Dangerous Games (2005)
This track is full of action: from the opening bars of solo guitar played over a military-style drumbeat, trumpets repeating the steady beat, swirling strings, guitars all building up then down in a cascade of sound to solo flute and the main theme, before building up again to the climax of this track, and a quiet finale.
Created as a theme tune for a computer game which a friend and I never actually got round to creating, this is (so far) my best orchestral composition.
The guitar intro was added after the rest of the track was finished (the original track began at 1 minute 50 seconds into the final track.)
The initial section was intended for an introduction sequence / credits, and then the build up to the title, following on with the main game menu.
Being created for a war game, this track represents a lot of things war typically involves.
It starts with the calm melody of an early morning, the planning ahead and preparation for battle. The lead up to the "title theme" slowly gathers pace and becomes more serious and tense.
There are several other themes in this track, representing different things.
In part, it is quite sad, but always progresses on, as wars must. There is no time to stay behind and think about losses, the battle must proceed.
Throughout the track is a sense of immortality, of becoming victorious and being unstoppable.
Ultimately, the battle ends and all is calm again. Then those who survive remember those who were not so fortunate.
Original Plans
I had originally intended on having several different tracks, along with the theme tune, for use during the gameplay. The idea was that, as the battle became more intense, the music would too.
For example, when no attack was taking place, the soundtrack would be quite relaxed. As an attack is launched, a few extra instruments would come in, or the music would change in some way. As the attack grows, more people become involved, the music would ultimately end up indicating this by going to a full-out symphony, effectively!
Then when the battle ended, a small section of music would play, before returning to the original relaxed music.
Extracts and Work-In-Progress
Tribal version of Dangerous Games (actually I clicked the wrong button and lost the other drums!)
The first rendition of this track. It doesn't have as much depth as the final version, the backing strings aren't as soft, but there are some nice cheesy sound effects! These were removed from the final version.
An extract made whilst working on one of the best parts of the track.
An example of how the battle music would progress as the attack grew, up until the point of victory and back to the "idle" music.
Download the battle music progression
Finally, the music that would play at the end of a game.