GL023 Attention Campers! (Pipsqueak Leads the Charge)

"It's impossible!" Danny the redhead groaned. "There are too many of them, and they're too big. Even *IF* we captured their flag, we'd still need to get back to home base without getting creamed! You guys remember what happened to Walley, doncha?!"

The rest of the members of Rabbit Troop murmured in agreement. The situation was grim. Then from the center of the room squeaked a tiny but confident voice.

"Attention campers! So they outnumber us! They're bigger! They're stronger, and they have a trebuchet. They have more battle experience, and more balloons! D'you know what they don't have? They don't have speed! They don't have cunning! They don't have heart! You sit around and cry like we've already lost, but I say to hell with Wolf Troop! Lenny, you can hit any target from over 20 feet away without some stupid machine. George, you can outmaneuver any of those stupid wolves. Donny, your sneakiness has helped you steal more fruit snacks from Miss Henson than anyone else! If you all want to give up right now that's fine! All the other troops will smile and say "I told you so...Rabbit Troop sucks". Well I'm the smallest, but I'm proud to be a Rabbit, and I want to show them all what Rabbit Troop can do! I'm going to go get Walley back, I'm going to get that flag, and I'm going to win the golden feather. Rabbit Troop rules, wolf troop drools! Who's with me?!"

I felt like writing some summer camp music. I guess it's basically John Philip Sousa with a toy marching band. Not much more to say than that.

I rendered out several loops for this one since the piece changes character a few times. The preview is a self-contained piece of music, but I've tagged a drum chorus onto the end of the full loopable version which leads right back into the beginning in case you need it. Either use it in it's entirety, or edit together something that works for you using the various stems and loops I've included. Stingers are also available for abrupt endings.

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a sort of demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you enjoy anything here please get in touch to discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this free loop, please message me for attribution requirements.

GL023 Attention Campers! (Pipsqueak Leads the Charge) Files

GL018 The Watchmaker's Daughter

Amidst the thicket of cogs and ticks, delicate hands work jewelers tweezers with a reluctant precision. Born into this trade, the watchmaker's daughter winds her days around twitching autonoma, toiling to keep time passing. While ever vigilant of her duties in the shop, her mind lives an artistic life in lands abroad. Mechanized monstrosities of her creation paint portraits, equally masterful and absurd. From humble beginnings hocking her wares on the streets of Paris, she gradually gains the attention of great galleries far and wide. Among those to exhibit her work is an eccentric yet dashing young man of ecclectic and strange tastes. His awkward yet endearing attempts to court her with tales of exotic lands and adventurous expeditions prove successful and they enter into a rock-skipping, wine-drinking, bike-riding relationship. Several decades later she unveils her life's greatest achievement - an army of automatons which wash away the drab hues of the towns and villages with a whirling dervish of quirky colors and shapes. Now old and tired with an equally time-worn lover by her side, she sighs wistfully hoping to find a way to freeze this moment so she can have it forever. The clock strikes one, and the watchmaker's daughter wakes from her slumber. Another completed clock is in front of her while an unfinished mechanical man is slumped in the corner. The vibrant hues of her imagination dim as she begins work on yet another watch.

This piece is loosely programmatic, meaning elements of the music directly correlate to events happening in a story. Symphony Fantastique is a piece which famously exhibits this technique and could arguably have set the stage for many practices now common in film scoring.

I'm trying out some new formats with this track. This site began as an opportunity to keep myself busy between projects as well as an excuse to experiment with various styles of music and production methods. That said, I am very aware that writing music for use in media is very different from simply writing music for music. Standalone pieces require a certain amount of drama and melodic dynamic to remain vibrant, while music for media typically necessitates low musical contrast so as to avoid stealing attention from dialogue or on screen action. To wit, good stock music is often boring and repetitive. How do I bridge the gap? I want to release music I would like to listen to, but still be useable by editors and directors? My solution is to start releasing "flexible compositions".

Basically, I'm going to start releasing options with each track. This may come in the form of multiple loopable sections or perhaps solo stems of parts that could potentially be too distracting for use in say, a 3d animation with the exact story I had written at the beginning of this post (hint hint). With this piece I've included the full track you hear above as well as a version which loops back on itself. I've also included a render that does not have the clarinet and piano solos, as well as both the clarinet and piano solo as separate tracks. I've also included the ending "ticking down" part as a separate file so if you'd like to tack an ending onto the piece, you can simply fade out the track and layer the ending over the top. Since it begins with a cymbal crescendo, it should be able to transition from almost anywhere in the track.

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a short demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you enjoy anything here please get in touch to discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me for attribution requirements.

GL018 The Watchmaker's Daughter Files

GL012 And Just Like That

“Ever wish you could _______? Well now you can! It’s simple…”

This track was created for tutorial videos for the Flipboard app. They needed something that was bouncy and light without being too dramatic or imposing. The challenge was to make this track go somewhere without building it in density, melodic complexity, or rhythmic syncopation. This is the first Game Loop that I’m including a stinger with. This punchy little ditty acts as the end of the track. Simply loop the piece as long as you’d like, and when you need the piece to end, cut the track and splice in the stinger. It should work anywhere.

Here’s one of the tutorials in action!

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a sort of demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you like anything here please get in touch and we can discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me.

GL012 And Just Like That Files

GL008 Cardboard Castles (Let’s Build a Fort)

I really like the way this one turned out. I’d set out to do something a little cutesy and innocent. As I was writing the initial melody, though, I started imagining a story about two best friends building a rocket ship out of cardboard and blasting off into imaginary outer space. I know the title references castles, not rockets, but alliteration makes for nicer names. Do you agree?

Initially I really wanted to establish a repeating harmonic progression and just stick with that the entire time (something that I feel works much better for this loop-type work), but once the story was set in my mind I couldn’t help but get a little dramatic. As always, it was a bit of a challenge trying to bring it back home again, but I think it works.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me.

GL008 Cardboard Castles (Let’s Build a Fort) Files

GL001 League of Shadows 01

First post! This was the first of three loops created for an iOS game called Lord of Shadows. Later on, they change the name to League of Shadows. Like Clash of Clans, this game featured both a building mode where you would build your fortress, and a battle mode where you could go to war with other players. This was the building mode music.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this royalty free loop, please message me.

GL001 League of Shadows 01 files