[Orchestral Soundtrack] A World Above... (soundcloud) AAA Game Soundtrack

[KrazyKatz]

It's been a while since I posted music at the forums, so I thought I'd hit you with something special. I composed these over a year ago for a AAA game called Air Time. Target audience is for China so you probably haven't heard of it, unless you are Chinese

It's about a boy that lives in a realm in in the sky away from the evil worlds below. But the villagers of his tribe are captured by the evil guardian at the bottom and it's up to him to save them as he ventures lower and lower into the dangerous worlds filled with traps and creatures. It's a motion based game where you feel like you are flying throughout the different realms.

So here they are:

A World Above..  - Title theme
http://soundcloud.com/yarron/a-world-above

Sleet, Wind and Snow - Snow Canyon Theme
http://soundcloud.com/yarron/sleet-wind-and-snow

Into the Jungle - Jungle Theme
http://soundcloud.com/yarron/into-the-jungle

Completely - Forest Theme
http://soundcloud.com/yarron/completely

In the song Completely, if you listen to the flute you can hear the words she is saying, and you'll understand the name of the song . It's a very romantic piece and a personal favorite.

Enjoy.

[mrvegas]

Surpised there are no other comments yet.  I've listened to about everything on your website at one time or another.  These are great soundtrack pieces -- obviously by a very talented professional.  I always enjoy listening to your music.  It's great stuff, produced well.  I'm sure someone has asked you before, but what sample libraries are you using?  I liked the horn sound on Completely -- where was that from?

It's not on the list in your post, but Touch is also really nice.

[KrazyKatz]

Hey Mrvegas. Was also a bit surprised to only see a first comment so late. I guess most folk see the word "orchestral" and just move on . But it is going up in listens, so there you go.

The Horn you like is the Solo French Horn that's part of EWQLSO Platinum. I mixed a few of the mic positions to get the rich sound I was looking for. I'm glad it came through . I think all the orchestral instruments are from that library. The Taikos are from Nine Volt Audios Taikos, which I mixed with the stage mic Taikos from EWQLSO to give it natural sense of space over the power.
So I tend to take the best parts of various libraries and combine them into a sound that works.
I also own Peter Siedlaczeks Advanced Orchestra which in other compositions I've mixed together with EWQL to get the sound I'm looking for.
I also strongly recommend everything from the G-town Church Sampling Project. It's a creative commons free library you should still probably be able to download.

I'll admit that EWQLSO for a while has left me feeling restricted (Especially the strings). It's certainly powerful, but libraries have come some ways since then and I'm slowly upgrading my arsenal to newer libraries.

"Touch" was a controlled improvise to be played with part of a movie for a buddies project. Incidentally the piano there was also part of EWQLSO Platinum which has a beautiful sound. A Steinway which has a bright sound but applying a LPF to it gives a very classical feel.

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed.

[Harbinger]

I'd love to listen to it, but with the computers i'm on and the servers they're restricted by, i can't listen to your music. I'll listen to any and all orchestral music, so if you make these available to download, i'll give it my honest opinion.

Consider sharing them at TraxinSpace.com, where you'll always find me lurking...

[KrazyKatz]

Hey Harbinger. Unfortunately I can't share the actual file of these due to licensing reasons for the time being. So for now it's only SoundCloud I'm afraid. But when you get the opportunity, give it a listen and I hope you enjoy the ride.
Peace

[Saga Musix]

Nice stuff. I especially enjoyed A World Above and Completely.

[psishock]

i have absolutely no right to criticize Katzs professional music, because i have only a limited knowledge on orchestrated area. But, since i've listened to all the pieces already, ill just write down my thoughts. (i liked the "Completely - Forest Theme" most of them)

Technically and sound wise (we can call this a body), these are excellent productions. Every instrument sounds very alive and top notch quality, our guy knows his job very well indeed. However to me, all of these pieces that i've listened here are highly missing something melody and structure wise (the soul), that can catch the listener and make the piece stuck in his head for indefinite time. It shouldn't really matter if the piece was intended for foreground or background listening. I think improving this could greatly enhance your future productions Katz. Dont be afraid to let yourself go with the interesting and fresh ideas, dont aim to be just "enough" for the general expectations.

Here are a few good examples from a free flash rpg game that nobody knows, called Sonny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NToH0CZAJ4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auz7atplmXY

Or from a greatly underrated game, homm iv terrain theme stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEaCNtIHSgY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuQyvzYWdQE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyQF8lmRJdo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrgQOinNgWI

Keep on good work!

[KrazyKatz]

Thanks for the listen Jojo.

Psi, thanks for the thoughts and for bringing up those examples.
Sonny reminds me a bit of the Mass Effect games themes. Very bold, heroic and enjoyable. He walks the fine line between being musically "acceptable standard" and "unique" making it a treat one way or another.

The HOMM music is actually a lovely example of keeping the music fitting with the games theme making it both musical foreground and background immerse which works for strategy.

In the case of the game I composed for, it's a pity I can't show you the music together with the game, because it really achieves the object of immersing you in the environment which is what was critical for the style of this game which I believe I really achieved.

One of these days, when I finally get that epic fantasy adventure game to create a full score for, I'll let the motifs burst out and consume the audience  .
Cheers!

[nims]

Great songs KrazyKats! Realy love the last ninja, influences .