite | Composed by Joe Harrison

This year I've been spending a lot of time trying to expand my musical techniques by trying new things, experimenting with styles that I don't normally utilize. And the thought suddenly occurred to me: It would be interesting to compose a sort of "noir" piece of music, like something you'd hear in a classic black and white film about a private investigator in a cigarette-smoke-filled office — though rather than doing it straight and trying to make it sound EXACTLY like something you'd hear in a film from a bygone era, I applied some modern "seasoning" to it, just to make it a bit more sonically interesting (for example, a pitch-bending synthesized "scream" that shows up every now and again, "falling" as if from the heavens to the unknown shadows below).

I had tremendous fun with this piece, and I may eventually expand it into a suite that follows an actual story.

For now, I hope you enjoy this presentation!

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PIECE:
- EastWest Hollywood Woodwinds (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Brass (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Harp (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Pianos Steinway(ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Percussion (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Choirs (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Strings (ComposerCloud)
- Prologue (Cubase)
- iZotope Iris 2
- Spitfire Audio LABS: Soft Piano
- Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Legendary Low Strings
- Cinesamples: CineWinds (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CineBrass (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Twelve Horn Ensemble
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Horns of the Deep
- Cinesamples: Industry Brass Tuba (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CinePerc (Musio)
- Cinesamples: Piano In Blue (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CineStrings (Musio)

ORCHESTRATION & POST-PRODUCTION IN:
Cubase Pro 11
Adobe Audition

Where The Angels Fall | A Noir-Romantic Theme | Composed by Joe Harrison

I got in the mood to compose something with a Middle Eastern flair to it — or at least a "Hollywoodized" Middle Eastern flair — because the film scores for "The Mummy (1999)" and "The 13th Warrior" (both by Jerry Goldsmith) are among my favorite scores of all time. And this was the result.

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PIECE:
- EastWest Hollywood Woodwinds (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Brass (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Harp (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Percussion (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Choirs (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Strings (ComposerCloud)
- Prologue (Cubase)
- iZotope Iris 2
- Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Legendary Low Strings
- Spitfire Originals: Cimbalom
- Cinesamples: CineWinds (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CineBrass (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Twelve Horn Ensemble
- Cinesamples: CineBrass Horns of the Deep
- Cinesamples: Industry Brass Tuba (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CinePerc (Musio)
- Cinesamples: CineStrings (Musio)

ORCHESTRATION & POST-PRODUCTION IN:
Cubase Pro 11
Adobe Audition

Scepter of the Pharaoh | A Theme for Ancient Egypt | By Joe Harrison

A reorchestration I did over the weekend of one of my favorite tracks from the "Donkey Kong 64" score.

Mermaid's Palace from 'Donkey Kong 64'

Tracks:
0:00 - 1. Opening Titles
3:50 - 2. The I.S.S.O. Salvager
5:25 - 3. Radar Anomaly
7:10 - 4. The Derelict
8:43 - 5. Boarding the Vessel
11:08 - 6. Hull Breach / Down The Elevator Shaft
13:00 - 7. Belly of the Beast / "That's Not Human"
15:50 - 8. The Nest
17:08 - 9. Alien Attack
18:53 - 10. Broken Radio / "Run!"
21:15 - 11. The Ship Is Alive / Last Stand
24:21 - 12. Cut Our Losses
26:08 - 13. Rescue
26:52 - 14. Dark Implications / "That's Not Our Problem"
27:55 - 15. End Titles

I've been composing orchestral music for 17 years, and as I've mentioned elsewhere, I am self-taught; I have trouble reading and writing music notation (thanks to my scrambled ADHD brain), so everything I have done since the beginning is "by ear." I think there are certain plus-sides to this, but one of the downsides (at least in my case) has been that my music is often fairly "straight" — this is a term I've heard other composers use to refer to a piece of music that is very basic, no real complexities; chords are just basic chords (no dissonances or borrowed chords, etc.), there are little to no tempo changes, there's always an easily discernible beat, no time signature changes let alone complex time signatures, and so on. In other words, it's so basic that you can tell where it's going as you're listening. It really hit me that I've been stuck in this composition style for way too long, and I've never really tried to push myself beyond. So, over the last six months, I decided to do something about that.

Over the last year I spent A LOT of time listening to Dodecaphonic works, not least of all Jerry Goldsmith's score for "Planet of the Apes" — a score which I had previously always avoided, despite Jerry being my Number 1 Favorite Composer. Suddenly I found myself ENJOYING it, which was really bizarre and unusual for me. Suddenly I couldn't get enough of Atonalism in general!

Which brings us to this piece. All of those aforementioned experiences and changes in my perception led me to realize just how "straight" my music often is. And I felt ready to change that, so I started practicing. A couple months ago, I sat at my workspace, prepping to do just that (play around and practice the style) and before I knew it, as I was laying out the opening minute or two of this suite, I had this sudden thought of doing something that was kind of in the style of Jerry's (infamously sabotaged) score for "Alien.".

So I mentally asked myself: "What would I do if I had the opportunity to score a film in the 'Alien' franchise?" And that became the fuel that drove me through this entire piece. If I had such an opportunity, I would really want to tap into the "spirit" of Jerry's score for the original film. Of course I would want to bring my own style into it; but I'd want to do my best to really play off of that wonderful "Goldsmith sound." I'd already absorbed a lot of Jerry's techniques and styles over the years (not least of all his use of synthesizers as "extra spice" and his use of odd sound effects), so it was honestly a lot of fun kind of cultivating that with this piece.

More than any other suite I've worked on, I am super proud of this, not least for the way that it pushed me out of my comfort zone and into a strange new world of music techniques.

Derelict: A Sci-Fi/Horror Orchestral Suite

Derelict | A Sci-Fi/Horror Orchestral Suite | Inspired by ALIEN

This is somewhat of a spiritual successor to my 2020 composition, "Alkebulan" (https://youtu.be/Viq9RT_f6yg) which itself was adapted from a short theme I wrote in 2006. But while that original 2006 piece was directly inspired by Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant score for the 1996 film "The Ghost and the Darkness," this orchestral suite was initially inspired by the 2022 film "Beast" (from Universal Studios, starring Idris Elba). After watching the film last Summer, one thought stayed with me: How would I have scored that movie? Finally this year I decided to "answer" that question, in a sense. For this piece of music I drew upon my love of the aforementioned Goldsmith score, as well as John Williams' score for "The Lost World: Jurassic Park." Technically speaking, this piece took longer to finish then any other suite I've worked on, but primarily because I was learning a lot along the way about everything from percussion to orchestration to audio mastering. This suite went through 9 different iterations in total before I felt like it was finally finished. I'm very proud of the final result, and I hope you enjoy listening!

2023

REIGN | An Orchestral Suite Inspired by "Beast" (2022) and "The Ghost and the Darkness" (1996)

A short piece of music written for a special broadcast of the Huntsville, AL, union talk radio show, THE VALLEY LABOR REPORT, adapted from Jules Taylor's remix of activist Florence Reece's performance of "Which Side Are You On?"

Synthwave Variation: https://soundcloud.com/joe-harrison/double-shifts-no-breaks-synthwave-version-which-side-are-you-on-rearranged

Jules Taylor: https://www.julestaylormusic.com/

The Valley Labor Report on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheValleyLaborReport

The Valley Labor Report

Double Shifts, No Breaks ("Which Side Are You On?" Rearranged)

A Synthwave variation of a short piece of music written for a special broadcast of the Huntsville, AL, union talk radio show, THE VALLEY LABOR REPORT, adapted from Jules Taylor's remix of activist Florence Reece's performance of "Which Side Are You On?"

"Double Shifts, No Breaks" Original Folk Version: https://soundcloud.com/joe-harrison/double-shifts-no-breaks-which-side-are-you-on-rearranged

Jules Taylor: https://www.julestaylormusic.com/

The Valley Labor Report on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheValleyLaborReport

Double Shifts, No Breaks [Synthwave Version] ("Which Side Are You On?" Rearranged)

Simply got in the mood to play around with some "sounds" that I don't usually do with my music, and ended up with this piece, drawing inspiration from any number of more jazz-y movie scores that have influenced me over the years — there's not a little of Neal Hefti's great main theme for "The Odd Couple" in here. Regardless of what it actually classifies as, I had fun throwing it together.

No Walking | An Original "Jazzy" Piece by Joe Harrison

This is an original theme that I've basically had floating around in my head for nearly 20 years, and I'm excited to finally realize it with modern technology (as opposed to the old days when I was using soundfonts). While I consider it "Sci-Fi/Adventure" it's not quite in the same category as something like "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" (except for perhaps some of the softer themes from a couple of the shows, like Voyager or DS9), it's kind of more "romantic," for lack of a better term, emphasizing more the beauty and mysteries of space and space travel.

Beyond the Light of Stars | An Original Sci-Fi/Adventure Theme

This is an original theme I composed a few years ago that was initially intended to be the opening theme of a never-produced Horror Anthology audio drama series that was going to be in the style of "Goosebumps" and "Tales from the Crypt." After the series never materialized, I decided to revisit the composition, rewrite some of it, and finally release it to the public just in time for the Halloween season.

Welcome To Midnight Manor | An Original Horror Theme by Joe Harrison

I composed this over the last couple of days mostly to play around with some new instruments and plugins, but I ended up liking where I was going with it so I stuck with it till the end. The romantic "Lawrence of Arabia"-esque opening is based off of a motif I composed a couple years ago for another Ancient Egypt-related piece, "Scepter of the Pharaohs," though with some modifications. The piece then transitions to a march/parade-like, rhythmically driven section that keeps building over time; I was imagining some sort of caravan or parade and just rolled with it.

Aside from "Lawrence of Arabia," I of course also drew inspiration from Jerry Goldsmith's score for "The Mummy" (one of my top-favorite Goldsmith scores), as I did with "Scepter of the Pharaohs," but this piece is a little different in that I kept it to a more traditional-romantic style, as opposed to including some odd synth sounds like I did in "Scepter."

Giza Procession | Music Composed by Joe Harrison

Don't ask me why.... Just don't.... Because I don't even know why I felt the need to do this. I just did. Call it... a way for me to give a nod to some musicians who've had some big impacts on me; namely John Williams (obviously), and the popular pianist-duo from the 1960/70/80's: Ferrante and Teicher - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrante_%26_Teicher.

Thanks to my Dad, I grew up listening to Ferrante and Teicher and especially loved it when they would do sort of 60's-dance versions of popular movie themes - and yes, they have done the "Star Wars" main theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQMF-3mbsCE - So, this is, perhaps, how they might have handled the track "Luke and Leia" from the "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" soundtrack by John Williams.

My deepest respect to all composers involved! No infringing claims are intended.

Luke & Leia's Theme from "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" (Ferrante & Teicher Style)

I didn't really know where this was going when I first started the chord progressions, I just had an overwhelming need to make some music. But as the piece began to evolve I realized it was kind of a theme for me, or rather my future.

I am just one of many victims of Clinical Depression and Anxiety, and one of the largest symptoms that I literally battle against every single day is exhaustion; almost every waking moment is spent fighting against the desire to just collapse back in bed — even though this would ultimately be futile, because no matter how much sleep or rest I get, it doesn't help. 

The best analogy I often give to people who want to know what it's like for me is that I am sinking slowly into a very dark and bottomless body of water; there are weights around my ankles pulling me deeper, and my life is a constant battle of flailing my arms wildly, despite barely possessing the strength to do so, to stay at least high enough that I can tilt my head back and keep my mouth out of the water for air. Because if I stop flailing, I will just sink deeper. And so it's an ongoing battle of exhaustion.

My wife and I are preparing to take the steps necessary to help me get out of this, to live free like I did once. I've only had this sickness for a quarter of my life, but at this point I can barely remember what it feels like to NOT be plagued by Depression, Anxiety, and constant exhaustion. But we are taking the steps. And we will beat this. And by the middle of this composition, I realized that this piece represents those steps, and ultimately the freedom I will have to be able to fly away from the dark waters and soar.

And I pray that day comes very soon.

Soaring - Joe Harrison

[This track is free to download]

This is an instrumental reorchestration of one of my favorite songs from the video game, "Far Cry 5." The song itself was written and composed by Dan Romer as a "hymn" for the Eden's Gate cult, the primary antagonist force in the story. It has a very haunting tune that I've been finding myself humming frequently over the last couple weeks. So I felt inspired to do an instrumental/orchestral take on it.

There are slight variations from the original tune; since there is no voice/lyrics to carry it, certain things had to be slightly altered in order to keep the tune fresh and non-repetitive. But for the most part, it remains (I think) true to Dan Romer's original piece.

We Will Rise Again [Instrumental/Reorchestration] - Far Cry 5

So, after engaging in Spitfire Audio's Westworld Scoring Competition, as well as doing some test footage scoring with video from ThinkSpace Education (see my track, "On Broken Glass"), I was eager to keep scoring to picture.

That's when I had the idea to take video, whether it be from a movie or video game, mute the audio, then take the footage and re-score it with my own music, so that I can keep practicing.

I'm a big fan of the Assassin's Creed franchise, especially ORIGINS and ODYSSEY. I also love Norse Mythology. So having those two things combined for ASSASSIN'S CREED VALHALLA? Let's just say I am ecstatically excited. So, since the new trailer was still fresh in my mind, I selected that as my first project. I muted the audio, imported the footage into Cubase, and got to work. In about a day and a half, I finished, and I felt very satisfied with it. I hope you enjoy it as well!

You can hear this track with the muted trailer on my YouTube Channel, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIaejYFrOKU

To save anyone from disappointment, I just want to mention that this does not include any themes/leitmotifs from Assassin's Creed. I wanted this to be entirely original music (you know... so I can repurpose it if I want to later on).

But, on the subject of themes, if you listen while watching the trailer (see the link above) pay attention to the music and how it works with the visuals, and see if you can't determine a few (original) leitmotifs (themes for specific entities or situations).

One in particular that I'll give you a heads-up on, because it's somewhat of an Easter Egg: the theme for the Vikings is a fairly simple seven-note melody, modulated in different ways throughout the piece; first played by a lyre (though, admittedly, I didn't have a lyre so I repurposed an Oud) at the beginning, and then heard at its fullest and most powerful at the finale of the piece, and in several other variations in between. This seven-note motif is based on one of the oldest Norse songs that we have record of, called "Drømde mik en drøm i nat (I dreamt a dream)," written around 1300 A.D. You can find it on YouTube, sung in many different variations; it's really a beautiful song.

Including that theme, there are FOUR leitmotifs, in total, that show up in different modulations/variations throughout this piece. Can you spot them?

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PIECE:
- EastWest Hollywood Woodwinds (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Brass (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Harp (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Pianos Bosendorfer (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Ra (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Percussion (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Stormdrum 2 (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Choirs (ComposerCloud)
- EastWest Hollywood Strings (ComposerCloud)

ORCHESTRATED IN:
Cubase Elements 10

POST-PRODUCTION:
Adobe Audition CC

Odin Is With Us | Inspired by Assassin's Creed Valhalla | Original Music by Joe Harrison

I've been composing orchestral music for over ten years now and have had the opportunity to score the soundtracks for some professional audio drama productions, short films, and video games. My influences: Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, James Horner, John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, Guy Michelmore, and others.

https://www.facebook.com/noblepeanut

Joe Harrison Composer

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