# Music for a game I worked on (with performances by Hannes F, Jeff B, etc)



## dannthr (Oct 17, 2010)

Late last year I worked on a game developed by Danish company WAISoft called Dawntide. I had a pretty good time workin' on it and within the last few months I've been allowed to share the soundtrack with folks.

I figure since I get flack every once and again for posting critiques, I might as well put my own tracks up on the chopping block.

Generally speaking, back then, I was using EWQLSO for strings and percussion, SAM for Brass, Westgate for winds, a misc Tonehammer library snuck in (Francesca), EWQLSC for some pad like moments, etc with some crossovers mixed in and I had budget for a couple of live players on a track each. Both the players I ended up working with were fantastic: Hannes Frischat (from VI-Control fame - www.strings-on-demand.com) and Jeff Ball (another game composer and friend - www.jeffballmusic.com). The tracks I put them on are noted below.

Main Theme:
[mp3]http://www.musicianeer.com/music/Dawntide_OST_MP3/01-dawntide_main_theme_-_dan_reynolds.mp3[/mp3]
The game featured heavily on the nautical side of things, so while the client wanted Jeremy Soule's Oblivion main theme, I pushed for a touch of M&C:FSotW and John Williams' Hook, and a hopefully healthy enough heaping of John Debney's Cutthroat Island for influences.

The Tilled Earth (feat Jeff Ball on Violin)
[mp3]http://www.musicianeer.com/music/Dawntide_OST_MP3/02-dawntide_the_tilled_earth_(farmland_ambience)_-_dan_reynolds.mp3[/mp3]
Client wanted a musical cue to indicate the safe zone, a semi-rural place in sight of the sea. Most of the time these places are heavy with block chords and string sustains, but I wanted something melodically strong that was forgettable enough that the player wouldn't get tired of hearing it on subsequent listens--always a concern in game scenarios where a single track may be heard several times. Influences were RV Williams' Lark Ascending, but only somewhat in that I told Jeff that he was like a bird--a barn swallow--flittering from one place to another, from the barn roof to the meadow pasture.

Down in the Square
[mp3]http://www.musicianeer.com/music/Dawntide_OST_MP3/03-dawntide_down_in_the_square_(town_ambience)_-_dan_reynolds.mp3[/mp3]
Your obligatory town theme.

A Flower in the Sand
[mp3]http://www.musicianeer.com/music/Dawntide_OST_MP3/08-dawntide_a_flower_in_the_sand_(desert_ambience)_-_dan_reynolds.mp3[/mp3]
The client wanted a cue for the desert, and I wasn't big into the idea of doing something super cliche with middle eastern instruments all over the place, though that was what the client was expecting, so I pushed more toward the instrumentation I used in the town piece. The other thing was I wanted to give a sense that yes, the player had entered the desert, but that was obvious anyway as indicated by all the sand, so I wnated to impress upon the player that maybe there was a story there, a mystery they hadn't revealed, something sad. So I found a use for Tonehammer's Francesca as the Flower. The dev was pleased.

The Breeze in Our Sails (feat. Hannes Frischat on Cello)
[mp3]http://www.musicianeer.com/music/Dawntide_OST_MP3/07-dawntide_the_breeze_in_our_sails_(ocean_ambience)_-_dan_reynolds.mp3[/mp3]
Hannes was great to work with. This cue was meant to be heard when the player was setting out upon the open sea on their boat. The spec was calm, essentially, so I started with the splash of the waves and moved out from there. Hannes, I told him, was to be the ocean upon which the boat swam, to move like the waves of the sea. He hit it out of the park!

The Sea Runs Red
[mp3]http://www.musicianeer.com/music/Dawntide_OST_MP3/12-dawntide_as_the_sea_runs_red_(epic_battle)_-_dan_reynolds.mp3[/mp3]
The client wanted an EPIC battle piece 1 minute long that looped--ha. This piece was fun to write for because I knew that I wanted a rhythmic piece, something big, but I didn't want to turn to Storm Drum for GIANT HITZ or anything like that, I knew that I wanted the instruments of the orchestra, the brass especially, to lead the rhythms. So what I did, was promise to write the perccussion parts last, so that everything else would carry the rhythm and the percussion became accents only. It was a very interesting exercise and a lot of fun to keep the energy going even with epic dips or pauses, etc.

More tracks are on my site, if you want to check them out.

I welcome comments, crits, or bitch-fests if necessary.


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## Hannes_F (Oct 17, 2010)

Hi Dan,

I knew only one of the cues so far (obviously) but I must say I really enjoyed hearing more of your music! Too tired atm. to write more but I like the freshness of the writing. Speaking of the live cello and the violin I think they may sit a bit too dry/upfront in the mix compared to the rest but that is a detail and I am changing my mind about how to do this the best way anyhow every second week or so. Cool work, keep it up!

Cheers
Hannes


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## dannthr (Oct 17, 2010)

I totally agree with you, man! 

The hard part is both you and Jeff's performances were delightful and I was eager to push them to the forefront of the mix, at the same time, my personal tastes run to the slightly dry, so I'm glad to be pressing away from EWSO Gold's hall sound, though I still find myself using their percussion from time to time.

But I agree, they are a tad too dry and a tad upfront.


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## David Story (Oct 18, 2010)

Fresh writing, clear mix, makes me feel I'm on the sea playing the game. Fun! Nice use of the irish whistle(I think that's it). Beautiful dialogues between Hannes and Jeff and the VIs. The live bits help make it memorable, imo.


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## dannthr (Oct 27, 2010)

Oh, man, I totally did not see this earlier, thank you very much, David, for the kind words.

I really appreciate them.


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## Dan Mott (Oct 28, 2010)

I like your stuff Dan the man.

I haven't managed to get to listen to what you do and this sounds great.

Thanks for sharing.


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## JohnG (Nov 2, 2010)

Hi Dan,

Thank you so much for posting these cues -- what a lot of interesting music, moods and textures! I liked the use of acoustic tapping and what-not along with the very good playing.

Superb decision to have live players -- really makes a decisive difference when they come in and add that extra to the music.

Very nice indeed!


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## dannthr (Nov 9, 2010)

Hey, thanks John! I had a lot of fun making the music and trying to keep the textures diverse while still being somewhat true to the... high-fantasy context.


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## germancomponist (Nov 9, 2010)

+1 what all the others said.

Great work, Dan!


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## dannthr (Nov 16, 2010)

Thanks, Gunther! :D


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