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Hello all!

I think it's time to share a bit of my music... It's about time I reckon. I'm sorry that there are no scores to share as well, but it is a job for a computer game, and thus scores were not needed (no budget, no live orchestra, no scores).

The game is called "The Forgotten Element" (thus the title of the thread really! ) and it is a point 'n click PC adventure game, yet to be released.

Still I consider these three tracks to be amongst the very fine I've done, for computer game music, and samples, and thus I thought I'd share them with you.

The Titles track. Featuring a... piano

Beach track. The track that plays when the heroine is on the beach...

Mia\'s theme. A loving orchestral piece with the addition of a choir and a soprano. Soprano in the recording is Sophia Zarani, a very talented friend for Greece (now in London studying).

The lyrics for the third track.

The forgotten Element

I can feel the tress shedding their leaves
I see their tears fall...
The shadowed vines creep through our mind.
As memories slowly fade and die.

And yet there's no reply...

Dark skies, but still we dream of gleaming trees.
Our thoughts; Sacrifices to a parasite
How could we forget that sight?

When the skies closed their eyes.
I've been waiting to cry.

And yet there's no reply...

The trees of light stand now bare,
their leaves all shed.
bitterness...
Greys and Browns intensified.
Our spirits?
washed with the sterile rain

And yet there's no reply...

And the skies closed their eyes,
I’ve been waiting to cry.

And the skies closed their eyes,
I’ve been waiting to cry.

And the skies closed their eyes,
I’ve been waiting to cry.

And a couple of photos from the recording sessions with Sophia.



Credits:
Soprano voice by Sofia Zarani
Music, Orchestration, Production by Nikolas
Lyrics By Lemmy and Binky with tiny adaptations by Nikolas
Voice Recordings by Studio Victory, Athens

I hope you'll enjoy these rather short tracks.

Thanks for posting the music, Nikolas. I really like the second one (beach track). The texture is beautifully handled and the scoring shows a sure hand. Nice!

The first one doesn't grab me (I'm not sure why) and I thought the third one is very expressive with good scoring also. It's also slightly disturbing, which is probably what you were aiming for.

Hi Nikolas,

Very skillful work, nice sense of drama, nice balance of instruments.

As is typical of film or game music these are not pieces that exist in a vacuum. They have abrupt endings and thus on their own are not completely satisfying. I'm sure you could rework the musical materials into a suite that an orchestra could play that would sound more satisfying, but that might not be a paying gig. You're earning a living composing and that by itself is more congratulations than anything we could offer.

I liked the music in general, though I found the harmony in the first piece a bit odd. Nicely done. Too bad I'll probably never get to enjoy the music in context (playing the game).

Thanks guys!

Scott: the soprano track is disturbing, exactly because of the setting in the game.

Steve: Thanks. You are right. All tracks are composed in a way to actually loop (alhtough not 100% if these are the loopable versions... :$). So you are right, they work in the setting as they are, but not outside it, fully.

That said, this gig is not a paid gig, and the game is a labour of love, and a freeware, so if you do fancy computer games at all, you wouldn't have a trouble playing it, once it's released...

Nikolas:

The piano piece certainly sets a particular mood. Feels like something is going to happen, I was expecting this to build to some kind of climax...

I particularly like the second piece and agree with Steve, it sounds good now, but would sound much better if played by a true orchestra.

The third track - the character of the melody - to me sounds almost medieval in character, Gregorian chantish. Could that be right? Did you use a particular type of scale or mode (hope I'm expressing that correctly) to compose this piece?

I've listened to some of your other music, too, on the websites. Interesting, not your main stream music.

For some reason, your music, the third piece here in this post in particular, brought to mind an English music group I used to listen to long ago called Gentle Giant that I liked a lot. They had an offbeat, very unique sound. You might enjoy their music.

Here's a link to soundclips from some of their albums. "Edge of Twilight." and "Peel the Paint" "The Moon is Down" and "Working All Day" seem to me to have a similar approach in melody as in your third piece, "Mia's Theme." Just my impression.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W06QTM/ref=dm_sp_adp

I'm listening to "Mia's Theme" again. It's growing on me…

Congratulations on your achievement with your music.

Jeanne W

Jeanne,

Thanks for listening and posting.

You are right in all your comments actually, just that you need to keep in mind that it is computer game music, so the mood can stick to one thing and not change in a song/track/score. That means that while you might be expecting a climax in the first track, it may never come in that track, but later in the game.

So, yes, the first track is missing the climax, you are right.

Second track, would sound better with a real life orchestra, but which sampled track wouldn't? And I believe that Steve commented that the tracks would need a slight rewriting (especially the ending) in order to work as a suite. But of course with a live orchestra it would sound much better, I believe. And I do think that it is playable as well.

Mia's Theme Medieval? Hmmm... never occured to me, but could sound so. No I'm not using a particular mode, just minor connections to chords and take the melody through there...

The Gentle Giant tracks sound very very nice (remind me a bit of King Crimson ) (and yes you are right, esepcially the 'edge of twilight' sounds very close indeed').

And thank you very much for your comments on the rest of my music and for visiting my website. Not all tracks are "equal", but need to be there to provide 'proof' of the services I can provide...

Again thank you.

Nikolas: King Crimson - they're a blast from the past! I used to listen to them, too.

Jeanne W