I remastered the Magma Tunnels track by running the probabilistic bits* again and using my Korg NTS-1 to add a reverb effect so if would feel more "subterranean." It sounded so much better I decided to upload it!

* some parts of the track fire according to set probabilities, so each run is slightly different, and I imagine this is how it would play in the game.

Magma Tunnels Remastered

Another track inspired by the King's Field 4 OST. This time I tried to incorporate the polyrhythms, longer melodic lines, and stereo separation used in some of the tracks. I imagine this to be the score for a misty temple level like the first dungeon in From's Eternal Rlng.

Composed on the Synthstrom Deluge, with reverb from the Korg NTS-1.

Photo credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/low-angle-grayscale-photo-of-empty-brick-stairs-1917328/

Cursed Temple

For this track I was trying to hit on some of the notes I had taken on "The Shop" track from the King's Field 4 OST. 

I wanted to move away from the harpsichord as a main instrument on this one and go with more plunky sounds. This was a bit of a challenge because getting the rlght amount of lo-fi plunkiness set me somewhere in between simple sine waves that sound too pure, and FM bell sounds that sound too complex. Thankfully, I found some good samples in Wavparty's DRM1 Bundle that I could manipulate into the right sonic neighbourhood!

Compared to "The Shop," this is a slower track. I went with this tempo because I was concerned that if it were faster it might sound too friendly with the way the organs dominate the sound. Because I composed the track in 13/8 time I tried not to use too many off-beats or too much swing so the rhythm wouldn't get lost in a bunch of noise.  

Anyhow, I think this sounds like the kind of place where you could buy some stuff from a Funny Little Guy (The weird mole merchant from Shadow Tower or whatever). Let me know what you think!

Composed on the Synthstrom Digital Deluge, using the Mist reverb effect on the Korg NTS-1, created by Hammond Eggs Music

Image Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photograph-of-coins-on-a-scale-7707115/

Underground Market

On this one I was taking the "Cliffs and Caves" track from the King's Field 4 OST as a musical reference, but I was mainly thinking of the Center Tower area of KF4 and the upper part of Drangleic Castle in Dark Souls 2 as inspirations. Basically, this was meant to be a foreboding area at the end of a game with lots of towers and spooky cloud textures!

Do you feel the weight of the approaching end?

Composed on the Synthstrom Audible Deluge with effects from the Korg NTS-1

Image Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/old-medieval-ruins-of-dunluce-castle-on-ocean-coast-in-northern-ireland-famous-place-in-uk-2350366/

Inner Keep

I imagine this track would play in a small, strange, hub area that the player wouldn't spend a lot of time in at any one visit but it would have a great set piece to look at and they would return to it throughout a game. 

The off-kilter beat was the primary inspiration for the track, and it replicates the firing order of the famously strange Honda RC211V V5 MotoGP engine, where the angle and firing order of the cylinders balances the engine despite it having an uneven number of cylinders. It was a challenge to myself to try to make a track using this strange beat. What do you think? Is it charming, or just too strange?

Photo credit to Ivan Bertolazzi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/empty-hallway-2681405/

Dimensional Crossroads

This is the first track in a new project I'm working on to rescore the major areas in Elden Ring. My concept is to imagine an Elden Ring demake on the PS2 and what the soundtrack might sound like, taking inspiration from the sound of King's Field 4.

This first track is for the first major area of the game - Limgrave. I tried to capture the beauty of the place, as well as the horrific and incompetent rule of Godrick the Grafted and his mercenary army. 

I used warm synth pads and strings to represent the autumnal natural environment, a marching beat and cheap brass synths to represent Godrick's pathetic army, booming distorted percussive hits to represent the fallen ruins from Farum Azula and the falling star, and screaming high pitched synth stabs to represent the bloody wake of oppression found throughout the area. Various other synth pads punctuate the track to add emotion and texture.

This was a challenging track to compose because Limgrave is huge and diverse, and because I had to start to reimagine the place as something other than what we see in the real Elden Ring. A demake version would be more compact and immediate, and wouldn't use the same kind of ambient tracks we find in the Elden Ring OST. I ended up striking a bit of a balance between ambient and rhythmic sections.

Let me know what you think of it!

Limgrave

This is the second track in my project to rescore the major areas in Elden Ring. It was composed and arranged entirely on the Synthstrom Audible Deluge. My concept is to imagine an Elden Ring demake on the PS2 and what the soundtrack might sound like, taking inspiration from the sound of King's Field 4.

This first track is for Liurnia of the Lakes. I tried to focus on the expansiveness of the area, its damp watery character, and how it has served as a dumping ground for all kinds of unwanted magical experiments from the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

My starting point was the distant trumpets that represent the Carian Knights. From there I brought in some FM percussion with gamelan like sounds that I set to a 11/4 beat in order to bring out a quirky magical vibe that also evokes the dampness of the area. Expansive pads and synth leads further add to the off kilter feeling of the track, and I can imagine the Albinaurics vibing to the final synth riff in the track.

This was a challenging track to compose because Limgrave is huge and diverse, and because I had to start to reimagine the place as something other than what we see in the real Elden Ring. A demake version would be more compact and immediate, and wouldn't use the same kind of ambient tracks we find in the Elden Ring OST. I ended up striking a bit of a balance between ambient and rhythmic sections. Towards the end the trumpets come back in and are drowned out by the various "environmental" sounds, representing how the Academy and Carian Manor are no longer in control of the area in the aftermath of the Shattering. I swear in the next track I won't use awkward brass instruments to poke fun at the nobility!

I think this track was very successful in capturing the feel of the area, especially if we imagine it in a demake with more fog that obscures distant level geometry. Let me know if you agree!

Liurnia of the Lakes

Just a fun little experimental track unrelated to my other work. I was trying to do something much more upbeat and playful than usual!

Carceral Fineality

Wind blasted wastes home to outcasts, fugitives, and mad hermits worshipping gods forgotten or never known to the wider world. Those who call the Outlands home live in dugouts and caves found in the deep trenches that have been scored into the earth by crystalline worms in long centuries of creative digestion. You find yourself surprised in this visit to the Outlands by the normally flat land sloping and curving unexpected around a planetoid suspended above the ground in enigmatic stasis. The locals each offer you a story about its origin, behaviour, and purpose, but no one story agrees with another. Whether you explore it or not, your path beckons onwards.

Created on the Synthstrom Audible Deluge

Photo by Vlad Chețan from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/beige-and-brown-rock-formation-1529375/

Outlands Hermitage

My tabletop RPG Game of the Year recording that was intended for inclusion in The Gauntlet podcast year end gala episode. It was not included because of some mix ups on both ends. If you want more of my thoughts on Blades in the Dark check out my tutorial series Let's Learn Blades in the Dark: https://youtu.be/JHFeW6sDK7Y?list=PLhnce2Cs9CTUeWd6F4wlHlWVqwcq6zrQV

Kyle Thompson Gauntlet GOTY 2018

I make electronic music. You can find my work in progress music here and the finished products on my Bandcamp.

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