Ubisoft’s Settlers VII debut trailer by Fabrikfilm. Hope you enjoy the music, and please feel free to read about the musical themes in more detail below.

The music features two main themes that enhance the contrast between the battle and gameplay scenes in the trailer. For the scenes where the players are enjoying the game, a predominantly D ‘lydian’ theme takes over -- featuring the #4 (A#). The theme appears mostly in mid-range violins and shapes itself out of the orchestral texture.

For the army scenes, a minor mode battle theme takes over. The theme is also based in ‘d’ but it’s developed through common tone chord progressions. Between the two appearances of the battle themes, the very same melody is used as an accompaniment figure for the bright horn+violin melody -- helping with the forward progress. The mood shifts in the trailer allowed me to work in-depth with the themes, letting the music guide the pacing of the action.

You’re also welcome to check out the trailer on gametrailers.com here. And here are the notated themes for reference.

In another collaboration with Fabrikfilm, I’ve composed the music for the opening of EA fussballfan.de’s new web TV series. I’ve played quite a bit of FIFA so this was especially exciting. As you may know, I usually write orchestral music, but for this, we went with the rock approach. Proud to say that they use this intro for all the episodes.

Travels with Gulliver is an exciting match-3 adaptation of the classic by Jonathan Swift -- recently published by Big Fish Games. The game covers the first book of Gulliver’s Travels in Lilliput. The music works to express the adventurous and comical nature of the story. Flutes, clarinets and oboes dominate the melodic material, while there is also frequent use of horns to express the adventurous spirit.

Melodic ideas are often expressed briskly and playfully. The lines sometimes enter into simple call-and-answer counterpoint, and mostly move step-wise. The harmonic language is also quite simple as the dominant-tonic relationship is used heavily to outline a more classical feeling. You’re more than welcome to check out the menu theme mp3 below.

Main Theme MP3

Xenome is an immersive RPG game for the iPhone developed by Nine Pound Studios. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and features a cool art-style and great story elements -- the barren wasteland and the mood of the game was inspirational for the soundtrack. There’s a long solo horn melody that the player hears during gameplay that expresses the deserted nature of the world and the Silica Flats area. The project was a ton fun to work on and be sure to check out some reviews!

Zombie Escape is an exciting game recently created by Viqua Games. It was previewed on Touch Arcade recently and received a positive response from the audience. The game features cartoonish gameplay where the player must escort remaining non-zombie residents to evac helicopters.

The music features a combination of dangerous military percussion and a comic theme. I could not resist using a slight touch of the organ to play the comic melody. Even the marimba makes a brief appearance in the music. The game will be shortly released on the app-store!

The trailer below features my gameplay music:

Little Things is a unique and awesome game just recently released by Big Fish Games. I’m proud to have written the music for it. The game was a joy to work on due to it’s unique and atmospheric vibe. The harmonic language features all major chords with bVI chords and some interesting applied chords. Instrumentation is also unique to the game as I ended up going with harp harmonics, subtle electronic percussion, and a muted string section. The celesta was also a prominent color instrument that really helps the mood. I hope you download and enjoy the game!

“It's hard to overlook the spectacular audio/visual package in this game” - JohnB at jayisgames.com

Mythoria is a turn-based, fantasy game being developed by Random Star Games--and was just released! I recently concluded writing the soundtrack for it. I must say that it was a really fun experience. I deepened my understanding of the harmonic language used in ‘magical’ scores, and went a step beyond what I had done in the past. That is always a success. I am posting below the menu theme and one of the gameplay tracks for your pleasure. The theme is also in the flash player in the ‘Music’ section of the website.

Also posting the notation for the main menu melody here, it’s first heard with the boy’s choir and then is doubled with the solo violin.

Comets and Craters is a fun ‘tower defense’ game currently out for the iPhone. The music was a lot of fun to write. The cartoon-y graphics fuses nicely with the serious orchestral tone and creates a fun atmosphere during gameplay.

I focused on writing the music in E Octatonic (second note of the scale being the F natural, then G, Ab etc). The main thematic figure is built from the same harmonic material as the rest of the piece. I’ve posted the figure below. I hope you enjoy the game and the music!